New to the group
Kristie Cochran
Hi all,
I just joined this group yesterday and am quite fascinated with
unschooling. I have two boys, the oldest is 4.5 and the youngest is
16mo. My older son is currently in preschool 2 days a week, mainly to
give me a break. My older son really forced AP on us. We didn't really
know what it was before he was born. He was a very high needs baby who
*required* co-sleeping and slinging and extended bfing. We found that
we really loved co-sleeping and we are all sleeping in the same room now.
My oldest is also pretty smart. He's had his own computer since he was
18mo and learned his alphabet and numbers by playing computer games.
He's extremely proficient on the computer and now our 16mo is starting
to get the hang of using the computer too. I've had some apprehension
letting him have so much screen time, but after poking around on Sandra
Dodd's website, I'm feeling much better about it.
DS#1 is also very spirited, so he's had a little bit of trouble in
preschool, which is why I'm looking to homeschool him. He's not one to
sit and do work at the tables. He moves and talks from the time he
wakes until the time he goes to bed. He was "kicked out" of his 4yo
class and moved back to the 3yo class because of this. It's then that I
decided he probably needed a little more one-on-one time and freedom to
learn what he wanted to learn.
Our DS#2, I've nicknamed "appliance boy." He loves appliances! He
drags around my hairdryer and the hand mixer (sans beaters). He just
loves anything that makes noise and has a cord. He also loves music.
My DH is a musician and he has them up on his lap playing the piano all
the time (which he tells me is quite mathematical).
I'm currently reading Learning All The Time and am fascinated by it.
It's the only Holt book that my branch library had. I definitely need
to have this book as part of my personal library. I look forward to
learning more about unschooling and applying it to our daily life (which
we seem to already be doing).
Kristie
I just joined this group yesterday and am quite fascinated with
unschooling. I have two boys, the oldest is 4.5 and the youngest is
16mo. My older son is currently in preschool 2 days a week, mainly to
give me a break. My older son really forced AP on us. We didn't really
know what it was before he was born. He was a very high needs baby who
*required* co-sleeping and slinging and extended bfing. We found that
we really loved co-sleeping and we are all sleeping in the same room now.
My oldest is also pretty smart. He's had his own computer since he was
18mo and learned his alphabet and numbers by playing computer games.
He's extremely proficient on the computer and now our 16mo is starting
to get the hang of using the computer too. I've had some apprehension
letting him have so much screen time, but after poking around on Sandra
Dodd's website, I'm feeling much better about it.
DS#1 is also very spirited, so he's had a little bit of trouble in
preschool, which is why I'm looking to homeschool him. He's not one to
sit and do work at the tables. He moves and talks from the time he
wakes until the time he goes to bed. He was "kicked out" of his 4yo
class and moved back to the 3yo class because of this. It's then that I
decided he probably needed a little more one-on-one time and freedom to
learn what he wanted to learn.
Our DS#2, I've nicknamed "appliance boy." He loves appliances! He
drags around my hairdryer and the hand mixer (sans beaters). He just
loves anything that makes noise and has a cord. He also loves music.
My DH is a musician and he has them up on his lap playing the piano all
the time (which he tells me is quite mathematical).
I'm currently reading Learning All The Time and am fascinated by it.
It's the only Holt book that my branch library had. I definitely need
to have this book as part of my personal library. I look forward to
learning more about unschooling and applying it to our daily life (which
we seem to already be doing).
Kristie
Lorraine
Hello,
I just joined the group and wanted to introduce myself. My name is
Lorraine and I am happily married to Eric and we have 5 beautiful
children (Athena Grace-11 yrs, Jesse Josiah-11yrs, Malachi Jaedon-3
yrs, Isaiah Elias-2 yrs, Xanna Joy-9 months). I have been
homeschooling for 4 years now and it has been a constant struggle
with my twins. I recently came across the concept of unschooling and
I think it is the right choice for us. I did not expect my hubby to
agree with it, but when I explained it to him he was in full
agreement. I was shocked! So, we are beginners and are looking
forward to some great ideas from all of you.
My husband owns an ACE Hardware store and our 11 yr old son will
often work at the store. He punches in and earns a paycheck like
everyone else. It's amazing all that he learns just by doing this,
both educational and social. He's a favorite among the regular
customers. He's also an avid gardener and spends most of his days in
our yard working on his latest project. He also plays on a soccer
team in the fall; made all-stars last year.
His twin sister is not so motivated and would prefer laying on the
couch in front of the television all day. She does like art and
crafts. She's very social and loves being with friends.
I look forward to sharing stories with all of you.
Lorraine
I just joined the group and wanted to introduce myself. My name is
Lorraine and I am happily married to Eric and we have 5 beautiful
children (Athena Grace-11 yrs, Jesse Josiah-11yrs, Malachi Jaedon-3
yrs, Isaiah Elias-2 yrs, Xanna Joy-9 months). I have been
homeschooling for 4 years now and it has been a constant struggle
with my twins. I recently came across the concept of unschooling and
I think it is the right choice for us. I did not expect my hubby to
agree with it, but when I explained it to him he was in full
agreement. I was shocked! So, we are beginners and are looking
forward to some great ideas from all of you.
My husband owns an ACE Hardware store and our 11 yr old son will
often work at the store. He punches in and earns a paycheck like
everyone else. It's amazing all that he learns just by doing this,
both educational and social. He's a favorite among the regular
customers. He's also an avid gardener and spends most of his days in
our yard working on his latest project. He also plays on a soccer
team in the fall; made all-stars last year.
His twin sister is not so motivated and would prefer laying on the
couch in front of the television all day. She does like art and
crafts. She's very social and loves being with friends.
I look forward to sharing stories with all of you.
Lorraine
Eileen
Hi, my name is Eileen and I'm a happy homeschool mom to an 8 yr old son
and a 4 yr old daughter. Recently, I've felt very limited in
the 'curriculum' that we've been following. My son especially, wants to
branch out in all kinds of directions which I think is really cool. He
was in public school for two years before we pulled him out because he
seemed so despondent and was losing that excitement about learning. Now
I see that excitement, but the overly-structured curriculum is making
me into a task monster and making him crazy! So I took some ideas from
their lessons and he picked things that he wanted to focus on. In fact,
I told him to write his own curriculum, i.e. if you could learn
anything you want, what would it be? His answers were amazing and we
are having so much fun pursuing this course.
I am such a product of institutional school - all through college in
private Catholic schools! But this way of doing things feels so much
more organic to me - I'm really more of a natural, organic person and
this is much more fitting to our lifestyle, and more fitting to his
learning style (my daughter is a totally different story).
Anyway, now I'm thinking this might have a name...unschooling. Is this
what we're doing? Is there a 'right' way and a 'wrong' way to unschool?
and a 4 yr old daughter. Recently, I've felt very limited in
the 'curriculum' that we've been following. My son especially, wants to
branch out in all kinds of directions which I think is really cool. He
was in public school for two years before we pulled him out because he
seemed so despondent and was losing that excitement about learning. Now
I see that excitement, but the overly-structured curriculum is making
me into a task monster and making him crazy! So I took some ideas from
their lessons and he picked things that he wanted to focus on. In fact,
I told him to write his own curriculum, i.e. if you could learn
anything you want, what would it be? His answers were amazing and we
are having so much fun pursuing this course.
I am such a product of institutional school - all through college in
private Catholic schools! But this way of doing things feels so much
more organic to me - I'm really more of a natural, organic person and
this is much more fitting to our lifestyle, and more fitting to his
learning style (my daughter is a totally different story).
Anyway, now I'm thinking this might have a name...unschooling. Is this
what we're doing? Is there a 'right' way and a 'wrong' way to unschool?
Joyce Fetteroll
On Mar 12, 2007, at 10:07 PM, Eileen wrote:
If video games and cartoons were on the list and he had chose those
to do and you were just as comfortable with that, then it would be
even closer :-)
If you threw away the list entirely and just pretended it was summer
vacation, that would be unschooling.
With unschooling kids learn by living life and following their
interests. They don't "learn about" something which has a feel of
there being a chunk of knowledge to take in and then you're done.
(I'm not saying that's what you've done, only that the phrase has
that feel to it and it will affect how you see learning.)
Unschooling *can* look like what you've described, with a child
setting out to learn about a specific topic but more often than not
it looks more casual with kids picking up interests -- which often
have nothing to do with what would be on a list of "things to learn"
for school -- and following them wherever they lead. It's even more
organic :-) than you've described.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> Anyway, now I'm thinking this might have a name...unschooling. Is thisIt's a step in the direction of unschooling.
> what we're doing? Is there a 'right' way and a 'wrong' way to
> unschool?
If video games and cartoons were on the list and he had chose those
to do and you were just as comfortable with that, then it would be
even closer :-)
If you threw away the list entirely and just pretended it was summer
vacation, that would be unschooling.
With unschooling kids learn by living life and following their
interests. They don't "learn about" something which has a feel of
there being a chunk of knowledge to take in and then you're done.
(I'm not saying that's what you've done, only that the phrase has
that feel to it and it will affect how you see learning.)
Unschooling *can* look like what you've described, with a child
setting out to learn about a specific topic but more often than not
it looks more casual with kids picking up interests -- which often
have nothing to do with what would be on a list of "things to learn"
for school -- and following them wherever they lead. It's even more
organic :-) than you've described.
Joyce
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
trektheory
--- In [email protected], Joyce Fetteroll
<fetteroll@...> wrote:
to be a game designer/programmer (or computer graphics, but I know
what he spends more time on!) and so spends time playing and creating
games. This weekend, he was working on a new game idea, and was
telling me some of his troubles. So I asked him if he was familiar
with flow charts. He said he had heard the term, but wasn't really
sure what they were, so I gave him a short explanation of them. He
went off, made a flow chart and has been working on those modules
since, finding it a useful tool.
You never know when those receptive moments will come, do you? Thank
goodness we don't adhere to a traditional M-F schedule! (This
happened on the weekend.)
Linda
<fetteroll@...> wrote:
>I read this and the words video games leaped out at me. My ds wants
> If video games and cartoons were on the list and he had chose those
> to do and you were just as comfortable with that, then it would be
> even closer :-)
>
to be a game designer/programmer (or computer graphics, but I know
what he spends more time on!) and so spends time playing and creating
games. This weekend, he was working on a new game idea, and was
telling me some of his troubles. So I asked him if he was familiar
with flow charts. He said he had heard the term, but wasn't really
sure what they were, so I gave him a short explanation of them. He
went off, made a flow chart and has been working on those modules
since, finding it a useful tool.
You never know when those receptive moments will come, do you? Thank
goodness we don't adhere to a traditional M-F schedule! (This
happened on the weekend.)
Linda
plaidpanties666
--- In [email protected], "trektheory"
<trektheory@...> wrote:
she wanted to make a Spongebob movie and started describing it to
me. I suggested she make a story-board for it - she's been drawing
stories comic-strip style, but this was the first time we'd talked
about story-boards. The subject just hadn't come up before. I fell
asleep to her story-boarding her new movie and sketching the
costumes.
Okay, all y'all Spongebob fans out there, is there already an
episode where Gary runs away and gets lost right at dinner time and
everyone goes out to look for him? I don't *always* watch tv with
Mo, so I may have missed it. It might help me learn my lines - I'm
told I'll be playing Sandy.
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
<trektheory@...> wrote:
>> You never know when those receptive moments will come, do you?Thank
> goodness we don't adhere to a traditional M-F schedule! (ThisYeah, last night, as I was dropping off to sleep, Mo announced that
> happened on the weekend.)
she wanted to make a Spongebob movie and started describing it to
me. I suggested she make a story-board for it - she's been drawing
stories comic-strip style, but this was the first time we'd talked
about story-boards. The subject just hadn't come up before. I fell
asleep to her story-boarding her new movie and sketching the
costumes.
Okay, all y'all Spongebob fans out there, is there already an
episode where Gary runs away and gets lost right at dinner time and
everyone goes out to look for him? I don't *always* watch tv with
Mo, so I may have missed it. It might help me learn my lines - I'm
told I'll be playing Sandy.
---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
Kiersten Pasciak
--- In [email protected], "plaidpanties666"
<plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
That is so neat!
I did see an episode where Spongebob forgets to feed Gary and he runs
away. It takes a while for him to notice that he is missing. Not sure
what happened after that...It makes sense that they all went
searching :)
Kiersten
<plaidpanties666@...> wrote:
> Okay, all y'all Spongebob fans out there, is there already an-------------------------------------------------------
> episode where Gary runs away and gets lost right at dinner time and
> everyone goes out to look for him? I don't *always* watch tv with
> Mo, so I may have missed it. It might help me learn my lines - I'm
> told I'll be playing Sandy.
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
>
That is so neat!
I did see an episode where Spongebob forgets to feed Gary and he runs
away. It takes a while for him to notice that he is missing. Not sure
what happened after that...It makes sense that they all went
searching :)
Kiersten
Mindy Evans
yep, there is a spongebob epi like that.....Gary gets lost and ends up at some crazy grandmas house......It's a great epi.....
God Bless You and yours
Mindy Evans
mindyevans@...
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
God Bless You and yours
Mindy Evans
mindyevans@...
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tracy
Yes, I know there is one where he runs away and Kensy cries everytime
SB remembers his childhood. She loves Spongebob.
SB remembers his childhood. She loves Spongebob.
>
> Okay, all y'all Spongebob fans out there, is there already an
> episode where Gary runs away and gets lost right at dinner time and
> everyone goes out to look for him? I don't *always* watch tv with
> Mo, so I may have missed it. It might help me learn my lines - I'm
> told I'll be playing Sandy.
>
> ---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)
>
Debra Rossing
there is one episode where Gary does run away because Spongebob is
ignoring him. Don't know all the details though - DS could tell you in
detail though lol
Deb
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ignoring him. Don't know all the details though - DS could tell you in
detail though lol
Deb
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marmee2two
Hello, I am new to the group, but also new to yahoo groups. I have no
idea how to use this - so I hope you will bear with me as I figure it
out.
Is there a place here to get the basics on how this works?
I am anxious to hear from other unschoolers.
idea how to use this - so I hope you will bear with me as I figure it
out.
Is there a place here to get the basics on how this works?
I am anxious to hear from other unschoolers.
Meredith
--- In [email protected], "marmee2two"
<marmee2two@...> wrote:
asking:
http://organiclearning.org/
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
And a link to a "blog carnival" on the subject of unschooling:
http://anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com/2007/01/unschooling-voices-
main-page.html
(sorry, I know there's a better link to that but I can't find it off-
hand)
---Meredith (Mo 5.5, Ray 13)
<marmee2two@...> wrote:
> Is there a place here to get the basics on how this works?Here are some websites about unschooling, if that's what you are
> I am anxious to hear from other unschoolers.
>
asking:
http://organiclearning.org/
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
And a link to a "blog carnival" on the subject of unschooling:
http://anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com/2007/01/unschooling-voices-
main-page.html
(sorry, I know there's a better link to that but I can't find it off-
hand)
---Meredith (Mo 5.5, Ray 13)
katinaslp
Hi everyone,
We are new to the group and investigating unschooling. I have just begun to read on this and it really seems to fit in well with the parenting paradigm are working toward. Our son is currently enrolled in alternate day Kindergarten and although I love his teacher I am not happy with public school in general.
Looking forward to learning more,
Katina
We are new to the group and investigating unschooling. I have just begun to read on this and it really seems to fit in well with the parenting paradigm are working toward. Our son is currently enrolled in alternate day Kindergarten and although I love his teacher I am not happy with public school in general.
Looking forward to learning more,
Katina
DJ250
Where do you live, Katina ?
~Melissa, in MD
~Melissa, in MD
----- Original Message -----
From: katinaslp
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, April 26, 2009 2:07 PM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] New to the group
Hi everyone,
We are new to the group and investigating unschooling. I have just begun to read on this and it really seems to fit in well with the parenting paradigm are working toward. Our son is currently enrolled in alternate day Kindergarten and although I love his teacher I am not happy with public school in general.
Looking forward to learning more,
Katina
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Version: 8.0.238 / Virus Database: 270.12.4/2081 - Release Date: 04/26/09 09:44:00
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
katinaslp
Hi Melissa, we are in Indiana.
Katina
Katina
--- In [email protected], "DJ250" <dj250@...> wrote:
>
> Where do you live, Katina ?
>
> ~Melissa, in MD
>
>
michelespout
Hi! My name is Michele, I have a 2 and a 3 1/2 year old girl.
I started homeschooling them with the Montessori method about 4 months ago, pretty soon I felt something just wasn't working. They totally lost interest in the materials, so I started researching again about other homeschooling styles. I read long ago about unschooling and I feel this is the right path for us. Both my girls were born at home I'm SOOO glad for that decision! It seems that many years from now I will be feeling the same way about unschooling.
I welcome any comments and words of wisdom.
Also, I was wondering if there are any fun board games for this age.
Thanks a lot!
I started homeschooling them with the Montessori method about 4 months ago, pretty soon I felt something just wasn't working. They totally lost interest in the materials, so I started researching again about other homeschooling styles. I read long ago about unschooling and I feel this is the right path for us. Both my girls were born at home I'm SOOO glad for that decision! It seems that many years from now I will be feeling the same way about unschooling.
I welcome any comments and words of wisdom.
Also, I was wondering if there are any fun board games for this age.
Thanks a lot!
Monica Van Stelton
Hello Michele,
I am new to the group too. I have a 7 month old boy. I've worked with children for long time and I also was attending college to be a teacher (not anymore).
A great game for the older is The Silly Story Maker: http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=The+Silly+story+maker&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=YIjeSrm-OI_ssQP2kL3lDw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQqwQwAw#
It is for preschoolers but all depends how you use it. I just put the cards and told a the beginning of the story and more cards you put in the story gets bigger and at the end you turn the cards over and you have to tell the beginning of the story and you turn the card right side up and if you make it to the end without making any mistake then you win. I love this game. It helps your memory, imagination and so more.
Another I liked it is call cariboo:http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=Cariboo&oe=UTF-8&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv&start=0#
This one it is for both ages may be.
Good luck!
Monica
I am new to the group too. I have a 7 month old boy. I've worked with children for long time and I also was attending college to be a teacher (not anymore).
A great game for the older is The Silly Story Maker: http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=The+Silly+story+maker&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=YIjeSrm-OI_ssQP2kL3lDw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQqwQwAw#
It is for preschoolers but all depends how you use it. I just put the cards and told a the beginning of the story and more cards you put in the story gets bigger and at the end you turn the cards over and you have to tell the beginning of the story and you turn the card right side up and if you make it to the end without making any mistake then you win. I love this game. It helps your memory, imagination and so more.
Another I liked it is call cariboo:http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=Cariboo&oe=UTF-8&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv&start=0#
This one it is for both ages may be.
Good luck!
Monica
--- On Tue, 10/20/09, michelespout <michelespout@...> wrote:
From: michelespout <michelespout@...>
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] New to the group
To: [email protected]
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 7:58 PM
Hi! My name is Michele, I have a 2 and a 3 1/2 year old girl.
I started homeschooling them with the Montessori method about 4 months ago, pretty soon I felt something just wasn't working. They totally lost interest in the materials, so I started researching again about other homeschooling styles. I read long ago about unschooling and I feel this is the right path for us. Both my girls were born at home I'm SOOO glad for that decision! It seems that many years from now I will be feeling the same way about unschooling.
I welcome any comments and words of wisdom.
Also, I was wondering if there are any fun board games for this age.
Thanks a lot!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
sharonmbliss
Thanks for the game suggestions. I'm looking for more fun games to play with my 3 and almost 2 year old. We just started playing Cranium's Hullabaloo and that is a load of fun. Nathan my 3 1/2 year old can recognize all of the peices and understand, recognize the colors and shapes and so he can fully play, Marissa (almost 2) has fun just dancing around and jumping on a spot. The directions are easy, you don't have to read anything you just flip on the game and it tells you what to do, for example jump to a blue peice or wiggle to a triangle or spin to an animal, then it will say whoever is standing on the tiger peice is the winner. My son loved it even though he didn't win for 14 rounds, if the winning peice was open he just went over to stand on it and took a bow. It is a fun, very active game and it helps them build on color, memory, recognition, shapes, etc. We also have fun with memory games.
Sharon
Sharon
--- In [email protected], Monica Van Stelton <tatyland_usa@...> wrote:
>
> Hello Michele,
> I am new to the group too. I have a 7 month old boy. I've worked with children for long time and I also was attending college to be a teacher (not anymore).
> A great game for the older is The Silly Story Maker: http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=The+Silly+story+maker&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=YIjeSrm-OI_ssQP2kL3lDw&sa=X&oi=video_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CBgQqwQwAw#
>
> It is for preschoolers but all depends how you use it. I just put the cards and told a the beginning of the story and more cards you put in the story gets bigger and at the end you turn the cards over and you have to tell the beginning of the story and you turn the card right side up and if you make it to the end without making any mistake then you win. I love this game. It helps your memory, imagination and so more.
>
> Another I liked it is call cariboo:http://video.google.com/videosearch?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=Cariboo&oe=UTF-8&um=1&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=iv&start=0#
>
> This one it is for both ages may be.
> Good luck!
> Monica
> --- On Tue, 10/20/09, michelespout <michelespout@...> wrote:
>
> From: michelespout <michelespout@...>
> Subject: [unschoolingbasics] New to the group
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Tuesday, October 20, 2009, 7:58 PM
>
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> Hi! My name is Michele, I have a 2 and a 3 1/2 year old girl.
>
> I started homeschooling them with the Montessori method about 4 months ago, pretty soon I felt something just wasn't working. They totally lost interest in the materials, so I started researching again about other homeschooling styles. I read long ago about unschooling and I feel this is the right path for us. Both my girls were born at home I'm SOOO glad for that decision! It seems that many years from now I will be feeling the same way about unschooling.
>
> I welcome any comments and words of wisdom.
>
> Also, I was wondering if there are any fun board games for this age.
>
> Thanks a lot!
>
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Michele Spout
Thank you so much Monica for your reply!
Monica Van Stelton
You are totally welcome, Michele!
--- On Thu, 10/22/09, Michele Spout <michelespout@...> wrote:
From: Michele Spout <michelespout@...>
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] New to the group
To: [email protected]
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2009, 12:30 PM
Thank you so much Monica for your reply!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
plaidpanties666
Hi, Michele, I'm Meredith, mom and stepmom to Mo and Ray, repectively. I started with Montessori, too, and was glad to discover unschooling. We love it.
Do your kids want to play board games? Two and three year olds don't often sit well for games - at least my kids never held still at those ages! Simple bingo type games can work for little kids, though, if they're interested, and any kind of matching game, with cards or even with objects, looking to match one attribute. "I Spy" is a fun game, too, looking for things of one color or shape or even that have names starting with the same sound. This time of year it can be fun to collect leaves and small objects and create games with them.
If your kids are interested in board games in particular, there's a book called "More than Counting" that has instructions for making a bunch of different kinds of games that are appealing to little kids.
http://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Counting-Whole-Math-Kindergarten/dp/1884834035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256253353&sr=1-1
(I don't know if that link will work, its pretty long, but searching the book at Amazon brings it up, along with several others along the same lines).
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
Do your kids want to play board games? Two and three year olds don't often sit well for games - at least my kids never held still at those ages! Simple bingo type games can work for little kids, though, if they're interested, and any kind of matching game, with cards or even with objects, looking to match one attribute. "I Spy" is a fun game, too, looking for things of one color or shape or even that have names starting with the same sound. This time of year it can be fun to collect leaves and small objects and create games with them.
If your kids are interested in board games in particular, there's a book called "More than Counting" that has instructions for making a bunch of different kinds of games that are appealing to little kids.
http://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Counting-Whole-Math-Kindergarten/dp/1884834035/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256253353&sr=1-1
(I don't know if that link will work, its pretty long, but searching the book at Amazon brings it up, along with several others along the same lines).
---Meredith (Mo 8, Ray 16)
momof4
Hi my name is Amy I'm married with 4 children (12, 11, 9 and 8). I am also a full time nursing student. My older two are back in ps and my younger two are at home. This is my second year with my 8 yo and the first year with the rest. My middle schoolers hated it and my husband (who oversees everything when I'm in class) did not have the patience for them along with our very hyperactive 8 yo! So it was either put our youngest on medication (which at this point we are not ready for) or let the older two go back and reconsider when I graduate at the end of the year. We decided that after the holidays the older two would go back to ps and that we were going to step away from the curriculum and try unschooling. So far we LOVE it, and the progress my youngest has made not being tied to a curriculum amazes us everyday! My 9yo also loves it she enjoys all the time she gets to spend out exploring with her dad and brother, and the extra time it gives her to focus on her favorite thing to do, dance! I'm excited to see what other people are doing and how their days go!
Meredith
Welcome! We have a bunch of new people lately, so I'm going to take the excuse to post links to two fantastic sites for learning about radical (whole life) unschooling:
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
which includes a nice page of "typical" days:
http://sandradodd.com/typical
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
This is a great site, but hard to link to internal articles.
"momof4" <aasmasking@...> wrote:
I'm glad y'all are enjoying yourselves!
"Progress" isn't really a word that has much application in unschooling, at least not in the short term - there's no Need for short term measures when people have the chance to explore the world in ways which work for them. And certainly learning isn't something which can be successfully measured on the basis of days or weeks - that's one of the reasons schools fail, by trying to measure short term learning when real learning is a complex, swirly sort of process of making connections.
Good stuff about how learning works, here:
http://sandradodd.com/connections/
My 18yo is technically no longer unschooling, but the only real difference between before and after the magic b-day, here, was the sudden ability to get a tattoo. So today he has showered off more new-tattoo funk, done a little laundry, and gone back out to his cabin, which he's working on enlarging. Later on he'll probably go help a neighbor with a small farm - gotta make more money to have more colors added to the tat ;) or work on his metal or wood working projects. Winter is a mellow, home-bound time for him.
---Meredith
http://sandradodd.com/unschooling
which includes a nice page of "typical" days:
http://sandradodd.com/typical
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
This is a great site, but hard to link to internal articles.
"momof4" <aasmasking@...> wrote:
>we were going to step away from the curriculum and try unschooling. So far we LOVE it, and the progress my youngest has made not being tied to a curriculum amazes us everyday!****************
I'm glad y'all are enjoying yourselves!
"Progress" isn't really a word that has much application in unschooling, at least not in the short term - there's no Need for short term measures when people have the chance to explore the world in ways which work for them. And certainly learning isn't something which can be successfully measured on the basis of days or weeks - that's one of the reasons schools fail, by trying to measure short term learning when real learning is a complex, swirly sort of process of making connections.
Good stuff about how learning works, here:
http://sandradodd.com/connections/
>>I'm excited to see what other people are doing and how their days go!This morning - it's just past noon as I type this - my 10yo has worked on one of her comic books, played a video game, played a game on her DSi, and drew some mythical creatures. It's raining, or she would have jumped on the trampoline, too ;) That's what a lot of her days look like, with books, movies, legos, computer animation and pc games thrown into the mix, too.
My 18yo is technically no longer unschooling, but the only real difference between before and after the magic b-day, here, was the sudden ability to get a tattoo. So today he has showered off more new-tattoo funk, done a little laundry, and gone back out to his cabin, which he's working on enlarging. Later on he'll probably go help a neighbor with a small farm - gotta make more money to have more colors added to the tat ;) or work on his metal or wood working projects. Winter is a mellow, home-bound time for him.
---Meredith