hmsdragonfly

I don't think I've posted here before, so I'll supply a brief intro
to those who don't know me from unschooling.com and .info.

I am mom to two girls, 13-1/2 and almost 12. We have been
unschooling for just over 3 years; the girls were in public school
before that where they were neither unhappy nor inspired. Questions
like "Is this as good as it gets?" led us to try homeschooling. I
think we had one math lesson before settling happily into
unschooling.

Our usual arrangement is for my dh-of-16-years to be home with the
girls while I am at work, and we live in Western Washington, but
every so often we take off on a family adventure. Our most recent
was living aboard a sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico during the worst
hurricane season ever. (Details are here:
www.zombieprincess.blogspot.com) I suspect we'll go back to
roadtrips now! :-)

My younger daughter is headed to Summerhill for their summer term
(May to July). Not sure how I will get by without her, but I'm very
pleased that she gets to realize this dream. And I get a trip to
England out of the deal.

My older daughter is in a really wonderful and amazing period of
discovery. She read TTLH recently and has really taken charge of her
life and learning since then. It's amazing to watch, though I'm
scrambling a bit to keep up with and support her big ol' pile of new
interests.

Life at our house is very busy these days, but So Good. Love it!

df

Pamela Sorooshian

On Feb 28, 2006, at 6:00 PM, hmsdragonfly wrote:

> My younger daughter is headed to Summerhill for their summer term
> (May to July). Not sure how I will get by without her, but I'm very
> pleased that she gets to realize this dream. And I get a trip to
> England out of the deal.

Wow. That sounds like quite a fun substitute for the usual summer
camp! <BEG> I hope she'll write about her experience there - I know
I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

-pam

Unschooling shirts, cups, bumper stickers, bags...
Live Love Learn
UNSCHOOL!
<http://www.cafepress.com/livelovelearn>





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

Schuyler Waynforth

--- In [email protected], "hmsdragonfly"
<hmsdragonfly@...> wrote:
> My younger daughter is headed to Summerhill for their summer term
> (May to July). Not sure how I will get by without her, but I'm very
> pleased that she gets to realize this dream. And I get a trip to
> England out of the deal.

So, she is going. I don't think we will have moved to Norfolk by May,
but we have to be there by July (by June really, but nobody is coming
to see our house..), so if you want a place not too far away to stop
and stay, and a bit more accomodating than a self-accomodating
cottage...Although, having just gone to Summerhill and looked at the
map, it may be a bit more of a trek than I thought. Anyhow, you and
yours are welcome.

Cheers,
Schuyler

www.waynforth.blogspot.com

Sandra Dodd

On Feb 28, 2006, at 10:38 PM, Pamela Sorooshian wrote:

> Wow. That sounds like quite a fun substitute for the usual summer
> camp! <BEG> I hope she'll write about her experience there - I know
> I'd be very interested in hearing about it.

I rarely listen to the radio in the car, but yesterday I happened to,
and they were advertising summer classes ("academics, arts and
sports") at Albuquerque Academy. I think I'll at least get the
schedule and see if Holly might want to do that.

I went to summer school twice, before 9th grade because I was going
to skip 9th grade (but ended up deciding not to) and then again after
10th so I could graduate early (and to hang around with my friend
Jon, who had failed English <g>). Those sessions were GREAT—more
informal, I was meeting kids I wouldn't have hung out with otherwise,
things were at a faster pace, I walked to school in the beautiful
summer mornings.

Holly wouldn't get the same contrast, but her contrast would be even
greater if she went. She's wanted to go to school, but not really.
She wants the experiences without the commitment or pressure, and
this might be a great way to go.

I think summer sessions of regular public school might be hard,
because she would be around kids who were in dispair, under pressure,
or very hostile. Some of those could risk being a distillation of
the worst of school, and some teacher shame the summer school kids
too. My half brother went to summer school (started to and ditched
out after a while) and it was harsh.

I know I changed the subject from going to England to Summerhill.
That's a resort school. <bwg>
But even local summer school sessions might be something for those
kids who have the big "What's school like?" curiosities. I doubt
that summer school sessions involve fully registering with a district
at ALL because of so many kids who aren't in their regular districts
in the summer.

Sandra

hmsdragonfly

> Anyhow, you and yours are welcome.

Thanks, Schuyler! That's a very nice offer. If current plans hold,
I'll be there only in April, and Chloe will come home on her last day
of term in July. But we'll keep you in mind if this becomes a
recurring thing! (Although my heart and pocketbook certainly hope it
doesn't!! ;-))

df