unschooling.......autonomous education....

[becaroo]

.....am now officially an unschooler!!!!! Have finally taken on board what all the books say (and most of you!) and have stopped structured work as such apart from occasional pages of a math and science workbook which ds1 enjoys.

We have started our 1st lapbook - on sharks -and I think its going ok.

Still very nervous about him not doing any literacy ir reading practise but its going to take a while for me to see the results of this approach. Have been reading lots to him this week when he has asked me to and we have enjoyed it. His younger brother (20 months) gets a bit fed up when I read to ds1...any tips there?

[ommmward]

alternate a book for Ds1 and a book for Ds2?

Have a book for Ds2 open, with Ds2 on your lap, and be pointing at pictures while you are actually reading another book to Ds1?

[becaroo]

hi omm Tried that...not too successful

ds2 is at that age where it is all about him wanting attention NOW Luckily, ds1 is very patient and understanding. ds2 loves me reading to him too so when I try to read to ds1 he toddles over with "his" books and pushed ds1 off my lap!

[CSLewis]

Could you be sneaky and 'allow' DS2 to choose a book that DS1 can read pretty much unaided, have them on either side of you, and ask DS1 to 'help' you with DS2? Or he may gain confidence just by being able to follow what you're reading, even if you don't mention it and it happens 'on the side', so to speak. Anything that helps his confidence, no matter how subtle, can only be a bonus at this stage.

[MrsWobbleTheWaitress]

"apart from occasional pages of a math and science workbook which ds1 enjoys. "

Still autonomous if he wants to do it!

And don't forget he's going to be reading all the time - he'll ask you when he needs help.

WRT reading to DS1...does DS2 sleep when DS1 doesn't? Naptimes, after DS2 has gone to sleep in the evening? After Daddy's got home and can take one or other to do something different to the other one?

[becaroo]

ds1 does still nap - at varying times!! - and we do read then but it breaks my heart when ds1 clearly wants me to read to him and I cant because of ds2

Daddy read to ds2 last night and I read to ds1 which was nice. We also read to him before bed.

I am hoping as ds2 gets older it will be easier but somehow I doubt it!!!!

[MrsWobbleTheWaitress]

Becaroo - I wonder if you would find it helpful to read about consensual living (or one of the many other terms it comes under!).

Try Winning Parent Winning Child by Jan Fortune Wood, or www.joyfullyrejoycing.com

[MathsMadMummy]

hiya becaroo
glad to hear about the lapbooking - can you add a photo to your profile when it's done?

been catching up on the board, read your other thread about reading. you mentioned wanting to encourage some ICT - do you have PowerPoint? you could put a slide show together about a topic and he could 'present' it to friends/family.

[becaroo]

mrs wobble Sounds interesting...will check it out!

MMM Thats a great idea! We are getting a new laptop at the end of this month so it can be downstairs (or wherever) when ds2 is napping upstairs. I have never used powerpoint but my dsil uses it lots so will ask for a tutorial! Ds1 finished his 1st lapbook this morning! It is about sharks and he put in the following;

1. Different types (pics downloaded off the bbc website)
2. What they eat - again downloaded pics
3. Other words that begin with "sh" - we used the dictionary and he drew pictures eg: sshoes.
4. How to spot a shark (as opposed to any other fish) We his books for that info.
5. Shark habitat. Downloaded a map of the oceans and used his books to mark on the map.

Does that sound ok? Having never done lapbooking before I am not sure what I am doing!!! We have both enjoyed it though. His next one is going to be about Eagles. Then trucks.

Will try to add a photo later when I find the camera!!!!

[SDeuchars]

Becaroo wrote: Does that sound ok?

Is it OK for you and DS1? Now you are EHEing, you don't have to answer to anyone for what you do. Maybe he'll want to come back and revisit sharks in a week or two. Or maybe he'll decide to run around outside for the next two months. A lapbook about plants is intrinsically less important than practical gardening.

[becaroo]

SDeuchars I think that's what I cant get my head around IYSWIM? when I get more organised (!!?) am going to keep a "journal" of sorts to document what we do each day but it will be along the lines of;

Got up
Played in garden
Went to nanny's for lunch
Maths whizz games
Handwriting practise
Beavers

....Or something similar, but for my benefit so I can look back and think "ah yes, we went there on such and such a date".

We have both enjoyed making the lapbook which is the main thing and he is excited about doing another

Oh!!!...and yesterday he actually picked one of ds2's books up and read it to him!!! OK - its only a toddler book - but its such a great thing to see ds1 pick up any book of his own free will and he read it really well Am a very proud mummy!

[SDeuchars]

Becaroo I think that's what most of us find problems with. Taking children out of school is easy compared to taking school out of our heads.

My DC have never been to school and I distinctly remember when my brain flipped from thinking we were doing something odd to thinking that the rest of the world was weird in not EHEing. My DD was 12!

Great about the book!