run-ins, and unschooling
Melissa
Having read my fair share of posts about run-in's with people and
talking about unschooling, I wanted to share something that happened
yesterday. The kids and I were at Home Depot buying a new light (of
course, can you say swirl? Then we looked at tiles, then tile
cleaners, then comparing products, then flooring samples, which the
girls walked away with a few for ATC's, etc) Anyway, we ran into one
of the aide's from Emily's kindergarden class, gosh, maybe two years
ago?
She asked how things were going, and when I mentioned how much fun we
were having, she realized that the kids weren't in school anymore.
"OH! So you're homeschooling?" Josh pipes in really LOUDLY (his
normal volumn) "Yeah, we're unschoolers!" She looks at him, and says
that there is no such thing as unschooling, and that he shouldn't say
it because people will think he's ignorant. Oh man, one thing Josh
cannot tolerate is people thinking his ignorant, so the argument
starts. Maybe two exchanges before I glance at him and make our
universal silence sign, and he quits (although I will say that he
muttered one more 'I'm too cool for school' logo). I mention that we
need to get home, and install the light before it gets dark, so we
scram.
When we were walking away, I told Josh that sometimes it's not about
arguing, it's about recognizing that some people will not understand,
and a 60 year old teachers assistant is going to be one of those. And
we talked about Sandra's example of where you live...and he totally
understood that and I am still kicking myself for being too much of a
coward to stand up for my son and say that we ARE unschooling. Sigh.
Next time for sure.
Melissa
Mom to Josh (11), Breanna (9), Emily (7), Rachel (6), Sam (5), Dan
(3), and Avari Rose
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
talking about unschooling, I wanted to share something that happened
yesterday. The kids and I were at Home Depot buying a new light (of
course, can you say swirl? Then we looked at tiles, then tile
cleaners, then comparing products, then flooring samples, which the
girls walked away with a few for ATC's, etc) Anyway, we ran into one
of the aide's from Emily's kindergarden class, gosh, maybe two years
ago?
She asked how things were going, and when I mentioned how much fun we
were having, she realized that the kids weren't in school anymore.
"OH! So you're homeschooling?" Josh pipes in really LOUDLY (his
normal volumn) "Yeah, we're unschoolers!" She looks at him, and says
that there is no such thing as unschooling, and that he shouldn't say
it because people will think he's ignorant. Oh man, one thing Josh
cannot tolerate is people thinking his ignorant, so the argument
starts. Maybe two exchanges before I glance at him and make our
universal silence sign, and he quits (although I will say that he
muttered one more 'I'm too cool for school' logo). I mention that we
need to get home, and install the light before it gets dark, so we
scram.
When we were walking away, I told Josh that sometimes it's not about
arguing, it's about recognizing that some people will not understand,
and a 60 year old teachers assistant is going to be one of those. And
we talked about Sandra's example of where you live...and he totally
understood that and I am still kicking myself for being too much of a
coward to stand up for my son and say that we ARE unschooling. Sigh.
Next time for sure.
Melissa
Mom to Josh (11), Breanna (9), Emily (7), Rachel (6), Sam (5), Dan
(3), and Avari Rose
share our lives at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
rebecca de
Melissa,
Don't be to hard on yourself! Lesson learned -- I bet next time you'll stand a little taller and say something profound to the person. For instance when you said the lady said there was no such thing as being unschooled -- then I suppose you could have said "your right -- my children are always learning." Geez, I am never to quick on things. For instance I should have made the bus driver let me hug my child when he asked for last week when I tried sending him to headstart/preschool -- instead I let them dictate that he needed to just get on the bus because he would stop crying as soon as they drove away.... But I suppose if that incident hadn't of happened I wouldn't have been pushed quicker to say -- forget he's not going.....
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Don't be to hard on yourself! Lesson learned -- I bet next time you'll stand a little taller and say something profound to the person. For instance when you said the lady said there was no such thing as being unschooled -- then I suppose you could have said "your right -- my children are always learning." Geez, I am never to quick on things. For instance I should have made the bus driver let me hug my child when he asked for last week when I tried sending him to headstart/preschool -- instead I let them dictate that he needed to just get on the bus because he would stop crying as soon as they drove away.... But I suppose if that incident hadn't of happened I wouldn't have been pushed quicker to say -- forget he's not going.....
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. Make PC-to-Phone Calls to the US (and 30+ countries) for 2¢/min or less.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Sylvia Toyama
It must be the conference experience rubbing off on the kids. This past week, the kids and I met Gary at the Explora (kids' museum) and both Andy and Gary explained to someone there that we unschool.
A volunteer asked Andy where he goes to school, he said "I don't go to school." She said, "Oh, so you homeschool?" He answered "We unschool." Moments later, I showed up (he'd been exploring on his own) and she greeted me with "so, you unschool?" I said yes, and when she asked I answered that unschooling is homeschooling without a curriculum, following our own interests. Her only question was whether it was harder than schooling with a curriculum. I said not really, but it is more fun!
Later, as I was telling Gary about the unschooling conversation with the volunteer, he related his own conversation with another volunteer where he told her we unschool. Always before he starts out saying we homeschool, tho he often gets caught up in definitions of unschooling anyway, since folks always assume we school-at-home.
Sylvia
---------------------------------
Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
A volunteer asked Andy where he goes to school, he said "I don't go to school." She said, "Oh, so you homeschool?" He answered "We unschool." Moments later, I showed up (he'd been exploring on his own) and she greeted me with "so, you unschool?" I said yes, and when she asked I answered that unschooling is homeschooling without a curriculum, following our own interests. Her only question was whether it was harder than schooling with a curriculum. I said not really, but it is more fun!
Later, as I was telling Gary about the unschooling conversation with the volunteer, he related his own conversation with another volunteer where he told her we unschool. Always before he starts out saying we homeschool, tho he often gets caught up in definitions of unschooling anyway, since folks always assume we school-at-home.
Sylvia
---------------------------------
Get your email and more, right on the new Yahoo.com
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]