I know, it’s a weird title for an unschooling website. It’s a weird subject for an unschooling mom to be writing about. But, having taught in public schools for ten years, it’s a piece I feel compelled to write. Like members of every other profession, teachers span the spectrum from outstanding to completely incompetent. As […]
Unschooling: A Man of Few Words
My husband Ted did not come to the unschooling life as quickly or as easily as I did. It was kind of a long road for him, with some serious doubts and struggles along the way. So it’s been very cool to watch as he has become increasingly confident in the unschooling philosophy and his […]
Can Unschoolers Learn to Read?
When I was just hours old, I did something truly astonishing in my mother’s opinion. I managed to fill my diaper. Enthralled as only a first-time parent can be, my mom promptly called up her entire family. “She works!” my triumphant mother exclaimed. It’s funny how we can know something intellectually, but it doesn’t truly […]
Radical Unschooling: Works in Progress
My daughter Katy has been the subject of many of my radical unschooling posts. That’s because she’s given me plenty of much-needed opportunities to practice my peaceful parenting approach! But make no mistake – by no means is she the only highly spirited child in this family. So today’s post is about a recent struggle […]
Unschooling: Sharing the Power
Power. Such a loaded word. And with power comes the potential for mis-using it. Recently my daughter Katy has been thinking a lot about power. Specifically, she’s been thinking about how much of it she wields. This has made for some interesting dynamics. A few days ago, after an altercation with her younger sister, Katy […]
Unschoolers Have Doubts, Too
Being a teacher, I was kind of amazed at how naturally our family made the transition from school-at-home to unschooling. Maybe the fact that I am a teacher helped. It was pretty easy for me to find the learning in most of my kids’ activities, which was reassuring – especially at first. But I’m going […]
Unschooling: Yes, Sometimes It Sucks
I’m going to be honest with you. Unschooling has been an awesome experience for our family. But not every minute. Sometimes things go south. Sometimes they go even further downhill than that. And yes, there are moments that truly suck. Now, I’m not telling you this to bring you down – really! I’m telling you […]
Unschooling: Can You Be Successful without College?
Ordinarily, I like to think of myself as more pro-unschooling than anti-school. I prefer to spend my energy focused on the positives of the unschooling approach rather than on the negatives associated with traditional schooling. However, a recent episode of Harry’s Law, which touched on whether a college degree is still essential in this day […]
Unschooling: What’s the Value of a Diploma?
I can’t shake the sneaking suspicion that a closet unschooler is a writer on Harry’s Law. An episode I watched a while back seemed just loaded with unschooling philosophy. I found its premise to be so unschool-y, in fact, that I’ve written about it not once, but twice already. And here I go again… If […]
Unschooling: Success and Failure
Children who undertake to do things…do not think in terms of success and failure, but of effort and adventure. It is only when pleasing adults becomes important that the sharp line between success and failure appears. -John Holt, from How Children Fail