How?
jlejmr98
I sit here, without sleep wondering why something that seems so simple can feel so complicated. I have been on-line all night reading about "Unschooling" and loving what I read. I need the "list" that everyone is talking about. I am a mother of 4, DD(8), DS(6), DD(3) and DS(1). We have been homeschooling for 3 years and want to do it long, but seem to have run into a problem - no one is having fun! Our day is not what I invisioned when my husband and I talked about homeschooling. Making my children sit at the table for hours on end doing paperwork (busy work is what I called it when I was in public school) on a beautiful spring day, or even a rainy day for that matter, is making all of us more than a little cranky! How do we do this and where do we start?
Robin Krest
Start by saying yes more. Yes to requests, ideas, to playing in the rain, to watching TV, to doing nothing.
Maybe do away with the paperwork.
Read about deschooling. More people will come out with links and ideas, but that is a start.
Robin K.
____________________________________________________________
Earn a degree in Criminal Justice and work as a Police officer. Click here for more info.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTEe1WU9wFeK0CAx1ZrR4MqjB54sulvq5mNEDwfbFVGe30j0gmCTUM/
Maybe do away with the paperwork.
Read about deschooling. More people will come out with links and ideas, but that is a start.
Robin K.
____________________________________________________________
Earn a degree in Criminal Justice and work as a Police officer. Click here for more info.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTEe1WU9wFeK0CAx1ZrR4MqjB54sulvq5mNEDwfbFVGe30j0gmCTUM/
Schuyler
Put aside the paperwork. Just let it go. Get a box and pack all of the curriculum stuff into it and wrap it with twine and mark do not open until the September and shove it in the attic or in the back of a closet or in the garage and leave it there. Go to the zoo, go to the park, go to a really cool science museum, go to a costume shop, go to a thrift store, go to friends, have friends over, go get a new video game, get new music, go to a new restaurant, go to an old favorite place, do something different and fun and exciting or something the same and fun and exciting. Don't look for learning, just do it. Don't wait for them to ask to do workbooks or to memorize all the name of the presidents or kings and queens or major tributaries of the Amazon river, go play. At 8, 6, 3, and 1 play should be the major activity in any given day.
When September comes go look at the box and think about all those moments you would have missed if you'd kept those papers, those things to do, those busying moments to hand and change the date, put it off for another 6 months, write do not open 'til February on the box and keep playing and doing and being. You can always change your mind, you can always go back to where you were before, but once you've been this side of the bridge, the other side just doesn't look so good.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: jlejmr98 <jlejmr98@...>
T
I sit here, without sleep wondering why something that seems so simple can feel so complicated. I have been on-line all night reading about "Unschooling" and loving what I read. I need the "list" that everyone is talking about. I am a mother of 4, DD(8), DS(6), DD(3) and DS(1). We have been homeschooling for 3 years and want to do it long, but seem to have run into a problem - no one is having fun! Our day is not what I invisioned when my husband and I talked about homeschooling. Making my children sit at the table for hours on end doing paperwork (busy work is what I called it when I was in public school) on a beautiful spring day, or even a rainy day for that matter, is making all of us more than a little cranky! How do we do this and where do we start?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
When September comes go look at the box and think about all those moments you would have missed if you'd kept those papers, those things to do, those busying moments to hand and change the date, put it off for another 6 months, write do not open 'til February on the box and keep playing and doing and being. You can always change your mind, you can always go back to where you were before, but once you've been this side of the bridge, the other side just doesn't look so good.
Schuyler
________________________________
From: jlejmr98 <jlejmr98@...>
T
I sit here, without sleep wondering why something that seems so simple can feel so complicated. I have been on-line all night reading about "Unschooling" and loving what I read. I need the "list" that everyone is talking about. I am a mother of 4, DD(8), DS(6), DD(3) and DS(1). We have been homeschooling for 3 years and want to do it long, but seem to have run into a problem - no one is having fun! Our day is not what I invisioned when my husband and I talked about homeschooling. Making my children sit at the table for hours on end doing paperwork (busy work is what I called it when I was in public school) on a beautiful spring day, or even a rainy day for that matter, is making all of us more than a little cranky! How do we do this and where do we start?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
N CONFER
"Put aside the paperwork. Just let it go."
Just what I was going to write. Go to the beach. The park. Watch a fun movie. Pretend school is over. Guess what? It can be if that's what you want.
Just have fun for as long as you want and see what happens. If you want to go back to not having fun, that's up to you. :)
Nance
Just what I was going to write. Go to the beach. The park. Watch a fun movie. Pretend school is over. Guess what? It can be if that's what you want.
Just have fun for as long as you want and see what happens. If you want to go back to not having fun, that's up to you. :)
Nance
Jeff Sabo
I definitely agree with the other folks who have responded thus far - slowly, gently, stop teaching. Treat your weekdays like weekends; no structure, no lessons, no books. Start there. Over time, read some more about "deschooling", which stresses the importance of being patient during the transition away from teaching and curriculum. It is critical that kids be allowed a period (sometimes long, sometimes not" during which to adjust to this new freedom, because the change is a pretty dramatic one. Use this time to reconnect with your children - ask them questions about what they're doing with no expectation that they're "learning" something. If they want to spend their day watching Pokemon, then learn about Pokemon so you have easy ways to connect with them. If they want to read bout karate, then read about karate with them and celebrate their passion and interest. IMO, this first stage is all about giving your children the gift of your faith in them and
your affirmation that they can explore their passions. Simply concentrate on letting go and engaging in the fun that they will have. Read more deeply about unschooling as a lifestyle, about letting go, about trust, about TV and chores and food choices and allowances and messiness. And most importantly, trust - just rust - that if you an really let go of the concept that "kids need to be taught in order to learn", that you will be giving your kids a gift with eternal benefits. Best wishes - have fun!
your affirmation that they can explore their passions. Simply concentrate on letting go and engaging in the fun that they will have. Read more deeply about unschooling as a lifestyle, about letting go, about trust, about TV and chores and food choices and allowances and messiness. And most importantly, trust - just rust - that if you an really let go of the concept that "kids need to be taught in order to learn", that you will be giving your kids a gift with eternal benefits. Best wishes - have fun!
--- On Thu, 4/30/09, jlejmr98 <jlejmr98@...> wrote:
> From: jlejmr98 <jlejmr98@...>
> Subject: [unschoolingbasics] How?
> To: [email protected]
> Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009, 11:40 PM
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> I sit here, without sleep wondering why something
> that seems so simple can feel so complicated. I have been
> on-line all night reading about "Unschooling" and
> loving what I read. I need the "list" that
> everyone is talking about. I am a mother of 4, DD(8),
> DS(6), DD(3) and DS(1). We have been homeschooling for 3
> years and want to do it long, but seem to have run into a
> problem - no one is having fun! Our day is not what I
> invisioned when my husband and I talked about homeschooling.
> Making my children sit at the table for hours on end doing
> paperwork (busy work is what I called it when I was in
> public school) on a beautiful spring day, or even a rainy
> day for that matter, is making all of us more than a little
> cranky! How do we do this and where do we start?
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>