Control, "Needs," Snakes and Ladders

Between Neglect and Control (bottom of the page)
http://sandradodd.com/control
Something new on an important page.

New page:
What do people need? What do people need to know? "Need" is a problem.
http://sandradodd.com/needs
I will be adding to this page, so if you're interested or have examples, check back or write. You could leave a note in the blog comments section, too.

Snakes and Ladders, the French connection
http://sandradodd.com/game/snakesandladders
I received and e-mail from someone in France who recognized the sleds and toboggans image as a game she had played as a child, which had belonged to her great grandmother. I knew the original had been printed in France. Isn't that cool!? The note is there, and the page was rearranged and cleaned up some.

I'm visiting the northeast in February

February 10, 2011 Halfmoon, NY

Live and Learn Homeschool Co-op Meeting
King of Kings Lutheran Church in Halfmoon, NY
Thursday, February 10, 2011, noonish
Workshop on breathing, 1:00
Q&A on radical unschooling follows

February 12, 2011, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania

Not an Unschooling presentation, but...

Caring for Marriage Conference archived copy of 2011 schedule

Monday, February 14th, 2011, Ivyland, PA

11-2 Lunch and Presentation at Ivyland New Church (Ivyland, PA) www.ivyland.org

All ages welcome (there will be a separate room for kids, parents take turns supervising, and bring things to occupy their young ones)

$15 donation covers lunch and presentation

RSVP to Emily Schnarr [marillabernice AT yahoo.com], drop ins also welcome

Tuesday, February 15th, 2011, near Quakertown, PA; Chadds Ford, PA

11-1
Greenshire Arts Consortium Gathering (near Quakertown, PA) www.greenshirearts.org

All ages welcome (there will be a separate room for kids and great places to play outside, parents take turns supervising, or maybe someone will bring an older child who wants to babysit)

Bring a bag lunch and a snack to share, and things to play with

RSVP to Arlene Curly [arlenerose.mm AT comcast.net], drop ins also welcome

3-7
Games then Potluck Dinner at Brie Jontry's house (Chadds Ford, PA)

All ages welcome (great play spaces, indoor and out, including world's most amazing tree house)

Bring a potluck contribution and some money for pizza if you're staying after 5

RSVP to Brie Jontry [briejontry AT mac.com]

Wednesday, February 16th, Pennsport, PA; Philadelphia, PA

10-2
Philadelphia Free School (Pennsport, PA) www.phillyfreeschool.org

All ages welcome (the Free School is still setting up their space, and there will be lots of room to play - bring games, projects, toys to share)

Bring snacks or lunch (if you'll be hungry)

RSVP to Michelle Loucas [learn AT phillyfreeschool.org], drop ins also welcome

6-8:30pm
Potluck Dinner then Discussion at Amy Childs's house (Philadelphia)

Best for people who like to sit, talk and listen (no extra play space)

Bring a dish to share, or come at 7pm for discussion after dinner

RSVP to Amy Childs [amy AT amychilds.com]

Thursday, February 17th, 2011, Trenton, NJ (or nearby); Princeton, NJ

2-5pm
Informal Gathering for families somewhere near Trenton NJ

Not exactly sure where or when

email Sylvia Woodman [sylvia057 AT gmail.com] if interested



7-8:30pm
Presentation about Self-Directed Learning at Princeton Learning Cooperative www.princetonlearningcooperative.org (Princeton, NJ)

Teens and adults welcome (especially good for teens who hate school, and for people who are afraid of unschooling in the teen years)

RSVP to Paul Scutt [paul AT pscutt.org]

---

If you intend to attend any gathering beyond this point, contact Mary Draper for directions.

---

Friday, February 18, 2011
New York City with Peter Kowalke more details
The Roc, from 12:30 on, most of the day.

Sunday, February 20, 2011
2:00 – 4:00pm
The Alchemy Juice Bar
203 New Britain Ave. Hartford , CT 06106
http://alchemyjuicebar.com/

The Alchemy Juice Bar (a homeschooling family owned business) will be open
for Brunch prior to this event (10am to 2pm) and they will also offer a
selection of delicious organic food and drinks for sale during this event

Feel free to bring games or toys for children to share.

Talk and Potluck with Sandra Dodd
Monday, February 21, 2011
11:00am – 2:00pm
Redding, CTBring a dish to share and feel free to bring games or toys for children to share.

Talk and Potluck with Sandra Dodd
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
11:00am – 2:00pm
Briarcliff Manor, NYBring a dish to share and feel free to bring games or toys for children to share.

Negativity (meaning.... be positive!)

Something very encouraging has been added to the page on negativity.
http://sandradodd.com/negativity

It came from a chat, in which a mom said she tried unschooling while still being negative, and it didn't work.

One little news item: I'll be speaking in Palo Alto, California (between San Francisco and San Jose) October 1. More details will follow in January.

Video clip and interview reminders

3Storyfilms put a very short clip, less than a minute, of a long interview with me and Kirby. I hope to see more of what Kirby said someday. "Sandra Dodd talks about the differences between school, education and learning"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHJSvbR_Mg8
At the end it's nearly cut off but I said "...separate a person from the world."

Note to interviewers: Don't put me on a deep, comfy couch. I need to sit up!

Here are two recent interviews that I failed to link on my site until today, though they had been announced on this blog earlier. One is print and the other is audio.

"An unschooling surprise: Sandra Dodd is in the house!", by Kim Houssenloge in Australia, November 2010.
http://featherandnestkim.blogspot.com/2010/11/unschooling-surprise-sandra-dodd-is-in.html
Now linked at http://sandradodd.com/unschooling, righthand column

Amy Childs' "Interview with Sandra Dodd," on WhateverAmen.com, October 11, 2010.
http://whateveramen.com/parenting26-interview-with-sandra-dodd
You can listen to a 20 minute version, a 40 minute version, or download the MP3.
Links added to my site here: http://sandradodd.com/listen/ and http://sandradodd.com/unschooling

Travel notes for next year

In various cross-pollinating ways, I'm helping unschoolers meet other unschoolers. Even in India, some people met who wouldn't have if I hadn't been there, and that was fun for me and useful for them.

My plans for the next several months aren't crystal clear yet, but there are some solidifying details. I will be meeting with and hanging out with unschoolers in these places, and details (times and dates) will be confirmed here as they're more definite:

January 2011: ALBUQUERQUE! My house, January.
Julie Daniel's family, Robin Bentley, and several local families are the only ones I know of for sure. Any others?
If you're planning to be in Albuquerque January 7-10, 2011, please come over!

February 2011:
10 Halfmoon, NY
12 Bryn Athyn, PA (that one's a marriage conference, not unschooling)
13 Bryn Athyn, PA (unschooling)
15-17 other Pennsylvania and NJ, being determined this week, but tentatively: Quakertown, Chadd's Ford, Philadelphia and Princeton
18 or 19, NYC (not speaking, just visiting)
21, 22, CT/NY (still being planned)

March 2011:
4-6 Atlanta, GA [AND SOMEONE (someone I hope will write to me again) wrote about me coming to Alabama afterwards***]
24-26 St. Charles, IL (Holly will be there, too.)

***I had a hard drive die on me, and much saved mail poofed away; *sorry!****

June/July 2011, UK/France
London (maybe a small conference)
Edinburgh (maybe not in this order)
Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Baud, Bretagne, France (others who want to visit my friend Helene... she has room for people to stay or camp)
some other to-be-determined visits in the UK; I've also lost some of those contacts. :-/

September 2011:
8-11 San Diego (Good Vibrations Conference; Holly will be there too)

Anyone here who has not yet met other unschooling families, please consider using me as an excuse if you need to, to get to one of these places if they're near you, or if these are crazy-far from you, find something nearer, and meet some others. They don't need to become your best friends for life or anything, but knowing others in person will help you be more confident and less afraid (if you're afraid). And if you're not afraid, and you ARE confident, maybe some other unschoolers could benefit from hanging out with you some!

ACE festival, Real Learning, Finishing what you Start,

ACE festival reminder, for anyone who wants to visit Albuquerque next month and hang out with some unschoolers! Meet Julie Daniel and her husband James and her son Adam, from England. The gathering is free except for museum admissions and meals and a place to stay, and transportation, but otherwise Free! (And if you have relatives or friends to stay with, bonus!)
http://sandradodd.com/ace

Sandra and Joyce on what real learning looks like:
http://sandradodd.com/reallearning

Finish what you start: Good idea or crazy rule?
http://SandraDodd.com/finishwhatyoustart

New Interview

I was interviewed by Kim Houssenloge. She was in Australia and I was in India.
http://featherandnestkim.blogspot.com/2010/11/unschooling-surprise-sandra-dodd-is-in.html

Contentment and Joy, food choices

Schuyler Waynforth on contentment and joy (halfway down, on the left):
http://sandradodd.com/spouses

New on "True Tales of Kids Turning Down Sweets":
http://sandradodd.com/eating/sweets

Abundance, Deschooling, India

New analogy on "filling up" by Joyce (third item):
http://sandradodd.com/abundance/

Another perfect piece of Joyce-thought, on deschooling, and I'll quote it below, but it's also here:
http://sandradodd.com/deschooling

Don't expect right now to feel smooth. The days spent in school are like living with a broken leg. The days when unschooling runs smoothly are like living with two strong legs. But the deschooling phase between them is like living with a cast while the leg heals. It won't be as bad as school but won't be as smooth as unschooling.—Joyce Fetteroll

I'm in India for a month, visiting unschooling families. Notes and images are starting to be collected here:
http://sandraindia2010.blogspot.com/

Efficiency, Pokemon, Add Light, Ouija Book

Something new by Schuyler about the efficiency of unschooling:
http://sandradodd.com/substance

Old page, refurbished a bit, with links to others you might be glad to see again:
http://sandradodd.com/game/pokemon
something new by Jenny Cyphers, but definitely re-read the others

In case anyone missed the notice last month, the Just Add Light and Stir blog/mailing list is going strong:
http://justaddlightandstir.blogspot.com

A note on using The Big Book of Unschooling as a "ouija book":
http://sandradodd.com/bigbook/random

Co-sleeping; memories; interview

Something new about co-sleeping in India, upper right:
http://sandradodd.com/sleep/cosleeping

Some of the writings that led to the post noted above (new page):
http://sandradodd.com/sleep/memories

Amy Childs interviewed me recently, and today published short and long versions, set in a very nice page!
http://whateveramen.com/parenting26-interview-with-sandra-dodd/ New home; click here.

Click the photo for its source.

Priorities

New list on the Priorities page, "Example of priorities than can hamper unschooling"
http://sandradodd.com/priorities
Down a bit on the righthand side, in a box. Can't miss it.