Dorinda Oakes

Hi,
I am new here but not to unschooling.
We have done it since birth even when the kids were in PS we unschooled at
home.
My kids do well on standardized testing with one of then 6 grades higher
than his PS placement would be this year.
Andrew our oldest (15 in March) is learning disabled and unschooled himself
how to read with the Goosebumps books.
Lin III (12 next week) Is the one testing above grade level. Is working on
his Highschool Credits.
Felicia (just turned 10 in August) is having trouble with multiplication and
division.

We use a geosafari which I make my own cards to fit subjects they are
working on in there unschooling. I also make File folder games for them. If
they play the games great If the don't oh well ant any rate I have
somethiong to show nosy people who claim my kids do nothing all day. :-))

I have gotten really good at record keeping! My children had homebased head
start which trains parents to look at all the activities that there kids are
doing and pick out the educational content. I would reccomend it to anyone
who has toddlers 3-5 that plans on unschooling. They have a really nice form
that you fill out. or at least they did wghen my kids were there. I have
blank forms for elementary school in Maine that I made at my web site.
http://www.angelfire.com/me3/dorioakes/Homeschooling.html
My highschool form might be there too by the end of the week. If you want me
to upload a scanned immage of how it looks for Felicia Let me know. I can do
that.

We also use computer curriculum of Jumpstart, Cornerstone Home, and
Cluefinders. The kids only play them when they want to and what ever grade
they want to.

We use workbooks too only they are used to earn money or other rewards.
After all who goes to work (except homeschooling Mom's) without being
financially rewarded?????

I'll talk Later.
Dorinda


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[email protected]

Dorinda, your post was my ... biggest chuckle of the week! What an
industrious "unschooling" family!

Laura

joanna514

I checked out your website and noticed a link to unschooling.com.
Have you read there, or its message board?
Your typical week seems fairly structured, and I was wondering, what
do you mean by "time fillers" in your description of workbooks?
Joanna




--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., "Dorinda Oakes" <dorioakes@s...>
wrote:
> Hi,
> I am new here but not to unschooling.
> We have done it since birth even when the kids were in PS we
unschooled at
> home.
> My kids do well on standardized testing with one of then 6 grades
higher
> than his PS placement would be this year.
> Andrew our oldest (15 in March) is learning disabled and unschooled
himself
> how to read with the Goosebumps books.
> Lin III (12 next week) Is the one testing above grade level. Is
working on
> his Highschool Credits.
> Felicia (just turned 10 in August) is having trouble with
multiplication and
> division.
>
> We use a geosafari which I make my own cards to fit subjects they
are
> working on in there unschooling. I also make File folder games for
them. If
> they play the games great If the don't oh well ant any rate I have
> somethiong to show nosy people who claim my kids do nothing all
day. :-))
>
> I have gotten really good at record keeping! My children had
homebased head
> start which trains parents to look at all the activities that there
kids are
> doing and pick out the educational content. I would reccomend it to
anyone
> who has toddlers 3-5 that plans on unschooling. They have a really
nice form
> that you fill out. or at least they did wghen my kids were there. I
have
> blank forms for elementary school in Maine that I made at my web
site.
> http://www.angelfire.com/me3/dorioakes/Homeschooling.html
> My highschool form might be there too by the end of the week. If
you want me
> to upload a scanned immage of how it looks for Felicia Let me know.
I can do
> that.
>
> We also use computer curriculum of Jumpstart, Cornerstone Home, and
> Cluefinders. The kids only play them when they want to and what
ever grade
> they want to.
>
> We use workbooks too only they are used to earn money or other
rewards.
> After all who goes to work (except homeschooling Mom's) without
being
> financially rewarded?????
>
> I'll talk Later.
> Dorinda
>
>
> ---
> Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
> Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
> Version: 6.0.319 / Virus Database: 178 - Release Date: 1/28/02

parrishmlus

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., parrishml@a... wrote:
> Dorinda, your post was my ... biggest chuckle of the week! What an
> industrious "unschooling" family!
>
> Laura

I have to apologize for thinking you were joking, Dorinda. I've been
away from unschooling message boards and lists for several months
now. I was completely clueless about the changes on this board. These
days when people say that they are unschoolers, it could mean
different things, i guess. Our unschooling looks really different
from your unschooling. I admit to being somewhat confused. Did I fall
down a rabbit hole or something?

Laura

Fetteroll

on 1/29/02 12:24 PM, Dorinda Oakes at dorioakes@... wrote:

> We have done it since birth even when the kids were in PS we unschooled at
> home.

I suspect what you did was enrich their learning with fun activities.
Nothing wrong with that! Sounds like fun! This is not to say you need to
change anything about what you're doing. Only to gently suggest that if
you're looking for ideas to make things kids need to know fun, you'll find
the offerings on this list slim in that area. If, on the otherhand, you're
trying to feel more comfortable that living is learning, trying to let go of
levels and the idea that some things are necessary to learn, then there's
lots of helpful advice here.

Unschooling doesn't have anything to do with learning what everyone is
certain everyone needs to know. Unschooling is letting go of the idea that
kids need to multiply or learn geography or history or grammar or how to
write. Those things *will* be part of their lives and kids *will* reach a
level of competence that is useful to them. Books will be set in real
locations, games will be played that need arithmetic to be better at,
message boards will have messages that kids will want to respond to. (Or not
if their interests lie elsewhere.) The concept of unschooling is that, just
as they took what path they found most useful for their own needs in
learning to speak (talking about dinosaurs or poop or Teletubbies), kids
will acquire what they need as adults by exploring the paths of their
interests. Whatever level of geography (or whatever) they acquire naturally
through living -- and continue acquiring through out their lives -- is the
level that they will need as adults. *If* they need a higher level for some
purpose that suddenly strikes them, they will either set about acquiring it
because they know they can learn whatever they set out to learn, or they
will have already acquired it because it's part of the things they are
naturally drawn to.

> My kids do well on standardized testing with one of then 6 grades higher
> than his PS placement would be this year.

In unschooling there are no grades or placements. Unschooled kids are where
they are according to their own needs, not some standard.

> Felicia (just turned 10 in August) is having trouble with multiplication and
> division.

Because she has a need in her right now life for multiplication and division
(a job? love of a particular game or type of puzzle?) and she isn't up to
doing what she feels she needs? Or because she's not performing at some
grade-level standard?

Again, this is not saying what you're doing is wrong, only that if you want
ideas on doing more of the same, other lists (like one that deals with
eclectic homeschooling) will have *way* more ideas for you than this one.

Joyce


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