ACTIVE learning
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In a message dated 9/20/99 8:11:54 AM, liv2learn@... writes:
<< but we still have days of nothing but
computer games and TV, which I find frustrating. I can't get it out of my
head that we need to have something to show for our days at home >>
olivia:
i am with you there. i enjoyed a book that really led me in believing that
unschooling would work for us called "wisdom's way of learning" by marilyn
howshall. it is a thick read but not too hard, and everything in it doesnt
fit for us-- but what i got out of it was that yes, productivity is
important. not as an end, but to know that the process is happening. for
me, tv and computer games are too passive and so we (adults) choose to limit
them greatly in our home. it is comsumption which is different than active
participation. (this is all in mho, and my personal philosophy-- and i
realize some computer games dont fit this description, just generalizing
here...) my kids have an extremely wide range of "sanctioned" activities
from crafts to reading to writing letters to projects (self started) to
sewing to outdoor play to carpentry, etc, etc (right now they are in the
garage sanding the old wagon to give it a new paint job which they started
before i got up this morning, amazing!) but the point being ACTIVE activites.
i will say i have not had to help anyone to deschool (except myself!) and i
do understand the importance of giving the kids time to just be and slowly
kind of un-do whats been done... i guess it would be hard to know when
exactly to enter in the less passive activities. maybe it will just be
child-led. one concern to me would be if he has already experienced being
"bored" than wont he bored with tv and computer at home? i would have been
as a child..... just some meanderings....
erin
From: Olivia <liv2learn@...>
Erin:
We are in our first year of homeschooling. My son would have been in first
grade. He went to a town-run preschool 2 years ago that we both really
liked; the teacher was, looking back at it, very creative and the
environment was open and friendly. (I had only put him in preschool due to
pressure from everyone for my son to be "socialized" because he is an only
child. If I knew then what I know now!) The preschool teacher had warned us
that kindergarten was MUCH different than preschool, and she was so right.
Last year he went to kindergarten and lost all his inner motivation to
learn anything he calls "educational", which included a lot. He even
stopped reading because they had a mandatory reading program for prizes
which he didn't want to do. By the end of the year he was "bored" (his
words), and didn't want to go back. Now the challenge is reawakening his
interest in new things without any appearance of schoolishness. Things are
improving a little each week, but we still have days of nothing but
computer games and TV, which I find frustrating. I can't get it out of my
head that we need to have something to show for our days at home when my
parents come over or we meet people at the store or at sports events who
question homeschooling.
Olivia
12:27 AM 09/20/1999 -0400, you wrote:
http://www.unschooling.com
<< but we still have days of nothing but
computer games and TV, which I find frustrating. I can't get it out of my
head that we need to have something to show for our days at home >>
olivia:
i am with you there. i enjoyed a book that really led me in believing that
unschooling would work for us called "wisdom's way of learning" by marilyn
howshall. it is a thick read but not too hard, and everything in it doesnt
fit for us-- but what i got out of it was that yes, productivity is
important. not as an end, but to know that the process is happening. for
me, tv and computer games are too passive and so we (adults) choose to limit
them greatly in our home. it is comsumption which is different than active
participation. (this is all in mho, and my personal philosophy-- and i
realize some computer games dont fit this description, just generalizing
here...) my kids have an extremely wide range of "sanctioned" activities
from crafts to reading to writing letters to projects (self started) to
sewing to outdoor play to carpentry, etc, etc (right now they are in the
garage sanding the old wagon to give it a new paint job which they started
before i got up this morning, amazing!) but the point being ACTIVE activites.
i will say i have not had to help anyone to deschool (except myself!) and i
do understand the importance of giving the kids time to just be and slowly
kind of un-do whats been done... i guess it would be hard to know when
exactly to enter in the less passive activities. maybe it will just be
child-led. one concern to me would be if he has already experienced being
"bored" than wont he bored with tv and computer at home? i would have been
as a child..... just some meanderings....
erin
From: Olivia <liv2learn@...>
Erin:
We are in our first year of homeschooling. My son would have been in first
grade. He went to a town-run preschool 2 years ago that we both really
liked; the teacher was, looking back at it, very creative and the
environment was open and friendly. (I had only put him in preschool due to
pressure from everyone for my son to be "socialized" because he is an only
child. If I knew then what I know now!) The preschool teacher had warned us
that kindergarten was MUCH different than preschool, and she was so right.
Last year he went to kindergarten and lost all his inner motivation to
learn anything he calls "educational", which included a lot. He even
stopped reading because they had a mandatory reading program for prizes
which he didn't want to do. By the end of the year he was "bored" (his
words), and didn't want to go back. Now the challenge is reawakening his
interest in new things without any appearance of schoolishness. Things are
improving a little each week, but we still have days of nothing but
computer games and TV, which I find frustrating. I can't get it out of my
head that we need to have something to show for our days at home when my
parents come over or we meet people at the store or at sports events who
question homeschooling.
Olivia
12:27 AM 09/20/1999 -0400, you wrote:
>From: MORELFAM@...Check it out!
>
>olivia,
>just curious, do you mean first year after a year of kindergarden or were
>there years before that of preschool or other things? If if was only kinder.
>then it sounds like you'll be sailing along soon. does 6yo like it so far?
>erin
http://www.unschooling.com
Olivia
Erin:
Yes, I think that much of TV and computer time is passive. However,
sometimes a TV show will generate a conversation about something that turns
out to be important, and he does a lot of learning via the computer. He
hasn't yet become bored with either medium; maybe someday he will.
Right now he is in a stage in which he wants (and waits for) me to do a
project with him, even if that means waiting and not doing anything active
until I finish some housework. This is where the only child issue comes
in: he doesn't seem motivated to work on an "active" project (even though
the materials are easily available to him) unless he has someone to do it
with (and that means me since he hasn't a sibling.) Maybe this isn't just
an only child thing; maybe it is just a phase in his personal development
or a remainder from school days. Maybe he just finds an activity more fun
when you share it with someone. But I can't (and probably shouldn't) spend
every moment of the day being his playmate, even though I feel badly that
he spends so much time without other kids.
Sorry, just rambling again...
Olivia
At 11:51 PM 09/20/1999 -0400, you wrote:
Yes, I think that much of TV and computer time is passive. However,
sometimes a TV show will generate a conversation about something that turns
out to be important, and he does a lot of learning via the computer. He
hasn't yet become bored with either medium; maybe someday he will.
Right now he is in a stage in which he wants (and waits for) me to do a
project with him, even if that means waiting and not doing anything active
until I finish some housework. This is where the only child issue comes
in: he doesn't seem motivated to work on an "active" project (even though
the materials are easily available to him) unless he has someone to do it
with (and that means me since he hasn't a sibling.) Maybe this isn't just
an only child thing; maybe it is just a phase in his personal development
or a remainder from school days. Maybe he just finds an activity more fun
when you share it with someone. But I can't (and probably shouldn't) spend
every moment of the day being his playmate, even though I feel badly that
he spends so much time without other kids.
Sorry, just rambling again...
Olivia
At 11:51 PM 09/20/1999 -0400, you wrote:
> tv and computer games are too passive and so we (adults) choose to limit
>them greatly in our home. it is comsumption which is different than active
>participation. (this is all in mho, and my personal philosophy-- and i
>realize some computer games dont fit this description, just generalizing
>here...) my kids have an extremely wide range of "sanctioned" activities
>from crafts to reading to writing letters to projects (self started) to
>sewing to outdoor play to carpentry, etc, etc (right now they are in the
>garage sanding the old wagon to give it a new paint job which they started
>before i got up this morning, amazing!) but the point being ACTIVE activites.
>child-led. one concern to me would be if he has already experienced being
>"bored" than wont he bored with tv and computer at home? i would have been
>as a child..... just some meanderings....