Sara writes, 'Unschooling is believing humans are born curious and learn all the time."

Looking back on my own life, I can see just how true the above statement is. Here at age 46, I find myself discovering things like Python, a programming language. Now, whether or not I would have been researching such things if I didn't have a curious child, I couldn't tell you. I do know that if I wasn't researching things to share with him, I'd be researching things for myself. I'm always learning.

Looking back on my own educational experience, I can't really contribute much of my learning to school. My oldest brother taught me to tie my shoes and color within the lines. My other brother taught me how to draw, run a business, and build a tree fort all before I was eleven. My sister taught me how to be a lady, a Christian, and encouraged my dancing, sewing, other domestic skills. (I will admit to wishing I was a boy after much of this, after all, they got to climb trees while I ironed their kerchief for Boy Scouts.)

Now there was and for some strange reason still is, a sense of pride in sending 'my men' off to their meeting in the neatest of neat, freshly pressed uniforms. Silly memories...

Pride. The Bible tells us that pride goeth before the fall. Pride. It's a word that has been a very important part of my makeup. A strong fiber of my soul. It is also one principal that I have spent time reflecting on. I'm very proud of my oldest and first born child. There was a time I thought she would be my one and only child. Once she came into my life, she became the most important person for me to love and nurture. I feel like I've spent the last twenty years of my life trying to do the best I could for her. To help her have the best life she could possibly have. To be able to fly on her own some day and have a wonderful life.

I just never thought I'd be someone that she would be ashamed of. Embarrassed by. Nor judged for those things in which I can not change. Those were qualities I learned her father had after I had married him. Yes, it's so true that many things about a person can be discovered years later after years of 'knowing' them. I remember the sting of my then spouse informing me that he never saw himself married to a 'middle class' person. He always figured he would marry someone from ~insert pompous rich neighborhood~. I remember asking him if this was so, why did he ever propose? Or even date me in the first place?

So here I am dis-heartened to learn that this important person in my life does not want me in her future life. Well that's not exactly true. She informed me she had figured that I would simply just visit her future family at her home. She would consider allowing her future family visiting mine only if I changed my home to a place she could respect. Her actual words are not recorded here as I've needed days to digest these things. Her concept of being acceptable is unachievable as we will never be wealthy enough to build her the required palace.

Yesterday, I found myself crying on my father's shoulder. He told me that when she informed me that I could always visit her, I should have told her how would I know that? If everything about me is unacceptable, how do I know that I still wouldn't be unacceptable when I arrive at her home?

I've been well off, I've been poor, too. I've attended expensive private college and I've also attended state college. I've driven high end vehicles, I've driven jalopy's, too. I've been welcomed into mansions and hovels alike. I'd be a liar if I said that I have ever chosen my friends for what they have. No. I have chosen the people in my life for who they are.

I'm heart broke and fighting depression over this last slap in the face. I found myself looking in her room to see if she had moved out while I was at work. No, she hasn't. Or at least not completely. I know I'm going to feel a very large empty spot when she goes but go she will do. So now it's time for me to learn my next and probably the hardest lesson of my life: Acceptance and silence.

I never really thought there would be much that would truly draw me into the heavy political debates and such. After all, the powers that be don't really tend to listen anyway. The people have turned more into sheeple. I figure if I can instill just a smidgen of logical thought in just one petition pushing person outside of Wally's World, then I've had some small effect. Unfortunately, it seems that I'm being drawn into this arena whether I like it or not.

Recently, there seems to be a growing movement trying to get purchase in America. We have people pushing for the President to sign the CRC which in my opinion, would be a terrible and unconstiutional thing to do. England did sign it and here is an article explaining how it has played out on the other side of the pond. England, Homeschooling.

Well even in America, where we have the freedom of speech, it seems some people are given large megaphones to spew their ignorance from. I'm refering to an article that has been circulating through the homeschooling groups, hopefully, so as to call us to arms, to prevent further stupidity from spreading.

This article offended me, but I'm not an excellent wordsmith. Alas, homeschooling doesn't need me to be the spokesperson as so many of the homeschooling community are very adabt at rebutting! Please visit Homeschooling on the Hudson to read a most excellent rebuttal!

It's January, 2010.  Wow...  Time really moves fast as we age.  When I was ten, I don't think I ever considered that some day, it would be the year 2010.  Then again, I was born in the Year of the Dinosaurs... j/k

So what's been happening at our home?  Lets see...  recently, Florida has been experiencing crazy freezing weather.  Needless to say, our kitties have been having fun discovering their first frost, first ice, and first snow!  yes, we have actually had snow in Florida!  

Homeschooling, unschooling, has continued on.  Our oldest daughter is working in a professional position while attending college working towards her B.S.  Our second daughter is in Early College and is soon to graduate high school with her A.A.  Our youngest, our only son, continues to unschool with a recent taste of two online classes. 



Per age, he would be in sixth grade this year.  Even though he hasn't been subjected to the standard peer pressures of schooled children, it's been interesting to watch him grow and explore entering the teenage years and thought processes.  We let him sign up for his two favorite school subjects, math and science, when he started to have some self doubt.  It didn't take long for those two classes to re-assure him that he was much smarter then he was beginning to think!  He easily aced the classes and if he had any real issues, it would be continuing to "attend" the classes when they bored him to 'near death'.  Needless to say, it didn't take long for him to request to return to complete unschooling and get back to learning at his own preferred pace which is much faster then the online classes.

 

Thankful Thoughts on Freedom, England, Homeschool, and Writing by Janice Campbell.

Hi everyone!

We have just officially finished four years of homeschooling! It's been quite an interesting and fun filled journey. Along the way, I've gathered all types of great information about learning. I have shared many of these resources over the years on my various blogs and in homeschooling groups of all types from Homestead Homeschooling to Florida Homeschooling, to Mensa Homeschooling, to Radical Unschooling. I've also learned quite a bit from all the wonderful and incredibly smart people I've met along the way.

I have been working on changing up my blog to make finding all this great information easier. I have files on four computers, so it has become a task just of itself to locate some of these great resources. An example of this, was when the other day, my spouse asked me for a link to a particular typing program. I ended up just suggesting he Google it. I'll most likely ALWAYS suggest Googling if for no other reason then it still makes me giggle to suggest someone Googles.

OK. On to serious matters. I am currently working on updating my blog and cleaning out all those many files. As I accomplish this task, I'll be adding links to all the great websites in an user friendly fashion.

It may take some time to get them all up and running and as with most things, may require a bit more tweaking. I'm always open to more information and any helpful suggestions.

Happy Homeschooling!

Vicki

Internet for Classrooms

Living Math

I get asked quite often about homeschooling and, particularly, about Unschooling so to help new unschoolers out, or for those who are simply curious, here are a few of my favorite sites for reading on the subject.

Joy Fetteroll

Sandra Dobb

I have added a quick link near the top of my blog to return to this page. As I clean up my files, I'll be adding more links. =)