melissazietlow

I'm wondering if anyone might give me suggestions on what to say/how
to react when dd (5yo) talks about school, and expresses a desire to
go? Orion has been bringing up going away to "the big school" and
riding the school bus a lot recently. I seems to be related to
seeing shows or reading books, etc. where she sees kids going off to
the wonderful place...and she wants to know when she will go.

We have been responding by saying that some kids go away to school,
but some kids are homeschooled. We have said that we believe that
kids learn all the time, and don't have to go away to school to
learn. We have acknowledged why it seems she is interested, "you
think it would be fun to ride the school bus" or "you think that it
will be fun because you might get to play with the other kids". We
have casually explained that recess is only for a short time, and
that the rest of the time, she would have to sit very quietly in a
desk, and will not be allowed to talk much with the other kids. We
have said that we would miss her, and that she would be gone most of
the day, and not able to be with the family doing fun things like
________.

Tonight she said she wants "to sit at a desk and listen to the
teacher tell her to write in her book". I said I would be glad to do
that at home with her and she emphatically said "NO". I changed the
subject and told her that I have been thinking that it might be fun
for her to join a club called Girl Scouts...where she will meet with
other girls, and have a book to write in. She was excited and happy
about that and dropped the school talk.

How best to handle so she can feel right?

Melissa Z.

Jennifer

>Orion has been bringing up going away to "the big school"...<

My kids say "real" school. Ugh.

This is a GREAT topic and one I'm sure lots of readers on this list
are dealing with or have.

My kids go through stages wanting to know when they can go to "real"
school. I've tried explaining that what we are doing is REAL but
alas, they don't get that yet. May not for a looooong time. May
never....I just believe in what we are doing and trust that the
benefits will outweigh the losses (if there are any).

One of the best things is simply their friends and cousins. We hear
horror stories all the time about ps. They get to hear their
friends complain that they can't do all the cool stuff we get to do,
gripe about homework, watch them being grounded for bad grades,
etc. So I think that in itself removes a lot of their desire.

My oldest daughter had a fit last year when she was so determined
that I told her her she was welcome to go. After talking about it
for a few weeks and answering her questions she decided she didn't
really want to go. From our talks, we figured out that she wanted
more friends and more structure so we talked about ways she could
acheive those things. She signed up for some classes and clubs to
broaden her base of friends and she came to me one day with a
notebook that looked so much like a teacher's planbook that I could
have sworn she'd stolen it from a classroom somewhere. She even had
a M-F schedule, a place for grades, 'due dates'; the works. For
about 4 days she kept that thing up faithfully, asked me how to
calculate grades, even scheduled in her lunch and break times.

On the fifth day, she had assigned herself a paper on "a non-fiction
topic of her choice". She chose to write a story about how she
became interested in skateboarding. The second week she had stopped
doing everything but her story writing and working in her Saxon math
book.

That was about 6 months ago, give or take a couple of months. I
haven't seen her do any textbook work aside from the Saxon math
since. Although she may pick something else up here and there, she
hasn't brought anything to me to see. About once a month she brings
me her Saxon work and asks me if I'll "kind of" check it to see if
she's getting it right. I don't grab red pens or write anything.
If I notice she's missed 5 or more in a row, or so, and I can see
it's throwing her off, I'll point it out and she may or may not ask
me to help her out. Usually she resolves it herself and I don't see
it for another few weeks or more.

As far as the skateboarding story? She's been writing on it ever
since. It is now taken up two spiral notebooks and part of a third.
Once the spirals started falling apart, she decided to type it in
Word, which she had never used. It took her a couple of days
goofing around in Word and using the help wizard guy and she was off
writing. The grammar and spelling check irritated her so she
figured out how to turn those off. (She told me she was tired of
seeing red and green lines everywhere. lol) So far she has typed 24
pages in Word in a size 11 font. WOW! Not only is she writing a
great story, but she has taught herself to use Word better than I
can, she types so fast it amazes me, she now uses the dictionary
while she writes (guess the spell check gave her the hint...I didn't
even have to fight my English-major urge) and has started
researching how to use graphics to illustrate and enhance it. The
Saxon has stayed on because she is working on ramp and half-pipe
plans alongside her story and needs the math to figure it all out.

I love that she hasn't erased all the spelling and grammar errors
yet. I copy and save the story in a separate file under my name
because when she's done with it (if it ever will be done...it has
become an ongoing diary of her skating and it's offshoots) and has
made all her corrections, if she does, I want to be able to look at
it when I'm 80 and get warm fuzzies remembering how this one story
sparked so many learning and growing adventures for her. I think
one of the coolest things about it is how much *I* am learning and
learning about her just by reading it!

I think I got a little side-tracked here. :) Basically, I think
once kids are truly allowed to follow their own paths, they will
realize how much more they get out of unschooling, they'll go to
school and decide they want to come back home, or they'll go and
want to stay (though I think that's unlikely if they are given a
rich environment to pursue their own dreams, fancies and
curiosities).

I'm sure you'll get a lot of wonderful advice and other shared
moments that will inspire you and lead you to the right answers for
you and your family. It wasn't easy for me to tell my daughter she
could go to school if she wanted to. I have so many reasons why I
didn't want her to go (and I was practically carrying a bucket to
collect the sweat) but in the end, she fgured it out all by herself.

We still have our days when she mentions wanting to go but as soon
as I say, OK, she is quick to tell me she doesn't REALLY want to and
then follows up with what is missing in life that she needs help or
ideas to fill.

Here's a little tidbit from her story I just have to share. This
makes all the heartache and nerve crushing disappear after 5 years
listening to her stages of wanting to go back to REAL school worth
it:

"My mum pulled me out school when I was in the third grade and
started home schooling me. It was a good thing too, `cause if she
hadn't I probably wouldn't be where I am today."

I cried the first time I read that. Still do. <b-teary-g>

Jennifer
(Don't know why she writes MUM since we're from Texas but maybe it's
because we watch Degrassi and BBCAmerica all the time! LOL Goofy
kid!)

Dawn Adams

Jennifer writes:

One of the best things is simply their friends and cousins. We hear
horror stories all the time about ps. They get to hear their
friends complain that they can't do all the cool stuff we get to do,
gripe about homework, watch them being grounded for bad grades,
etc. So I think that in itself removes a lot of their desire.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I found pointing out that Catherine would have to have a strict and early bedtime and would have to get out of bed much earlier really helps. A weekly trial run of bedtimes and wakeup times would just about kill any desire to go to school. :)

Dawn 9in NS)




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

Julie Bogart

--- In [email protected], "melissazietlow" <Zietlowfamily@w...>
wrote:
> I'm wondering if anyone might give me suggestions on what to say/how
> to react when dd (5yo) talks about school, and expresses a desire to
> go? Orion has been bringing up going away to "the big school" and
> riding the school bus a lot recently. I seems to be related to
> seeing shows or reading books, etc. where she sees kids going off to
> the wonderful place...and she wants to know when she will go.

It's really hard for some kids to not experience what the cultural mainstream is
experiencing. For a five year old, she is interested in tasting the experience (doubtful she
has a real understanding of the demands of being gone all day away from you).

Can you give her an experience of school without going to public school? My kids got that
experience in Sunday school at church and that was enough for them to realize they
weren't really interested.

We have also been a part of homeschool co-ops that offer a bit more school-like
structure.

In our home, my daughter who was interested in school eventually did go to school part
time (this past year as a 14 year old). Her part time enrollment convinced her that she
didn't want to ever go fulltime and she has a much better appreciation for homeschooling
now.

Five years old is so young. It may be that you just have to hear and hold her feelings
without changing them ("I can see why school is so interesting to you!" and "It must seem
odd that mommy went to school but you don't.")

Sometimes we want to change the feelings rather than just accept them.

Julie B

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], "melissazietlow"
<Zietlowfamily@w...> wrote:
> Tonight she said she wants "to sit at a desk and listen to the
> teacher tell her to write in her book". I said I would be glad to
do
> that at home with her and she emphatically said "NO". I changed
the
> subject and told her that I have been thinking that it might be fun
> for her to join a club called Girl Scouts...where she will meet
with
> other girls, and have a book to write in. She was excited and
happy
> about that and dropped the school talk.
>
> How best to handle so she can feel right?

My daughter Asa (almost 5) has done this off and on. There's an
elementary school that we bicycle past frequently and for awhile, she
used to say "That's the girls school, where I'm going to go when I'm
6, with all the other girls." I don't know where she got the idea of
a girl's school - Madeline maybe? But she was adamant about it. We've
discussed it off and on in the past couple of years, just answering
her questions about school and what she could realistically expect if
she went. The desire to go has definitely waned. I think a large part
of that was becoming part of an active homeschooling group. Now the
kids that she sees on a regular basis - especially the older girls
that she adores - do not go to school. And she knows about all the
fun activities she would miss out on and I think she has lost her
desire for it - at least she hasn't mentioned it in awhile.

But one thing that I discovered through all of this is that she does
crave structured activities and she really wants to be doing things
independently of me. When the summer camp catalog from a local nature
group arrived in the mail, she wanted to sign up for every week's
camp. And for a long time, she talked about wanting to go to "ballet
school" (which comes from a book we read), so we signed her up for
ballet classes (which she insisted we call ballet *school*), she
asked for violin lessons after watching the two female violin players
in the Lord of the Dance DVD and she has been taking them now since
she was 3, and playing the violin every day. She's a hard taskmaster
on herself. She's going to play in a homeschool talent show this week
and she chose her newest, hardest piece to play and is diligently
attacking it in practice. It's a bit mind-boggling to see a 4 y.o.
who is so driven, but I'm much this way myself so I just need to
accept that this is who she is, and that this is how unschooling
looks for her - a more scheduled approach to learning, but one that
is self-driven.

I guess my point is that there are going to be kids who crave the
kinds of things that school offers - structure, lessons, constant
presence of other kids. The challenge in unschooling is to provide
them with enough of what they need. For extremely social kids in
areas with little homeschool support, that can be pretty tough, and
it might mean getting more involved in things like scouting or other
organized groups (which you mentioned you said to her). Summer is a
good time to try out more schoolish things. A lot of working parents
have to have their kids in summer camps, so there are a lot more
daycamps offered than there used to be. Maybe there's a couple that
she'd like to try, and she would get to see a little bit of what it
entails - the routine of having to get there at 8:00 in the morning,
for instance.

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

Kelli Traaseth

--- In [email protected], "melissazietlow"
<Zietlowfamily@w...> wrote:
> I'm wondering if anyone might give me suggestions on what to
say/how
> to react when dd (5yo) talks about school, and expresses a desire
to
> go?
*******************************


I think you're on the right track with pointing out that we don't
need school to learn. Also finding out what she is wanting out of
the experience, like you said, riding the bus or being with other
kids. Or the writing in a book. :)

You can fill those wants in other ways. How about a journal to write
and to create in? I know we're going to go and ride the city buses
soon, just to check out the city in a different way. And as far as
being with other kids, if my kids want that, I make sure we're
having friends over and doing things with other kids.

As far as Girl Scouts, Kyra, my now 7 yr old dd, learned a bit about
structured group activities and now doesn't want to be in it. She
had one leader/helper who was always telling her the "right" way to
do her crafts. It drove her crazy! I know Scouts don't have to be
this way but there are usually time constraints and other rules to be
followed. The groups that my girls were part of were pretty rigid.

Kyra talked a lot about going to school when all her
friends were going off to kindergarten and 1st grade. It has since
tapered off. We have so many kids coming to our
house and saying that they wished they could stay home. My other two
kids who have been in school never ask to go back. For Kyra, it
really is an unknown so I can understand why she's curious about it.

I do always say that if they really, truly want to go back to school,
I will let them. I believe it is up to them. But then we also have
lots of talks about what that would entail.

Kelli~




Orion has been bringing up going away to "the big school" and
> riding the school bus a lot recently. I seems to be related to
> seeing shows or reading books, etc. where she sees kids going off
to
> the wonderful place...and she wants to know when she will go.
>
>

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/8/2004 9:52:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
julie@... writes:

Can you give her an experience of school without going to public school? My
kids got that
experience in Sunday school at church and that was enough for them to
realize they
weren't really interested.<<<<<<<



OH! Duncan got a whiff of that at a homeSCHOOLING (emphasis on the
*schooling*) 4-H meeting.


We had to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance, sit in neat rows, raise
our hands to speak, and then follow the "program", which was about leaves and
trees and bark. *I* did the "assignment" of collecting the items from the yard
while Duncan played with the host kids toys! <G>


We went back the next week, mostly because Duncan's friends were there, but
he didn't want to go a third time.


Works like a charm! <BWG>

~Kelly







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

[email protected]

Jaiden(5.5) wanted to "go to school" a few weeks ago. We sat down and talked about what it was that he wanted. He didn't like saying "we homeschool" he wanted a name and classes. We talked a bit more about names and classes and he came up with where he really wanted to go was Hogwarts.

So, we are now calling our school, Hogarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardary; Michigan Chapter.

Avery(2.5) goes to Red Power Ranger Fighting School.

Jaiden has plans to redecorate his room to look like Gryfindor, he wants to make a big banner/poster to hang in the livingroom letting eveyone know that we are Hogwarts-he wants the whole house to look like Hogwarts :)

He's planning out his class schedual, potions class = cooking or playing in the mud, stuff like that. He wants a typed up schedual and notebooks, with the class names on each one and some days he puts on his Harry Potter costume, and he has developed a strange lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and I'm missing my eyeliner....

Can you tell he's a Virgo? :)

Your daughter may enjoy setting up her own "school" naming it, and planning it out. Jaiden has had a blast doing his. And I love watching him plan it all out.

~Rebecca

--
You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help."
-Calvin



> This is a GREAT topic and one I'm sure lots of readers on this list
> are dealing with or have.
>
> My kids go through stages wanting to know when they can go to "real"
> school. I've tried explaining that what we are doing is REAL but
> alas, they don't get that yet. May not for a looooong time. May
> never....I just believe in what we are doing and trust that the
> benefits will outweigh the losses (if there are any).
>

J. Stauffer

<<<< How best to handle so she can feel right?>>>>

From what you posted, it sounds as though your dd knows that you are
attempting to dissuade her from school and she isn't having it <grin>.

So, let's talk about you. Why don't YOU want her to go to school? What are
YOU concerned might happen? If she did go to school, what would your day be
like?

Personally, I think if kids really want to go to school, adults should trust
their judgement and let them go. Even if the parent doesn't think it is the
best of all ideas. We either trust the kids or we don't.

Julie S.

----- Original Message -----
From: "melissazietlow" <Zietlowfamily@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, June 07, 2004 10:33 PM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] What to Say?


> I'm wondering if anyone might give me suggestions on what to say/how
> to react when dd (5yo) talks about school, and expresses a desire to
> go? Orion has been bringing up going away to "the big school" and
> riding the school bus a lot recently. I seems to be related to
> seeing shows or reading books, etc. where she sees kids going off to
> the wonderful place...and she wants to know when she will go.
>
> We have been responding by saying that some kids go away to school,
> but some kids are homeschooled. We have said that we believe that
> kids learn all the time, and don't have to go away to school to
> learn. We have acknowledged why it seems she is interested, "you
> think it would be fun to ride the school bus" or "you think that it
> will be fun because you might get to play with the other kids". We
> have casually explained that recess is only for a short time, and
> that the rest of the time, she would have to sit very quietly in a
> desk, and will not be allowed to talk much with the other kids. We
> have said that we would miss her, and that she would be gone most of
> the day, and not able to be with the family doing fun things like
> ________.
>
> Tonight she said she wants "to sit at a desk and listen to the
> teacher tell her to write in her book". I said I would be glad to do
> that at home with her and she emphatically said "NO". I changed the
> subject and told her that I have been thinking that it might be fun
> for her to join a club called Girl Scouts...where she will meet with
> other girls, and have a book to write in. She was excited and happy
> about that and dropped the school talk.
>
> How best to handle so she can feel right?
>
> Melissa Z.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "List Posting Policies" are provided in the files area of this group.
>
> Visit the Unschooling website and message boards:
http://www.unschooling.com
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], elfmama@c... wrote:
> Jaiden(5.5) wanted to "go to school" a few weeks ago. We sat down
and talked about what it was that he wanted. He didn't like
saying "we homeschool" he wanted a name and classes. We talked a bit
more about names and classes and he came up with where he really
wanted to go was Hogwarts.
>
> So, we are now calling our school, Hogarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardary; Michigan Chapter.
>
> He's planning out his class schedual, potions class = cooking or
playing in the mud, stuff like that. He wants a typed up schedual and
notebooks, with the class names on each one and some days he puts on
his Harry Potter costume, and he has developed a strange lightning
bolt scar on his forehead, and I'm missing my eyeliner....>>>>>


He would love our homeschool group. For three years, we've
done "Homeschool Hogwarts", complete with Diagon alley (make your own
hats, wands, buy potions supplies), a Sorting Hat day, all kinds of
classes - potions, herbology, divination, and then an end-of-year
party and quidditch match (we play ground quidditch, of course, so
the muggles don't get suspicious). Yesterday, we capped it all off by
renting a theatre for a private showing of the 3rd Harry Potter
movie. We had 25 kids in this year's Hogwarts class. It's been loads
of fun! Maybe you could do something similar if you have a local
homeschooling group. We started off small, I think the first year we
only had 5 or 6 families doing it (10 - 12 kids) and met for classes
in people's houses, and the next year was about 18 kids, this year
was the biggest of all and we had to use bigger areas to accomodate
all the kids.

Here's our class picture:
http://www.exmsft.com/~robinc/04_05_hs_hogwarts_sort_group4_s.jpg

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/8/04 2:52:00 AM, jmcseals@... writes:

<< >Orion has been bringing up going away to "the big school"...<


<<My kids say "real" school. Ugh. >>

My kids say "school."
Nothing we do makes us any kind of a school-lite or school-anything.

I've said things like "It's not as fun as it looks," or "Yeah, if you could
just do what you wanted to and go home when you were tired of it, it could be
fun," or "There's a lot of waiting, and sitting, and standing in line, and
doing things you've already done before."

When they're intrigued by TV shows showing school as a fun place, I talk
about that. I talk about clever scripting, casting of an attractive variety of
kids, SMALL classes shown on TV, interesting teachers with interesting lines
written for them (or comically silly teachers, with interesting comical lines).
I've told Holly about Welcome Back, Kotter, where there were six or seven
kids in the class, the teacher would invite them over to hang out, and one of
them was John Travolta. Not very realistic for a typical, random special ed
class.

And in reference to the earlier discussion(s) on advertising, my kids know
that Barney is one big school-propaganda campaign, and that when kids cannot go
to school after hours without an adult around and play with puppets and
costumes and the coolest wooden toys and paints, and dance in the shaded, inviting
playground with a magic dinosaur. Knowing that, watching that show (which
has good music a lot of times and had some great guest starts like Tomie
dePaola) and then seeing the real playgrounds of schools around us which are two
acres of hard dirt with plain steel equipment, and another couple of acres of
soccer-field grass, MAYBE if they're lucky, they know. It's fantasy. And they
rarely see any kids on those playgrounds, but when they do it's a couple of
hundred kids at once, and there are always a few facing the chain-link fence
looking sadly out.

I've played school a few times with kids. Holly went three or four days
once of saying "TIME FOR SCHOOL" and setting up her "desk" and telling me I had
to teach her now. I would protest for the record, and then do something fun
and then something boring. The boring thing lasted her ten or fifteen minutes,
and then I said it was recess and she never "came back in," but would get
distracted playing and that was fine with me!

I found the folder from that "session" last week, looking for something else.
It had some drawings and some writing practice (loops and a row of "c" or
something) and a math page from a workbook. It said "Duckford Elementary" on
the outside.

That was our school at home experience. <g>

Sandra



Sandra

[email protected]

Robin, he would love this! Do you mind telling me a bit more about it? Or do you have a website? I'd love to put something like this together for him.

Thanx
~Rebecca

you can contact me off list if you want to
elfmama@...

--
You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help."
-Calvin



> He would love our homeschool group. For three years, we've
> done "Homeschool Hogwarts", complete with Diagon alley (make your own
> hats, wands, buy potions supplies), a Sorting Hat day, all kinds of
> classes - potions, herbology, divination, and then an end-of-year
> party and quidditch match (we play ground quidditch, of course, so
> the muggles don't get suspicious). Yesterday, we capped it all off by
> renting a theatre for a private showing of the 3rd Harry Potter
> movie. We had 25 kids in this year's Hogwarts class. It's been loads
> of fun! Maybe you could do something similar if you have a local
> homeschooling group. We started off small, I think the first year we
> only had 5 or 6 families doing it (10 - 12 kids) and met for classes
> in people's houses, and the next year was about 18 kids, this year
> was the biggest of all and we had to use bigger areas to accomodate
> all the kids.
>
> Here's our class picture:
> http://www.exmsft.com/~robinc/04_05_hs_hogwarts_sort_group4_s.jpg

strega nona

Here is some groups that you can join for the Hogwarts. My grandson is
going to Hogwarts Summer School. Its some moms doing things for their kids
this summer. It has alot of good stuff, and he is having a blast. The first
morning he woke up with letters all over his bed and by his door, that the
owls left. Enrollment and that sort of stuff. Potions to do, coloring pages,
the works. Look into it, there might be something your son would like. Its
fun.
HogwartsSCS@...
You have to join the groups to get into the files. It is alot of fun, some
work on our part, but worth it to see the smiles.



Pam & Bj.

-------Original Message-------

From: [email protected]
Date: 06/08/04 10:45:09
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Re: What to Say?

Jaiden(5.5) wanted to "go to school" a few weeks ago. We sat down and
talked about what it was that he wanted. He didn't like saying "we
homeschool" he wanted a name and classes. We talked a bit more about names
and classes and he came up with where he really wanted to go was Hogwarts.

So, we are now calling our school, Hogarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardary; Michigan Chapter.

Avery(2.5) goes to Red Power Ranger Fighting School.

Jaiden has plans to redecorate his room to look like Gryfindor, he wants to
make a big banner/poster to hang in the livingroom letting eveyone know that
we are Hogwarts-he wants the whole house to look like Hogwarts :)

He's planning out his class schedual, potions class = cooking or playing in
the mud, stuff like that. He wants a typed up schedual and notebooks, with
the class names on each one and some days he puts on his Harry Potter
costume, and he has developed a strange lightning bolt scar on his forehead,
and I'm missing my eyeliner....

Can you tell he's a Virgo? :)

Your daughter may enjoy setting up her own "school" naming it, and planning
it out. Jaiden has had a blast doing his. And I love watching him plan it
all out.

~Rebecca

--
You know, Hobbes, some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help."
-Calvin



> This is a GREAT topic and one I'm sure lots of readers on this list
> are dealing with or have.
>
> My kids go through stages wanting to know when they can go to "real"
> school. I've tried explaining that what we are doing is REAL but
> alas, they don't get that yet. May not for a looooong time. May
> never....I just believe in what we are doing and trust that the
> benefits will outweigh the losses (if there are any).
>


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

Ann and Eric Yates

We've got to be the only people in the world that really didn't like Harry Potter! lol
I read it to the kids a long time ago. We only got a few chapters, and the kids didn't want to hear anymore.
Then my daughter read the first two last year, and wasn't too thrilled.
We haven't seen any of the movies....

Loved the picture of your group. Very cute!

Ann
----- Original Message -----
From: the_clevengers
To: [email protected]
Sent: Tuesday, June 08, 2004 11:09 AM
Subject: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Hogwarts, was Re: What to Say?


--- In [email protected], elfmama@c... wrote:
> Jaiden(5.5) wanted to "go to school" a few weeks ago. We sat down
and talked about what it was that he wanted. He didn't like
saying "we homeschool" he wanted a name and classes. We talked a bit
more about names and classes and he came up with where he really
wanted to go was Hogwarts.
>
> So, we are now calling our school, Hogarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardary; Michigan Chapter.
>
> He's planning out his class schedual, potions class = cooking or
playing in the mud, stuff like that. He wants a typed up schedual and
notebooks, with the class names on each one and some days he puts on
his Harry Potter costume, and he has developed a strange lightning
bolt scar on his forehead, and I'm missing my eyeliner....>>>>>


He would love our homeschool group. For three years, we've
done "Homeschool Hogwarts", complete with Diagon alley (make your own
hats, wands, buy potions supplies), a Sorting Hat day, all kinds of
classes - potions, herbology, divination, and then an end-of-year
party and quidditch match (we play ground quidditch, of course, so
the muggles don't get suspicious). Yesterday, we capped it all off by
renting a theatre for a private showing of the 3rd Harry Potter
movie. We had 25 kids in this year's Hogwarts class. It's been loads
of fun! Maybe you could do something similar if you have a local
homeschooling group. We started off small, I think the first year we
only had 5 or 6 families doing it (10 - 12 kids) and met for classes
in people's houses, and the next year was about 18 kids, this year
was the biggest of all and we had to use bigger areas to accomodate
all the kids.

Here's our class picture:
http://www.exmsft.com/~robinc/04_05_hs_hogwarts_sort_group4_s.jpg

Blue Skies,
-Robin-






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

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], elfmama@c... wrote:
> Robin, he would love this! Do you mind telling me a bit more about
it? Or do you have a website? I'd love to put something like this
together for him.
>
> Thanx
> ~Rebecca

I'm working on a website and an article about our experiences with
creating this for the last few years. I'll let you know when I get
one or the other or both done. Basically, we just sat down and looked
at what parts of the books would be fun to recreate, looked at what
we had available, and went from there. Diagon Alley has always been
held in someone's house. Different rooms were different "shops". I
have always run the wand shop. I tried to think what would be a fun
way to make wands, and ended up finding these clear plastic tubes at
a local plastics manufacturer. They come with end caps that you can
fit on them. So then I got some "phoenix feathers", "unicorn
hair", "pixie dust" and other supplies at the craft shop and when
kids come to my wand shop they can select a wand and then fill it
with the magical artifacts that they desire. I even found enchanted
glow-in-the dark pixie dust. Fun! You can really just use your
imagination and create it the way you want to. The kids seem pretty
willing so suspend disbelief (even the older ones) and go along with
it as long as you stay in character and be serious about the fact
that you would never *gasp* want to put a black phoenix feather in
your wand unless you worked for <whisper> you-know-who...

For classes, we did the same thing - potions classes were home
chemistry (baking powder and vinegar experiments, rubber eggs,
levitating raisins, and other experiments you can find onlin). I did
an herbology class where we planted wolfsbane, went into the field
behind our house and picked mint leaves and lemonbalm
for "Dumbledore's favorite bedtime tea", etc. Another mom did a great
arithmancy class where she did a cool probability exercise. All the
kids got a pair of dice each and she had a big chart on the wall with
12 characters from Harry Potter, each character assigned to a number
that could be rolled with dice. The kids tried to predict which
character would win the race, then they all rolled the dice and she
moved each character once for each number each kid rolled (I think
Harry Potter was 7, so for each child that rolled a 7, she moved
Harry one spot). You could see the probability curve in action, with
the characters like Snape (who was 2) barely moving, and the
characters who were more likely to be rolled moving more.

These are just a few things we did, like I said, I'm going to have to
spend some time writing it all up. Each parent who taught a "class"
came up with their own way of doing it - from broom-making to
divination. We've kept a light-hearted and fun tone and tried to
stay "in character" as professors and make it as realistic as
possible. For the quidditch match, I looked up "Quidditch for
muggles" online and got some good ideas, and then just worked with
what I had. All in all, the kids have had a great time.

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/8/04 8:27:23 AM, tri_mom@... writes:

<< When the summer camp catalog from a local nature

group arrived in the mail, she wanted to sign up for every week's

camp. And for a long time, she talked about wanting to go to "ballet

school" (which comes from a book we read), so we signed her up for

ballet classes (which she insisted we call ballet *school*) >>

Holly did a couple of weeklong dance/theatre camps when she was younger. She
had fun, generally, but complained about other kids goofing around too much,
and being lazy. I told her it was because they have to go to school, and any
chance they get to relax and goof, they do!

When Holly was in karate classes, she quit because she didn't like the
teasing and farting around of the other kids.

BUT...
She did like being able to say "My teacher said..." or "My teacher's name
is..." and she said so. She said at least when kids talked about their
teachers, she had something to say.

(Minor point, but maybe will help someone else.)

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/8/04 8:43:26 AM, elfmama@... writes:

<< Jaiden has plans to redecorate his room to look like Gryfindor, he wants
to make a big banner/poster to hang in the livingroom letting eveyone know that
we are Hogwarts-he wants the whole house to look like Hogwarts :) >>

Then he needs to study hard and grow up to attend Cambridge, in England.
He could be reading in history, singing in the chapel,
punting/bunting/whatever the hell they do on the river, having a pint in the pub (almost like going
to Hogsmead).

There used to be a goth catalog of home furnishings. I think Cher was
involved. Maybe it's still around and you could get some few things to help. It
might end up looking more like a vampire-themed whorehouse, but hey... Same
general artistic sensibility.

An art-history opportunity!! <bwg>

Oh!! When Christmas cloth comes around, there is often cloth that's printed
in medieval patterns, with gold on red, or gold on dark green. Maybe you
could get some this year and hang it here and there for tapestry effects.

Sandra

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], "Julie Bogart"
<julie@b...> wrote:
> > Here's our class picture:
> > http://www.exmsft.com/~robinc/04_05_hs_hogwarts_sort_group4_s.jpg
> >
> > Blue Skies,
> > -Robin-
>
> Adorable photo! Is that you in the green?

Nope, I'm behind the camera (as usual!!)

> And I love your tag line: "Blue Skies." Always brings a smile to my
face.

Thanks, it's a holdover from my skydiving days. Actually, in the ol'
days of skydiving when the airplane took off, someone in the plane
used to shout "Blue Skies" and everyone else shouted "Black Death!" -
I never liked the death part much :-), and I used to say "Blue Skies,
Black Jellybeans but no whuffos (non-skydivers - a term a bit like
muggles) ever got it, so I abbreviated it. There, more than you ever
wanted to know about my sigline.

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

Jennifer Altenbach

A friend sent this to me. Does anyone here know about it? It seems as
though they are mostly young adults who are unschoolers. I enjoyed
reading their bios very much. It's neat to see how they perceive their
own unschooling.
Jenny

>
>
> Quo Vadis is a week-long gathering for people interested in creating
> strong, supportive community for adult unschoolers and self-educators.

> We work to empower those dedicated to lifelong learning by
> facilitating an event that cultivates, sustains, and unites individual

> self-educators and their allies.
>
>
> Quo Vadis strives to provide younger adults with practical help and
> support; self-educators in general with an opportunity to meet,
> network, and share; and anyone interested, a positive example of
> self-education and cooperation in action - a place where people can
> dream big, work hard, and learn much.
>
>
> The first week of Quo Vadis was in the late spring of 2001. Forty-two
> autodidacts gathered in the mountains of Oregon for a week of playing
> in the sun, brainstorming, sharing knowledge and ideas, and
> envisioning the future of self-education. Now, with two years under
> our belts, we are diving into the third annual Quo Vadis. This year's
> gathering takes place June 20th through June 26th at Camp
> Lane, just outside of Eugene, Oregon.
>
>
> If you are a self-educator, autodidact, unschooler, homeschooler, life

> long learner, or an average everyday Joe who thinks this all sounds
> fascinating, we would love to get an application from you! Call
> yourself what you like, but come to Quo Vadis to discuss, practice and

> experience education with others who see it as a lifelong process
> larger than schooling. We are an adult gathering, but we
> don't turn anyone away on the basis of age alone.
>
>
> You can find out more about Quo Vadis on our web site,
> http://www.quovadis-gathering.org <http://www.quovadis-gathering.org/>
or by emailing our
> office: info@....
>




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

Dawn Adams

Ann writes:

We've got to be the only people in the world that really didn't like Harry Potter! lol
I read it to the kids a long time ago. We only got a few chapters, and the kids didn't want to hear anymore.
Then my daughter read the first two last year, and wasn't too thrilled.
We haven't seen any of the movies....
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
You're not alone! I tryed reading it when I worked at a bookstore (to reccommend) and couldn't make it through the first chapter. I think I'd read so much fantasy that it just seemed really derivative. I'm not looking forward to the day my kids want to read it with me.

Dawn (in NS)





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

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/9/04 5:52:45 AM, Wishbone@... writes:

<< You're not alone! I tryed reading it when I worked at a bookstore (to
reccommend) and couldn't make it through the first chapter. I think I'd read so
much fantasy that it just seemed really derivative. I'm not looking forward to
the day my kids want to read it with me. >>

I resisted it at first just because it was so popular, but once I did read it
I was hooked. By the time I read any, the first three were out which was
pretty cool because I could read them all through. When the fifth one came out,
I read it and then read all five in a row, and I think it's pretty wonderful.

Sandra

[email protected]

> Wishbone@... writes:
>
> << I think I'd read so
> much fantasy that it just seemed really derivative. I'm not looking forward
> to
> the day my kids want to read it with me. >>
>
>
>



You could try approaching it as "connected" instead of "derivative"
and see if it's more fun for you that way. My two get a real thrill out of
connecting the Harry Potter characters and themes to other epics. LOTR and Narnia
obviously, but also Star Wars and Shakespeare, mythology and the classics. DD
noticed that To Kill a Mockingbird's Scout was suspect for learning outside of
school just as Harry was suspect for doing magic outside of school. JJ


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

[email protected]

In a message dated 6/9/2004 9:35:18 AM Eastern Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
> When the fifth one came out,
> I read it and then read all five in a row, and I think it's pretty
> wonderful.


I did the same thing. I was clueless when the rage hit but finally started
when book 3 had been out and book 4 was coming in a few weeks so I got to read
them in a row. I was hooked as well. My son IS Harry right now, and his
little brother IS Ron. My only dislike is that it takes FOREVER for them to come
out. Once book 5 was released we did CD audio for all of them in a row so the
boys could listen anywhere and we could read it too.

I would love some suggestions on how to start a Hogwarts here. I know no-one
and have yet to get involved with any local groups. Where would I start?

Pamela


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

the_clevengers

--- In [email protected], "Dawn Adams"
<Wishbone@s...> wrote:
> You're not alone! I tryed reading it when I worked at a bookstore
>(to reccommend) and couldn't make it through the first chapter. I
>think I'd read so much fantasy that it just seemed really
>derivative. I'm not looking forward to the day my kids want to read
>it with me.

I felt the same way when I started reading the first one. For one
thing, it's not terribly well-written in terms of the actual writing
craft. She does a lot of things that irritate me, like always
appending an "-ly" adverb to everything anyone says, i.e. "he said
smugly", "she said sharply", etc. That drives me a bit nutty. And
I've read a fair bit of fantasy so I can see where it's derivative in
places.

BUT...... all that being said, she tells a darned good tale, and you
might have to make it past the first couple of chapters to see it. My
kids wanted me to read the books to them, so we started with the
first book. By the time I was 5 or 6 chapters in, I was reading ahead
after the kids went to sleep and finished the first book and was on
to the 2nd. The brilliance of the books is not just in her imagined
details, though some of them are quite nice, but in the relationships
between the people and the things that they struggle with. She really
knows how to draw good characters and then set them in motion with
and against each other. There have been slow spots to be sure, but
overall she can weave a good yarn. I guess what I'm saying is that
when your kids are interested, you might enjoy them more than you
think.

Blue Skies,
-Robin-

Andrea Burlingame

I was reading ahead
> after the kids went to sleep and finished the first book and was on
> to the 2nd.
>
> Blue Skies,
> -Robin-

There is a trilogy called His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman that had me doing this. I bought the first book it for my stepdaughter, because of a reccomendation I had read online. When I started reading it to her, I fell in love with the story, AND the writing, everything! It was really hard for me not to read ahead. Sarah hated it if I did. Anyway, I had never really been a fan of fantasy (I have tried several times to read LOTR, but have never been able to get past the first pages), but these books are among my favorite reads ever! I thought I heard of a movie in the making. Does anyone know anything about this?

~Andrea






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

julie w

Lurker here...

Great ideas Robin.
We had a HP book group (which is really the HP Social Hour) in our
support group this year. The kids ended up being more interested in
playing "Hogwarts" then talking about the books.
It's been fun.
We went to see POA as a group to the 12:01am movie on the 4th. The great
thing was The Witching Hour (those doing the HP convention next year,
Oct., in Salem) sponsored "line parties" all over the world and there
was one here. So we went out to eat before with other folks as obsessed
about HP (and luckily I met, IRL, some other who find
Snape....*fascinating*) then went to the theater and for 4 hours played
games, did trivia, just fun HP stuff. So cool.
I love the idea about playing Quidditch, I wonder if we have enough
folks for teams and a snitch.....hmmmmm.
Julie W
the_clevengers wrote:

> --- In [email protected], elfmama@c... wrote:
> > Robin, he would love this! Do you mind telling me a bit more about
> it? Or do you have a website? I'd love to put something like this
> together for him.
> >
> > Thanx
> > ~Rebecca
>
> I'm working on a website and an article about our experiences with
> creating this for the last few years. I'll let you know when I get
> one or the other or both done. Basically, we just sat down and looked
> at what parts of the books would be fun to recreate, looked at what
> we had available, and went from there.



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

Cally Brown

We have enjoyed the Pulman trilogy too - and there was someone on the
radio yesterday talking books, who mentioned the upcoming movie, but no
time scale was mentioned.

Cally
New Zealand

>There is a trilogy called His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman that had me doing this. I bought the first book it for my stepdaughter, because of a reccomendation I had read online. When I started reading it to her, I fell in love with the story, AND the writing, everything! It was really hard for me not to read ahead. Sarah hated it if I did. Anyway, I had never really been a fan of fantasy (I have tried several times to read LOTR, but have never been able to get past the first pages), but these books are among my favorite reads ever! I thought I heard of a movie in the making. Does anyone know anything about this?
>

Andrea Burlingame

----- Original Message -----
From: "Cally Brown" <mjcmbrwn@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 12:57 PM
Subject: Re: [UnschoolingDiscussion] Hogwarts, was Re: What to Say?


> We have enjoyed the Pulman trilogy too - and there was someone on the
> radio yesterday talking books, who mentioned the upcoming movie, but no
> time scale was mentioned.
>
> Cally
> New Zealand

Yeah, it was some time ago that I heard about a possible movie...but no time
frame. I'll just keep a look out for it.

~Andrea

pam sorooshian

On Jun 8, 2004, at 9:24 PM, Jennifer Altenbach wrote:

> A friend sent this to me. Does anyone here know about it? It seems as
> though they are mostly young adults who are unschoolers. I enjoyed
> reading their bios very much. It's neat to see how they perceive their
> own unschooling.
> Jenny

Yes, my daughter was somewhat involved in helping getting it off the
ground - it is young adults who are unschoolers - too old for
"Not-back-to-school-camp" but still want to get together once a year
for a big shot of unschooling inspiration - these are just AWESOME
people. They're exploring what life as a grown-up unschooler can be
like - they are the most "thinking" people I've ever known.

Some of you may have heard Evan Wright who was on an unschooling panel
discussion with Sandra Dodd, Mary Griffith, Jan Hunt, and me at the HSC
conference in Sacramento a couple of years ago. He was so amazing,
telling his story of finally leaving school behind after being labeled
and medicated when he was younger - he discovered unschooling through
Grace Llewelyn's book, The Teenage Liberation Handbook, and he took
charge of his own life and is doing some really cool things with it.
Like running Quo Vadis, for one thing. He brought some of us to tears,
telling his story at the conference. He's an amazing young man and I
have tremendous admiration for him. Tapes of that panel discussion are
probably still available - maybe contact HSC (HomeSchool Assocation of
California <www.hsc.org>) if you're interested.

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