An Unschooling Meme
Filed Under: Homeschooling
A couple weeks ago, Melissa at The Lilting House tagged me with this homeschooling meme. I am finally getting around to responding.
1) ONE HOMESCHOOLING BOOK YOU HAVE ENJOYED
While it’s not exactly a homeschooling book, Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto had a profound effect on me.
2) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULDN’T BE WITHOUT
The Internet. Gah - what would I do without you?
3) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BOUGHT
“Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.” While it started out fun, my son quickly grew tired of this book and learned to read on his own when he wanted to play a Star Wars card game without having to ask Mom & Dad what all his cards said.
4) ONE RESOURCE YOU ENJOYED LAST YEAR
I really don’t use all that many “resources.” We mainly read, find stuff online, and experience life.
5) ONE RESOURCE YOU WILL BE USING NEXT YEAR
Uh, ditto the previous answer. Oh - wait - I do use edhelper.com. My son enjoys worksheets.
6) ONE RESOURCE YOU WOULD LIKE TO BUY
Does a Blackberry count as a homeschooling resource?
7) ONE RESOURCE YOU WISH EXISTED
???
ONE HOMESCHOOLING CATALOG YOU ENJOY READING
OK, this is making feel really lame. I have never even seen a homeschooling catalog.
9) ONE HOMESCHOOLING WEBSITE YOU USE REGULARLY
http://homeschooling.about.com
10) TAG FIVE OTHER HOMESCHOOLERS
I will pass on tagging - see below!
So, as I pondered my answers to this meme, I thought about how many of the questions just don’t apply to my style of homeschooling. What we need is an Unschooling Meme, which might go something like this:
1) ONE FIELD TRIP YOUR CHILD LEARNED A LOT FROM
2) THE GAME/TOY THAT’S GIVEN YOU THE MOST EDUCATION MILEAGE
3) ORDINARY HOUSEHOLD ITEM THAT’S GIVEN YOU THE MOST EDUCATION MILEAGE
4) NAME THREE MAGAZINES/BOOKS ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE
5) ONE SKILL YOUR CHILD LEARNED FROM GROCERY SHOPPING
6) ONE RESOURCE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BUYING, BUT THEN REALIZED YOUR CHILD COULD LEARN THAT INFORMATION JUST BY LIVING LIFE
7) AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU’VE SAVED BY NOT PURCHASING CURRICULUM
Feel free to answer in the comments or on your own blog! 
PHAT = Parenting, Homeschooling And Technology. That about sums up my life at the moment. 
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Petite Mommy | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
I’m glad I’m finding more and more homeschooling moms on the Internet. I need all the support I can get. Are there any resources that you do recommend for teaching your child to read?
PHAT Mommy | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Just reading to them. Read, read, read. And if you find something that motivates them, try to work reading into it somehow. I wish I could be more helpful with this - but guess what? I’m starting a new web site chock full of homeschooling resources and ideas from other homeschooling parents. So when it goes live, hopefully we’ll have some more suggestions for you!
BTW, Petite Mommy - I love your blog. I think you look a little like Rachael Ray in your photo.
Shauna | Aug 31, 2006 | Reply
Fun! I answered this meme on my blog. For #5, my first impulse was to say whining…
Alasandra | Sep 3, 2006 | Reply
I am so glad I am not the only one who doesn’t use homeschooling catalogs.
Petite Mommy, when my kids were little they enjoyed Reader Rabit http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000068NNK?v=glance
There was also some other software for the computer that read books aloud and highlighted the words as the computer program said them.
And we had a neat program with Dinosaurs. It was Knowledge Adventure I think.
You had to go to Dos and type in this long name to get to it. Imagine my shock when my 3 year old did it while I was in the shower. Apparently he paid lots of attention to how Mommy got it to work.
Trixie | Sep 3, 2006 | Reply
1) ONE FIELD TRIP YOUR CHILD LEARNED A LOT FROM
I’d like to say our tour of Cold Stone Creamery (since I organized it, learned a lot from it, and had such fun!), but I think my kids usually learn the most from tagging along on everyday ordinary errands. Going to the bank with Pop-Pop is an experience which seems to raise lots of questions and has piqued my 5-year-old’s interest in money, earning, and savings.
2) THE GAME/TOY THAT’S GIVEN YOU THE MOST EDUCATION MILEAGE
Right now, Yahtzee. We’re all addicted to this game in our house and it’s taught my 5-year-old a ton of math. I only wish there were a version of this game with 12-sided dice. My kid’s now a whiz at multiplication through 6X6, but provides no motivation for him to learn more! At just $0.25 (I bought it at a garage sale), this game was quite a bargain!
3) ORDINARY HOUSEHOLD ITEM THAT’S GIVEN YOU THE MOST EDUCATION MILEAGE
The computer, hands down. If you’re looking for a low-tech item, I’d have to say a deck of cards. Cards have been used in our house in so many different ways. My kids have learned math (counting, sorting, matching, adding), developed manual dexterity (dealing, shuffling, building card houses, slap-jack), practiced perspective-taking (card game strategy, reading opponents’ moves), and exercised their creativity (making up card games, designing card houses).
4) NAME THREE MAGAZINES/BOOKS ON YOUR COFFEE TABLE
What coffee table? We do have the recent issue of My Big Backyard on our over-sized ottoman, though.
5) ONE SKILL YOUR CHILD LEARNED FROM GROCERY SHOPPING
Oh, so many… swiping credit cards, reading (have to know what those labels say), and negotiation!
6) ONE RESOURCE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BUYING, BUT THEN REALIZED YOUR CHILD COULD LEARN THAT INFORMATION JUST BY LIVING LIFE
Hmmm… I can’t think of anything right now. Somebody got my kids a talking teaching clock a couple years ago. They like it okay, but didn’t seem to use it to learn to tell time at all. Instead, my 5-year-old is learning to read an analog clock by wearing a watch (something he really was interested in wearing) with both digital and analog clocks on it.
7) AMOUNT OF MONEY YOU’VE SAVED BY NOT PURCHASING CURRICULUM
I have no idea.
Jo | Sep 4, 2006 | Reply
I haven’t been able to do the homeschooling ones that have been going around but your unschooling one is great and I couldn’t help but do it on my homeschool blog!
Kristi | Sep 8, 2006 | Reply
We’re not unschoolers but I like the meme. I don’t even know how I’d begin to answer those questions. I like keeping up with how other parents are making things work.