Kristie Cochran

What is the difference between unschooling and radical unschooling?
I've been doing some reading, but I haven't really seen either term
compared or contrasted.

Thanks!
Kristie, the newbie

Lesa McMahon-Lowe

Here's my take on it...

unschooling = no use of a structured curriculum

radical unschooling = freedom in living... mutual respect among household
members... gentle parenting... no corporal punishment... there's more:
http://home.earthlink.net/~fetteroll/rejoycing/ http://sandradodd
com/unschooling http://learninginfreedom.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesa M.
CASDFGHJKQERTIP
L.I.F.E. (Living In Freedom Everyday) Academy


"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
-John F. Kennedy

-------Original Message-------

From: Kristie Cochran
Date: 03/28/06 15:37:35
To: Unschooling Basics
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Total newbie question

What is the difference between unschooling and radical unschooling?
I've been doing some reading, but I haven't really seen either term
compared or contrasted.

Thanks!
Kristie, the newbie






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To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Deb

--- In [email protected], Kristie Cochran
<kristiecochran@...> wrote:
>
> What is the difference between unschooling and radical
unschooling?
> I've been doing some reading, but I haven't really seen either
term
> compared or contrasted.
>
> Thanks!
> Kristie, the newbie
>
Yup Lesa got it but I'll toss in my two cents anyway. Unschooling is
just that "not school" - so the 'education' part is open, not school-
like, not subjects, not curriculum. "Radical" unschooling is
sometimes called whole life unschooling because it takes the basic
trust necessary for unschooling (trusting that kids will learn what
they need when and how they need it) and extending it to the rest of
life - things like bedtimes, media access, food/meals, etc. So,
a "radical unschooler" would faciliate and guide and assist the kids
with watching TV, eating what foods they want when they want,
finding what sleep pattern works for them individually, and so on,
trusting that people generally don't want to be hungry, tired, in
pain, etc and so will tend toward what helps them feel healthy and
alert and peaceful.

--Deb

Ren Allen

"What is the difference between unschooling and radical unschooling?"

To me, unschooling means trusting that a child will learn what they
need, when they need in the way that they choose.

Radical unschooling is extending that same trust to your child, in all
areas of life. To me, learning about what they like to eat and how
their body feels, is no different than learning letters. Learning from
television and video games is not better or worse than learning from
books or projects. Just different.
Learning is living. Living is learning.
That's the trust that a radical unschooler has.

Every day, every moment, I trust that my children have an internal
knowledge of themselves and the way they percieve the world that
nobody else has. I trust that honoring that leads to the best kind of
learning. I trust that living a meaningful life, full of rich and
joyful moments is what they need the most. I trust. Therefore I am a
radical unschooler.

Ren
learninginfreedom.com

Kristie Cochran

Oh wow!! I guess we've been living a radical or whole life unschooling
life and never realized it. My ds4 watches TV, goes to bed late, eats
when he's hungry (I try not to force meals on him unless he's skipped a
meal), he goes to bed when we go to bed, and the list goes on and on.

The one problem I do have with him is that he will sit and play
Playstation all day. He got it for Christmas (he's really good with
computer games and has great manual dexterity for gaming). But because
of his intense personality, he gets really frustrated and upset when he
can't figure something out or if he loses. I try to talk to him about
it, but most times I just tell him he needs a break and then we do
something else for a while. That usually calms him down.

I'm hoping that once the weather warms up, he'll want to go outside
more. He really needs a lot of physical activity.

I'm so glad I joined this group!!

Kristie

Deb wrote:

> Yup Lesa got it but I'll toss in my two cents anyway. Unschooling is
> just that "not school" - so the 'education' part is open, not school-
> like, not subjects, not curriculum. "Radical" unschooling is
> sometimes called whole life unschooling because it takes the basic
> trust necessary for unschooling (trusting that kids will learn what
> they need when and how they need it) and extending it to the rest of
> life - things like bedtimes, media access, food/meals, etc. So,
> a "radical unschooler" would faciliate and guide and assist the kids
> with watching TV, eating what foods they want when they want,
> finding what sleep pattern works for them individually, and so on,
> trusting that people generally don't want to be hungry, tired, in
> pain, etc and so will tend toward what helps them feel healthy and
> alert and peaceful.
>
> --Deb

Paige

> Every day, every moment, I trust that my children have an internal
> knowledge of themselves and the way they percieve the world that
> nobody else has. I trust that honoring that leads to the best kind of
> learning. I trust that living a meaningful life, full of rich and
> joyful moments is what they need the most. I trust. Therefore I am a
> radical unschooler.
> Ren
> learninginfreedom.com

:) You sound so peaceful saying this. I may print it out and put it
up somewhere to read when I feel stressed.
:)
Paige

Misty Felner

I recently found a group on-line that was unschoolers in my area and they
asked if I was a life unschooler or education unschooler. At the time I had
no idea what they meant, but not long after I answered (education) I
realized I was actually more of a life unschooler. Is that the same as
radical unschooling?



RE: Unschooling is just that "not school" - so the 'education' part is open,
not school-
like, not subjects, not curriculum.



By curriculum do you mean any kind of workbook activity, or do you just mean
any kind of educationally planned activity. Some children love the Fun Pad
type of workbooks you find at grocery stores. Does letting your child use
these mean you're not an unschooler?



I joined this group b/c I'm a newbie and still trying to figure out the
difference in all the different ways to home school, and where my family
fits. Going by Deb's definition of Radical unschooling: trusting that kids
will learn what
they need when and how they need it) and extending it to the rest of life -
things like bedtimes, media access, food/meals, etc. I feel like I fall into
this category, which makes me feel like unschooling would be the natural
approach for us. But, as a former teacher of 7 years I find it nearly
impossible to lose the "what is my child going to learn from this" question.
As a multi handicapped teacher there was no curriculum, I made it up as I
went along planning fieldtrips to any community places I could find out
about and planning classroom activities to go along with that. As a teacher
I would look at a trip to the zoo for example and think what can I teach my
children about animals. differences in the animals and in their habitats.
Are these not the same things an unschooler would explainer to their child
during a family trip to the zoo? Does transforming that question into
"will my child enjoy this experience, and what can I learn about what my
child enjoys by doing this activity" allow me to become an unschooler? Do I
have to give up the thought "what will my child be exposed to or even what's
going on in our community that she would enjoy being exposed to" to
unschool? What exactly is the difference between doing child led or
interested based home schooling and unschooling.



I was happy to see the post that a fellow unschooler had their child
enrolled in a Gymboree program. My daughter loves attending an art class
there. I wasn't sure if the fact that I enroll her in local community
classes in arts and sports meant that I wasn't an unschooler. I enroll her
in classes to find out what her interests are. For example I enrolled her
in a Kindermusik class that she doesn't seem to enjoy, and even though it
meant a lot of money down the drain we stopped going since she doesn't enjoy
it. As an unschooler do you still encourage your kids to do things they
appear to have an aptitude for, dropping it of course if there is no
interest? Most of the things I've seen about unschooling make me feel like
I won't be successful at it since I don't garden, only cook if it can be
prepared in 30 min. or less, and more or less don't do a lot in the way of
house work.



Basically here's what I do with my dd maybe one of you can tell me if it
falls under the unschooling category, and if it doesn't why. It seems
lately most of our day is spent playing pretend with her stuffed animals the
theme is usually mom and baby or friends/sisters. She can't seem to get
enough of it. Last week she was really into Polar Bears, so we rented a
National Geographic movie about them, printed coloring sheets of them to do
art projects and of course played mommy and baby polar bears with her
stuffed animals.



Please help me end the confusion!

Misty

_____

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Deb
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 4:30 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Total newbie question



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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

>>:) You sound so peaceful saying this. I may print it out and put it up somewhere to read when I feel stressed. :) >>

It is another really good quote Ren! I even put it up on my brand new blog. :o)
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/
--
~Mary

"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."
~Thich Nhat Hanh

-------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Paige" <paigehughes1972@...>

Pampered Chef Michelle

On 3/28/06, Misty Felner <misty@...> wrote:
>
> Does letting your child use
> these mean you're not an unschooler?


As long as your child asks to do them. I have a child that loves math
workbooks. She sees them more as puzzles than school work. I do sudoku she
does multiplication problems. For both of us the joy is in solving the
puzzle. Just different puzzles.

But, as a former teacher of 7 years I find it nearly
> impossible to lose the "what is my child going to learn from this"
> question.


You will eventually lose this as you go along and know that your children
are enjoying life. *You* have to learn to unschool as well. Learning to
knit socks was my unschooling turning point for myself. I knew how to
knit. I learned as a child. Had been knitting all my life, but had been
told that knitting socks was hard and I would have to take a class. I
figured it out on my own because it was something I truly wanted to do. Now
I knit socks all the time!

Does transforming that question into
> "will my child enjoy this experience, and what can I learn about what my
> child enjoys by doing this activity" allow me to become an unschooler? Do
> I
> have to give up the thought "what will my child be exposed to or even
> what's
> going on in our community that she would enjoy being exposed to" to
> unschool? What exactly is the difference between doing child led or
> interested based home schooling and unschooling.


Does your child have the same leading in other areas of her life? IOW does
she sleep when she is tired without a clock telling her what time it is?
Does she eat when she is hungry and have the ability to choose what she
eats? Does she decide what she is going to do when she is going to do it?
I look at the difference between unschooling and "interest led learning" as
being the difference in how much leading the child is able to do. If you
still have a strict bed time and eating patterns (we truly weren't meant to
eat 3 large meals a day) and lots of rules and regulations then you are
doing what I consider "Interest based mini unit studies."

Have you read any books like John Holt's books or Summerhill or some of the
websites like sandradodd to get an idea what the whole scope of unschooling
is about?

I was happy to see the post that a fellow unschooler had their child
> enrolled in a Gymboree program. My daughter loves attending an art class
> there. I wasn't sure if the fact that I enroll her in local community
> classes in arts and sports meant that I wasn't an unschooler.


Sure you are if that is what she wants to do. I have a child who takes
classes for gymnastics. My son takes karate. My oldest wants to take
guitar and art classes. We go to a small "funschool" where they take
dulcimer, sign language, drama, and (sometimes) Spanish and science
classes. But they don't have to go. In fact most of the time my son is in
the gymnasium bouncing balls or playing foosball because he could care less
about most of the classes. But his time spent bouncing a ball and playing
foosball is just as important as the girls learning to play the dulcimer and
how to do improvisations!





--
Michelle
Independent Kitchen Consultant #413652
The Pampered Chef
850-474-0817
http://www.pamperedchef.biz/michellelr
Catch our new wave of color!
Book a March show!


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

S Drag-teine

My son is the same way, getting frustrated when he loses anyway. I tried
every method I could think of until someone said, "well have you discussed
how it makes him feel?" I thought well, I know how it makes him feel but it
occurred to me that maybe he doesn't. That is what we do now and it really
helps.

Shannon

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kristie Cochran
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 6:16 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Total newbie question

Oh wow!! I guess we've been living a radical or whole life unschooling
life and never realized it. My ds4 watches TV, goes to bed late, eats
when he's hungry (I try not to force meals on him unless he's skipped a
meal), he goes to bed when we go to bed, and the list goes on and on.

The one problem I do have with him is that he will sit and play
Playstation all day. He got it for Christmas (he's really good with
computer games and has great manual dexterity for gaming). But because
of his intense personality, he gets really frustrated and upset when he
can't figure something out or if he loses. I try to talk to him about
it, but most times I just tell him he needs a break and then we do
something else for a while. That usually calms him down.

I'm hoping that once the weather warms up, he'll want to go outside
more. He really needs a lot of physical activity.

I'm so glad I joined this group!!

Kristie

Deb wrote:

> Yup Lesa got it but I'll toss in my two cents anyway. Unschooling is
> just that "not school" - so the 'education' part is open, not school-
> like, not subjects, not curriculum. "Radical" unschooling is
> sometimes called whole life unschooling because it takes the basic
> trust necessary for unschooling (trusting that kids will learn what
> they need when and how they need it) and extending it to the rest of
> life - things like bedtimes, media access, food/meals, etc. So,
> a "radical unschooler" would faciliate and guide and assist the kids
> with watching TV, eating what foods they want when they want,
> finding what sleep pattern works for them individually, and so on,
> trusting that people generally don't want to be hungry, tired, in
> pain, etc and so will tend toward what helps them feel healthy and
> alert and peaceful.
>
> --Deb






Yahoo! Groups Links

Deb

--- In [email protected], "Misty Felner" <misty@...>
wrote:

>
> RE: Unschooling is just that "not school" - so the 'education'
part is open,
> not school-
> like, not subjects, not curriculum.
>
>
>
> By curriculum do you mean any kind of workbook activity, or do you
>just mean
> any kind of educationally planned activity. Some children love
>the Fun Pad
> type of workbooks you find at grocery stores. Does letting your
>child use
> these mean you're not an unschooler?
Curriculum by definition is planning out in advance a course of
study. So, picking up a random Fun Pad or Mad Lib booklet or
something is not the same as a curriculum to start with. Then, too,
even if a child picks out a "math workbook" at Barnes & Noble, and
chooses what and when and how to do it, that's fine. It's when that
is seen as something 'more than' learning through other means,
when "doing your math workbook" is given more positive feedback than
completing a complicated videogame level. Workbooks are one resource
among many in an unschooling world. Also, "educationally planned
activity" divides the world into educational and non-educational -
remove the divider.
>
> I feel like I fall into
> this category, which makes me feel like unschooling would be the
>natural
> approach for us. But, as a former teacher of 7 years I find it
>nearly
> impossible to lose the "what is my child going to learn from this"
>question.
> As a multi handicapped teacher there was no curriculum, I made it
>up as I
> went along planning fieldtrips to any community places I could
>find out
> about and planning classroom activities to go along with that. As
>a teacher
> I would look at a trip to the zoo for example and think what can I
>teach my
> children about animals. differences in the animals and in their
>habitats.
> Are these not the same things an unschooler would explainer to
>their child
> during a family trip to the zoo? Does transforming that question
>into
> "will my child enjoy this experience, and what can I learn about
>what my
> child enjoys by doing this activity" allow me to become an
>unschooler? Do I
> have to give up the thought "what will my child be exposed to or
>even what's
> going on in our community that she would enjoy being exposed to" to
> unschool? What exactly is the difference between doing child led
>or
> interested based home schooling and unschooling.
What seems of interest to my child and how can I facilitate that
interest? What interesting tidbits can I bring from the world into
our home? If you start from the assumption that everything provides
learning, then the question "what will my child learn from this?"
shifts a little bit. Because what your child learns from a trip to
the zoo and what my child learns from the same trip on the same day
could be totally different - and that's the glory of it all. It's
not a one size fits all answer. And your child will likely learn
something different each time you go to the zoo, even if you go and
just watch the monkeys for hours and hours every time and that's it
(no lions, tigers, bears, lemurs, nothing but one cage of monkeys).
As an unschooler, I'd help my DS find out the answers to his
questions about animal behaviors and habitats or I might comment on
something new I found out or something I thought was really cool but
I would not stand him in front of the monkeys and do a 5
minute 'lesson' on primates, habitats, food, etc. We'd stand there
and marvel at the amazing and silly and sometimes human-like
behaviors of the monkeys and maybe read the plaque things for more
info ... and maybe not. Everything is learning, not everything
requires a lesson. Definitely work on looking out for things to
introduce that might be interesting - but have no vested interest in
whether it's a yes or no response. For example, 3 years ago, DS
wanted to do a town soccer camp. We signed him up, he went, great
fun (mostly - there were two slightly older boys in his group that
were annoying to pretty much everyone). The following year, he had
aged up into the next level group - longer sessions, more drill
work. He did some of it and sat out some of it - he found a partner
there who also didn't want to do so much drill and just wanted to
run and kick the ball so they did that off to the side for some of
the time, only joining in the organized portion when they wanted to.
Last year, I offered it again and he said no thanks. I'll offer
again this year too probably - and he'll likely say no but he might
say yes. This year he's more interested in the fact that once he
turns 8 (early June) he'll be able to actually go on the par 3 golf
course near us and play *real* golf (instead of mini golf or the
driving range).

Child-led, interest based homeschooling says "Ok, Jimmy is
interested in dinosaurs. So, I (mom/dad) will go put together a unit
on dinosaurs - we'll study where they lived for geography, we'll
measure ourselves, the house, etc and compare to the size of various
dinos (math), we'll read books about dinos (reading) and write
stories about them, maybe write up an invented dinosaur (language
arts), and we'll do a little on archaeology and biology for
science." Jimmy doesn't have much say over what and when, just the
areas of interest - and if he's tired of dinos in a week but mom has
it planned for 3 weeks, that's the way it is. Now, it may be that
you end up doing all those things more of less simply because Jimmy
is interested in dinos (we always compared dinosaurs to Daddy - DH
is 6 ft tall so a small dino might be 1/2 a daddy size, a medium one
might be daddy size or twice daddy size, and a big one would be 6
daddy sizes or more).
>
> I was happy to see the post that a fellow unschooler had their
>child
> enrolled in a Gymboree program. My daughter loves attending an
>art class
> there. I wasn't sure if the fact that I enroll her in local
>community
> classes in arts and sports meant that I wasn't an unschooler. I
>enroll her
> in classes to find out what her interests are. For example I
>enrolled her
> in a Kindermusik class that she doesn't seem to enjoy, and even
>though it
> meant a lot of money down the drain we stopped going since she
>doesn't enjoy
> it. As an unschooler do you still encourage your kids to do
>things they
> appear to have an aptitude for, dropping it of course if there is
>no
> interest? Most of the things I've seen about unschooling make me
>feel like
> I won't be successful at it since I don't garden, only cook if it
>can be
> prepared in 30 min. or less, and more or less don't do a lot in
>the way of
> house work.
We'll offer things we see but I don't sign DS up for something
without his okay on it - even if I think he'd really enjoy it. In
the corporate world, it's called 'buy in'. If he 'buys in' to a
class, activity, whatever, then we'll go ahead and arrange it - with
the understanding that he can stop if it isn't suiting him (too
long, too teachery, too whatever for him at the time). Gardening and
cooking are nowhere near the whole world of unschooling - bring your
interests into the house...and be willing to stretch a bit when your
children's interests DO happen to be cooking or gardening. I know
way more about James Bond now than I ever thought I would because DS
loves the videogames and movies (fortunately, so does DH).
>
>
> Basically here's what I do with my dd maybe one of you can tell me
>if it
> falls under the unschooling category, and if it doesn't why. It
>seems
> lately most of our day is spent playing pretend with her stuffed
>animals the
> theme is usually mom and baby or friends/sisters. She can't seem
>to get
> enough of it. Last week she was really into Polar Bears, so we
>rented a
> National Geographic movie about them, printed coloring sheets of
>them to do
> art projects and of course played mommy and baby polar bears with
>her
> stuffed animals.
All fun things. No problem with the activities per se. All things
are learning and all things are resources. If she enjoys it, great.
Where the rub comes in is when she wants to stop the video halfway
and return it or decides to not finish the coloring page (or maybe
not start it even). That's where the rubber meets the road so to
speak - is it okay with you? do you let her stop but inwardly clench
your teeth because she hasn't finished? do you go one step further
than she's interested because "it's an educational video"? Those are
the questions to ask inside yourself.

Whole life unschooling is a lifestyle of giving the same respect to
kids that we give to adults - you'd never think of making your
spouse/SO read the plaque at the monkey enclosure and then tell you
about them (if you could readily read it yourself). So why do that
with your kids? My DH doesn't pester me about practicing piano - I
got what I wanted out of it for the time and I'll probably get back
to it eventually but for now that's not something I'm interested in.
So why would I want to pester DS about doing something he's no
longer interested in? A shorthand is to think before you do
something whether you would do/say things in the same manner with
your partner (regardless of the topic).

A couple of analogies maybe to chew on:

remember back when you were dating whomever? you studied that
person, their looks, their interests, everything about them. If you
knew that this beloved person was head over heels excited about
TransSiberian Orchestra's music, you might pick up a newly released
CD, you might keep your eyes and ears out for concert performances
nearby, and so on. And, if you gave the CD and they didn't play it
immediately, you'd (hopefully) be okay with that. Apply that to your
kids - study them, look for things that might pique their interest,
let them decide whether to run with it or let it sit.

picture a big all you can eat buffet, everything from anchovies to
zucchini is available. You assist your child as needed - holding the
plate, helping with those really long serving utensils, providing
information "this winter squash with brown sugar is very similar to
sweet potatoes", pointing out favorites "I noticed that there was
mac& cheese over this way - want to get some?" and so on. But the
choices are theirs as to what to put on that plate. Once that plate
is done, you might notice that the squash wasn't a big hit so some
is still there but the mac & cheese disappeared in a flash. They
might want to go right back and get a whole plate of just mac &
cheese. Or they might want to get some cherry tomatoes and bell
peppers (the rings of bell peppers are really handy for corralling
those rolly tomatoes BTW lol). Or they might choose to sit and let
the first plate digest a bit. Your job is not to push them to refill
when they want to rest a bit. It's not to make them rest when they
want to refill. Your job is to facilitate what they choose to do.

One last one - learning is like eating (can you tell it's near time
for my mid morning tidbit lol) - what a given person needs at a
given time is totally individual. Yes, we all need certain nutrients
but the proportions, timing, sources are all variable. And while
eating is a visible action, the real work is digesting. Trying to
push in more food when what is needed is digesting is a recipe for
discomfort if not disaster. Same with learning: the 'quiet' times
when new learning is being assimilated might not look like much
(might in fact look like a banquet of old cartoons) but that is when
the learning is building up the internal network/structure/"body" of
thought. The school paradigm requires eating a set amount at a set
rate with little time for digesting/incorporating the information.
Allowing for down time is just as important, if not moreso, than
providing stimulation and 'learning opportunities'. The idea that
learning happens all the time does not mean that constant feeding is
required. As with food, balance is key. I know I've seen it with my
DS - he'll be deep into something, then he'll get quieter, maybe
move to something else, when he cycles back to the first thing he's
incorporated the first portion and is ready at a deeper (or higher)
level for more. It definitely doesn't look anything like what
someone with a school paradigm in mind would expect.

--Deb

--Deb

beanmommy2

--- In [email protected], "Misty Felner" <misty@...>
wrote:

For example I enrolled her
> in a Kindermusik class that she doesn't seem to enjoy, and even
though it
> meant a lot of money down the drain we stopped going since she
doesn't enjoy
> it. As an unschooler do you still encourage your kids to do
things they
> appear to have an aptitude for, dropping it of course if there is
no
> interest?

I'm a professional music teacher and musician (if it even matters)
and when people ask my opinion, I always tell them to stay away from
KinderMusik. It does not have a very good reputation among my
colleagues, and I personally did NOT care for the free sample class
I took my first child to.

IF you (or anyone else) is interested in trying a music class,
MusikGarten is far superior. There is also something called Music
Together which is good.

So ... to answer your question more broadly: I wouldn't stay at
something they blatantly don't like, but I might possibly try
another avenue to experience, say, music, that they WOULD like. That
may or may not mean a different class.



Most of the things I've seen about unschooling make me feel like
> I won't be successful at it since I don't garden, only cook if it
can be
> prepared in 30 min. or less, and more or less don't do a lot in
the way of
> house work.

Mm, I know that feeling! Well lately I am having a very difficult
preganancy with some serious medical issues, so I literally spending
most of the days in bed and at the doctors. I actually have to ask
other people to come over and do my laundry. BUT ... even when my
life was more "normal": I don't know anything about gardening, I
cook using the crockpot, don't know how to make real bread, and (the
dirtiest secret) have a cleaning person come in. And sometimes that
does make me feel lame. Isn't it a homeschooling requirement to make
your own bread?

BUT we do (used to do) other things. My girls have come to some of
my concerts or rehearsals, we used to walk to the post office,
library, whatever. COoking and gardening aren't the only interesting
things in life. And maybe someday I'll learn how to do them.

My kids are real young too, BTW. And aren't you a former public
school teacher? Me as well.

Jenny

trektheory

--- In [email protected], "beanmommy2"
<beanmommy2@...> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Most of the things I've seen about unschooling make me feel like
> > I won't be successful at it since I don't garden, only cook if
it
> can be
> > prepared in 30 min. or less, and more or less don't do a lot in
> the way of
> > house work.
>
> Mm, I know that feeling! Well lately I am having a very difficult
> preganancy with some serious medical issues, so I literally
spending
> most of the days in bed and at the doctors. I actually have to ask
> other people to come over and do my laundry. BUT ... even when my
> life was more "normal": I don't know anything about gardening, I
> cook using the crockpot, don't know how to make real bread, and
(the
> dirtiest secret) have a cleaning person come in.

Okay, was that a pun? If so, a good one!

I make bread -- in my bread machine. I'm a lazy cook, really, and
have developed lots of ways to make my life easier with that. I
love the crockpot, too -- get things done in the morning when I have
actual energy, then am done at dinner when I'm tired!

I hope your pregnancy goes smoothly to the completion. I know my
sil had problems with her two, but all are well now, these many many
years later!

Linda

Paige

We go to a small "funschool" where they take
> dulcimer, sign language, drama, and (sometimes) Spanish and science
> classes. But they don't have to go. In fact most of the time my
son is in the gymnasium bouncing balls or playing foosball because
he could care less
> about most of the classes. But his time spent bouncing a ball and
playing
> foosball is just as important as the girls learning to play the
dulcimer and how to do improvisations!


This made me think of a John Holt quote I read last night...
(incidentally, the only thing I remember reading because both my
girls were sitting on top of me reading funny and interesting things
they discovered in their magazines)lol "But a man cannot say Yes to
something with all his heart unless he has an equal right to say
No." btw, Michelle, I love reading what you write. You are a very
talented writer...do you have a blog where I could read your
writings more?
Paige

Deb

--- In [email protected], "beanmommy2"
<beanmommy2@...> wrote:
>Isn't it a homeschooling requirement to make
> your own bread?
That and wearing denim jumpers I think... now, given that DH is the at
home parent, he does make really good bread when he's got the time and
inclination but I don't think my 6' tall, 350 lb ponytailed, fully
bearded, DH is ever EVER going to don a denim jumper! LOL

--Deb

trektheory

--- In [email protected], "Deb" <soggyboysmom@...>
wrote:
>
> --- In [email protected], "beanmommy2"
> <beanmommy2@> wrote:
> >Isn't it a homeschooling requirement to make
> > your own bread?
> That and wearing denim jumpers I think... now, given that DH is the
at
> home parent, he does make really good bread when he's got the time
and
> inclination but I don't think my 6' tall, 350 lb ponytailed, fully
> bearded, DH is ever EVER going to don a denim jumper! LOL
>
> --Deb
>

Awww... and he'd look so cute in it! :-)

Linda

Misty Felner

Thanks Deb this really helped. Seems to me that I seem to have unschooling
my 2.5 yo under control. We'll see how things change as she gets older. I
might have to refer back to some of these posts for inspiration.



Misty



_____

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Deb
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 8:19 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Totally confused newbie question - what
makes an unschooler?



_____



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Misty Felner

RE: when people ask my opinion, I always tell them to stay away from
KinderMusik. It does not have a very good reputation among my
colleagues, and I personally did NOT care for the free sample class
I took my first child to.

IF you (or anyone else) is interested in trying a music class,
MusikGarten is far superior. There is also something called Music
Together which is good.



Thanks Jenny for mentioning those programs. I'll look into them if she
seems to get an interest in music again. I took 6 yrs of piano lessons,
forced by my mother living out one of her childhood dreams. I was forced to
practice 30 min/day and make up any day time that wasn't done so by the
weekends I often had 1.5 - 2 hrs. worth of practice time to get in. I
really resented my mom those 6 yrs. Ironically though I'm very happy she
made me take it b/c I really enjoy playing and though she made all three of
us kids do it, I'm the only one who owns a piano as an adult and still
plays. Music is a big part of my life and it breaks my heart that dd
doesn't seem to have much interest. But, I respect it and maybe one day
she'll change her mind. Unfortunately her interests seem to lie with art
and I am totally inartistic so I don't feel I can be too much help in that
area aside from providing materials and opportunity.



Yes I was a public school teacher I taught Deaf ed. for 7 yrs.



Misty



_____

From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of beanmommy2
Sent: Wednesday, March 29, 2006 9:04 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Totally confused newbie question - what
makes an unschooler?



_____



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Lesa McMahon-Lowe

ROTFLMAO! thanks for the laugh... there should have been a spew alert on
that one.


Lesa M.
CASDFGHJKQERTIP
L.I.F.E. Academy

"Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth."
-John F. Kennedy
-------Original Message-------

From: Deb
Date: 03/29/06 13:50:47
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: Totally confused newbie question - what
makes an unschooler?

--- In [email protected], "beanmommy2"
<beanmommy2@...> wrote:
>Isn't it a homeschooling requirement to make
> your own bread?
That and wearing denim jumpers I think... now, given that DH is the at
home parent, he does make really good bread when he's got the time and
inclination but I don't think my 6' tall, 350 lb ponytailed, fully
bearded, DH is ever EVER going to don a denim jumper! LOL

--Deb






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