unschooling newbie
welovehomeschool
Hi, I have 4 children ages 4,7,9,12 I just say an article on
unschooling and am considering it.Do you do units?or just check out
books on what they like & read,read,read to them/with them ect....
My 9 year old is college bound as she wants to be a vet how will
unschooling effect her chances?
What is a typical day?We start out with household chores,animal
chores,then bible usually prayer & a reading from our family
bible,then math,we do units for history&science usually hands on
stuff.We do our language with our journals & spelling from misspelled
words.We do weekly/daily trips to our local beach&libary.
All my guys are animal buffs so we are about to start breeding
bunnies next year.Also hopefully chicks.The children will learn all
about raising them & will be selling them as a unit on running a
business.Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling????
Vicki
unschooling and am considering it.Do you do units?or just check out
books on what they like & read,read,read to them/with them ect....
My 9 year old is college bound as she wants to be a vet how will
unschooling effect her chances?
What is a typical day?We start out with household chores,animal
chores,then bible usually prayer & a reading from our family
bible,then math,we do units for history&science usually hands on
stuff.We do our language with our journals & spelling from misspelled
words.We do weekly/daily trips to our local beach&libary.
All my guys are animal buffs so we are about to start breeding
bunnies next year.Also hopefully chicks.The children will learn all
about raising them & will be selling them as a unit on running a
business.Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling????
Vicki
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/2/02 3:52:48 PM, welovehomeschool@... writes:
<< Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling???? >>
Probably not.
My best advice is for you to go to www.unschooling.com and read in the
library (there are some essays and article easy to get to), and then to the
message boards and read anything that strikes your fancy. There are lots of
ideas there.
It's not just unit studies, although any interest will lead to more of the
same until the mood passes.
I knew at nine what I wanted to do when I grew up and I did it (for a while
<g>), but if "vet" is going to be the only right answer, then anything else
she might want to do is going to seem like failure. Maybe not pushing so
hard in that direction would be helpful for all. I wish I had had more
suggestions made, or more avenues encouraged.
I heard about a kid once who was going to be an Olympic swimmer. That was
it. Nothing else to the left or the right. And his schedules and goals were
all out on the wall in his bedroom. Anything not leading to that one goal
was a wasteful wrong thing.
I never heard if he made it or not, but what are the odds?
Sandra
<< Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling???? >>
Probably not.
My best advice is for you to go to www.unschooling.com and read in the
library (there are some essays and article easy to get to), and then to the
message boards and read anything that strikes your fancy. There are lots of
ideas there.
It's not just unit studies, although any interest will lead to more of the
same until the mood passes.
I knew at nine what I wanted to do when I grew up and I did it (for a while
<g>), but if "vet" is going to be the only right answer, then anything else
she might want to do is going to seem like failure. Maybe not pushing so
hard in that direction would be helpful for all. I wish I had had more
suggestions made, or more avenues encouraged.
I heard about a kid once who was going to be an Olympic swimmer. That was
it. Nothing else to the left or the right. And his schedules and goals were
all out on the wall in his bedroom. Anything not leading to that one goal
was a wasteful wrong thing.
I never heard if he made it or not, but what are the odds?
Sandra
Karin
Hi Vicki!
Welcome to the list!
I'm curious what made you consider unschooling?
What did you read or hear about it that appeals to you?
From what you described, it sounds like you could easily switch to
unschooling, but that all depends on your mindset.
Unschooling is mostly doing what you are already doing (with the beach &
library trips, raising and breeding animals, etc.) minus the book work. We
used to do math, grammar, spelling, etc. out of books when we were
homeschooling, but since unschooling, we have totally stopped.
A typical day looks different in individual families.
It would also look different from day to day, IMO.
Some of our days are spent "in" and would be considered lazy, I'm sure.
Those days involve playing computer games and gameboys, watching TV, playing
board games, playing outside, watching movies and not doing much
"productive".
Other days we are incredibly busy with seemingly non-stop activities from
morning 'till night, usually away from home.
We value both kinds of days and know that it all counts. My boys (9 & 11)
ask questions about this or that every single day - I know they're learning
even if it's not book work or documented on paper or graded on.
When I discovered unschooling, it sounded so appealing, especially since we
were all frustrated with homeschooling for the past 5 years. Even though I
wanted to unschool and started pretty soon after I learned about it, I still
had much learning or UNlearning to do about true learning and how it
happens. I read and read at unschooling.com and soaked it all up like a
sponge. The most important message I received was that to unschool, I needed
to put my full TRUST in my kids. That was a little foreign to me, but I
gradually let go of the reigns more and more, and I've been so pleasantly
surprised by my boys and how they've handled their new-found freedom. We are
all so much happier since unschooling, including my husband. I can now say
that even he recognizes the benefits of unschooling, at this time.
Keep reading, learning and asking and maybe you'll discover the joys of
unschooling, too. :o)
Karin
welovehomeschool@... wrote:
Welcome to the list!
I'm curious what made you consider unschooling?
What did you read or hear about it that appeals to you?
From what you described, it sounds like you could easily switch to
unschooling, but that all depends on your mindset.
Unschooling is mostly doing what you are already doing (with the beach &
library trips, raising and breeding animals, etc.) minus the book work. We
used to do math, grammar, spelling, etc. out of books when we were
homeschooling, but since unschooling, we have totally stopped.
A typical day looks different in individual families.
It would also look different from day to day, IMO.
Some of our days are spent "in" and would be considered lazy, I'm sure.
Those days involve playing computer games and gameboys, watching TV, playing
board games, playing outside, watching movies and not doing much
"productive".
Other days we are incredibly busy with seemingly non-stop activities from
morning 'till night, usually away from home.
We value both kinds of days and know that it all counts. My boys (9 & 11)
ask questions about this or that every single day - I know they're learning
even if it's not book work or documented on paper or graded on.
When I discovered unschooling, it sounded so appealing, especially since we
were all frustrated with homeschooling for the past 5 years. Even though I
wanted to unschool and started pretty soon after I learned about it, I still
had much learning or UNlearning to do about true learning and how it
happens. I read and read at unschooling.com and soaked it all up like a
sponge. The most important message I received was that to unschool, I needed
to put my full TRUST in my kids. That was a little foreign to me, but I
gradually let go of the reigns more and more, and I've been so pleasantly
surprised by my boys and how they've handled their new-found freedom. We are
all so much happier since unschooling, including my husband. I can now say
that even he recognizes the benefits of unschooling, at this time.
Keep reading, learning and asking and maybe you'll discover the joys of
unschooling, too. :o)
Karin
welovehomeschool@... wrote:
> Hi, I have 4 children ages 4,7,9,12 I just say an article on
> unschooling and am considering it.Do you do units?or just check out
> books on what they like & read,read,read to them/with them ect....
> My 9 year old is college bound as she wants to be a vet how will
> unschooling effect her chances?
> What is a typical day?We start out with household chores,animal
> chores,then bible usually prayer & a reading from our family
> bible,then math,we do units for history&science usually hands on
> stuff.We do our language with our journals & spelling from misspelled
> words.We do weekly/daily trips to our local beach&libary.
> All my guys are animal buffs so we are about to start breeding
> bunnies next year.Also hopefully chicks.The children will learn all
> about raising them & will be selling them as a unit on running a
> business.Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling????
>
> Vicki
Julie Stauffer
<<raising bunnies....to learn about running a small business>>
It seems to me that the biggest difference between unschooling and what you
are doing now isn't WHAT you are doing so much but rather WHY you are doing
it.
Adriane (11) raises bunnies and goats. Not because she wants to be a vet
(although I wouldn't be surprised) or to learn anything in particular. She
raises them because she loves it. She does it simply for the pure joy.
Now she has learned many things along the way. She can discuss reproduction
with a pro... she medicates her animals, raises them holistically, deals
independently with the vet...she keeps records of milk production and
sales...uses profits to buy her own clothes and open a savings
account...etc..
But none of that was the point. Fun and enjoyment were and are the point.
Learning is just icing on the cake.
Julie
It seems to me that the biggest difference between unschooling and what you
are doing now isn't WHAT you are doing so much but rather WHY you are doing
it.
Adriane (11) raises bunnies and goats. Not because she wants to be a vet
(although I wouldn't be surprised) or to learn anything in particular. She
raises them because she loves it. She does it simply for the pure joy.
Now she has learned many things along the way. She can discuss reproduction
with a pro... she medicates her animals, raises them holistically, deals
independently with the vet...she keeps records of milk production and
sales...uses profits to buy her own clothes and open a savings
account...etc..
But none of that was the point. Fun and enjoyment were and are the point.
Learning is just icing on the cake.
Julie
susan marie
Hi all,
We had an experience yesterday that somewhat affirmed for me how well
the approach of unschooling is working (we have only very recently
given up the workbooks.) The girls are in a homeschool phys ed class at
the YMCA -- their choice, btw. The teacher, who is wonderful, but after
thirty years in the public school system, he still doesn't entirely
"get" homeschooling. So he gives them a quiz on tennis. The last
question is worded "tennis courts are made of all of the following
except: a. grass, b. clay, c. asphalt, d. mud" My 8 yo dd and one boy
in the class thought that mud was an acceptable way to make a tennis
court. The teacher was appalled at this -- he was very much in the
right/wrong, no discussion mindset. Both dd and the boy reasoned that
since you can make houses (adobe) out of mud, and it hardens, this would
also be a good surface for making a tennis court. Seemed like good
reasoning to me. The teacher was somewhat exasperated ( not angry, just
that he didn't quite know how to respond to kids who reason like this.)
Three things came out of this at home. First, I have a background in
statistics and test making, so we discussed the proper wording of
questions (note the question does not say "regulation tennis courts")
and how a good test is made, items evaluated to see if they actually ask
what they're supposed to and so on. Secondly, she had never received a
grade before. This led to a discussion on fractions (she loves math) and
how a grade is simply a fraction, converted to a decimal and then to a
percent, which is then placed on a scale with letters. She found that
interesting. Next, we are going to go searching on the internet to see
if anyone has in fact ever made a tennis court out of mud.
And all of this out of getting the "wrong" answer on a test. :-)
don't ya just love unschooling. ;-)
Susan
We had an experience yesterday that somewhat affirmed for me how well
the approach of unschooling is working (we have only very recently
given up the workbooks.) The girls are in a homeschool phys ed class at
the YMCA -- their choice, btw. The teacher, who is wonderful, but after
thirty years in the public school system, he still doesn't entirely
"get" homeschooling. So he gives them a quiz on tennis. The last
question is worded "tennis courts are made of all of the following
except: a. grass, b. clay, c. asphalt, d. mud" My 8 yo dd and one boy
in the class thought that mud was an acceptable way to make a tennis
court. The teacher was appalled at this -- he was very much in the
right/wrong, no discussion mindset. Both dd and the boy reasoned that
since you can make houses (adobe) out of mud, and it hardens, this would
also be a good surface for making a tennis court. Seemed like good
reasoning to me. The teacher was somewhat exasperated ( not angry, just
that he didn't quite know how to respond to kids who reason like this.)
Three things came out of this at home. First, I have a background in
statistics and test making, so we discussed the proper wording of
questions (note the question does not say "regulation tennis courts")
and how a good test is made, items evaluated to see if they actually ask
what they're supposed to and so on. Secondly, she had never received a
grade before. This led to a discussion on fractions (she loves math) and
how a grade is simply a fraction, converted to a decimal and then to a
percent, which is then placed on a scale with letters. She found that
interesting. Next, we are going to go searching on the internet to see
if anyone has in fact ever made a tennis court out of mud.
And all of this out of getting the "wrong" answer on a test. :-)
don't ya just love unschooling. ;-)
Susan
On Thursday, May 2, 2002, at 08:09 PM, Karin wrote:
> Hi Vicki!
>
> Welcome to the list!
> I'm curious what made you consider unschooling?
> What did you read or hear about it that appeals to you?
>
> From what you described, it sounds like you could easily switch to
> unschooling, but that all depends on your mindset.
> Unschooling is mostly doing what you are already doing (with the beach &
> library trips, raising and breeding animals, etc.) minus the book work.
> We
> used to do math, grammar, spelling, etc. out of books when we were
> homeschooling, but since unschooling, we have totally stopped.
>
> A typical day looks different in individual families.
> It would also look different from day to day, IMO.
> Some of our days are spent "in" and would be considered lazy, I'm sure.
> Those days involve playing computer games and gameboys, watching TV,
> playing
> board games, playing outside, watching movies and not doing much
> "productive".
> Other days we are incredibly busy with seemingly non-stop activities
> from
> morning 'till night, usually away from home.
> We value both kinds of days and know that it all counts. My boys (9 &
> 11)
> ask questions about this or that every single day - I know they're
> learning
> even if it's not book work or documented on paper or graded on.
>
> When I discovered unschooling, it sounded so appealing, especially
> since we
> were all frustrated with homeschooling for the past 5 years. Even
> though I
> wanted to unschool and started pretty soon after I learned about it, I
> still
> had much learning or UNlearning to do about true learning and how it
> happens. I read and read at unschooling.com and soaked it all up like a
> sponge. The most important message I received was that to unschool, I
> needed
> to put my full TRUST in my kids. That was a little foreign to me, but I
> gradually let go of the reigns more and more, and I've been so
> pleasantly
> surprised by my boys and how they've handled their new-found freedom.
> We are
> all so much happier since unschooling, including my husband. I can now
> say
> that even he recognizes the benefits of unschooling, at this time.
>
> Keep reading, learning and asking and maybe you'll discover the joys of
> unschooling, too. :o)
>
> Karin
>
>
>
>
> welovehomeschool@... wrote:
>
> > Hi, I have 4 children ages 4,7,9,12 I just say an article on
> > unschooling and am considering it.Do you do units?or just check out
> > books on what they like & read,read,read to them/with them ect....
> > My 9 year old is college bound as she wants to be a vet how will
> > unschooling effect her chances?
> > What is a typical day?We start out with household chores,animal
> > chores,then bible usually prayer & a reading from our family
> > bible,then math,we do units for history&science usually hands on
> > stuff.We do our language with our journals & spelling from misspelled
> > words.We do weekly/daily trips to our local beach&libary.
> > All my guys are animal buffs so we are about to start breeding
> > bunnies next year.Also hopefully chicks.The children will learn all
> > about raising them & will be selling them as a unit on running a
> > business.Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling????
> >
> > Vicki
>
>
>
>
>
> ~~~ Don't forget! If you change the topic, change the subject line! ~~~
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
> Visit the Unschooling website:
> http://www.unschooling.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Peace,
Susan
There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of
the deepest messages of the Incarnation. -- Madeleine L'Engle
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
susan marie
ps.
we found it -- an old british sports club in India, named Kodaikanal
Club has a mud tennis court. There's also an old house in Vermont that
has a dirt tennis court (so we suppose, when it rains...
peace,
Susan
we found it -- an old british sports club in India, named Kodaikanal
Club has a mud tennis court. There's also an old house in Vermont that
has a dirt tennis court (so we suppose, when it rains...
peace,
Susan
On Friday, May 3, 2002, at 08:00 AM, susan marie wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> We had an experience yesterday that somewhat affirmed for me how well
> the approach of unschooling is working (we have only very recently
> given up the workbooks.) The girls are in a homeschool phys ed class at
> the YMCA -- their choice, btw. The teacher, who is wonderful, but after
> thirty years in the public school system, he still doesn't entirely
> "get" homeschooling. So he gives them a quiz on tennis. The last
> question is worded "tennis courts are made of all of the following
> except: a. grass, b. clay, c. asphalt, d. mud" My 8 yo dd and one boy
> in the class thought that mud was an acceptable way to make a tennis
> court. The teacher was appalled at this -- he was very much in the
> right/wrong, no discussion mindset. Both dd and the boy reasoned that
> since you can make houses (adobe) out of mud, and it hardens, this would
> also be a good surface for making a tennis court. Seemed like good
> reasoning to me. The teacher was somewhat exasperated ( not angry, just
> that he didn't quite know how to respond to kids who reason like this.)
> Three things came out of this at home. First, I have a background in
> statistics and test making, so we discussed the proper wording of
> questions (note the question does not say "regulation tennis courts")
> and how a good test is made, items evaluated to see if they actually ask
> what they're supposed to and so on. Secondly, she had never received a
> grade before. This led to a discussion on fractions (she loves math) and
> how a grade is simply a fraction, converted to a decimal and then to a
> percent, which is then placed on a scale with letters. She found that
> interesting. Next, we are going to go searching on the internet to see
> if anyone has in fact ever made a tennis court out of mud.
>
> And all of this out of getting the "wrong" answer on a test. :-)
>
> don't ya just love unschooling. ;-)
>
> Susan
>
> On Thursday, May 2, 2002, at 08:09 PM, Karin wrote:
>
> > Hi Vicki!
> >
> > Welcome to the list!
> > I'm curious what made you consider unschooling?
> > What did you read or hear about it that appeals to you?
> >
> > From what you described, it sounds like you could easily switch to
> > unschooling, but that all depends on your mindset.
> > Unschooling is mostly doing what you are already doing (with the
> beach &
> > library trips, raising and breeding animals, etc.) minus the book
> work.
> > We
> > used to do math, grammar, spelling, etc. out of books when we were
> > homeschooling, but since unschooling, we have totally stopped.
> >
> > A typical day looks different in individual families.
> > It would also look different from day to day, IMO.
> > Some of our days are spent "in" and would be considered lazy, I'm
> sure.
> > Those days involve playing computer games and gameboys, watching TV,
> > playing
> > board games, playing outside, watching movies and not doing much
> > "productive".
> > Other days we are incredibly busy with seemingly non-stop activities
> > from
> > morning 'till night, usually away from home.
> > We value both kinds of days and know that it all counts. My boys (9 &
> > 11)
> > ask questions about this or that every single day - I know they're
> > learning
> > even if it's not book work or documented on paper or graded on.
> >
> > When I discovered unschooling, it sounded so appealing, especially
> > since we
> > were all frustrated with homeschooling for the past 5 years. Even
> > though I
> > wanted to unschool and started pretty soon after I learned about it, I
> > still
> > had much learning or UNlearning to do about true learning and how it
> > happens. I read and read at unschooling.com and soaked it all up
> like a
> > sponge. The most important message I received was that to unschool, I
> > needed
> > to put my full TRUST in my kids. That was a little foreign to me,
> but I
> > gradually let go of the reigns more and more, and I've been so
> > pleasantly
> > surprised by my boys and how they've handled their new-found freedom.
> > We are
> > all so much happier since unschooling, including my husband. I can now
> > say
> > that even he recognizes the benefits of unschooling, at this time.
> >
> > Keep reading, learning and asking and maybe you'll discover the joys
> of
> > unschooling, too. :o)
> >
> > Karin
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > welovehomeschool@... wrote:
> >
> > > Hi, I have 4 children ages 4,7,9,12 I just say an article on
> > > unschooling and am considering it.Do you do units?or just check out
> > > books on what they like & read,read,read to them/with them ect....
> > > My 9 year old is college bound as she wants to be a vet how will
> > > unschooling effect her chances?
> > > What is a typical day?We start out with household chores,animal
> > > chores,then bible usually prayer & a reading from our family
> > > bible,then math,we do units for history&science usually hands on
> > > stuff.We do our language with our journals & spelling from
> misspelled
> > > words.We do weekly/daily trips to our local beach&libary.
> > > All my guys are animal buffs so we are about to start breeding
> > > bunnies next year.Also hopefully chicks.The children will learn all
> > > about raising them & will be selling them as a unit on running a
> > > business.Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling????
> > >
> > > Vicki
> >
> >
> >
>
> >
> >
> > ~~~ Don't forget! If you change the topic, change the subject
> line! ~~~
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> > [email protected]
> >
> > Visit the Unschooling website:
> > http://www.unschooling.com
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
> Peace,
> Susan
>
> There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of
> the deepest messages of the Incarnation. -- Madeleine L'Engle
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> ~~~ Don't forget! If you change the topic, change the subject line! ~~~
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
> Visit the Unschooling website:
> http://www.unschooling.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Peace,
Susan
There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of
the deepest messages of the Incarnation. -- Madeleine L'Engle
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/3/2002 5:00:11 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
scribblers2@... writes:
--pamS
Some of what is said here may challenge you, shock you, disturb you, or seem
harsh. But remember that people are offering it to be helpful and what feels
uncomfortable to you might be just what someone else needed to hear.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
scribblers2@... writes:
> She found thatClay is mud.
> interesting. Next, we are going to go searching on the internet to see
> if anyone has in fact ever made a tennis court out of mud.
--pamS
Some of what is said here may challenge you, shock you, disturb you, or seem
harsh. But remember that people are offering it to be helpful and what feels
uncomfortable to you might be just what someone else needed to hear.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
susan marie
well, yes, but that was on the quiz as a choice.. a poorly thought out
question. We wanted to find an example of just plain old mud, besides
clay.
the moral is, for the teacher, trying to get a group of homeschoolers
too accept an answer because "I, the Teacher, say so" just won't work.
Susan
question. We wanted to find an example of just plain old mud, besides
clay.
the moral is, for the teacher, trying to get a group of homeschoolers
too accept an answer because "I, the Teacher, say so" just won't work.
Susan
On Friday, May 3, 2002, at 11:03 AM, PSoroosh@... wrote:
> In a message dated 5/3/2002 5:00:11 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
> scribblers2@... writes:
>
>
> > She found that
> > interesting. Next, we are going to go searching on the internet to see
> > if anyone has in fact ever made a tennis court out of mud.
>
> Clay is mud.
>
> --pamS
> Some of what is said here may challenge you, shock you, disturb you, or
> seem
> harsh. But remember that people are offering it to be helpful and what
> feels
> uncomfortable to you might be just what someone else needed to hear.
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
> ~~~ Don't forget! If you change the topic, change the subject line! ~~~
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> [email protected]
>
> Visit the Unschooling website:
> http://www.unschooling.com
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
Peace,
Susan
There is nothing so secular that it cannot be sacred, and that is one of
the deepest messages of the Incarnation. -- Madeleine L'Engle
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Fetteroll
on 5/2/02 5:49 PM, welovehomeschool at welovehomeschool@... wrote:
raising their competence to a satisfactory level but helping them acheive
whatever level they feel necessary. The motives behind helping them are more
akin to the motives behind helping your husband with his hobby. You might
notice a book or a movie or an event and point it out. With kids you need to
do more since they can't access the world as easily as adults but the
connection between adult and child in terms of their interests is similar.
so much of her young life to it that she won't be able to change her mind if
she loses interest. She has loads of time and she has loads of animal
related opportunities to explore.
On another list, vets came up recently and one ex-vet said that her motive
for being a vet was love of animals. But being a vet is very little about
being with cute and cuddly animals. To be a vet the first love should really
be the science and medical side, investigating disease and dealing with pet
owners. If someone loves animals there are loads of careers that will bring
them incontact with healthy happy animals like zoo worker, groomer, dog
trainer, breeder, pet shop owner, naturalist, even Jane Goodall's successor
:-) So she should be exploring all sorts of animal related opportunities,
whatever interests her, regardless of whether it lies on the path to
vethood.
to need force myself into doing things and steering things into our lives
than just living life would do because I tend to be, uh, low energy ;-)
academics with less work, you're going to be disappointed. If you want them
to explore what interests them to discover more about who they are, then it
will work fine. :-)
Joyce
> Do you do units?or just check outIt isn't quite so formal or so goal directed. Unschooling isn't about
> books on what they like & read,read,read to them/with them ect....
raising their competence to a satisfactory level but helping them acheive
whatever level they feel necessary. The motives behind helping them are more
akin to the motives behind helping your husband with his hobby. You might
notice a book or a movie or an event and point it out. With kids you need to
do more since they can't access the world as easily as adults but the
connection between adult and child in terms of their interests is similar.
> My 9 year old is college bound as she wants to be a vet how willAs someone suggested if you focus on that as a goal, she will have devoted
> unschooling effect her chances?
so much of her young life to it that she won't be able to change her mind if
she loses interest. She has loads of time and she has loads of animal
related opportunities to explore.
On another list, vets came up recently and one ex-vet said that her motive
for being a vet was love of animals. But being a vet is very little about
being with cute and cuddly animals. To be a vet the first love should really
be the science and medical side, investigating disease and dealing with pet
owners. If someone loves animals there are loads of careers that will bring
them incontact with healthy happy animals like zoo worker, groomer, dog
trainer, breeder, pet shop owner, naturalist, even Jane Goodall's successor
:-) So she should be exploring all sorts of animal related opportunities,
whatever interests her, regardless of whether it lies on the path to
vethood.
> What is a typical day?We start out with household chores,animalA typical day is like most people's typical weekend or summer days. I tend
> chores,then bible usually prayer & a reading from our family
> bible,then math,we do units for history&science usually hands on
> stuff.We do our language with our journals & spelling from misspelled
> words.We do weekly/daily trips to our local beach&libary.
to need force myself into doing things and steering things into our lives
than just living life would do because I tend to be, uh, low energy ;-)
> All my guys are animal buffs so we are about to start breedingI think it would depend what you want from unschooling. If you want
> bunnies next year.Also hopefully chicks.The children will learn all
> about raising them & will be selling them as a unit on running a
> business.Would it be hard for me to switch to unschooling????
academics with less work, you're going to be disappointed. If you want them
to explore what interests them to discover more about who they are, then it
will work fine. :-)
Joyce