The people who are horrified by the idea of children learning what they want to learn when they want to learn it have not accepted the very elementary psychological fact that people (all people, of every age) remember the things… Read More ›
learning
Learned behaviour
People who imagine that children are resistant to learning have a nonexistent understanding of how human culture developed in the first place. Culture is no more and no less than the totality of learned behavior and information that is passed… Read More ›
Observation
How do unschooling parents know their children are learning? The answer to this question is, to put it most simply, direct observation. — Jan Hunt in The Unschooling Unmanual Related articles The Teenage Liberation Handbook (kk.org) ‘Unschooling’ – education fad… Read More ›
Evaluation
The assumption that unschooling parents somehow lack awareness of their children’s progress, and therefore require formal evaluation of that progress, is related to the fact that unschoolers function outside the arena of the schools, and our philosophies and methods are… Read More ›
Growing children
It [unschooling] is a little like watching a garden grow. No matter how closely we examine the garden, it is difficult to verify that anything is happening at that particular moment. But as the season progresses, we can see that… Read More ›
Put it down
No parent would tell her toddler, “Let’s put that caterpillar down and get back to your book about caterpillars.” Unschoolers learn directly about the world. — Jan Hunt in The Unschooling Unmanual Related articles The Teenage Liberation Handbook (kk.org) ‘Unschooling’… Read More ›
Classrooms
…it is our responsibility as teachers to have in our classrooms what the children need, to make a rich and varied environment for them to live, learn and grow in. ‘The school won’t let me get anything’ is not an… Read More ›
Unschooling the Basics
I came across this blog post by following a link on twitter. A great post to show your other half or mother-in-law if they have their doubts about the effect of unschooling on things like Math and Reading. After socialisation,… Read More ›
The Unschooling Unmanual by Nanda Van Gestel, Jan Hunt, Daniel Quinn, Rue Kream, Earl Stevens, Kim Houssenloge, John Holt & Mary Van Doren
Opening Sentence:Why did you choose unschooling rather than some other form of homeschooling? Synopsis:”It is part of the mythology of childhood that children hate learning and will avoid it at all costs. Of course, anyone who has had a child… Read More ›
Accessible Learning
The last few days I have felt really sick from a medication I am taking, so we haven’t done much by way of formal lessons. We don’t do much anyway, but we’ve done even less the past few days. In… Read More ›
Rafferty's Rules [Currently Being Refurbished] 