Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Better, patient, kind


Learning to live better with children makes one a better person. Being patient with a child creates more patience. Being kind to a child makes one a kinder person.

SandraDodd.com/betterpartner
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Monday, April 14, 2014

Good habits


"If you want to establish good habits, be gentle with your kids' feelings. Make their lives warmer and softer and easier so the habits they develop are those of warmth and joy, comfort and care."
—Meredith Novak
April 13, 2014

You might like "Building an Unschooling Nest": SandraDodd.com/nest
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Sunday, April 13, 2014

The most important word

"The most important word in unschooling is 'with'."
—Sue Patterson
April 12, 2014
More on being with: SandraDodd.com/being
photo by Sandra Dodd

Saturday, April 12, 2014

New truths

"A lot of learning about unschooling is unlearning a lot of stuff that you're sure is true about learning."
—Joyce Fetteroll

light through a hole in the top of a cave

More by Joyce about How Unschooling Works
and the original writing, of which the line above is just the closing
photo by Sandra Dodd

Friday, April 11, 2014

Don't fight nature

"Unschooling involves recognizing that fighting against human nature doesn't make better people."
—Meredith Novak

SandraDodd.com/pressure
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Thursday, April 10, 2014

The power to give kids choices

two-passenger bumblebee, playground ride for toddlers
If children have freedom to choose, it's because the parents GIVE them that freedom, because they have the power to give it to them.

For a parent to absolutely decide that he will never "insist" is going way too far, I think. Not only could it be, in some cases, illegal and neglectful, if the parent isn't even clear on what her duties and responsibilities are as a parent, maybe she isn't thinking clearly about other things, either.

Part of something long about If-then contracts
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Happy momentum

plastic marble run

Jenny Cyphers wrote:

One of the very important aspects of unschooling that is solely on the parents, is to create a happy learning environment. Kids don't learn nearly as well when they aren't happy. It doesn't mean that every person needs to be happy at every moment of every day, it means that things that create happy momentum should be paramount from day to day.
—Jenny Cyphers

SandraDodd.com/happy
photo by Sandra Dodd
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