Unschooling just won't let me go!
aplan4life
Hi Everyone,
Unschooling is still tugging on my heartstrings, so I want to immerse
myself and sit back and let it really sink in. DH still is not
thrilled with the idea BUT that is okay. I think if I REALLY put MY
HEART into it that DH will SEE the positive results. However, it
won't work unless I can be around good and influential people such as
yourselves. :-)
We have been using a very relaxed method to please the DH and the
children are very happy, asking questions and being observant of the
world around them. I listened to the advice many of you gave me when
I said that DH was not comfortable and have stuck with a relaxed but
fun approach to learning. It's been great.
Anyway, I'm back! I've missed reading your posts and look forward to
interacting. I won't give unschooling advice until the day (hopefully
within this year) we are totally doing it. However, if your heart is
into unschooling but your spouse/partner isn't, I'd be happy to
discuss what has been working for us.
~Sandy Winn
Unschooling is still tugging on my heartstrings, so I want to immerse
myself and sit back and let it really sink in. DH still is not
thrilled with the idea BUT that is okay. I think if I REALLY put MY
HEART into it that DH will SEE the positive results. However, it
won't work unless I can be around good and influential people such as
yourselves. :-)
We have been using a very relaxed method to please the DH and the
children are very happy, asking questions and being observant of the
world around them. I listened to the advice many of you gave me when
I said that DH was not comfortable and have stuck with a relaxed but
fun approach to learning. It's been great.
Anyway, I'm back! I've missed reading your posts and look forward to
interacting. I won't give unschooling advice until the day (hopefully
within this year) we are totally doing it. However, if your heart is
into unschooling but your spouse/partner isn't, I'd be happy to
discuss what has been working for us.
~Sandy Winn
Lesa McMahon-Lowe
Sandy, oh, Sandy, I'm so glad you're here. I'd love to hear what you've
been doing to satisfy your DH. My DH isn't comfortable with unschooling
even though I know in my heart it is what we should be doing.
You can email me off list.
Lesa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesa
CASDFGHJKQERTIP
Mom to Dayle *9, Wife to Rick, and Me in My Own Right.
L.I.F.E. (Living In Freedom Everyday) Academy
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lesajm/
J~One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual
responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems
on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture
turns up on your driver's license.~ - P. J. O'Rourke |
-------Original Message-------
From: aplan4life
Date: 02/11/06 09:13:24
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Unschooling just won't let me go!
Hi Everyone,
Unschooling is still tugging on my heartstrings, so I want to immerse
myself and sit back and let it really sink in. DH still is not
thrilled with the idea BUT that is okay. I think if I REALLY put MY
HEART into it that DH will SEE the positive results. However, it
won't work unless I can be around good and influential people such as
yourselves. :-)
We have been using a very relaxed method to please the DH and the
children are very happy, asking questions and being observant of the
world around them. I listened to the advice many of you gave me when
I said that DH was not comfortable and have stuck with a relaxed but
fun approach to learning. It's been great.
Anyway, I'm back! I've missed reading your posts and look forward to
interacting. I won't give unschooling advice until the day (hopefully
within this year) we are totally doing it. However, if your heart is
into unschooling but your spouse/partner isn't, I'd be happy to
discuss what has been working for us.
~Sandy Winn
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school education
Graduate school education online High school education Chicago school
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Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
been doing to satisfy your DH. My DH isn't comfortable with unschooling
even though I know in my heart it is what we should be doing.
You can email me off list.
Lesa
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesa
CASDFGHJKQERTIP
Mom to Dayle *9, Wife to Rick, and Me in My Own Right.
L.I.F.E. (Living In Freedom Everyday) Academy
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lesajm/
J~One of the annoying things about believing in free will and individual
responsibility is the difficulty of finding somebody to blame your problems
on. And when you do find somebody, it's remarkable how often his picture
turns up on your driver's license.~ - P. J. O'Rourke |
-------Original Message-------
From: aplan4life
Date: 02/11/06 09:13:24
To: [email protected]
Subject: [unschoolingbasics] Unschooling just won't let me go!
Hi Everyone,
Unschooling is still tugging on my heartstrings, so I want to immerse
myself and sit back and let it really sink in. DH still is not
thrilled with the idea BUT that is okay. I think if I REALLY put MY
HEART into it that DH will SEE the positive results. However, it
won't work unless I can be around good and influential people such as
yourselves. :-)
We have been using a very relaxed method to please the DH and the
children are very happy, asking questions and being observant of the
world around them. I listened to the advice many of you gave me when
I said that DH was not comfortable and have stuck with a relaxed but
fun approach to learning. It's been great.
Anyway, I'm back! I've missed reading your posts and look forward to
interacting. I won't give unschooling advice until the day (hopefully
within this year) we are totally doing it. However, if your heart is
into unschooling but your spouse/partner isn't, I'd be happy to
discuss what has been working for us.
~Sandy Winn
SPONSORED LINKS Secondary school education Graduate school education Home
school education
Graduate school education online High school education Chicago school
education
YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS
Visit your group "unschoolingbasics" on the web.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[email protected]
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Nicole Willoughby
Sandy, oh, Sandy, I'm so glad you're here. I'd love to hear what you've
been doing to satisfy your DH. My DH isn't comfortable with unschooling
even though I know in my heart it is what we should be doing.
Nicole
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail
Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
been doing to satisfy your DH. My DH isn't comfortable with unschooling
even though I know in my heart it is what we should be doing.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Id like to know too! :)
Nicole
---------------------------------
Yahoo! Mail
Use Photomail to share photos without annoying attachments.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Lisa Smith
add me to the list! :)
Lisa
--- Nicole Willoughby <cncnawilloughby@...>
wrote:
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Lisa
--- Nicole Willoughby <cncnawilloughby@...>
wrote:
> Sandy, oh, Sandy, I'm so glad you're here. I'd love__________________________________________________
> to hear what you've
> been doing to satisfy your DH. My DH isn't
> comfortable with unschooling
> even though I know in my heart it is what we should
> be doing.
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> Id like to know too! :)
>
> Nicole
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Yahoo! Mail
> Use Photomail to share photos without annoying
> attachments.
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
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Pamela Sorooshian
Hi Sandy - great to SEE you back and really great to know that things
have been going well for you! Congrats!
Sounds like the makings of a nice article - one that would be VERY
useful to those whose spouses don't agree with unschooling!
-pam
have been going well for you! Congrats!
Sounds like the makings of a nice article - one that would be VERY
useful to those whose spouses don't agree with unschooling!
-pam
On Feb 11, 2006, at 4:10 AM, aplan4life wrote:
> I listened to the advice many of you gave me when
> I said that DH was not comfortable and have stuck with a relaxed but
> fun approach to learning. It's been great.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Donald and Sandra Winn
Well, at least we are all in the same boat! HAHA :-)
What I have done is incorporate a little Charlotte
Mason with unschooling philosophies. I say that
because we aren't doing everything that was done by
Charlotte Mason, many of our "lessons" are way under
the 20 minutes that she uses. My son is not
interested in art and who did it, nor in classical
music along with the composers, etc. This is one way
in which we incorporate the unschooling philosphies.
Here are things that we have been doing and nothing is
set in stone...
Garfields Typing Tutor - at most takes 2-3 minutes a
day...sometimes they stay on longer just to play the
fun games. The game will not let you move on until
you score well enough in each learning segment. I
think my 8yo has only been held up once but I find
that they both enjoy trying to improve their scores.
Zak and Brooke want to learn this because they IM with
Grandparents and like to write emails, they see this
as beneficial. DH loves this being incorporated as
well
Garfield quiz game online-My kids discovered this
little gem and they play it just about everyday! You
play with others in the online community. They are
learning a lot of "quiz" questions from history and
science to pop culture and geography and everything in
between. DH, sees this as beneficial for fact
knowledge. The children find it just plain fun.
For Vocab enhancement I put a greek or latin root word
next to our calendar and there is no set time to
"learn" the words. For instance, last week I put up
"Tele" then all the definitions on the rest of the
sheet are vocabulary words with the root "tele". You
can even make up your own words with the root words so
it's fun. Brooke makes up little songs on paper (which
she thought up on her own) and sings them to me
throughout the week. :-) DH LOVES this because
knowing root words helps people decipher new
vocabulary. It does not have to be blood sweat and
tears though.
Zak is reading the last Harry Potter book and Brooke
is reading "The Secret Garden" ~ They love their
books. Brooke just finished "Wind in the Willows" a
couple of weeks ago, she couldn't put it down. What a
delightful and fun story.
History is a combination of tv and reading. I mean,
you cannot escape it but for DH's sake we "do"
history. We just finished "The Golden Goblet" and my
ds did a written narration. I did not make him write
it in one day, just asked for a little writing each
day. DD only did oral narrations. They loved the
story, it's historical fiction. We only read a little
each day, it was fun because each day we'd wake up and
spend some time with Ranofer - the main character. It
took us about 1-2 months to finish this book but we
ALL got so much out of it. We are now reading
"D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths", we are LOVING IT!!!
The children are starting to see a connection with 12,
starting to connect how one myth may change places and
names of gods/goddesses/god but is basically the same
"thought". It was so COOL at the Zoo yesterday for
them to look at the peacock and know the greek myth
behind the "eyes." We only read a few pages a day
from this book, just taking our time and enjoying
discussions.
Zoo Tycoon 1 and/or 2 - SCIENCE!!! DD plays this game
for hours. DS plays it too but not as much, however,
what they learn from it is priceless and they have a
GREAT time with it. This game is a gem in that it
helps them learn not only about the animal but about
finances, habitats, how to help people, etc. When we
went to the Zoo yesterday she knew many of the animals
before we even got to the sign, what they eat, what
they need. We spoke with a zookeeper and DD politely,
offered to share her ideas of what the zoo could do to
improve habitats...LOL The zookeeper was kind and
said, "I'm very open minded, I'd LOVE to hear your
ideas sometime."
Also for science, a friend of mine loaned me
"Supermarket Science" that features Mr. Wizard. We
did the rocket launch (wine bottle, cap, vinegar,
water and baking soda) that was fun. We also watch
Mythbusters, Survivorman and much more on the science
channel.
Math U See is loved by both children, and basically
they are self taught and it only take 10-20 for Zak
and about 5-10 for Brooke. I'm there if they need it
but Zak has even started making his own algotherims
using this program. We had, for a long time used
ABEKA and dd and I would struggle and have tears. I
threw it out last year. He is in the Epsilom book
which is ALL fractions. Math is something he does
joyfully now and his confidence in his abilities has
skyrocketed. It doesn't bother me that it is so
simple looking compared to the NIGHTMARE in Abeka.
This program has helped Zak in more ways than one.
Math has to be done in a sort of concrete way for DH,
so, although I'd rather totally unschool here...I
can't. However, there are NO MORE TEARS with math and
actually excitement. Brooke never had problems with
Abeka and usually sees math everywhere so there really
wasn't a concern there. She just enjoys doing the
books too. :-)
Writing is usually done via copywork, journaling, etc.
but not in the same day. They both choose to copy
poems and we do memorization of poetry. Both can
write on their own some poems and somedays they choose
to write their own poetry instead of copying...I've
never said "no" nor have they been told "Yes, but only
if you do this first." DH likes the poetry
memorization because he believes that it helps
stimulate the brain and helps with memorization
skills. They pick their own poems, sometimes they are
long, sometimes short...it's their choice. At most
this usually takes between 5-10 minutes.
For Grammar we use "Simply Grammar" once or twice a
week, every other week. It is a slow process and most
of it is all oral it is also delightful. This isn't a
workbook. The children make up their own sentences
both orally and sometimes written. It's not a fill in
the blank book. Also in the book are beautiful
illustrations and sometimes they are asked to look at
the picture and make a story and/or sentences. Two
weeks ago we started with prepositions. We spend
maybe 5 minutes maximum per lesson. So DH is pleased
but isn't aware how wonderfully they are learning in
such a SHORT amount of time. No blood, sweat or tears
here either. I believe Grammar is learned even more
with reading good quality books and just hearing
people speak. It's fun for the children because they
can use their imaginations freely and they have made
me laugh to the point of my face hurting with some of
their creative sentences.
Spelling is learned by the computer, misspelled words
in things they write and once or twice a week we use
"Spelling Power". Brooke LOVES to spell and Zak is a
good speller, we do not spend much more than 5-10
minutes when we use this program either. If they need
to know how to spell something, I happily give them
the information, I don't hold off or get upset when
they ask me, nor do I reply, "I can't believe you
don't know how to spell that!" Again, they are
learning but the time is so very short. It pleases
all in the family.
I've probably left somethings out but generally our
"school" is finished within 1 1/2-3 hours, only
because they take turns on our one computer. If they
choose to do just straight "work" it is usually a
super short 1 1/2 hour day, however, if they take
breaks and go ride their bikes, etc. it usually takes
about 2 1/2-3 hours. If we have things to do, there
is no rush to finish, nor are they forced to do more
the next day in order to make up for missed "school"
days. Really little importance is placed on what
they've done and if I've had a day where we've done
little...I make sure to tell DH something they may
have learned that day.
Hope that helps some of you. Thanks for allowing me
to share what is working for us. We have so much time
for exploration and such during the day. Playing
games, putting the bike rack on the car and going
various places and such, park days, and more...we are
still living in much freedom. It is my DREAM to be a
total unschooler some day and I KNOW it can happen,
WHEN I start incorporating various ideas that people
have offered here.
~Sandy
--- Lisa Smith <goobergrl6@...> wrote:
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com
What I have done is incorporate a little Charlotte
Mason with unschooling philosophies. I say that
because we aren't doing everything that was done by
Charlotte Mason, many of our "lessons" are way under
the 20 minutes that she uses. My son is not
interested in art and who did it, nor in classical
music along with the composers, etc. This is one way
in which we incorporate the unschooling philosphies.
Here are things that we have been doing and nothing is
set in stone...
Garfields Typing Tutor - at most takes 2-3 minutes a
day...sometimes they stay on longer just to play the
fun games. The game will not let you move on until
you score well enough in each learning segment. I
think my 8yo has only been held up once but I find
that they both enjoy trying to improve their scores.
Zak and Brooke want to learn this because they IM with
Grandparents and like to write emails, they see this
as beneficial. DH loves this being incorporated as
well
Garfield quiz game online-My kids discovered this
little gem and they play it just about everyday! You
play with others in the online community. They are
learning a lot of "quiz" questions from history and
science to pop culture and geography and everything in
between. DH, sees this as beneficial for fact
knowledge. The children find it just plain fun.
For Vocab enhancement I put a greek or latin root word
next to our calendar and there is no set time to
"learn" the words. For instance, last week I put up
"Tele" then all the definitions on the rest of the
sheet are vocabulary words with the root "tele". You
can even make up your own words with the root words so
it's fun. Brooke makes up little songs on paper (which
she thought up on her own) and sings them to me
throughout the week. :-) DH LOVES this because
knowing root words helps people decipher new
vocabulary. It does not have to be blood sweat and
tears though.
Zak is reading the last Harry Potter book and Brooke
is reading "The Secret Garden" ~ They love their
books. Brooke just finished "Wind in the Willows" a
couple of weeks ago, she couldn't put it down. What a
delightful and fun story.
History is a combination of tv and reading. I mean,
you cannot escape it but for DH's sake we "do"
history. We just finished "The Golden Goblet" and my
ds did a written narration. I did not make him write
it in one day, just asked for a little writing each
day. DD only did oral narrations. They loved the
story, it's historical fiction. We only read a little
each day, it was fun because each day we'd wake up and
spend some time with Ranofer - the main character. It
took us about 1-2 months to finish this book but we
ALL got so much out of it. We are now reading
"D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths", we are LOVING IT!!!
The children are starting to see a connection with 12,
starting to connect how one myth may change places and
names of gods/goddesses/god but is basically the same
"thought". It was so COOL at the Zoo yesterday for
them to look at the peacock and know the greek myth
behind the "eyes." We only read a few pages a day
from this book, just taking our time and enjoying
discussions.
Zoo Tycoon 1 and/or 2 - SCIENCE!!! DD plays this game
for hours. DS plays it too but not as much, however,
what they learn from it is priceless and they have a
GREAT time with it. This game is a gem in that it
helps them learn not only about the animal but about
finances, habitats, how to help people, etc. When we
went to the Zoo yesterday she knew many of the animals
before we even got to the sign, what they eat, what
they need. We spoke with a zookeeper and DD politely,
offered to share her ideas of what the zoo could do to
improve habitats...LOL The zookeeper was kind and
said, "I'm very open minded, I'd LOVE to hear your
ideas sometime."
Also for science, a friend of mine loaned me
"Supermarket Science" that features Mr. Wizard. We
did the rocket launch (wine bottle, cap, vinegar,
water and baking soda) that was fun. We also watch
Mythbusters, Survivorman and much more on the science
channel.
Math U See is loved by both children, and basically
they are self taught and it only take 10-20 for Zak
and about 5-10 for Brooke. I'm there if they need it
but Zak has even started making his own algotherims
using this program. We had, for a long time used
ABEKA and dd and I would struggle and have tears. I
threw it out last year. He is in the Epsilom book
which is ALL fractions. Math is something he does
joyfully now and his confidence in his abilities has
skyrocketed. It doesn't bother me that it is so
simple looking compared to the NIGHTMARE in Abeka.
This program has helped Zak in more ways than one.
Math has to be done in a sort of concrete way for DH,
so, although I'd rather totally unschool here...I
can't. However, there are NO MORE TEARS with math and
actually excitement. Brooke never had problems with
Abeka and usually sees math everywhere so there really
wasn't a concern there. She just enjoys doing the
books too. :-)
Writing is usually done via copywork, journaling, etc.
but not in the same day. They both choose to copy
poems and we do memorization of poetry. Both can
write on their own some poems and somedays they choose
to write their own poetry instead of copying...I've
never said "no" nor have they been told "Yes, but only
if you do this first." DH likes the poetry
memorization because he believes that it helps
stimulate the brain and helps with memorization
skills. They pick their own poems, sometimes they are
long, sometimes short...it's their choice. At most
this usually takes between 5-10 minutes.
For Grammar we use "Simply Grammar" once or twice a
week, every other week. It is a slow process and most
of it is all oral it is also delightful. This isn't a
workbook. The children make up their own sentences
both orally and sometimes written. It's not a fill in
the blank book. Also in the book are beautiful
illustrations and sometimes they are asked to look at
the picture and make a story and/or sentences. Two
weeks ago we started with prepositions. We spend
maybe 5 minutes maximum per lesson. So DH is pleased
but isn't aware how wonderfully they are learning in
such a SHORT amount of time. No blood, sweat or tears
here either. I believe Grammar is learned even more
with reading good quality books and just hearing
people speak. It's fun for the children because they
can use their imaginations freely and they have made
me laugh to the point of my face hurting with some of
their creative sentences.
Spelling is learned by the computer, misspelled words
in things they write and once or twice a week we use
"Spelling Power". Brooke LOVES to spell and Zak is a
good speller, we do not spend much more than 5-10
minutes when we use this program either. If they need
to know how to spell something, I happily give them
the information, I don't hold off or get upset when
they ask me, nor do I reply, "I can't believe you
don't know how to spell that!" Again, they are
learning but the time is so very short. It pleases
all in the family.
I've probably left somethings out but generally our
"school" is finished within 1 1/2-3 hours, only
because they take turns on our one computer. If they
choose to do just straight "work" it is usually a
super short 1 1/2 hour day, however, if they take
breaks and go ride their bikes, etc. it usually takes
about 2 1/2-3 hours. If we have things to do, there
is no rush to finish, nor are they forced to do more
the next day in order to make up for missed "school"
days. Really little importance is placed on what
they've done and if I've had a day where we've done
little...I make sure to tell DH something they may
have learned that day.
Hope that helps some of you. Thanks for allowing me
to share what is working for us. We have so much time
for exploration and such during the day. Playing
games, putting the bike rack on the car and going
various places and such, park days, and more...we are
still living in much freedom. It is my DREAM to be a
total unschooler some day and I KNOW it can happen,
WHEN I start incorporating various ideas that people
have offered here.
~Sandy
--- Lisa Smith <goobergrl6@...> wrote:
> add me to the list! :)__________________________________________________
>
> Lisa
>
> --- Nicole Willoughby <cncnawilloughby@...>
> wrote:
>
> > Sandy, oh, Sandy, I'm so glad you're here. I'd
> love
> > to hear what you've
> > been doing to satisfy your DH. My DH isn't
> > comfortable with unschooling
> > even though I know in my heart it is what we
> should
> > be doing.
> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
> >
> > Id like to know too! :)
> >
> > Nicole
> >
> >
> > ---------------------------------
> > Yahoo! Mail
> > Use Photomail to share photos without annoying
> > attachments.
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> > removed]
> >
> >
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam
> protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
>
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com