Robin Clevenger

> From: "The Burton Bunch" <livnrway@...>
> I guess my question here is how to continue helping those just getting
their feet wet with homeschooling - - letting them know that I unschool, but
being available to answer other questions too without sounding phony -
because that is truly how I feel when I talk about using the pre- packaged,
workbooks, unit studies, etc. .....I struggle with scaring people off before
they have the chance to experience what I get to everyday. Any advice?>>

I just tell them "This is what works for me" and maybe explain a little bit
if they haven't heard of unschooling before. I also have a good feel for who
else in our homeschooling group are using different
methods/classes/curriculum. We have a couple of families of Waldorf-inspired
homeschoolers, we have a couple that use packaged curriculum, we have many
that fall into the "eclectic" range, we have a good faction of unschoolers,
and we have some that use the classes available through our school districts
here. So I tell people what the range is, and who they can talk to that most
matches up with what they envision their homeschooling to look like. I do
this knowing that sooner or later they will most likely drift more and more
towards unschooling, especially if they start hanging out with our group. I
see people fall of the the curriculum wagon all the time as they realize how
much it frustrates themselves and their children. The day that they start
asking "What's going wrong? Is there a better way?" then I will give them
more information on unschooling. I give as much as I think a person can
assimilate at a time. Sometimes that's a little, sometimes that's a lot. Of
course, if anyone asks me directly what I think, they'll get an earful!

Blue Skies!
-Robin-