passions
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In a message dated 4/29/2003 9:19:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
rubyprincesstsg@... writes:
kids (not just kids---me, too!) are too wrapped up in something to eat. Take
it to them if you know they're hungry.
If you know the child loves training dogs, get her a good dog and a few
books. E-mail her websites. Buy her gift certificates to dog e-stores. Take
her to an obedience trial. If YOU think she should love to train a dog
because someday she might own a dog. but she has no interest---then the dog,
the books, the websites, the trial, and the gift certificates are a waste of
time and money. They aren't feeding her passion.
ASKING and WANTING are two different things. I *wanted* a horse. I knew how
expensive it was. I never asked. Daddy KNEW I wanted a horse. He bought me
one.
He *could've* bought me a tennis racket because he knew that one day I might
want to play tennis. I hate tennis. He knew that.
A child's learning is like that. In unschooling, we give them things to fire
up a present passion. It's not our goal to *make* a passion, but to fuel one
already there. We *may* present a new one---and that's cool---when a child
finds a new passion. I did that with my oldest: I showed him a magic trick
one night and it evolved into a huge passion---and he was GOOD! Really good!
Maybe Vegas-good. But he lost the passion. No big deal---it's a part of him
and always will be. And he can maybe use it later on in his life.
My job is to feed passions and to present new possibilities for passions. NOT
to force ones that aren't there.
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
rubyprincesstsg@... writes:
> Do you all plan special things for your children without them asking? HowYou don't have to do it when they ASK. Do it when they WANT it. Sometimes
> do
> you go about it so that it is not something about YOU and is completely for
>
> the child?
kids (not just kids---me, too!) are too wrapped up in something to eat. Take
it to them if you know they're hungry.
If you know the child loves training dogs, get her a good dog and a few
books. E-mail her websites. Buy her gift certificates to dog e-stores. Take
her to an obedience trial. If YOU think she should love to train a dog
because someday she might own a dog. but she has no interest---then the dog,
the books, the websites, the trial, and the gift certificates are a waste of
time and money. They aren't feeding her passion.
ASKING and WANTING are two different things. I *wanted* a horse. I knew how
expensive it was. I never asked. Daddy KNEW I wanted a horse. He bought me
one.
He *could've* bought me a tennis racket because he knew that one day I might
want to play tennis. I hate tennis. He knew that.
A child's learning is like that. In unschooling, we give them things to fire
up a present passion. It's not our goal to *make* a passion, but to fuel one
already there. We *may* present a new one---and that's cool---when a child
finds a new passion. I did that with my oldest: I showed him a magic trick
one night and it evolved into a huge passion---and he was GOOD! Really good!
Maybe Vegas-good. But he lost the passion. No big deal---it's a part of him
and always will be. And he can maybe use it later on in his life.
My job is to feed passions and to present new possibilities for passions. NOT
to force ones that aren't there.
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]