Jane E.

. I
> was afraid she might have been bored, as most of our days were spent
> hanging around the house while I took care of the boys and she read,
> watched t.v., worked on complex art coloring books I have, made some
beaded
> jewelry or talked with me. We went to the zoo a couple of times and once
> to the little amusement park in town, and went shopping, made a stop at
the
> used bookstore to trade some books, and just did every day stuff.



Gosh, Nancy, sounds like a great vacation. Can I come next year, too?
<vbg>

Jane

Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall

>
>Now, there's a thought -- I wonder, have any of you unschooled or are any of
>you unschooling any children who are not your own? How did it come about?
>Would you do it again?
>
>Candice in OK


My niece was here for the summer (about 6 weeks of it) and although she
loved school for the first 8 years, she is really beginning to hate it.
She is still a straight A, honor-roll student, as she always has been. But
she feels the pressure of the stress of school, the expectations placed on
her because she is a high achiever, and she does not feel that school is
meeting her emotional or educational needs. She lives in a very depressed
area (one of the worst in the country) and as she gets older she finds
there are less opportunites for her in the IS (Institutionalized Schooling)
system.

When she was here I gave her lots of info and we had a lot of discussions
about Homeschooling, and Unschooling in particular. She was VERY
interested, but I do not think that either of her parents is in a place
(financially or emotionally) to be able to let her Unschool. We are still
talking (over phone and corespondence) about her options and I am sending
along any kind of info for her Mom, in case she makes a decision in my
niece's favor for Unschooling.

She is 13, and we talked about how I took myself out of school at 14
because it was not serving my needs and was Unschooling myself to a great
degree. I don't know if she would be assertive enough to do that, nor
would I want to cause a problem in her house, but I think it lets her see
her education in another light (ie: the it is for HER and not to please her
parents or teachers or for Grandma's grade money in the summer or
whatever.) She is a great kid, and she pushes herself very hard. I don't
see the need for any outside pressures on her and I feel for her being so
pressed to the grindstone. I don't think she has really had much of a
childhood.

Anyway, to answer your question. Although she was not here all that long
this summer, I think it was long enough to make a difference for her. I
was afraid she might have been bored, as most of our days were spent
hanging around the house while I took care of the boys and she read,
watched t.v., worked on complex art coloring books I have, made some beaded
jewelry or talked with me. We went to the zoo a couple of times and once
to the little amusement park in town, and went shopping, made a stop at the
used bookstore to trade some books, and just did every day stuff.

My fears of her being bored or disappointed were dispelled a couple of
weeks after she went back to my parents' house to finish her vacation. I
spoke with her on the phone, and was asking her how she was doing etc. She
was having a good time visiting with her 15 year old cousin from the East
coast who was also at Grandma's house for a visit. She said that they had
talked (she and her cousin) and had decided that they were BOTH coming here
next summer, but that they were going to stay the WHOLE summer this time!!
Fine with me! I will be happy to spend time with them both. They are
growing into really interesting and beautiful young women (inside and out.)

Nanci K. in Idaho

Thomas and Nanci Kuykendall

At 04:44 PM 8/23/99 +0100, you wrote:
>From: "Jane E." <jaelise@...>
>
>. I
>> was afraid she might have been bored, as most of our days were spent
>> hanging around the house while I took care of the boys and she read,
>> watched t.v., worked on complex art coloring books I have, made some
>beaded
>> jewelry or talked with me. We went to the zoo a couple of times and once
>> to the little amusement park in town, and went shopping, made a stop at
>the
>> used bookstore to trade some books, and just did every day stuff.
>
>
>
>Gosh, Nancy, sounds like a great vacation. Can I come next year, too?
><vbg>
>
>Jane


Sure! (Grin) We should have the bathroom remodel done and the basement
finished by then, so we'll have plenty of extra room!

Nanci K. in Idaho