This Connects
I have been enjoying Joyce Fetterol's site: Joyful Rejoycing. Great name--- especially if your name is Joyce! And you have a perspective like hers. :) Her site is very well indexed, fun to look through. I think it must be from emails from the unschooling.com site?
Click here for Joyce's site
Here are some things I appreciated greatly and are giving me food for thought:
"Schooling works by pouring expertly selected bits of the world into a child.
Unschooling works by the child pulling in what he wants and needs. It works best by noticing what the child is asking for and helping him get it. It works best by running the world through their lives so they know what it's possible to be interested in."
"There's no reason not to use (and learn as a side effect) math when there are games and things to figure out and stuff to spend allowance on. There's no reason not to use science when the world is full of wondrous things and a child is filled with curiosity. (It won't look like school science. It will look like -- and be -- real science: observing and asking questions and theorizing what could be the cause.) There's no reason not to use history when the past is full of stories of interesting people and places and events."
"Unfortunately school gives us the impression that there's a huge body of knowledge that's unconnected to its use. Mainly because schools teach it that way: isolated and out of context. It seems the only way to learn math is to do a gazillion math problems. The only way to learn science seems is to memorize all the answers scientists have discovered. The only way to learn history is to start at the beginning and go through all the "important" events to present day.
But when we learn by living life, all those subjects are just tools that we pick up and use when we need them. And we learn how to make the tools work by using them."
...and this from
Pam Sorooshian:
"Show respect for all of a child's interests equally.
Keep the child in mind as I go through life, so that I notice things that might be of interest to that child.
Find ways to include the child in my own daily life - live a more"open-book' life than the norm.
Follow up on things the child is interested in - and do this in a wide variety of ways, not only by "getting him a book on it."
Live a family life that is rich with experiences of a variety of kinds both at home and outside the home.
Have resources around the home that are interesting and stimulating - things that will encourage exploration of ideas.
Discuss things - spend time in conversation. This is probably overall the most important parental"action' involved in unschooling.
(I am very encouraged to hear this as this is probably the primary means of learning in our home.- thanks Pam!)
Have a"playful' attitude - play together, have fun, appreciate the amazing world around you.
Don't be cynical, be able to be amazed and find the world a fascinating place. THIS is the most important"attitude' for an unschooling parent.
Be self-aware of your own thinking and behavior. Purposely stretch your imagination - question your own assumptions, check your own automatic impulses.
Be very observant of what your child is really doing - don't view him/her in a shallow superficial way. Recognize that there is a reason for a child's actions, that a child is"born to learn' and is always learning.
Get to know your child's own special favored ways of learning
Wholeheartedly support a child's passions EVEN if, to you, they don't look like "education."
Click here for Joyce's site
Here are some things I appreciated greatly and are giving me food for thought:
"Schooling works by pouring expertly selected bits of the world into a child.
Unschooling works by the child pulling in what he wants and needs. It works best by noticing what the child is asking for and helping him get it. It works best by running the world through their lives so they know what it's possible to be interested in."
"There's no reason not to use (and learn as a side effect) math when there are games and things to figure out and stuff to spend allowance on. There's no reason not to use science when the world is full of wondrous things and a child is filled with curiosity. (It won't look like school science. It will look like -- and be -- real science: observing and asking questions and theorizing what could be the cause.) There's no reason not to use history when the past is full of stories of interesting people and places and events."
"Unfortunately school gives us the impression that there's a huge body of knowledge that's unconnected to its use. Mainly because schools teach it that way: isolated and out of context. It seems the only way to learn math is to do a gazillion math problems. The only way to learn science seems is to memorize all the answers scientists have discovered. The only way to learn history is to start at the beginning and go through all the "important" events to present day.
But when we learn by living life, all those subjects are just tools that we pick up and use when we need them. And we learn how to make the tools work by using them."
...and this from
Pam Sorooshian:
"Show respect for all of a child's interests equally.
Keep the child in mind as I go through life, so that I notice things that might be of interest to that child.
Find ways to include the child in my own daily life - live a more"open-book' life than the norm.
Follow up on things the child is interested in - and do this in a wide variety of ways, not only by "getting him a book on it."
Live a family life that is rich with experiences of a variety of kinds both at home and outside the home.
Have resources around the home that are interesting and stimulating - things that will encourage exploration of ideas.
Discuss things - spend time in conversation. This is probably overall the most important parental"action' involved in unschooling.
(I am very encouraged to hear this as this is probably the primary means of learning in our home.- thanks Pam!)
Have a"playful' attitude - play together, have fun, appreciate the amazing world around you.
Don't be cynical, be able to be amazed and find the world a fascinating place. THIS is the most important"attitude' for an unschooling parent.
Be self-aware of your own thinking and behavior. Purposely stretch your imagination - question your own assumptions, check your own automatic impulses.
Be very observant of what your child is really doing - don't view him/her in a shallow superficial way. Recognize that there is a reason for a child's actions, that a child is"born to learn' and is always learning.
Get to know your child's own special favored ways of learning
Wholeheartedly support a child's passions EVEN if, to you, they don't look like "education."
posted by Cindy at 9:01 PM
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