There's a new blog carnival (a collection of links to posts on the same topic) called "Parenting with Support". It appears on the blog http://themahoganyway.blogspot.com, owned by Darcel Harmon, who also has created a ning network, very nicely furnished already, although it's fairly new:
The Mahogany Way
A Place for Mothers of Color to discuss Natural Living
Though Darcel is an unschooler and her blog reflects that, and there are unschoolers on the ning, there will be other parenting philosophies there too.
There's a page of videos, with baby wrapping instructions and other great things:
http://themahoganyway.ning.com/video and that's accessible without joining the site.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Sleep, TV and obesity (probably not what you think)
Abi Fuller sent this:
Before any jump to what's in that article (an excerpt from Nurtureshock), I want to say that energy and enthusiasm also have to do with happy anticipation, and not just the number of hours slept. If there's something wonderful going to happen, people can wake up energetic and enthusiastic for it. I don't think there are enough hours in the year for a teenager who is beat down by school, and tired of school, to wake up with energy and enthusiasm for another schoolday.
The article is about lack of sleep contributing to obesity, rather than TV. It's interesting. It's supportive of what unschoolers do. It is NOT supportive of anything it suggests will help, really. The "fixes" mentioned in the article reminded me of a story I can't find now. I thought it was AEsop, but it might be someone else.
A farmer had a garden, and the birds kept getting in. He watched, to see how to keep them out. He noticed that when they entered the garden, they barely skimmed the top of the garden wall. So he added one more row of bricks to the wall to keep them out.
What will help is not starting school half an hour later, or an hour later, or trying to make teenagers go to bed an hour early. Making school really useful and exciting might work, but that's not going to happen.
What helps with all the things mentioned in the article is letting children and teens sleep until they wake up naturally.
Sandra
SandraDodd.com/sleep
I found this article from last week's Guardian Family section interesting regarding the tv-watching-equals-obesity myth. You may have seen it but if not here's a link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/23/children-sleep-obesity-nurtureshock
The descriptions in the article about the effect of lack of sleep on children also fit with the differences in energy / enthusiasm I
have observed recently between my son (5 1/2 - who goes to sleep when tired & gets up when he wakes up) and his peers who began school last August. They all seem so tired and their mums have tales of having to peel them out of bed in the morning.
Before any jump to what's in that article (an excerpt from Nurtureshock), I want to say that energy and enthusiasm also have to do with happy anticipation, and not just the number of hours slept. If there's something wonderful going to happen, people can wake up energetic and enthusiastic for it. I don't think there are enough hours in the year for a teenager who is beat down by school, and tired of school, to wake up with energy and enthusiasm for another schoolday.
The article is about lack of sleep contributing to obesity, rather than TV. It's interesting. It's supportive of what unschoolers do. It is NOT supportive of anything it suggests will help, really. The "fixes" mentioned in the article reminded me of a story I can't find now. I thought it was AEsop, but it might be someone else.
A farmer had a garden, and the birds kept getting in. He watched, to see how to keep them out. He noticed that when they entered the garden, they barely skimmed the top of the garden wall. So he added one more row of bricks to the wall to keep them out.
What will help is not starting school half an hour later, or an hour later, or trying to make teenagers go to bed an hour early. Making school really useful and exciting might work, but that's not going to happen.
What helps with all the things mentioned in the article is letting children and teens sleep until they wake up naturally.
Sandra
SandraDodd.com/sleep
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Northeast Unschooling Conference
August 26-29, 2010
Wakefield MA
Note received from Jean Dorsey:
Wakefield MA
Note received from Jean Dorsey:
Help spread the word...
The NEUC site is up and running at
http://www.northeastunschoolingconference.com/index.html
Kathryn has already outdone herself... lining up Peter Gray as a speaker for 2010!!!
Head over and take a look at what is already planned, and check back often for updated info.
Early bird registration has begun, so sign up soon for a great price.
Can't wait to see you all there!
Friday, January 22, 2010
The value of fun
Julie Daniel sent this. It's about an experiment on how many people would use stairs instead of an adjacent elevator if the stairs were made more fun.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Monday, November 23, 2009
HomeSchool Association of California (HSC) conference video
From the HSC conference this year:
If you have relatives who doubt the value of homeschooling, this will help them understand why so many people think it's a great idea.
If you have relatives who doubt the value of homeschooling, this will help them understand why so many people think it's a great idea.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Conference in Spain
ALE - Asociación por la Libre EducaciónNovember 5-8, 2009
Pabellón de Cristal, Casa de Campo, Madrid
If you're on facebook, you can follow their discussions by becoming a fan of their association. click here.
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