Alan & Brenda Leonard

Ned wrote:

> Exactly. My point is this: How does talking about movies or computer
> games, etc., pertain to unschooling, instead of simply parenting? People
> whose children attend schools talk about those things, too. So how do those
> topics relate specifically to unschooling? How are the people on this list
> different from people who send their kids to school?

I'm going to take a stab at this one.

The people on this list are different from people who send their kids to
school because we deal with having them around all day, every day.

Now, I believe it was you, Ned, who once commented that unschooling is
nothing more than good parenting. However, based on the above, we
homeschoolers do a lot more parenting than folks whose children are in
school all day.

It's true that people whose children attend schools talk about these things.
As unschoolers, our children have far more access to "movies, computer
games, etc." than schooled or schooled-at-home children. As a result, we
discuss them here in order to get feedback from folks in our same situation.

On a side point...while homeschooling and unschooling are certainly not the
sole domain of women, the majority of folks on this list are ladies.
Sometimes women get off topic and enjoy a silly giggle about a former
boyfriend or such. If the majority of at-home parents handling their
children's education were men, the list might get similarly off topic, but
on different "men's subjects". Humor us, Ned, as we've humored you a couple
times.

I have learned a lot from discussions of what you consider "just parenting".
I'm sorry they bore you. But they're what my life looks like right now, and
this list has been a wonderful gift to me.

brenda
who loved some of these folks' writings in print, and still gets a charge
out of seeing their messages in her in-box every day! :)