John Holt was an amazing man and somebody that I greatly respect as an unschooling parent. I've read about half his books and he is one of the reasons that I started looking into a more relaxed approach with Brenna. He was the "grandfather" of unschooling, as they say. I wanted to share some wonderful quotes from him that I find very powerful and inspiring....
“It is as true now as it was then that no matter what tests show, very little of what is taught in school is learned, very little of what is learned is remembered, and very little of what is remembered is used. The things we learn, remember, and use are the things we seek out or meet in the daily, serious, nonschool parts of our lives.”
“Children do not need to be made to learn to be better, told what to do or shown how. If they are given access to enough of the world, they will see clearly enough what things are truly important to themselves and to others, and they will make for themselves a better path into that world then anyone else could make for them”
“To parents I say, above all else, don’t let your home become some terrible miniature copy of the school. No lesson plans! No quizzes! No tests! No report cards! Even leaving your kids alone would be better; at least they could figure out some things on their own. Live together, as well as you can; enjoy life together, as much as you can.”
“It’s not that I feel that school is a good idea gone wrong, but a wrong idea from the word go. It’s a nutty notion that we can have a place where nothing but learning happens, cut off from the rest of life.”
“…the anxiety children feel at constantly being tested, their fear of failure, punishment, and disgrace, severely reduces their ability both to perceive and to remember, and drives them away from the material being studied into strategies for fooling teachers into thinking they know what they really don’t know."
“What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out."
“True learning – learning that is permanent and useful, that leads to intelligent action and further learning — can arise only out of the experience, interest, and concerns of the learner”
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Very Long Over-Do Hello!
Hello. My name is Brandi and I am a Facebook addict.
LOL Yes, that is why I have not written anything on my blog in a very long while! I created a Facebook account a few months ago and it has been consuming my computer life. 90% of the time that I spend on the computer is on that stinkin' website. For those of you who have an account, you might understand where I am coming from. For those who do not, my apologies. I will try to start keeping up a little better with my blog.
Wow! So much has happened since I last posted! I don't even know where to begin.....
First I have to brag about my smart, sweet daughter. She is absolutely amazing! She blows me away everyday with things that she learns and figures out. For those who say you need forced learning and that children need to learn things at a certain age -- I say "Phooey"!! lol Yeah, blogger is totally going to get me on the spelling of THAT word! hehehe But seriously, she's one smart cookie. Not just book smart either - she can really figure things out and she is very sharp. The things that she retains is awesome too. Spelling for example.... I pretty much just have to tell her how to spell a word one time and she remembers it. Her writing is getting so much better too. That was one thing that I was concerned about for a while but it has been improving drastically. Everything that I have worried about in the past, she has proved me wrong with and I am getting so much more comfortable in letting her go at her own pace. This whole unschooling thing is a very long journey. And yes, it's a tad bit scary and unfamiliar. It's definitely not easy and takes a lot of patience and tons of trust, but it gets easier as the weeks and months (and years!) go by. Right now I am a little concerned with her learning how to tell time but I am just being patient and waiting for it to "click" (and it will - I have learned that!!). I know that it will come in time and that she doesn't need to follow MY time-line and learn it when I think she needs to learn it. When it becomes relevant to her life, it will take about 5 minutes for her comprehend it. I'm not saying that she has no clue at all about time - that's not the case at all! She knows the hours and knows that a half hour is 30 minutes, AM vs. PM, ect... but if you ask her to look at a clock when it's 4:20 and tell you what time it is, then she'll have somewhat of a hard time. But that's okay. She'll get it eventually - I have absolutely no doubt about that. Just like everything else I have ever worried about. She ALWAYS comes through and always eases my fears. I'm actually getting better at not worrying so much. It's hard though when you are so used to the "school schedule" and with kids learning things at certain ages. It is in the back of my mind but as time goes on it doesn't bother me as much. Like I said earlier, it's all about trust and I trust my daughter to learn the things that she needs to learn.
So one funny thing that I want to share about the whole homeschooling thing --- I was talking to her Girl Scout leader the other night. Brenna had a sleep over last Friday for Girl Scouts and her leader was asking me if she had a good time. Brenna raved about it and loved it and I was telling her that, yes, she had a blast. Her leader then told me that she has had a few homeschoolers in her troop before and they have always been very shy and mousy and not very outspoken, but not Brenna!! Oh no! She was extremely surprised at how out-spoken and fun she was. I just laughed and said yes, Brenna is definitely NOT the quiet type. When people ask me about the whole "socialization" thing I have to chuckle a bit (and secretly roll my eyes). It's funny how people stereotype homeschoolers. LOL
So on to other big news!! I have a new nephew!! OMG, he is sooo cute and I am such a proud Aunt! He was born on Monday (1/11/10) and is the most perfect little boy you have ever seen! Very, very cute and such a good baby. It will be interesting having a little boy in the family, especially since we've just had Brenna and Keira thus far. I will have to take pictures and post them on my blog very soon.
Well hopefully I will post again soon -- with me, you never know! LOL
Happy New Year to everyone!
LOL Yes, that is why I have not written anything on my blog in a very long while! I created a Facebook account a few months ago and it has been consuming my computer life. 90% of the time that I spend on the computer is on that stinkin' website. For those of you who have an account, you might understand where I am coming from. For those who do not, my apologies. I will try to start keeping up a little better with my blog.
Wow! So much has happened since I last posted! I don't even know where to begin.....
First I have to brag about my smart, sweet daughter. She is absolutely amazing! She blows me away everyday with things that she learns and figures out. For those who say you need forced learning and that children need to learn things at a certain age -- I say "Phooey"!! lol Yeah, blogger is totally going to get me on the spelling of THAT word! hehehe But seriously, she's one smart cookie. Not just book smart either - she can really figure things out and she is very sharp. The things that she retains is awesome too. Spelling for example.... I pretty much just have to tell her how to spell a word one time and she remembers it. Her writing is getting so much better too. That was one thing that I was concerned about for a while but it has been improving drastically. Everything that I have worried about in the past, she has proved me wrong with and I am getting so much more comfortable in letting her go at her own pace. This whole unschooling thing is a very long journey. And yes, it's a tad bit scary and unfamiliar. It's definitely not easy and takes a lot of patience and tons of trust, but it gets easier as the weeks and months (and years!) go by. Right now I am a little concerned with her learning how to tell time but I am just being patient and waiting for it to "click" (and it will - I have learned that!!). I know that it will come in time and that she doesn't need to follow MY time-line and learn it when I think she needs to learn it. When it becomes relevant to her life, it will take about 5 minutes for her comprehend it. I'm not saying that she has no clue at all about time - that's not the case at all! She knows the hours and knows that a half hour is 30 minutes, AM vs. PM, ect... but if you ask her to look at a clock when it's 4:20 and tell you what time it is, then she'll have somewhat of a hard time. But that's okay. She'll get it eventually - I have absolutely no doubt about that. Just like everything else I have ever worried about. She ALWAYS comes through and always eases my fears. I'm actually getting better at not worrying so much. It's hard though when you are so used to the "school schedule" and with kids learning things at certain ages. It is in the back of my mind but as time goes on it doesn't bother me as much. Like I said earlier, it's all about trust and I trust my daughter to learn the things that she needs to learn.
So one funny thing that I want to share about the whole homeschooling thing --- I was talking to her Girl Scout leader the other night. Brenna had a sleep over last Friday for Girl Scouts and her leader was asking me if she had a good time. Brenna raved about it and loved it and I was telling her that, yes, she had a blast. Her leader then told me that she has had a few homeschoolers in her troop before and they have always been very shy and mousy and not very outspoken, but not Brenna!! Oh no! She was extremely surprised at how out-spoken and fun she was. I just laughed and said yes, Brenna is definitely NOT the quiet type. When people ask me about the whole "socialization" thing I have to chuckle a bit (and secretly roll my eyes). It's funny how people stereotype homeschoolers. LOL
So on to other big news!! I have a new nephew!! OMG, he is sooo cute and I am such a proud Aunt! He was born on Monday (1/11/10) and is the most perfect little boy you have ever seen! Very, very cute and such a good baby. It will be interesting having a little boy in the family, especially since we've just had Brenna and Keira thus far. I will have to take pictures and post them on my blog very soon.
Well hopefully I will post again soon -- with me, you never know! LOL
Happy New Year to everyone!
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