The Lapins

Hi,

I am mom to 7 yo ds, 2 yo dd, and 2-month-old dd. We have been unschooling since birth of our son (except for a couple of months where I took on too many other obligations and sent then 4 yo ds to preschool two mornings per week to keep up with it all) and loving it, but occasionally still have bouts of panic of whether doing the right thing, what to do, how to know if this is best for each child, etc. Looking forward to learning from others about what life is like in different unschooling families, how you handle specific problems (e.g., son who has adopted attitude of being opposed to anything he sees as "learning"), and a place to get inspiration when I'm having one of my panic attacks over "failing" at unschooling!

Thanks in advance for sharing your collective wisdom :-)

Angela


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

squeakybiscuit

My kids have done schoolwork off and on throughout the years, and one
of my sons has also adopted an additude of not wanting to do anything
that looks like learning. I used to point out to them what they were
learning, which would make him stop doing whatever it was that he was
learning from.

Now I don't do that. It seemed to thwart his interests, and make them
seem "geeky" to him.

He reads tons on the net..but won't pick up a book because he thinks
it's learning. I don't think he realizes he is learning anything when
he plays on the net.





--- In [email protected], The Lapins <teamlapin@...>
wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I am mom to 7 yo ds, 2 yo dd, and 2-month-old dd. We have been
unschooling since birth of our son (except for a couple of months
where I took on too many other obligations and sent then 4 yo ds to
preschool two mornings per week to keep up with it all) and loving
it, but occasionally still have bouts of panic of whether doing the
right thing, what to do, how to know if this is best for each child,
etc. Looking forward to learning from others about what life is like
in different unschooling families, how you handle specific problems
(e.g., son who has adopted attitude of being opposed to anything he
sees as "learning"), and a place to get inspiration when I'm having
one of my panic attacks over "failing" at unschooling!
>
> Thanks in advance for sharing your collective wisdom :-)
>
> Angela
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: squeakybiscuit <squeakybiscuit@...>


My kids have done schoolwork off and on throughout the years, and one
of my sons has also adopted an additude of not wanting to do anything
that looks like learning. I used to point out to them what they were
learning, which would make him stop doing whatever it was that he was
learning from.

-=-=-=-=-

When I first pulled Cameron out of school, I did that too. He would
pack the trunk for a trip, and I would say, "See? See how all the
pieces fit into the car snuggly like that? That's geometry!" "That
skateboard move was all about physics!" (and I'd tell him which law he
just tried to defy.)

I was a slow learner. <g>

-=-=-=-=-=-

Now I don't do that. It seemed to thwart his interests, and make them
seem "geeky" to him.

-=-==-=-=-=-

Yeah---I just do it to myself. <g> That helps for my documentation. It
doesn't help my *child* at all.

They DO hear me talk about it though to new parents, so they understand
that math is everywhere.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

He reads tons on the net..but won't pick up a book because he thinks
it's learning.

-=-=-=-=-==-

When Cameron came out of school, he said he would never read another
book. He hated reading! Books had bad meaning for him.

But he read and wrote IMs for hours at a time. He looked things up
online constantly. He researched all sorts of things.

I counted those things as reading and writing and literature and
composition for my records. He never knew any different.

Now he journals and writes poetry and is writing his speech for this
year's Live and Learn Conference. He's never without a book in his
backpack, car or bed.

He had to find that joy for himself.

-=-=-=-=-

I don't think he realizes he is learning anything when he plays on the
net.

-=-=-=-=-

He doesn't think he's learning anything "educational" on the 'net! <G>
He probably knows he's learning. It just doesn't look like school, so
it's "good" learning. <g>

As parents, it's our job to see the learning that is already happening.
At first it takes some work, but it gets easier and easier.

If they're moving up levels on video or computer games, we *know*
they're learning *something*! Otherwise they'd still be at the same
level! <G> It may be hard to define what they're learning; but in order
to level up, they have to be figuring out strategies, reading,
understanding sequencing, following directions, making informed
decisions, using logic, developing mapping skills, ---and a bunch of
other things I can't even think of now. <g>

It's good for us to know all that---and even to document it, but we
don't need to let on that we know what's happening.

It DOES help, though, if the *child* starts having doubts about what
he's learning. We can say, "Well, from gaming, I know you're learning
this and this and this." <G>



~Kelly

Kelly Lovejoy
Conference Coordinator
Live and Learn Unschooling Conference
http://www.LiveandLearnConference.org