Beth Ali

Well a few weeks ago Shawn (4 on Oct 1st) told me he wanted to learn how to
ride a horse after we drove past a training facility where he saw older kids
riding. So today we went to check it out. He was VERY dissapointed that he
wouldn't get to ride today, but seemed to be even more excited about the
idea of riding and learning how to care for a horse. I'm going to have to do
some juggling with money and with Shannon, who at 15 months is simply to
young to do any riding and too old to be willing to sit in a stroller and
watch, but he will get his lessons!! If he decides after only one or two
times that it's not for him then I feel it is more than worth the effort of
getting him there because his horizons have already been expanded to see and
experience something completely different. I dont' consider us
pre-unschoolers--we are unschooling from the get go---Shawn has asked a few
times this week to work on his workbook...HIS idea. He probably spent an
hour 2x this week doing numbers and letters and started on drawing lines to
get him ready to actually write the letters. When he was tired of it he told
me and we stopped. When I'm tired of something I stop....why is our society
so bent on preparing children for a life of hardship and no choices???? In
REAL life we as adults only do what we WANT to anyway. If we know what the
consequences are to not paying our taxes then we either CHOSE to pay or
not---This is life. Why make our children think that life is nothing but
forced work that has no relation to our life?

MY neighbor told me her 6 yr old had 14 pages of work today, on the 2nd day
of school. My question was if he enjoyed it. She said evidently....but
why??? Why would a very active little boy enjoy sitting and working on
paper? and then get home to have mom tell him his m's were sloppy and needed
to practice those and vocabulary for another hour....I simply don' t get
it:(

Beth-Shawn and Shannon's mommy

Fetteroll

on 8/14/02 3:07 AM, Beth Ali at blali@... wrote:

> My question was if he enjoyed it. She said evidently....but
> why??? Why would a very active little boy enjoy sitting and working on
> paper?

Because it makes him feel important? It's a job some adult has trusted he
can be responsible for.

Ask again in a couple of months!

Joyce