the network for radical unschooling families

January 2009 Blog Posts (29)

Week in Review Jan 31st ...Home again, Home again, jiggy jig!

We'll this week finds us back to home sweet home! We had a great ski vaca despite colds, with Grandma M in Mount Tremblant Quebec. It was bitter sweet ...cause they are planning on tearing down The Gray Rock Resort where some of the people in our group have been going for over 30 years. Sunday we drove from VT to NJ after a brief overnight visit with my sister, niece and nephew. It was also the drive that Lex asked to use the camera :(...and we later found out she accidentally erased all the… Continue

Added by Elisabeth on January 31, 2009 at 9:00pm — No Comments

Super Sunday of Playing Sports

Those of you who love the American game of football, may be thrilled because it’s that time again for Superbowl Sunday. American’s day at the Coliseum, lion vs. man, with tons of funny commercials selling us junk food, overpriced shoes and gas guzzling trucks all together with an over-hyped musical performance in the middle of the event.

Where does that leave those of us who are not motivated by such a day of events?

Many women have said “enough!” We are done trying… Continue

Added by Rain Fordyce on January 31, 2009 at 6:34am — 1 Comment

Chat season

click above for more info

I don't know if this will be temporary or ongoing, but I've been in the mood for chats.

Many years back when the AOL homeschooling forum was the best place for unschooling discussion, I did a weekly chat and then edited the outcome. Those could be dowloaded, and some people would download them and print them out. Compared to the resources people have now… Continue

Added by Sandra Dodd on January 30, 2009 at 2:30pm — 6 Comments

At Last!!! The final website is complete!

Please go to:

http://homeschooladventurebooks.com

and let me know what you think!

If you saw the old website, you will know why I am excited!

If you see anything that is confusing or doesn't look right, please let me know! I am open to any feedback.

Thanks everyone!

smiles and joy,

Rain

PS: Oh! And if you bought a book,… Continue

Added by Rain Fordyce on January 30, 2009 at 7:06am — 1 Comment

Long ago live chats on unschooling were cool. Lately other things have been better for unschooling information, but some people still miss live chats. Today there was one announced in an immediate w…

Long ago live chats on unschooling were cool. Lately other things have been better for unschooling information, but some people still miss live chats.

Today there was one announced in an immediate way and over 20 people came through over a three hour period. I'm going to do two more and maybe will decide to keep a regular schedule of chats.

Thursday at 11:00 a.m. at my house (… Continue

Added by Sandra Dodd on January 28, 2009 at 8:33pm — No Comments

Confidence

You say it isn't easy and it isn't always clear.

Yet confidence is the strong foundation, best to face your fear.

When you walk with your head held high and your shoulders rolled down and back,

You can better see the path before you and you relax upon the track.

Say what you believe in with compassion and clarity in your voice.

Yet, confidence always listens to another's argument or choice.

When we are confident about ourselves, we feel the… Continue

Added by Rain Fordyce on January 24, 2009 at 6:05am — No Comments

What my kids are doing these days

I was asked what my kids are doing.

Kirby, 22, visited for 11 days recently. I talk to him two or three times a week. He's been working for Blizzard Entertainment for nearly a year and a half. He's up one level and is waiting to hear if he gets another promotion at some point. I'm sure he will if he stays there long. He enjoys the job. He makes good money and hardly has time to spend it. He works from about 2:00 to 10:00 p.m., so the dire warnings that letting him sleep late would… Continue

Added by Sandra Dodd on January 18, 2009 at 6:00pm — 6 Comments

Rewarding (Bribing) Children To Learn

**originally posted at my blog**

I'm not a fan of bribing children to learn. Even before I removed my children from school, I hated the message that rewarding them with pizza parties, candy and money (yes, money), was sending to them. These "rewards" were held out in front the students like a dangling carrot, with the promise that it could be theirs if they learned what the school wanted them to learn.

The message? I believe it's two-fold.

1: If someone had to… Continue

Added by Joanne on January 18, 2009 at 11:53am — 7 Comments

Unschooling Encouragement

**originally posted at my blog**

A while back, a member posted to one of the unschooling e-mail lists with some questions for unschooling parents, and she was looking for encouragement. Her questions are followed by my answers.

I have several questions that I hope someone (many people - I would love to hear lots of opinions) would be willing to answer for me.

1- How old were your children when you took them out of school?

I have three… Continue

Added by Joanne on January 18, 2009 at 11:30am — No Comments

Anthology - Learning Math Outside the Classroom (And In)

Well, I'm not sure I'm ready to post this all over, but I thought it was time to stick my toe in the water, and this seemed like a good place to start. I am editing an anthology, and I'm putting out a call for submissions. So here it is...

• Do you homeschool, and have exciting ideas about how kids learn math? (I’d like to include perspectives from both unschoolers and others.)

• Do you run a math center, math circle, or other math program which people attend by choice, and at… Continue

Added by Sue VanHattum on January 17, 2009 at 8:02pm — 1 Comment

I moved my blog...FINALLY!!!

I finally got off my butt and moved my blog to it's own server. It was kind of sad to let go of blogger but I had moved my adoption blog and it was time for the unschooling one to move also.

I've been out of touch for a while so I need some help in getting the new address out and I decided to have a contest for those who help me out.

You can read about it here:

Win A $20 Amazon.com Gift… Continue

Added by Joanne on January 17, 2009 at 7:43pm — No Comments

Marty is 20

Yesterday my middle child turned 20. He's no longer a child, and no longer a teen.

Today my oldest child (22) returned to Austin after an 11 day visit. He sent a text message each time he was about to board a plane, and I talked to him when he was on the ground in Austin.

Sandra

Added by Sandra Dodd on January 15, 2009 at 10:37pm — 2 Comments

Turkey as National Bird

The wonderful article about the Turkey as National Bird was written by Mike O'Connor of Bird Watcher's General Store, not Ranger Bruce Larsen, who has been asking for donations from folks if they love his bird articles. Ranger Bruce has been posting Mike's articles as his own for a long time.

Mike's articles appear in the weekly newspaper, the Cape Codder. To read Mike's articles, which was lifted from Bird Watcher's General Store in its entirety by Ranger Bruce, please visit… Continue

Added by Catherine Clark on January 11, 2009 at 10:55pm — No Comments

SO True!!!

(I borrowed this from here. (Changing the people to fit the forum.) It's SO true it's funny!

How many unschoolers does it take to change a light bulb?

1 to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed

14 to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently

7 to caution about the dangers of… Continue

Added by Paige on January 11, 2009 at 7:54pm — 2 Comments

Piano Lessons for the Parents

My children have always loved playing music.

Drums, piano, guitar, violin, and a whole host of percussion instruments that we've collected over the years.

Last year I was excited to have the opportunity to allow them both to have piano lessons. I made it clear from the beginning they would be responsible to practice the lessons and that I would not be reminding them to play. I wanted them to be inspired all on their own. They… Continue

Added by Rain Fordyce on January 11, 2009 at 1:17pm — 3 Comments

the fun week that ended in a cloud pajamas and rainbow colored body art sleepover

we have been having a fun week hanging out with taylor and karina while austin is out of town on business (i.e. not having as much fun as us!). monday, we went SHOPPING at petsmart, gamestop and then wal-mart...i don't think i've ever spent so much time at any of these places when i had such small lists. kids can have fun ANYWHERE apparently!!! i have to admit it was fun for me too because i played a wii game at gamestop that had me totally hooked (i'm not much into video games really but when… Continue

Added by laura bowman on January 10, 2009 at 9:33am — 4 Comments

Cool Conversation

Today, Gabe, Oskar and I were in the car for a brief ride to a friend's house. I don't remember how the conversation got started, but we were talking about Harry Potter, which I have been reading out loud to them. We are all enjoying the story, the characters, the setting - we love talking about what we are envisioning when we hear the story. Somehow, we started to compare the characters from Harry Potter to the characters in Star Wars. We matched them up by personality and motive. There was… Continue

Added by Kim S. on January 9, 2009 at 7:06pm — No Comments

Math Salon

If anyone here lives in California, in the Bay area, you might be interested in this event I'm hosting in my home. -Sue

Richmond Math Salon

Saturday, January 10

2 to 5pm

• All ages welcome. (Fun for kids 3 to 90.)

• Explore math in a fun, safe environment,

where no one will judge or grade you.

• A family math event:

You and your kids can explore math

in a way that works for each of you.

This is the… Continue

Added by Sue VanHattum on January 9, 2009 at 10:50am — 1 Comment

Playing Guitar "All Wrong"

My 9yo son just can't seem to figure out the "right" way to hold his guitar! I was wondering if I should keep trying to encourage him to fix his form, but then saw Andy McKee here.

I will leave him alone. :-)

Added by Penina on January 8, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Working with the peace treaty

Last night I was working with the peace treaty with a friend and it was so beautiful!

This is the oldest core belief I have ever discovered with this work.

Her belief began as a 1 year old.

The interesting part was this 1 year old was amazingly smart at protecting herself. The minute we got close to creating the treaty, she began to tell stories of a 6 year old, and then a 12 year old.

I asked, "Can we go back to being one?" I was answered with… Continue

Added by Rain Fordyce on January 8, 2009 at 7:55am — 7 Comments