We started gymnastics classes for five-year-old M about a month ago. Overall it is going really well, at least from M’s perspective. I suppose his perspective is the one that counts, as the whole reason we decided to do gymnastics is because he really wanted the opportunity to bounce on a trampoline (and we wanted it to be somewhere safe, with professional supervision). He likes the class a lot and I can see him smiling and talking to the other two friendly boys that attend the class with him. He also seems to be enjoying the challenge of doing various new physical feats.
How am I doing with it? I think I’m having some culture shock. I’ve spent most of the time, in the last 6 months, going to LLL meetings, attending unschooling support groups, and attending events with a local attachment parenting group. I guess I sometimes forget how the rest of the world lives. Read more »
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I got an email from a friend recently asking about unschooling. Her concern was whether it was really possible that her 2-3 year old would ever become interested in all the amazing things there are in the world (besides the current interest: animals). For parents of two-year olds, it may indeed be hard to imagine how a child can move on to naturally becoming curious about the all the wonderfully complex things in the world, especially when we are used to the idea that most children go to school and are fed the information, all in huge chunks, by planned instruction and textbooks. So I related, to my friend, just a few of the conversations I had had with M in the last few days. As I wrote out the email, even I was amazed at all the wonderful things we had discussed, and all coming from M’s interests and everyday life. It didn’t come in the form of a unit plan, but I’d bet it was more meaningful than most of the “learning” going on in little desks in school buildings across the world. Here’s an excerpt of what I wrote to my friend: Read more »
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Someone thinks so. I’m guessing the target audience would be People Who Can’t Google. I shouldn’t be surprised as I’m sure someone has been dumb enough to pay the guy/girl. Fools and their money are easily parted, a fact that has been exploited by many, many people throughout history. Since the dynamic of the Internet has shifted strongly towards the free & open, I dunno how this person can compete with the laundry list of advice available via Google, but I suppose beer & pizza money isn’t a bad thing.
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Summer’s post over at Mom is Teaching (a few months back), regarding sexual assault in schools, reminded me of a topic that I’ve been meaning to write about for awhile: the real risks parents take when they send their kids to school on the school bus. As a homeschooling family, this is yet another risk that we thankfully don’t have to worry about. But I am still dealing with the psychological ramifications of my own experiences on the school bus, and I see my nephews being confronted with danger at every turn. So I thought I would tell my story. It helps to write about it.
All this thinking about the school bus began when friends of ours, who happen to work as teachers in public schools, told us that they wanted to make sure that they allowed their children to ride the bus to school. Since one of these parents works in the school that their children attend, they could easily drive their children to school themselves. But they think the experience of riding the school bus is important and good for their children. I’ve heard other parents echo those same beliefs, even dangling the whole “exciting” idea of riding the school bus like a carrot in front of new kindergarten kids. I think they are crazy. Here’s why… Read more »
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As my family drove by a school yesterday, on the way to pick apples, we saw an elementary school, all the little 5-year-olds lined up outside. I had my customary fear reaction, accompanied by a sharp intake of breath. Boy, am I happy that my son isn’t going to school! Arp looks, smirks, and says, “Federal Dis-attachment Center.” Not only is my husband witty, but he was underscoring something that has been on my mind a lot lately - how parents are discarding their own attachments and intuitions in favor of the mainstream edict that kids need school. Read more »
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