Rachel

Hi all- one of the many lurkers here and newbee- wannabe unschooling
family.

I think I may have posted on here before but not sure- any how my
name is Rachel, a single work at home mom, and ds (is that son?- a
guide to abbreviations would helpful lol) is David. We reside in WV.
It is one that requires end of year testing or portfolio showing
improvment of a certain percent. Would love to hear from any
unschoolers in WV. I pulled David out of school in Dec 04- We-- More
like "I" tried doing the traditional homeschool with county books in
Jan- with total failure!

But I digress- well that was background... My main reason for this
post is to celebrate a wonderful unschoooling moment - which have
become more common. (Getting here has not been easy- and I know I'm
not over the hill yet lol) My son loves to play ps2- he recently got
a game that has voice control. However he does not have the
connection for it yet- we realized afterwards...lol.

So my adventursome son asked if he could tear up 2 headphones so that
he could connect the computer speakers, which he hooked to the tv, to
a separate subwoofer that allowed for input from a microphone. So I
said sure just so long as you don't tear up my headset (ie-
microphone). So David works out in his mind and puts his plan into
action. I am starting dinner. He needs help splicing the 2
headphones. So he waits till I can put a stop to dinner- even
pitching in.

We get to his work area- the living room floor- and I ask David to
explain to me all the intricacies (sp?) he has planned. Well come to
find out he was going to be putting the cords from an output into an
output. So he realized even before he finished speaking that what he
was planning would not work.

He is a very emotional 11 year old that gets upset very easily. He
looks up at me with these alligator tears, crooked mouth, and working
himself into a lather. But when he sees me I have this great big
grin! And he is like why are you happy- I messed up! I tore up 2
perfectly good head phones! And I jump up laughing and say "WE DID
IT!" Of course he is giving me "the look". And I say David this is
what unschooling is about- finding your way!

I tell him that he is very smart and to continue what is he doing- he
will probably find a way. So after dinner we look at it again and I
ask him ok- where does this connection lead to... the speakers, and
this one- the tv. So which one leads to the ps2? this one. And how
will connecting the headset to the tv get the commands to the ps2.
AHHHHHHHH! So he grabs the PS2 looking for a head set connection-
again. The only hookup he can find he says looks like the one for my
camera. (USB port).

So I say well if this game has voice command ability and it needs to
be hooked to the ps2 then... David says then the microphone needs to
be hooked to the PS2- he pulls out the booklet. At which he finds the
requrement for a usb headset- microphone & headphone.

So the next question is can I tear up this really nice Logitec mouse
that has a usb connection and splice it to the headset? Of couse I
called a halt there- The mouse is $40 and that's the only head set I
have. But he was thinking! He was LEARNING! I was LEARNING!


Be Well,
Rachel
Please Don't Take Your Organs to Heaven,
Heaven Knows We Need Them Here!

Tracy

>I tell him that he is very smart and to continue what is he doing- he
will probably find a way.<

Oh Rachel...for some reason that line put a little tear in my eye! I
love those moments - just before the peak, when they have the option
to hang in there or let go...and you hand the reins to them and
say "Whoa, or go, it's up to you".

Congratulations and thanks for sharing. Your story was inspirational
to me today!

Tracy