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A couple of comments & questions.

First, I have read the threads about television, and I just gotta say -- NO
TV is GOOD TV -- even PBS (which I consider Socialism Max anyway) and
Discovery/History. TV teaches children to think in "flickers", as one
sociologist puts it. He refers to the de facto maximum time a particular
"scene" lasts before a new view is brought up.

I agree with him.

Our son is now 9 months old, and he has yet to see a TV screen "on", except
for one time when we did an experiment. We turned the TV on ONCE when he
was about 7 months, and even though both of us were in the room and there
were plenty of other things to do and look at -- which he was always
otherwise perfectly happy with -- once he spotted that TV picture, it was
like there was nothing else in the room. No matter what else happened for
the next five minutes, he would not take his eyes off that screen.
Needless to say, that was all we needed to know; it was enough for us. The
TV has stayed OFF ever since. Shortly, I am building a wall-mount cabinet
that will cover the TV with locked doors.

I have since noticed this in other children when at friends' houses -- the
kids barely even acknowledge that you're there, they can't take their eyes
off the screen, and basically seem hypnotized.

"rumpleteasermom" <rumpleteasermom@...> said:
>
>When I was in school, I was the kid that got picked on all
>the time.

There seems to be a trend on this list. That describes my experience as well.

>Funny thing is I loved school, I just couldn't stand most
>of the other kids.

Yep.

>Socialization aside - - from a learning standpoint unschooling has
>worked for us. My girls know lots of stuff abouthistory and science
>that I learned sometime in school but forgot right after the test.
>They won't forget because they learned by seeing it in context or
>because they wanted to or because it was in something else they were
>working on and it related.

Ultimately, that's how we ALL learn. Schools have forgotten this.

>I think that our schools are so set on
>everyone learning a set core of stuff that they have forgotten that
>once we reach adulthood, we each need different things.

Now this brings up a question. I know in many states that homeschoolers
are required to adminster state-mandated tests tot heir own children. How
do Unschoolers handle these requirements?

>Unschooling allows the mechanics among us to focus on cars
>and the astronomers to focus on the stars.

Neat rhyme, that even hit home. I'm a car nut, and have been since 10th
grade -- and became an astronomy buff at the same age. Over twenty years
later, I have a couple of telescopes (just getting into digital
astrophotography) and a small fleet of cars (six of them) that I mess with
in the garage.


My other question relates to whether there are any Unschoolers in Virginia
on this list? We live in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

-- Marc