[email protected]

**Homeschooling is school at home. . .taking what they do in school and
bringing it home.**


That's what I tried to do at first and it was very painful. Then it slowly
dawned on me that "school at home" was just what I was trying to get away
from by pulling her from the ps. I've met some other h/s that have a
schedule and replicate the school format and it is a struggle for them. I
know others that, like myself, are letting the child do most of the schooling
while I provide the materials, excitement, guidance and facilities for her.
I direct, I won't deny that, but I don't control. When I try to control the
school and subject specific learning too much, then I'm right back in "doing
school at home." For me that was very frustrating and even more so for my
girl.
I am gaining a lot of helpful information here and I am glad for this
resource. I absolutely think that there is room for all of us, no matter
where on the spectrum of unschooling we fall. I'm sad to see Kate go, I tend
to be in the same blending as she is. I use math materials to teach my girl
subjects. I use other materials to lead us in activities (her Girl Scout
badge book is a great resource for stuff and she loves earning badges.)
I hope that there is room for all of us in the spectrum of teaching at home =)
Kristine


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

Tia Leschke

>
>I am gaining a lot of helpful information here and I am glad for this
>resource. I absolutely think that there is room for all of us, no matter
>where on the spectrum of unschooling we fall.

Interesting that you see unschooling as a spectrum. I've always seen
homeschooling as a spectrum, from school-at-home to unschooling. I don't
see unschooling as a spectrum, though, but I guess I'd say that there's a
spectrum of "moving toward unschooling".

I do believe there is a place here for anyone who wants to learn more about
unschooling. I also think that when someone shows by their posts that they
don't quite "get" how important giving up control is, that they will be
questioned. (I hope not criticized.) I know how hard it can be to give up
control, but I don't think people can really "get" unschooling until they
do. (It took me quite a while, and I started out as what I thought was a
diehard unschooler!)

>I'm sad to see Kate go, I tend
>to be in the same blending as she is. I use math materials to teach my girl
>subjects. I use other materials to lead us in activities (her Girl Scout
>badge book is a great resource for stuff and she loves earning badges.)
>I hope that there is room for all of us in the spectrum of teaching at home =)

There's definitely room for everyone who teaches at home in the spectrum of
teaching at home. But the phrase "teaching at home" tends to ring alarm
bells in the unschooler. It's not that we never teach. I'll teach my son
how to use a dictionary or how to look stuff up in the phone book . . . . .
. . . if he asks or indicates in some way that he hasn't been able to
figure it out. But the word teaching tends to bring up images of a
schoolteacher who decides what, when, how, and why to learn. That's what
we're trying to avoid for our kids.
Tia

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island

rumpleteasermom

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., Tia Leschke <leschke@i...> wrote:
>
> But the word teaching tends to bring up images of a
> schoolteacher who decides what, when, how, and why to learn. That's
what
> we're trying to avoid for our kids.
> Tia
>

I think it is important to remember again, that not everyone uses
words the same way. I don't think of ps exclusively when you say
teacher for a few reasons. My mom is a teacher. Some of my best
teachers were not part of the school system but they taught me many
valuable things. I had to really concentrate on figuring out which
words were hot buttons here because I don't use them with the same
conntations and the flip side of that is that many of the things I've
heard here come across to me in a way quite different from the authors
intentions (I believe) and it took me a bit of time to get the true
meanings.

Bridget