lessons and motives and influence
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In a message dated 8/24/02 2:09:28 PM, pamhartley@... writes:
-=- "It seems that for some people, it is also an equally important goal that
adults not exercise any influence over the learning process,"
-=-I don't think I've ever seen an unschooler write this, or say this, or
imply
it. -=-
I've seen it put forth in a put-down kind of way.
I exert influence over other people's learning all the time, but I feel
skilled at pulling my blows. And that only came from experience with going
on too long, or mis-guessing the direction of a question, or offering
unwanted help.
In the SCA people often want to know more, and want some critique, but *just
enough,* not too much, but if they get none at all, they can become
resentful. Lots of "am I getting warm?" experience there.
I often send friends websites about stuff I know they're interested in. If I
sent them five a day they'd be irritated. One once in a while is different.
This morning I "taught a lesson."
This morning Holly was in Keith's office, and I was sitting around in there
too, and she was playing with Fisher Price people (old style, our big dusty
collection).
She asked if horses ate meat.
Keith said no, they were vegetarians and talked about their teeth.
Holly's learning to read better and she likes etymology, so wrote down
herbivore
carnivore and
omnivore.
I told her mammals are categorized with those terms, and for herbivore I said
horses and cows, for carnivore I said dogs and cats, and for omnivore I said
people, Keith said bears, and some birds. I said birds weren't mammals. (So
I didn't want them on my list <g>.)
And I told her "herb" was plant, "vore" had to do with eating, and when
people were REALLY hungry they were voracious. Carne, I said "like chile con
carne, 'with meat'" (and I could have said lots more but didn't). "Omni" I
said "omnimax, omnibus, omnipresent" and then I wrote down vegetarian and
said when it's a choice for moral, religious or health reasons they say
they're vegetarian, not that they're herbivorous.
Then I was all done.
I would have done that for anyone new to the language. I analyze word
particulars for my friend Wolfgang all the time, because he's still learning
English and sometimes gets stuck for figuring something out.
Sandra
-=- "It seems that for some people, it is also an equally important goal that
adults not exercise any influence over the learning process,"
-=-I don't think I've ever seen an unschooler write this, or say this, or
imply
it. -=-
I've seen it put forth in a put-down kind of way.
I exert influence over other people's learning all the time, but I feel
skilled at pulling my blows. And that only came from experience with going
on too long, or mis-guessing the direction of a question, or offering
unwanted help.
In the SCA people often want to know more, and want some critique, but *just
enough,* not too much, but if they get none at all, they can become
resentful. Lots of "am I getting warm?" experience there.
I often send friends websites about stuff I know they're interested in. If I
sent them five a day they'd be irritated. One once in a while is different.
This morning I "taught a lesson."
This morning Holly was in Keith's office, and I was sitting around in there
too, and she was playing with Fisher Price people (old style, our big dusty
collection).
She asked if horses ate meat.
Keith said no, they were vegetarians and talked about their teeth.
Holly's learning to read better and she likes etymology, so wrote down
herbivore
carnivore and
omnivore.
I told her mammals are categorized with those terms, and for herbivore I said
horses and cows, for carnivore I said dogs and cats, and for omnivore I said
people, Keith said bears, and some birds. I said birds weren't mammals. (So
I didn't want them on my list <g>.)
And I told her "herb" was plant, "vore" had to do with eating, and when
people were REALLY hungry they were voracious. Carne, I said "like chile con
carne, 'with meat'" (and I could have said lots more but didn't). "Omni" I
said "omnimax, omnibus, omnipresent" and then I wrote down vegetarian and
said when it's a choice for moral, religious or health reasons they say
they're vegetarian, not that they're herbivorous.
Then I was all done.
I would have done that for anyone new to the language. I analyze word
particulars for my friend Wolfgang all the time, because he's still learning
English and sometimes gets stuck for figuring something out.
Sandra