Elizabeth Hill

** Sometimes, when I read about strewing, my little hairs stand up.
Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound artificial to me. I
suppose the question is really of attitude and intent. **

I think I know what you mean.

Strewing is not intended to be a trail of bread crumbs used to lead a
hungry bird into a trap.

Betsy

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/10/04 11:57:50 AM Central Standard Time,
jnjstau@...
writes:


> Strewing---
>
> I think probably everyone strews a little differently. I don't rearrange
> things in my house.....with 5 kids that happens naturally enough.
>

This is an interesting thread.

Yes, I think we all may strew slightly differently, depending on the child,
the circumstances, the family situation, our own personalities.

I strew by listening very closely to what Liam has to say, and picking up on
his cues as to what he's interested in. Then I keep my eyes open for
activities that will meet his curiosities.

He is interested in marine science -- his sister called him (disparagingly)
*Discovery Boy* for years because he just wouldn't SHUT UP about sharks.

An area university offers daytrips out on a research vessel to school and
youth groups so that the kids can experience the richness of the coastal
environment up close and personal. We went with a homeschool group. He was so
excited when we got off the boat that I encouraged him to go over and strike up a
conversation with the boat's captain. He ended up asking if there was any way
he could work on the boat, and was referred to the head guy...who signed him
up. He began volunteering there two times a month just about this time last
year, and is now teaching other kids about the things that fascinate him.

I didn't do much.

I knew that he was enamoured of the sea, so I noticed when this field trip
was being formed and asked him if he wanted to go.

I drove him there.

I listened to` his excitement and encouraged him to do the rest.

He OWNS this process.

I just watch, listen carefully, pay attention, look for opportunities, and
strew. :-)

Laura B.





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

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/10/2004 11:13:12 PM Central Standard Time,
LauraBourdo@... writes:


> I strew by listening very closely to what Liam has to say, and picking up
> on
> his cues as to what he's interested in. Then I keep my eyes open for
> activities that will meet his curiosities.
>

This is exactly what I do! Now and then I suggest something that just looks
like fun even if the boys have never shown an interest, sometimes they do it
and sometimes they don't. Lately they have both had a lot more ideas of their
own which I love.
Laura


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

Marti

At 12:08 AM 02/11/2004, you wrote:
>He OWNS this process.
>
>I just watch, listen carefully, pay attention, look for opportunities, and
>strew. :-)

I would add that I also choose not to be offended when their interests (I
have four girls) aren't piqued by my strewing... I just strew some more in
a different direction! And it's amazing what I've learned over the past
couple of years, because I start examining my own strewing - great books
and articles and toys I haven't played with in a while :-)

Marti
Smithsburg MD

Wife2Vegman

--- Marti <marti@...> wrote:
>
> I would add that I also choose not to be offended
> when their interests (I
> have four girls) aren't piqued by my strewing...

This is what happened when I tried to interest my
daughter in reading To Kill A Mockingbird.

I felt so sad that she didn't love it like I did, and
then I realized, DOH! *I* could just read it again.
She didn't have to like it. LOL!

Well, what can I say, I have only been unschooling for
about 18 months. I am still a newbie.



=====
--Susan in VA
WifetoVegman

What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn't a school at all. John Holt

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
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Fetteroll

on 2/11/04 9:28 AM, Wife2Vegman at wifetovegman2002@... wrote:

> I felt so sad that she didn't love it like I did, and
> then I realized, DOH! *I* could just read it again.
> She didn't have to like it. LOL!

But I think that's natural. We want others to love our favorite things as
much as we do. I get disappointed if my husband doesn't love a movie or
something as much as I do. It means I don't have someone to share the
experience with.

But it's also something we have to expect and respect. I've started To Kill
a Mockingbird with Kat twice (movie and then book on tape) but stopped when
she wasn't enjoying it because I would rather wait until she's ready.

Which may be next year or 10 years or never.

Joyce

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/10/04 10:30:22 PM, BonKnit@... writes:

<< > I strew by listening very closely to what Liam has to say, and picking
up
> on
> his cues as to what he's interested in. Then I keep my eyes open for
> activities that will meet his curiosities.
>

<<This is exactly what I do! >>

While that's a cool thing to do, I don't want to lose the direct meaning of
strewing, which is to scatter things physically about.

I follow my kids' interests too and keep them informed of opportunities, but
I do that for my adult friends and my husband too. I think that's helping
them find good opportunities. <g> Keeping them from missing cool stuff they
would not otherwise have heard about. Facilitating their interests.

The feeling inside me at this moment is a love of language, and it's not
about natural learning. It makes me cringe when people have taken a word and
twisted it around too far, so since I really do want to keep advising people to
strew things in their children's paths, and while it KIND of can involve
follow-up activities, I want to ask people not to take the word and torture it.

One currently over-used misuse of a word is "convicted." All the Christians
who are writing online seem to be convicted. But they haven't been convicted
OF anything, they're convicted TO DO something, and the word doesn't really
bend that way. God is convicting them right and left. If they said "God has
inspired me to buy Pampers" or "God has convinced me that cable TV is good to
have" I wouldn't cringe, but God convicts them to go and do and be. Because
after God's done they have a conviction. Meanwhile, I'm trying not to have a
conniption.

In word-court they could be convicted.

Strewing often leads to follow-up activities, but follow-up activities aren't
the strewing that was originally intended.

Sandra

Marti

At 02:09 PM 02/11/2004, you wrote:
>In word-court they could be convicted.

Bwah! I loved what you wrote.

While my brain is quite sore from all the thinking I've been doing lately,
I am really enjoying this list. So much food for thought!

It's rather trivial to post to the whole list... but the last few weeks
have been quite liberating, as I've loosened my reins even more with the
girls. I was a "gentle -guider," i.e., "Why don't you turn off the TV and
go do XYZ [which will be more educational and make you think more]?"

No more! I had to laugh the day my nearly four year old asked every half
hour... "Such-and-so show is off now. May I watch XYZ show?" "Sure, go
ahead, if you'd like," I replied. She watched for about 4-5 hours, I think?
Looked thrilled every time I said she could still watch if she wanted to do
so, as I usually tried to keep their viewing to less than an hour or two a
day... hard to do when four girls keep taking turns turning the TV on!

To my surprise (not sure why I'd be surprised, but I was, pleasantly)...
they've watched more TV on some days, and less on others. But when they're
not watching, they're so much more engaged in whatever they're doing.
They're nicer to each other - doing things together. Sometimes asking each
other to leave the TV (or computer, or book, or toys, or whatever) and come
doing something together. They're discovering what it means to have a
little more control of themselves, and they're choosing to use that control
to learn more about the world around them.

So I strew a bit, read with them, talk about things, get into doing
whatever they're doing, and we've had a blast! And really, gotten more
"done" (i.e., given me a sense of fulfillment) on our path of learning
together than we ever would have the old way, except on those rare days
when things seemed to go well, and I could go to bed knowing they "learned"
something that day. Now, we have "right and good" days, to quote Sandra :-)

Yesterday, they turned the living room into a "museum," with areas of
displays about the rainforest, owl pellets (they've been dissecting),
potato growing, books they've been reading, etc. We had some friends stop
by to visit our museum, having received free tickets at their front door
earlier in the day.

Their kids are in school, and were completely thrilled that this was the
kind of stuff my girls get to do all day long. The dad was impressed,
having not been a big fan of HS. And my girls got a new perspective on how
lucky they are to be able to live like this.

Anyway, this is long and wordy, but I wanted to thank you all for your
inspiration and provocative thoughts. It's working :-)

Marti
Smithsburg MD

Lisa H

Sometimes, when I read about strewing, my little hairs stand up. Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound artificial to me. I suppose the question is really of attitude and intent. Are the objects strewn as options or shoulds? And how attached are you to your child responding to the objects you have chosen to "strew."

I guess it kind of reminds me of my mother sending me articles that she thinks I should read. I've learned to smile at this - but i do appreciate when she asks me first if I am interested in receiving the article before sending it.
Lisa H.


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

Dawn Adams

Lisa writes:

Sometimes, when I read about strewing, my little hairs stand up. Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound artificial to me. I suppose the question is really of attitude and intent. Are the objects strewn as options or shoulds? And how attached are you to your child responding to the objects you have chosen to "strew."

I guess it kind of reminds me of my mother sending me articles that she thinks I should read. I've learned to smile at this - but i do appreciate when she asks me first if I am interested in receiving the article before sending it.
Lisa H.
>>>>>
I strewed for my two year old last night (or at least I think this counts). I sat down with some big beads and began stringing them (he looked bored and I wanted a break anyway). Sure enough he joined in. I went on to clean a little while later and found a big egg cartoon (a 3 dozen flat) and dropped it over by my son. He started putting the beads in the different cups. If he never joined I would have had fun with the beads. If the egg carton never got a second look I would have picked it up my next go-round. Of course later I tackled him, threw him over my shoulder and gave him 'horsey' rides on my back for a good half hour. That was not strewing. :)


Dawn (in NS)




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

Jon and Rue Kream

>>Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound artificial to me.

**Sometimes they do to me, too. Dagny (who's 11) was reading the message
boards the other day and read about strewing. She thought it could be
"sneaky" and wanted to know if I do it. We've had some cool
conversations about it this week. ~Rue


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

Danielle Conger

<Sometimes, when I read about strewing, my little hairs stand up. Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound artificial to me. I suppose the question is really of attitude and intent. Are the objects strewn as options or shoulds? And how attached are you to your child responding to the objects you have chosen to "strew."

I guess it kind of reminds me of my mother sending me articles that she thinks I should read. I've learned to smile at this - but i do appreciate when she asks me first if I am interested in receiving the article before sending it.
Lisa H.>
================================================================

This is definitely the mindset of the folks in my local unschooling group, and although no one used the clipping example, that's exactly what popped into my mind, too. Strewing's not like leaving a newspaper article on the breakfast table for the kids to read and report on later in however an informal way. At least not how I take it.

Several posts today caused me to clarify my own thinking about strewing:

Sandra: "Some families would never take their kids to a play or a musical or
a concert or a dance recital. So in those cases, if their kids go on some
field trips they've seen more than they might have otherwise."

Sandra: "My downfall is nature. I don't much care. So my kids aren't out in the
woods and mountains and desert as much as they should have been in their lives for
things to be the balanced ideal (the mental image I have of the perfect
unschooling life)."

Pam: "I do worry about unschooled kids and math - ONLY because so many of
their parents are so math phobic that they don't "naturally" support
the math learning that would otherwise ordinarily happen in an
unschooling family. I think unschooling parents have an obligation to
their children to find a way to get past their own math anxieties and
phobias."

Strewing--bringing items into my home--becomes a way not only to facilitate my kids' interests but also a way of compensating for my own deficiencies, a way of exposing my kids to things that they may not encounter in a more *natural* and less conscious way. On the one hand it is a gift, like a couple people have mentioned. On the other hand, it can also be a way of potentially sparking an interest in them that they're not going to encounter by my modeling. Yes, they may "bump" into that interest in some other unexpected and unpredictable kind of way, but I try to have as full and rich an environment as I can possibly have to facilitate learning and interests without waiting for them to bump into things. I guess this is what I mean by a proactive approach to unschooling--that and the fact that I believe in being very involved with my kids and not just letting them do things on their own. But they're young, they may need and want my involvement less as they get older. (And as my posting demonstrates, they do a *lot* of playing on their own already.)

The kinds of things my kids might be exposed to in my house are going to look quite different from my friends' kids, for example, who are growing up in a very musical house. Some things like music, math or art, none of which are my own natural fortes, present themselves as gaps in my home that I try to fill in as many different ways as possible. I don't sit my kids down and say, "okay, time to learn about math or music because otherwise you might not get it." Instead, I buy math games, strategy games, computer software that focuses on math or music, new CD's, books on ballet, videos of the Nutcracker and Swan Lake, books on artists--things I often enjoy just as much as my kids. All of this is in addition to museum trips, classes, clubs, etc. I certainly would never force these things, I don't even really suggest them unless I personally want to play/ watch/ read them, but I think leaving a gap is just as detrimental as force feeding. What if my kids decide they *love* math? What if they missed out on knowing this for years because I didn't really try to have anything math oriented in the house because I'm not a math person? Precisely because I *hate* it and shut down in pretty much the same way Sandra described, I feel a certain obligation to offer them as many fun, relaxed encounters with math as possible in case they do love it. I really hope that they never learn to hate it like I did. I use strewing in this sense to make up for my own biases and deficiencies, I guess.

I think, absolutely, that the key to strewing is not having a vested interest in the outcome, not valuing one choice over any other choice. If I'm having a party, I'm definitely going to put out food that I love, but I'd probably offer lots of other dishes as well to appeal to a variety of palates and people. I'm not going to walk around judging the success of my party or my guests based on their food choices. Instead, I'm going to walk around, talking to as many people as I can about any number of things and judge my party on how much people enjoyed themselves. Strewing, to me, is very much like having a party and offering as varied a buffet as possible from which my children freely choose and hopefully really enjoy themselves.

Thanks everyone for all the interesting conversations!

--danielle

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

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/2004 1:28:23 PM Central Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:


> While that's a cool thing to do, I don't want to lose the direct meaning of
>
> strewing, which is to scatter things physically about.
>
> I follow my kids' interests too and keep them informed of opportunities, but
>
> I do that for my adult friends and my husband too. I think that's helping
> them find good opportunities. <g> Keeping them from missing cool stuff they
>
> would not otherwise have heard about. Facilitating their interests.
>

This is interesting, I think I may have had strewing a bit confused in my
head. I have been finding that for my 16yro most of what he is interested in
right now is being out in the world. My 12yro is more likely to take an interest
in the things that are strewn about. I need to think some more.
Laura


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

[email protected]

>>>>>>I need to think some more.<<<<

Always a good idea! <g>

~Kelly


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

Wife2Vegman

--- Jon and Rue Kream <skreams@...> wrote:
> >>Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound
> artificial to me.
>
> **Sometimes they do to me, too. Dagny (who's 11) was
> reading the message
> boards the other day and read about strewing. She
> thought it could be
> "sneaky" and wanted to know if I do it. We've had
> some cool
> conversations about it this week. ~Rue
>
>

But it isn't like hiding vegetables inside their
dessert.

It is placing things out for them to use or not use,
at their own volition. I have some beautiful books on
my coffee table in my living room, and national
geographic magazines in a big wooden bowl under the
table. They can look at them or not, as they like, or
push the books aside to make room to play cards, or
use the books for bridges for the hot wheels.



=====
--Susan in VA
WifetoVegman

What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn't a school at all. John Holt

http://theeclectichomeschooler.homestead.com/TheEclecticHomeshooler.html

__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/04 3:46:56 PM, danielle.conger@... writes:

<< Strewing's not like leaving a newspaper article on the breakfast table for
the kids to read and report on later in however an informal way. >>

I leave articles out and nobody has to report ever.
Sometimes nobody sees them. Sometimes someone reads the good parts aloud.
Sometimes Marty (usually it's Marty) will ask me a question about what he read,
or Holly will ask about the picture. If nobody cares, I don't care. If
someone cares, that's cool.

I brought home the current New Mexico Magazine because of articles on ghosts
and ghost towns. Holly had asked about ghost stories lately; Marty's caring
about old towns. I read them a couple of really short things (not from the
articles, but one guy is building a FridgeHenge, a Stonehenge formation of old
refrigerators) and then I left it. If it ends up being cut up for collages or
given away, that's fine with me.

-=-The kinds of things my kids might be exposed to in my house are going to
look quite different from my friends' kids, for example, who are growing up in
a very musical house. Some things like music, math or art, none of which are
my own natural fortes, present themselves as gaps in my home that I try to fill
in as many different ways as possible. I don't sit my kids down and say,
"okay, time to learn about math or music because otherwise you might not get it."
-=-

My kids get music tons.

I bought a prism. I knew I wasn't going to do a lesson in the refraction of
light. So I washed the window in the kitchen. Got it really clean on both
sides. <g> I set the prism in the windowsill and left it there.

It wasn't as exciting as it might have been if we didn't already have a
multi-faceted crystal (the round ball kinds of "bavarian crystal) putting rainbows
all over the same room from time to time, but if nothing else when kids picked
it up and said "cool, what's this?" I'd say "It's a prism. It can make
rainbows if you get light through it at the right angle."

That was it. A vocabulary moment.

Sometimes that's out, sometime's it's not. But the kids know its name.

<<Strewing, to me, is very much like having a party and offering as varied a
buffet as possible from which my children freely choose and hopefully really
enjoy themselves.>>

Great analogy! And if you had the same party food out every single day, day
after day, people would stop eating it. You have to have new foods to get
their interest, or at least something they haven't had for a while. And
sometimes something they've never ever heard of!

Sandra

arcarpenter2003

--- In [email protected], SandraDodd@a... wrote:
<<Because
after God's done they have a conviction. Meanwhile, I'm trying not to
have a
conniption.>>

Can't breathe . . . laughing too hard.



<<Strewing often leads to follow-up activities, but follow-up
activities aren't
the strewing that was originally intended.>>

This reminds me of an essay in one of the Sudbury Valley books, in
which the staff member (Daniel something -- I lent it out so I can't
look it up) talks about 3 kinds of learning he observes. Everyone
goes through all three kinds.

1. Curious probing -- a child picks up an interesting rock and looks
at it. That may be all she wants to do, or she may have a few
questions or ideas about it. (In many of the alternative schools, a
teacher would come over and say, "Oh, you're interested in rocks.
Here are some books and let's do this project and blah blah blah."
The writer jokes that the child in the alternative school learns to
hide his interests at all costs, because they get followed-up to
death.)

2. Entertainment -- a perfectly respectable way to learn, but the
learning is secondary to being entertained -- and this is the form
that schools are forced to use (he says).

3. Following a passion -- the child doesn't want to sleep, eat,
bathe, or do anything but find out more about x, or do more x.

Strewing seems to lend itself to curious probing. Listening
carefully to your child about interests lends itself to encouraging
his or her passions. Both are good, but they are different.

Peace,
Amy

[email protected]

So would strewing be the airbrush, the balloons and balloon sculpture videos?
The kids are free to use them or not.
Laura


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

Melissa

<<But it isn't like hiding vegetables inside their
dessert.

It is placing things out for them to use or not use,
at their own volition. I have some beautiful books on
my coffee table in my living room, and national
geographic magazines in a big wooden bowl under the
table. They can look at them or not, as they like, or
push the books aside to make room to play cards, or
use the books for bridges for the hot wheels.>>

This is how I fell about it. I bring things out that I think my DD
would like to play with or look at. Most of the time, it's "stuff"
that she has forgotten about because she hasn't seen it in a while.
If she dosen't play with what I've brought out, no big deal.
However, most of the time, she DOES get excited and play with it.
If a few days goes by and she hasn't touched something, I get the
hint, put it away, and bring something else out.

My DH and I just subscribed to National Geographic kids and the
regular one because my DD loves the pictures of the animals. We got
the first issue the other day and she has been flipping through it
off and on for days. I have a magazine rack with her books and
magazines on it and she pulls out what she wants to look at or
read. But, if I just put these things away (where she couldn't see
them) how would she remember that she has them and could look at
them whenever she wanted?

I don't see if as artifical at all. I really look at as simply
reminding her what she has to play with.

Melissa

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/04 4:34:27 PM, skreams@... writes:

<< Dagny (who's 11) was reading the message
boards the other day and read about strewing. She thought it could be
"sneaky" and wanted to know if I do it. We've had some cool
conversations about it this week. >>

I'm never sneaky about it, I guess. I mean outside the fact that the kids
are used to me or Keith or other friends of ours bringing something interesting
into the house. But it's been kinda constant throughout my life anyway. My
dad would bring cool rocks in from work, or would have something new in the
yard that he was working on. He didn't put it there for us to find, but when
there was something new, I sure took notice.

Teachers would bring something to school and set it out. Some never did
anything cooler than changing bulletin boards, but even that is something new to
see and think about.

Holly changes her rat cage around all the time, and sure enough the rats go
and check out every little thing.

When I taught I'd very often take something to school and stick it on the
shelf without comment. Someone would ask. Then I'd hear that person telling
someone else. I never cared whether everyone or anyone saw it. It was an
opportunity.

Was it "sneaky"? I think it was hugely honest and direct. An honest and
direct rearrangement of things on earth. For sneaky purpose? I had no purpose
other than giving other people something new to think about. And me too. I
liked to see what people would do when they came upon the new thing.

So I don't think my kids have ever thought "sneaky" about finding something
new to play with appear somewhere, or something old reappear.

We have Netflix, and I rented the 1968 Romeo & Juliet. We have the more
recent one. I didn't know if anyone would want to watch it with me. Turns out,
not really. Marty wanted a peek to see what it looked like. Too Italian on
the costumes he said, but said the sets didn't look like Italy to him. I said
they seemed find to me, but look at the furniture! Look at the props!

I wound through stopping here and there and when it got to the party scene, I
saw Michael York. I had forgotten he's in it! That was great. When we
watched Logan's Run, Marty and Holly both yelled "It's Basil!" So I backed up to
where he was dancing with Juliet and said "Look, it's the guy from Austin
Powers" and Holly said "And Logan's run!" So I let the movie run. It's a
beautiful scene, and the music's nice, and after Holly had been watching for four or
five minutes, she said "HEY, was this a trick!?" I laughed. It hadn't been
a trick, but it was working like one. Then the phone rang and she went to
get it and the accidental trick was over. She never did watch the rest, but she
saw enough to recognize it if she sees part of it in the future. And she'll
know it exists in case she ever wants to watch a period-costume version.

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/04 5:36:47 PM, BonKnit@... writes:

<< So would strewing be the airbrush, the balloons and balloon sculpture
videos?
The kids are free to use them or not. >>

Yeah, I think so. I've never used an airbrush, but if someone brought one to
my house, left it lying around and said I could play with it, I would.

We went to a restaurant one night and there was a clown doing balloon stuff.
Hats. Swords. Holly was fascinated. She said someday she wanted to do
that. So I got her a handpump and some balloons and a booklet. She did it every
day for a while, and made things for her friends and it was cool. She has
said she might like to do it again sometime at the playgroup she goes to. Her
pump broke and she's out of balloons. They dry up quickly here in the dry
heat. I should put that on my list of things to do when I'm out and about.

I don't think any of that was strewing, it was following up her stated
interest.

But if I left a balloon pump, balloons and a book at someone's house where
nobody had expressed interest in that before, that would be, I think, strewing.

Just yesterday we watched some of the extra features from Monty Python and
the Holy Grail, and they have the giant rabbit scene in Japanese. They build
a rabbit (Trojan horse style) and leave it outside the gate. The French come
out and wheel it in.

That was strewing. <bwg>

Sandra

Jon and Rue Kream

>>They can look at them or not, as they like, or
push the books aside to make room to play cards, or
use the books for bridges for the hot wheels.

**I understand what you're saying.

In our house things move around a lot and new things are always coming
in and living on the dining room table (or in the bathroom or wherever)
for a while, and old things coming back out from wherever they've been.
It happens naturally, and we all do it, not just me. It's a priority
to us to keep life interesting and fresh and look at it with our eyes
wide open.

I don't consciously leave things in the kids' paths to expose them to
potential interest. I've never thought 'we're lacking in mathy things'
and made a point of buying "math games, strategy games, computer
software that focuses on math", as Danielle said. I don't really think
in those terms, so I guess what's natural for some people would just be
contrived for me.

Sandra said yesterday:

>>If their lives are rich enough, then they are!
But as a way to suggest to new unschoolers that they CAN enrich their
lives,
it's a trick or tool to help them see what will happen if they leave
something
new in the environment.

**This makes sense to me. I feel confident that our lives are rich and
full enough that we're all exposed to a happy variety. ~Rue


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Wife2Vegman

--- SandraDodd@... wrote:
>
>
> Just yesterday we watched some of the extra features
> from Monty Python and
> the Holy Grail, and they have the giant rabbit scene
> in Japanese. They build
> a rabbit (Trojan horse style) and leave it outside
> the gate. The French come
> out and wheel it in.
>
> That was strewing. <bwg>
>
> Sandra
>
>

OOH! The Holy Sake Cup! hee hee!

Now, why was that strewing? Because they didn't know
the story of the trojan horse and you got to tell it
to them?

See? My moment of insight has passed, and I again
need things explained to me in little words. LOL!



=====
--Susan in VA
WifetoVegman

What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn't a school at all. John Holt

http://theeclectichomeschooler.homestead.com/TheEclecticHomeshooler.html

__________________________________
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Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
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Jon and Rue Kream

>>Now, why was that strewing? Because they didn't know
the story of the trojan horse and you got to tell it
to them?

**I thought she meant the Trojan horse was 'strewed' for the French.
~Rue


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Jon and Rue Kream

>>I'm never sneaky about it, I guess.

**No, I've been reading your writing for years, and Dagny's been reading
the boards for a year or so, so we 'know' you well enough not to think
you'd be sneaky. Actually, the posts she was reading that brought this
up were not written by you, but I did show her some things you've
written about it.

I think she's right that it *could* be sneaky. Sneaky is starting to
not look like a word (does that happen to anyone else??) so I'll stop
writing now :0). ~Rue


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[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/2004 8:57:47 PM Eastern Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
Her
pump broke and she's out of balloons. They dry up quickly here in the dry
heat. I should put that on my list of things to do when I'm out and about.
<<<<


Keep them in the refrigerator.

~Kelly


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

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/04 7:06:39 PM, wifetovegman2002@... writes:

<< Now, why was that strewing? Because they didn't know
the story of the trojan horse and you got to tell it
to them?
>>

No, Arthur and his knights were strewing by leaving a giant rabbit out.
The French could have picked it up or not, and they DID!! WOOHOO!!

(Then they strewed pieces of giant rabbit all over the countryside, with
their catapult...)

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/11/04 9:16:29 PM, kbcdlovejo@... writes:

<< Keep them in the refrigerator. >>

Frost free refrigerator in the desert? Things dry up. Lettuce dehydrates.

You probably get mold if things stay too long. We get dehydrated cheese,
former lettuce, tortillas that have turned to chips if the plastic wasn't sealed
well.

Sandra

pam sorooshian

> Sometimes, when I read about strewing, my little hairs stand up.
> Sometimes, the conversations about strewing sound artificial to me.
> I suppose the question is really of attitude and intent. Are the
> objects strewn as options or shoulds? And how attached are you to
> your child responding to the objects you have chosen to "strew."
>
> I guess it kind of reminds me of my mother sending me articles that
> she thinks I should read. I've learned to smile at this - but i do
> appreciate when she asks me first if I am interested in receiving the
> article before sending it.

I cried reading this. I would give ANYTHING to be receiving those
articles from my mom, who also had the habit of sending me ones she
thought I ought to read. I miss them. A lot. Say "yes" to your mom,
Lisa. And keep smiling.

-pam
National Home Education Network
<www.NHEN.org>
Serving the entire homeschooling community since 1999
through information, networking and public relations.

[email protected]

In a message dated 2/12/2004 2:31:39 AM Eastern Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
<< Keep them in the refrigerator. >>

Frost free refrigerator in the desert? Things dry up. Lettuce dehydrates.

You probably get mold if things stay too long. We get dehydrated cheese,
former lettuce, tortillas that have turned to chips if the plastic wasn't
sealed
well.<<<<<<<


Strange place, that desert of yours!

Maybe in a bowl/bag of water in the 'frig'?

~Kelly


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