Learning at Home: A Mother's Guide to Homeschooling by Marty Layne --Take IV -- Learning Environment

So I wrote several long posts about this book at the beginning of May.  I'm now returning to see if I have more to say (you'd think one would know such things, wouldn't you?).   Sadly, I've lost a page of notes in the interim.  So vamos a ver.

I left off at the end of most of the more philosophical part of the book -- the rest is more concrete -- environment, curriculum, resource kinds of stuff.  The notes I lost were largely a list of books, supplies, games, etc, that I wanted to keep in mind.  Some bullet points:

• Play is the work of childhood.

• How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen by Russell Hoban -- I've got this picture book on hold at the library -- Layne says it "captures the essence of homeschooling" and, from her description, I would say unschooling even more so!  Supports the idea that children need time and opportunity to play and explore, to fool around with things -- and that there is just as much value in that, if not more, than more formalized learning.

• Talking of toys with small pieces (e.g. Lego) and siblings of varied ages she says, "It is important for a baby not to be endangered by small objects within his grasp.  It is equally important for older children to know that their creations will not be destroyed."

• "We cannot make our children's lives risk free.  As our children grow older, they will reach out to the world in all kinds of ways.  We cannot prevent hurt, anguish, betrayal, and/or pain.  We can be there beside our children when this occurs, validating their negative feelings as well as their positive ones and support them as they come to grips with less than ideal situations." p.57

• "Imagine for a moment that someone who is a friend of a friend of yours comes over to visit and starts using your kitchen cooking equipment or your sewing machine.  It would feel like an invasion of your privacy and boundaries.  Asking children to share their toys or belongings with other children is similar.  Children will learn generosity better by the ways in which their parents demonstrate generosity than by being told to share their toys." p. 66 -- I like this a lot, it's a concept I've encountered before and really believe in.  Sometimes when we have friends coming over, I ask Fiona what things she'd like to put away before people arrive.  Sometimes I think that this is somehow encouraging a "what do you want to not let your friends touch or look at" kind of attitude.  Whenever that thought crosses my mind, I remind myself that there are certainly things that *I* sometimes put things away when I know others are coming over as well -- including breakable things or items that are very special to me.  If I think about it that way then it seems like a wonderful thing for Fiona to learn -- what things to put away to avoid anger or disappointment or hurt feelings later on.

• I'll be listing some (I'll largely try to stick with those that seemed unique) of the concrete ideas of supplies/resources that Layne shares -- she lists lots, but stresses that things can be acquired over time, second-hand, and as gifts.

• colored pencils
• beads, fabric scraps, ribbons, buttons
• glue sticks --tend to be easier for young children to use
• beeswax for modeling (I've been wanting some of this for a while now!)
• Sculpey (she likes it better than Fimo)
• good quality blank paper -- she suggests asking printers for offcuts -- I'd like to do this but haven't yet
• lots of different kinds of balls
• bicycle & helmet
• wooden spools & beads make good additions to a block set
• jigsaw puzzles -- start simple and increase the number of pieces -- for the author's family, 250 piece puzzles were nice because they are fairly quick but still challenging
• plastic animals -- my daughter especially likes small figurines that she can play with at home and take with her easily
• tools, kitchen tools, sewing machine

• "Recognizing the importance of play, encouraging children to play by creating an environment in which play can take place means trusting that children are inherently good and want to become competent in the world.  It means trusting the natural progression of their abilities and their desire for more understanding and knowledge."  With this quote, I've finished with Chapter Two.

All quotes from Learning at Home used with author's permission:   www.martylayne.com