Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Digest Number 2247
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/14/2002 8:00:19 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
math, etc.
She spends the entire time trying to convince her students that they just
need to provide an environment that lets the kids have freedom and lots of
choices of cool stuff to do.
She's promoted that idea, as an early childhood professor, for many many
years (she retired last year from running a lab preschool after 35 years - at
age 71) and still teaches college courses. Her ideas on "preschool" (she
HATES the very word) are that kids should spend most of their time home with
their family, but that that coming 2 or 3 mornings a week for a couple of
hours to a place where they can have access to lots of art supplies, big
playground equipment, water, dirt, animals, etc., is nice for them and maybe
a needed break for parents. Also - she figures that if kids are going to be
in daycare and if it isn't going to be with other family members or friends,
that at least it ought to include FREEDOM to choose what to do with their own
time within the constraints imposed by being cared for as a group. In her
program, nothing was compulsory and all materials and equipment were
available all the time for any child to use as they wished.
I was brought up with these ideas so that they seem self-evident to me. And,
I easily moved beyond my mom - I could never see any good reason why "school"
should be any different from her "preschool" and it was really easy for me to
recognize the deep human truth of the unschooling philosophy -- it was a
logical next step.
Anyway - she's fought an uphill battle for more than 3 decades - and it is
getting harder and harder.
--pam
National Home Education Network
http://www.NHEN.org
Changing the Way the World Sees Homeschooling!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected] writes:
>My mom teaches "early childhood education curriculum" courses....science,
> And pre-unschooling programs have curricula
math, etc.
She spends the entire time trying to convince her students that they just
need to provide an environment that lets the kids have freedom and lots of
choices of cool stuff to do.
She's promoted that idea, as an early childhood professor, for many many
years (she retired last year from running a lab preschool after 35 years - at
age 71) and still teaches college courses. Her ideas on "preschool" (she
HATES the very word) are that kids should spend most of their time home with
their family, but that that coming 2 or 3 mornings a week for a couple of
hours to a place where they can have access to lots of art supplies, big
playground equipment, water, dirt, animals, etc., is nice for them and maybe
a needed break for parents. Also - she figures that if kids are going to be
in daycare and if it isn't going to be with other family members or friends,
that at least it ought to include FREEDOM to choose what to do with their own
time within the constraints imposed by being cared for as a group. In her
program, nothing was compulsory and all materials and equipment were
available all the time for any child to use as they wished.
I was brought up with these ideas so that they seem self-evident to me. And,
I easily moved beyond my mom - I could never see any good reason why "school"
should be any different from her "preschool" and it was really easy for me to
recognize the deep human truth of the unschooling philosophy -- it was a
logical next step.
Anyway - she's fought an uphill battle for more than 3 decades - and it is
getting harder and harder.
--pam
National Home Education Network
http://www.NHEN.org
Changing the Way the World Sees Homeschooling!
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
So... I have filled out the papers to start unschooling my youngest who
is 11. My 19 year old is having a hard time with it. Basically he said
suffering the trauma of school has helped him grow. I just asked him why
he felt he needed to suffer to learn. He just looked away in thought. I
admit I am a little fearful too so we will work through it together just
like anything else. It is hard because on this same day - today - I
enrolled my 14 year old with bipolar and dyslexia in a therapuetic
school. The school is hands-on learning with 20 kids and 10 teachers. He
has learned to hate himself and feel useless and stupid at school. He is
full of fear and mistrust. He is so much less "bipolar" - stressed -
during the summer when he is out of school. If this doesn't work I will
teach him at home although at time he is like grabbing a tiger by the
tail. I feel this is it - the last straw. He just wants to quit school
yet, will try this school. It did look cool.
If I had to do it all over again I would have taught them all (6) at
home. I don't know why I didn't because I am a bit "outside of the box."
My husband didn't want me to - I hardly ever listen to him:)... Oh well,
no sense looking back on the past. Michele
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
is 11. My 19 year old is having a hard time with it. Basically he said
suffering the trauma of school has helped him grow. I just asked him why
he felt he needed to suffer to learn. He just looked away in thought. I
admit I am a little fearful too so we will work through it together just
like anything else. It is hard because on this same day - today - I
enrolled my 14 year old with bipolar and dyslexia in a therapuetic
school. The school is hands-on learning with 20 kids and 10 teachers. He
has learned to hate himself and feel useless and stupid at school. He is
full of fear and mistrust. He is so much less "bipolar" - stressed -
during the summer when he is out of school. If this doesn't work I will
teach him at home although at time he is like grabbing a tiger by the
tail. I feel this is it - the last straw. He just wants to quit school
yet, will try this school. It did look cool.
If I had to do it all over again I would have taught them all (6) at
home. I don't know why I didn't because I am a bit "outside of the box."
My husband didn't want me to - I hardly ever listen to him:)... Oh well,
no sense looking back on the past. Michele
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Fetteroll
on 8/15/02 3:27 PM, michele-nappi@... at michele-nappi@...
wrote:
on what we knew at the time and accept that where we are now is where we
need to begin.
Welcome Michele! :-)
Joyce
wrote:
> If I had to do it all over again I would have taught them all (6) atNo, you're right. We have to trust we made the best decision we could based
> home. I don't know why I didn't because I am a bit "outside of the box."
> My husband didn't want me to - I hardly ever listen to him:)... Oh well,
> no sense looking back on the past.
on what we knew at the time and accept that where we are now is where we
need to begin.
Welcome Michele! :-)
Joyce