[email protected]

Hi all! I have just found this group and wanted to introduce myself. I am a
sahm to 2 ds and wife to my best friend. We have been hsing for 6 years. My
boys are 8yo and 11yo. We have always followed a very loose Charlotte Mason
approach...lots of reading and free time and no workbooks. The older my guys
get the more interested I become in true unschooling. I have just bought the
Mary Griffith book and am soaking it all up. I lean more towards a relaxed
approach than anything else. I have long ago learned that curriculums just
don't work for us. They seem too contrived and artificial. Although, I am
quick to say that curriculums do work for others and I do respect that.
Looking forward to learning from you all. Blessings -- MK


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singingmoonmama

Hi Everyone,

My name is Deanna, and I live in Southern California (Yucaipa). I am
married and have a 3 year old daughter and a 5 year old son. We have
just started our journey into unschooling. On the one hand I find
it very exhilerating - on the other hand I panic LOL.

I have just ordered the books _Teach Your Own_ by John Holt and _The
Unschooling Handbook_ by Mary Griffith. I know Unschooling is going
to work wonderfully in our home.

Right now I'm looking into the legal issues. I've printed up the
page from the Unschooling.com website and am in the process of
deciphering it. It looks like homeschooling in California is pretty
easy.

I would also love to meet any unschoolers in the Inland Empire Area
of Southern California. My 5 year old actually keeps asking me to go
to school. I know that is because he wants to meet other children.
I have started a local homeschooling group but so far we are quite
tiny :::grin:::

Bright Blessings,
Deanna

[email protected]

In a message dated 8/22/02 9:16:14 AM, singingmoonmama@... writes:

<< Right now I'm looking into the legal issues. I've printed up the
page from the Unschooling.com website and am in the process of
deciphering it. It looks like homeschooling in California is pretty
easy. >>

Definitely look at HSC's website. They have all kinds of reassuring
California information! And there are not-back-to-school outings planned in
several areas at which you could meet more families!

http://www.hsc.org/

Sandra Dodd

On Jan 2, 2006, at 12:18 PM, Susanna Gandolf Attina wrote:

> having received a
> "degree" in 2005 in speech-language pathology.

================================

If you want to read a discussion on late speech and what some
experienced unschooling parents thing about it, go to http://
unschooling.info/forum and look at the posts of the past two days.
You'll see the topic there, and there's a link within it to an
earlier discussion.

Sandra

Paige Parr

Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
On Jan 2, 2006, at 12:18 PM, Susanna Gandolf Attina wrote:

> having received a
> "degree" in 2005 in speech-language pathology.

================================

If you want to read a discussion on late speech and what some
experienced unschooling parents thing about it, go to http://
unschooling.info/forum

==========================================================

Thanks, Sandra, for letting us know about this thread. With all the email support available to me, I often forget about unschooling.info.

Our 3 yod, Loryn, has a diagnosis of autism, and I've been struggling with family members (not my dh, though), who feel I should pursue S/L therapy through the school system. Loryn doesn't speak at all, really. There is some repetition from videos (Baby Einstein) and tv there, but only rare "authentic" speech from her, and usually just 1-2 words at a time.

The thing is: various family members (well, Mom, really, but also step-brother, in-laws, Granny, etc.) have almost convinced me to try a special ed Pre-K program (through our PS system, of course). They've started to see Loryn as "flawed", and that she needs to be "fixed" (not the words they're using, obviously, but what *I'm* hearing, internally).

We've only been radically unschooling for the past year or so (so still "newbies", IMO), but I have embraced the unschooling philosophy with every fiber of my being, and to remarkable results within our family. My concern is that, in disregarding ANYthing that looks like "school", could I be closing doors to people/places/things that may be of help to Loryn? And exactly WHO determines when and why a child should speak, when Loryn communicates using her own ways (some signing, mostly chirps, babbling, smiles, tugging a hand to pull someone to something she wants, etc.). She LOVES to count, and amazes us with her drawing, counting out loud, etc., so I know she picks up on all kinds of things just by being around us, she just doesn't feel the need to communicate in "typical" ways.

To shed a little more light, Loryn's older sister Ashlyn has high-functioning autism. She had some speech delay, but not to the same extent as Loryn, and went to this same special ed Pre-K program that I'm thinking about for Lolo. My feeling about Ashlyn's (almost) year in the program is that it didn't do much to help her, but it didn't delay her in anyway either. It seems that she was the "model" for others in the class, which didn't benefit her (or the other students, IMO) much. The teacher who oversees the program is a really good teacher, who "gets" her kids, so I trust that Loryn would be in a "safe" place, as long as Gayle was still head teacher of the class.

I'd love to get some feedback from you all. Meanwhile, I'll just go back to a little *light* reading! LOL

Thanks, and happy New Year!

Paige in Virginia








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