Robin Marcoccia

Christy,

I can totally relate! My older sister actually began screaming at me (spitting in my face -
she was so close) at the mere mention of homeschooling, let alone unschooling. Her exact
words, I believe, were " You're going to ruin your son!". My best advice to you is to keep
your comments back to a bare minimum. Tell her what she wants to hear, frame your
learning experience in terms she relates to and try to keep from spending much time
interacting with her. Ultimately people like these don't want to hear our explanations or
rationale. Anything that you do differently they take as an indictment on the way they are
doing or have done things. Just remember that your focus is your children and not
spending time and effort trying to "convert" naysaying family members.
Now, if she were ever genuinely interested in unschooling, I'd recommend sending Rue
Kream's book or Sandra's MOVING A PUDDLE. Alfie Kohn's PUNISHED BY REWARDS is a
good way of explaing the damaging effects of testing and grading on learning.

Hang in there,
Robin
Ma to Luca, 6 and Lillian 4