RE: how do you do summer
[email protected]
Hi,
I have 1 in school ( by choice, she was unschooled and now chooses school) 2 at home. I find the artificial hype about when school gets out to be just that, hype. Like going back to school, it is a marketing technique and kids don't even realize that they don't get to think about how they really feel. It's get all excited, schools out, then in a mere 12 weeks, get all excited, schools starting, then 2 more months, get all excited, it's winter break. It is another reason why the whole school thing is mind dumbing. It's all these kids can think about, do you think they are engaging in the day while actually counting down the hours. They are doing the bare minimum to get through, mine included.
My 2 at home are like, big deal, it's been summer for us already for a month. We have been swimming, fishing, going to the lake. Summer stuff. My 1 in school has a count down by how many hours are left. She could stay at home if she wanted, but she chooses to be with the masses, getting hyped for these really meaningless milestones. Her choice.
Now, we do summer like any other season. We avoid the heat of the day, we have friends over all the time day and night, we go to the pool alot, it's a mere 200 feet from the house, we play late night kick the can, spend time with neighbors and go camping and such. We go to the beach, but only on weekdays, as we are crowd avoiders. We go to theme parks, again, only on weekdays. We go to the HSC Home=Ed conference, and we go to a lot of swim meets. My 2 at home and I feel like it is always summer vacation, in that we can a do what we want, when we want, whenever we want.
When people comment that wow, you homeschool, I could never do that, I tell them, it's just like weeekends and summer break, we play and have fun as much as we can. It's a conversation stopper, but I get my point across. So, how do you have fun? That is how you do summer.
Yesterday was like a preview for those kids around here who are in school.Their parents were saying sure because there are no big projects due, the year is basically done, just 4 more days to go through, so.. I had 8 kids over here, 8 went to the pool, 8 came back over and showered, well 4 did, and we have 1 bathroom, did their girl things with their hair and switching clothes, then piled into another parents car for a bowling night. The 2 who stayed home watched a DVD in a neighbors tent, played hair salon, and then the kids had a great big game of kick the can until the bugs came out. We didn't eat a dinner per say. It was a flowing day that summers are known for, truly kid run and they all had a blast.
Mary
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I have 1 in school ( by choice, she was unschooled and now chooses school) 2 at home. I find the artificial hype about when school gets out to be just that, hype. Like going back to school, it is a marketing technique and kids don't even realize that they don't get to think about how they really feel. It's get all excited, schools out, then in a mere 12 weeks, get all excited, schools starting, then 2 more months, get all excited, it's winter break. It is another reason why the whole school thing is mind dumbing. It's all these kids can think about, do you think they are engaging in the day while actually counting down the hours. They are doing the bare minimum to get through, mine included.
My 2 at home are like, big deal, it's been summer for us already for a month. We have been swimming, fishing, going to the lake. Summer stuff. My 1 in school has a count down by how many hours are left. She could stay at home if she wanted, but she chooses to be with the masses, getting hyped for these really meaningless milestones. Her choice.
Now, we do summer like any other season. We avoid the heat of the day, we have friends over all the time day and night, we go to the pool alot, it's a mere 200 feet from the house, we play late night kick the can, spend time with neighbors and go camping and such. We go to the beach, but only on weekdays, as we are crowd avoiders. We go to theme parks, again, only on weekdays. We go to the HSC Home=Ed conference, and we go to a lot of swim meets. My 2 at home and I feel like it is always summer vacation, in that we can a do what we want, when we want, whenever we want.
When people comment that wow, you homeschool, I could never do that, I tell them, it's just like weeekends and summer break, we play and have fun as much as we can. It's a conversation stopper, but I get my point across. So, how do you have fun? That is how you do summer.
Yesterday was like a preview for those kids around here who are in school.Their parents were saying sure because there are no big projects due, the year is basically done, just 4 more days to go through, so.. I had 8 kids over here, 8 went to the pool, 8 came back over and showered, well 4 did, and we have 1 bathroom, did their girl things with their hair and switching clothes, then piled into another parents car for a bowling night. The 2 who stayed home watched a DVD in a neighbors tent, played hair salon, and then the kids had a great big game of kick the can until the bugs came out. We didn't eat a dinner per say. It was a flowing day that summers are known for, truly kid run and they all had a blast.
Mary
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
>>When people comment that wow, you homeschool, I could never do that, I tell them, it's just like weeekends and summer break, we play and have fun as much as we can.>>When you're an unschooling family,weekends and summer break are different than with kids who go to school. Unschooled kids are not being let loose after a week or year of confinement. They're not finally free to choose their activities after a week or year of forced curriculum, tests and homework. They don't feel that pressing need to let loose, act up, show off or go crazy.
I think weekends and summers with kids still tied to school can end up stressful because school is always lurking in the background. I think that's why we hear so many comments like that. So sad.
--
~Mary
http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/
"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: mfhickman@...
> Hi,
>
> I have 1 in school ( by choice, she was unschooled and now chooses school) 2 at
> home. I find the artificial hype about when school gets out to be just that,
> hype. Like going back to school, it is a marketing technique and kids don't even
> realize that they don't get to think about how they really feel. It's get all
> excited, schools out, then in a mere 12 weeks, get all excited, schools
> starting, then 2 more months, get all excited, it's winter break. It is another
> reason why the whole school thing is mind dumbing. It's all these kids can think
> about, do you think they are engaging in the day while actually counting down
> the hours. They are doing the bare minimum to get through, mine included.
>
> My 2 at home are like, big deal, it's been summer for us already for a month. We
> have been swimming, fishing, going to the lake. Summer stuff. My 1 in school has
> a count down by how many hours are left. She could stay at home if she wanted,
> but she chooses to be with the masses, getting hyped for these really
> meaningless milestones. Her choice.
>
> Now, we do summer like any other season. We avoid the heat of the day, we have
> friends over all the time day and night, we go to the pool alot, it's a mere 200
> feet from the house, we play late night kick the can, spend time with neighbors
> and go camping and such. We go to the beach, but only on weekdays, as we are
> crowd avoiders. We go to theme parks, again, only on weekdays. We go to the HSC
> Home=Ed conference, and we go to a lot of swim meets. My 2 at home and I feel
> like it is always summer vacation, in that we can a do what we want, when we
> want, whenever we want.
>
> When people comment that wow, you homeschool, I could never do that, I tell
> them, it's just like weeekends and summer break, we play and have fun as much as
> we can. It's a conversation stopper, but I get my point across. So, how do you
> have fun? That is how you do summer.
>
> Yesterday was like a preview for those kids around here who are in school.Their
> parents were saying sure because there are no big projects due, the year is
> basically done, just 4 more days to go through, so.. I had 8 kids over here, 8
> went to the pool, 8 came back over and showered, well 4 did, and we have 1
> bathroom, did their girl things with their hair and switching clothes, then
> piled into another parents car for a bowling night. The 2 who stayed home
> watched a DVD in a neighbors tent, played hair salon, and then the kids had a
> great big game of kick the can until the bugs came out. We didn't eat a dinner
> per say. It was a flowing day that summers are known for, truly kid run and they
> all had a blast.
>
> Mary
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
Alice Sackman
zenmomma@... wrote:
When you're an unschooling family,weekends and summer break are
different than with kids who go to school. Unschooled kids are not being
let loose after a week or year of confinement. They're not finally free
to choose their activities after a week or year of forced curriculum,
tests and homework. They don't feel that pressing need to let loose, act
up, show off or go crazy.
**This is so true! I was thinking that unschooling feels sort of like
"you've graduated" - you know that point in your life where
school-learning is behind you and your life is stretching before you.
As adults we don't worry about profiency tests or whether we can do
higher math or whether we can write an essay unless these are things
that we actually need/use in our real lives. Adults continue to learn
but in an unschooly way. As adults, we are free to choose to do what
interests us instead of following some experts planned curriculum that
is intended to "enrich" our lives (really "enslave" is more like it).
So to me unschooling is just saying that the kids live that adult
reality right now, free to choose what interests them, free to create
their own life in the way that makes them happy and learn what they need
to learn as byproduct of living their life. They are "graduated" so to
speak - not meaning that they are done with learning, but they are done
with school and consequently, "summer break" really loses all meaning.
Just some thoughts,
Alice
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
When you're an unschooling family,weekends and summer break are
different than with kids who go to school. Unschooled kids are not being
let loose after a week or year of confinement. They're not finally free
to choose their activities after a week or year of forced curriculum,
tests and homework. They don't feel that pressing need to let loose, act
up, show off or go crazy.
**This is so true! I was thinking that unschooling feels sort of like
"you've graduated" - you know that point in your life where
school-learning is behind you and your life is stretching before you.
As adults we don't worry about profiency tests or whether we can do
higher math or whether we can write an essay unless these are things
that we actually need/use in our real lives. Adults continue to learn
but in an unschooly way. As adults, we are free to choose to do what
interests us instead of following some experts planned curriculum that
is intended to "enrich" our lives (really "enslave" is more like it).
So to me unschooling is just saying that the kids live that adult
reality right now, free to choose what interests them, free to create
their own life in the way that makes them happy and learn what they need
to learn as byproduct of living their life. They are "graduated" so to
speak - not meaning that they are done with learning, but they are done
with school and consequently, "summer break" really loses all meaning.
Just some thoughts,
Alice
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
meri_aliss
<thesackmans@...> wrote:
moment it dawned on me that from this moment forward I could read for
fun and only for fun!
Looking back I see that I keep waiting for something to
happen--someone to say, "Recess is over, get back to work!" and with
that scarcity in mind, I tend to overdo some enjoyable things. But if
I don't have "school" to do for me or for my kids, then what else is
there to do but enjoy life as it comes?!
Oh, thank you!
MA
>I was thinking that unschooling feels sort of like
> "you've graduated" - you know that point in your life whereYes! As I spent 10 years prostrate to the higher mind, I remember the
> school-learning is behind you and your life is stretching before you.
moment it dawned on me that from this moment forward I could read for
fun and only for fun!
Looking back I see that I keep waiting for something to
happen--someone to say, "Recess is over, get back to work!" and with
that scarcity in mind, I tend to overdo some enjoyable things. But if
I don't have "school" to do for me or for my kids, then what else is
there to do but enjoy life as it comes?!
Oh, thank you!
MA
Alice Sackman
meri_aliss wrote:_
Yes! As I spent 10 years prostrate to the higher mind, I remember the
moment it dawned on me that from this moment forward I could read for
fun and only for fun!
** Me too! Now I check out tons of books from the library and often
read 4 - 5 at time. If I don't like it, back it goes. I read to get
what I need and then I am done. All that guilt gone. Geez, it use to
be such an ordeal picking out a book because it was like this huge
commitment. I had some kind of running commentary in my head that said
I HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE THING OR I AM A BAD PERSON.
oops, gotta go read to my dd! We may or may not finish the book but we
will have fun in the process! :)
-alice
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Yes! As I spent 10 years prostrate to the higher mind, I remember the
moment it dawned on me that from this moment forward I could read for
fun and only for fun!
** Me too! Now I check out tons of books from the library and often
read 4 - 5 at time. If I don't like it, back it goes. I read to get
what I need and then I am done. All that guilt gone. Geez, it use to
be such an ordeal picking out a book because it was like this huge
commitment. I had some kind of running commentary in my head that said
I HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE THING OR I AM A BAD PERSON.
oops, gotta go read to my dd! We may or may not finish the book but we
will have fun in the process! :)
-alice
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Alice Sackman
Ok, now I am really gone off the deep end cuz I am responding to my own
posts! LOL
I was thinking about how I said that I thought unschooling was like
being "graduated" because it is like you are finished with school and
you have your whole life ahead of you. Well, I still think that, but I
think that only begins to describe it. It seems to me that the
definition of unschooling has two sides, a positive and a negative. The
first definition that people run into is the negative side (and the part
that is best described by term "graduated"). It is the "un" in
unschooling, the part that you are not doing. Not doing school, not
doing limits, not forcing your agenda on someone else. I think this
side can be quite a shocker and it leaves people feeling like "well what
the heck DO you do?" I know that I when I first began trying to
understand unschooling it struck me as "doing nothing" -which I now know
not to be true but that is how it appeared. It is easier to describe
unschooling in negative terms instead of positive to a beginner.
After a year now of trying to wrap my head around it, I am finally
starting to see the positive side of the defiinition. It isn't
"nothing" - it is wonderful! It is joyous! It is choices and life and
love and people and having fun. It is what is left when you take all
the arbitary, pointless, fear-driven, guilt-ridden stuff out of your
life. Nobody can quite describe it for anyone else, it just doesn't fit
any easy definition. You just start doing the "un" by taking out all
that yucky stuff from your life and it slowly reveals itself like a
beautiful gem that was buried in the dirt. The mistake we make in the
beginning is thinking that the dirt is what is important, that the dirt
is necessary. We think the dirt is our true Self! It takes a
monumental leap of faith to begin the cleanup process and see what is
underneath but once you get a glimpse of the shining diamond you never
go back.
Ok! I am done with the bad analogies! LOL Thanks for letting me put
my thoughts on paper, so to speak, it really helps me solidify the ideas
in my mind.
-alice
posts! LOL
I was thinking about how I said that I thought unschooling was like
being "graduated" because it is like you are finished with school and
you have your whole life ahead of you. Well, I still think that, but I
think that only begins to describe it. It seems to me that the
definition of unschooling has two sides, a positive and a negative. The
first definition that people run into is the negative side (and the part
that is best described by term "graduated"). It is the "un" in
unschooling, the part that you are not doing. Not doing school, not
doing limits, not forcing your agenda on someone else. I think this
side can be quite a shocker and it leaves people feeling like "well what
the heck DO you do?" I know that I when I first began trying to
understand unschooling it struck me as "doing nothing" -which I now know
not to be true but that is how it appeared. It is easier to describe
unschooling in negative terms instead of positive to a beginner.
After a year now of trying to wrap my head around it, I am finally
starting to see the positive side of the defiinition. It isn't
"nothing" - it is wonderful! It is joyous! It is choices and life and
love and people and having fun. It is what is left when you take all
the arbitary, pointless, fear-driven, guilt-ridden stuff out of your
life. Nobody can quite describe it for anyone else, it just doesn't fit
any easy definition. You just start doing the "un" by taking out all
that yucky stuff from your life and it slowly reveals itself like a
beautiful gem that was buried in the dirt. The mistake we make in the
beginning is thinking that the dirt is what is important, that the dirt
is necessary. We think the dirt is our true Self! It takes a
monumental leap of faith to begin the cleanup process and see what is
underneath but once you get a glimpse of the shining diamond you never
go back.
Ok! I am done with the bad analogies! LOL Thanks for letting me put
my thoughts on paper, so to speak, it really helps me solidify the ideas
in my mind.
-alice
Pamela Sorooshian
On Jun 15, 2006, at 3:07 PM, Alice Sackman wrote:
of what I was trying to say (in another thread) about how what we're
doing is something a lot more than just being permissive parents.
-pam
Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> After a year now of trying to wrap my head around it, I am finallyKeep 'em comin' -- this was really good, Alice. A GREAT explanation
> starting to see the positive side of the defiinition. It isn't
> "nothing" - it is wonderful! It is joyous! It is choices and life
> and
> love and people and having fun. It is what is left when you take all
> the arbitary, pointless, fear-driven, guilt-ridden stuff out of your
> life. Nobody can quite describe it for anyone else, it just
> doesn't fit
> any easy definition. You just start doing the "un" by taking out all
> that yucky stuff from your life and it slowly reveals itself like a
> beautiful gem that was buried in the dirt. The mistake we make in the
> beginning is thinking that the dirt is what is important, that the
> dirt
> is necessary. We think the dirt is our true Self! It takes a
> monumental leap of faith to begin the cleanup process and see what is
> underneath but once you get a glimpse of the shining diamond you never
> go back.
>
> Ok! I am done with the bad analogies! LOL Thanks for letting me put
> my thoughts on paper, so to speak, it really helps me solidify the
> ideas
> in my mind.
of what I was trying to say (in another thread) about how what we're
doing is something a lot more than just being permissive parents.
-pam
Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
freepsgal
> After a year now of trying to wrap my head around it, I am finallyAlice, I *love* this description. I can relate exactly to what you
> starting to see the positive side of the defiinition. It isn't
> "nothing" - it is wonderful! It is joyous! It is choices and
> life and love and people and having fun. It is what is left when
> you take all the arbitary, pointless, fear-driven, guilt-ridden
> stuff out of your life.
> -alice
are saying! My DH and I are amazed at how free we feel. It's
definitely cool. I've been like a yo-yo with homeschool
methodologies, and even called myself an unschooler twice in our
homeschool journey. But I always fell back into my old patterns. I
really think I'm finally over that! I don't look at curriculum the
way I used to. Now that I finally get what 'life' is like, I don't
think I'll fall so easily back into those old routines/thoughts.
Beth M.