Sherri-Lee Pressman

Hi Pam,


Wouldn't you say that this is how ALL children learn if given the freedom to
do so? But that sitting in a room with 35 kids of the same age and one
teacher has made it impossible for individuality to be honoured (It's not
spelled wrong I am Canadian :-):-)) and so they have to use a one size fits
all sort of approach and kids just have to try really hard to stuff their
square pegs into the round holes, even though it might not be best for them?
And the ones who don't succeed are the ones labeled ADD and ADHD?



What do you think?



Sherri-Lee

____________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________





Unschooled kids read at different ages just like they learn all kinds of
things at different ages. They're not "behind" if they don't read by 6 or 8
or 10 or 12 years old. They simply read when the time is right for them.
RIGHT for them. Right on time for them. Neither early nor late. And the same
is true of everything else they learn. They cannot be ahead of or behind
themselves.



-pam

"Children do not need to be made to learn to be better, told what to do

or shown how. If they are given access to enough of the world, they will

see clearly enough what things are truly important to themselves and to

others, and they will make for themselves a better path into that world

then anyone else could make for them"



~John Holt in "How Children Fail"







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

pam sorooshian

On Oct 14, 2004, at 7:17 PM, Sherri-Lee Pressman wrote:

> so they have to use a one size fits
> all sort of approach and kids just have to try really hard to stuff
> their
> square pegs into the round holes, even though it might not be best for
> them?
> And the ones who don't succeed are the ones labeled ADD and ADHD?

Yes. I agree. I'm so sad about the ADD and ADHD epidemic - meaning the
labeling of all these active and energetic kids. I hear it constantly
these days - from the KIDS themselves. On the soccer field and even in
homeschooling groups - kids say: "I can't do that, I'm ADD." Or "Don't
blame me, I'm ADD." I can't imagine what that is doing to them, to
their self-image, and what impacts it will have on their lives. So sad.

-pam
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

Sherri-Lee Pressman

Hi Pam,

I think the really sad thing is the epidemic is in the need to label. I
don't believe that ADD or ADHD exist. It is just a label that has been
created to lump "difficult" children into a nice cubby hole so that they can
then be medicated to try and control the way they act.

And it breaks my heart to hear people say "I'm ADD" as if that is their
identity, not just one facet of who they are.

Sherri-Lee
Need safe and natural health products?
http://www.aloeessence.com

-----Original Message-----
From: pam sorooshian [mailto:pamsoroosh@...]
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 9:42 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [unschoolingbasics] Learning at their own pace
was...college=bad was: opinions wanted



On Oct 14, 2004, at 7:17 PM, Sherri-Lee Pressman wrote:

> so they have to use a one size fits
> all sort of approach and kids just have to try really hard to stuff
> their
> square pegs into the round holes, even though it might not be best for
> them?
> And the ones who don't succeed are the ones labeled ADD and ADHD?

Yes. I agree. I'm so sad about the ADD and ADHD epidemic - meaning the
labeling of all these active and energetic kids. I hear it constantly
these days - from the KIDS themselves. On the soccer field and even in
homeschooling groups - kids say: "I can't do that, I'm ADD." Or "Don't
blame me, I'm ADD." I can't imagine what that is doing to them, to
their self-image, and what impacts it will have on their lives. So sad.

-pam
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.





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[email protected]

> I think the really sad thing is the epidemic is in the need to label. I
> don't believe that ADD or ADHD exist. It is just a label that has been
> created to lump "difficult" children into a nice cubby hole so that they can
> then be medicated to try and control the way they act.

Actually I do believe that ADD and ADHD exist, however, I think that many (too many) children are misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD when in actuality they have some sort of allergy, be it food or environmental that causes them to have ADD/ADHD tendencies. My oldest is a prime example of that. Red dye #40 sets her off big time. When we took red dye #40 out of her diet when she was two she became a totally different child! I actually consider red dye #40 as an environmental allergy that is hurting our children. I think we would have very differently behaved children if they weren't getting all the chemicals and food additives that they are bombarded with. We don't run a completely whole foods natural home, but I am very aware of what comes into my house.

>
> And it breaks my heart to hear people say "I'm ADD" as if that is their
> identity, not just one facet of who they are.
>
I grew up in the society where children excluded themselves because of asthma. I grew up hearing my mom say, "Oh, she can't do that because she is asthmatic." When in actuality the things that my mom was excluding me from were the very things that would have actually helped me (like soccer and track and field.) We will always have people making excuses whether it is ADD, asthma, etc.

Michelle