Julie-TX

Well this will come as NO suprise to most of you :)

I signed on a couple of months ago. I have a young
son who has type 1 diabetes, he is 9 and I have been
homeschooling 11 years.

I am burt out on homeschooling. Wanted to explore the
unschooling world.

Someone (don't remember who!) from this list told me
"Just enjoy your son. If by the end of May he's
learned nothing let me know, it will be a first" or
something to that extent.

Well, You were Right!! In the past couple of months,
the first month, nada. He played video games, watched
tv, played computer games. Then I realized. He is
drawing maps for his games. He is inventing "moves"
using his light sabre (and various household items
including taking apart my broom!) he'd spend literally
hours practicing! So cute! He even named them!

Then a couple of weeks ago, he asked to learn how to
make scrambled eggs. He is now a "chef of all
scrambling" in our house.

He has written a couple of stories based on his tv
show and his xbox game. He has also developed new
characters for tv/computer games complete with
pictures and details of various "powers". He drew
more maps, etc. Researched for 'cheat' codes (dont
know quite how I feel about that one...but OK....)

Today he came out and asked how light bulbs were
invented. He has spent most of the day drawing
lightbulbs and researching Lightbulbs.

This is amazing!

Julie in Texas

www.insulinisnotacure.com Juvenile Diabetes Message Board

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soggyboysmom

--- In [email protected], Julie-TX <julie3k2c1h@y...
> wrote:
> Researched for 'cheat' codes (dont
> know quite how I feel about that one...but OK....)
>
> Julie in Texas
>
"Cheat codes" for video games are not actually the same kind of
cheating as "cheating on your taxes" exactly. Yes, it can make you
invincible or whatever but they were deliberately put into the game to
be used. The thrill of finding them and using them (some are pretty
complex to use, can only be used a certain way at certain times and
all like that) is part and parcel of things. Both my DH and DS use
cheat codes for video games - DH will find things like invincibility
and show DS how to get it so that DS (he's just about to be 7) can get
through the game with less frustration until he is ready to go at it
without the cheat codes. It's part treasure hunt, part easter egg hunt
(and little hidden bits in some software packages are actually called
easter eggs).

Julie-TX

Thanks Debra! LOL I know nothing about computer and
video games....that's my dh's and son's department!
LOL

I feel better now! I hadn't said anything because I
thought, well, he is researching....:) I didn't want
to squash that desire in him to seek and find!

Thanks a bunch :)

Julie


--- soggyboysmom <debra.rossing@...> wrote:
> --- In [email protected], Julie-TX
> <julie3k2c1h@y...
> > wrote:
> > Researched for 'cheat' codes (dont
> > know quite how I feel about that one...but OK....)
> >
> > Julie in Texas
> >
> "Cheat codes" for video games are not actually the
> same kind of
> cheating as "cheating on your taxes" exactly. Yes,
> it can make you
> invincible or whatever but they were deliberately
> put into the game to
> be used. The thrill of finding them and using them
> (some are pretty
> complex to use, can only be used a certain way at
> certain times and
> all like that) is part and parcel of things. Both my
> DH and DS use
> cheat codes for video games - DH will find things
> like invincibility
> and show DS how to get it so that DS (he's just
> about to be 7) can get
> through the game with less frustration until he is
> ready to go at it
> without the cheat codes. It's part treasure hunt,
> part easter egg hunt
> (and little hidden bits in some software packages
> are actually called
> easter eggs).
>
>
>

www.insulinisnotacure.com Juvenile Diabetes Message Board



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Rodney and Rebecca Atherton

When my son was home, video games taught him:



1. To use the internet for research as he searched for cheat codes so that
he could advance to the next level (higher levels) of his game.



2. Copy and paste text as he needed to take the text from the web page to
word for printing.



3. How to use the printer so he could print out his codes.



And then there were some cross learning that took place. Like, and I used
to joke about this, he had a large vocabulary when it came to weaponry and
becoming extinguished.



Maybe it's good for them to spend LONG periods of time learning and
conquering a game. Maybe later in life they will tackle a project at a job
in that same manner? Maybe they learn that even a new unfamiliar game can
me beaten if you just pour time and attention into it? That might be a good
"carry over" lesson.



<http://www.geocities.com/rebeccawow.geo> Rebecca

<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HomeschoolVictoria/> Homeschool Victoria-
discussion group for anyone educating, homeschooling, or interested in
home-education in and around Victoria, Texas. You don't need to be
affiliated with any local support group to join. All you need is to be
curious and excited about the learning process!





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

soggyboysmom

--- In [email protected], "Rodney and Rebecca
Atherton" <rebeccawow@s...> wrote:
>
> And then there were some cross learning that took place. Like, >and
I used
> to joke about this, he had a large vocabulary when it came to
>weaponry and
> becoming extinguished.
>
Yeah, DS (about to turn 7) can explain all about the various types of
mines used in 007 games - proximity mines and all the rest and how
they work and such. It also gave rise to an interesting discussion of
mines IRL and what happens after the battles are over and the mines
remain. And he knows the various other weapons (he can ID the type of
gun from the silhouette) that get used as well.

Pam Sorooshian

On May 27, 2005, at 6:29 AM, Rodney and Rebecca Atherton wrote:

> Maybe it's good for them to spend LONG periods of time learning and
> conquering a game. Maybe later in life they will tackle a project at
> a job
> in that same manner? Maybe they learn that even a new unfamiliar game
> can
> me beaten if you just pour time and attention into it? That might be
> a good
> "carry over" lesson.

I agree.

Learning how to focus in order to accomplish a difficult goal is
wonderful. Learning that you get to success by achieving repeated small
victories is fantastic!! Sticking to something in spite of failures -
trying again, with small variations, until something works.

Awesome learning!

-pam

Krisula Moyer

OK My lesson of the year is...(drum roll) .... All this cool learning is
seriously thwarted (and children seriously frustrated) by limiting their
screen time like I used to do "for his own good".

Krisula

---------------------------------------------
> Maybe it's good for them to spend LONG periods of time learning and
> conquering a game. Maybe later in life they will tackle a project at
> a job in that same manner? Maybe they learn that even a new
> unfamiliar game can me beaten if you just pour time and attention into
> it? That might be a good "carry over" lesson.

I agree.

Learning how to focus in order to accomplish a difficult goal is wonderful.
Learning that you get to success by achieving repeated small victories is
fantastic!! Sticking to something in spite of failures - trying again, with
small variations, until something works.

Awesome learning!

-pam

Hilary

Hi Krisula, I battle with this one. I have been letting go alot
more lately -m but still feeling uncomfortable about it. Today I was
sick in bed all day, so my husband stayed home (he is my 11yr old
unschooled sons stepfather).

He told em at the end of the day after having dropped Dan off at
Drama class that he was really pissed off with Daniel as he had
spent all day playing Runescape and had told him he was not to play
any more computer games between 9am and 3pm.

My physical energy was pretty low at the time, and I didn;t really
have the energy for an unschooling philosphy discussion... - all I
said at the time was "That was not your decision to make, I wish you
had consulted me before issuing a rule like that". I also said that
I was really uncomfortable about it too (the truth) and I was tryign
to find my way to feeling OK about it. We ended the conv by him
saying something like "well, you should at least enforce that for a
week".

Right when I was just starting to relax a little more, I have
totally picked up on all his 'stuff' and feel those yukky old
anxieties building. I lay in bed thinking about some of your posts,
and wondering to myself 'is this path really the right one", "am I
really doing the right thing for Daniel". He still seems so
unmotivated, a little lost - he came out of school last July
(remembering that our summer break in NZ is December/January).

My trust in this process feels so be such a delicate creature. It
feels strong sometimes, and like a gibbering idiot at others, unable
to explain itself to anyone.

I am still struggling with my almost 3yr old, and feel like he is
draining so much of my available energy, and there's none left for
Daniel - no wonder he is so unmotivated - I feel that way too!
(sorry to sound so negative everyone...)

Ahhhhhhhh- life feels tricky sometimes huh.
Hilary

--- In [email protected], "Krisula Moyer"
<krisula@l...> wrote:
>
> OK My lesson of the year is...(drum roll) .... All this cool
learning is
> seriously thwarted (and children seriously frustrated) by limiting
their
> screen time like I used to do "for his own good".
>
> Krisula
>

Robyn Coburn

<<<<He told em at the end of the day after having dropped Dan off at
Drama class that he was really pissed off with Daniel as he had
spent all day playing Runescape and had told him he was not to play
any more computer games between 9am and 3pm.>>>>

Does dh realize that he designated school hours as the verboten time?

I wonder if he was having a knee jerk reaction to an unexpressed desire to
have more of his step son's attention, spend more time together doing fun
stuff? Perhaps he is feeling left out, especially as you are ill also and
presumably unavailable. Not that I agree with his proposed solution to the
problem!

<<<< to find my way to feeling OK about it. We ended the conv by him
saying something like "well, you should at least enforce that for a
week". >>>>

It is hard to feel ok about a plan that sounds increasingly like a
punishment. I like that he wants you to the dirty work of enforcement! My dh
is like that too sometimes: "I have this problem, here's how *you* fix it".

Seriously, I think trying to get at what your dh actually wants, rather than
focusing on what he doesn't want, might help. Even getting him to elucidate
what the heck he hopes to gain by this limitation idea, might help him to
realize how counterproductive it is - he might talk himself out of it.(My dh
does that sometimes too.)

<<<<< He still seems so
unmotivated, a little lost - he came out of school last July
(remembering that our summer break in NZ is December/January).>>>>

Definitely your son is still deschooling, and by others' accounts this
appearance of "unmotivated" is typical (almost universal!), as is the focus
on computer games.

Hope you feel well soon.

Robyn L. Coburn

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