Penny Holder

Hello! My name is Penny Holder. I have been married to my wonderful husband Phillip for almost 15 years. We have 3 children(Nick 12, Emilee 9, Ashley 6). We live in MS. I am also a wahm. I am a Tupperware Sr. Exec Mgr. and an Usborne Educational Consultant.

I have been homeschooling them for 2 years. Nick is gifted with LD in reading and Emilee is dyslexic, dysgraphic, dyspraxic, add, and has auditory processing problems. Emilee gets OT and ST at our local rehab center. Both Emilee & Nick have a tutor for reading.

Since we have so many appointments for this, that, and the other it is very hard to stick to a schedule.

I would love to know more about how everyone does unschooling and what a typical day is like at your home?

Also, do you add in curriculum for some subjects such as Math and Spelling??

Thank you so much for your input!

Penny
Tons of FREE Resources for Homeschoolers/Unschoolers
http://learnathome.tripod.com

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zenmomma *

Hi Penny and welcome. Glad that you found us.

>>I have been homeschooling them for 2 years. Nick is gifted with LD in
>>reading and Emilee is dyslexic, dysgraphic, dyspraxic, add, and has
>>auditory processing problems. Emilee gets OT and ST at our local rehab
>>center. Both Emilee & Nick have a tutor for reading.>>

I think you'll find that here on this list we tend to shy away from lots of
school generated labels. I'm sure your children have their unique challenges
and that those labels are helpful in getting them the services and attention
that they need to "keep up" with a school-type schedule. Many of us have
been right where you are now.

BUT...if you'll read a bit here and at unschooling.com, you'll hear LOTS of
stories of how we discovered that our children didn't need those labels, and
even many of the services they were receiving, once the school schedule was
removed. With the freedom of unschooling, my children have been able to
learn and develop at their own pace. They're not behind or ahead. They are
exactly where they are and learning all the time.

Here's a link to an article I wrote about my son's school experience.

http://sandradodd.com/special/mary

I'll let you know right now that we dealt with many of the labels you
mentioned above in addition to the one I mentioned in the article. While
you're at that site, you may want to read Anne Ohman's article as well. Also
check about the stories of later readers. They're all good.

>>Since we have so many appointments for this, that, and the other it is
>>very hard to stick to a schedule.>>

I found that once I dumped the "schedule for learning," life was better.
Ultimately, we no longer needed the appointments either.

>>I would love to know more about how everyone does unschooling and what a
>>typical day is like at your home?>>

Each day is different around here. We don't worry about school subjects, so
there isn't anything I feel we need to fit into our day in that respect. We
read, play games, go to theater and movies, play with friends, write, chat
on the computer, volunteer, cook, go to museums and art shows, hang out,
watch TV, talk...We live our lives.

>>Also, do you add in curriculum for some subjects such as Math and
>>Spelling??>>

Nope. No curriculum.

>>Thank you so much for your input!>>

Thanks for asking the questions and exploring some new ideas. :o)

Life is good.
~Mary


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Betsy

**Since we have so many appointments for this, that, and the other it is
very hard to stick to a schedule.

I would love to know more about how everyone does unschooling and what a
typical day is like at your home?

Also, do you add in curriculum for some subjects such as Math and Spelling??**


Hi, Penny --

Many unschoolers prefer not to have any set schedule, except for
appointments and outside activities and playdates.

Unschooling is really different from other forms of homeschooling. At
my house we just live and learn without lessons or curriculum. (We have
piles of books, games and videos, though.)

It's hard to imagine if you haven't really soaked up the unschooling
philosophy and had lots of time to observe unschooled kids. The
clearest way I can paint a picture of it is to say that unschooling is
like summer vacation or Saturday, all the time.

To explain how kids learn without school would take me more time than I
have here. (But I hope others will jump in and help.)

Betsy