Guest guest Posted December 27, 2003 Report Share Posted December 27, 2003 david somers <somers wrote:I want to pick up on the thread that Maynard started about planning for kids post-playgroup. I agree that the playgroup efforts are wonderful and positive for all who can participate. But what sort of veggie community is available for pre-teens and up? I remember David Somers (and his 'ex') from ages ago (I think from when their first child was born. My suggestions for parents of preteens would include (just to get some discussion going -- and I think it's better for everyone to way in, even if it's largely 'me too'): 1) Tell EVERY vegetarian list that's regional or local (e.g. Veg-Boston, Veg-NE, CapeCodVeggies, VegParent-Boston, VegParent-CapeCod, Framingham-MA-Vegetarians, Malden-MA-Vegetarians, etc. 2) Ask animal rights groups for any preteen vegetarian contacts who could be invited to such fun vegetarian-friendly events for preteens, with or without their families and/or siblings, but surely with their vegetarian friends. (Adopt another vegetarian youth into your vegetarian family.) 3) Get a listing in the local vegetarian newsletters 4) Get vegetarian publications to put out announcements that you have such a network. 5) Hit the NON-regional vegetarian parents lists with announcements of your intent to group together (they'll get the idea, and perhaps we'll see the lights go on with them, also). 6) Perhaps start what happened in the mid-1990s in Connecticut, a " Family Oriented Vegetarian Society " (they called theirs, I think, the Connecticut Family Vegetarian Society. 7) Think about moral and nutritional education (with some vocational encouragement) for these young people. There are lots of curriculum materials out there for public schoolteachers to use free. 8) Get excited about some project, some public campaign like a HSLP (Health School Lunch Program). 9) Get some vegetarian (vegan?) registered dietitians to speak to your group. 10) Harangue leaders in local vegetarian societies so that their group either programs for families with young people of all ages AND/OR umbrellas efforts that you organize (there surely are lots of issues to discuss, fun activities to enjoy, etc.). 11) Begin collecting vegetarian music and other entertainment to share with other families; enjoy some of that vegetarian music together. 12) Write to national vegetarian groups like NAVS (NAVS). Brian and Sharon Graff have one grown daughter and one new son. Get some contacts for what they do in their children's program. 13) Check out what the vegetarian-oriented religious and/or spiritual groups do with their young people. Sure, you may not be a religious person, and you may fear that they would try to persuade you of their worldviewish outlook on life (when you're a deconstructionist, or something less fully framed). But they have issues as a multigenerational community, and they do have vegetarian young people your age. Which is worse: something religious rubbing off from one vegetarian preteen to another vegetarian preteen, or the vegetarian preteens vegetarianism rubbing off altogether to the point of her/his not being vegetarian at all? Just a thought... And did you know that Stoneham MA used to have a vegetarian high school, until they hit the rocks financially? 14) Support the local vegetarian society, wherever you are. And then, as members, take over the direction (if not the leadership) of the group. 15) Compare notes with the good folks at Country Life, who home-schooled their 5 children. Healthy kids, good natured kids, etc. Avis and Craig Ashton might have some homespun ideas about what works and doesn't work with self-guided young people who may fuss about learning from pre-established curriculum. 16) Read about child development and discuss these topics, ideas, insights with other vegetarian parents. Compare notes with one another. 17) Start pulling together a network of teachers who practice vegetarian diets in their own lives. See whether or not they will be willing to share (gratis, for love, not money) with your families, with your preteens. I recommend Chris Mandell (ChrisMandell), who does science education with young people, and it's highly entertaining. She might need some small stipend, but anything like word of mouth you could do to get word out about what she can do could be very helpful to a freelance child educator. Another would be humane educator Randy Warner (21stCares). NEAVS (617-523-6020 - www.NEAVS.org) could be very helpful in providing some venues for humane education for interested young people. 18) 'Helping animals' is a good theme to unite vegetarian young people in projects. 19) There are some helpful vegetarian and pro-animal publications to have around, and for young people to share with one another. 20) There used to be such things in public schools called " Kindness Clubs, " analogous to the old Bible Clubs, but these were nonsectarian pro-animal interest groups promoting kindness towards both humans AND nonhumans, and many young people became vegetarian. 21) House parents for other vegetarian young peole in an age group (your children may be 8,10, and 12, and working with other vegetarian-oriented young people 10-12 would make sense for the 8-year-old and 10-year-old and would help the 8-year old see what's a coming... and the oldest of the three could perhaps become a helper in such a community outreach project. Alternatively, there could be some kind of 'campus outreach' to middle school (junion high) students interested in kindness, but root your communications with them in good values, including clean, healthy living. Taht means a great deal to these 'free radical' wannabes, but whose lives your family could help keep 'on target.' 22) Sharing birthday parties and special events (and holidays?) We can be moved by honor and self-interest, and a good society is moved by some variable combination of both. I dunno, but those are some of my thoughts on the topic. msc Just to prime the conversation. david somers <somers wrote: I want to pick up on the thread that Maynard started about planning for kids post-playgroup. I agree that the playgroup efforts are wonderful and positive for all who can participate. But what sort of veggie community is available for pre-teens and up? I have 3 daughters ages 8, 6 & 4 who have had very little contact with other vegetarians. While they view themselves as vegetarians, they have not connected with a vegetarian community. Clearly, my-ex and I deserve most of the blame for this. But how to fix it now? My 8 year old has hit a pre-teen phase and refused to go to the last Sprouts gathering (which would have been our first). We did meet up with another family at the BVS thanksgiving dinner (which BTW is not a kid-friendly event). Since I'm facing the problem, I suppose that I should be offering ideas. One idea (the only one I've got) is to organize some pre-teen veggie gatherings. The simplest idea is to pick a Sunday brunch to meet at Country Life and invite all veggie/vegan pre-teens and their families. I don't know if there is a critical mass out there (or how to reach them), but I'd be willing to give it a shot. Even once every 6-8 weeks might be sufficient. If we got something rolling, we could try something more exciting when the weather turns better. Any thoughts about this idea - venue, timing, advertising, etc? Thanks, David on 12/16/03 3:35 AM, SproutsPlaygroup at SproutsPlaygroup wrote: > There are 2 messages in this issue. > 1. upper limits > " maynardclark " <MaynardClark > 2. Re: upper limits > " Krista Allen " yourmove ______________________ > Message: 1 > Mon, 15 Dec 2003 20:27:39 -0000 > upper limits > > Dear Krista: > > Your establishing this e-mail groups is a WONDERFUL contribution to > vegetarian families in this area. Best wishes to you, the Sprouts > members, and to others in this area, vegetarian and proto-vegetarian, > who do now or will later have need for this group. > > One group we seldom consider in our organizing, including every last > one of us: > > When do we begin planning for the needs of post-playgroup vegetarian > young people? > > Since every vegetarian young person (who lives) is going to outgrow > what we know as 'playgroups,' perhaps some discussion time NOW could > look forward to their period of growing up and becoming preteens, > teens, post-teen 20-somethings, college students, young adults, > careerists, professionals, and significant contributors, not merely > to their own lives and their families, but also to the building of > vegetarian culture. > > But that's far, far, far, far off in the horizon -- a horizon which is not unreal, > though it surely seems that way today. > > msc > > SproutsPlaygroup , " Krista Allen " > <yourmove@r...> wrote: >> While I may know some of you, others I know only via emails. I'm not >> very good at matching names to faces either. My name is Krista. We >> hosted the November playgroup a few weeks ago. >> I joined the Sprouts playgroup last summer for my son, Ryan, who is >> now 14 months old. He started walking just before Thanksgiving, and he >> will have a new baby brother or sister in a few weeks (end of Jan. >> '04)! We eat a vegan diet, and live in Framingham. My husband, Rob, >> decided to become mostly vegetarian (he still eats fish) just before >> Ryan was born. >> I'd love to get together more frequently with children near Ryan's age >> for library/bookstore storytimes, trips to museums, winter walks in >> the mall, or just at-home shorter playgroups during the week or on the >> weekends. >> I have posted photos of our family in the " Photos " folder in the list >> on the left. Please feel free to do the same if you wish. I've also >> added a bunch of veggie-friendly, family-friendly website " links " at >> left as well. Feel free to add your favourites too. I would like to >> create a list of local restaurants (veg-friendly, vegetarian, vegan, >> raw), and a recipes section. I'm particularly interested in learning >> the recipe for the Indian casserole dish that I believe Jennifer >> brought in November, and the caramel bundt cake from the August >> playgroup, that is if these recipes are for sharing and not family >> secrets! >> Also, in the " Calendar " section to the left, I have added a few BVS >> events for the coming months. Please add any veggie events you know > about. >> Well, that's about it for now. >> - Krista, Rob, Ryan, & ? > > > > ______________________ > ______________________ > > Message: 2 > Mon, 15 Dec 2003 23:46:07 -0000 > " Krista Allen " <yourmove > Re: upper limits > > Maynard - Thanks for your input. I'm glad you could join the group. I > set up this website to facilitate gatherings and conversation between > Sprouts' group members, since once a month doesn't allow much time for > discussions. Sharla Lloyd Halperin, Sprouts current > secretary/organizer, has not yet joined this online group. But I have > never asked her how long Sprouts has existed. I am curious, since > certainly all of the children in the group will grow up and move on to > other activities at some point, and they will certainly start to feel > as if they've outgrown the " playgroup " , even though it is a family event. > I was thinking about exactly this when adding " Links " to this website, > making sure I included any helpful websites that would be of interest > to vegetarian teens and their parents. I wouldn't want anyone to feel > excluded. Also, I thought this website would be a great way to > organize smaller group activites with children of similar ages (since > the playgroups usually encompass infants through pre-teens in one > afternoon!). For instance, getting my son together with a handful of > babies and toddlers under age 2 is important to me, since he is > generally overwhelmed at large gatherings. > Any suggestions you have about how to help older kids feel comfortable > at these playgroups would be welcome. When we hosted last month at our > house, I felt it was advantageous to have the living room (which is > baby-proofed) full of toys for the younger kids, and the > guestroom/playroom arranged with toys and activities that the older > kids would find more appealing. > As for " kid-friendly " vegan food, my son wants to eat everything at > this age. I'm sure there will come a time when he will be pickier (if > he's anything like I was), and I'll have to be more creative! But I > always try to bring one " simple " dish that kids can recognize. > - Krista > > SproutsPlaygroup , " maynardclark " > <MaynardClark@Y...> wrote: >> Dear Krista: >> >> Your establishing this e-mail groups is a WONDERFUL contribution to >> vegetarian families in this area. Best wishes to you, the Sprouts >> members, and to others in this area, vegetarian and proto-vegetarian, >> who do now or will later have need for this group. >> >> One group we seldom consider in our organizing, including every last >> one of us: >> >> When do we begin planning for the needs of post-playgroup vegetarian >> young people? >> >> Since every vegetarian young person (who lives) is going to outgrow >> what we know as 'playgroups,' perhaps some discussion time NOW could >> look forward to their period of growing up and becoming preteens, >> teens, post-teen 20-somethings, college students, young adults, >> careerists, professionals, and significant contributors, not merely >> to their own lives and their families, but also to the building of >> vegetarian culture. >> >> But that's far, far, far, far off in the horizon -- a horizon which >> is not unreal, though it surely seems that way today. >> >> msc >> >> SproutsPlaygroup , " Krista Allen " >> <yourmove@r...> wrote: >>> While I may know some of you, others I know only via emails. I'm not >>> very good at matching names to faces either. My name is Krista. We >>> hosted the November playgroup a few weeks ago. >>> I joined the Sprouts playgroup last summer for my son, Ryan, who is >>> now 14 months old. He started walking just before Thanksgiving, and >> he >>> will have a new baby brother or sister in a few weeks (end of Jan. >>> '04)! We eat a vegan diet, and live in Framingham. My husband, Rob, >>> decided to become mostly vegetarian (he still eats fish) just before >>> Ryan was born. >>> I'd love to get together more frequently with children near Ryan's >> age >>> for library/bookstore storytimes, trips to museums, winter walks in >>> the mall, or just at-home shorter playgroups during the week or on >> the >>> weekends. >>> I have posted photos of our family in the " Photos " folder in the >> list >>> on the left. Please feel free to do the same if you wish. I've also >>> added a bunch of veggie-friendly, family-friendly website " links " at >>> left as well. Feel free to add your favourites too. I would like to >>> create a list of local restaurants (veg-friendly, vegetarian, vegan, >>> raw), and a recipes section. I'm particularly interested in learning >>> the recipe for the Indian casserole dish that I believe Jennifer >>> brought in November, and the caramel bundt cake from the August >>> playgroup, that is if these recipes are for sharing and not family >>> secrets! >>> Also, in the " Calendar " section to the left, I have added a few BVS >>> events for the coming months. Please add any veggie events you know >> about. >>> Well, that's about it for now. >>> - Krista, Rob, Ryan, & ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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