chrfath816

Hi,

I just found out about this group today and have been reading
through some of the past posts. We are new to the endeavor of
unschooling. All though I have been drawn to it for a while now.

We have two children Wheatley(7) and Veronica will be two tomorrow.
We had been loosely following the Well trained mind and
doing "school at home". Not going very well. I was really stressed
if we didn't start on time and about getting everything done.

I had been soul searching lately on things regarding DD - she has
Down syndrome and I was tired of the system. So yesterday we
dropped all but one of her therapists from early intervention.
Again they were all just causing me stress. Causing me not to see
my beautiful daughter for who she is. I also just joined the
Shinewithunschooling group.

I seem to be having some trouble getting the whole picture of how
this done. DS asks "What are we learning about now?" He is a very
beginning reader(Bob books) and would usually choose TV over a
book. But if I just start reading to DD he will usually join in to
listen.

Any good tips for getting a kid like him out of the "school -
teaching" mindset? He has been playing, building legos, making his
own choices, doing art projects, and the like. I know he is
learning but I don't know how to get him interested in something.
He has never been consumed with anything or one interest. We are
going to check out some magazines at the library tomorrow. He was
interested in dragons but not that much. He rolled his eyes when I
showed him another dragon book from the library and he didn't want
to do any "project" type stuff with them.

We also have the challenge of having a very delayed little one in
the house. We also only have one vehicle.

That is enough for now. Sorry for yammering on. I would love some
ideas to get things rolling. DH is having second thoughts about
this "free schoooling" thing.

Thanks and I look forward to sharing with you all and learning from
your experience.

Christi

TreeGoddess

On Apr 13, 2005, at 3:54 PM, chrfath816 wrote:

-=-Any good tips for getting a kid like him out of the "school -
teaching" mindset? He has been playing, building legos, making
his own choices, doing art projects, and the like.-=-

Sounds like he's doing just fine! :) I would suggest that it's you
and your husband who are the ones that are in need of dropping the
"school - teaching mindset" though. Let me direct you over to Sandra
Dodd's web site to read two things:

Deschooling for Parents
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling

Certificate of Empowerment
http://sandradodd.com/empowerment

-=-I know he is learning but I don't know how to get him interested
in something.-=-

Christi, you just listed a bunch of things that he's obviously
interested in doing. :) Legos, arts and crafts, playing, etc. For
children, play = learning. That's how humans are 'wired'. Again,
over to Sandra's site to read about playing. :)
http://sandradodd.com/playing

-=-He has never been consumed with anything or one interest.-=-

This made my smile because I can't COUNT how many times I've read
parents lamenting the *opposite* of this. They're so worried about
their child not "broadening their interests" because they're so
passionate about 1 or 2 things. Either way is just fine. Having
passions or having a wide range of interests are equally 'good'.
Follow your son's lead, Christi, he's showing you his interests
already. :)

-=-We are going to check out some magazines at the library tomorrow.
He was interested in dragons but not that much. He rolled his eyes
when I showed him another dragon book from the library and he didn't
want to do any "project" type stuff with them.-=-

Neither would I! LOL Why do you think he *should* to a project?
You're going to shut down any love of learning he has if he's afraid
that if he seems interested in *anything* that you're going to load him
down with projects and books and magazines. Try to just let him BE.
Let *HIM* dictate his interests and the level of his interest. Don't
"assign" reading materials or projects or reports or anything. Let
your son guide his own path. You just be the facilitator that gets him
from home to ____ (library, museum, nature, etc.). Be his chauffeur
and act as if he's a welcome guest visiting your area and you let him
know about cool local things. But let your "guest" decide what (if
anything) they'd like to check out or do. Does that make sense?

-Tracy-

"Peace *will* enter your life, but you
need to clear a spot for her to sit down."

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

scrapgal

--- In [email protected], "chrfath816"
<chrfath@s...> wrote:

> I seem to be having some trouble getting the whole picture of how
> this done. DS asks "What are we learning about now?"

ASk him what he wants to learn about? Tell him you are on spring
break and that means you don't have to "learn" anything. :-) Just
like a child that has been in school and is pulled out your children
will have to go through a period of "deschooling" in order
to "unschool." I highly recommend following some of the links in
the "Links" section at the yahoogroup and read some of the "how to
deschool" and "what unschooling is all about" articles.

And don't worry about the reading. Trust me they get plenty of
reading time by watching television and playing video games. It's
amazing to watch my son reading really long words that I didn't
teach him to read! We also do lots of oral reading here, especially
on car trips. Everyone enjoys it even my oldest who is an excellent
reader.

Glad to see you here!
Michelle

tracy

Hi!~ So glad you are here. I too am fairly new to unschooling. It
does take time to let go of the schooly thoughts (I was a teacher).
The hubby thing can be challening. All change takes time...this is a
big change for your family. Just keep doing the next right thing and
your hubby will follow. Try not to worry, and always remember he to
needs to deschool. Take care and you are at the right place.
Love and Peace ~ Tracy in Sc



--- In [email protected], "chrfath816"
<chrfath@s...> wrote:
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I just found out about this group today and have been reading
> through some of the past posts. We are new to the endeavor of
> unschooling. All though I have been drawn to it for a while now.
>
> We have two children Wheatley(7) and Veronica will be two
tomorrow.
> We had been loosely following the Well trained mind and
> doing "school at home". Not going very well. I was really
stressed
> if we didn't start on time and about getting everything done.
>
> I had been soul searching lately on things regarding DD - she has
> Down syndrome and I was tired of the system. So yesterday we
> dropped all but one of her therapists from early intervention.
> Again they were all just causing me stress. Causing me not to see
> my beautiful daughter for who she is. I also just joined the
> Shinewithunschooling group.
>
> I seem to be having some trouble getting the whole picture of how
> this done. DS asks "What are we learning about now?" He is a
very
> beginning reader(Bob books) and would usually choose TV over a
> book. But if I just start reading to DD he will usually join in
to
> listen.
>
> Any good tips for getting a kid like him out of the "school -
> teaching" mindset? He has been playing, building legos, making
his
> own choices, doing art projects, and the like. I know he is
> learning but I don't know how to get him interested in something.
> He has never been consumed with anything or one interest. We are
> going to check out some magazines at the library tomorrow. He was
> interested in dragons but not that much. He rolled his eyes when
I
> showed him another dragon book from the library and he didn't want
> to do any "project" type stuff with them.
>
> We also have the challenge of having a very delayed little one in
> the house. We also only have one vehicle.
>
> That is enough for now. Sorry for yammering on. I would love
some
> ideas to get things rolling. DH is having second thoughts about
> this "free schoooling" thing.
>
> Thanks and I look forward to sharing with you all and learning
from
> your experience.
>
> Christi