Exploring, playing, relationships

Schuyler Waynforth wrote:

We have chosen to listen to our children, to pay attention to their needs and their wants instead of telling them that they must conform to our needs and our wants.


It means that for me if Simon (my 8 year old son) asks me to help him play Tales of Symphonia on the gamecube and I happen to be doing the dishes I may ask that he wait the 10 minutes or more likely than not I may just let the dishes soak and come and play with him. The dishes will be easier to clean when I empty the sink and refill it with warm water and I will have gotten to spend an hour with my son talking and exploring and playing and continuing to forge a relationship that makes me so happy I cannot begin to express my joy.

SandraDodd.com/schuyler/rant
That was from an unusual (for Schuyler) rant in 2007.

Here are some newer words from this ever-thoughtful unschooling mom:
Schuyler Waynforth Interview

photo by Sandra Dodd, of Schuyler's cat in 2009
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Simple, warm and homey

Any moment or memory that is simple, warm and homey is a success.

Peaceful moments can be very simple.

SandraDodd.com/peace
photo by Caroline Lieber

Breathe like you mean it

People breathe all the time. People are not always conscious of it, though, and so their breathing simply keeps them alive.

Beyond basic function, there are heights of mindfulness and awareness you can reach up to with conscious breathing.

Breathe before you act. Breathe before you speak. Breathe before you play. Breathe before you work. Breathe before you sleep. Breathe when you wake up. Breathe when you think of your child.

Breathing and Safety
photo by Pushpa Ramachandran
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A thousand or three choices

If there are a thousand choices, or even three choices, how do you choose? Some people like to live without choices, so they can say "I had no choice."

So how do you choose? You decide where you want to go before you decide to turn left or right, don't you?

Just like that.

The way to know the right direction is to identify the wrong direction.

How to Screw Up Unschooling

original, on Always Learning, April 2009
photo by Karen James
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Invisible growth

You can't see what a child is learning. You can't know for sure what she knows.

She probably doesn't know what she's learning either, but all the little pieces will be connected to new information as time passes.

I don't usually know what I'm learning, until I look back and see how my thoughts and experiences crossed, connected and unfolded to bring me to today.

You can't see it all
photo by Elaine Santana
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An outpouring of growth

Schuyler Waynforth wrote:

I am often struck by how much of an effective method unschooling is. Maybe effective isn't the right word, but it feels right, or apt. I don't know of any other approach to people that helps them to feel more themselves, more powerful, more generous, more capable, more loved. And what an outpouring you get in response. And I feel so much better as this parent than I did as the parent I used to be.

—Schuyler Waynforth

SandraDodd.com/substance
photo by Cass Kotrba

Travel, or memories

This is not the greatest travel season of the century, but some families are able to go, a bit, to camp or hike.

Memories, or sharing stories and photos, might be the best substitute for a while. "Armchair traveling" might make a return, though Facebook and Youtube, films and documentaries can make it more interesting, and vibrant, with music and voices.

Pleasant thoughts while only looking at photos of distant places are better than grumpy thoughts, no matter where. Happy travel will return someday.

The photo above was taken in Kansas. Scientifically, is Kansas flatter than a pancake? There is a graph here: SandraDodd.com/science
photo by Karen Lundy