[email protected]

In a message dated 08/24/2000 1:02:15 PM !!!First Boot!!!, mommiesapp@...
writes:

<< Also, I took the book I was currently reading with me to the dentist and
you
can't (well, you probably can) believe the criticism I got and the comments.

"Oh, you don't have a teaching degree?" "I could never take on the
challenge", etc., etc. Anyway, I congratulate all of you for doing the work
you are doing and sticking with it -- I sense it is going to be yet another
battle of wills within my family and around my circle of friends (many of
whom are teachers -- great!).

** Unsolicited advice -- ignore, ignore, ignore. Smile and ignore. They
will wonder why you are so darn happy and what you are up to! ****

** Also, I was tremendously suprised by the reaction of my one teacher
relative -- one of my SILs. She was completely supportive!! The only neg I
got was from my Mom at first. Then I answered a few questions she had and
she started volunteering in a 1st grade class at a local ps (the one I went
to as a girl -- eons ago!). Anyway -- she's all for it now!! **


One question I have does not relate directly to homeschooling but will
probably make or break my decision -- how do you deal with behavior issues?
I'm talking about your day to day tantrums and non responsive behavior? My
dd is 3yo and my ds is only 7mo but I feel like I'm on a roller coaster with
my daughter's behavior and not sure how to deal with all the conflicts. I
have read many books but nothing seems to click for her (or me). I do NOT
believe in any type of physical correction (hitting, smacking, flicking,
etc.). If anyone has suggestions on books to read or websites, or lists,
please let me know.

**LOL -- sounds pretty normal to me. Hsing or not you are going to have
THOSE days. At least you won't be tired out from school stuff on top of
everything else! **


Lastly (I think!) I was very interested in the posts about the reading,
spelling, etc. My dd always wants to know what letters start which words
and
will constantly aske me "what does ________ start with?" She too wants to
learn how to write the letters and I'm not sure if there is a specific
format
or method that I should look into about making sure I teach her how to
correctly write the letters (or is this even necessary). I find myself
writing the letters and then wondering if I'm doing it right!! Also, she is
the ONLY person in my whole family that is left handed but she has no
problem
following my hand when she watches me write the letters -- I thought that
was
sooo neat!

**There are a lot of "methods." I'm sure you will get suggestions. But . .
is your handwriting legible? If so, that sounds good enough to me!**


BTW, thanks for allowing me to be a part of this list -- I THOROUGHLY enjoy
the insight and information regarding homeshcooling in general and
unschooling specifically.

Michelle in DE
>>

I'm sure you're in for a great fun time!!!!

Nance (having a ball in Florida)

Karen Paulson

<<I'm talking about your day to day tantrums and non responsive behavior?  My
dd is 3yo and my ds is only 7mo but I feel like I'm on a roller coaster with
my daughter's behavior and not sure how to deal with all the conflicts. 
>>
                                                                                                                            Hi Michelle,   I have 3 kids-- my oldest will soon be 6, my second oldest is 3 1/2, and my youngest  is 11 mos.  I have found that kids at the age of 3 can be very challenging.  Now I have one who has gone through that age and stage, and one that is in the midsts of it.  From my experience I can tell you that "this ,too,shall pass".  My older child is sooo much easier now in regard to being able to reason better.  He can verbalize things better, too, which helps alleviate some tantrum causing frustration.  Hang in there-- I would caution you about making a decision about home/unschooling based  upon the current ages of your children.  A couple of years from now your daughter may well be out of the tantrum stage, so be patient... time is on your side!  ~Karen in IND
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 8:01 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Some questions from a Newbie

Hi all, I'm relatively new to the list and I am only in the information
gathering stages about homeschooling.  I've been getting books from the
library to better educate myself on the subject of homeschooling.  If anyone
has a MUST READ book, I would love to hear what it is. 

Also, I took the book I was currently reading with me to the dentist and you
can't (well, you probably can) believe the criticism I got and the comments. 
"Oh, you don't have a teaching degree?"  "I could never take on the
challenge", etc., etc.  Anyway, I congratulate all of you for doing the work
you are doing and sticking with it -- I sense it is going to be yet another
battle of wills within my family and around my circle of friends (many of
whom are teachers -- great!).

One question I have does not relate directly to homeschooling but will
probably make or break my decision -- how do you deal with behavior issues? 
I'm talking about your day to day tantrums and non responsive behavior?  My
dd is 3yo and my ds is only 7mo but I feel like I'm on a roller coaster with
my daughter's behavior and not sure how to deal with all the conflicts.  I
have read many books but nothing seems to click for her (or me).  I do NOT
believe in any type of physical correction (hitting, smacking, flicking,
etc.).  If anyone has suggestions on books to read or websites, or lists,
please let me know.

Lastly (I think!) I was very interested in the posts about the reading,
spelling, etc.  My dd always wants to know what letters start which words and
will constantly aske me "what does ________ start with?"  She too wants to
learn how to write the letters and I'm not sure if there is a specific format
or method that I should look into about making sure I teach her how to
correctly write the letters (or is this even necessary).  I find myself
writing the letters and then wondering if I'm doing it right!!  Also, she is
the ONLY person in my whole family that is left handed but she has no problem
following my hand when she watches me write the letters -- I thought that was
sooo neat!

BTW, thanks for allowing me to be a part of this list -- I THOROUGHLY enjoy
the insight and information regarding homeshcooling in general and
unschooling specifically.

Michelle in DE

Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com

Addresses:
Post message: [email protected]
Unsubscribe: [email protected]
List owner: [email protected]
List settings page: http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom


Bonnie Painter

Michelle,

This might not be as big of a problem as you think. My sister, Michele, who
is also in DE, is one of our biggest supporters! My SIL, who is also a
teacher, on the other hand...


>battle of wills within my family and around my circle of friends (many of
>whom are teachers -- great!).

As far as your behavior issues go, it sounds like your kids are the same age
difference as mine (2yrs, 6wks) and I remember what my son was like at 3!
WOW!! I was ready to call social services to have this kid evaluated. I
really thought that he had some kind of "disorder" He grew out of it and as
I reflect, I really think that it had to do with him dealing with his anger
over his new sibling. I honestly don't think the jealously really hit until
she showed signs of being a "person". I know that isn't much help. I think
that we ended up using a lot of time outs in his room. I know that we also
tried to get a Mommy and me night out, so he could have me to himself once
in a while. There are several great books. "How to Talk So Kids Can Listen
and Listen So Kids Can Talk" is a great book. Also, "Positive Discipline
from A to Z" is nice, because it is referenced alphabetically by behavior,
so if you are really stressed and your brain is taxed, you can go lock
yourself in the bathroom and do some reading!

>I'm talking about your day to day tantrums and non responsive behavior? My
>dd is 3yo and my ds is only 7mo but I feel like I'm on a roller coaster
>with
>my daughter's behavior


My dd who is also 3, is really interested in writing her letters. I have
found these little notebooks that Crayola make that give them a line of the
letter with a solid line, then dotted and then four lines underneath for
them to practice. She really likes this book and will ask to write her
letters. She is very independent and prefers that I don't show her how to
do anything. Funny my son, who is 5, is also left-handed. Only a few aunts
on either side are...

Welcome, Michele, looking forward to having you here.

Bonnie (coming out of lurkdom)

>She too wants to learn how to write the letters and I'm not sure if there
>is a specific format
>or method that I should look into about making sure I teach her how to
>correctly write the letters (or is this even necessary). I find myself
>writing the letters and then wondering if I'm doing it right!! Also, she
>is
>the ONLY person in my whole family that is left handed but she has no
>problem
>following my hand when she watches me write the letters -- I thought that
>was
>sooo neat!
>

________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/24/2000 8:02:20 AM Central Daylight Time,
mommiesapp@... writes:

> Hi all, I'm relatively new to the list and I am only in the information
> gathering stages about homeschooling. I've been getting books from the
> library to better educate myself on the subject of homeschooling. If
anyone
>
> has a MUST READ book, I would love to hear what it is.

Hi Michelle, and welcome to this wonderful adventure! I really love to
recommend The Homeschooling Book of Answers by Linda Dobson and Mary
Griffith's The Homeschooling Handbook and The Unschooling Handbook.
>
> Also, I took the book I was currently reading with me to the dentist and
you
>
> can't (well, you probably can) believe the criticism I got and the
comments.
>
> "Oh, you don't have a teaching degree?" "I could never take on the
> challenge", etc., etc.

You know, I never took comments like that as criticism. I have always
thought of them as indications that people just didn't understand how
homeschooling works (although I don't necessarily take it upon myself to
education them). Actually, at one time, I would have been the one to make
comments like that (and probably did!!)

I sense it is going to be yet another
> battle of wills within my family and around my circle of friends (many of
> whom are teachers -- great!).

Well this is a wonderful place to start building your support group. I also
suggest that you look for homeschool support groups in your vicinity. Can we
help you find one?

> One question I have does not relate directly to homeschooling but will
> probably make or break my decision -- how do you deal with behavior
issues?
>. . . . If anyone has suggestions on books to read or websites, or lists,
> please let me know.

My husband and I teach classes in Parenting with Love and Logic based on the
book of the same name by Foster Cline and Jim Fay. Are you familiar with it?
I'll be happy to discuss it with you if you'd like to e-mail me off-list.

>
I'm not sure if there is a specific
> format
> or method that I should look into about making sure I teach her how to
> correctly write the letters (or is this even necessary).

My son writes many of his letters from the bottom up. Why? I have no idea.
I remind him that it's really more efficient and easier to write them from
the top down, but that just doesn't work for him. In the end, does he get
him message across? Yes. I also read recently that many children print
faster than they write cursive, and with the availablilty of computers,
neither printing nor cursive is as critical as it once was. So I'd say there
is no "right" way. I figure, it there were, we'd all have the same
handwriting.

Good luck!

Carron

[email protected]

Michelle,
I have a three year old, also. She has very challenging behaviors....I agree
with Karen...hang in there.

Julie

aworthen

----- Original Message -----
From: <mommiesapp@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, August 24, 2000 9:01 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Some questions from a Newbie

Welcome Michelle,
I am Amy unschooling mom of 3 girls. We live in MA with my dh Keith, our dog
and 2 cats. Some books that I can recomend on hsing are: The Homeschooling
Book of Answers by Linda Dobson; The Big Book of Learning-Getting
Started-Vol.1 by Mary Pride; And The Skylark Sings With Me by David Albert;
and anything by Raymond and Dorothy Moore. I hope you find hsing to be what
you need. It's wonderful!
Amy
Mom to Samantha, Dana, and Casey

>