New Member Hello :)
Michelle Thedaker
Ive been quietly reading here for a week or so and felt it was time to say
hi! Im Shell, 36yo mama to two mega busy boys Drew is 8.5 and Josh is
4.5. We live in Orange County, California with hubby/dad Eric who works in
the video gaming industry. Weve been homeschooling since Drew was brought
home from Kindergarten about ¾ of the way through the year. That was 3
years ago and we adore being together (nearly) all the time. The past 2
years wed been with a public charter who provided a very strict curriculum.
Drew is Autistic, and craves structure, so I assumed that a regulated school
experience would be best, even though my heart has always been freedom
loving. How wrong I was! The arguments, tears, disgust and stress were a
weekly experience. This year we are with a more open public charter, and
started the year with a more eclectic approach. That worked really well,
but still too much coercion and unhappiness. For the past few weeks, weve
embraced the unschooling life and are much MUCH happier! Were not 100% on
board, but Im not approaching this with a checklist in hand, trying to be a
perfect unschooler. Were just saying yes a ton, doing activities we enjoy
and not requiring anyone to do schoolish work.
Ill admit to being a bit on edge some days, not seeing the schoolish
learning that Im accustomed to. Even though I truly believe in natural,
self-driven learning! How brainwashed we become, how against our inner
wisdom we can go in our society. So the next little while is much more
about ME letting go and freeing us all to be ourselves than it is about the
kids figuring it out. Theyre happy and having a great time being kids. :-)
~Shell~
"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you
love, you have to find the courage to live it." John Irving
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
hi! Im Shell, 36yo mama to two mega busy boys Drew is 8.5 and Josh is
4.5. We live in Orange County, California with hubby/dad Eric who works in
the video gaming industry. Weve been homeschooling since Drew was brought
home from Kindergarten about ¾ of the way through the year. That was 3
years ago and we adore being together (nearly) all the time. The past 2
years wed been with a public charter who provided a very strict curriculum.
Drew is Autistic, and craves structure, so I assumed that a regulated school
experience would be best, even though my heart has always been freedom
loving. How wrong I was! The arguments, tears, disgust and stress were a
weekly experience. This year we are with a more open public charter, and
started the year with a more eclectic approach. That worked really well,
but still too much coercion and unhappiness. For the past few weeks, weve
embraced the unschooling life and are much MUCH happier! Were not 100% on
board, but Im not approaching this with a checklist in hand, trying to be a
perfect unschooler. Were just saying yes a ton, doing activities we enjoy
and not requiring anyone to do schoolish work.
Ill admit to being a bit on edge some days, not seeing the schoolish
learning that Im accustomed to. Even though I truly believe in natural,
self-driven learning! How brainwashed we become, how against our inner
wisdom we can go in our society. So the next little while is much more
about ME letting go and freeing us all to be ourselves than it is about the
kids figuring it out. Theyre happy and having a great time being kids. :-)
~Shell~
"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you
love, you have to find the courage to live it." John Irving
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Melissa Gray
Hi.
I've got some spectrumy that we're unschooling as well. It has been a
wonderful ride, and it's funny to see conventional belief about the
kids turned on it's head.
We started unschooling late and so also did a lot of the PARENTS
letting go. Kids did fine ;-)
Wecome to the group.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
I've got some spectrumy that we're unschooling as well. It has been a
wonderful ride, and it's funny to see conventional belief about the
kids turned on it's head.
We started unschooling late and so also did a lot of the PARENTS
letting go. Kids did fine ;-)
Wecome to the group.
Melissa
Mom to Joshua, Breanna, Emily, Rachel, Samuel, Daniel and Avari
Wife to Zane
blog me at
http://360.yahoo.com/multimomma
On Jan 17, 2008, at 12:10 PM, Michelle Thedaker wrote:
> I�ve been quietly reading here for a week or so and felt it was
> time to say
> hi! I�m Shell, 36yo mama to two mega busy boys � Drew is 8.5 and
> Josh is
> 4.5. We live in Orange County, California with hubby/dad Eric who
> works in
> the video gaming industry. We�ve been homeschooling since Drew was
> brought
> home from Kindergarten about � of the way through the year. That was 3
> years ago and we adore being together (nearly) all the time. The
> past 2
> years we�d been with a public charter who provided a very strict
> curriculum.
> Drew is Autistic, and craves structure, so I assumed that a
> regulated school
> experience would be best, even though my heart has always been freedom
> loving. How wrong I was! The arguments, tears, disgust and stress
> were a
> weekly experience. This year we are with a more open public
> charter, and
> started the year with a more eclectic approach. That worked really
> well,
> but still too much coercion and unhappiness. For the past few
> weeks, we�ve
> embraced the unschooling life and are much MUCH happier! We�re not
> 100% on
> board, but I�m not approaching this with a checklist in hand,
> trying to be a
> perfect unschooler. We�re just saying yes a ton, doing activities
> we enjoy
> and not requiring anyone to do �schoolish� work.
>
> I�ll admit to being a bit on edge some days, not seeing the schoolish
> learning that I�m accustomed to. Even though I truly believe in
> natural,
> self-driven learning! How brainwashed we become, how against our inner
> wisdom we can go in our society. So the next little while is much more
> about ME letting go and freeing us all to be ourselves than it is
> about the
> kids figuring it out. They�re happy and having a great time being
> kids. :-)
>
> ~Shell~
>
> "If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you
> love, you have to find the courage to live it." John Irving
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
wilda lahmann
Hi Shell,
I am new to this group as well, but have embraced the unschooling approach for about three years. I have 2 daughters at home still, ages (almost) 15 and (just turned) 10. I also have older children who are either married and/or on their own. I was widowed nearly 3 years ago, which was a precedent to my discovery of unschooling and putting in to practice what I knew would be best for my kiddos.
You sound like you are doing a great job, definitely moving in the "right" direction.
Have fun with your new adventure, and enjoy those kiddos. They grow up way too fast.
Also, I have to say that I love the John Irving quote you used in your signature; it is so true!
~Wilda and the girls
Michelle Thedaker <pamperedthed@...> wrote:
Ive been quietly reading here for a week or so and felt it was time to say
hi! Im Shell, 36yo mama to two mega busy boys Drew is 8.5 and Josh is
4.5. We live in Orange County, California with hubby/dad Eric who works in
the video gaming industry. Weve been homeschooling since Drew was brought
home from Kindergarten about ¾ of the way through the year. That was 3
years ago and we adore being together (nearly) all the time. The past 2
years wed been with a public charter who provided a very strict curriculum.
Drew is Autistic, and craves structure, so I assumed that a regulated school
experience would be best, even though my heart has always been freedom
loving. How wrong I was! The arguments, tears, disgust and stress were a
weekly experience. This year we are with a more open public charter, and
started the year with a more eclectic approach. That worked really well,
but still too much coercion and unhappiness. For the past few weeks, weve
embraced the unschooling life and are much MUCH happier! Were not 100% on
board, but Im not approaching this with a checklist in hand, trying to be a
perfect unschooler. Were just saying yes a ton, doing activities we enjoy
and not requiring anyone to do schoolish work.
Ill admit to being a bit on edge some days, not seeing the schoolish
learning that Im accustomed to. Even though I truly believe in natural,
self-driven learning! How brainwashed we become, how against our inner
wisdom we can go in our society. So the next little while is much more
about ME letting go and freeing us all to be ourselves than it is about the
kids figuring it out. Theyre happy and having a great time being kids. :-)
~Shell~
"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you
love, you have to find the courage to live it." John Irving
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Savannah, Tennessee
"Just this side of Paradise"
---------------------------------
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
I am new to this group as well, but have embraced the unschooling approach for about three years. I have 2 daughters at home still, ages (almost) 15 and (just turned) 10. I also have older children who are either married and/or on their own. I was widowed nearly 3 years ago, which was a precedent to my discovery of unschooling and putting in to practice what I knew would be best for my kiddos.
You sound like you are doing a great job, definitely moving in the "right" direction.
Have fun with your new adventure, and enjoy those kiddos. They grow up way too fast.
Also, I have to say that I love the John Irving quote you used in your signature; it is so true!
~Wilda and the girls
Michelle Thedaker <pamperedthed@...> wrote:
Ive been quietly reading here for a week or so and felt it was time to say
hi! Im Shell, 36yo mama to two mega busy boys Drew is 8.5 and Josh is
4.5. We live in Orange County, California with hubby/dad Eric who works in
the video gaming industry. Weve been homeschooling since Drew was brought
home from Kindergarten about ¾ of the way through the year. That was 3
years ago and we adore being together (nearly) all the time. The past 2
years wed been with a public charter who provided a very strict curriculum.
Drew is Autistic, and craves structure, so I assumed that a regulated school
experience would be best, even though my heart has always been freedom
loving. How wrong I was! The arguments, tears, disgust and stress were a
weekly experience. This year we are with a more open public charter, and
started the year with a more eclectic approach. That worked really well,
but still too much coercion and unhappiness. For the past few weeks, weve
embraced the unschooling life and are much MUCH happier! Were not 100% on
board, but Im not approaching this with a checklist in hand, trying to be a
perfect unschooler. Were just saying yes a ton, doing activities we enjoy
and not requiring anyone to do schoolish work.
Ill admit to being a bit on edge some days, not seeing the schoolish
learning that Im accustomed to. Even though I truly believe in natural,
self-driven learning! How brainwashed we become, how against our inner
wisdom we can go in our society. So the next little while is much more
about ME letting go and freeing us all to be ourselves than it is about the
kids figuring it out. Theyre happy and having a great time being kids. :-)
~Shell~
"If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you
love, you have to find the courage to live it." John Irving
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Savannah, Tennessee
"Just this side of Paradise"
---------------------------------
Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your homepage.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]