Passion and optimism

"What it takes to build a rich life is you ... your time, energy, imagination, openness, passion, and optimism." —Claire Horsley

The quote is from elsewhere, but this is a match:
How to Be a Good Unschooler
photo by Sandra Dodd
(not in New Mexico)

Unmeasured and whole

If you are not required by law to test your child, don't choose it.

Because a test score is never ignored, tests affect the relationship between parent and child, and many unschoolers want to preserve their child’s journey to adulthood unmeasured, uncompared, and whole. It might seem crazy from the outside, but the disadvantage of testing is real.

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The second paragraph above is from SandraDodd.com/thoughts.
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Color and light

Physically, visually, emotionally, metaphorically, and in the sound and feel of the words we use, our days are prismatic, moving collections of brightness and shadow, of sharpness and smooth curves. We hear sweet, soft music sometimes, and loud, rough, noisy sorts before long.

When a baby needs to be entertained, you might clap, or dance, or make funny mouth noises. If a child is sleepy, don't do those things. Rock, and hum and touch softly, through cloth maybe.

All these contrasts and changes can be appreciated, and picked through to choose the best for the purpose, the most useful for the moment. Keep the sharp, dangerous things in safe places, and remember that the light and mood will change on their own, in various ways.



SandraDodd.com/change
photo by Holly Dodd

A kind of good

It is possible that one can go out and be a kind of good that is transmitted to others, or which induces goodness in those others around them. Enthusiasm, kindness, helpfulness, generosity of spirit, attention to others' moods—being that kind of good can make the difference between just-a-day and a really good day. If three or five people are all in that mindset it can make everyone's day better, because it spreads.

Sweetness and goodness
photo by Roya Dedeaux

Beyond normal

Being a good parent, not according to a list in a magazine, or vague memories of what grandparents might have thought or said, but being a good parent in the eyes of one's children, in one's examined soul, is a big thing most parents never even see a glimpse of.

We can go beyond normal.

SandraDodd.com/peace/becoming
photo by Janine Davies
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Breathing and baby steps

Breathing and baby steps are useful suggestions for new unschoolers. Both help us to stay in the moment, to relax right where we are rather than leaping ahead or getting mired in "shoulds." They help us cultivate soft, open ground upon which we can rest with joy, and know enough confidence to take the next step. —Leah Rose

The first sentence is slightly amended from the longer writing
(upper left, second item) here: SandraDodd.com/rules
photo by Chrissy Florence

History is Here

History is here—in the appliances and furniture we have in our homes, the medications and bandages and toothpastes we use, popular music and movies, and the available bicycles, skis, computers and candy.


If that seems wrong, look at photos from 1919, or read accounts of what they had, for those things listed above. What were the soles of their shoes made of? What games did they play? How many presidents or kings or prime ministers had there been then? (Depending where you're from, adjust the question—your country might not even have existed in 1919).

SandraDodd.com/Trivial History
photo by Holly Dodd, of two trucks and a jeep, a mailbox
and a tumbleweed, at a farm where she works sometimes
(The truck on the right is hers, but belonged to her grandfather before.)
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