[email protected]

Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for a
homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually a
UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I found
this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot in
common to share advice and ideas with!
Have a great day!! :)
Corie

[email protected]

Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for a
homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually a
UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I found
this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot in
common to share advice and ideas with!
Have a great day!! :)
Corie

[email protected]

Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for a
homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually a
UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I found
this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot in
common to share advice and ideas with!
Have a great day!! :)
Corie

[email protected]

Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for a
homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually a
UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I found
this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot in
common to share advice and ideas with!
Have a great day!! :)
Corie

[email protected]

Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for a
homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually a
UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I found
this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot in
common to share advice and ideas with!
Have a great day!! :)
Corie

Kim Baker

Welcom Corie. I just started homeschooling in
January and like you discovered that I was
actually unschooling. This is a great list. Full
of wonderful people and fantastic ideas! Good to
have you aboard! :-)


=====
Kim - Missouri MOM of Dylan(11) Jacob(10) Noah(21 mos)

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices
http://auctions.yahoo.com/

Valerie

Welcome Unschooling Corie! I hope we can help!

Valerie


--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., kcpoirot@y... wrote:
> Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
> homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for
a
> homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually
a
> UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I
found
> this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot
in
> common to share advice and ideas with!
> Have a great day!! :)
> Corie

Johanna

Hi Corie and welcome. did you hit the send key to many times? I got your post five times. How old are your children and wher do you live? (if you don't mind saying) I have six kids and we are in Tennessee.

Johanna
Life is the ultimate learning experience!
----- Original Message -----
From: kcpoirot@...
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, May 01, 2001 7:34 AM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] Introducing myself


Hi...I am Corie, I have 4 children and have considered myself I
homeschooler for the past 5 years. However I recently signed up for a
homeschooling email support group, and realized that I am actually a
UNSCHOOLING parent. I cannot tell you all how happy I am that I found
this group. I think I am going to find many new friends with alot in
common to share advice and ideas with!
Have a great day!! :)
Corie


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



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

To unsubscribe, set preferences, or read archives:
http://www.egroups.com/group/Unschooling-dotcom

Another great list sponsored by Home Education Magazine!
http://www.home-ed-magazine.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



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


Judy Anderson

I have been reading along here for a couple of weeks and decided it was time
to start asking questions. My name is Judy and I was homeschooled from
grades 3 through 8, then I went to public school for high school. I always
wanted to homeschool my children, but I feared having the same lack of
social activity that I had when I was young. My mom had no car during the
day and we lived way in the boonies, so our whole life was pretty much spent
at home. I am finally getting over that fear and looking into taking my
children out of public school. I have four children, three of whom live
with me. My oldest is Cait, she is 8 and in 3rd grade and lives with her
father. My second is Moira who is 5 and in kindergarten. Next comes
Lauren, who is 2 and is receiving therapy for a speech delay. Not language
delay, just speech. She will start in the public preschool in April when
she turns 3 and will be taking advantage of the special ed she can get
there. My baby is 12.5 months old and rather young for me to worry abuot
her education right now. Moira loves kindergarten, so I am a little
hesitant to take her out. I am very glad that she has gone to public school
this year because she now has friends, which she didn't before she started.
She is reading very well, much better than I thought she could until I
realized she was actually reading _Put Me In The Zoo_ instead of reciting
it. Moira is very smart, and very sociable, and I want nothing to hold her
back, including me and my own limitations. We are on very, very limited
resources, and I don't want her to lose out on anything because we can't
afford to take her/get it for her/etc.

Now on to my questions. This may seem like such a basic concept, but I am
having trouble grasping it. I know that school is mandated so that children
are prepared to enter the adult world, and that many who dropped out of
shool before it was mandated (i.e. my granparents' generation when it wasn't
uncommon to drop out of school at 6th or 8th grade to go to work) struggled.
I don't want my children to struggle like that. How is unschooling
different from simply dropping out of school?

Second: Due to the fact that we are on state assistance to survive until my
husband finds a job, how can I maximize my children's exposure to new and
interesting things? Until he starts working again, we do have a car, but we
also have to budget our gas. Obviously, going to the theater is out of the
question. When I was young, we raised goats and my mom had a garden. But I
can't offer those right now because we live in an apartment in the middle of
town. I can't even send my children outside to play in the yard because
there isn't one. We have cable and they are allowed to watch quite a bit of
it, but I limit which stations they can watch. I also have the internet
(obviously) and I let them play on it when they like. They tend to mostly
visit the Noggin, PBS and Nick Jr websites and play the games they find
there. I also take them to the library regularly and take advantage of
their free programs. We were also quite active in the SCA for a couple of
years, but money had a way of running thinner and thinner so we can no
longer afford to go to events. Also, the size of our family has required
that we find a trailer if we wish to go to any over night events. The
children love the SCA and were upset when we told them we had to take this
year off. I feel that it is depriving them of an awesome environment, but
we just can't do it this year.

I have been slowly perusing Sandra Dodd's website, but there is a lot there,
so it will take me a while. If my questions are answered on one of those
pages, please direct me there. I have been wracking my brain trying to
figure out why your name is so familiar, but I just can't find it. My
husband said it is familiar to him to, but he couldn't place it either. I
had never heard of unschooling until last month or so when some one on
another list made casual mention of it.

I will try to not be quiet so long winded in future posts, but I can't
promise anything. :) Thanks for your help and ideas.

Judy

Fetteroll

on 3/8/05 11:45 AM, Judy Anderson at temair@... wrote:

> Next comes
> Lauren, who is 2 and is receiving therapy for a speech delay. Not language
> delay, just speech.

Does she need to speak right now as a 2 yo? Is she upset because she can't?
A *lot* of therapy is geared towards getting skills into kids that the
schools need them to have.

Back in the "olden days" when kids maybe went to kindergarten, was there
speech therapy for 2 yos? Or did most people know that some kids develop
later and it was best to wait things out because most of them self correct.

The unschoolers here won't be shy about telling their experiences with
waiting on speech therapy!

> I know that school is mandated so that children
> are prepared to enter the adult world, and that many who dropped out of
> shool before it was mandated (i.e. my granparents' generation when it wasn't
> uncommon to drop out of school at 6th or 8th grade to go to work) struggled.

Have you done a statistical analysis of that data? ;-) Do you have hard
evidence that people in their 60's and 70's who dropped out struggled more
*because* they dropped out than those who stuck school out?

(I'm totally guessing on when there would have been a chunk of people who
weren't required to go to school -- though frankly I remember watching
Spanky and Our Gang as a child which was filmed in the 30's (maybe) and they
had truant officers chasing after the kids.)

There is anectdotal "evidence" that if you drop out you'll be a failure.
People say that to keep kids in school! Sure there are people who get
demoralized and drop out and end up even more demoralized. That's not a
recipe for success!

But there are plenty of people who say "To heck with school! I can do better
on my own!" and then succeed.

And there are many many many more (more than those who drop out I'd say) who
struggle even though they went to school.

Schools take credit for those who succeed. But they don't acknowledge
responsibility for those who stay in school and fail to succeed. That's seen
as the child's fault.

Funny, isn't it?

> I don't want my children to struggle like that. How is unschooling
> different from simply dropping out of school?

If someone drops out of school after years of being told they're a failure
and won't amount to anything if they don't succeed in school, then will
giving up on school make them realize they are filled with potential and the
world is their oyster if they just reach out and take it?

> how can I maximize my children's exposure to new and
> interesting things?

> Until he starts working again, we do have a car, but we
> also have to budget our gas.

> Obviously, going to the theater is out of the
> question.

Volunteer to usher or collect tickets :-)

> When I was young, we raised goats and my mom had a garden. But I
> can't offer those right now because we live in an apartment in the middle of
> town.

And I can't take my daughter to the moon. Which will come off sounding
snarky but it's not meant to be. It's meant to say if we focus on what we
can't do, it's a whole lot harder to see what we *can* do!

If you have walls, you can put up paper -- ask around for places, like print
shops, that have lots of left overs -- and draw/paint murals. (People or
Google may have recipes for cheap paint.)

Go for a walk down the block and count all the blue cars. Next time count
all the red cars. Next time count all the silver cars. More or less?

Find recipes from different countries. Which might spark an interest and you
can read books set there and watch movies.

There are books about wildlife in the cities. You'd be surprised at what has
taken up residence. It's more than pigeons and squirrels.

> We have cable and they are allowed to watch quite a bit of
> it, but I limit which stations they can watch.

Start exploring! (You'll find plenty of reading material at Sandra's site
about not limiting kids.) If your world is limited by circumstances it makes
even less sense to deliberately choose to make it more limited.

Don't worry. They won't choose to watch pornography ;-) They may choose
shows out of their comfort zone, but each time they do that, they learn more
about themselves and what they can and can't handle.

Be there with them! Help them learn how to deal with the edges in ways other
than stepping back and closing it off :-)

Joyce

Jackie Chovanes

On Mar 8, 2005, at 3:54 PM, Fetteroll wrote:

>
> on 3/8/05 11:45 AM, Judy Anderson at temair@... wrote:
>
>> Next comes
>> Lauren, who is 2 and is receiving therapy for a speech delay. Not
>> language
>> delay, just speech.


This sounds like my dd, who turned 2 on Jan 1. The pediatrician
referred us for a speech eval and (of course) therapy was recommended.
>
> Does she need to speak right now as a 2 yo? Is she upset because she
> can't?

The reason we consented to the eval is that it seems like dd tries to
talk, but can't get the sounds out, which is what the eval also found.
She's an excellent communicator -- she never wanted to use signs (as my
older early speaking dd did), but she pantomimes, gestures, changes her
facial expressions, and uses a few words all in combination. It's just
recently that I'm wondering if her inability to talk can't help but to
limit the complexity of what she can communicate -- things like what
she's thinking and feeling, things that happened in the past or will
happen, questions she might have ...

> A *lot* of therapy is geared towards getting skills into kids that the
> schools need them to have.

Yes, that's why we thought long and hard about agreeing to the eval,
much less therapy.
>
> Back in the "olden days" when kids maybe went to kindergarten, was
> there
> speech therapy for 2 yos? Or did most people know that some kids
> develop
> later and it was best to wait things out because most of them self
> correct.

What the speech therapist said (biased source, I know) was that kids
who are late at developing speech are just that -- late at developing
speech. That is, they don't really try to talk until they're ready,
and when they do, they don't have any difficulties pronouncing the
words. With my dd, she tries to say things, and we just can't
understand lots of them.

>
> The unschoolers here won't be shy about telling their experiences with
> waiting on speech therapy!

I would love to hear what people have to say about this. Right now,
we're in the process of getting therapy scheduled. I feel like I might
as well give it a try, and can always discontinue if I feel it's not
working out or if she really hates it or whatever.

Jackie Chovanes
jchovanes@...

Judy Anderson

Does she need to speak right now as a 2 yo? Is she upset because she can't?
***She gets very frustrated when we can't understand what she is saying and
will end up having temper tantrums. Her main problem is that she
understands everything, but she can't get her mouth to say what she is
thinking in a way that we can understand. She just had her evaluation for
the preschool and she was at the extreme top of the chart for comprehension,
and barely made the bottom of the chart for expression. If the difference
wasn't so dramatic and so obviously difficult for her, I wouldn't worry so
much about it. Her therapy consists of lots of floor play with beads and
sorting and such to develop fine motor skills. They said that should help
her control her oral muscles better. She really enjoys it and always asks
when Nina (Elaina, her therapist) is coming over.

Have you done a statistical analysis of that data? ;-) Do you have hard
evidence that people in their 60's and 70's who dropped out struggled more
*because* they dropped out than those who stuck school out?
*** No, I don't. It just seems that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence.

> We have cable and they are allowed to watch quite a bit of
> it, but I limit which stations they can watch.

Start exploring! (You'll find plenty of reading material at Sandra's site
about not limiting kids.) If your world is limited by circumstances it makes
even less sense to deliberately choose to make it more limited.
*** I found that when they watch channels that have lots of commercials
aimed at selling things to children, they get whiny and cranky. Instead of
dealing with the horrible behavior, I just don't let them watch those
channels. I don't want to create more reasons I have to say no. Otherwise
I let them watch pretty much anything that I would watch. Scary things
cannot be watched after supper for nightmare reasons.

Be there with them! Help them learn how to deal with the edges in ways other
than stepping back and closing it off :-)
*** What exactly do you mean by this?

What do you think of the idea of gradually working your way into unschooling
by starting opening up their world on weekends and vacations? I don't think
I'm confident enough to jump in head first yet, but then again, I don't have
to really make a decision until August 1.

Judy


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

Fetteroll

on 3/8/05 4:45 PM, Judy Anderson at temair@... wrote:

> I found that when they watch channels that have lots of commercials
> aimed at selling things to children, they get whiny and cranky. Instead of
> dealing with the horrible behavior, I just don't let them watch those
> channels.

It is easier to stop the cause of behavior than to help children learn
skills on how to deal with what is troubling them.

But in the long run -- and short run for them! -- helping them get what
they're trying to get -- and I'm sure they dont' want to feel cranky! --
works better and builds a better relationship.

> I don't want to create more reasons I have to say no.

Then don't say no :-)

I know, sounds pie in the sky!

If you got cranky after reading your favorite author, would you want your
husband to take the book away and forbid you from reading any more of her
books?

Or what if he brought you something to eat while you were reading and gave
you a kiss on the top of your head? What if he asked if you'd like to take a
break and go for a walk with him? What if he asked you in between books what
you thought made you cranky and what he could do to help?

How would you rather be treated?

> Otherwise
> I let them watch pretty much anything that I would watch. Scary things
> cannot be watched after supper for nightmare reasons.

Do they want to watch scary things after supper?

Do they want to have nightmares?

If we think in terms of being their partner and helping them get what they
want then we don't need so many rules and so many nos!

You can say "Remember when you guys watched The Mummy and you had
nightmares? Well this movie is like that. How about we tape it and we can
watch it in the morning when it's bright and sunny? And we can have popcorn
and talk about how maybe they created the special effects so it won't seem
so scary."

> What do you think of the idea of gradually working your way into unschooling
> by starting opening up their world on weekends and vacations? I don't think
> I'm confident enough to jump in head first yet, but then again, I don't have
> to really make a decision until August 1.

Won't work as beautifully :-)

People will do what they'll do, but it's better when they do from a more
informed position.

If your husband was nervous about you reading certain books, would you feel
more respected and free if he never let you read them or if he let you read
them just on weekends as he nervously fretted ;-)

The more we control something, the more valuable it becomes. If we dole
something out in small bits then it becomes something to be desired and
looked forward to.

Is that the effect you'd like to achieve with TV?

If something is plentiful then we can take it or leave it depending on
whether we want it at the moment or not. People with limitless water don't
hoard it ;-)

If kids fear that if they leave the TV it won't go back on, they'll stay
glued to the TV. If they know they can turn it on whenever they want,
they'll only turn it on when they want.

If kids have things that are better than TV -- books, hide and seek, games,
wresting matches with dad -- then they won't choose TV because it's the best
of a bad lot. They'll only choose TV when they really want it.

My daughter has always had free access to cable. She has gone through binges
but because TV is freely available, she doesn't feel the need to watch it.
She just watches it when she wants and hardly even that.

Joyce

[email protected]

In a message dated 3/8/2005 3:34:02 PM Mountain Standard Time,
temair@... writes:

Her therapy consists of lots of floor play with beads and
sorting and such to develop fine motor skills. They said that should help
her control her oral muscles better.


------------------

Does that make sense to you?
That exercising fingers will help throat and tongue?

It's nonsense.

-=-Have you done a statistical analysis of that data? ;-) Do you have hard
evidence that people in their 60's and 70's who dropped out struggled more
*because* they dropped out than those who stuck school out?
*** No, I don't. It just seems that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence.-=-

Right. Promoted by schools.

When I graduated from college and had a lot of debt and went to a job that
paid me $6,800 the first year (teaching in a public school in 1974/75), people
who had dropped out were four or five or six years into a job, sometimes a
state or federal job with a great retirement plan and wonderful benefits.
They had no loans to repay. They owned cars and some had already started buying
a house. I could barely afford to share a little house with my sister.

-=-I found that when they watch channels that have lots of commercials
aimed at selling things to children, they get whiny and cranky. Instead of
dealing with the horrible behavior, I just don't let them watch those
channels. I don't want to create more reasons I have to say no.-=-

_http://sandradodd.com/joyce/yes_ (http://sandradodd.com/joyce/yes)
I just added something there today that was on this list this morning. <g>

_http://sandradodd.com/tv_ (http://sandradodd.com/tv)

You could use it as an opportunity to discuss how advertising works. You
could mute the commercials and talk to them during that time, bring them
snacks, dance.

-=-I don't want to create more reasons I have to say no. -=-

So you say no in advance to prevent saying no later?
It's still "no," but you limit their freedom.

-=-What do you think of the idea of gradually working your way into
unschooling
by starting opening up their world on weekends and vacations? =-

They have closed worlds all the time?

It will help if you being to consider how you make your own decisions. Here
are a couple of things on principles vs. rules, and seeing your life as
choices instead of "have to's."
_http://sandradodd.com/unschool/haveto_
(http://sandradodd.com/unschool/haveto) (http://sandradodd.com/haveto)
_http://sandradodd.com/rules_ (http://sandradodd.com/rules)

_http://sandradodd.com/choice_ (http://sandradodd.com/choice)


Sandra






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

Ruth

> Hi Jackie

I would love to hear what people have to say about this.
>
> I am new here to ( I unschool 7 children in the UK) but felt I had
to say something on the speech therapy thing. My youngest son was
speech delayed and did not talk at all until he was 3.5 years. He
hated the speech therapist who came and I told her not to come
anymore after one session. Now ages 6 he talks the hind leg off a
donkey. He is unschooled and chats all day long when he feels like
it. I was given warnings he would never come by dumping the speech
therapist by his paed but she now admits he has. In leaps and
bounds. He chats cos he is played with and talked with and what they
do is not rocket science really. Just commonsense stuff you do as a
mum everyday.
>
> Ruth

____________________________________________________________________________
This email and all attachments have been electronically scanned by Kingston
Communications' email Anti-Virus service and no known viruses were detected.
____________________________________________________________________________



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

mamaaj2000

--- In [email protected], "Judy Anderson"
<temair@a...> wrote:
> What do you think of the idea of gradually working your way into
unschooling
> by starting opening up their world on weekends and vacations? I
don't think
> I'm confident enough to jump in head first yet, but then again, I
don't have
> to really make a decision until August 1.

I think that might be confusing to the kids, depending on what kind
of changes you're talking about making.

If you decided to stop controling tv, for example, on the weekends,
they would probably want to know why they can't watch anything they
want on other days, too.

I would pick one area to relax on. If you keep reading about not
limiting tv and then try that, it will probably take up quite a bit
of your time as you sit down with the kids, see what they want to
watch, watch it with them, see what's coming on later and talk about
it with them. They might watch a lot in the beginning to test you and
see what it's like.

Once you see how that goes and talk about it here, it might give you
the confidence to try other unschooling ideas. And you'll have the
experience of seeing how your kids react to less control, which may
come up again.

I'm not clear, though, on what you mean by opening up their world.
How would that look, how would it be different from the way things
are now?

--aj

Judy Anderson

I think it might be easiest here to give an example of a typical weekday.
Moira and Lauren get up in the morning usually between 6 and 7 and come down
and turn on Noggin on TV (It's their favorite channel). I get up around 7
and make breakfast and feed the family before Moira has to get on the bus at
8:20. Lauren and Rowan continue watching TV until 10 or so, when my husband
says it is his turn for the TV. Lauren and Rowan play as they wish in the
living room or upstairs in the bedrooms (rarely, but it does happen).
Noontime is lunch time, then Lauren goes down for her nap (and Rowan too, if
she hasn't already taken one). Lauren usually wakes up between 2 and 3 and
has a snack then plays in the living room while my husband is still watching
TV. At 4, Moira gets home from school, they have a snack and get the TV
again until 5 or 6. They take turns between Noggin (for Lauren) and PBS
(for Moira). Then they go upstairs to play until suppertime because they
are driving me bonkers by being loud and rambunctious. After supper they
either loaf in the living room or go upstairs again to play or clean their
rooms or take a bath. Then at 7:30 I put them to bed again. On weekends,
the scenario is pretty much the same, excepting the going to school part.

I didn't realize how drab our lives are until I started reading this list.
We went out and bought some new games and replaced Connect Four which they
played so much it broke. Moira at age 5 can give my husband a run for his
money with that game. :) I have a folder in the bookmarks on our browser
that I am trying to fill with more interesting sites for them. The TV
channel I have the hardest time with is Cartoon Network, with its endless
commercials for the latest Barbies and action figures and Tickle Me Elmos.
The kids see those commercials come on and beg and beg and beg me for them,
even after I say we can't get them because we don't have the money.

Does this help explain where we are coming from?

Judy
<snip>
I'm not clear, though, on what you mean by opening up their world.
How would that look, how would it be different from the way things
are now?

--aj



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

[email protected]

In a message dated 3/9/2005 2:33:50 PM Mountain Standard Time,
temair@... writes:

The kids see those commercials come on and beg and beg and beg me for them,
even after I say we can't get them because we don't have the money.



--------------

You could say "maybe for Christmas" or "maybe for your birthday" and write
them down on a list, and when the time's nearer, ask what they still want.

If they're not bored and feeling needy, they will probably ask for fewer
things.
_http://sandradodd.com/spoiled_ (http://sandradodd.com/spoiled)
I'm not recommending that because I think your kids are spoiled. I don't
like the concept "spoiled," I'm just thinking that there might be a level of
irritation for you when the kids beg that you hadn't been considering.

-=- I have a folder in the bookmarks on our browser
that I am trying to fill with more interesting sites for them. -=-

Holly learned this site from two younger girls we stayed with, and she's
played with it herself a bit, at 13:
_http://www.uptoten.com_ (http://www.uptoten.com)
There are songs and games and stories.

Sandra



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

Robyn Coburn

<<<<<Then they go upstairs to play until suppertime because they
are driving me bonkers by being loud and rambunctious. >>>>>

You may find they are less rambunctious if they have more chance to really
run and climb during the day. Jayn (5) finds various ways to get a lot of
physical activity in every day, including running around the pool of the
apartments, climbing on the exercise bike, dancing, yoga and sofa jumping,
on those days when we aren't getting to a park, dance class, or swimming
(summer). However the days when we do get out give her much more action and
physical release. The stuff she comes up with are a kind of stop gap
measure. In poor weather we go to indoor playgrounds sometimes, or malls, or
go puddle jumping. My dh and I were discussing recently that the area of
physical activities is our greatest lack, so that Jayn had to make up for
our inadequacy with her own devised games. It seems like she is modeling
being physically active for us instead of the other way around.

In the archives you can read about our peculiar sleep pattern, in which our
schedule travels around the clock. I mention this because we have about 5 or
6 nights every five weeks where we are on a night shift. Jayn and I are
perforce isolated in the house with the additional need to be less physical
at night for noise reduction (2nd floor apartment). I know that she
sometimes has frustrations from the lack of big physical activities, and
when we first "emerge" on the other side of the schedule (getting up at 3AM)
Jayn will push herself to stay awake for a long day at the park to get lots
of extra sun and exercise.

<<<< The TV
channel I have the hardest time with is Cartoon Network, with its endless
commercials for the latest Barbies and action figures and Tickle Me
Elmos.>>>>>

The Disney Channel, as compared to Toon Disney, has no ads for products
other than Disney DVD's, movie promos, other shows, and "public service"
segments that feature kids following their passions. Jayn loves them. I'm
lucky because she also loves the Disney shows, and doesn't care for the
animation styles prevalent at Cartoon Network. Probably the only show on
that channel she tolerates is "Powerpuff Girls", and she prefers the books.

Robyn L. Coburn

--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.6.4 - Release Date: 3/7/2005