susan

hi,

i'm sending a comment made on another list i'm on followed by my response.
-susan
austin,tx


from taffie:

> The main family was clearly a school-at-home type. Naturally the
> socialization issue came up and a strong emphasis on that not everyone
> can homeschool, are they doing enough.
>
> Did you catch how surprised that Oprah was when the second family
> mentioned they had homeschooled all the way through all 12 grades? The
> kids were now in college and I thought it was great that the one son
> mentioned the national homeschool basketball game.
>
> Oveall, considering how anti-homeschooling the studio audience was, this
> was a good intro for them into homeschooling. I think if an unschooling
> family had been featured it would have been just so far out of the realm
> of possibilities to the mindset of the people there, they wouldn't have
> been able to process it.
>
> So a door has been opened.
>

my response:

i thought exactly the same thing (and we're unschoolers). the families they
chose were very good for an
introduction and an unschooling family or any discussion about child-led hs,
imo, would have literal blow their
minds. i really felt the audience had reached their max in terms of being
introduced to 'new material'. but to be
fair i think most hs'ers (not all), particularly people who started hs after ps
had failed them, begin with
school-at-home and gradually relaxes as they bond more and learn to trust
themselves and their children. imo,
it's a natural process when acquiring a new skill and i believe hs is just
that, a new skill for both the parents and
the children. all in all it was hopeful and i was not disappointed with
oprah's behavior and remarks (yes i did
catch her reaction i think hs is a 'culture shock' for her but the nice thing
is she's appeared open to it, which has
not always been the case for her)

-susan
austin


Trisha Sides wrote:

> Hi all,
> I was just wondering, Did anyone else watch Oprah yesterday? If so were
> you as disappointed as I was? I love Oprah, but I really didn't need to hear
> some "expert" tell me that most parents aren"t "qualified" to teach their
> own children! Or to see a Homeschooling mom talk about giving her kids the
> Iowa basics test to make them ready for the "real world". Maybe I'm not
> being fair, I only saw the second half of the show, but to me it did not put
> homeschooling in a very positive light. And unschooling wasn't even
> mentioned. Do you mean to tell me they were not contacted by ANY
> unschoolers? This is one of those things that started to make me doubt
> myself, then it just made me angry!
> Thanks for letting me vent! Any way I'd like to hear if anyone else had
> any thoughts on the show.
>

susan

hi,

on another list someone said this was NOT the show, just a segment piece, and
that the hs show is being set for a later date. this was just a follow up to
questions raised from a previous show regarding teenages, where the dr, in the
seg shown yesterday, said ps were not doing their job and a number of hs wrote
in saying that's why they hs.

-susan
p.s. i contacted them as well

marbleface@... wrote:

> In a message dated 04/12/2000 6:31:19 PM !!!First Boot!!!,
> yschild@... writes:
>
> << Do you mean to tell me they were not contacted by ANY
> unschoolers? This is one of those things that started to make me doubt
> myself, then it just made me angry!
> Thanks for letting me vent! Any way I'd like to hear if anyone else had
> any thoughts on the show. >>
>
> Well, they were contacted by me. But they didn't call! Told hubby he was
> going to have to watch the kids and everything!
>
> I'm sorry I missed the show now.
>
> Nance

Linda Dobson

Trisha (and all others!),

I don't want to get started on the show. <grr> What I want to say is PLEASE
surf over to:

http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_past_20000411_d.html

Click on talk about the show, and add your feelings to the 80+ posts that are
there already. It was letters from hsers that Oprah producers to do a piece on
hsing in the first place - I believe it will be letters that can also repair
the damage done. (BTW, some folks have already talked about unschooling - now
is the time to add your 2 cents!! <g>)

Best,
Linda

Trisha Sides wrote:

> Hi all,
> I was just wondering, Did anyone else watch Oprah yesterday? If so were
> you as disappointed as I was? I love Oprah, but I really didn't need to hear
> some "expert" tell me that most parents aren"t "qualified" to teach their
> own children! Or to see a Homeschooling mom talk about giving her kids the
> Iowa basics test to make them ready for the "real world". Maybe I'm not
> being fair, I only saw the second half of the show, but to me it did not put
> homeschooling in a very positive light. And unschooling wasn't even
> mentioned. Do you mean to tell me they were not contacted by ANY
> unschoolers? This is one of those things that started to make me doubt
> myself, then it just made me angry!
> Thanks for letting me vent! Any way I'd like to hear if anyone else had
> any thoughts on the show.
> Trisha
> ______________________________________________________
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Trisha Sides

I did go to the web site and posted comments as well as sending an e-mail
to the shows producers and I agree with Linda the more posts and e-mails
they get the better.-Thanks , Trisha



>From: Linda Dobson <ldobson@...>
>Reply-To: [email protected]
>To: [email protected]
>Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] Oprah
>Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 14:28:20 -0400
>
>Trisha (and all others!),
>
>I don't want to get started on the show. <grr> What I want to say is
>PLEASE
>surf over to:
>
>http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_past_20000411_d.html
>
>Click on talk about the show, and add your feelings to the 80+ posts that
>are
>there already. It was letters from hsers that Oprah producers to do a
>piece on
>hsing in the first place - I believe it will be letters that can also
>repair
>the damage done. (BTW, some folks have already talked about unschooling -
>now
>is the time to add your 2 cents!! <g>)
>
>Best,
>Linda
>
>Trisha Sides wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> > I was just wondering, Did anyone else watch Oprah yesterday? If so
>were
> > you as disappointed as I was? I love Oprah, but I really didn't need to
>hear
> > some "expert" tell me that most parents aren"t "qualified" to teach
>their
> > own children! Or to see a Homeschooling mom talk about giving her kids
>the
> > Iowa basics test to make them ready for the "real world". Maybe I'm not
> > being fair, I only saw the second half of the show, but to me it did not
>put
> > homeschooling in a very positive light. And unschooling wasn't even
> > mentioned. Do you mean to tell me they were not contacted by ANY
> > unschoolers? This is one of those things that started to make me doubt
> > myself, then it just made me angry!
> > Thanks for letting me vent! Any way I'd like to hear if anyone else
>had
> > any thoughts on the show.
> > Trisha
> > ______________________________________________________
> > Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Now the best and coolest websites come right to you based on your
> > unique interests. eTour.com is surfing without searching.
> > And, it's FREE!
> > http://click.egroups.com/1/3013/7/_/448294/_/955563567/
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Message boards, timely articles, a free newsletter and more!
> > Check it all out at: http://www.unschooling.com
> >
> > To Unsubscribe: mailto:[email protected]
>

______________________________________________________
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