[email protected]

In a message dated 10/30/2005 4:36:11 PM Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

I'm definitely OUT of the closet! <g> Some traditional homeschoolers choose
not to hang around with us but I find that's okay. I've found so many more
like-minded families by being open about Who We Are and how we live.

--
~Mary



***************************************
How sad that those people miss out on hanging out with Mary, who is one of
the nicest, sweetest people around.
Kathryn


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

[email protected]

>>How sad that those people miss out on hanging out with Mary, who is one of
the nicest, sweetest people around.
Kathryn>>

Awww...thanks Kathryn. Right back at ya. And I feel so sad for your lesbian friends who were shunned from their local group. Tell them to come to Corvallis and join my homeschooling group. We understand what inclusive means!

--
~Mary

"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."

k

hi mary. speaking of closet-- that would definitely describe our area.

i think the local unschooling group (upstate s. carolina) lacks
encouragement and many don't think of themselves as unschoolers
anymore,
though there was a lot of interest a couple of years ago. i don't want

to take over or step on toes, so i was thinking of getting a group
started that's more alive. but i can't help but wonder if since i'm a
newbie myself in need of support, what to do? i have talked with a
co-mod and actually met her at another group in a bookshop about 2
years
ago. she used to be into unschooling. that seems typical around here,

and the dh's seem for the most part interested in upholding "standards"

and their position in the status quo. we met a couple last night at
dinner and though the lady and children were pleasant, dh and i were
appalled how long everyone laughed over her dh's antics about how
effective his punishments are. i guess some people have nothing better

to say. anyway, it's generally quite repressive.

kelly lovejoy & family were great! she's midstate. and leslie another

great encourager who i also met is in the low country near beaufort.
i'm trying to see if i can find others nearer by.

you- i'm "picking on" because i like your group start page--tlc-- and
want to ask your opinion and experience there in corvalis.


kathe

ps: my keyboard is screwed up. maybe we could phone? mine is
864-472-5803. alt cell phone is 864-430-0390.



zenmomma@... wrote:
>>>How sad that those people miss out on hanging out with Mary, who is
one of
>
> the nicest, sweetest people around.
> Kathryn>>
>
> Awww...thanks Kathryn. Right back at ya. And I feel so sad for your
lesbian friends who were shunned from their local group. Tell them to
come to Corvallis and join my homeschooling group. We understand what
inclusive means!
>
> --
> ~Mary
>
> "The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
> green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
> alive."




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[email protected]

>>you- i'm "picking on" because i like your group start page--tlc-- and
want to ask your opinion and experience there in corvalis.>>

My experience here has been that if you start it, they will come. :o)

From the very beginning I decided to make this a group for *ME*. <g> I tried NOT to make everyone happy, but to really put my energy into what my family needed. It has been tweaked over the two years we've been together. I originally called it the Unschooling Family Connection. I got a small group of mostly unschoolers but it seemed like the word "unschooling" in the title made some people feel like they wouldn't be accepted.

My kids wanted a bigger social group, so we changed the name of the group to The Learning Community to give it a broader appeal. At the same time I changed the group's page to be VERY weighted towards unschooling while making it clear that we're inclusive. We've doubled our size in the past two months.

Feel free to use my group start page as a template. Take whatever you like.

--

~Mary, unschooling mom to Conor (16) and Casey (11)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CorvallisTLC/

"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."






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

Pamela Sorooshian

On Nov 7, 2005, at 10:43 AM, zenmomma@... wrote:

> My kids wanted a bigger social group, so we changed the name of the
> group to The Learning Community to give it a broader appeal. At the
> same time I changed the group's page to be VERY weighted towards
> unschooling while making it clear that we're inclusive. We've
> doubled our size in the past two months.
>
> Feel free to use my group start page as a template. Take whatever
> you like.


Our group is the same way - started by, heavily influenced by, and
protected by unschoolers - but we are inclusive to other people as
long as they can accept happily that our children's free play time is
THE most important aspect of the group. So we talk about that heavily
on the website - but don't have 'unschooling' in the group name. We
do have non-unschoolers who love our group and a fair number who show
up once or twice only - so I assume we're not what they were looking
for. Which is fine - like Mary, we're NOT trying to be THE group that
suits everybody.

Website is: <www.dragontree.org>.


-pam



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[email protected]

>>Website is: <www.dragontree.org>.>>

Pam I just adore your website! I LOVE all the photos of the families and the emphasis and descriptions of playing. That's my next step, to get a full fledged website up and running.

It's great that you can meet at a park all year long. Ahhh...southern CA. That was a challenge for us once the rains started here. But we've recently found an awesome gym/rec room space in a church (of all places). I think we're going to be able to maintain our once a week schedule year round now! :oD

--
~Mary, unschooling mom to Conor (16) and Casey (11)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CorvallisTLC/


"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."






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

Pamela Sorooshian

On Nov 7, 2005, at 1:21 PM, zenmomma@... wrote:

> Pam I just adore your website! I LOVE all the photos of the
> families and the emphasis and descriptions of playing. That's my
> next step, to get a full fledged website up and running.

Thank you. I did most of the writing, but Dan Vilter took the photos,
did the layout, and created the website. I'm hoping you'll get to
meet Dan and his family at the next Live and Learn Conference in
Albuquerque!

>
> It's great that you can meet at a park all year long.
> Ahhh...southern CA. That was a challenge for us once the rains
> started here. But we've recently found an awesome gym/rec room
> space in a church (of all places). I think we're going to be able
> to maintain our once a week schedule year round now! :oD

Well - when we DO get rain, we're at a total loss about what to do.
Sometimes we resort to mall food courts - which have lots of tables
to sit around and play games. But I find the echo-y weird noise level
in a food court is very stressful and exhausting.

We don't get enough rainy days, most years, to worry about it - but
we've had extra-rainy years when it seemed like we spent the whole
winter sitting in the mall.

-pam





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

[email protected]

>>Sometimes we resort to mall food courts - which have lots of tables
to sit around and play games.>>

LOL This is Corvallis. We don't have a mall!

--
~Mary

"The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the
green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly
alive."