Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Spinning

Movement can be joy for children. It doesn't need to be organized, formal, or measured. Spinning for fun, jumping, climbing, rolling down a hill—think back to your own childhood memories of moving in new ways.

SandraDodd.com/physicality
photo by Chrissy Florence
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Monday, March 14, 2016

Just enough peace

Can there be too much peace? For learning, yes. Learning requires mental arousal. If an environment is so still and barren that one's curiosity isn't sparked, then people might be closer to a state of sleep than of excited curiosity. Life can be too dull and quiet for learning to spontaneously happen.

Can there be too little peace? Yes, and in many ways. There can be too much noise, stimulation and chaos. So finding the balance place and the comfort level is part of creating a peaceful home.

SandraDodd.com/peace/noisy
photo by Andrea Justice
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Sunday, March 13, 2016

Serious fun

"Fun is serious. Fun is important, especially for kids. Don't underrate fun. People who are not happy as children seldom find easy or lasting happiness as adults."
—Deb Lewis

The quote comes from something beautiful, and serious, about Scooby-Doo
at the second link here: SandraDodd.com/scoobydoo
photo by Janine Davies

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Help on the journey


Shared from e-mail, with the author's permission:

"I just started to think and learn about unschooling late last year, and when I first signed up for Just Add Light and Stir I couldn't imagine how the kinds of things you post would help me understand unschooling. But as time goes by I feel like these posts are almost what has helped me more than anything! I find that I really look forward to reading them every day, and they accompany me on my journey into this new territory."
—Susan Walker


SandraDodd.com/beginning
photo by Elise Lauterbach
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Friday, March 11, 2016

Happy heroes

Adam in a Jedi robe with lightsabre
Courage, real or imagined, can make a person bigger—larger of soul and of confidence. "Big hearted," it once meant.

When a parent has the heart, and soul, and confidence to stand heroically between a child and fear, that takes courage. Defending a child from criticism and negativity (even from our own) makes us bigger.


SandraDodd.com/deblewis/courage
(The words above are Sandra Dodd's, new today,
but the link is to "Becoming Courageous," by Deb Lewis.)
photo by Julie D
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Thursday, March 10, 2016

Special delivery

kid snack food in four-section tray"Food you want, served to you by someone who loves you and brings it to you with a smile and a hug, has magical powers to heal and replenish the soul as well as the body."
—Shan Burton
SandraDodd.com/service
photo by Robyn Coburn

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Connect the dots


History is infinite, that's for sure. You've gotta start somewhere, and pretty much it doesn't matter where you start because it's all connected, like a universe-sized dot-to-dot you could never finish but you started when you were born.

SandraDodd.com/history
photo by Lisa Jonick