[email protected]

A well-meaning church "friend" found out we are new to homeschooling. I don't
really broadcast that we are Unschoolers, I only answer specific questions
when people ask me. She left some curriculum catalogs at my home to peruse.
Out of curiosity, I have made it halfway through the Sonlight catalog.
(sidenote: it was overwhelming, especially the preschool curriculum for 3-4
years olds, I have an almost 3yo and I can't imagine what these folks are
thinking. Ironically, they mention the Moores and their theory of later
formal academics when appropriate by readiness) It mentions Cultural
Literacy/ E.D. Hirsch. Any comments on it/him are welcome, my mother(she
questions content and coverage, fearing we will miss something or fall
behind) is a fan, and I wouldn't mind getting input from all sides. (Any
input on the Moore Formula would be appreciated also, I identify with some of
their theories, but not sure how it would mesh with unschooling) I shared
with her that I bought the "everything your 4th grader needs to know" as a
jumping point when we first stopped public school. At first I felt a need to
split it up and try to explore a certain amount daily, to "cover our butts",
but quickly learned how boring and tedious that would be. I now keep it as a
reference, and a take along book in case we are somewhere and my dd wants to
read and explore in it. It's got some interesting stuff in it. It came in
handy when we were playing with roman numerals and secret coding on a road
trip. Browsing through this catalog, I started wondering if I would like to
purchase/borrow any of these resources. I saw a sample of the "schedule" and
I almost broke out in hives. But I was thinking that some of their selections
could be great things to "strew about the house". What is the general
unschooling consensus on a rich environment? Do you actively strew, or is
that manipulative? Do you strew based on your interests, or try to pick up on
things that your child has expressed interest in? I believe my daughter will
find interest in things that I show interest in, but is it like pretending to
like sports to try to hang out with the hubby? It feels kinda false, ya know?
Do you ever feign interest in something that you really don't like that much,
just to fool the kids into interest?? Haha Confession time! How important is
"cultural literacy"? Do you provide a lot of different resources (I already
have a ton because I love picking up books at yardsales, thriftstores, church
sales, etc etc) at home that cover the "basics"? Or do you just let them go
to the library and pick out what they find? I think I do a little of both so
far, and am wondering what degrees and grades others do this. I think the
scope sequence is not only unnecessary, but potentially overwhelming and can
contribute to burnout. But I don't what to have a un-rich environment,
either, LOL.In case it isn't already evident, I suffer from periodic
unschooling doubt and anxiety. Not that I don't trust unschooling and my
kids, but I have had confidence problems for some time (a result of my
schooling?) and it leads me to seek what others are doing, out of curiosity,
to see if anyone else's instincts are like mine. Can anyone possibly
identify? I guess my only other question is, does anyone recommend any
catalogs as resource lists to borrow certain materials from the library? Are
any of these curriculum sources of any use except for the obvious? (I must be
an optimist LOL) I notice Sonlight uses a lot of Usborne books, are these
good? What one or several books would you recommend every unschooling home
have? Your faves or things to avoid? Thanks you guys for tolerating my
rambling and unorganized thinking out loud <g> I don't ask for much, do I <
wide eyes blinking innocently> :0)

Ang
SAHM to
Megan Elizabeth 8/8/92 8lbs 8oz
Ashlyn Olivia 7/25/99 9lbs 8oz
Christian James 6/09/01 9lbs 5oz
<A HREF="http://www.twgallery.8m.com/MEGAMOM08.html">Meet MEGAMOM08</A>
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/megamom08/christian.html">Christian's Birth Story</A>
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/megamom08/mygirlspage.html">My Girls page</A>
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[email protected]

On Sun, 26 May 2002 11:32:26 EDT megamom08@... writes:
>What is the general unschooling consensus on a rich environment? Do you
actively strew,
> or is that manipulative? Do you strew based on your interests, or try
to
> pick up on things that your child has expressed interest in?

I'm not sure that I like the whole "strew" paradigm, or maybe it's just
the terminology. It does feel manipulative to me, like placing things on
a child's path and hoping that she'll "discover" them. I'm much more
inclined to get something, say,"This is a cool book about cat mummies in
Egypt, if you ever want to read it - it's going right here on the
bookshelf." and that's it. As she's gotten older, sometimes I've pulled
stuff out and said "Here, I think you might like this now" and she either
does or doesn't.

Our house is full of "stuff", and it's actually fairly well organized, if
we're looking for something specific (yesterday Cacie was painting a
flower pot and wanted to write Robert Frost's poem The Rose on it, and
she actually found it in under a minute, even though she'd only heard it
aloud before) and also open for browsing. She's pulled out lots of things
that I'd forgotten we even owned. We have lots of stuff that I assume
she'll want to explore some day, stuff that I thought was cool or stuff I
imagined that she would eventually find cool.

I guess I would feel uncomfortable, say, putting a book on her bedside
shelf in hopes that she would pick it up some night and read it. That
would feel manipulative to me - that's her bedside shelf, stacked with
her books that she's decided she may want to read at night.

Actually, I did stick "It's a Girl Thing" (great book about puberty and
develoment and all that) next to her bed, but she was there when I did
it... I thought she might feel more comfortable reading it if the book
was already there...she freaks out when I say "underwear" aloud at
Target, so it just seemed better to have the book there waiting.

Dar






> daughter will
> find interest in things that I show interest in, but is it like
> pretending to
> like sports to try to hang out with the hubby? It feels kinda false,
> ya know?
> Do you ever feign interest in something that you really don't like
> that much,
> just to fool the kids into interest?? Haha Confession time! How
> important is
> "cultural literacy"? Do you provide a lot of different resources (I
> already
> have a ton because I love picking up books at yardsales,
> thriftstores, church
> sales, etc etc) at home that cover the "basics"? Or do you just let
> them go
> to the library and pick out what they find? I think I do a little of
> both so
> far, and am wondering what degrees and grades others do this. I
> think the
> scope sequence is not only unnecessary, but potentially overwhelming
> and can
> contribute to burnout. But I don't what to have a un-rich
> environment,
> either, LOL.In case it isn't already evident, I suffer from periodic
>
> unschooling doubt and anxiety. Not that I don't trust unschooling
> and my
> kids, but I have had confidence problems for some time (a result of
> my
> schooling?) and it leads me to seek what others are doing, out of
> curiosity,
> to see if anyone else's instincts are like mine. Can anyone possibly
>
> identify? I guess my only other question is, does anyone recommend
> any
> catalogs as resource lists to borrow certain materials from the
> library? Are
> any of these curriculum sources of any use except for the obvious?
> (I must be
> an optimist LOL) I notice Sonlight uses a lot of Usborne books, are
> these
> good? What one or several books would you recommend every
> unschooling home
> have? Your faves or things to avoid? Thanks you guys for tolerating
> my
> rambling and unorganized thinking out loud <g> I don't ask for much,
> do I <
> wide eyes blinking innocently> :0)
>
> Ang
> SAHM to
> Megan Elizabeth 8/8/92 8lbs 8oz
> Ashlyn Olivia 7/25/99 9lbs 8oz
> Christian James 6/09/01 9lbs 5oz
> <A HREF="http://www.twgallery.8m.com/MEGAMOM08.html">Meet
> MEGAMOM08</A>
> <A
> HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/megamom08/christian.html">Christian's
> Birth Story</A>
> <A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/megamom08/mygirlspage.html">My
> Girls page</A>
> |w|w|
>
>
>
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Fetteroll

on 5/26/02 11:32 AM, megamom08@... at megamom08@... wrote:

> It mentions Cultural
> Literacy/ E.D. Hirsch. Any comments on it/him are welcome, my mother(she
> questions content and coverage, fearing we will miss something or fall
> behind) is a fan

My daughter liked the stories in the 2nd grade book even though the language
was a bit stilted. (And he *does* recommend getting good quality picture
book versions and using the ones in the book only if you have to.)

I thought the math part stunk. *Way* too abstract and formal. The standard
rote practice junk taught in schools. He has *zero* confidence -- since he
has *zero* experience -- with learning math informally.

I got a couple of ideas out of the art section that I hadn't thought of like
pointing out warm and cool colors.

Despite their titles, what they're designed for isn't to give a 1st grader
"what he needs to know". No first grader needs to know about Egypt. (Unless
that's his passion!) It's just 1/6 or so of the knowledge it would be good
to know so we don't sound like cultural doofuses as adults. ("Columbus who?"
;-) His idea is that it's good to have a certain common knowledge in order
to communicate effectively. Not *just* that knowledge of course. Just one
useful chunk where we all intersect.

If a child's being raised in a rich environment, then he or she will run
across most of that anyway just because it is part of our culture.

I think if you look back on say the kindergarten book from 3rd grade you'll
see that your child has come across the majority of it just by living. Of
course they may be going in a different order so it's good to realize that
if they don't know something, that they've been spending time learning about
something else that may not even on the list or comes later.

> Any
> input on the Moore Formula would be appreciated also, I identify with some of
> their theories, but not sure how it would mesh with unschooling

Take what works and dump the rest :-)

Most experts speak from a point of view of experience with schooled children
which really has little to do with children who aren't forced against their
wills to learn along a particular track at a particular pace.

We get to be like real scientists :-) We can listen to what works and why.
We can observe our own kids. Sometimes experts can give us a fuller
understanding of what we're already seeing, but we should get out of the
habit -- learned from school! -- of letting them tell us what we should be
seeing.

For instance experts will tell us that we need to make the kids do what we
feel is best for them. But if we actually look at the situation what we may
see is a child who's living someone else's idea of what life is supposed to
be like a puppet. Who is learning to tune out the voice that says "This is
what I like" and "This is what I don't like" and replace it with the voice
of someone supposedly more expert at living life who says "This is what I
should do" and "This is what I shouldn't do".

> Do you actively strew, or is
> that manipulative? Do you strew based on your interests, or try to pick up on
> things that your child has expressed interest in?

It depends what your motives are. Are you doing it to lead them in a
particular direction or because it's something they might find delight in?

> I believe my daughter will
> find interest in things that I show interest in, but is it like pretending to
> like sports to try to hang out with the hubby? It feels kinda false, ya know?

How would you treat a friend? It's a good starting point anyway. Sometimes
when I'm not interested in something my daughter really is, it helps if I
turn to appreciating the joy she's finding in it. :-) Or help her find some
friends who can share her ethusiasm and appreciation.

> How important is
> "cultural literacy"? Do you provide a lot of different resources (I already
> have a ton because I love picking up books at yardsales, thriftstores, church
> sales, etc etc) at home that cover the "basics"? Or do you just let them go
> to the library and pick out what they find?

Since my daughter isn't much into picking -- I suspect she gets overwhelmed
by the choices available -- I do most of the picking, based around what
she's interested in and what of the world might interest her. What works
best with her, perhaps since she's an only child or because it's part of her
personality, is exploring things together.

> I think the
> scope sequence is not only unnecessary, but potentially overwhelming and can
> contribute to burnout. But I don't what to have a un-rich environment,
> either, LOL.

Oh, yes, I find them incredibly overwhelming! But peeking at them
occasionally can help us remember a piece of the world we've forgotten about
recently. Or it can make us feel nervous that we could give them everything
but we haven't made much progress! ;-) So I tend to avoid them and
concentrate on what my daughter likes. It *is* a lot easier now that she's
older and her interests kind of narrow things down for me!

> In case it isn't already evident, I suffer from periodic
> unschooling doubt and anxiety.

Don't we all :-)

It's honestly okay to have doubts. When the whole world is marching south
and tells everyone disaster awaits if you head north, it's perfectly
understandable to wonder if you're doing the right thing by heading north!

> Can anyone possibly
> identify? I guess my only other question is, does anyone recommend any
> catalogs as resource lists to borrow certain materials from the library?

Well, it's overwhelming to the max ;-) but there's the Complete Homelearning
Source Book} by Rebecca Rupp

\topurl{http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0609801090/o/qid=986983363/sr
=8-2/ref=aps_sr_b_1_2/107-2415050-0048564

She's got all *kinds* of resources on a wide variety of subjects.

> I notice Sonlight uses a lot of Usborne books, are these
> good?

I like them. My daughter is rather neutral ;-)

What do *your* kids like? One way that curriculum fills us with so much
anxiety is that it feels like someone has chosen the best, most effective
route somewhere and if our kids shrug with disinterest, then if feels like
they won't be getting "there".

So concentrate on the journey rather where they "should" be going. :-) Find
ways of helping them get the most out of their right now lives. They're 6
and 8 and 13 and every age for a reason. They need to be good at those ages
rather than working on adulthood preparation.

> What one or several books would you recommend every unschooling home
> have?

The internet.

I loved the Chinaberry catalog (http://www.chinaberry.com) when my daughter
was younger. (She's 10 now.) I still love it but her tastes have become more
focused and it's just not as useful at guiding us towards things that are
tailored just to her as just searching through the on line book catalog for
subjects that interest her.

> things to avoid?

Anything you want your kids to do but don't want to do yourself!

Joyce

Fetteroll

on 5/26/02 12:45 PM, freeform@... at freeform@... wrote:

> It does feel manipulative to me, like placing things on
> a child's path and hoping that she'll "discover" them.

It can bring up that image. It got me stuck for a while.

It's better to look at it as providing access to new connections into the
world to pick up or not. It's like talking to an infant who has no idea what
you're saying. But they need language around them and accessible on a
certain personal level so they can learn it.

Kids' ability to reach into the world is more limited physically and
knowledge wise than adults'. They can't know if they're interested in
something or not unless they know it exists! So we can make -- at least a
portion! -- of that knowledge that various things exist available and they
can pick and choose and ignore from what's wandering through their lives.

Of couse they'll be doing some reaching out on their own but we can divert a
stream that we're familiar with through their lives for them to dabble in.

> I guess I would feel uncomfortable, say, putting a book on her bedside
> shelf in hopes that she would pick it up some night and read it.

Nope, no expectations on the stuff that's strewn. They just need some
portion of the world wandering by and available to them so they have the
ability -- though not the necessity -- to expand their interests in ways
that they wouldn't have stumbled on on their own. :-)

Joyce

[email protected]

On Sun, 26 May 2002 17:32:56 -0400 Fetteroll <fetteroll@...>
writes:

> Nope, no expectations on the stuff that's strewn. They just need some
> portion of the world wandering by and available to them so they have
the
> ability -- though not the necessity -- to expand their interests in
ways
> that they wouldn't have stumbled on on their own. :-)

So, what's the difference between strewing things and simply having a lot
of cool stuff around, in your mind? To me, the strewing implies that the
process is supposed to seem random to the child but is really intentional
by the parent, and I don't like that. I do think it's important to have
cool stuff around, but I don't like the thought of intentionally
"strewing" it - it's just there because one or both of us think it's
cool.

I guess I don't see things as "stumbled on" when they are intentionally
strewn there to be found. Rain stumbles on owl pellets and secret groves
and cool library books and things like that, that are honestly just
randomly there to be found. There are other things, though, like pipe
cleaners and poetry books and computer programs, that are just there,
bought on my whim or hers, and put where it seemed logical that one would
look for such a thing if one wanted to find it. Sometimes she or I will
just scan the shelves and pick up something interesting. Sometimes I get
something and say, "Here's a such-and-such. I thought you might like to
do x with it sometime."

What I don't do, and what would feel wrong to me, is to get a
such-and-such and just stick it on her table, without saying anything.
That feels intrusive to me. It maybe a personality thing, but I know I
wouldn't want things to just appear in my house, without any explanation.
I wouldn't want things "wandering through" my life without my having some
input - and usually Rain is fine with being included in what I'm doing,
or what's going on - but it's important to get her okay first.

Dar

Fetteroll

on 5/26/02 10:46 PM, freeform@... at freeform@... wrote:

> So, what's the difference between strewing things and simply having a lot
> of cool stuff around, in your mind?

Not a whole lot, it's just catchier ;-)

It's not meant as an unschooling rule ;-) It's just a brain jog that might
help some people get out of the school mindset and start seeing learning
differently.

But some ways of putting things help some people and confuse others. I'll
admit I too read manipulation into it when I first heard it. But other
people have had aha moments from hearing it.

Maybe you can come up with your own catch phrase or way of explaining the
idea that will help light bulbs light that doesn't have the implication of
manipulation in it. The greater the variety of phrases "strewn about" the
easier it will be for others to get unschooling. :-)

Joyce

[email protected]

In a message dated 5/26/02 11:01:14 AM, freeform@... writes:

<< "This is a cool book about cat mummies in
Egypt, if you ever want to read it - >>

She won't want to go all the way to EGYPT for it!!!

[Okay, now THAT was taken out of context!! <g>]


<< it's going right here on the
bookshelf." and that's it. As she's gotten older, sometimes I've pulled
stuff out and said "Here, I think you might like this now" and she either
does or doesn't.>>

If all new books go straight onto the shelf, and none go onto the table or by
the bed or in the bathroom, people are less likely to pick them up and open
randomly to something intriguing.

If the new National Geographic is immediately filed on the shelf with the
rest of them, it won't be read as well as it will be if it's left in the
living room with the cover calling out "OPEN ME UP!!!"

<<Our house is full of "stuff", and it's actually fairly well organized, if
we're looking for something specific...She's pulled out lots of things
that I'd forgotten we even owned.>>

If you pull out something she had forgotten you even owned, it would bejust
as cool!

<<I guess I would feel uncomfortable, say, putting a book on her bedside
shelf in hopes that she would pick it up some night and read it. That
would feel manipulative to me - that's her bedside shelf, stacked with
her books that she's decided she may want to read at night. >>

Kitchen counter then.

I don't stick a book where I think my kids will want to pick it up and read
it if it's not also something I myself would want to pick up and read (or
might have just done). I bought an illustrated edition of The Hobbit. I
left it out. My husband read some, every guest in the house would pick it up
and say "COOL!in the bathroom at the moment. When it goes on the shelf with
the other Tolkien stuff, they'll have the vision of it and the knowledge of
its existence, and they'll know where to look for it.

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 5/26/02 8:55:33 PM, freeform@... writes:

<< So, what's the difference between strewing things and simply having a lot
of cool stuff around, in your mind? >>

Rearrange the cool stuff from time to time. What's in a box in a closet
might be a lot of cool stuff, but if you never bring it down and look at it
it's just a box in a closet.

<<I guess I don't see things as "stumbled on" when they are intentionally
strewn there to be found.>>

You're arguing the words instead of the ideas, though.

Sometimes Holly says "I don't have anything good to do," and I bring a box
out of a closet (literally or figuratively). It leads to play or art or
conversation that wouldn't have happened otherwise. It was spontaneous
because it was in reponse to her. It was possible because I didn't give it
all to the thrift store.

<<What I don't do, and what would feel wrong to me, is to get a
such-and-such and just stick it on her table, without saying anything.
That feels intrusive to me. It maybe a personality thing, but I know I
wouldn't want things to just appear in my house, without any explanation.>>

YOUR house? Is it your own singular house?
Things DO appear in my house, because lots of other people live here. They
appear in public places, and I walk around them like a monkey, sniff them
like a dog, pick them up and turn them over and every second of it I'm
thinking "Whose is this!? What is this? This is cool!!!"

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 5/27/02 5:17:54 AM, fetteroll@... writes:

<< > So, what's the difference between strewing things and simply having a lot
> of cool stuff around, in your mind?

<<Not a whole lot, it's just catchier ;-) >>

I first used "strew" years ago to describe what I was doing with my kids, and
it didn't just apply to stuff on tables (now that I see how this thread is
going <g>).

If I have to drive from here to the other side of town, I can go the quickest
most boring way, or I can drive by something the kids haven't seen, or a
construction site to see the progress, or just through a neighborhood I
myself have never been through. Given a choice, I try to make the more
intellectually stimulating path.

That concept, too, is from an SCA context. I saw Sir Leif Ivarsson this
weekend. When he was to be knighted in 1987, the year Kirby was a baby, I
went to his vigil the night before. My husband and I had wanted to knight
him, when we were king and queen a few months before that, but he hadn't been
a member and so we couldn't do it. I was in there discussing that with him,
the kind of improved awareness he would be expected to exhibit as a knight
and the example he needed to set. He said he was ashamed that his camp
wasn't really period and spiffy and he couldn't afford all period stuff. I
told him ours all came gradually. And if he could only afford a nylon tent,
if his choice was orange or brown take brown. And when his choice was nylon
or canvas, take canvas. And when is was store-bought or handmade, take
handmade. "Always make the more medieval choice," I said, and I was so
excited by this concept that I went back to my camp and told my own household
about it. They were excited too. It was kind of elegant and a good basis
for decision making.

One month later it bit me in the butt. We were at an event up in the
mountains from Colorado Springs, and since I had the baby my husband had done
all the food preparation for our group. I asked for a Dr Pepper (for my mug,
not to drink from the can, of course! <g>), and he said "I brought juice
instead of soda, because you said always make the more medieval choice."

But the concept of incrementally approaching a goal has stuck with me all of
Kirby's life. You can't go from nothing to everything in one step, but you
can step toward the goal instead of away in one step.

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 5/26/02 5:11:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
fetteroll@... writes:


> things to avoid?
>
> Anything you want your kids to do but don't want to do yourself!
>
> Joyce
>
>
>

Thank you for all your helpful input, Joyce :0)
Ang
SAHM to
Megan Elizabeth 8/8/92 8lbs 8oz
Ashlyn Olivia 7/25/99 9lbs 8oz
Christian James 6/09/01 9lbs 5oz
<A HREF="http://www.twgallery.8m.com/MEGAMOM08.html">Meet MEGAMOM08</A>
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/megamom08/christian.html">Christian's Birth Story</A>
<A HREF="http://hometown.aol.com/megamom08/mygirlspage.html">My Girls page</A>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

On Mon, 27 May 2002 11:05:08 EDT SandraDodd@... writes:

> <<I guess I don't see things as "stumbled on" when they are
> intentionally strewn there to be found.>>
>
> You're arguing the words instead of the ideas, though.

No. I'm arguing intent.

> YOUR house? Is it your own singular house?
> Things DO appear in my house, because lots of other people live here.



And maybe it's the difference between a family of two and a family of 5,
but things don't just appear here without Rain *and* I knowing about
them. She knows what's in the cupboards, in the refrigerator, on the
shelves, because she's lived here for 9 years and because she's around
when they come in. If there's something new here, one of us brought it,
and since we generally come and go together (even if we separate once
we're in town) we both see it.

A lot of stuff comes and goes, but we talk about it - here's what I
found, here's what I got, do you want to do this now or shall I put it
up... all that. There's a difference between our house and, say, the
sacred glen outside, where birds and animals and the wind come in and out
and leave stuff to find. Our house is our place.

I guess for us, it's important to talk about what's going on in our
house. Stuff just "appearing" would feel intrusive, so we talk. YMMV, I
suppose. Our home is our refuge, we like to know what's going on.

We've rushing out the door to go fishing for a week, so we'll be nomail..

Dar

Elizabeth Hill

**I'm not sure that I like the whole "strew" paradigm, or maybe it's
just
the terminology. It does feel manipulative to me, like placing things on

a child's path and hoping that she'll "discover" them. I'm much more
inclined to get something, say,"This is a cool book about cat mummies in

Egypt, if you ever want to read it - it's going right here on the
bookshelf." and that's it. As she's gotten older, sometimes I've pulled
stuff out and said "Here, I think you might like this now" and she
either
does or doesn't.**

I've concluded that "strewing" works better than "offering" at my
house. A strewn object can sit out for five days, but an offer "Hey,
look at this" is usually only good for five minutes. (I mean I'm only
gonna hold out the thing in my hand for five minutes or less.)

When my son is busy, which is most of the day, he is pretty closed to
new offers. It's only when he's meandering from one activity to another
that he's likely to interact with a strewn object.

So, strewing works pretty well for me. I also believe that picking up
our living spaces so that new stuff can be seen, rather than being
camoflaged by older junk, is an important part of the strewing process.
(I can also read my sons "tracks" more clearly in a cleaner house. If
half the toys we own are on the floor, I can't tell what he's been
fiddling with.)

Yes, sometimes I feel that strewing is manipulative. I just try not to
be too attached to the outcome.

Betsy

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In a message dated 5/27/02 10:48:01 AM, freeform@... writes:

<< A lot of stuff comes and goes, but we talk about it - here's what I
found, here's what I got, do you want to do this now or shall I put it
up... all that. >>

Strewing is not an absence of talking.

It's pretty hard to get five or six people or the ten or more who are here
many weekends all together at one time and say "I have an announcement to
make. I've got a new magnet toy and I'm going to put it on the table. I'm
probably going to get the other magnet toys out as I come across them today
and put them out too."

What I do is I put the magnet toy out. Whoever was with me when I bought it
already knows about it and is excited about it. Whoever's there when we take
it out of the box says "OH COOL!" And whoever wanders by later sits and
plays with it, and the others come by and show them what they've already
discovered that it will do.

Sandra

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In a message dated 5/27/02 12:04:56 PM, ecsamhill@... writes:

<< sometimes I feel that strewing is manipulative. I just try not to
be too attached to the outcome. >>

Betsy wrote this.

I used to get kids to volunteer to change the bulleting boards at school,
when I taught. I used to get two subscriptions to National Geographic World,
and when it came we would cut the folds and tape the whole issue up on the
wall like a giant poster (with two issues you can get both sides of each
page. It would stay about a week and the kids would read it WAY better than
they would have if I had stuck the two issues out and said "Here, you want to
read these?"

Here's why: They were looking at them when they weren't reading them.
They'd get curious about a picture. Or one kid would say "HEY LOOK!" and
five kids could come look, all at the same time. It was something that could
be shared.

At libraries they put the new books out on open shelves, so you can see the
covers. They put the newest newspapers and magazines on racks where you can
see them.

Are they being manipulative, or are they providing information and
opportunity?

Sandra

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In a message dated 5/26/2002 2:32:15 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
fetteroll@... writes:


> > I guess I would feel uncomfortable, say, putting a book on her bedside
> > shelf in hopes that she would pick it up some night and read it.
>
> Nope, no expectations on the stuff that's strewn. They just need some
> portion of the world wandering by and available to them so they have the
> ability -- though not the necessity -- to expand their interests in ways
> that they wouldn't have stumbled on on their own. :-)

To me, the "strewing" is really just leaving it out so that the kids will
know it is around and can pick it up if they're interested. Eventually it'll
either get picked up by them, or put away by somebody <G>. But, sometimes
months or years later a kid might say, "Didn't we have a field guide about
wildflowers? I thought I remembered us having one." And - yep - it would be
something I'd THOUGHT they would be interested in, left it laying around,
eventually put away, and NOW they're asking for it."

I also will tell them if I see something they might be interested in --
strewing is just something I'd do if they weren't right there for me to say,
"Oh, look, I found this wildflower field guide that you might be interested
in."

--pamS


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

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In a message dated 5/26/2002 7:55:22 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
freeform@... writes:


> I guess I don't see things as "stumbled on" when they are intentionally
> strewn there to be found.

I intentionally put out stuff that I want the kids or my husband to stumble
upon.

I WONDER if how you see this has to do with a difference in how hectic our
lives might be. My family's life tends to be very hectic and so if I think of
something or find something or buy something or somehow acquire something
that I think one of the kids might enjoy, it is better for me to put it out
in their path - rather than try to remember to tell them about it. Because -
if I put it on a shelf, I'm very likely to forget about it and nobody will
ever know it is there.

I found out Ray Bradbury was speaking near us - and thought Roxana and Roya
would LOVE to go see him, since they are huge fans of his. So I put the flier
on the refrigerator door. I forgot about it - but Roxana saw it there and
came to me with her eyes glowing and totally thrilled about going. (We did go
- last week - and Ray Bradbury was one of the best speakers I've ever seen -
he was SO inspiring and unschoolish - talked a LOT about following your
passions, not believing that what they teach you in school is what is
necessarily "important" or "significant" for you and how you're responsible
for your own education, etc. Plus - we won the door prize, which was a huge
basket of Trader Joe's stuff.)

Anyway - that's typical "strewing" in my household.

Oh - another example was when we were thinking about buying a car, I left
brochures about the car I wanted on the table for my dh to find. He doesn't
like to be pressured and I get over-excited and he FEELS pressured. So
strewing brochures in his path and letting him just pick up them up if and
when he felt like it and read without ME hovering -- was a good thing.

--pam


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

rumpleteasermom

> I used to get kids to volunteer to change the bulleting boards at
school,
> when I taught.



Man . . . what a brutal school! Walls that shoot at you?

Sorry, funny typos just bring that out in me.

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In a message dated 5/28/02 7:32:45 AM, rumpleteasermom@... writes:

<< bulleting boards at
school,
> when I taught.



Man . . . what a brutal school! Walls that shoot at you? >>

Eeek! (sorry)