Natural light

Natural light comes not only from the sun, the moon, and a bit from stars if you're away from towns, but a bit can come from warm hearts and loving eyes.

May your heart be merry and bright.

SandraDodd.com/positivity
photo by Jeff Bettis, who also built the gate and fence, and laid the brick

Structure

In 1992, someone asked:

How do I structure our days
and how do I structure our learning time?

I think it should be "Woke up, got dressed, ate, played, ate, played, etc." In other words, I don’t think there should or can be any “days off” from child-centered "education."

If this seems wrong, try this experiment: Keep your child from learning anything for a few days. Make sure that from the first waking moment there is nothing learned, no new material, no original thoughts to ponder, etc. The only problem is that you would have to keep the children from playing, talking, reading, cleaning or repairing anything, etc.

from page 1 of Moving a Puddle

see also SandraDodd.com/structure
photo by Sandra Dodd

Interwoven

In weaving, one thread touches all the others. At first, learning is in one place, play is in another, and work is in a third. Unschoolers can gradually become people whose lives are made of learning and togetherness. When play has value, and parents see learning in everything, the fiber and substance of the family's life change.

What is woven into your life is part of your being.

SandraDodd.com/substance
photo by Nancy Machaj

Lighten up

Holidays can be stressful, and often involve hard work. Look for joy and sparkles out of the corner of your eye. Spot beauty and look twice.

Be as magical as you can be.

SandraDodd.com/positivity
photo (click it) by Sandra Dodd

A warm welcome

Deb Lewis wrote:

If you could not have both or if it was rare to have both, consider which would be more important, having your daughter’s help with housework or having a warm and loving relationship with her. Which will serve her better? Children who do not have a loving connection with parents *will* look for one elsewhere. They may find it with people who don’t have their best interest at heart.

—Deb Lewis

French translation

SandraDodd.com/nest
photo by Sandra Dodd

Never easier!

Teresa Y. wrote:

People have a lot of resources these days, and they are mostly very accessible; of course it makes sense that some of them would seek to use what's available to them when they want it, not just what the schools offer between 8 and 3. It possibly has never been easier to learn about as many different things from so many different sources as it is right now.

—Teresa Y.
(original)

SandraDodd.com/unschooling
photo by Sandra Dodd

Comments on a comet

Deb Lewis wrote more before and after this, but once when her son had a new telescope and there was a comet showing from Montana...

The comet was elusive, but the clouds were stunningly beautiful with the sun burning behind them. The moon hung on for us as the sky turned that powdery blue of early morning. When there was finally enough light to see down into the valley, we counted deer all around us in the fields. And as the morning brightened, we could see tiny frost crystals shimmering in the air like glittering confetti. We didn't see the comet, but as we drove home we didn't feel like we'd missed anything at all. We had gone to find one thing but found other things instead. The comet was there, shooting toward the sun whether our eyes saw it or not, and it turns out, that's ok.

I think unschooling is better when we can be surprised or inspired even when things aren't going exactly as we planned, when we can welcome what comes, even if it wasn't what we expected.

—Deb Lewis

SandraDodd.com/deblewis/notevenclose
photo by Deb Lewis