[email protected]

I think that with all the talk about tv and real life and books, I can
possibly prioritize my preferences. How do you rank the following? And
could/would you add another way of learning?
Let's take Nepal, since Marc did.

To learn about Nepal, you could:

1) travel there. Expensive, but TRULY the best way to learn about a
culture/country

2) talk with someone who's been there. Now here you could speak to a native
or a visitor. Each would have a different take on the place. The native could

tell you, first hand, the history, traditions, etc. But a recent visitor
could give you info/perspective that a native wouldn't think necessarily
important to you. Both may have local items for "show & tell". Direct Q & A.
Limited availability/possible language limitations.

3) tv/video. Shows with footage from wars, scenery, traditions, art,
festivals, etc. Interviews with natives (with dubbing/subtitles if
necessary). Often available in libraries or by chance on tv.

4) the internet. Unlimited info at your fingertips 24/7. Possible moving
pictures, sound. Possibility of emailing a local to find out even more.

5) books. Beautiful photos (from most places) and almost always available
from libraries/book stores.

This is how I'd prioritize my learning of a country, for example. And I'm a
book freak.

[email protected]

<<This is how I'd prioritize my learning of a country, for example. And I'm
a
book freak. >>

I realized that I use all those resources when learning about something new,
yet none of them are prioritized higher thatn another. They are all just
different ways.
When we recently thought about moving to Albuquerque, NM I read articles in
NM magazine that I found at our local border's (in MD!) I scoured the
internet, I talked to Sandra, joined an email list for ABQ families, went to
the library, watched a show on TV about the Balloon festival held every
October. And finally went there to actually see it. None of these were any
better than another excluding the actual trip and seeing with my own eyes.
Today,I can't afford to Safari in Africa but I can do everything else to
learn about it for tomorrow.
Max is downstairs watching Between the Lions. It's not a substitute for
reading books or learning about wild lions, just another source to help him
learn about letter sounds. And learning he is.
~Elissa Cleaveland
"It is nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction
have
not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." A. Einstein

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/10/2002 6:08:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
> I realized that I use all those resources when learning about something new,
> yet none of them are prioritized higher than another. They are all just
> different ways.
>
I didn't mean for it to sound like that! Sorry. They ARE all different ways.
But some of the earlier discussion was that tv wasn't nearly as good as
actually being out there. Of course not. Probably most things aren't as good
as really BEING there(---well, The Crocodile Hunter is probably better on tv
than being there, though! <g>). I was trying to show that there ARE different
ways.

Each of us has different ways of learning. Some may get more out of reading a
book; some, watching a movie; some, doing; some, talking. My older son's a
watcher---he hates to read, so that would be at the bottom for him (schooled
for 8 years). He also likes to listen and gets a lot from interaction from
others. I LOVE to read, but given the other choices, reading still wouldn't
rank as the MOST bang for my buck.

We can talk with (or email) people who unschool.
We can read books about unschoolers/by John Holt.
We can watch Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
We can actually unschool.

ALL are great learning experiences that explain unschooling. We can use all
of them in learning about unschooling. Some may work BETTER than others for
each individual.

Kelly



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