"Who cares?"--weird moments in unschooling life
Kelly Lenhart
Ok, I'm proud of myself.
We were at my in-laws last night. They are wonderful people and very
supportive of most of what we do, even when they may not get it. (They are
Christian, we are pagan, they are more traditional, we are, well, not!)
Anyway, they asked if 7 year old DS was going to school this year or if we
were keeping him home again. (Last year was first year home--after pulling
him 3 weeks in.) I said we were keeping him home and planning, with his
agreement, to do so all the way through. MIL asked DS what he thought of
that and he just grinned and gave a thumbs up. (Love this kid!)
So then she asked, "Well how do you know he's learning what the other kids
are?"
I swear to you this answer was out of my mouth before I realized how bitchy
I might sound, but I just said, "Who cares?" She gave me such a shocked
look! I added, "I care what HE's learning, what HE needs to know, not what
they are doing in school." Then she sort of laughed, nervously, and said,
"Well, I mean can he READ?"
At this point I got a little annoyed, but said, "Of course he can. He reads
very well." And went on to explain how I knew he read well because he reads
his gaming books and reads things off the TV and games and....THEN she
quized him, "Well read something for me."
I defended him and said, quite honestly, "He doesn't PERFORM." And he never
has, it's part of why "school at home" doesn't work for us. He can do it or
he can't, put he won't put on a show of it either way. I told him outright
he didn't have to do it. About a half hour later he picked up the sample my
FIL had given him and read it out, clear as a bell. MIL teased that he'd
memorized it. Uhm, something off the back of a phone book??? Why would he
read it at all?
I don't think they have a clue they were being rude about it. -sigh-
On the other hand, they have a pair of new pet turtles and spent hours with
him talking about them and playing with them, catching minnows to see if
they'd eat them (they did) and MIL printed out a few pages from the internet
abou them and just handed them over with no pushing. She joked, "Ok,
school's over."
I sort of sat there and went, "Hey, I can enter this in my log and it's
school. Cool." Have to start thinking that way, 'cause we are in PA.
Didn't have to do ANYTHING, but we can call it school. Gotta love it.
Kelly
We were at my in-laws last night. They are wonderful people and very
supportive of most of what we do, even when they may not get it. (They are
Christian, we are pagan, they are more traditional, we are, well, not!)
Anyway, they asked if 7 year old DS was going to school this year or if we
were keeping him home again. (Last year was first year home--after pulling
him 3 weeks in.) I said we were keeping him home and planning, with his
agreement, to do so all the way through. MIL asked DS what he thought of
that and he just grinned and gave a thumbs up. (Love this kid!)
So then she asked, "Well how do you know he's learning what the other kids
are?"
I swear to you this answer was out of my mouth before I realized how bitchy
I might sound, but I just said, "Who cares?" She gave me such a shocked
look! I added, "I care what HE's learning, what HE needs to know, not what
they are doing in school." Then she sort of laughed, nervously, and said,
"Well, I mean can he READ?"
At this point I got a little annoyed, but said, "Of course he can. He reads
very well." And went on to explain how I knew he read well because he reads
his gaming books and reads things off the TV and games and....THEN she
quized him, "Well read something for me."
I defended him and said, quite honestly, "He doesn't PERFORM." And he never
has, it's part of why "school at home" doesn't work for us. He can do it or
he can't, put he won't put on a show of it either way. I told him outright
he didn't have to do it. About a half hour later he picked up the sample my
FIL had given him and read it out, clear as a bell. MIL teased that he'd
memorized it. Uhm, something off the back of a phone book??? Why would he
read it at all?
I don't think they have a clue they were being rude about it. -sigh-
On the other hand, they have a pair of new pet turtles and spent hours with
him talking about them and playing with them, catching minnows to see if
they'd eat them (they did) and MIL printed out a few pages from the internet
abou them and just handed them over with no pushing. She joked, "Ok,
school's over."
I sort of sat there and went, "Hey, I can enter this in my log and it's
school. Cool." Have to start thinking that way, 'cause we are in PA.
Didn't have to do ANYTHING, but we can call it school. Gotta love it.
Kelly
[email protected]
In a message dated 8/9/03 6:09:37 AM, mina@... writes:
<< Then she sort of laughed, nervously, and said,
"Well, I mean can he READ?"
<<At this point I got a little annoyed, but said, "Of course he can. He reads
very well." >>
When Marty was five or so he could roller blade really well, and I wanted him
to show his grandparents, but he wasn't in the mood. I pressed. Keith
(whose parents they actually were!) said "He's not a performing monkey" (to me, to
remind me I was getting a tad pushier than usual <g>).
Good point!
I remember my mom making me play piano for company. Gross!
Sandra
<< Then she sort of laughed, nervously, and said,
"Well, I mean can he READ?"
<<At this point I got a little annoyed, but said, "Of course he can. He reads
very well." >>
When Marty was five or so he could roller blade really well, and I wanted him
to show his grandparents, but he wasn't in the mood. I pressed. Keith
(whose parents they actually were!) said "He's not a performing monkey" (to me, to
remind me I was getting a tad pushier than usual <g>).
Good point!
I remember my mom making me play piano for company. Gross!
Sandra
Kelly Lenhart
> Keithme, to
>(whose parents they actually were!) said "He's not a performing monkey" (to
>remind me I was getting a tad pushier than usual <g>).And this is the way he's ALWAYS been. You'd think they'd know that. James
>Good point!
>Sandra
does't "perform." If he brings it up, sure, if not, you are out of luck!!!
-sigh-
He was happy I defended him.
Kelly
Backstrom kelli
I have to remind dh of this alot with his parents. We havent exactly told them that we are planning on homeschooling (never mind unschooling!) so we leave out books on the issue and have dropped some subtle hints, my MIL thinks that I am ruining my child forever by not placiong her in preschool, so whenever we are out with them and Sadie says something "profound" dh will say "oh ya, we taught her that" Ugh, it's hard !
SandraDodd@... wrote:
In a message dated 8/9/03 6:09:37 AM, mina@... writes:
<< Then she sort of laughed, nervously, and said,
"Well, I mean can he READ?"
<<At this point I got a little annoyed, but said, "Of course he can. He reads
very well." >>
When Marty was five or so he could roller blade really well, and I wanted him
to show his grandparents, but he wasn't in the mood. I pressed. Keith
(whose parents they actually were!) said "He's not a performing monkey" (to me, to
remind me I was getting a tad pushier than usual <g>).
Good point!
I remember my mom making me play piano for company. Gross!
Sandra
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SandraDodd@... wrote:
In a message dated 8/9/03 6:09:37 AM, mina@... writes:
<< Then she sort of laughed, nervously, and said,
"Well, I mean can he READ?"
<<At this point I got a little annoyed, but said, "Of course he can. He reads
very well." >>
When Marty was five or so he could roller blade really well, and I wanted him
to show his grandparents, but he wasn't in the mood. I pressed. Keith
(whose parents they actually were!) said "He's not a performing monkey" (to me, to
remind me I was getting a tad pushier than usual <g>).
Good point!
I remember my mom making me play piano for company. Gross!
Sandra
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~~~~ Don't forget! If you change topics, change the subject line! ~~~~
If you have questions, concerns or problems with this list, please email the moderator, Joyce Fetteroll (fetteroll@...), or the list owner, Helen Hegener (HEM-Editor@...).
To unsubscribe from this group, click on the following link or address an email to:
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Visit the Unschooling website: http://www.unschooling.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
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