Re: [Discuss-sudbury-model] Introverts

Re: [Discuss-sudbury-model] IntrovertsSheila,

Is the Democratic Schooling way of divvying up the cleaning responsibilities "authoritarian"? Not in my eyes. Why not adopt that methodology when it comes to cleaning up at home?

While I didn't agree with Neill on every point, he was very clear on the distinctions between freedom and anarchy. One such distinction was around personal property. At our house, my daughter's space is hers. While I may offer to clean it up with her and may let her know my own opinion of how she is maintaining it, it is her decision as to what, if anything to do. (The only caveat would be if I felt that there was a health or safety issue, in which case I would be more directive. I would still see it as a "personal property" issue, since if she got sick or hurt, it would be an impingement on me, my time, and my money to get her well. Once she is self-sustaining, that distinction would go away.)

~Alan Klein
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Sheila
  Yet one advantage to a Sudbury school I'm thinking we could use some help with is the issue of housework in the home. As unschoolers, my kids play freely and creatively all day and make HUGE messes. I don't know how to get them to clean up without being an authoritarian parent, so I just clean up for them and hope that they will eventually desire to pitch in of their own free will. But the messes are huge and sometimes I end up staying up half the night cleaning up and sometimes I feel resentful about that. If they were at a Sudbury, the huge messes would be less. They'd still play creatively at the Sudbury but they would learn the responsibility of clean up in a less authoritarian way.
Received on Wed Oct 29 2003 - 11:45:52 EST