Intro and more
Cheryl
Hi. Been lurking for a while, thought I'd jump in with my intro. We're a
family of natural learners, I'm Cheryl, dh Jay, dd Jayme, 17 and ds
J.L., 13, with many children waiting in heaven. We are presently, for
the past 10 years, living in Pa. Neither of our children have ever
attended school and so far, they have decided not to let college
interfere with their learning. We love our lifestyle of learning and
enjoy the freedom it gives. (All of which has been progressively
learned, as my dh and I were, at first, perfect products of public
schooling.) Although I personally feel I am way over 40 years behind in
discovering this freedom and constantly want to know *everything*,
yesterday.
FYI for those that worry as I did in the beginning. (from reading some
emails.) My children were both different from myself in that they
weren't reading "steadily" until the age of 11 and 12 respectively.
When I first worried about this, my dh informed me that he never
"enjoyed" reading and read poorly until he found Sci Fi books in the
eleventh grade. My younger sis and db both admonished me for worrying
about reading and spelling. Reminding me that they also were poor
readers and spellers "during school years". However they both went on
in life and have great careers and families. Picking up what they
needed when they had a "use" for it.
Jayme became a voracious reader at age 11. However, my dd has been only
been enjoying writing for the last 3 years since finding a friend who
became her email pal. This was also when her spelling improved as she
"had a desire/need" to be understood. She'd also kept very sporadic
journals from a young age but only recently *enjoyed* writing and is
keeping her journal regularly these days.
My ds, this year, has found writing lists for his pokemon cards
interesting. I've seen amazing improvements in his handwriting. One
day recently, he was drawing and came running downstairs yelling, "Look,
my fine motor skill have kicked in, I can draw!" LOL It was true, he
had noticed that he was able to control his hand and was now able to do
better curves. Before this day, his drawings, although good, were done
on graph paper and consisted of mechanical type drawings of robots,
planes, etc. His reading has been improving steadily as well. He is
more the "technical book" style reader. Give me the information, I'm
not here to loligag, type. *I've read that a child should acquire fine
motor skills before reading, otherwise learning is a pain and not well
retained.*
We are a magazine family as well as books. I've enjoyed "HEM" for
several years now. Hi, Helen. We miss "Growing Without Schooling"
tremendously. I didn't notice any mention lately of the recently
started magazine "Life Learning" nor did I see it in the archives. Hope
it's ok to talk about it and some of their articles.(?)
I received my second copy of this magazine last week. It is
delightful. Though not as thick yet as others, so far I have been
thoroughly enjoying it. Of course, anyone that knows me, early on
realizes I'm extremely partial to John Taylor Gatto. As the magazine's
writers include this well known author and some of Pennsylvania's own,
such as Christine Gable from Natural Learners Center in Marietta, I
wanted to pass copies out to my relatives and friends. I called the
company when I received my sample and asked if they could send me more
sample copies for the members of my monthly support group meeting. They
did and it was really well received by my group.
In the first issue, John makes no bones about schools and the "school at
home" mentality. I don't know if John's article from the March/April
magazine titled, "Schools Do Violence to Children...& Society" is posted
somewhere online, but it was spectacular, as his all are. ;-) Once
again laying out where schools went wrong and the multitude of error
stacked upon error. The worst mistake being the connection of school to
work. Does STW- School to Work sound familiar? It's REAL prevalent
here in Pa. So is their switching from Diploma's to Certificates of
Mastery. :-(
The same months issue included an article by Jan Hunt, "'Leaning
Disability' A Rose by Another Name". I love the opening analogy of a
plant nursery assistant trying to make all the roses bloom the same
week. Hah, the entire article was good, but the opening was hilarious.
So true.
The May/June issue includes Wendy Presnitz's article "College...How to
Get There and If You Need to Go" She speaks of colleges recruiting
self-educated students and some alternative, progressive post-secondary
institutions. I was glad to see mentioned that not all natural learners
care to go to college. I've noticed the tendency among autodidacts to
question the "need" for higher facilities of *indoctrination*. Many
I've met are finding no reason to change their life style of natural
learning and choose as she said, "a life of simplicity".
Hopefully this company will grow. They already have added to their
online sight. I hope in the future, they will post online some of the
magazine's articles. The link to: FAQ About Self-Directed Learning page
is now working:
http://www.lifelearningmagazine.com/faq.html
It's a great magazine. Great authors, well written materials and sites.
www.autodidactic.com is just one.
It's right up this family's alley. :-)
Well, that's it for now.
In HIS service,
Cheryl ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*
I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.
I tried to teach my child with words--
They often passed him by unheard.
Despairingly I turned aside,
"How shall I teach this child?" I cried.
Into my hand he placed the KEY,
"COME," he said, "AND PLAY WITH ME."
Was it for "religious" reasons our forefathers taught their children at
home? or just the "natural" course of life?
"workers in America live in a constant state of
panic,
a panic against being left out, they know that
companies owe them nothing, there
is no power to appeal to for management's decisions.
Fear is our secret supercharger, it
gives management the flexibility other nations will
never have". Mort Zukerman
~~WARNING~~ In the event of RAPTURE, this computer will be unmanned!!
Your emails will go unanswered.... FOREVER!!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
family of natural learners, I'm Cheryl, dh Jay, dd Jayme, 17 and ds
J.L., 13, with many children waiting in heaven. We are presently, for
the past 10 years, living in Pa. Neither of our children have ever
attended school and so far, they have decided not to let college
interfere with their learning. We love our lifestyle of learning and
enjoy the freedom it gives. (All of which has been progressively
learned, as my dh and I were, at first, perfect products of public
schooling.) Although I personally feel I am way over 40 years behind in
discovering this freedom and constantly want to know *everything*,
yesterday.
FYI for those that worry as I did in the beginning. (from reading some
emails.) My children were both different from myself in that they
weren't reading "steadily" until the age of 11 and 12 respectively.
When I first worried about this, my dh informed me that he never
"enjoyed" reading and read poorly until he found Sci Fi books in the
eleventh grade. My younger sis and db both admonished me for worrying
about reading and spelling. Reminding me that they also were poor
readers and spellers "during school years". However they both went on
in life and have great careers and families. Picking up what they
needed when they had a "use" for it.
Jayme became a voracious reader at age 11. However, my dd has been only
been enjoying writing for the last 3 years since finding a friend who
became her email pal. This was also when her spelling improved as she
"had a desire/need" to be understood. She'd also kept very sporadic
journals from a young age but only recently *enjoyed* writing and is
keeping her journal regularly these days.
My ds, this year, has found writing lists for his pokemon cards
interesting. I've seen amazing improvements in his handwriting. One
day recently, he was drawing and came running downstairs yelling, "Look,
my fine motor skill have kicked in, I can draw!" LOL It was true, he
had noticed that he was able to control his hand and was now able to do
better curves. Before this day, his drawings, although good, were done
on graph paper and consisted of mechanical type drawings of robots,
planes, etc. His reading has been improving steadily as well. He is
more the "technical book" style reader. Give me the information, I'm
not here to loligag, type. *I've read that a child should acquire fine
motor skills before reading, otherwise learning is a pain and not well
retained.*
We are a magazine family as well as books. I've enjoyed "HEM" for
several years now. Hi, Helen. We miss "Growing Without Schooling"
tremendously. I didn't notice any mention lately of the recently
started magazine "Life Learning" nor did I see it in the archives. Hope
it's ok to talk about it and some of their articles.(?)
I received my second copy of this magazine last week. It is
delightful. Though not as thick yet as others, so far I have been
thoroughly enjoying it. Of course, anyone that knows me, early on
realizes I'm extremely partial to John Taylor Gatto. As the magazine's
writers include this well known author and some of Pennsylvania's own,
such as Christine Gable from Natural Learners Center in Marietta, I
wanted to pass copies out to my relatives and friends. I called the
company when I received my sample and asked if they could send me more
sample copies for the members of my monthly support group meeting. They
did and it was really well received by my group.
In the first issue, John makes no bones about schools and the "school at
home" mentality. I don't know if John's article from the March/April
magazine titled, "Schools Do Violence to Children...& Society" is posted
somewhere online, but it was spectacular, as his all are. ;-) Once
again laying out where schools went wrong and the multitude of error
stacked upon error. The worst mistake being the connection of school to
work. Does STW- School to Work sound familiar? It's REAL prevalent
here in Pa. So is their switching from Diploma's to Certificates of
Mastery. :-(
The same months issue included an article by Jan Hunt, "'Leaning
Disability' A Rose by Another Name". I love the opening analogy of a
plant nursery assistant trying to make all the roses bloom the same
week. Hah, the entire article was good, but the opening was hilarious.
So true.
The May/June issue includes Wendy Presnitz's article "College...How to
Get There and If You Need to Go" She speaks of colleges recruiting
self-educated students and some alternative, progressive post-secondary
institutions. I was glad to see mentioned that not all natural learners
care to go to college. I've noticed the tendency among autodidacts to
question the "need" for higher facilities of *indoctrination*. Many
I've met are finding no reason to change their life style of natural
learning and choose as she said, "a life of simplicity".
Hopefully this company will grow. They already have added to their
online sight. I hope in the future, they will post online some of the
magazine's articles. The link to: FAQ About Self-Directed Learning page
is now working:
http://www.lifelearningmagazine.com/faq.html
It's a great magazine. Great authors, well written materials and sites.
www.autodidactic.com is just one.
It's right up this family's alley. :-)
Well, that's it for now.
In HIS service,
Cheryl ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*
I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.
I tried to teach my child with words--
They often passed him by unheard.
Despairingly I turned aside,
"How shall I teach this child?" I cried.
Into my hand he placed the KEY,
"COME," he said, "AND PLAY WITH ME."
Was it for "religious" reasons our forefathers taught their children at
home? or just the "natural" course of life?
"workers in America live in a constant state of
panic,
a panic against being left out, they know that
companies owe them nothing, there
is no power to appeal to for management's decisions.
Fear is our secret supercharger, it
gives management the flexibility other nations will
never have". Mort Zukerman
~~WARNING~~ In the event of RAPTURE, this computer will be unmanned!!
Your emails will go unanswered.... FOREVER!!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 5/20/02 11:13:09 AM, jcjjlw@... writes:
<< One
day recently, he was drawing and came running downstairs yelling, "Look,
my fine motor skill have kicked in, I can draw!" LOL It was true, he
had noticed that he was able to control his hand and was now able to do
better curves. >>
Cute!
I love when kids' concepts and vocabulary are ahead of their "abilities" (in
school lingo). I'm pretty sure most educators would say any neurologically
sound kid without fine motor skills "isn't old enough" to know what "fine
motor skills" are.
Shows (again) what THEY don't know!
Sandra
<< One
day recently, he was drawing and came running downstairs yelling, "Look,
my fine motor skill have kicked in, I can draw!" LOL It was true, he
had noticed that he was able to control his hand and was now able to do
better curves. >>
Cute!
I love when kids' concepts and vocabulary are ahead of their "abilities" (in
school lingo). I'm pretty sure most educators would say any neurologically
sound kid without fine motor skills "isn't old enough" to know what "fine
motor skills" are.
Shows (again) what THEY don't know!
Sandra
Cheryl
SandraDodd@... wrote:
that have been held at our home. Or maybe its the endless counseling phone
calls he's overheard. It is amazing what our children pick up from adults when
they're not age segregated.
Reminds me of all the "expert" doctors that for ten years told me I'd "never" be
able to carry a child to full term due to a partially divided uterus. I was
told I'd never go past two months. Then I had five births, four of them full
term children.
Nope, I guess "the experts" don't know everything.
In HIS service,
Cheryl ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*
I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.
I tried to teach my child with words--
They often passed him by unheard.
Despairingly I turned aside,
"How shall I teach this child?" I cried.
Into my hand he placed the KEY,
"COME," he said, "AND PLAY WITH ME."
"Was it for "religious" reasons our forefathers taught their children at home?
or just the "natural" course of life?" Me
"workers in America live in a constant state of panic,
a panic against being left out, they know that companies owe
them nothing, there
is no power to appeal to for management's decisions. Fear is
our secret supercharger, it
gives management the flexibility other nations will never
have". Mort Zukerman
~~WARNING~~ In the event of RAPTURE, this computer will be unmanned!! Your
emails will go unanswered.... FOREVER!!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>> Cute!LOL, I doubt he would have known if it wasn't for all the support group meetings
>> I love when kids' concepts and vocabulary are ahead of their "abilities" (in
>> school lingo). I'm pretty sure most educators would say any neurologically
>> sound kid without fine motor skills "isn't old enough" to know what "fine
>> motor skills" are.
>> Shows (again) what THEY don't know!
>> Sandra
>
that have been held at our home. Or maybe its the endless counseling phone
calls he's overheard. It is amazing what our children pick up from adults when
they're not age segregated.
Reminds me of all the "expert" doctors that for ten years told me I'd "never" be
able to carry a child to full term due to a partially divided uterus. I was
told I'd never go past two months. Then I had five births, four of them full
term children.
Nope, I guess "the experts" don't know everything.
In HIS service,
Cheryl ¸..· ´¨¨)) -:¦:-
¸.·´ .·´¨¨))
((¸¸.·´ ..·´ -:¦:-
-:¦:- ((¸¸.·´*
I tried to teach my child with books.
He gave me only puzzled looks.
I tried to teach my child with words--
They often passed him by unheard.
Despairingly I turned aside,
"How shall I teach this child?" I cried.
Into my hand he placed the KEY,
"COME," he said, "AND PLAY WITH ME."
"Was it for "religious" reasons our forefathers taught their children at home?
or just the "natural" course of life?" Me
"workers in America live in a constant state of panic,
a panic against being left out, they know that companies owe
them nothing, there
is no power to appeal to for management's decisions. Fear is
our secret supercharger, it
gives management the flexibility other nations will never
have". Mort Zukerman
~~WARNING~~ In the event of RAPTURE, this computer will be unmanned!! Your
emails will go unanswered.... FOREVER!!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]