photo by Cathy Koetsier
Showing posts sorted by date for query /enough. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query /enough. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Less control, more learning
photo by Cathy Koetsier
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Am I doing enough?
Karen James wrote:
I asked the same question a few years back. I got an excellent, but unexpected reply. I was told if I thought I wasn't doing enough, then to do more. Now, if our unschooling days start to feel a bit stale to me, I try to make them lively again by using what I know about my son to introduce something(s) fresh to our experience. Doing this has never lead me astray. It might take me in a completely different direction from what I had in mind, but, to me, that's a big part of the fun of this life.
—Karen James
photo of Holly Dodd, by someone with her camera, in 2008
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Slide bars or dimmer switches
photo by Rosie Moon
Friday, January 12, 2024
Let the light shine
Probably everyone reading this knows that, but unschoolers have figured out ways to step away, just far enough to let the light shine on options and choices.
Confidence can grow when unschooling starts working well, and everything seems clearer when it's happening at your house, and not theoretical.
photo by Diane Marcengill
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Plain, thoughtful underpinnings
Strength doesn't need to be high-tech or glitzy. Plain, thoughtful underpinnings and principles can be enough to quietly strengthen a family for many long years.
SandraDodd.com/nest
photo by Dylan Lewis
photo by Dylan Lewis
Saturday, November 4, 2023
Calm, happy, trusting
When he is calm and happy and trusting, THEN you will feel better—not because of things we wrote, or didn't, but because you will BE better. You will see it in your son's eyes.
Don't make it about you. Make it about his range of exploration and his choices and his learning and his happiness. You can live on the interest, if you invest enough in him.
photo by Amy Milstein
Friday, November 3, 2023
Hobbies and games and friendships
photo by Cátia Maciel
Thursday, October 19, 2023
Be careful with "can't"
About reading:
English has one word that, unfortunately, helps charge this whole subject with emotion and doom. I learned this from an exchange with Marty, when he was four. I wrote it down at the time, and have quoted it a few times since, but I've never connected it with reading until now.
"Can't" sounds pretty permanent. We were careful not to say, in our kids' hearing "Marty can't read." We would cheerfully say, "Marty doesn't read yet" (or Kirby, or Holly). With that, every time it was discussed we were clearly indicating that we thought the child WOULD read before long, and it was not a concern. They were certainly learning in many other ways, as anyone close enough to discuss their reading could see!
SandraDodd.com/r/persephonics
photo by Sandra Dodd
English has one word that, unfortunately, helps charge this whole subject with emotion and doom. I learned this from an exchange with Marty, when he was four. I wrote it down at the time, and have quoted it a few times since, but I've never connected it with reading until now.
Wed, Jul 28, 1993
The first thing [Marty] said after “good morning” was “Mom, if you count to infinity, is it illegal?”
I explained to him about infinity, with a million plus one and a “gadillion” plus one. He was fine with the explanation, and I said, “Who told you you can’t count to infinity?” He said I did, so I explained the difference in things that are impossible and things that are illegal (have consequences)
"Can't" sounds pretty permanent. We were careful not to say, in our kids' hearing "Marty can't read." We would cheerfully say, "Marty doesn't read yet" (or Kirby, or Holly). With that, every time it was discussed we were clearly indicating that we thought the child WOULD read before long, and it was not a concern. They were certainly learning in many other ways, as anyone close enough to discuss their reading could see!
photo by Sandra Dodd
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Life at home is blooming
Sandra Dodd & Joyce Kurtak Fetteroll, I came to unschooling to provide a better way to learn for my kids. Then I came to radical unschooling because I discovered it was about more than school. Now I'm discovering my hang-ups about food / nutrition / healthy food obsessions / weekend "junk" binges and controlling the groceries in our home and now radically unschooling (and your wisdom!) is helping me to unravel these problems and live wholly in the area of food too! Radical unschooling has SO MUCH been about me discovering issues I didn't even know I had, and life at home is blooming. I can't thank you enough for sharing your knowledge!
—Heather...
photo by Sarah S, who took the photo in September 2023, of candy that's available for her kids anytime, and invites us to note there is still Easter candy in there
Monday, September 11, 2023
Maintain and replenish
If you think you haven't done enough for your children lately, do more. The richer and safer your children's environment,the more interesting and open to input and entertainment and encouragement, the more learning will happen, whether you're at home or in the car or on another continent.
Maintain and replenish your children's learning environment.
photo by Sandra Dodd
__
Sunday, August 20, 2023
Better than worrying...
Worrying feels like *doing something*, maybe because it is so time-consuming and exhausting.
Every moment we spend worrying about if we're doing "enough" is a moment in which we could be doing something to improve our relationships, even if it's nothing more than lifting our own mood.
—Virginia Warren
photo by Chris Cabatic
Friday, August 18, 2023
What he learns
There's no advantage in looking at what you wish or hope a child will learn. Look at what he learns.
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Saturday, July 8, 2023
Control, more or less
—Joyce Fetteroll
(original)
(original)
photo by Roya Dedeaux
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
Children being themselves
The quote is from The Big Book of Unschooling
photo by Gail Higgins
Monday, July 3, 2023
Conscious, continuous and mindful
In a partnership, be conscious, continuous and mindful.
It doesn't really do any good to be their partner once a week. If you're mean four times and nice one time, that's not enough.
Conscious, continuous and mindful.
There's a sound file there. It's a good one.
photo by Sandra Dodd
Sunday, June 18, 2023
Discovering resources
Sometimes the money question is about fears of not having enough to make home rich and joyful - can we really afford to unschool? Is it expensive? And the answer is yes and no. It takes a lot of resources, but money is just one kind of resource. Time is another—and a big one. If you don't have time to spend with your kids, then unschooling might not be a good choice. Creativity is a useful resource, especially if you're short on money and/or time - you can get by with less creativity if you have more money, though. Adaptability is one of the most vital resources for unschooling - if you don't adapt well to new circumstances, then all the time, money and creativity in the world won't help if you have a child who can't meet all your expectations.
—Meredith Novak
photo by Holly Dodd
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Winding down and transitioning
Party games like blind-mans-bluff and pin-the-tail can be played easily at home with one or two kids. Get a book of party games, or look some up on the web.
Wind down by transitioning to something else, rather than just "that's enough". A snack makes a good transition, or switch to video games or a movie.
—Meredith Novak
Also, there are newer ideas there, about video games that require indoor physicality. It might be a good page to revisit.
photo by Kathryn Robles
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Seeing enough
See learning as your priority, and you will begin to see it more and more.
photo by Sandra Dodd
Thursday, April 20, 2023
A peaceful family
Turns out that peace isn't actually the absence of discord. It's the presence of trust, and it arises when every member of the family is able to relax into the experience of feeling seen and valued, into the knowledge that his or her needs matter and will be met as often as possible—not *never* denied, but not denied on a whim or without a thoughtful reason. Turns out a peaceful family isn't one in which there are no conflicts. It's one in which there is a solid enough foundation of trust and connection to allow for conflicts to arise and be resolved without injuring the relationships. It took me a long time to see that.
—Leah Rose
what Leah wrote above has paragraphs before and after.
photo by Roya Dedeaux
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Good things swirl
Debbie Regan wrote:
Children prosper when parents are able to provide enough sense of safety, calmness and support, that feelings of peace and joy are close at hand. From there the business of childhood—exploring and learning about the world can progress unimpeded by stress. Stress is a distraction from the natural flow of curiosity, focus, joy, excitement, engagement, creativity, emotional awareness, learning...
The more peace and mindfulness I bring in my home, the more all those good things swirl around.
—Debbie Regan
Becoming the Parent You Want to Be
photo by Julie D
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