Parents should be...

Unschooling works well when parents are interesting, positive, thoughtful, considerate, generous, passionate, honest, respectful individuals.

—Deb Lewis

SandraDodd.com/nest
photo by Sandra Dodd
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One interaction at a time

One interaction at a time. Just make the next interaction a relationship-building one. Don't worry about the one AFTER that, until IT becomes "the next one."

the wise words of Pam Sorooshian
at SandraDodd.com/parentingpeacefully
photo by Sandra Dodd, of a flower growing in the rock below Edinburgh Castle

This little light of mine...

The other day after church in Ettrick someone from Scotland was singing to someone from Kenya, "This little light of mine..."

Melissa Wiley tweeted: "5yo is singing: 'Put the light in the coconut and squeeze it all up'," about the same day that my daughter, Holly, tweeted: "Oh man. It's June. I want to start paying attention to more sunsets while I'm in the land of them."

I woke up in County Durham, UK, impressed that the sun was shining and I could see a contrail in the sky. Very clear, after mostly-grey days.

The same sun shines on us all, just not all at the same time, and the soundtrack varies.

photo by Sandra Dodd

Mindfulness practice

"Unschooling, in a very real sense, is a mindfulness practice. Being in the moment with our children, trusting the flow of life, seeing our connections to them and to all of the universe, etc."

—Ren Allen

SandraDodd.com/parentingpeacefully
photo by Sandra Dodd
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That reminds me...

"That reminds me..."

That's all it takes. If one thing makes you think of another thing, you form a connection between them in your mind. The more connections you have, the better access you have to cross-connections. The more things something can remind you of, the more you know about it, or are learning about it.

Flat representations can't show these connections. Neither could an elaborate three-dimensional model, because when you consider what a thing is or what it's like, you not only make connections with other concepts, but experiences and emotions. You will have connections reaching into the past and the future, connections related to sounds, smells, tastes and textures. The more you know about something, the more you can know, because there are more and more hooks to hang more information on—more dots to connect.

SandraDodd.com/connections
photo by Sandra Dodd, of a gate at Yarrow Manse
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Riches

Joyce Fetteroll, in response to someone wondering whether boredom or deprivation would increase curiosity:

If all a kid has is rocks and sticks, they'll turn those rocks and sticks into a wide variety of things. If a kid has a Pokemon, it's usually going to be a Pokemon. To see the rich storytelling the child doing, it takes more attention and more understanding of what the child is interested in.

Einstein and Ferrari and e.e. cummings and Steve Jobs didn't build from sticks and stones. They built off of what others had created before. Kids shouldn't have to be made to reinvent story telling because their parents aren't engaged enough to understand what's happening with the Barbies and the Pokemon.

—Joyce Fetteroll

photo by Sandra Dodd
of toys bought at a carboot sale
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Exploring

Joyce wrote:

"Our role is to walk by their sides as they explore, not let them explore on their own. At times we need to hang back and be quiet so they can have the time and freedom to explore something that fascinates them. At times we need to share their enjoyment and be with them (even if it's the umpty gajillionth rerun of Spongebob Squarepants ;-) At times we need to point things out. At times we need to share the things we love. At times we need to take them to places they wouldn't know to explore."

—Joyce Fetteroll

SandraDodd.com/joyce/products
photo by Sandra Dodd
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