Scott
Penn Acres
Your unschooling "tract" cards? sounds kewl-have to have a better look at your site asap.
prob. deleted your unschooling bio-how old are your kids?
I am so rabidly anti- proselytizing that I wouldnt buy them to hand out at "Halloween" but I think something in "comic book style" for kids to get a kick out of the ideas inherent in unschooling might be a real treat. the "anti-public school" would be for Me! and the chosen few...
grace
In the frigid Canadian Rockies where it was -18 C last night-again!!! and I am going out to the kennel so the girls can help me flea bathe a cat..
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
prob. deleted your unschooling bio-how old are your kids?
I am so rabidly anti- proselytizing that I wouldnt buy them to hand out at "Halloween" but I think something in "comic book style" for kids to get a kick out of the ideas inherent in unschooling might be a real treat. the "anti-public school" would be for Me! and the chosen few...
grace
In the frigid Canadian Rockies where it was -18 C last night-again!!! and I am going out to the kennel so the girls can help me flea bathe a cat..
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Scott Bieser
As usual, I seem to have waded into the discussion here without properly
introducing myself.
I am Scott Bieser and I have been homeschooling my elder son Zeke, age 13,
for a little more than three years, and my younger son Ian, age 7, for
about a year and a half. Zeke went to government school until 2/3 of the
way through third grade, and Ian made it nearly that far through the 1st
grade before I "liberated" him.
I adopted libertarianism as my political philosophy more than a quarter
century ago, and homeschooling is very much in line with libertarian
principles. However, there is often a gap between theory and practice.
The main reasons I had not homeschooled Zeke from the beginning were that,
in the first place, both my wife and I had full-time jobs located several
miles from home (mine was roughly 50 miles away); and in the second place,
my wife, "EJ," is the daughter of two government school career teachers and
was not at all sympathetic to the idea.
Zeke is a bright lad but had continuing "anger management" and disciplinary
issues from Kindergarten on. Eventually things came to a head when he was
in third grade -- I won't relate the details here in the interests of his
privacy, but "the blow-up" resulted in unwanted visits by police and a
Child Protective Services thug which were traumatic enough for us that my
wife agreed to let me homeschool Zeke. (Up until that time Zeke used his
first name, "Sean." After then, wanting a clean break from the past I
suppose, he started using the short form of his middle name, Ezekiel.)
We worked it through the baby-sitters for a while, trying the
"school-at-home" approach. It didn't work very well, but things changed
when I was laid off from my job. I have since started a home-based
business, which allows me to deal with the job directly.
But my wife thought of Zeke as a special case, and there was no reason not
to put Ian into the same school.
Ian also had "discipline" problems of a different sort. He simply politely
refused to go along with whatever the class was doing. "No thanks!" Since
he wasn't being abusive or particularly disruptive, they didn't know how to
handle him.
So midway through the first grade they decided that he was "learning
impaired," and called EJ and me in for a conference. They wanted to put him
in a "special program" for kids "like Ian." All of this sent off alarms in
EJ's head, and she consented to let me take Ian out of that place and into
our homeschool, which is named "Lysander Spooner Academy."
(Extra bonus points for anyone here who knows who Lysander Spooner was.)
The way we are working currently, I have Zeke registered with the
"Discovery" on-line curriculum program, giving him assignments 4 or 5 days
per week. He has been having special difficulty with math, so I supplement
that with the "Math Made Easy" kit, which seems to be helping.
With Ian, we've purchased some basic phonics and arithmetic workbooks, and
encourage him to work with these by stipulating that if he wants to play
his computer games that day or wrestle with Dad in the evening then he has
to do a certain amount of work first.
We go on occasional "field trips" to the museums and suchlike, and twice a
month we meet with our local home-schooling support group at an area park.
I'm not really satisfied with all of this. I've heard of the "un-schooling"
philosophy from some of the moms at the homeschool group, and read up a bit
on it. I find it very appealing philosophically, but again there are two
issues which have so far prevented me from diving in.
Firstly, I'm not sure myself that it will work. My boys are lazy and it
seems like if left to their own devices they'd just watch TV and play with
toys or computer games all day.
Secondly, I have to deal with _two_ mothers (Zeke is from a previous
marriage) who are not libertarians or sympathetic to the idea of
child-directed learning. Zeke's mom (Melissa) wants to make sure that he
has whatever preparation he needs to get into college. EJ is still very
much stuck in the regimented mind-set of "schooling" (although she rebels
against it in other, interesting ways) and regards what happened in the
government school as "a basically good system that's currently broken."
So I subscribed to this group in hopes of gathering some information that
will help me bolster my case (and fully convince myself) that un-schooling
is a good idea.
And there you have it.
At 12:06 PM 11/7/2003, Penn Acres wrote:
about homeschooling to strangers' children. But there might be a use for
something like this. When friends and relatives come around with concerns
about "this homeschooling business" it might be nice to have a small, cheap
pamphlet to hand them which explains the thinking behind homeschooling
and/or un-schooling.
proprietor, LibertyArtworx.com
Professional Graphics and Personal Opinions
http://www.libertyartworx.com
Buy stuff with my art on it!
http://www.cafepress.com/libartworx
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introducing myself.
I am Scott Bieser and I have been homeschooling my elder son Zeke, age 13,
for a little more than three years, and my younger son Ian, age 7, for
about a year and a half. Zeke went to government school until 2/3 of the
way through third grade, and Ian made it nearly that far through the 1st
grade before I "liberated" him.
I adopted libertarianism as my political philosophy more than a quarter
century ago, and homeschooling is very much in line with libertarian
principles. However, there is often a gap between theory and practice.
The main reasons I had not homeschooled Zeke from the beginning were that,
in the first place, both my wife and I had full-time jobs located several
miles from home (mine was roughly 50 miles away); and in the second place,
my wife, "EJ," is the daughter of two government school career teachers and
was not at all sympathetic to the idea.
Zeke is a bright lad but had continuing "anger management" and disciplinary
issues from Kindergarten on. Eventually things came to a head when he was
in third grade -- I won't relate the details here in the interests of his
privacy, but "the blow-up" resulted in unwanted visits by police and a
Child Protective Services thug which were traumatic enough for us that my
wife agreed to let me homeschool Zeke. (Up until that time Zeke used his
first name, "Sean." After then, wanting a clean break from the past I
suppose, he started using the short form of his middle name, Ezekiel.)
We worked it through the baby-sitters for a while, trying the
"school-at-home" approach. It didn't work very well, but things changed
when I was laid off from my job. I have since started a home-based
business, which allows me to deal with the job directly.
But my wife thought of Zeke as a special case, and there was no reason not
to put Ian into the same school.
Ian also had "discipline" problems of a different sort. He simply politely
refused to go along with whatever the class was doing. "No thanks!" Since
he wasn't being abusive or particularly disruptive, they didn't know how to
handle him.
So midway through the first grade they decided that he was "learning
impaired," and called EJ and me in for a conference. They wanted to put him
in a "special program" for kids "like Ian." All of this sent off alarms in
EJ's head, and she consented to let me take Ian out of that place and into
our homeschool, which is named "Lysander Spooner Academy."
(Extra bonus points for anyone here who knows who Lysander Spooner was.)
The way we are working currently, I have Zeke registered with the
"Discovery" on-line curriculum program, giving him assignments 4 or 5 days
per week. He has been having special difficulty with math, so I supplement
that with the "Math Made Easy" kit, which seems to be helping.
With Ian, we've purchased some basic phonics and arithmetic workbooks, and
encourage him to work with these by stipulating that if he wants to play
his computer games that day or wrestle with Dad in the evening then he has
to do a certain amount of work first.
We go on occasional "field trips" to the museums and suchlike, and twice a
month we meet with our local home-schooling support group at an area park.
I'm not really satisfied with all of this. I've heard of the "un-schooling"
philosophy from some of the moms at the homeschool group, and read up a bit
on it. I find it very appealing philosophically, but again there are two
issues which have so far prevented me from diving in.
Firstly, I'm not sure myself that it will work. My boys are lazy and it
seems like if left to their own devices they'd just watch TV and play with
toys or computer games all day.
Secondly, I have to deal with _two_ mothers (Zeke is from a previous
marriage) who are not libertarians or sympathetic to the idea of
child-directed learning. Zeke's mom (Melissa) wants to make sure that he
has whatever preparation he needs to get into college. EJ is still very
much stuck in the regimented mind-set of "schooling" (although she rebels
against it in other, interesting ways) and regards what happened in the
government school as "a basically good system that's currently broken."
So I subscribed to this group in hopes of gathering some information that
will help me bolster my case (and fully convince myself) that un-schooling
is a good idea.
And there you have it.
At 12:06 PM 11/7/2003, Penn Acres wrote:
>Your unschooling "tract" cards? sounds kewl-have to have a better look atAll kidding aside, I agree it would not be a good idea to hand out tracts
>your site asap.
> prob. deleted your unschooling bio-how old are your kids?
about homeschooling to strangers' children. But there might be a use for
something like this. When friends and relatives come around with concerns
about "this homeschooling business" it might be nice to have a small, cheap
pamphlet to hand them which explains the thinking behind homeschooling
and/or un-schooling.
>--Scott Bieser
>I am so rabidly anti- proselytizing that I wouldnt buy them to hand out
>at "Halloween" but I think something in "comic book style" for kids to
>get a kick out of the ideas inherent in unschooling might be a
>real treat. the "anti-public school" would be for Me! and the chosen few...
proprietor, LibertyArtworx.com
Professional Graphics and Personal Opinions
http://www.libertyartworx.com
Buy stuff with my art on it!
http://www.cafepress.com/libartworx
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Heidi
without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habitually
turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"?
And his name is where we get the word "spoonerism" for when someone
does this (kind of common) verbal mix up?
blessings, and welcomes, scott
HeidiC
turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"?
And his name is where we get the word "spoonerism" for when someone
does this (kind of common) verbal mix up?
blessings, and welcomes, scott
HeidiC
>was "learning
> So midway through the first grade they decided that he
> impaired," and called EJ and me in for a conference. They wanted toput him
> in a "special program" for kids "like Ian." All of this sent offalarms in
> EJ's head, and she consented to let me take Ian out of that placeand into
> our homeschool, which is named "Lysander Spooner Academy."was.)
>
> (Extra bonus points for anyone here who knows who Lysander Spooner
Lillian Haas
> without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habituallyNo, that was Anglican Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930). Lysander
> turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
> Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"?
Spooner was a 19th-century lawyer, abolitionist (one of his essays helped to
prompt juries to decline to convict slaves charged under the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1850), proto-libertarian theorist, and general thorn in the side of
the government (he started a rival to the postal service whose competition
forced the government to cut stamp rates in half).
Lots more about him here:
http://www.lysanderspooner.org/
Tim Haas (Lillian's husband, whose own e-mail address was taken from
Spooner's name)
Elizabeth Roberts
I believe so but I could be mistaken.
Heidi <bunsofaluminum60@...> wrote:
without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habitually
turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"?
And his name is where we get the word "spoonerism" for when someone
does this (kind of common) verbal mix up?
blessings, and welcomes, scott
HeidiC
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Heidi <bunsofaluminum60@...> wrote:
without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habitually
turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"?
And his name is where we get the word "spoonerism" for when someone
does this (kind of common) verbal mix up?
blessings, and welcomes, scott
HeidiC
>was "learning
> So midway through the first grade they decided that he
> impaired," and called EJ and me in for a conference. They wanted toput him
> in a "special program" for kids "like Ian." All of this sent offalarms in
> EJ's head, and she consented to let me take Ian out of that placeand into
> our homeschool, which is named "Lysander Spooner Academy."was.)
>
> (Extra bonus points for anyone here who knows who Lysander Spooner
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
"List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
To unsubscribe from this send an email to:
[email protected]
Visit the Unschooling website and message boards: http://www.unschooling.com
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
---------------------------------
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[email protected]
In a message dated 11/8/03 01:39:54 AM Central Standard Time,
sbieser@... writes:
(Extra bonus points for anyone here who knows who Lysander Spooner was.)
##########
Interesting story, thanks for the intro. :o) Wasn't Spooner the guy who was
spoon to pronerisms? ahem, I mean prone to spoonerisms?
~Nancy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
sbieser@... writes:
(Extra bonus points for anyone here who knows who Lysander Spooner was.)
##########
Interesting story, thanks for the intro. :o) Wasn't Spooner the guy who was
spoon to pronerisms? ahem, I mean prone to spoonerisms?
~Nancy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 11/8/03 08:27:16 AM Central Standard Time, lhaas@...
writes:
No, that was Anglican Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930). Lysander
Spooner was a 19th-century lawyer, abolitionist (one of his essays helped to
prompt juries to decline to convict slaves charged under the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1850),
$$$$$$$$$$$
Ahh, so I was wrong as well. I thought it was the spoonerism guy too.
~Nancy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
writes:
No, that was Anglican Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930). Lysander
Spooner was a 19th-century lawyer, abolitionist (one of his essays helped to
prompt juries to decline to convict slaves charged under the Fugitive Slave
Act of 1850),
$$$$$$$$$$$
Ahh, so I was wrong as well. I thought it was the spoonerism guy too.
~Nancy
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 11/8/03 6:31:28 AM, bunsofaluminum60@... writes:
<< without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habitually
turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"? >>
If so, I had never heard his first name, just "The Reverent Spooner," as I
think he was a parson or whatever they're called in the Church of England.
Sandra
<< without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habitually
turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"? >>
If so, I had never heard his first name, just "The Reverent Spooner," as I
think he was a parson or whatever they're called in the Church of England.
Sandra
Fetteroll
on 11/7/03 4:30 PM, Scott Bieser at sbieser@... wrote:
interested in animation on the computer?
If people expect unschooling to look like kids doing school work on their
own, they're going to think unschooling is a failure.
Unschooling kids look like they're on summer vacation. Unschooling parents
look like they're helping their kids explore their interests and running
interesting things through their kids lives so they kids have opportunities
to expand their interests when they need to.
There is no such thing as lazy when kids are following their interests! Lazy
is often a way of saying someone isn't living their life they way we want
them to. Unschooling is about being who they are. Unschooling is about
helping kids be who they are.
(http://www.unschooling.com) for Reluctant partners.
Sometimes it's best not to give too much information that sounds scary. And
child-led learning *does* sound scary. You can help the kids follow their
interests and talk about all the things they're doing without ever calling
it child-led learning.
Joyce
> http://www.libertyartworx.comI like the singing Klingon! :-) Do you have any suggestions for kids who are
interested in animation on the computer?
> Firstly, I'm not sure myself that it will work. My boys are lazy and itI wish I had a dollar for every time someone said that!
> seems like if left to their own devices they'd just watch TV and play with
> toys or computer games all day.
If people expect unschooling to look like kids doing school work on their
own, they're going to think unschooling is a failure.
Unschooling kids look like they're on summer vacation. Unschooling parents
look like they're helping their kids explore their interests and running
interesting things through their kids lives so they kids have opportunities
to expand their interests when they need to.
There is no such thing as lazy when kids are following their interests! Lazy
is often a way of saying someone isn't living their life they way we want
them to. Unschooling is about being who they are. Unschooling is about
helping kids be who they are.
> Secondly, I have to deal with _two_ mothers (Zeke is from a previousThere's a whole folder on the message boards at Unschooling.com
> marriage) who are not libertarians or sympathetic to the idea of
> child-directed learning. Zeke's mom (Melissa) wants to make sure that he
> has whatever preparation he needs to get into college. EJ is still very
> much stuck in the regimented mind-set of "schooling" (although she rebels
> against it in other, interesting ways) and regards what happened in the
> government school as "a basically good system that's currently broken."
(http://www.unschooling.com) for Reluctant partners.
Sometimes it's best not to give too much information that sounds scary. And
child-led learning *does* sound scary. You can help the kids follow their
interests and talk about all the things they're doing without ever calling
it child-led learning.
Joyce
Scott Bieser
At 06:17 AM 11/8/2003, Lillian Haas wrote:
coffee at Starbucks'). ;-)
One notable thing about ol' Lysander, as far as homeschooling is concerned,
was his opposition to the movement which transformed community "common"
schools into state-controlled "public" schools.
--Scott Bieser
proprietor, LibertyArtworx.com
Professional Graphics and Personal Opinions
http://www.libertyartworx.com
Buy stuff with my art on it!
http://www.cafepress.com/libartworx
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> > without googling...Is Lysander Spooner the fellow who habituallyTim wins the bonus points (which along with $3.50 will get him a cup of
> > turned the initial letters of words around, thus mentioning Queen
> > Victoria as "Our Queer Dean"?
>
>No, that was Anglican Rev. William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930). Lysander
>Spooner was a 19th-century lawyer, abolitionist (one of his essays helped to
>prompt juries to decline to convict slaves charged under the Fugitive Slave
>Act of 1850), proto-libertarian theorist, and general thorn in the side of
>the government (he started a rival to the postal service whose competition
>forced the government to cut stamp rates in half).
>
>Lots more about him here:
>
>http://www.lysanderspooner.org/
>
>Tim Haas (Lillian's husband, whose own e-mail address was taken from
>Spooner's name)
coffee at Starbucks'). ;-)
One notable thing about ol' Lysander, as far as homeschooling is concerned,
was his opposition to the movement which transformed community "common"
schools into state-controlled "public" schools.
--Scott Bieser
proprietor, LibertyArtworx.com
Professional Graphics and Personal Opinions
http://www.libertyartworx.com
Buy stuff with my art on it!
http://www.cafepress.com/libartworx
----------
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
<< > Firstly, I'm not sure myself that it will work. My boys are lazy and it
I have no dollars, but a collection.
I wish I had saved every one. At least this dad say "it seems." Most state
it as known fact.
http://sandradodd.com/strew/ifilet
This can help:
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling
http://sandradodd.com/tv
Sandra
> seems like if left to their own devices they'd just watch TV and play withJoyce: <<I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said that! >>
> toys or computer games all day.
I have no dollars, but a collection.
I wish I had saved every one. At least this dad say "it seems." Most state
it as known fact.
http://sandradodd.com/strew/ifilet
This can help:
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling
http://sandradodd.com/tv
Sandra
[email protected]
In a message dated 11/8/03 9:54:35 AM, SandraDodd@... writes:
<< "The Reverent Spooner," >>
Reverend.
I don't know whether he was really reverent. <g>
Sandra
<< "The Reverent Spooner," >>
Reverend.
I don't know whether he was really reverent. <g>
Sandra
Dawn Adams
<< > Firstly, I'm not sure myself that it will work. My boys are lazy and it
I saved that 'lazy' quote above because I'm becoming more convinced that laziness really isn't a natual state for kids or at least mine. I see it in my daughter only, a) when she's reacting to my intermittant attempts to be an over-controlling and downright rude parent. She just shuts down in rebellion, or b) she isn't doing what I, at any given moment, think she should be doing (she's watching TV when I decide she should be cleaning her room so she must be lazy (Even if I haven't asked her to clean her room). For me, Laziness in Catherine is either a reaction to my behaviour towards her or a judgement I make in the context of what I think she should be doing. Does that make sense? Anyway, I thought I'd share that in case it was of some help.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> seems like if left to their own devices they'd just watch TV and play withI'm new too Scott. Just a short introduction for everyone...I'm a an unschooling mom to a 5 yr old girl and 2 yr old boy. I was pretty quick to accept unschooling (though by no means have I deschooled myself enough, ah well, I think that may be a long battle). I started looking at school options last January thinking homeschooling was weird. By Feb. I was determined to homeschool but thought unschooling was nuts. By May I came out to myself and realized it was what I wanted to do. I think I was an unschooler at heart. :) My daughter certainly is. It's absolutely stunning to watch her take control of her education.
> toys or computer games all day.
I saved that 'lazy' quote above because I'm becoming more convinced that laziness really isn't a natual state for kids or at least mine. I see it in my daughter only, a) when she's reacting to my intermittant attempts to be an over-controlling and downright rude parent. She just shuts down in rebellion, or b) she isn't doing what I, at any given moment, think she should be doing (she's watching TV when I decide she should be cleaning her room so she must be lazy (Even if I haven't asked her to clean her room). For me, Laziness in Catherine is either a reaction to my behaviour towards her or a judgement I make in the context of what I think she should be doing. Does that make sense? Anyway, I thought I'd share that in case it was of some help.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Scott Bieser
At 08:08 AM 11/8/2003, Fetteroll wrote:
animation, and those same principles apply to traditional as they do to the
computer variety. I'm sorry I can't recommend any titles as I learned this
trade by just diving in and doing stuff. (I was in the right place at the
right time to get into the computer games biz with very little animation
training -- I learned 98 percent of my animation skills on-the-job.) But I
understand there's a book put out by Disney that's pretty good.
Unfortunately, quality computer animation software tends to be expensive.
The program I used to make the Singing Klingon, 3D Studio MAX, costs around
$3,500. A less expensive but good alternative is Lightwave -- sometimes you
can find used copies for a decent price (whereas the makers of 3DS MAX has
some clause in their license which prevents people from legally selling
used copies of that program).
There is a $300 program available called Hash 3D Animation Studio, which is
generally not bad (except for version 5 which was extremely buggy) but
tends to live in its own world and is not interoperable with any other
graphics software package.
However, if you're not averse to bootleg software for educational purposes,
both of these programs can be found using one of the commonly available
file-sharing programs (Kazaa or BearShare). You won't get the manuals, of
course, but you can usually find books at your local CompuUSA or whatever
that will fill the need.
If your kids are into playing Quake, there are shareware programs available
for making custom Quake characters (called "models"). The benefit to these
is they tend to automate a lot of the difficult stuff (such as building
animation hierarchies between bodyparts) while teaching the basics
(creating and manipulating basic shapes, and creating and applying
textures), and reward the user with a working model in a relatively short
time frame.
Of course, many parents object to the graphic violence of Quake so this is
not an option for them. Unfortunately I don't know of any alternatives.
For 2D animation, the industry standard seems to be Macromedia Flash. Also
kind of pricey, but a lot less so than the 3D packages.
For the truly budget minded there are a variety of gif animation shareware
packages available, although what my son Zeke likes best is the gif
animation features in Adobe Photoshop (from version 6 forward).
Hope this helps.
--Scott Bieser
proprietor, LibertyArtworx.com
Professional Graphics and Personal Opinions
http://www.libertyartworx.com
Buy stuff with my art on it!
http://www.cafepress.com/libartworx
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>on 11/7/03 4:30 PM, Scott Bieser at sbieser@... wrote:There are several good books available teaching the principles of
>
> > http://www.libertyartworx.com
>
>I like the singing Klingon! :-) Do you have any suggestions for kids who are
>interested in animation on the computer?
animation, and those same principles apply to traditional as they do to the
computer variety. I'm sorry I can't recommend any titles as I learned this
trade by just diving in and doing stuff. (I was in the right place at the
right time to get into the computer games biz with very little animation
training -- I learned 98 percent of my animation skills on-the-job.) But I
understand there's a book put out by Disney that's pretty good.
Unfortunately, quality computer animation software tends to be expensive.
The program I used to make the Singing Klingon, 3D Studio MAX, costs around
$3,500. A less expensive but good alternative is Lightwave -- sometimes you
can find used copies for a decent price (whereas the makers of 3DS MAX has
some clause in their license which prevents people from legally selling
used copies of that program).
There is a $300 program available called Hash 3D Animation Studio, which is
generally not bad (except for version 5 which was extremely buggy) but
tends to live in its own world and is not interoperable with any other
graphics software package.
However, if you're not averse to bootleg software for educational purposes,
both of these programs can be found using one of the commonly available
file-sharing programs (Kazaa or BearShare). You won't get the manuals, of
course, but you can usually find books at your local CompuUSA or whatever
that will fill the need.
If your kids are into playing Quake, there are shareware programs available
for making custom Quake characters (called "models"). The benefit to these
is they tend to automate a lot of the difficult stuff (such as building
animation hierarchies between bodyparts) while teaching the basics
(creating and manipulating basic shapes, and creating and applying
textures), and reward the user with a working model in a relatively short
time frame.
Of course, many parents object to the graphic violence of Quake so this is
not an option for them. Unfortunately I don't know of any alternatives.
For 2D animation, the industry standard seems to be Macromedia Flash. Also
kind of pricey, but a lot less so than the 3D packages.
For the truly budget minded there are a variety of gif animation shareware
packages available, although what my son Zeke likes best is the gif
animation features in Adobe Photoshop (from version 6 forward).
Hope this helps.
--Scott Bieser
proprietor, LibertyArtworx.com
Professional Graphics and Personal Opinions
http://www.libertyartworx.com
Buy stuff with my art on it!
http://www.cafepress.com/libartworx
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[email protected]
Wishbone@... writes:
<<For me, Laziness in Catherine is either a reaction to my behaviour towards
her or a judgement I make in the context of what I think she should be doing. >
Some parents find it harder than others to accept this idea about not judging
their behavior, but it's a key, I think.
Welcome to the list!
~Aimee
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> I think I was an unschooler at heart. :)>>I think so, too! lol
<<For me, Laziness in Catherine is either a reaction to my behaviour towards
her or a judgement I make in the context of what I think she should be doing. >
>I think you've certainly hit the nail on the head about the laziness thing.
Some parents find it harder than others to accept this idea about not judging
their behavior, but it's a key, I think.
Welcome to the list!
~Aimee
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