[email protected]

People here have probably noticed that I am a MAJOR fan of Barbara Sher, and
especially her book Wishcraft. In fact, it's probably inspired my family's
unschooling more than anything else...and the book is NOT about unschooling. (If
you haven't read it, check out Wishcraft.com, or buy a copy of the book. Read
the first couple of chapters, and you'll see what I mean.)

Anyway, on a whim, I wrote to Barbara, saying I knew it was unlikely that we
could possibly afford her, but what the heck...

She wrote back, saying, no we really can't afford her...BUT!

Barbara is VERY interested in writing a book for parents who want to support
their children and finding and realizing their gifts, sort of a Wishcraft for
Kids. In her words: "This book will be different from my others, but in a form
I really love: it
will be a book full of tips, good ideas, and personal anecdotes of any
successful techniques they used to help their children find and follow their
true gifts."

It occurred to Barbara and me that unschooling parents do this all the time.

But she needs help. She needs tips, ideas, and anecdotes. You can either have
your name included or not, as you prefer. She'd love stories and ideas from
kids and teens, as well. If we can come up with at least 100 useable tips and
stories within the next month, she'll come to the conference.

So I'm going to be compiling these. You can post things here or e-mail me.
(Barbara is also subscribing to the list.) I also plan to look through some
archives here and I may as you if I can share some stories and ideas with
Barbara.

So, please send your ideas along soon! Thanks!

Kathryn


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Fetteroll

on 9/3/03 10:54 PM, KathrynJB@... at KathrynJB@... wrote:

> Barbara is VERY interested in writing a book for parents who want to support
> their children and finding and realizing their gifts, sort of a Wishcraft for
> Kids.

This is so cool! :-)

I'll try to think of some things.

Joyce

Crystal

So, Kathryn, she wouldn't want to trade an hour of speaking at our
conference for these tips from us that she will go on to make money off of?

Crystal


----- Original Message -----
From: <KathrynJB@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <KathrynJB@...>
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 10:54 PM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Exciting News about the Boston Conference
(But I need your help)


> People here have probably noticed that I am a MAJOR fan of Barbara Sher,
and
> especially her book Wishcraft. In fact, it's probably inspired my family's
> unschooling more than anything else...and the book is NOT about
unschooling. (If
> you haven't read it, check out Wishcraft.com, or buy a copy of the book.
Read
> the first couple of chapters, and you'll see what I mean.)
>
> Anyway, on a whim, I wrote to Barbara, saying I knew it was unlikely that
we
> could possibly afford her, but what the heck...
>
> She wrote back, saying, no we really can't afford her...BUT!
>
> Barbara is VERY interested in writing a book for parents who want to
support
> their children and finding and realizing their gifts, sort of a Wishcraft
for
> Kids. In her words: "This book will be different from my others, but in a
form
> I really love: it
> will be a book full of tips, good ideas, and personal anecdotes of any
> successful techniques they used to help their children find and follow
their
> true gifts."
>
> It occurred to Barbara and me that unschooling parents do this all the
time.
>
> But she needs help. She needs tips, ideas, and anecdotes. You can either
have
> your name included or not, as you prefer. She'd love stories and ideas
from
> kids and teens, as well. If we can come up with at least 100 useable tips
and
> stories within the next month, she'll come to the conference.
>
> So I'm going to be compiling these. You can post things here or e-mail me.
> (Barbara is also subscribing to the list.) I also plan to look through
some
> archives here and I may as you if I can share some stories and ideas with
> Barbara.
>
> So, please send your ideas along soon! Thanks!
>
> Kathryn

Betsy

**But she needs help. She needs tips, ideas, and anecdotes. You can
either have
your name included or not, as you prefer. She'd love stories and ideas from
kids and teens, as well. If we can come up with at least 100 useable
tips and
stories within the next month, she'll come to the conference. **

One basic idea for child-led learning and exploration is the idea of a
flexible bedtime and a flexible overall schedule, as much as possible,
because most people don't start being creative on cue and don't want to
be stopped by the clock, either.

When something cool is happening at my house at ten p.m., even though
I'd prefer to go to bed, the activity is continued. A couple that I can
remember are looking through the microscope that connects to the
computer, discussing astronomy, discussing history, reading outloud from
a great book. (There have been lots of others, but I can't recall details.)

I know this is a pretty basic unschooling idea, but it might not be
basic for someone parenting in a mainstream way, especially someone who
loves getting the house to be quiet at night. <G>

Betsy

PS (Side note: let me share that last night when I was done reading
Harry Potter 5, my son took it to bed and read it himself for the first
time. Perfect timing, as we had 8 chapters to go and I woke up with a
sore throat this morning.) (I'm posting this for those of you who
remember me moping that my child read only comic strip books for two
years while I started to fret that he wasn't making any "progress". I'm
feeling a lot less fretful now. And I DID remember not to audibly worry
AT him. <g>)

coyote's corner

I love this list!!!
Great point....
Janis
----- Original Message -----
From: Crystal
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Exciting News about the Boston Conference (But I need your help)


So, Kathryn, she wouldn't want to trade an hour of speaking at our
conference for these tips from us that she will go on to make money off of?

Crystal


----- Original Message -----
From: <KathrynJB@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Cc: <KathrynJB@...>
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2003 10:54 PM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Exciting News about the Boston Conference
(But I need your help)


> People here have probably noticed that I am a MAJOR fan of Barbara Sher,
and
> especially her book Wishcraft. In fact, it's probably inspired my family's
> unschooling more than anything else...and the book is NOT about
unschooling. (If
> you haven't read it, check out Wishcraft.com, or buy a copy of the book.
Read
> the first couple of chapters, and you'll see what I mean.)
>
> Anyway, on a whim, I wrote to Barbara, saying I knew it was unlikely that
we
> could possibly afford her, but what the heck...
>
> She wrote back, saying, no we really can't afford her...BUT!
>
> Barbara is VERY interested in writing a book for parents who want to
support
> their children and finding and realizing their gifts, sort of a Wishcraft
for
> Kids. In her words: "This book will be different from my others, but in a
form
> I really love: it
> will be a book full of tips, good ideas, and personal anecdotes of any
> successful techniques they used to help their children find and follow
their
> true gifts."
>
> It occurred to Barbara and me that unschooling parents do this all the
time.
>
> But she needs help. She needs tips, ideas, and anecdotes. You can either
have
> your name included or not, as you prefer. She'd love stories and ideas
from
> kids and teens, as well. If we can come up with at least 100 useable tips
and
> stories within the next month, she'll come to the conference.
>
> So I'm going to be compiling these. You can post things here or e-mail me.
> (Barbara is also subscribing to the list.) I also plan to look through
some
> archives here and I may as you if I can share some stories and ideas with
> Barbara.
>
> So, please send your ideas along soon! Thanks!
>
> Kathryn




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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[email protected]

In a message dated 9/4/03 8:13:43 AM, ecsamhill@... writes:

<< One basic idea for child-led learning and exploration is the idea of a
flexible bedtime and a flexible overall schedule, as much as possible,
because most people don't start being creative on cue and don't want to
be stopped by the clock, either. >>

I was speaking at the Bayshore conference in California two or three years
ago, and I took five topics I had presented elsewhere before, and narrowed them
down to the best fifteen minutes worth of each. Then I set a timer for TEN
minutes. When the timer went off, I stopped right where I was (maybe finished
a sentence) and went on to the next topic. Some people got it right away. A
few were truly frustrated. It didn't matter what their reaction was, at the
end I made the point that starting and stopping by the clock is false and
frustrating and not only do unschoolers not have to do it, they should consciously
NOT do it whenever possible.

Some of my kids' best learning has been after traditional "bedtime," or IN
bed when they're trying to fall asleep and finally they get still and quiet and
their thoughts catch up with them.

With apologies to those who know, and hopes of helping those who are new
here, here's something called latenight learning:

http://SandraDodd.com/latenightlearning

<A HREF="http://SandraDodd.com/latenightlearning">Late Night Learning</A>

Sandra