Michelle Thedaker

Hello! I'm Shell, mom to 2 boys in So Cal who began officially
homeschooling a few weeks ago. My oldest son just turned 5 and was
diagnosed with Autism 2.5 years ago. He was in a full-day special
preschool for all of the past 2.5 years, with small breaks in the
summers. At the time I felt that it was the best path for him, and
we were very fortunate to have a very loving and nurturing team of
teachers and therapists during the journey. When I realized that we
were on the cusp of Kindergarten, my long-held ideas of homeschooling
and unschooling came back to life! Drew is a very atypical autistic -
very social, loving, talkative (my ears ring at day's end!), bright,
curious. An incredible little guy. :) It finally dawned on me that
I can absolutely homeschool him - I don't need specialists to guide
him on his path. I *am* the specialist on Drew...and more to the
point, DREW is the specialist on Drew. ;)

I've been reading this list for a few weeks, and have been reading
quite a bit at unschooling.com and Sanda's "Radical Unschooling" site
for several months. I'm unlurking to intro myself and to request
some ideas and direction from the wise ones here. :)

My ideas about unschooling were flimsy at best until recently. I had
read some John Holt works about 6 years ago and thought, "Now THAT is
how learning and living should be!" Then I started reading here and
the other mentioned sites, and my mind began to *really* open up.
The control issues are killer for me, but make so so much sense.
We're loosening up and it's so liberating. :)

Here's the part where I'd like some ideas. Drew is very interested
in the streets and freeways locally. Living in Orange County, CA
there is no lack of freeways, lol! I recently bought him some AAA
fold-out paper maps and they are on his bedroom wall. He discovered
the Thomas Guide in the car today and was in heaven. :) He knows all
the street names, where the freeway extrances/exits are and what
numbers they are.

Where would you suggest I go with this? I'm not trying to "teach"
him anything, not trying to make this "schooly". Just trying to find
ways to feed his interest and possibly bring him ideas and
experiences that he wouldn't have known about otherwise. I know this
should be relatively simple to do, but for some reason I just can't
get my creative juices going. Blech. I've been in "somebody-else-
stimulate-my-child" mode for WAY too long, you know? And running
after the 1yo baby makes keeping a string of coherent thought a
little tough, lol! :)

Okay, this turned into a bit of a novel, sorry about that. I think I
just need some springboard-type thoughts to get me started.

Thank you!

Shell in So Cal
Mama to Drew, 5 and Josh 1

pam sorooshian

On Jul 3, 2004, at 10:58 PM, Michelle Thedaker wrote:

> He discovered
> the Thomas Guide in the car today and was in heaven. :)

Do you realize that Thomas Bros. has a location right here in Orange
County?
We went on a great tour there, some years ago. They make and print and
assemble the Thomas Guides there and they have a store with demos of
their computer software, etc.

Thomas Bros. Maps Store
A Rand McNally Company
17731 Cowan
Irvine, CA 92614
Tel: 888-826-6277
Fax: 949-252-9321

If you want to arrange a tour, I bet we could interest some other
people - i know I'd love to go back.


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

pam sorooshian

Legoland is only an hour or so away and he can drive a lego car there -
it isn't on a track like at Disneyland - the kids are really driving
and have to follow traffic signs and signals and so on. Very cool ride.
They can also make cars out of legos and race them on ramps.

You can take the train down there - maybe his interest in
transportation, etc., will extend to trains and train tracks - if it
does, that gives you a whole wonderful new area to explore together.

There is a car race game called Mille Bornes - a card game. I LOVED it
when I was a kid. Might be a little bit old for him. There must be
other games out there that involve cars and roads and stuff like that.

But - I wonder if he'd like "Rush Hour" - the logic puzzle. It is aimed
at slightly older kids and adults - I really like it, myself, but maybe
with his interest, it'd be cool for him and I think they have different
levels of play.

Here is what it says on Amazon:

Editorial Review
Honk! Honk! It's gridlock and the little red car can't move. The player
is a traffic cop in the Rush Hour Traffic Jam Puzzle where the
objective is to get the red car off the road. To play, pick one of 40
challenge cards; solutions are printed on the back of each card. Then
set up the cars and buses in a specified pattern on the 6-inch-square
road grid. Move the vehicles one by one (obey those traffic laws!)
until the red car can escape the traffic jam. There are four levels of
difficulty. Kids can alternate turns with another player or just "play
in traffic" alone. The game from Binary Arts received a national award
from Mensa and is used in elementary school math classes. The design
includes clear instructions printed on the sturdy box, which can be
used both as a playing tray and for storage. The game cards stow away
in a drawer in the road grid. This is a 1999 Parents' Choice
recommended toy. --Marcie Bovetz

Teacher Review
This variation on the traditional sliding-block puzzle is designed to
challenge sequential-thinking skills. As a child learns to play the
game, they will progress from a trial-and-error technique to a more
strategy-based method. Develops mathematical and spatial abilities,
too. --M. Sullivan, Amazon.com editor and former schoolteacher

TreeGoddess

On Jul 4, 2004, at 1:58 AM, Michelle Thedaker wrote:

> Where would you suggest I go with this? I'm not trying to "teach"
> him anything, not trying to make this "schooly". Just trying to find
> ways to feed his interest and possibly bring him ideas and
> experiences that he wouldn't have known about otherwise.

Pick up a couple of atlases. One of the USA or North America and also
one of the world. Get maps from other places. Buy or borrow a CD-ROM
of maps. If you (or a friend) has AAA insurance go to one of their
offices and you can get lots of different maps for free! Go online to
the web sites of different state's governments -- they usually have a
link to request a free map of their state. Here's the link for
Michigan:
http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9622_11033_11151---,00.html
You can look at maps online and/or order a free map. :)

I have always enjoyed laying on the floor with maps and just studying
them. Really looking hard at them and "discovering" little streams,
forests and preserves, noticing what museums and landmarks that place
has and wondering what the people who live there are like. I also
enjoy watching the Weather Channel to view the maps and see what kind
of weather people in other parts of the country or world are having and
what it's like to live there instead of here in lower MI. Does he know
about that channel?

On car trips I love to have a map to look at and it helps me to "see"
how far we've gone and how far we have to go. When I would ask "how
long until we get there" in the car I just actually wanted a time or
milage estimate -- not really because I was being impatient or
'bratty'. I just wanted to get some info! :) Anyway, I can totally
understand your DS's fascination and enjoyment of maps! Just give him
more stuff to play with and leave it up to him.

Kudos to you for not getting in his way! :) Oh, which reminds me...I
just read a great article online this morning at Naomi Aldort's site of
that same idea. It's called "Getting Out of the Way"
http://www.naomialdort.com/articles.html#getting

-Tracy-

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/4/04 2:50:08 AM, pamperedthed@... writes:

<< I've been reading this list for a few weeks, and have been reading

quite a bit at unschooling.com and Sanda's "Radical Unschooling" site

for several months. >>

I hope you found the Anne Ohman and Mary Gold writings then!

There are two new Anne Ohman bits, and there are directory pages for them
both here:

http://sandradodd.com/anneohman
http://sandradodd.com/marygold
and though I don't have everything up I'll eventually have, so check back
later for sure!:
http://sandradodd.com/joycefetteroll


Maybe someday they'll make their own unschooling sites, but they're all
pretty busy, and for now I'm really glad they've agreed to let me host their stuff.

<<He discovered

the Thomas Guide in the car today and was in heaven. :) >>

Once upon a time I was in southern California on the day when one of the
homeschooling groups had a tour of the Thomas Brothers map company. I don't know
if they'll take a single family on a tour, but I think that would fire his
map-joy! Each of their pages is on a giant sheet and they update regularly so
when/if a page is republished it's all current. They mark long-term
construction and roads-to-be-completed.

<<He knows all

the street names, where the freeway extrances/exits are and what

numbers they are. >>

Holly has asked lots of questions about Rt. 66 lately, and said yesterday
that she finally really gets what I'm talking about, why sometimes it's Central
Ave., and sometimes the freeway, and then there's "old 66" alongside the
freeway in the canyon east of town.

I got out a map of the U.S. showing freeways, and we talked about that.

There's a mall here that was built in the early 60's, near and at the time of
the freeway (I-40 through Albuquerque). It's called Winrock, and one day
when I was there with Marty and Holly both, I was pointing out where the bank,
grocery store and drug store used to be. The apartment buildings are still
there and very well maintained. The hotel is still in business. The mall has
changed, and no longer has a bank, grocery, pharmacy, bakery as it once had. The
omni-whatever theatre (I forget the name of a three-projector,
three-angled-screen thing is used to be) is now a multiplex, still open.

I reminded them of the Disneyesque visions of the cities of the future
they've seen in books and at "Tomorrowland," and that the idea was someone could
live in those apartments and walk to everything they would need. For a while it
worked.

That came up just because of questions about freeways.

And the interstate system was designed and financed for the purpose of quick
troop movement in case something like WWII happened again. One mile in five
is supposed to be straight so it can be used as a runway. That's not much
discussed anymore. Your son might be interested in some of that history, as it
comes along in his life. Too much at once might not be fun, but as the
connections come along naturally, you might point them out.


He has his whole life to make those connections.

There is a lot of Rt. 66 research, photo-journalism kind of stuff you might
find at libraries or somewhere and let him see. Where did it end up in
California? Bakersfield, maybe? Barstow?

Maybe collecting (gradually, not in a frenzy <g>) photos of construction over
the years, of earthquake damage, stuff like that, would be fun for him. But
if he only likes maps, there's a map dealer in Flagstaff who is wonderful and
helped us find some stuff.

buddha-nature maps & books

PO Box 1736

Flagstaff, AZ 86002-1736


928-226-9030

Lee Dittman, question@...

Few people have been as helpful and friendly to me as a stranger as he was
and I'm definitely going to buy maps from him again.

I think a single burning interest is as good a portal to the universe as
anything, and better than some.

http://addy.com/mhegener/HEM/HEM161.99/161.99_clmn_nschl.html

That's about Elvis. But not "about Elvis," about connections. It's one of
the oldest pieces of my writing out there (that and the smaller bit about
Gilligan's Island).

From http://sandradodd.com/checklists

-=- Can one intense interest come to represent or lead to all others? A mom
once complained that her son was interested in nothing but World War II.
There are college professors and historians who are interested in nothing but
World War II. It can become a life’s work. But even a passing interest can
touch just about everything—geography, politics, the history and current events of
Europe and parts of the Pacific, social history of the 20th century in the
United States, military technology, tactics, recruitment and propaganda, poster
art/production/distribution, advances in communications, transport of troops
and food and supplies, espionage, prejudices, interment camps, segregation,
patriotism, music, uniforms, insignia, religion….
-=-
When someone really understands one war, he can easily understand another,
because he will have all the framework and questions in his mind. When he
understands how countries are born, invaded, and how a government can die out, he
understands truths about all nations and civilizations.-=-


I think an interest in freeways can be a good starting framework. It might
eventually connect to every other thing. Some easy to see are commerce,
migration, engineering, federal expenditures/taxes/government, ecology, culture
(rush hours are why? work schedules are why?), physics (size and angle of exit
ramps and overpasses), safety (double fines zones), materials...

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/4/04 4:13:36 AM, pamsoroosh@... writes:

<< But - I wonder if he'd like "Rush Hour" - the logic puzzle. It is aimed
at slightly older kids and adults - I really like it, myself, but maybe
with his interest, it'd be cool for him and I think they have different
levels of play. >>

Holly and Marty were able to play that when they were young because they have
pattern-courage or something. <g>

There are four or five expansion sets (with one additional vehicle and a new
set of puzzle cards).

Sandra

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/4/04 9:09:52 AM, treegoddess@... writes:

<< Pick up a couple of atlases. One of the USA or North America and also
one of the world. Get maps from other places. Buy or borrow a CD-ROM
of maps. If you (or a friend) has AAA insurance go to one of their
offices and you can get lots of different maps for free! Go online to
the web sites of different state's governments -- they usually have a
link to request a free map of their state. >>

OOOH!

Mapquest with its "zoom" feature might be really fun. You could look up the
address of a place you go a lot, your house, a friend's house, and then zoom
out gradually until the freeways show and you see the nearest freeway exit!
And then maybe locate that "square" on another bigger map.

-=-I have always enjoyed laying on the floor with maps and just studying
them. Really looking hard at them and "discovering" little streams,
forests and preserves, noticing what museums and landmarks that place
has and wondering what the people who live there are like. -=-

Keith and I used to play a game with an atlas we had (when we were childless
and poor <g>) and I just showed it to Holly lately.

Get a manila file folder and on the fold, cut a circle (half a circle, like
cutting out a valentine, so that when you flatten it out it's a circle).

Find a page in an atlas and put the circle over a part. The other person
tries to figure out where it is. If you can't get it you can slide the circle
over some.

Holly and I were playing it with a book of maps of New Mexico and we had to
use other stuff to cover up what the folder didn't cover.

Keith used to identify his mostly by natural things--mountains and rivers. I
did it more linguistically. Lots of French names? Indian names? English
names?

That might work with freeway maps and Los Angeles, for older kids who're
reading better.


HEY: Maps online of Los Angeles area traffic:

http://dir.yahoo.com/Regional/U_S__States/California/Metropolitan_Areas/Los_An
geles_Metro/Travel_and_Transportation/Traffic_and_Road_Conditions/

Holly Furgason

--- In [email protected], pam sorooshian
<pamsoroosh@m...> wrote:

> But - I wonder if he'd like "Rush Hour" - the logic puzzle. It is
aimed
> at slightly older kids and adults - I really like it, myself, but
maybe
> with his interest, it'd be cool for him and I think they have
different
> levels of play.

There is a simpler Rush Hour Jr. and a Rush Hour Railroad that has
really big train cars that are easier to handle. I love all the
games and my experience has show that even kids too young to do the
puzzles still get a lot out of it just playing around with it- maybe
even more because they come up with ther own puzzles.

Holly
2 COOL 4 SCHOOL
Unschooling T-sirts- New Colors, New Designs, New Products!
http://www.cafepress.com/2cool4school

Angela

We recently got the game Rush Hour and we are all addicted to it. We've
brought it to several friends and relatives houses and they have all loved
it too. It was on my Want List for quite a while and I am glad I got it.
You can try it by playing it on line. Here is a link.
<http://www.freeworldgroup.com/game.html>
http://www.freeworldgroup.com/game.html It's listed under logic puzzles. I
enjoy the on-line version, but I prefer to have those little cars in my
hands. I work better that way. But it's a nice way to try it before you
buy it. The company that makes it is called Binary Arts and they have lots
of neat logic games. <http://www.binaryarts.com> www.binaryarts.com Oh,
and I meant to say that the on-line version seems to get harder faster than
the plastic version. Maybe it's just me because I think better with the
little plastic cars in my hands, but maybe not. Anyway, glad to know that
there are expansion sets. It'll keep us interested for a long time.
Angela
game-enthusiast@...





There are four or five expansion sets (with one additional vehicle and a new

set of puzzle cards).

Sandra



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

[email protected]

In a message dated 7/4/2004 12:24:17 PM Central Standard Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:


I reminded them of the Disneyesque visions of the cities of the future
they've seen in books and at "Tomorrowland," and that the idea was someone
could
live in those apartments and walk to everything they would need. For a
while it
worked


~~~

I saw a movie on Sundance channel the other day. I think it was called
"Waydowntown", but don't quote me.

It's about these 4 people who work in a high-rise office building downtown.
They live in downtown in apartments, nearby. They made a bet with each
other about who could stay inside the longest, by taking the skyway bridges
between buildings to get from the office to their apartment to the mall to
whatever. Of course the plot takes all kinds of twists and it's not for children,
but there were interesting characters.

Tuck


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

nellebelle

>>>Maybe it's just me because I think better with the little plastic cars in
my hands, but maybe not.>>>>

I play the Jumble puzzle in the newspaper. There is an on-line version too.
Sometimes I can see the word instantly. If I don't, I get out letter cubes
(from boggle or scrabble). With the cubes, I sometimes see it right away,
but sometimes have to rearrange them until the word appears. Somehow the
cubes make it easier to find the answer.
Mary Ellen

Alyce

--- In [email protected], pam sorooshian
<pamsoroosh@m...> wrote:
>
> On Jul 3, 2004, at 10:58 PM, Michelle Thedaker wrote:
>
> > He discovered
> > the Thomas Guide in the car today and was in heaven. :)
>
>
> If you want to arrange a tour, I bet we could interest some other
> people - i know I'd love to go back.
>

Pam! We'd definitely do that trip. Jay loves roads, maps, cars...
etc. :) Sounds terrific.

Alyce

Alyce

--- In [email protected], pam sorooshian
<pamsoroosh@m...> wrote:
> Legoland is only an hour or so away and he can drive a lego car
there -


Boomers also has cars the kids can drive. Some locations have only
the smaller cars for the kids... the kids and I went to one
recently, before school let out, where they also had full size go-
carts... whatever you call them. Jay could ride with me while I
drove. We were on the track so long going round and round that
Miranda got a vicious sunburn. I swear they put us on the track and
forgot about us. Nobody else was there. No lines, no waiting, no
getting off the cars! We ended up having to pull ourselves in when
we'd had enough. About half an hour! We were joking as we drove
round passing each other -"you can't get off the ride! the ride
never ends!" fun and funny.

~Alyce

Michelle Thedaker

Wow, such a lot of great ideas! I'm still sifting through them all
and digesting each post, but wanted to send a broad "thank you" to
everyone for sharing - and in such detail. :)

And Sandra, I wanted to tell you that I have read the articles on
your site regarding special needs kiddos - those were the first ones
I read. Beautiful writing, really gets to the heart of how I feel
about my son.

Thanks again everyone!

Shell in So Cal
Mama to Drew, 5 and Josh, 1

pam sorooshian

On Jul 4, 2004, at 10:00 AM, SandraDodd@... wrote:

> There is a lot of Rt. 66 research, photo-journalism kind of stuff you
> might
> find at libraries or somewhere and let him see. Where did it end up in
> California? Bakersfield, maybe? Barstow?

It goes from Santa Monica, through Pasadena, to San Bernardino and
then, I think, through Victorville to Needles. Not too long ago, the
town of Glendora changed the name of its main street (Alosta) back to
Route 66. There are lots of historic sites along the route - lots of
books and websites about it. Just google it.

-pam
When I think back
On all the crap I learned in high school
It's a wonder
I can think at all
~~~Paul Simon (Kodachrome)