photo by Sandra Dodd
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Sparkly and joyful
photo by Sandra Dodd
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Observation and curiosity
If you look closely, and are curious, learning happens. New input + questions = new hooks to hang other information on. Look at the image on the building. It's a parachute, with a zia. Why? Come and see how a collection can branch off and curl back, touching on unexpected people, places, times and ideas. Zias and Pickups (on facebook) |
Those without facebook access might want to
play around with one of these collections of connections:
ziathings.blogspot.com
wheelbarrowthings.blogspot.com
thinkingsticks.blogspot.com
Thursday, December 13, 2018
As well as you can
photo by Kristy Hinds
(inside one of the cliff dwellings at Bandelier)
Monday, December 3, 2018
Practice acceptance
Practice being accepting of whatever cool things come along, and providing more opportunities for coolness to unfold. |
photo by Jo Isaac
Friday, November 23, 2018
There is no "have to"
It is such a relief to know that there is no requirement here. You can just be yourself and follow what interests you. There is no “have to” hanging over your head... —Maria Randolph |
photo by Robin Bentley
Monday, November 12, 2018
Happily and successfully
Pam Sorooshian wrote:
Unschooling happily and successfully requires clear thinking.
photo by Janine Davies
Friday, November 9, 2018
Surprising beauty
Why travel to an art museum when a bus stop can do this?
But it won't do it all day, or every day. Light, projections, shadows, are fleeting, and people aren't always there to see them.
Art museums are good, but art is unfolding all around us.
photo by Elaine Cambridge
Saturday, November 3, 2018
In the old days...
Sometimes when I see something unusual, rare, or notice something from a special angle, I think of how important an ability to draw was before there were cameras. Someone who didn't have a chance to draw, or couldn't draw from memory, wouldn't be able to share with others except with words. I like words, but I wouldn't be able to describe these chimneys, which I got to see from the roof of East Barsham Manor, in Norfolk. |
Nice that I had a camera.
The builders had no idea, in 1620, that a camera would ever come along.
photo by Sandra Dodd
Friday, August 24, 2018
Life is fairly unfair
Who's responsible for making life fair? Where and when has life been fair, and can we produce that condition again?
Parents try to be fair with their children, and sometimes do it by counting and measuring the time and money they put toward one child and another, but is it "fair" to give an introverted child who isn't needy the same amount of attention one might give an unsettled, hyper, talkative kid with the urge to collect something that costs money?
Individual needs (which is soothing)
photo by Ester Siroky
__
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
Options beyond
Children and parents both will find many choices, crossroads, options and surprises as life unfolds.
We see an opportunity, or a passageway, or a place to sit for a moment, but we can't know what the effect will be of choosing that or opting out.
Living with curiosity and joy, acceptance and calm, will help you through surprises and through lulls. There will be other paths to take, other places to rest.
photo by Ester Siroky
___
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Actually seeing it
It would help to be in contact with other unschoolers at playgroups or on the internet, and to meet unschooling families with children of various ages. It's difficult to imagine it, so it's easier to actually see it.
This new way of seeing the world involves seeing music in history, and science in geography, and art in math, and not talking about it. The last part is the hardest part.
I don't mean never talk about it. I mean don't say "Oooh, look! Science!" Once a person knows science is everywhere, and everything is connected to everything else, there will be nothing to talk about except the topic at hand, or where they're going or what they're seeing. The learning will happen without being labeled and sorted out. The labeling and sorting can prevent learning.
photo by Ester Siroky
____
Friday, August 3, 2018
Details
photo by Ester Siroky
__
Wednesday, July 11, 2018
A better tongue twister
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Steps toward "better"
photo by Ester Siroky
Monday, January 29, 2018
Something old, something new...
Disposable Checklists for Unschoolers
photo by Sandra Dodd, in Corrales, New Mexico;
Sandia Mountains in the distance, with clouds
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Quite quiet
Sometimes, look without narrating. Think without voicing. Too much commentary can make words less valuable. See shadows and sunshine and shapes and children without always saying so. |
photo by Sandra Dodd, who talks too much
Monday, October 9, 2017
Energy and joy
SandraDodd.com/peace/newview
photo by Megan Valnes
__
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
Gradual and constant improvement
Those who really want to unschool well should probably read something every day or three, from my site, or Joyce's or somewhere. Waiting until there's a problem and asking a narrow question will not be as good as gradually and constantly improving one's understanding to the point that there aren't many problems. |
(Those who read here every day might be okay,
but you might want to follow the link, too.)
photo by Megan Valnes
Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Doing it
It seems simple to me. If you're trying to listen for a sound, you have to stop talking and be still.
Some people want to see unschooling while they're still teaching and putzing and
They have to stop that FIRST. And then they have to be still. And then they have to look at their child with new eyes.
If they don't, it won't happen.
photo by Sukayna, in Lebanon
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Deep and wide and whole
We recently took Fisher to a Blue Man Group concert—his first real "grown-up" show. Again, I could see all the connections being made—he watched how the instruments were being played, listened to how the sounds and the rhythms came together, jumped and bopped his head and let it all come together inside of him. His knowledge and awareness of music is growing deep and wide—it's not about "the basics," but about a gestalt, a holistic, systemic approach.
When you ask what component you are missing, this is what I keep coming up with. Are you looking in the wrong places? Are you looking for the basics when in fact, your son's knowledge and understanding is deep and wide and whole? What you see as "basic" are just a few Lego pieces that he'll fill in as he goes—but in looking for those, are you missing the incredibly large, whole creation that he's built up?
photo by Sandra Dodd
__