Melynda Laurent

We unschooled (I didn't know then there was a word for our lifestyle
but that's what we did naturally) my dd (now 7) from birth - 5, then
she attended PS from K though 1/2 of 2nd grade (against my better
judgement :-( ) . She is now home and loving it BUT the stupid school
mentality has been ingrained in her (it takes so little)and she
worries about not doing schoolish things. In addition, people as her
" so what did you do/learn today and she feels this pressure to come
up with something big. Since we are new to this again- how would some
of old unschoolers you handle this? Advice?

Melynda
dd 7, dd 3.5, ds 22 mo, edd 4/07

Joanne

She needs some time to deschool. It won't happen over night, but it
will happen in her own time. My kids were in school for years, much
longer than your daughter and they're doing okay now. :-)

How long has she ben out of school?

~ Joanne ~
Mom to Jacqueline (8), Shawna (11) & Cimion (14)
http://anunschoolinglife.blogspot.com/

plaidpanties666

--- In [email protected], "Melynda Laurent"
<melyndalaurent@...> wrote:
>> people ask her
> " so what did you do/learn today and she feels this pressure to come
> up with something big.

Who is asking? Is it someone you can talk to separately and diffuse
this situation? I keep a blog for this purpose - so the extended
family can see what the kids are up to and make *real* conversation.
Most of the time people ask That question b/c they just don't know
what else to say to a kid.

>she worries about not doing schoolish things.

Are there specific things she would like to do? Sometimes Mo (5, never
schooled) likes to pretend to do school. When Ray first moved in and
was still in school she would sit with us while we did his homework
and bring a coloring or activity book and "do homework" along side.

Part of the school propaganda is that school is where learning
happens, so it might reassure her if you occasionally talk about when
and how You have learned -or even better are learning- something, so
she has a better idea of how learning happens in the real world.

---Meredith (Mo 5, Ray 13)

Schuyler

Talk to her about what she learned in any given day. If she needs to see the
learning, help her the way you might help your partner if he/she were
reluctant to unschool. Show her how much knowledge she aquires from play and
from exploring the world. If you do it a few times she'll get the pattern.

Schuyler
www.waynforth.blogspot.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Melynda Laurent" <melyndalaurent@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2007 4:34 AM
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] How to unschool a previously schooled child?


> We unschooled (I didn't know then there was a word for our lifestyle
> but that's what we did naturally) my dd (now 7) from birth - 5, then
> she attended PS from K though 1/2 of 2nd grade (against my better
> judgement :-( ) . She is now home and loving it BUT the stupid school
> mentality has been ingrained in her (it takes so little)and she
> worries about not doing schoolish things. In addition, people as her
> " so what did you do/learn today and she feels this pressure to come
> up with something big. Since we are new to this again- how would some
> of old unschoolers you handle this? Advice?
>
> Melynda
> dd 7, dd 3.5, ds 22 mo, edd 4/07
>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>

walker_unschool

Hey Melynda

Ya need some time is all. Time to let her mind adjust to the fact that
she can indeed make her own descions. Time to cuddle up on the couch
and watch some movies, start a hobby together. Do some things you guys
have wanted to do, but school got in the way. Take a deep breath and
rest assured that this too will pass. Also if you have an unschooling,
or even homeschooling, support group in your area use them. Go to the
functions and get her interacting with other kids that are doing it.

cheers
sarah aka phoenix

rshoulla

> Part of the school propaganda is that school is where learning
> happens

This really rang familiar with me so I had to share an experience.
When Markus was 4 he would sit and "read" for hours on end...books
that had no pictures. He started 1st grade (ps) at 6 and to my utter
dismay at the time, hadn't managed to learn his alphabet. I was
worried (yes, don't mock me!) he would be behind the other kids.

He ended up in Reading Recovery first week of Sept and by the end of
the month both his and the Reading Recovery teacher told me in
shocked tones that he'd already mastered concepts most kids didn't
get until the spring of 1st grade.

So...here's my own, now more educated, assessment:

Markus always said, "When I go to school I'm going to learn how to
READ." I believe what he meant was, "When I go to school I'm going
to learn how to read, and by God not until (because school is where
one learns to read, of course)."

I also suspect Markus actually already knew how to read, but given
that I couldn't get him to reliably recite his alphabet, I never
really gave him the opportunity...so we'll never know for sure.

Not that it matters. My "struggling reader" read the entire
Chronicles of Narnia at 7 in under a month.

And to think of all the things I could have been worrying about
besides his reading skills... ha!

Robin

P.S. Incidentally, reading was ALL he learned in 1st grade. We spend
the last four months arguing every single morning about how he HAD to
go to school. Ah...to do it again! :)