Wednesday, April 4, 2018

Continue to play

Play can be serious business. Playing is certainly the main way that very young children learn, until they go to school.

What if they don't go to school? What if the ages of five and six don't mark a life change, and the playing progresses along naturally?

Many people would have no idea how to answer that question. The idea that toddlers' play would naturally progress to other levels without interruption, without separation from families, and without professionals telling children when, where and how to play is foreign to most in our culture.

In one small corner, though, it's common knowledge. There are unschoolers whose children have not been to school and who have continued to play.

That writing continues here: SandraDodd.com/playing
photo by Janine

Tuesday, April 3, 2018

More


Alex Polikowsky wrote:

Unschooling takes more,
more presence,
more guidance,
more attention,
more mindfulness,
more connection,
more thinking and questioning,
more choices and better choices.
—Alex Polikowsky

SandraDodd.com/misconceptions
photo by Sandra Dodd

Monday, April 2, 2018

False doom

If a child doing something harmless and happy is thwarted by a parent spouting false doom, the parent is the problem.

The game isn't the problem, the parent is the problem.

The child isn't the problem, the parent is the problem.



SandraDodd.com/gratitude
photo by Sandra Dodd

Sunday, April 1, 2018

And behind that...

Think of something.
What's on the other side of that?

Remember something. What came before that?

Imagine something. What could follow?

See something. Remember there is more than you can see.

The words are new, but this is a cousin:
Perspective: Looking back, looking around

photo by Caren Knox, who described it as
"La bella luna, flirting from behind our tree"

Saturday, March 31, 2018

Friday, March 30, 2018

Gentle moments

"Gentle moments call for a calm mind."
—Holly Dodd
Gentle, patient and generous
photo by Holly Dodd

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Work can be fun


When the adults are happy and the children have choices, work can be fun.

SandraDodd.com/choice
photo by Sabine Mellinger