SandraDodd.com/strewing
photo by Sandra Dodd
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Gradually, without fanfare, be more positive and more supportive. |
The way to know the right direction is to identify the wrong direction. |
[Some families] had stopped doing school, and then stopped making their kids do anything, and now their kids were doing NOTHING.
Aside from the idea of the rich potential of their "nothing," the parents had gone from making their kids do everything, to "making them do nothing." And interestingly, it did make them "do nothing," at first. Or at least the parents couldn't see the new things they were doing.
Rather than moving from one edge of a dichotomy to the other, the goal is to move to a whole new previously unknown middle place.
Breathe in a happy memory.
Breathe out gratitude.
Breathe in hope.
Breathe out love.
The time will come in your unschooling when you will forget to use checklists, but it won't matter. The child's internal grid will already have given them the need to know what things feel, smell and taste, and what they used to be or will be, and whether it's different in other places. Connections will continue to be made throughout their lives. The universe inside will grow larger and the universe outside will become clearer with every new experience. |
How will you know if they're learning? Teachers need to measure and document because they need to show progress so they can get paid, and keep their jobs. They test and measure because they don't always know each child well. Parents know a child is learning because they're seeing and discussing and doing things together every day. Not five days a week, or most of the year, but all of the days of their whole lives. |
"Be who you believe it's best to be. Act according to your own values. Create an atmosphere where making a kind choice is easier than making a hurtful choice. Create an atmosphere where everyone feels safe." —Joyce Fetteroll |
Children are naturally curious. Sometimes an adult who had learned not to learn, or had grown up to be self-conscious about enthusiasm and curiosity, rediscovers the joy of discovery. |