Help them

Help them have choices. Help them make choices.

Sandra, from a talk given in Texas, 2014
photo by Rippy Dusseldorp

Learning floods in

When our schoolish expectations start to dissolve, learning floods in from all directions.

Learning for Fun (interview)
photo by Sandra Dodd

Fantastic

I cannot fathom wanting my son to have Less of whatever brings him joy. Because as far as I know, he will only live once—and I want that life — his life — to be amazing. Not mediocre, or moderate, or almost-good-enough. I want it to be fantastic. Fantastic!! —Colleen Prieto

SandraDodd.com/abundance
photo by Rippy Dusseldorp

Evidence of learning

Response to a question about what proof there is that unschooled kids are learning:

If the question is whether kids are learning, parents can tell when they're learning because they're there with them. How did you know when your child could ride a bike? You were able to let go, quit running, and watch him ride away. You know they can tell time when they tell you what time it is. You know they're learning to read when you spell something out to your husband and the kid speaks the secret word right in front of the younger siblings. In real-life practical ways children begin to use what they're learning, and as they're not off at school, the parents see the evidence of their learning constantly.

SandraDodd.com/interview
photo by Sandra Dodd

Temporary patterns

Appreciate what you're seeing and doing without expecting it to last.

SandraDodd.com/gratitude
photo by Colleen Prieto
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Learning to see why

People who learn to see their options and choices will live with an increasingly healthy awareness of why they are choosing their actions, words and thoughts.

SandraDodd.com/choices
photo by Sandra Dodd

Words, pictures and music

My mother did the best she could, I suppose. I need to do the best I can do. So I tell my children everything they want to know. I show them the world in words and pictures and music. While they're becoming better, wiser people, I am too. I wish I had learned these things before they were born, but I didn't have my teachers yet. I have tried to pass on to other moms the best of what works well for us, and to put little warning beacons near pitfalls.

Knowing Everything
photo by Karen James, in Japan
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