When we answer the wrong question:
http://sandradodd.com/wrongquestion
Something new by a mom named Tracey, on the page on spirituality.
http://sandradodd.com/spirituality.html
How DO people acquire respect or social credits?
http://sandradodd.com/points
New page, because it comes up two or three times a year, about kids' teeth and options and compassion and such
http://sandradodd.com/dentist
New page, Karen James on trust (and I added some of her photos with links to other writings)
http://sandradodd.com/karenjames/trust
Some parents say "oooh, Waldorf," with dreamy eyes. Unschooling is way better.
http://sandradodd.com/waldorf
There is something new, about a 19-year-old essay, "Knowing Everything."
If you haven't read it, you should (and the commentary).
If you have read it, read it again (which is what the commentary is about).
http://sandradodd.com/zeneverything
A text-chat-style interview was published in July that had been mostly unavailable for ten years. I've added it at
http://sandradodd.com/interviews
but its home is http://homeschoolrealm.com/sandra-dodd/
I was interviewed in June 2017 by Rebecca Bohman at The Luminous Mind. That podcast is available to hear here on YouTube:
Episode 197 - Sandra Dodd, “Everything Counts”
Jessica Hughes has a series I like called "An Unschooling Journey," on a new site called Steemit, about unschooling.
http://sandradodd.blogspot.com/2017/07/an-unschooling-journey.html
These three links were brought here four years ago, but one has additions, and they're a good set.
New link added to page on reality (and note there that I created reality!)
Would you rather live in a stone-age village? Early 19th century sod house?
http://sandradodd.com/reality/
Unschool World, another sort of alternate reality
http://sandradodd.com/unschoolworld
Potential problems with Reality TV and unschoolers
http://sandradodd.com/problems/realityshows
Today's links are to quite philosophical ideas—even the one on cursive writing ('joined up' writing, in the UK). Anyone thinking these things are off topic and can't help them unschool can go here instead: http://sandradodd.com/beginning, or check elsewhere around this announcements blog for something that does look fun.
"Some problems with respect"—newly on my site, but written in 2010.
http://sandradodd.com/respect/problems
Earning social points, and how they can be spent
http://sandradodd.com/points
Older page on cursive writing, never announced here, some photos were lost but thanks to The Wayback Machine, I could grab and replace them as they used to be.
http://sandradodd.com/cursive
A story of NOT Changing—how people can plan and prepare and provision themselves and not actually accomplish any unschooling
http://sandradodd.com/change/not
August 31, in a presentation at the Free to Be Unschooling Conference, I said "Gradually move toward doing it right now."
It was amusing, so I told the audience I was writing it down. I have added it to the bottom of both of "Gradual Change" and "Do It", each with a link to the other page:
http://sandradodd.com/gradualchange
http://sandradodd.com/doit
Quote added where there was a link before. Page clean-up.
http://sandradodd.com/bigbook/random.html
New quote, even with the top of the book-cover image:
http://sandradodd.com/bigbook
New by Caren Knox (near top) and Sandra Dodd (near the bottom):
http://sandradodd.com/abundance
By Deb Lewis, about peace, but it's on the indignation page:
http://sandradodd.com/indignation
"I deserve..." or "ALL children deserve..." is a signpost taking you down a brambly path.
http://sandradodd.com/deserve
Joyce Fetteroll, on fear-based actions; added at the bottom here:
http://sandradodd.com/foodfear/
Stories of How Families Changed (not a new page, but not announced before):
http://sandradodd.com/change/stories.html
New quotes added:
Emily Strength quote added to Do It
Meredith Novak quote added to Beginning
Sandra Dodd quote added (in Spanish in a graphic, and then the English original) to Quotes
It came up again, someone recommending "Non-Violent Communication" as an unschooling tool.
That's a problem.
http://sandradodd.com/nvc
Learning to participate in discussions of unschooling ideas: It's not personal.
http://sandradodd.com/notpersonal
I don't consider any of these pages "finished," but they all have the starts of good collections.
Before about 2012, I wouldn't have thought they had anything to do with unschooling, but increasingly people are finding it difficult to unschool because of their dietary beliefs.
Food as a religion
http://sandradodd.com/foodreligion.html
Credentials (lack of value, in unschooling discussion)
http://sandradodd.com/foodfear/family
Choosing food fears over families, with a beautiful account by a mom named Nicole, box on the left:
http://sandradodd.com/foodfear/nutritionist
Health is NOT improved by nagging, says a study from the University of Copenhagen.
http://sandradodd.com/nagging
So on July 23, I asked for donations, with this link:
http://sandradodd.com/2017/
After September 2 (the 7th anniversary of Just Add Light), I won't ask again until 2020.
Thanks to those who have already helped!
AND ANOTHER THING (lots of things): It's been nine years since I reminded anyone about this feedback page:
http://sandradodd.com/feedback/
Turns out there's a phrase I've used several times, "fabric of life".
http://sandradodd.com/Fabric
There was already a "fabric of life" page with writing by Schuyler Waynforth. I introduced it on this blog in 2013, though it wasn't quite new at that time. I didn't want to dilute the beauty of that page, so I made the new page with a capital F in Fabric. Later, whichever one you guess will lead to the other, too.
quoting from 2013:
The Fabric of an Unschooling Life (new page I had not previously announced):
http://sandradodd.com/fabric
 |
Instinct—something beautiful by a nearly anonymous mom, and the beginning of a collection,
http://sandradodd.com/instinct
Smells and smelling (and instinct)
http://sandradodd.com/smells
An older page never yet announced, cleaned up, a bit harsh, but says this important thing:
"If someone can't defend a position to other unschoolers, how will they do with the relatives or the social workers?"
http://sandradodd.com/defendyourself
Addition to page on prevention of divorce (box, right), and follow links too if you haven't been there before.
http://sandradodd.com/divorce
New writing, second item, about finding social experiences for children:
http://sandradodd.com/socialization
New page on problems with adding "just" to an otherwise powerful phrase.
(Not counting "Just Add Light and Stir," which is a reference to old advertisements for instant foods.)
http://sandradodd.com/just
New, Pam Laricchia interviewed Robyn Coburn. I've saved Pam's beautiful into, and more, as part of my Robyn Coburn collection:
http://sandradodd.com/robyn/interview
Addition to support, "I want my own child to do more than just survive," 3/4 of the way down:
http://sandradodd.com/support.html
and some other clean-up on that page
"Changes in Parents"—Pam Laricchia's second interview of Sandra Dodd:
http://sandradodd.com/parentschange
Newer photo of my three now-grown children next to one when they were 13-17 or so:
http://sandradodd.com/decisions
New writing by Karen Angstadt on the "Shared Experiences are Important" page, second item:
https://sandradodd.com/t/sharing
That item links to an addition on "Phrases to Hear and Avoid": Glued to the screen (Jo Isaac)
https://sandradodd.com/phrases#glued
Additions and links to "Your Mind and Awareness"
https://sandradodd.com/awareness
New page on how to get a child to brush teeth (because someone deleted a post with good responses)
http://sandradodd.com/teeth
Addition to page on research on eating:
https://sandradodd.com/eating/research
Several additions to the already-rich Gilligan's Island page, but if you're not on a computer you might not see all of it.
Don't try to live by your phone alone!
http://sandradodd.com/t/gilligan
New, thoughtful acccounts and commentary by Karen James on strewing, bottom of:
http://sandradodd.com/strew/strew
New at the bottom, Marty Dodd on superheroes:
http://sandradodd.com/writing/seeing.html
New, two, top, by Belinda Dutch and Alex Arnott:
http://sandradodd.com/perspective
And something new on the still-new Zombie page:
http://sandradodd.com/zombies
What might turn your child into a zombie? Rules, mostly. Or zombie attack.
The page isn't new, but I added new writing, lower right, and I had not announced it previously!
http://sandradodd.com/zombies.html
There are several pages now about changing—becoming better parents, changing terminology and ideas, becoming softer and less inflexible, understanding why the discussions are as they are. Not all are directly helpful to new unschoolers. Some are meta-discussion (discussing the discussions, or analyzing why some advice is given, or how it is given).
Announced here before:
Thoughts on Changing
http://sandradodd.com/change/
How Unschooling Changes People
http://sandradodd.com/change.html
Unschooling—Getting It
http://sandradodd.com/gettingitphoto (a link) by Roya DedeauxThoughts on "yes" again (second section is an account of changes)
http://sandradodd.com/yesagain
Negative opinions changed to positive
http://sandradodd.com/feedback/changed.html
New account of unexpected results and effects of unschooling, upper right, Janine Davies:
http://sandradodd.com/unexpected
Short beginnings of a page on whether or how to instill "a work ethic"
http://sandradodd.com/workethic
Additions, bottom, about when to say "homeschool" and when to be more specific (my writing):
http://sandradodd.com/terminology.html
Newest addition at the bottom of the page on trust, plus smaller bits above that:
http://sandradodd.com/trust
New on Connections, about supporting a child's interests:
http://sandradodd.com/connections/example
Sometimes people jump to offense. Try not to.
http://sandradodd.com/offended
Sometimes people take pride in their indignation or whip themselves up into outrage.
The first link is more fun because it has Donald Duck. Don't be Donald Duck.
http://sandradodd.com/outrage
http://sandradodd.com/indignation
Addition, middle of page where it says "Words create mood. Words can BE negativity."
http://sandradodd.com/battle
Overcoming food fears
http://sandradodd.com/foodfear/
When I recommended that people read a little, try a little, wait a while, watch, even about things that aren't unschooling, I was sent some ill wishes on the side. There's commentary at the bottom, for those curious who don't want to read the whole new page:
http://sandradodd.com/readalittleother.html
Several recent additions to the feedback page, tops of each column:
http://sandradodd.com/feedback/
Two pages that weren't announced when they were new:
"Too much"—prejudices against loving or doing anything "too much"
http://sandradodd.com/toomuch
The Use of Archaeology as Alternative Education, Helene McNeill
http://sandradodd.com/archeology
New by Karen James, about her first experience with virtual reality, but more than that...
http://sandradodd.com/learning
It links to and is linked straight from my Karen James collection, which also other links you might have missed:
http://sandradodd.com/karenjames/
Happier and more positive: a happy quote added to a long page, but this links straight to it.
http://sandradodd.com/negativity#happier
Considerations about unschooling
http://sandradodd.com/considerations
Those considerations are a transcript of part of a recorded interview which is now here:
http://sandradodd.com/interviews/2012BaroneInterview.html