Saturday, November 30, 2013

A moment of nothing much

Schuyler Waynforth wrote:

Deschooling doesn't work until you let go of structure. Early days unschooling is about learning how to see learning in all things and if you are still looking to the structure of curricula it will be very, very difficult to grasp the fundamentals of unschooling. Having go-to ideas of things to do or engagements to offer is a good thing, but having those things be about education or a passing on of pieces of specific knowledge it won't help you to see the glorious world of unschooling. Those things are best if they are just kind of a fun thing to do in a moment of nothing much going on. Learning will happen.
SandraDodd.com/fabric
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Friday, November 29, 2013

Helping

Pay attention to your child and help him do/find/see/experience things that will interest him. Help him be his best self as often as you can.
SandraDodd.com/intelligences
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Thursday, November 28, 2013

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

When? Maybe not.

toy oven, doll furniture

Pam Sorooshian wrote:

We can't always fix everything for our kids or save them from every hurt. It can be a delicate balancing act—when should we intervene, when should we stay out of the way? Empathy goes a long long way and may often be all your child needs or wants. Be available to offer more, but let your child be your guide. Maybe your child wants guidance, ideas, support, or intervention. Maybe not. Sometimes the best thing you can offer is distraction.
—Pam Sorooshian

SandraDodd.com/pam/howto
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Tuesday, November 26, 2013

A new everything


Someone wrote that learning about unschooling felt like learning a new language.

I responded
It's like learning a new everything, but an all-slightly-better everything.

SandraDodd.com/beginning
The photo is Rippy, Graham, Gianluca and Gisele, a lifetime ago.

Monday, November 25, 2013

Be that way

by Bruno Machado 2 photo IMG_6270.jpg Be the way you want your children to be, and they will want to be like you.
Look here or at SandraDodd.com/being
photo by Bruno Machado
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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Investing at home

old sailboat, listing, nice reflectionSomeone commented that responses to her questions had hurt her feelings. I wrote:

When he is calm and happy and trusting, THEN you will feel better—not because of things we wrote, or didn't, but because you will BE better. You will see it in your son's eyes.

Don't make it about you. Make it about his range of exploration and his choices and his learning and his happiness. You can live on the interest, if you invest enough in him.

(at Radical Unschooling Info, on Facebook)
photo by Colleen Prieto
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