Talking to an unschooled child
There was a discussion, on one of my unschooling e-mail groups, regarding how family members talk to children who are unschooled and don't know what to say to a child when they can't ask them about school. I've found this to be true sometimes, not so much from family but from friends and people that we meet while out and about. I'd like to share the reply I posted on the e-mail group.
Great topic! I'd love to be able to give out a letter like this to people that we meet.
Dear Friend,
Please don't talk down to Jacqueline when you speak with her. Your eyes may only see a young child, but I see a person who is interesting and knowledgeable in many areas. If you give her half a chance you may learn something that you didn't know before you met her.
Ask her what she's interested in and she'll tell you all about the Mars Odyssey satellite. Ask her what she did today and she'll tell you how she fixed her grandmothers VCR...after her daddy called her to ask for help. Talk a bit longer and she'll tell you the barbie story she wrote and what her next story is going to be about.
Ask her about her life and she'll tell you how she's a four year Girl Scouts, that she met an astronaut at the Kennedy Space Center and that she has her own plant at her grandmothers house (which is next door) that she waters every other day.
Also, if you're going to ask her why she's not in school, be prepared for her to tell you she dropped out in the first grade. She has her daddy's sense of humor. :-) Don't look shocked. Laugh instead. She's being funny.
Speak to her like a human being and she'll speak to you the same way.
Sincerely,,
Jacqueline's mommy. :-)
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