[email protected]

<< > Another question for all of you, does anyone have any pro-unschooling
book or
> website recommendations that my ds 10 could read and might actually want to?

<<I think maybe you shouldn't direct him to see your point of view about how
people learn best any more than you should find books that tell him how
important learning math is. >>

I agree strongly with this.

Teachers in school don't have the kids read studies on why one textbook's
approach works better than another one.

Some kids might be interested in learning theory, but others won't be. And a
child doesn't have to read about unschooling to "get it." Once his life is
a learning-fest, he'll see it on his own.

Pointing out each thing he learns or each "educational" thing he does is
probably not the best approach, either. Let it flow for a while. If each
moment or conversation or activity is going to be reviewed for its
educational content, the whole day becomes one long test, and life's being
lived for the purpose of the review. That makes things too self-conscious,
and he might close down some, or avoid the situations.

This afternoon, we're planning to go to the children's museum. We were just
there last week with Zenmomma and her kids, but my husband's parents will be
there and it will be a good place for Holly to show them some cool stuff.
But mostly, I was wanting to take my husband there and show him a new thing
they have. It's a low, short "pan" (round wood sides maybe 3' across, a
foot deep) with a rubber bottom and a motor under one side vibrating it.
On that surface is about 1/4" of sand (two colors) and small gravel. You can
mix them all together and spread them out evenly, but the effect of the
vibrations is that the sand and gravel separate, in patterns you can figure
out if you watch it long enough.

The display has no sign, no instructions, it's just there like a toy, like a
piece of art.

Another mom (a stranger) and I sat and played with it for a long time. We
figured out it's showing plate tectonics (an uber-geological concept about
how large land masses move), in part, and sort of being a glacier (as to how
rocks come to be ejected from glacial masses, and pile up in certain
patterns). Because it doesn't say 1/4" deep after a while. It builds a
couple of mountains, in the same places every time. Maybe 2" high or more.
And they're pulling gravel up into them, and each piece pops up the top,
rolls down the hill, and joins a clean pile of gravel.

So anyway...

It doesn't matter if kids "know" what they're learning there--they're
learning! In face it there were display cards tying it with real-world
stuff, it would no longer be just a really cool, artsy toy!

Similarly, if at home you set up a little placard next to the sand box about
the benefits of playing in wet sand and dry, and one next the swing set about
physics and exercise, and one next to the television with the history of
theatre and popular entertainment, you would be turning a perfectly cool
world into a sad kind of school project.

Instead of talking about unschooling, just do it. It takes a while. You
don't see it in one day or a week. You might not see it in two months. But
if it's happening it's happening.

We have a bunch of pumpkins and morning glories just sprouted. We could thin
them out and look at a few roots, but if we pull them ALL up to look we won't
have any adult plants. Some have to be JUST watered and ignored. And the
more we can water and ignore, the more we'll have grow to maturity. Some are
going to spread out all over our side yard. Some are going to grow up into
the trees and bushes and make a happy all-flowery mess, but not until later
in the year. Some are going to die a natural death. Some are going to make
seeds for next year, and some of those seeds (this being the desert, and we
being disorganized) won't be sprouting for four or five years.

Some of the best learning is like that. You can plan something, and you can
plant something, but you can't mess with it too much after that. You just
have to let some stuff go at its own pace, and in its own season.

Sandra

joanna514

> Some kids might be interested in learning theory, but others won't
be. And a
> child doesn't have to read about unschooling to "get it." Once
his life is
> a learning-fest, he'll see it on his own.
>
<snip>
>
> Sandra


I have been unschooling for 3 years. Our first 2 yrs of
homeschooling were relaxed, and I use to do little stuff like
spelling tests, and math sheets maybe once a week. My dd is now 11
and doesn't write a lot but has a good grasp of spelling. My ds8
wrote me a story the other day and it was inventive spelling at it's
best. For the 1st time in over 3 years, I lapsed and suggested maybe
it would be helpful to learn to spell a little better by doing some
spelling tests, like I use to do with his sister. He looked at me
like I was a moron, and I said "oh, come on, give it one try". We
did one test, 8 words. I had to coax him though it a little. After
it was done I asked him if he would want to do that every once in a
while. He said, "Mom. I'm a smart kid. I'm sure I'll have figured
out how to spell words by the time I'm a grown up."
I said, "But what about right now. Are you worried that you won't be
able to spell things when you are with friends and that might make
you feel bad?" He said, "No. I don't care what they think."
I have absolutely no doubt this kid will be able to spell and do
whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I have never had any long
unschooling discussions with him. Little things here and there.
He went to pre school and K and came out thinking school is where you
learn. Now he is reminding me of what real learning is.
I felt like the moron his initial look accused me of....
Joanna

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/26/02 10:08:59 AM Central Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:

<<
We have a bunch of pumpkins and morning glories just sprouted. We could
thin
them out and look at a few roots, but if we pull them ALL up to look we
won't
have any adult plants. Some have to be JUST watered and ignored. And the
more we can water and ignore, the more we'll have grow to maturity. Some
are
going to spread out all over our side yard. Some are going to grow up into
the trees and bushes and make a happy all-flowery mess, but not until later
in the year. Some are going to die a natural death. Some are going to
make
seeds for next year, and some of those seeds (this being the desert, and we
being disorganized) won't be sprouting for four or five years.

Some of the best learning is like that. You can plan something, and you can
plant something, but you can't mess with it too much after that. You just
have to let some stuff go at its own pace, and in its own season. >>

I really love this analogy.
That's a keeper...
Ren

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/26/2002 6:42:35 AM Pacific Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:


> I agree strongly with this.
>
> Teachers in school don't have the kids read studies on why one textbook's
> approach works better than another one.
>
> Some kids might be interested in learning theory, but others won't be. And
> a
> child doesn't have to read about unschooling to "get it." Once his life
> is
> a learning-fest, he'll see it on his own.

I wasn't planning on forcing him to read/research unschooling, just looking
for something short that he might want to read on his own that could help him
feel a little more comfortable with it. Right now, the idea is something
that really worries him and I think that we'd probably be off to a better
start if he wasn't as worried, if not more so, than I am about the whole
idea! I completely understand what you're saying, but like I said, I just
want him to be more at ease with the whole idea of unschooling and I do
realize that that may not be possible until we have been at it for awhile,
but it would be nice for us to start out without him being afraid of the
whole idea of it, whether or not that is even a possibility with him, it
would be nice. : )

Sandra
Homeschooling Mom to Five


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