Tags for "Play"
The First Three Minutes of Unschooling
We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.
At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we... The Building Blocks of a Good Education
What ever happened to Kindergarten?
This past weekend I found myself in Western Massachusetts for an old fashioned Timber House Raising. Now I have to be honest, before this weekend I had no idea what a Timber Hose Raising was. Living in Brooklyn it's not so often you come across someone who decides they're going to build their house and then invites the whole neighborhood over to help. It's even less often that you get to watch a house being build with no metal. But that was exactly what happened. Over the last two years pieces of tree were cut, shaved and carved into lumber, each piece measured and chiseled to fit exactly into the... Education Everywhere: How Video Games Can Teach You
I first heard about unschooling when I was doing research on homeschooling my daughter. I received The Unschooling Handbook for Christmas (yes, I ordered it myself) and as I make my way through it, I'm quickly realizing that I've been pretty much unschooling my little girl since...well, birth.
Don't we all use our kids' cues to play what they want to play with, talk about what they want to talk about, and that sort of thing? How many times have you switched a toy when your ten-month-old refused to play with the one you've given her? How many times have you let your child pick out his or her own books, or craft projects to work on, or games to play,... The Importance of Play Dates
The thing is, play dates are an incredibly important part of our lives. In our neighborhood, there are no other kids; when I was growing up, they were always in abundance, so I always had playmates when I wanted them. My daughter isn't so lucky. Yes, she gets to play with kids when we go to story time, the Magic House at the children's museum, the park, and wherever else we go--and we do go somewhere at least weekly--but it's just not the... A Village Under Siege… or What I Did During My Spring Break
Spring Break.
Ok, it is only Spring Break for me, not for my children. I thought this would mean I would sleep in past seven and then drop them off at school. Hypothetically, I could have six or so hours to do laundry, clean house, work on the taxes, eat popcorn and watch movies.
Things might have gotten done, had I been able to drop the kids off at school. But once we got to school, I couldn't leave.
The basement of our school had been magically transformed to a kingdom during Europe's Dark Ages. The magic was in fact done by wonderful parents, staff members, and older students... angels, not faeries...
The stage at one end of the room was a king's chambers, there was a mountain... Summer Vacation, ahhhhh
My official evaluation was a week ago. I have my copy of it around here somewhere.... Anyway, things went wonderfully according to my vice principal. She was very happy with my performance. That is good, because I need to keep my job. She is happy, and my family has health insurance. My goals for the administration were met.
I do recall that I set different goals for myself, than I turned in for the powers that be. I wrote about my goals in my first post for IDEA. Let's see how I did....
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Posted on Oct 26, 2009 - 12:06 AM by Khalif Williams in Uncharted Parenting
Even though we went to mediocre public schools and are the products of lovingly conventional parenting, my wife and I are trying to create our own family quite differently by embracing attachment parenting and, more recently, unschooling our children.We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.
At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we... The Building Blocks of a Good Education
Posted on Nov 18, 2009 - 02:02 PM by Jonah Canner in Got Questions?
This week I'll be asking the question. Here it is:What ever happened to Kindergarten?
This past weekend I found myself in Western Massachusetts for an old fashioned Timber House Raising. Now I have to be honest, before this weekend I had no idea what a Timber Hose Raising was. Living in Brooklyn it's not so often you come across someone who decides they're going to build their house and then invites the whole neighborhood over to help. It's even less often that you get to watch a house being build with no metal. But that was exactly what happened. Over the last two years pieces of tree were cut, shaved and carved into lumber, each piece measured and chiseled to fit exactly into the... Education Everywhere: How Video Games Can Teach You
Posted on Dec 03, 2009 - 02:42 AM by Kris Sage in Sage Wonderings
Something that I've always considered a crucial part of my self-education was video gaming. I've learned so very much from it. I've learned stuff that's pretty mundane - typing skills, quick reading and writing skills, learning how to use words in a context where people couldn't see my body language or tone of voice. And yet, I've also learned some pretty advanced skills that have served me in every other area of my life. I've learned how to analyze disparate facts and learn what I could do based off of that information. I've learned how to cope with failure and rebuttal. I've learned how to keep very calm under intense pressure. I've learned how to study language and speaking to learn more... Nobody Told Me I Was UnschoolingPosted on Jan 21, 2010 - 01:31 AM by Sara Schmidt in Uncharted Parenting
Have I really been doing it all along?I first heard about unschooling when I was doing research on homeschooling my daughter. I received The Unschooling Handbook for Christmas (yes, I ordered it myself) and as I make my way through it, I'm quickly realizing that I've been pretty much unschooling my little girl since...well, birth.
Don't we all use our kids' cues to play what they want to play with, talk about what they want to talk about, and that sort of thing? How many times have you switched a toy when your ten-month-old refused to play with the one you've given her? How many times have you let your child pick out his or her own books, or craft projects to work on, or games to play,... The Importance of Play Dates
Posted on Mar 12, 2010 - 02:06 AM by Sara Schmidt in Uncharted Parenting
A lot of people like to scoff when I say something like, "Oh, we can't on Wednesday night; we have a play date." They want to know why I have to schedule time for my daughter to play with other kids and think I'm being a helicopter parent for doing so.The thing is, play dates are an incredibly important part of our lives. In our neighborhood, there are no other kids; when I was growing up, they were always in abundance, so I always had playmates when I wanted them. My daughter isn't so lucky. Yes, she gets to play with kids when we go to story time, the Magic House at the children's museum, the park, and wherever else we go--and we do go somewhere at least weekly--but it's just not the... A Village Under Siege… or What I Did During My Spring Break
Posted on Mar 25, 2010 - 04:30 PM by Alison Bagg Brink in Uncharted Parenting
Spring Break.Ok, it is only Spring Break for me, not for my children. I thought this would mean I would sleep in past seven and then drop them off at school. Hypothetically, I could have six or so hours to do laundry, clean house, work on the taxes, eat popcorn and watch movies.
Things might have gotten done, had I been able to drop the kids off at school. But once we got to school, I couldn't leave.
The basement of our school had been magically transformed to a kingdom during Europe's Dark Ages. The magic was in fact done by wonderful parents, staff members, and older students... angels, not faeries...
The stage at one end of the room was a king's chambers, there was a mountain... Summer Vacation, ahhhhh
Posted on May 27, 2010 - 12:17 PM by Kristan Morrison in democracy.edu
When I am discussing with others my thoughts about how our conventional education system should change, I am sometimes asked, in exasperation, if there Is anything about our existing approach to education that I do agree with. This past week, I have re-encountered one thing that I really do love about schools and their traditions -- and that is the rhythms of the academic year. Work, work, work, break; work, work, work (thinking about break), break. Right now I am in a break between the spring semester and the summer and am fully enjoying it. I just love summer time (not because of the heat, mind you!) and even though I am working and teaching throughout the summer, there's just... Goals met?Posted on Jun 18, 2010 - 11:42 AM by Alison Bagg Brink in ImprovEducation
The last meeting of the year is just winding down, the walls of the classroom are bare, and there is not a single piece of paper on the floor. It is officially time to start summer, at least for me.My official evaluation was a week ago. I have my copy of it around here somewhere.... Anyway, things went wonderfully according to my vice principal. She was very happy with my performance. That is good, because I need to keep my job. She is happy, and my family has health insurance. My goals for the administration were met.
I do recall that I set different goals for myself, than I turned in for the powers that be. I wrote about my goals in my first post for IDEA. Let's see how I did....
1. ...