Look for beauty in the tiniest things in the smallest moments. |
photo by Sandra Dodd
Look for beauty in the tiniest things in the smallest moments. |
![]() | "Your perspective will change when you've experienced new things, seen the world from a different place." —Debbie Regan |
![]() | One of the beautiful things about unschooling is it gives our kids time to really explore the things they love—to see where they might lead. And if they don't lead to a career or life-long hobby, the love of the thing, in the moment, is still a valuable experience. If you could magically know what would give your child joy, wouldn't you want to provide it? The magic is in trusting our kids to know what they want and in helping them do as much of that as we possibly can. It's not always easy or comfortable, but how do you put a price on learning and joy? —Deb Lewis |
Don't miss this fun and easy opportunity to tie different "subjects" together by using a song as a jumping off place to many different discussions. If you need ideas, name a song here and see how many suggestions you can get for it!
2012:
What's above was written in 1993. Someone named "Blue Suede Shoes," thinking it wouldn't net much. I just wrote and wrote that day, and luckily I printed it out and saved it. The link below leads to my response, commentary and a video of Elvis doing another song, that leads to another song, and... you know.
![]() | One of my main principles has been that it's my job to protect the peace of each of my children in his or her own home insofar as I can. I'm not just here to protect them from outsiders, axe-murderers and boogie-men of whatever real or imagined sort, but from each other as well. |
Instead of childproofing the world, worldproof your child. | ![]() |
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Sandra Dodd, response in 2000 to: Can anyone explain to me "unschooling"?
It's like "just say no."
Just say no to school years and school schedules and school expectations, school habits and fears and terminology. Just say no to separating the world into important and unimportant things, into separating knowledge into math, science, history and language arts, with music, art and "PE" set in their less important little places.
Most of unschooling has to happen inside the parents. They need to spend some time sorting out what is real from what is construct, and what occurs in nature from what only occurs in school (and then in the minds of those who were told school was real life, school was a kid's fulltime job, school was more important than anything, school would keep them from being ignorant, school would make them happy and rich and right).
It's what happens after all that school stuff is banished from your life.
![]() | Even if you obtain the coolest tools or toys unschoolers could recommend, natural learning isn't in the toys, it's in the reltionship between the adult and child—in the freedom and peace and time to explore and to think. |
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I don't want to spend my volunteer time telling people what to do. I AM willing to help people move away from needing that, and toward seeing that WHY to do things will help them figure out hundreds and thousands of whats and whens and wheres. | ![]() |
Why does...? Who will...? When did...? Where are...? What is...? Do you...? Can I...? | Because... I think... Let's ask... We can look... As far as I know... Sometimes. Yes. |
![]() | If life is a busy, happy swirl, they will learn. Learning is guaranteed. The range and content will vary, but the learning will happen. |
"I really have to be vigilant on myself and try not to control."
![]() | You don't need to control yourself to keep yourself from being controlling. Make generous, kind choices, over and over, as often as you can. |