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Mary G
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| Posted: April 02 2008 at 4:39pm | IP Logged
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... or just generally teaching our kids ourselves ...
Michele Q. posted this wonderful quote from Fr. George Rutler (one of my heroes!):
Quote:
I’d encourage your youngest one to abandon kindergarten altogether. Almost everything I learned was learned outside the classroom, and school itself interrupted my education. Moreover, school locks you in with your peers. That is a mistake. One’s social circle should never include one’s equals. From my earliest years I found children uninteresting and always preferred the company of adults. This was an advantage, because I got to know lots of folks who are dead now whom I never would have known if I had waited until I was an adult. - So I have a collective memory - and oral tradition - that goes back to the eighteenth century, having spoken with people who knew people who knew people who knew people who lived then. - The only real university is the universe and a city its microcosm. That is why an expression like “New York University” is foolish. New York City is the university….Instead of school, children should spend some hours each day in hotel lobbies talking to the guests. They should spend time in restaurant kitchens and shops and garages of all kinds, learning from people who actually make the world work….One day spent roaming through a real classical church building would be the equivalent of one academic term in any of our schools, and a little time spent inconspicuously in a police station would be more informative than all the hours wasted on bogus social sciences. Formal lessons would only be required for accuracy in spelling and proficiency in public speaking, for which the public speakers in our culture are not models, and in exchange for performing some menial services a child could learn the violin, harp, and piano from musicians in one of the better cocktail lounges, or from performers in the public subways….So I urge you to keep your child out of kindergarten, because kindergarten will only lead to first grade and then the grim sequence of grade after grade begins and takes its inexorable toll on the mind born fertile but gradually numbed by the pedants who impose on the captive child the flotsam of their own infecundity.
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Pretty good eh? What do you think?
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
my website that combines my schooling, hand-knits work, writing and everything else in one spot!
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lapazfarm
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That is one awesome quote. I'm not sure I have anything to add because he just said it all so, so well!
Can you tell me more about this Fr Joe Rutler? Just exactly who is this genius, anyway?
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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Maryan
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Theresa, here's his bio
eta - that's his parish website so if you move around the site, you can find his publications, homilies, etc.
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Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes
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Philothea
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| Posted: April 02 2008 at 5:14pm | IP Logged
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I love it! I think the quote equally applies to relaxed homeschooling, too ... he didn't say anything about all of that being totally child-led, after all!
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Donna Marie
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NICE!
I love what he has to say...and I have to say that this is the way I learned best...and I love real life people and experiences for this very thing...makes the world a really interesting place to LEARN in!
Go Father! 
God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 7dc and one bellybean due 10/08!
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God love you!
Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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LisaR
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| Posted: April 02 2008 at 5:54pm | IP Logged
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Mary G wrote:
... or just generally teaching our kids ourselves ...
Michele Q. posted this wonderful quote from Fr. George Rutler (one of my heroes!):
Quote:
I’d encourage your youngest one to abandon kindergarten altogether. Almost everything I learned was learned outside the classroom, and school itself interrupted my education. Moreover, school locks you in with your peers. That is a mistake. One’s social circle should never include one’s equals. From my earliest years I found children uninteresting and always preferred the company of adults. This was an advantage, because I got to know lots of folks who are dead now whom I never would have known if I had waited until I was an adult. - So I have a collective memory - and oral tradition - that goes back to the eighteenth century, having spoken with people who knew people who knew people who knew people who lived then. - The only real university is the universe and a city its microcosm. That is why an expression like “New York University” is foolish. New York City is the university….Instead of school, children should spend some hours each day in hotel lobbies talking to the guests. They should spend time in restaurant kitchens and shops and garages of all kinds, learning from people who actually make the world work….One day spent roaming through a real classical church building would be the equivalent of one academic term in any of our schools, and a little time spent inconspicuously in a police station would be more informative than all the hours wasted on bogus social sciences. Formal lessons would only be required for accuracy in spelling and proficiency in public speaking, for which the public speakers in our culture are not models, and in exchange for performing some menial services a child could learn the violin, harp, and piano from musicians in one of the better cocktail lounges, or from performers in the public subways….So I urge you to keep your child out of kindergarten, because kindergarten will only lead to first grade and then the grim sequence of grade after grade begins and takes its inexorable toll on the mind born fertile but gradually numbed by the pedants who impose on the captive child the flotsam of their own infecundity.
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Pretty good eh? What do you think?
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Mary G, how do I move this whole quote over to the city vs country discussion going on right now? THIS from Fr Rutler is exactly what I think!! 
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Lisa
dh Tim '92
Joseph 17
Paul 14
Thomas 11
Dominic 8
Maria Gianna 5
Isaac Vincent 9/21/10! and...
many little saints in heaven!
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Maryan
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| Posted: April 02 2008 at 6:37pm | IP Logged
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 And I was thinking how part of Father's quote applied to us in the country!!
Quote:
| ...From my earliest years... always preferred the company of adults. This was an advantage, because I got to know lots of folks who are dead now whom I never would have known if I had waited until I was an adult. |
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We live on my fil's farm. My boys have access to a very wise and talented man every day. A day with "Papa" is a knowledge filled day indeed. He knows his faith, actuarial science, was a jet pilot, knows how to bale hay, fix roofs, build buildings, wire electric... and I could go on!! I'd be a fool to keep them inside with some workbooks instead of watching Papa work in the fields for an hour!
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Maryan
Mom to 6 boys & 1 girl: JP('01), B ('03), M('05), L('06), Ph ('08), M ('10), James born 5/1/12
A Lee in the Woudes
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MacBeth
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Thanks so much! My unschooled college-bound dd is loving this, and laughing, "Yes". Especially the bit about learning from street musicians  .
Fr. Rutler also wrote one of Libby's favorite music books: Brightest and Best.
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
MacBeth's Blog 
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Leonie
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Very good - I must share !
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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Kristie 4
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Wonderful..
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Kristie in Canada
Mom to 3 boys and one spunky princess!!
A Walk in the Woods
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stefoodie
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| Posted: April 03 2008 at 2:55pm | IP Logged
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That is one awesome quote! Thanks so much for sharing, Mary!
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stef
mom to five
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nissag
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 8:42am | IP Logged
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I love that quote. Thank you Michele and Mary! That is how I felt at the very beginning of our journey as a family all those years ago.
Blessings,
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Nissa
Deacon's wife, mother of eleven, farmer, teacher, creator, cook.
At Home With the Gadbois Family
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MacBeth
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 7:36pm | IP Logged
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Don saw Fr. Rutler today at St. Pat's where he was celebrating a memorial Mass for Bill Buckley. He asked Fr. to autograph Libby's copy of his book (as a surprise for her as a college acceptance gift--she was thrilled), and Fr. chuckled that we were discussing his quote. He said that many folks (those without a sense of humor) were upset by his suggestion that children should hang out in cocktail lounges. I was thinking that many of the cocktail lounges that my kids have played in were hardly the finer ones...  .
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God Bless!
MacBeth in NY
Don's wife since '88; "Mom" to the Fab 4
Nature Study
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Mary G
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| Posted: April 04 2008 at 7:46pm | IP Logged
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MacBeth wrote:
| I was thinking that many of the cocktail lounges that my kids have played in were hardly the finer ones... . |
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This reminds me of when we were little and doing a neighborhood paper route -- if we had extra papers we sold 'em in the corner bar (but it was ok as it was right down the hill from the local police station and FULL of cops just coming off duty!  )
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MaryG
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aussieannie
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MacBeth wrote:
| Don saw Fr. Rutler today at St. Pat's |
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Now that is one priest I would really love to met...New York's good fortune for sure!
Great quote, I'm going to share it round too.
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Under Her Starry Mantle
Spiritual Motherhood for Priests
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ladybugs
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Boy, if that isn't an encouraging quote!
I'm going to share it, too!
And it really lays aside some fears that I have had recently in regards to "not doing school" in the formal sense.
We're packing, folks, and that's real learning!
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Love and God Bless,
Maria P
My etsy store - all proceeds go to help my fencing daughters!
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Mary G
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ladybugs wrote:
| We're packing, folks, and that's real learning! |
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You got that right! Religion -- acts of mercy in donating our "treasures"; Math -- just how many books can you get in one of those book boxes; History -- how many times we've done this before !; Geography -- how are we getting from here to there; Copywork -- labeling all those boxes; Reading -- great family read-alouds as a break from all the sorting, tossing, packing and cleaning !
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MaryG
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lapazfarm
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Mary G wrote:
ladybugs wrote:
| We're packing, folks, and that's real learning! |
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You got that right! Religion -- acts of mercy in donating our "treasures"; Math -- just how many books can you get in one of those book boxes; History -- how many times we've done this before !; Geography -- how are we getting from here to there; Copywork -- labeling all those boxes; Reading -- great family read-alouds as a break from all the sorting, tossing, packing and cleaning ! |
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What wonderful attitudes! I just hope I can keep it as positive when I have to do it in June!
You ladies are such treasures!
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Theresa
us-schooling in beautiful Fairbanks, Alaska.
LaPaz Home Learning
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cheesehead mom
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Hi Ladies. I also loved this quote (as did my dh)but found myself wondering...how do you create these great "unschooling" opportunities for your chldren? Is the key to just be open to what God puts before us...and don't be so planned with school stuff that we miss it:) Sometimes I feel like my crew need more free time, give it and all some of them want to do is sit around asking "when can I have computer time?" Now my daughter did get psyched about a Ben Franklin book and created a solar cooker the other day...but it is hard to get everyone to channel their free time ibto educational pursuits
Laura--lurking from WI
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Mary G
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| Posted: April 07 2008 at 10:27pm | IP Logged
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cheesehead mom wrote:
| Hi Ladies. I also loved this quote (as did my dh)but found myself wondering...how do you create these great "unschooling" opportunities for your chldren? Is the key to just be open to what God puts before us...and don't be so planned with school stuff that we miss it:) Laura--lurking from WI |
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Laura, glad you came out of lurkdom!
I'm by no means a great unschooler but I'd like to be more so...I don't specifically plan and let it flow, but still control and when the kids are "acting up", out come the workbooks and other table work to remind them what it could be like ... effective most of the time.
I'd say we do it by being open -- to anything: short-term museum exhibits, a chance comment from one of the kids, a lucky find in the dvds at the library and the rabbit trails that result, etc. It's really not that much different than education used to be ... think Little House in the Big Woods -- the girls were educated in living! That's what I want for my kids (but in today's world ... so yes, we use computers sometimes, or dvds/videos, or whatever)
Does that help? [This is a secret ploy to get you posting more and lurking less ]
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MaryG
3 boys (22, 12, 8)2 girls (20, 11)
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Here's a great argument for unschooling
