Familiar things

Favorite tools, stored in the same old way, make your home special, and will be part of a child's memories. Love your normal stuff.

SandraDodd.com/dishes
photo by Sandra Dodd of some familiar things at Polly's house

How long?

How long should you be calm?

Longer than you think you need to be.

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SandraDodd.com/calm
Thanks to Amber Ivey for saving a quote from a workshop I ran in Arizona.
photo by Sandra Dodd

Props

Props and costumes can help children to perceive the world in a slightly different way, and those thoughts add to their knowledge.

SandraDodd.com/imagination
photo by Lydia Koltai

What we know

We can't tell by looking at a child that learning is taking place. When unschooling is working well, though, we begin to know that if they are interested, engaged and thinking, they are making their own connections, large or small.

SandraDodd.com/proof
photo by Chrissy Florence

Deposit the good stuff.

When people ask about being happier and more positive, the answer can't help but be the same. BE happier. BE positive.

But as with any accounting (think a bank account), withdrawals deplete your reserves. Every negative word, thought or deed takes peace and positivity out of your account. Cynicism, sarcasm—which some people enjoy and defend—are costly, if your goal is peace.

SandraDodd.com/negativity (which is really about positivity)
photo by Janine

A useful gate

"Rather than experiencing you as a gate that either opens or closes, let him experience you as someone he can depend on to help."

—Joyce Fetteroll

in a discussion November 10, 2016, on facebook
photo by Sandra Dodd

Food and art

Food can be art, and there is art about food.

Some thing are obvious, like cake decoration, or piemaking. But even when you make a sandwich, it can be cut artfully and arranged nicely on a plate. You could use matching dishes, even if you're only feeding one child.

Aesthetics! Look for beauty, and create a bit of it.

SandraDodd.com/foodfun
photo by Jacki, Hannah's mom, long ago