Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing (long)
[email protected]
I am a writer. As we removed my son Julian (now 16) from school after the
third grade, he hated to write. All of his experiences with writing had been
forced "journal" writing and stupid vocabulary sentences.
Shortly after he'd NOT gone back to school, I invited him to go across the
street to the beach we lived near to write poetry. I think he was so startled
by the question he said yes. (we'd already had multiple conversations and
experiences where he knew he could say no.)
So we sat on the beach and I told him about haiku. He liked the idea of
haiku because it was short, had structure that his little Virgo brain
appreciated, and was usually about something in nature, and animals were his passion.
VERY quickly he'd written a very nice poem about our friend Sarah's guide
dog, whom he loved. He was thrilled that he was able to write something he
actually liked, and wrote several more. That was it for quite a while.
The next writing experience was quite a few months later. The church we went
to had a mouse problem. At first they put out a few have-a-heart traps that
apparently the mice liked quite a bit -- bait disappeared but never was a
mouse caught. The church has a food pantry (that Julian volunteered at, with me),
and they had to deal with the problem. They called an exterminator, who
informed them they had thousands of mice living in there.
Julian, who had always been a vegetarian and, as I said, LOVED animals, was
horrified and upset. He understood that there really wasn't another option,
but he wanted to do something.
What he did was to write something for the church newsletter telling people
about the situation and to be careful not to leave food out that could attract
mice in the future. He used the word "tragedy" several times, and quite a
few adults later told him that his writing helped them to remember to be
careful.
He didn't write often for a long time. His handwriting was awkward and he
found it frustrating. He was doing other things. Then when he had just turned 14
he took a class at Harvard University Extension in Evolution and Society.
He was very interested in the topic, and despite his age, his fellow students
(the next youngest was 21) assumed he was at least 18.
He had several challenging papers to write, and we coached him through
them. We didn't write them for him (we knew nothing about the topic), but we did
do some typing as he spoke, and we showed him how to structure a paper. He
ended up getting a B+ in the class, which was nice (and is useful when talking
to a skeptical grandmother), but not really why he took the class.
Now he writes songs and has taken a couple more courses with lots of
writing. He is fine. His writing has developed because he had authentic reasons for
doing it that he cared about. Writing is still not something he loves for the
sake of doing it, but it's a tool for him.
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
third grade, he hated to write. All of his experiences with writing had been
forced "journal" writing and stupid vocabulary sentences.
Shortly after he'd NOT gone back to school, I invited him to go across the
street to the beach we lived near to write poetry. I think he was so startled
by the question he said yes. (we'd already had multiple conversations and
experiences where he knew he could say no.)
So we sat on the beach and I told him about haiku. He liked the idea of
haiku because it was short, had structure that his little Virgo brain
appreciated, and was usually about something in nature, and animals were his passion.
VERY quickly he'd written a very nice poem about our friend Sarah's guide
dog, whom he loved. He was thrilled that he was able to write something he
actually liked, and wrote several more. That was it for quite a while.
The next writing experience was quite a few months later. The church we went
to had a mouse problem. At first they put out a few have-a-heart traps that
apparently the mice liked quite a bit -- bait disappeared but never was a
mouse caught. The church has a food pantry (that Julian volunteered at, with me),
and they had to deal with the problem. They called an exterminator, who
informed them they had thousands of mice living in there.
Julian, who had always been a vegetarian and, as I said, LOVED animals, was
horrified and upset. He understood that there really wasn't another option,
but he wanted to do something.
What he did was to write something for the church newsletter telling people
about the situation and to be careful not to leave food out that could attract
mice in the future. He used the word "tragedy" several times, and quite a
few adults later told him that his writing helped them to remember to be
careful.
He didn't write often for a long time. His handwriting was awkward and he
found it frustrating. He was doing other things. Then when he had just turned 14
he took a class at Harvard University Extension in Evolution and Society.
He was very interested in the topic, and despite his age, his fellow students
(the next youngest was 21) assumed he was at least 18.
He had several challenging papers to write, and we coached him through
them. We didn't write them for him (we knew nothing about the topic), but we did
do some typing as he spoke, and we showed him how to structure a paper. He
ended up getting a B+ in the class, which was nice (and is useful when talking
to a skeptical grandmother), but not really why he took the class.
Now he writes songs and has taken a couple more courses with lots of
writing. He is fine. His writing has developed because he had authentic reasons for
doing it that he cared about. Writing is still not something he loves for the
sake of doing it, but it's a tool for him.
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kristin's Natural Childcare
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
I wonder what that is based on, because I too, have terrible handwriting
(I think) but I type like a maniac. And am also a virgo. :-) I never
liked writing until I started typing, and typing didnt come easily at
first either, not until I got an instant message program in college!
Now I type nearly 75wpm. And can keep up with whats happening in my
brain :-)
I should write more .I think Ill think about that some and see if I can
get anything to come out :-) Thanks!
Kristin Suter
Kristin's Natural Childcare
"Supporting your family's natural lifestyle"
www.kristinsnaturalchildcare.com
women.tools.knowledge
pass it on
www.suburbantomboy.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
KathrynJB@...
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing
(long)
I am a writer. As we removed my son Julian (now 16) from school after
the
third grade, he hated to write. All of his experiences with writing had
been
forced "journal" writing and stupid vocabulary sentences.
Shortly after he'd NOT gone back to school, I invited him to go across
the
street to the beach we lived near to write poetry. I think he was so
startled
by the question he said yes. (we'd already had multiple conversations
and
experiences where he knew he could say no.)
So we sat on the beach and I told him about haiku. He liked the idea of
haiku because it was short, had structure that his little Virgo brain
appreciated, and was usually about something in nature, and animals were
his passion.
VERY quickly he'd written a very nice poem about our friend Sarah's
guide
dog, whom he loved. He was thrilled that he was able to write something
he
actually liked, and wrote several more. That was it for quite a while.
The next writing experience was quite a few months later. The church we
went
to had a mouse problem. At first they put out a few have-a-heart traps
that
apparently the mice liked quite a bit -- bait disappeared but never was
a
mouse caught. The church has a food pantry (that Julian volunteered at,
with me),
and they had to deal with the problem. They called an exterminator, who
informed them they had thousands of mice living in there.
Julian, who had always been a vegetarian and, as I said, LOVED animals,
was
horrified and upset. He understood that there really wasn't another
option,
but he wanted to do something.
What he did was to write something for the church newsletter telling
people
about the situation and to be careful not to leave food out that could
attract
mice in the future. He used the word "tragedy" several times, and quite
a
few adults later told him that his writing helped them to remember to be
careful.
He didn't write often for a long time. His handwriting was awkward and
he
found it frustrating. He was doing other things. Then when he had just
turned 14
he took a class at Harvard University Extension in Evolution and
Society.
He was very interested in the topic, and despite his age, his fellow
students
(the next youngest was 21) assumed he was at least 18.
He had several challenging papers to write, and we coached him through
them. We didn't write them for him (we knew nothing about the topic),
but we did
do some typing as he spoke, and we showed him how to structure a paper.
He
ended up getting a B+ in the class, which was nice (and is useful when
talking
to a skeptical grandmother), but not really why he took the class.
Now he writes songs and has taken a couple more courses with lots of
writing. He is fine. His writing has developed because he had authentic
reasons for
doing it that he cared about. Writing is still not something he loves
for the
sake of doing it, but it's a tool for him.
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
I wonder what that is based on, because I too, have terrible handwriting
(I think) but I type like a maniac. And am also a virgo. :-) I never
liked writing until I started typing, and typing didnt come easily at
first either, not until I got an instant message program in college!
Now I type nearly 75wpm. And can keep up with whats happening in my
brain :-)
I should write more .I think Ill think about that some and see if I can
get anything to come out :-) Thanks!
Kristin Suter
Kristin's Natural Childcare
"Supporting your family's natural lifestyle"
www.kristinsnaturalchildcare.com
women.tools.knowledge
pass it on
www.suburbantomboy.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of
KathrynJB@...
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing
(long)
I am a writer. As we removed my son Julian (now 16) from school after
the
third grade, he hated to write. All of his experiences with writing had
been
forced "journal" writing and stupid vocabulary sentences.
Shortly after he'd NOT gone back to school, I invited him to go across
the
street to the beach we lived near to write poetry. I think he was so
startled
by the question he said yes. (we'd already had multiple conversations
and
experiences where he knew he could say no.)
So we sat on the beach and I told him about haiku. He liked the idea of
haiku because it was short, had structure that his little Virgo brain
appreciated, and was usually about something in nature, and animals were
his passion.
VERY quickly he'd written a very nice poem about our friend Sarah's
guide
dog, whom he loved. He was thrilled that he was able to write something
he
actually liked, and wrote several more. That was it for quite a while.
The next writing experience was quite a few months later. The church we
went
to had a mouse problem. At first they put out a few have-a-heart traps
that
apparently the mice liked quite a bit -- bait disappeared but never was
a
mouse caught. The church has a food pantry (that Julian volunteered at,
with me),
and they had to deal with the problem. They called an exterminator, who
informed them they had thousands of mice living in there.
Julian, who had always been a vegetarian and, as I said, LOVED animals,
was
horrified and upset. He understood that there really wasn't another
option,
but he wanted to do something.
What he did was to write something for the church newsletter telling
people
about the situation and to be careful not to leave food out that could
attract
mice in the future. He used the word "tragedy" several times, and quite
a
few adults later told him that his writing helped them to remember to be
careful.
He didn't write often for a long time. His handwriting was awkward and
he
found it frustrating. He was doing other things. Then when he had just
turned 14
he took a class at Harvard University Extension in Evolution and
Society.
He was very interested in the topic, and despite his age, his fellow
students
(the next youngest was 21) assumed he was at least 18.
He had several challenging papers to write, and we coached him through
them. We didn't write them for him (we knew nothing about the topic),
but we did
do some typing as he spoke, and we showed him how to structure a paper.
He
ended up getting a B+ in the class, which was nice (and is useful when
talking
to a skeptical grandmother), but not really why he took the class.
Now he writes songs and has taken a couple more courses with lots of
writing. He is fine. His writing has developed because he had authentic
reasons for
doing it that he cared about. Writing is still not something he loves
for the
sake of doing it, but it's a tool for him.
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Kristin's Natural Childcare
I just realized that I haven't introduced myself!
Hello All :-) I am Kristin, mother to Ainsley who is nearly 5yo. I
have no intentions of using the public school system here in Florida, as
it is dreadful (IMO)
I am trying to unschool my child, or let her lead the way in her
learning, while also keeping 4 'other peoples kids' in my home during
the day. I have found this to be most challenging, however it is our
only option right now. I am a single mom, and the daycare is my only
income. At least it gives me the opportunity to stay home!!!
I hope to learn much from the group. :-)
Kristin Suter
Kristin's Natural Childcare
"Supporting your family's natural lifestyle"
www.kristinsnaturalchildcare.com
women.tools.knowledge
pass it on
www.suburbantomboy.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kristin's
Natural Childcare
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:14 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [unschoolingbasics] Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing
(long)
"Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference."
I wonder what that is based on, because I too, have terrible handwriting
(I think) but I type like a maniac. And am also a virgo. :-) I never
liked writing until I started typing, and typing didn't come easily at
first either, not until I got an instant message program in college!
Now I type nearly 75wpm. And can keep up with 'what's happening in my
brain' :-)
I should write more..I think I'll think about that some and see if I can
get anything to come out :-) Thanks!
Kristin Suter
Kristin's Natural Childcare
"Supporting your family's natural lifestyle"
www.kristinsnaturalchildcare.com
women.tools.knowledge
pass it on
www.suburbantomboy.com
-----Original Message-----
From: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com
[mailto:unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
KathrynJB@aol. <mailto:KathrynJB%40aol.com> com
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:05 AM
To: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing
(long)
I am a writer. As we removed my son Julian (now 16) from school after
the
third grade, he hated to write. All of his experiences with writing had
been
forced "journal" writing and stupid vocabulary sentences.
Shortly after he'd NOT gone back to school, I invited him to go across
the
street to the beach we lived near to write poetry. I think he was so
startled
by the question he said yes. (we'd already had multiple conversations
and
experiences where he knew he could say no.)
So we sat on the beach and I told him about haiku. He liked the idea of
haiku because it was short, had structure that his little Virgo brain
appreciated, and was usually about something in nature, and animals were
his passion.
VERY quickly he'd written a very nice poem about our friend Sarah's
guide
dog, whom he loved. He was thrilled that he was able to write something
he
actually liked, and wrote several more. That was it for quite a while.
The next writing experience was quite a few months later. The church we
went
to had a mouse problem. At first they put out a few have-a-heart traps
that
apparently the mice liked quite a bit -- bait disappeared but never was
a
mouse caught. The church has a food pantry (that Julian volunteered at,
with me),
and they had to deal with the problem. They called an exterminator, who
informed them they had thousands of mice living in there.
Julian, who had always been a vegetarian and, as I said, LOVED animals,
was
horrified and upset. He understood that there really wasn't another
option,
but he wanted to do something.
What he did was to write something for the church newsletter telling
people
about the situation and to be careful not to leave food out that could
attract
mice in the future. He used the word "tragedy" several times, and quite
a
few adults later told him that his writing helped them to remember to be
careful.
He didn't write often for a long time. His handwriting was awkward and
he
found it frustrating. He was doing other things. Then when he had just
turned 14
he took a class at Harvard University Extension in Evolution and
Society.
He was very interested in the topic, and despite his age, his fellow
students
(the next youngest was 21) assumed he was at least 18.
He had several challenging papers to write, and we coached him through
them. We didn't write them for him (we knew nothing about the topic),
but we did
do some typing as he spoke, and we showed him how to structure a paper.
He
ended up getting a B+ in the class, which was nice (and is useful when
talking
to a skeptical grandmother), but not really why he took the class.
Now he writes songs and has taken a couple more courses with lots of
writing. He is fine. His writing has developed because he had authentic
reasons for
doing it that he cared about. Writing is still not something he loves
for the
sake of doing it, but it's a tool for him.
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Hello All :-) I am Kristin, mother to Ainsley who is nearly 5yo. I
have no intentions of using the public school system here in Florida, as
it is dreadful (IMO)
I am trying to unschool my child, or let her lead the way in her
learning, while also keeping 4 'other peoples kids' in my home during
the day. I have found this to be most challenging, however it is our
only option right now. I am a single mom, and the daycare is my only
income. At least it gives me the opportunity to stay home!!!
I hope to learn much from the group. :-)
Kristin Suter
Kristin's Natural Childcare
"Supporting your family's natural lifestyle"
www.kristinsnaturalchildcare.com
women.tools.knowledge
pass it on
www.suburbantomboy.com
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Kristin's
Natural Childcare
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:14 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: RE: [unschoolingbasics] Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing
(long)
"Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference."
I wonder what that is based on, because I too, have terrible handwriting
(I think) but I type like a maniac. And am also a virgo. :-) I never
liked writing until I started typing, and typing didn't come easily at
first either, not until I got an instant message program in college!
Now I type nearly 75wpm. And can keep up with 'what's happening in my
brain' :-)
I should write more..I think I'll think about that some and see if I can
get anything to come out :-) Thanks!
Kristin Suter
Kristin's Natural Childcare
"Supporting your family's natural lifestyle"
www.kristinsnaturalchildcare.com
women.tools.knowledge
pass it on
www.suburbantomboy.com
-----Original Message-----
From: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com
[mailto:unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
KathrynJB@aol. <mailto:KathrynJB%40aol.com> com
Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 9:05 AM
To: unschoolingbasics@ <mailto:unschoolingbasics%40yahoogroups.com>
yahoogroups.com
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Re: the Is it Enough posts. :) Writing
(long)
I am a writer. As we removed my son Julian (now 16) from school after
the
third grade, he hated to write. All of his experiences with writing had
been
forced "journal" writing and stupid vocabulary sentences.
Shortly after he'd NOT gone back to school, I invited him to go across
the
street to the beach we lived near to write poetry. I think he was so
startled
by the question he said yes. (we'd already had multiple conversations
and
experiences where he knew he could say no.)
So we sat on the beach and I told him about haiku. He liked the idea of
haiku because it was short, had structure that his little Virgo brain
appreciated, and was usually about something in nature, and animals were
his passion.
VERY quickly he'd written a very nice poem about our friend Sarah's
guide
dog, whom he loved. He was thrilled that he was able to write something
he
actually liked, and wrote several more. That was it for quite a while.
The next writing experience was quite a few months later. The church we
went
to had a mouse problem. At first they put out a few have-a-heart traps
that
apparently the mice liked quite a bit -- bait disappeared but never was
a
mouse caught. The church has a food pantry (that Julian volunteered at,
with me),
and they had to deal with the problem. They called an exterminator, who
informed them they had thousands of mice living in there.
Julian, who had always been a vegetarian and, as I said, LOVED animals,
was
horrified and upset. He understood that there really wasn't another
option,
but he wanted to do something.
What he did was to write something for the church newsletter telling
people
about the situation and to be careful not to leave food out that could
attract
mice in the future. He used the word "tragedy" several times, and quite
a
few adults later told him that his writing helped them to remember to be
careful.
He didn't write often for a long time. His handwriting was awkward and
he
found it frustrating. He was doing other things. Then when he had just
turned 14
he took a class at Harvard University Extension in Evolution and
Society.
He was very interested in the topic, and despite his age, his fellow
students
(the next youngest was 21) assumed he was at least 18.
He had several challenging papers to write, and we coached him through
them. We didn't write them for him (we knew nothing about the topic),
but we did
do some typing as he spoke, and we showed him how to structure a paper.
He
ended up getting a B+ in the class, which was nice (and is useful when
talking
to a skeptical grandmother), but not really why he took the class.
Now he writes songs and has taken a couple more courses with lots of
writing. He is fine. His writing has developed because he had authentic
reasons for
doing it that he cared about. Writing is still not something he loves
for the
sake of doing it, but it's a tool for him.
Oh....his handwriting is still not, well, pretty...but he types very
fast on
the computer and now the act of recording his writing can keep up with
what's
happening in his brain. That has made a HUGE difference.
Kathryn
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]