radical mom
D. J. Brewer
So much to do, so much to see . . . so what's wrong with takin' the back
streets?"
You'll never know if you don't go . . . you'll never shine if you don't
glow." - Allstar by Smashmouth
This is our family's favorite song. My 5 year old sings it along with
all the rest. My favorite line from it is "I ain't the sharpest tool in
the shed!"
My 5 year old sings songs from Offspring, fortunately omiting some of
the more "creative" lyrics that he is not allowed to say.
I don't know about being a radical unschooler but I am most decidedly a
radical mom. This summer I drove 13 kids 6,000 miles all over the
Southwest for 30 days, and hosted 26 kids (20 teenagers, 6 elementary
age) at my house for 18 days for an Ocean Challenge program that my
husband and I ran for our church. We took the kids waterskiing, we had
a sea captain come to our house and teach them about navigation and that
the sea can be a pretty cruel teacher. He also taught them about video
production and we made a small skit and edited it at my house. It was a
pretty wild time.
I got my butt chewed on this unschooling list for saying that I have no
qualms about pushing kids if they need it. SO, if I get my butt chewed
again for saying so, so be it. I deal with my 4 kids and all their
friends, and let me tell you, "child-led" may be fine, but "20
teens-led" can get to be annoying. They DEFINITELY had to clean up the
messes they made, do their own cooking and laundry, and not beat on each
other (let me rephrase that. not beat on each other TOO much (The arm
wrestling match at 3 a.m. after watching scary movies all night was a
hoot!).
Needless to say, by the time I got home from this insane summer, all I
wanted to do was have 7 margaritas, hop on a Harley and ride off into
the sunset never to be seen again.
Our theme album for the entire summer was Americana by Offspring.
Staring at the Sun became our theme song. (ALthough my 5 year old
REALLY liked the song "Get a Job" and I thought "She's got issues" was
hysterical.
If ya'll don't know these songs, never mind. I am not a sane person,
and normally am surrounded by my kids, their friends, my husband and the
few hardy souls who can take my level of chaos and survive.
I have a T-shirt that says "Living Example of Chaos Theory."
DJ of Texas
streets?"
You'll never know if you don't go . . . you'll never shine if you don't
glow." - Allstar by Smashmouth
This is our family's favorite song. My 5 year old sings it along with
all the rest. My favorite line from it is "I ain't the sharpest tool in
the shed!"
My 5 year old sings songs from Offspring, fortunately omiting some of
the more "creative" lyrics that he is not allowed to say.
I don't know about being a radical unschooler but I am most decidedly a
radical mom. This summer I drove 13 kids 6,000 miles all over the
Southwest for 30 days, and hosted 26 kids (20 teenagers, 6 elementary
age) at my house for 18 days for an Ocean Challenge program that my
husband and I ran for our church. We took the kids waterskiing, we had
a sea captain come to our house and teach them about navigation and that
the sea can be a pretty cruel teacher. He also taught them about video
production and we made a small skit and edited it at my house. It was a
pretty wild time.
I got my butt chewed on this unschooling list for saying that I have no
qualms about pushing kids if they need it. SO, if I get my butt chewed
again for saying so, so be it. I deal with my 4 kids and all their
friends, and let me tell you, "child-led" may be fine, but "20
teens-led" can get to be annoying. They DEFINITELY had to clean up the
messes they made, do their own cooking and laundry, and not beat on each
other (let me rephrase that. not beat on each other TOO much (The arm
wrestling match at 3 a.m. after watching scary movies all night was a
hoot!).
Needless to say, by the time I got home from this insane summer, all I
wanted to do was have 7 margaritas, hop on a Harley and ride off into
the sunset never to be seen again.
Our theme album for the entire summer was Americana by Offspring.
Staring at the Sun became our theme song. (ALthough my 5 year old
REALLY liked the song "Get a Job" and I thought "She's got issues" was
hysterical.
If ya'll don't know these songs, never mind. I am not a sane person,
and normally am surrounded by my kids, their friends, my husband and the
few hardy souls who can take my level of chaos and survive.
I have a T-shirt that says "Living Example of Chaos Theory."
DJ of Texas
[email protected]
In a message dated 9/11/1999 9:39:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
djbrewer@... writes:
<<
So much to do, so much to see . . . so what's wrong with takin' the back
streets?"
You'll never know if you don't go . . . you'll never shine if you don't
glow." - Allstar by Smashmouth
This is our family's favorite song. >>
I just had to tell you all that we sing this one together too. And we had a
lengthy discussion about the line, "Only shooting stars break the mold." My
children had never heard that expression before.
--
Jill
Homeschooling Mom to Adam, Greg, Sheila & Amy
Adopted Mom to 2 dogs, 7 cats, 2 rabbits and a parakeet
Independent Typing Contractor and Church Secretary
djbrewer@... writes:
<<
So much to do, so much to see . . . so what's wrong with takin' the back
streets?"
You'll never know if you don't go . . . you'll never shine if you don't
glow." - Allstar by Smashmouth
This is our family's favorite song. >>
I just had to tell you all that we sing this one together too. And we had a
lengthy discussion about the line, "Only shooting stars break the mold." My
children had never heard that expression before.
--
Jill
Homeschooling Mom to Adam, Greg, Sheila & Amy
Adopted Mom to 2 dogs, 7 cats, 2 rabbits and a parakeet
Independent Typing Contractor and Church Secretary
Brown
Well, D.J., apart from wanting to point out that you are (in case you didn't
realise the fact) totally insane - 26 kids - the very thought of it makes my
brain start to disintegrate <g> I wanted to point out something.
You said:
don't want to that they can't see any relevance to or whatever, and
contributing to making the household they are living in work. I would have
asked the same - if I was mad enough to allow 20 teens near me at the same
time - but pushing them to do academics or learn mechanics or whatever is
different IMO.
Carol
(still shuddering at the thought of 20 teens at once - some of my favorite
people are teens, but 20 at once???)
realise the fact) totally insane - 26 kids - the very thought of it makes my
brain start to disintegrate <g> I wanted to point out something.
You said:
> I got my butt chewed on this unschooling list for saying that I have noIMO there is a big difference between pushing a child to learn something they
> qualms about pushing kids if they need it. SO, if I get my butt chewed
> again for saying so, so be it. I deal with my 4 kids and all their
> friends, and let me tell you, "child-led" may be fine, but "20
> teens-led" can get to be annoying. They DEFINITELY had to clean up the
> messes they made, do their own cooking and laundry, and not beat on each
> other (let me rephrase that. not beat on each other TOO much (The arm
> wrestling match at 3 a.m. after watching scary movies all night was a
> hoot!).
don't want to that they can't see any relevance to or whatever, and
contributing to making the household they are living in work. I would have
asked the same - if I was mad enough to allow 20 teens near me at the same
time - but pushing them to do academics or learn mechanics or whatever is
different IMO.
Carol
(still shuddering at the thought of 20 teens at once - some of my favorite
people are teens, but 20 at once???)
D. J. Brewer
Carol thoughtfully posted:
<Well, D.J., apart from wanting to point out that you are (in case you
didn't
realise the fact) totally insane - >
A chronic condition that fortunately has yet to prove fatal.
AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa uh! CLUNK!
I spoke (dying gasp) too sooooon.
thunk.
(please everyone...
a moment of silence as taps plays)
<Well, D.J., apart from wanting to point out that you are (in case you
didn't
realise the fact) totally insane - >
A chronic condition that fortunately has yet to prove fatal.
AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaa uh! CLUNK!
I spoke (dying gasp) too sooooon.
thunk.
(please everyone...
a moment of silence as taps plays)
mvp
Hey there DJ, Sessuale (radical lurker *and unschooler mom) here :)
You are too much! Although I most definitely would not have done the summer thang the way you did I definitely have to agree with you. I liked the points you made (and your 5 yr old sounds like a hoot) but it saddens me that even now and even on a list like this one there are still times when a home/unschooling mom feels like she has to preface or apologize for talking about the way that her family runs smoothly. I guess I'm talking about that sometimes heated debate over child-led vs. discipline.
I believe in child led, but I also believe in give and take. *And I think there are more of us out there than you might think. There are many *radical unschooling moms who * also take a hand as well as lend it you know. We tend to be quieter but we're out there. Personally I believe pushing your child is wrong. But a gentle nudge? No prob. The way I see it I don't believe that all children are lazy or lethargic or that they all need to Pavlovian motivation (the way the majority of the American school system believes) but I do believe they are human. And we humans can be a tad stubborn and yes, sometimes even a little lazy (gasp!) at times. That nasty bug procrastination can bite any of us. Even children. I think most of us can think of a time when we could have kicked ourselves for taking so long to do something or other. A friendly nudge in the right direction balanced with loving discipline can sometimes be just the ticket.
BTW, I want that T-shirt!
ciao, Sessuale2323
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://2makemoney.hypermart.net
Stay home AND Make Money!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: D. J. Brewer [SMTP:djbrewer@...]
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 1999 9:50 PM
To: UNSCHOOLING-DOTCOM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] radical mom
From: "D. J. Brewer" <djbrewer@...>
So much to do, so much to see . . . so what's wrong with takin' the back
streets?"
You'll never know if you don't go . . . you'll never shine if you don't
glow." - Allstar by Smashmouth
This is our family's favorite song. My 5 year old sings it along with
all the rest. My favorite line from it is "I ain't the sharpest tool in
the shed!"
My 5 year old sings songs from Offspring, fortunately omiting some of
the more "creative" lyrics that he is not allowed to say.
I don't know about being a radical unschooler but I am most decidedly a
radical mom. This summer I drove 13 kids 6,000 miles all over the
Southwest for 30 days, and hosted 26 kids (20 teenagers, 6 elementary
age) at my house for 18 days for an Ocean Challenge program that my
husband and I ran for our church. We took the kids waterskiing, we had
a sea captain come to our house and teach them about navigation and that
the sea can be a pretty cruel teacher. He also taught them about video
production and we made a small skit and edited it at my house. It was a
pretty wild time.
I got my butt chewed on this unschooling list for saying that I have no
qualms about pushing kids if they need it. SO, if I get my butt chewed
again for saying so, so be it. I deal with my 4 kids and all their
friends, and let me tell you, "child-led" may be fine, but "20
teens-led" can get to be annoying. They DEFINITELY had to clean up the
messes they made, do their own cooking and laundry, and not beat on each
other (let me rephrase that. not beat on each other TOO much (The arm
wrestling match at 3 a.m. after watching scary movies all night was a
hoot!).
Needless to say, by the time I got home from this insane summer, all I
wanted to do was have 7 margaritas, hop on a Harley and ride off into
the sunset never to be seen again.
Our theme album for the entire summer was Americana by Offspring.
Staring at the Sun became our theme song. (ALthough my 5 year old
REALLY liked the song "Get a Job" and I thought "She's got issues" was
hysterical.
If ya'll don't know these songs, never mind. I am not a sane person,
and normally am surrounded by my kids, their friends, my husband and the
few hardy souls who can take my level of chaos and survive.
I have a T-shirt that says "Living Example of Chaos Theory."
DJ of Texas
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You are too much! Although I most definitely would not have done the summer thang the way you did I definitely have to agree with you. I liked the points you made (and your 5 yr old sounds like a hoot) but it saddens me that even now and even on a list like this one there are still times when a home/unschooling mom feels like she has to preface or apologize for talking about the way that her family runs smoothly. I guess I'm talking about that sometimes heated debate over child-led vs. discipline.
I believe in child led, but I also believe in give and take. *And I think there are more of us out there than you might think. There are many *radical unschooling moms who * also take a hand as well as lend it you know. We tend to be quieter but we're out there. Personally I believe pushing your child is wrong. But a gentle nudge? No prob. The way I see it I don't believe that all children are lazy or lethargic or that they all need to Pavlovian motivation (the way the majority of the American school system believes) but I do believe they are human. And we humans can be a tad stubborn and yes, sometimes even a little lazy (gasp!) at times. That nasty bug procrastination can bite any of us. Even children. I think most of us can think of a time when we could have kicked ourselves for taking so long to do something or other. A friendly nudge in the right direction balanced with loving discipline can sometimes be just the ticket.
BTW, I want that T-shirt!
ciao, Sessuale2323
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://2makemoney.hypermart.net
Stay home AND Make Money!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: D. J. Brewer [SMTP:djbrewer@...]
Sent: Saturday, September 11, 1999 9:50 PM
To: UNSCHOOLING-DOTCOM
Subject: [Unschooling-dotcom] radical mom
From: "D. J. Brewer" <djbrewer@...>
So much to do, so much to see . . . so what's wrong with takin' the back
streets?"
You'll never know if you don't go . . . you'll never shine if you don't
glow." - Allstar by Smashmouth
This is our family's favorite song. My 5 year old sings it along with
all the rest. My favorite line from it is "I ain't the sharpest tool in
the shed!"
My 5 year old sings songs from Offspring, fortunately omiting some of
the more "creative" lyrics that he is not allowed to say.
I don't know about being a radical unschooler but I am most decidedly a
radical mom. This summer I drove 13 kids 6,000 miles all over the
Southwest for 30 days, and hosted 26 kids (20 teenagers, 6 elementary
age) at my house for 18 days for an Ocean Challenge program that my
husband and I ran for our church. We took the kids waterskiing, we had
a sea captain come to our house and teach them about navigation and that
the sea can be a pretty cruel teacher. He also taught them about video
production and we made a small skit and edited it at my house. It was a
pretty wild time.
I got my butt chewed on this unschooling list for saying that I have no
qualms about pushing kids if they need it. SO, if I get my butt chewed
again for saying so, so be it. I deal with my 4 kids and all their
friends, and let me tell you, "child-led" may be fine, but "20
teens-led" can get to be annoying. They DEFINITELY had to clean up the
messes they made, do their own cooking and laundry, and not beat on each
other (let me rephrase that. not beat on each other TOO much (The arm
wrestling match at 3 a.m. after watching scary movies all night was a
hoot!).
Needless to say, by the time I got home from this insane summer, all I
wanted to do was have 7 margaritas, hop on a Harley and ride off into
the sunset never to be seen again.
Our theme album for the entire summer was Americana by Offspring.
Staring at the Sun became our theme song. (ALthough my 5 year old
REALLY liked the song "Get a Job" and I thought "She's got issues" was
hysterical.
If ya'll don't know these songs, never mind. I am not a sane person,
and normally am surrounded by my kids, their friends, my husband and the
few hardy souls who can take my level of chaos and survive.
I have a T-shirt that says "Living Example of Chaos Theory."
DJ of Texas
--------------------------- ONElist Sponsor ----------------------------
GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! A NextCard Platinum VISA: DOUBLE Rewards points,
NO annual fee & rates as low as 9.9 percent FIXED APR. Apply online today!
<a href=" http://clickme.onelist.com/ad/nextcard5 ">Click Here</a>
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Check it out!
http://www.unschooling.com