KT

>
>
>
>I go one step farther. Everyone does their own laundry (from about age 7
>or whenever I found clean clothes in the laundry basket again after a
>warning). If Lars doesn't have clean clothes, it's because he didn't wash
>any. Not my problem. I might remind him that he'll need a clean ball
>uniform tomorrow or something, but if it doesn't get done, it's his
>problem. I do the household laundry and my own. I haven't had any
>complaints. Almost any 7 year old can easily learn to operate a washing
>machine and dryer or clothesline.
>

Me, too, but I expect them to be able to do it later, like 9 or 10.

There are 4 adults living in this house now, 3 of which are men. I have
found, to my dismay, that this policy now means the washer is going
non-stop, and I can hardly get a load in edgewise! :)

Tuck

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/20/02 3:18:12 PM, debra@... writes:

<< And how do you clean out the runners in a shower, Sandra? >>

With a stick--a skewer or a disposable chopstick or something, and do it wet,
and put rags outside so the gunk has a place to go. You can also fold a rag
and slide the fold down in and run it back and forth and up the end. I
learned that from cleaning the neck of a guitar with a cloth. And from
cleaning (yucko, dirt-collecting) painted wrought iron with a rag, by running
it in and pulling it back and forth (like flossing wrought iron <g>).

I use rags and wash them. Lots of rags. For floors and sinks and showers
and all. If I didn't have a washer and a dryer, I would probably use paper
towels more, but I just wait til I have a washer load of rags. I sew, so I
get more rags. Towels wear out, so ditto.

In New Mexico, things will definitely dry without any special attention.

But mostly, I stall. I hate to clean. And I wish I had a steam carpet
cleaner like the ones they rent, but they cost $800 so I don't have one.

Sandra

[email protected]

On Thu, 20 Jun 2002 18:22:12 EDT SandraDodd@... writes:

> But mostly, I stall. I hate to clean. And I wish I had a steam
> carpet
> cleaner like the ones they rent, but they cost $800 so I don't have
> one.

I got one for $125 or so, on sale at Target from somewhere under $200. It
looks like a vacuum cleaner, that style, but it's a steam cleaner.
Worked great, I was always amazed at how much dirt was in the crpets.

Now we have no carpets, but I'm keeping it anyway. It also does
unholstered furniture and the car interior, things I'm rarely motivated
enough to do... but I did the carpets, because it made my
allergies/asthma so much better.

dar

Tia Leschke

>
>There are 4 adults living in this house now, 3 of which are men. I have
>found, to my dismay, that this policy now means the washer is going
>non-stop, and I can hardly get a load in edgewise! :)

LOL!
I finally decided which days I do mine (one for my clothes, one for our
bedding). They can have any of the other days. I'll give my day up for an
emergency only.
Tia

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Eleanor Roosevelt
*********************************************
Tia Leschke
leschke@...
On Vancouver Island

Lewis

Wondering what you told you kids when you began homeschooling, if it was
after homeschooling/public school.

We are turning to homeschooling after homeschooling under a public school
alternative education allotment program. They basically homeschooled, but
took classes at the school, 5 hours per week minimum, where I attended with
them.

Anyway, they know it is summer now, but they will also be aware of when
school begins again because all their friends will be at school.

They are 9, 7, and 5. I really can't imagine me sitting them down and
saying, guess what, we are going to unschool now. Then, explain the whole
thing to them.

We have discussed homeschooling/public school to a great extent, and they
get it.

Just wondering what approach you all took.

I was thinking of just not saying anything, until they asked, and would say
that we will do what they find interesting.

They already know that we will not return to the allotment program because
it was too much running around, and they are SO happy about that.

Debbie

Lewis

oops, I meant when you began unschooling, not when you began
homeschooling.....

[email protected]

On Fri, 21 Jun 2002 08:10:27 -0700 "Lewis" <lapin@...> writes:
> They are 9, 7, and 5. I really can't imagine me sitting them down and
> saying, guess what, we are going to unschool now. Then, explain the
> whole thing to them.

Rain went to kindergarten. She actually went to two different
kindergarten programs, one was a fledgling Reggio Emilia - Whole Language
- Anti-Bias curriculum charter school on the Oakland-Berkeley border,
which was a nice idea but it never quite meshed and by December it was
clearly not working and I was also worried for her safety... so we toured
a bunch of different private schools and she ended up at a tiny
Montessori school on the island where we lived, which was better, but
only marginally. By the end of the school year, I'd decided to quit my
job teaching children with emotional/behavioral disorders (the kids were
great but the system was awful) and we were going to homeschool if we
ended up on welfare and on the streets... my income was our only income,
and as a single mom I hadn't yet figured out how to make money and
homeschool.

We were both in on this decision, we talked about it, clearly she wasn't
happy. We'd gone to a homeschool group back in Arizona, and some of the
friends we'd had for years were homeschooling - and all the homeschoolers
we knew well were unschoolers, so when she said she wanted to homeschool
like Leesie and Aliyah and Annie and Joe, she meant unschooling... I
don't think she even knew then that some people did school-at-home.

So, anyway, it sounds like you all agreed not to continue the public
program. I'm not sure what you were doing at home, but if you're planning
changes, I would definitely talk to them, instead of leaving them
wondering where things stand. Maybe something like, "Remember how last
year I was giving you math pages to do every day, and spelling tests, and
all that? I've been thinking and learning more about how people learn,
and one thing I've realized is that you will learn what you need to learn
without being forced to do worksheets and things. Your learning may not
look like school-learning, but just by living in this world and doing
what interests you, you'll learn everything you need to know to be you.
So, I'm not going to make you do that kind of stuff anymore. I'll still
be here if you want to work on something together, or if you need help
with something, but it's going to be up to you now, not me. How does that
sound?"

You might also want to talk some about other kids who unschool, about
what they're doing and what they've learned, and how, so they can kind of
see how it all works. I would think that at least the older kids might
worry that without schoolwork they'll be "dumb".

I'd also love to hear Karin's answer to this...

Dar

[email protected]

On Fri, 21 Jun 2002 10:19:17 -0700 "Karin" <curtkar@...> writes:
> Hi Dar!
> You'd love to hear my answer to what?

To the question about how you went from from school-at-home to
unschooling, and you answered it while I was writing my last post - we
must have been on the same wavelength this morning! I think it's a cool
story, and I love happy endings, or happy right-nows..

Dar

p.s. I think we're going to Tucson in mid-August, through Phoenix
(because the weather is so lovely that time of year ;-). Maybe we can get
together?

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/21/02 8:57:29 AM, lapin@... writes:

<< I was thinking of just not saying anything, until they asked, and would say
that we will do what they find interesting. >>

You could just tell them you don't want to "do school" anymore (not in fall,
but starting now), and that you think they can learn all kinds of things
without being taught. Tell them lots of families do that, and you want to
try it.

Sandra

Karin

Hi Debbie -

We homeschooled for 5 years before starting unschooling last Sept.
We were at such a frustrating point in time with homeschooling.
I was constantly nagging them to do their assigned schoolwork (that I had
scheduled for them) and they always had a million excuses why they didn't
want to do their math or grammar or anything school related.
So, after I found out about unschooling and spent a day or two reading about
it (at unschooling.com) I told the kids that I wasn't going to force them to
do schoolwork anymore. That we could just learn about or do anything that
they wanted to do and that we were unschooling from now on.
I didn't explain much more to them about unschooling but they immediately
made the connection that it meant no more schoolish bookwork.
I think at first they might have thought that I was giving up on them,
somehow, and unschooling was like yet another punishment (some sort of mom
twisted mind game) for not doing their schoolwork when I asked them to. But
I told them that I have changed my mind about forcing them to do schoolwork
everyday and that I didn't think that was a good way for them to learn about
things and it was just causing a lot of stress in our household - so that's
why I wanted to unschool.
We've all adjusted just fine since then and love our FREE unschooling lives,
now!

Karin




> Wondering what you told you kids when you began homeschooling, if it was
> after homeschooling/public school.
>
> We are turning to homeschooling after homeschooling under a public school
> alternative education allotment program. They basically homeschooled, but
> took classes at the school, 5 hours per week minimum, where I attended
with
> them.
>
> Anyway, they know it is summer now, but they will also be aware of when
> school begins again because all their friends will be at school.
>
> They are 9, 7, and 5. I really can't imagine me sitting them down and
> saying, guess what, we are going to unschool now. Then, explain the whole
> thing to them.
>
> We have discussed homeschooling/public school to a great extent, and they
> get it.
>
> Just wondering what approach you all took.
>
> I was thinking of just not saying anything, until they asked, and would
say
> that we will do what they find interesting.
>
> They already know that we will not return to the allotment program because
> it was too much running around, and they are SO happy about that.
>
> Debbie

Karin

>
> I'd also love to hear Karin's answer to this...
>
> Dar
>


Hi Dar!
You'd love to hear my answer to what?

Karin

Lewis

Thank you Sandra, Karin and Dar,


Since I (WE I mean) have always talked to them about everything, and let
them help make our many family decisions, I will just be frank with them as
you all mentioned. Today we are going house hunting, and they will all be a
part of picking the right house to buy. They are so excited, and have asked
about how we get the money, which brought out a discussion of interest and
borrowing from banks. How cool. Sky is even using the word perimiter to
describe property. Cool!

They have expressed great desire NOT to go to public school, and NOT to go
back to the alternative learning plan. They love the curriculum we were
using, which was Oak Meadow. Mostly I just read to them, and they drew
pictures and wrote scentences. We did rhythmic clapping/marching for math
and sung songs. It is fun, and we can do the curriculum at their asking
only from now on.

So nice to have this group of unschoolers. I do not know of any unschoolers
in our area. I suppose I could put an add in the newspaper however.

Thanks!

Debbie

Karin

>
> To the question about how you went from from school-at-home to
> unschooling, and you answered it while I was writing my last post - we
> must have been on the same wavelength this morning! I think it's a cool
> story, and I love happy endings, or happy right-nows..
>
> Dar
>
> p.s. I think we're going to Tucson in mid-August, through Phoenix
> (because the weather is so lovely that time of year ;-). Maybe we can get
> together?
>


Mid-August is when we're taking our annual trip to S. Texas (because the
weather is so lovely that time of year ;-) to visit my parents - but we'll
be back on the 25th.
If you're still in the vicinity after that, I'd love to see you!
Let me know how it works out then.

Karin