[email protected]

In a message dated 09/10/2001 4:50:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:


> My name is Mark, I'm a 39 year old divorced father of 2, and I am
> homeschooling my 11 year old son this year. His mother is a Waldorf
> School teacher, and he's been in the school since Kindergarten. His
> class no longer has a teacher, so I am pursuing my ideal of
> homeschooling. His mother is stuck on the Waldorf thing, and I value a
> lot of what it has given to him. But I'm curious about the unschooling
> concept. Does anyone out there have any experience with Waldorf
> Education, and the comparison between the two approaches?
>
> I expect that I would not be able to convince his mother to allow me
> to completely abandon the school approach. Any suggestions as to how
> to 'undermine' it?
>
>
>
>

Mark, my first overwhelming piece of advice, in my own experience
co-parenting after divorce, is not to "undermine" the other parent. It's
really bad for kids. It sounds like you'd do better as partners in parenting.

Talk with her AND your son about the things that they see as most beneficial
about Waldorf education. Share things about unschooling with both of them.
Try to find ways where you can all be partners with this.

Obviously I find Unschooling very valuable to my child and my family. But I
think it would be virtually impossible to do in a healthy way without at
least some agreement and cooperation from the other parent (in my family's
case, two other parents) AND the child.

Kathryn


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

Sharon Rudd

Wow Kathryn...that was beautiful!
Sharon

--- KathrynJB@... wrote:
> In a message dated 09/10/2001 4:50:44 AM Eastern
> Daylight Time,
> [email protected] writes:
>
>
> > My name is Mark, I'm a 39 year old divorced father
> of 2, and I am
> > homeschooling my 11 year old son this year. His
> mother is a Waldorf
> > School teacher, and he's been in the school since
> Kindergarten. His
> > class no longer has a teacher, so I am pursuing my
> ideal of
> > homeschooling. His mother is stuck on the Waldorf
> thing, and I value a
> > lot of what it has given to him. But I'm curious
> about the unschooling
> > concept. Does anyone out there have any experience
> with Waldorf
> > Education, and the comparison between the two
> approaches?
> >
> > I expect that I would not be able to convince his
> mother to allow me
> > to completely abandon the school approach. Any
> suggestions as to how
> > to 'undermine' it?
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
> Mark, my first overwhelming piece of advice, in my
> own experience
> co-parenting after divorce, is not to "undermine"
> the other parent. It's
> really bad for kids. It sounds like you'd do better
> as partners in parenting.
>
> Talk with her AND your son about the things that
> they see as most beneficial
> about Waldorf education. Share things about
> unschooling with both of them.
> Try to find ways where you can all be partners with
> this.
>
> Obviously I find Unschooling very valuable to my
> child and my family. But I
> think it would be virtually impossible to do in a
> healthy way without at
> least some agreement and cooperation from the other
> parent (in my family's
> case, two other parents) AND the child.
>
> Kathryn
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>


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[email protected]

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., Sharon Rudd <bearspawprint@y...>
wrote:
> Wow Kathryn...that was beautiful!
> Sharon
>
> --- KathrynJB@a... wrote:
> > In a message dated 09/10/2001 4:50:44 AM Eastern
> > Daylight Time,
> > Unschooling-dotcom@y... writes:
> >
> >
> > > My name is Mark, I'm a 39 year old divorced father
> > of 2, and I am
> > > homeschooling my 11 year old son this year. His
> > mother is a Waldorf
> > > School teacher, and he's been in the school since
> > Kindergarten. His
> > > class no longer has a teacher, so I am pursuing my
> > ideal of
> > > homeschooling. His mother is stuck on the Waldorf
> > thing, and I value a
> > > lot of what it has given to him. But I'm curious
> > about the unschooling
> > > concept. Does anyone out there have any experience
> > with Waldorf
> > > Education, and the comparison between the two
> > approaches?
> > >
> > > I expect that I would not be able to convince his
> > mother to allow me
> > > to completely abandon the school approach. Any
> > suggestions as to how
> > > to 'undermine' it?
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Mark, my first overwhelming piece of advice, in my
> > own experience
> > co-parenting after divorce, is not to "undermine"
> > the other parent. It's
> > really bad for kids. It sounds like you'd do better
> > as partners in parenting.
> >
> > Talk with her AND your son about the things that
> > they see as most beneficial
> > about Waldorf education. Share things about
> > unschooling with both of them.
> > Try to find ways where you can all be partners with
> > this.
> >
> > Obviously I find Unschooling very valuable to my
> > child and my family. But I
> > think it would be virtually impossible to do in a
> > healthy way without at
> > least some agreement and cooperation from the other
> > parent (in my family's
> > case, two other parents) AND the child.
> >
> > Kathryn
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been
> > removed]
> >
> >
>
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo!
Messenger
http://im.yahoo.com

Kathryn,

Thanks for the reply and wise reminder. I'm not really sure why I
said that about 'undermining'. It's not at all what our relationship
as co-parents has been about. I think that at the moment I was just
feeling a little resentment about feeling railroaded into a
particular regimen. You are absolutely right. Communication is the
key. Thanks.