When people are first introduced to the idea of unschooling, they often express a belief that children raised in such a way must end up incorrigible, disrespectful, sloppy, lazy and completely self-centered. They have images of kids running wild, with long, matted hair and blackened teeth. Kids who rule the roost, while their parents either […]
Radical Unschooling Philosophy
A Visit from the Un-Nanny
UPDATE: JULY 2013 The article below is an account of the UnNanny experience of my family in July, 2010. Sadly, in the past month, many people have come forward to share far less positive experiences. As of this writing, Dayna Martin has announced that she is suspending her UnNanny service. As with any paid service, […]
Unschooling: “How’s That Working for You?”
Ever watched Dr. Phil? He’s the talk show host who’s known for asking his guests, “How’s that working for you?” A retired psychologist, he appears to be a leading authority, dispensing wisdom and practical advice to his guests and viewers. In a series titled The Great School Debate, Dr. Phil explored the topic of unschooling. […]
Avoiding the Morning Rush, Unschooler Style
One common theme among parents is the dreaded “morning rush”. We talk nostalgically about our childhood summers, when the world seemed to be on “kid time”. These days, people always seem to be racing to keep up with their schedules. Being an unschooling family, we rarely experience the “morning rush”, which makes it all the […]
Unschoolers: Judge Not
Ever been here? It’s 4:00 p.m. and I’ve dashed into the grocery store with four tired, hungry kids in tow because I used my last dipaer about 4 hours ago and I know I can’t get away with putting it off much longer. Nobody much wants to be there, and everyone is expressing this in his or her unique way. Thomas finds teasing […]
Tiny Aliens: seeing our children from a new perspective
Join me on a journey of the imagination….. We’re living sometime in the distant future, and intergalactic travel has become possible. A new world, light years away, has been discovered to have intelligent life. What’s more, the beings there have invited you to come for a sort of exchange program. You’ll be assigned a host […]
Life With a Louse: How Unschooling Helped Reframe an Itchy Situation
What can you learn from a louse? A lot, it turns out. Particularly when the louse is joined by a goodly number of compatriots and comes calling on three small, unschooled heads. You guessed it: I’m talking about the dreaded head lice.When they first made their presence known (on Valentine’s Day, no less…how romantic!), my […]
A Pair of Sparkly Sneakers: letting our kids be who they really are
This is a post I wrote over two years ago, which is featured in my new book by the same title. Hope you enjoy it! I’m shoe shopping with Thomas; always a touch-and-go affair. Today is no different. He glumly surveys the offerings in the boys section. “They’re all black, white or blue, Mom,” he […]
Screen Time: Finding the Balance
Balance. It’s an ever-moving target, that elusive “just right” blend of social activities and alone time, physical activity and rest, screen time and actual face time…. In the past couple of weeks, I’ve had several conversations with folks who are struggling to find balance between time on electronic devices and time doing other things. As […]