Unschooling NYC

I was feeling a little glum today.  It’s the annual back to school or back to curriculum and classes rush that happens all around us that does it.  Our little unschooling community in NYC is just that:  LITTLE.   We are very few and very far between.

So I went on Twitter and basically said that I wished I had some new, nearby unschooling friends.

Within seconds, two of my fellow unschool tweeps were on the case; turns out one lives nearby and the other is currently not far from our destination in an upcoming trip.   As a result and with … Read more

I’ve noticed something over the years.   There are a lot of rules about stuff.  Many of them serve no purpose except to hinder us from something, or maybe to make sure (in vain, I might add) that there are never any mistakes.

Schools are huge perpetrators of the useless rule.

They are also very good at instilling a belief of the worth of the useless rule in their students.

I am a prime example.

For years, I tried to keep a journal, and would have off and on success.  The problem was, I had all these rules in my head.  … Read more

So there you are.  You’ve been reading about “strewing” on Sandra Dodd’s website.   You see a book, or books, that you just know would be perfect for your kid.  They’re colorful, interesting and full of cool info presented in an amazing way.   You buy them and leave them around the house.

There is momentary and underwhelming interest.  The books wind up on a shelf.  They gather dust.  You wonder if you’re doing something wrong.  Maybe strewing doesn’t work in your house.   Maybe you picked the wrong books.

Patience, grasshopper.

Strewing is not an exact science.  Sometimes it’s subtle.  … Read more

Taking a break from two days of writing about history and remembering over at www.green-mangoes.com, because last night during a Facebook discussion that centered on the dismal state of our compulsory education system, I was told by a fellow commenter that I sound like a slave.

Yes, a slave.

The woman making the comment was offended by Michael Ellsberg’s metaphor in which he likened our system of schooling and those in it to drug pushers.   The commenter in question didn’t get the metaphor, and said that school is the only safe haven for many of the kids she teaches … Read more

Today Joshua and I wanted to go out to dinner with the kids and I picked the restaurant.

I did not ask anyone else where they wanted to go.

Then, when we got home, I announced that we were now going to rid the living room of all inessential objects, like the masses of blocks, Lego, games and miscellaneous other kid items that had collected there.   Why?   Well, as I put it to the other members of my family “All of you have a room to which you can go and shut the door and in which you can keep … Read more

Unschoolers have a P.R.  problem.

The public – at least, those who have heard of unschooling – often perceive young unschooled children as feral; unsocialized, dirty, wild creatures who follow no social conventions and for whom there are no rules, even when out in public.

And you know what?  To a degree, they are correct.

I’ve had an unschooled child who was a guest in my home find a marker and write on my furniture with it, while the parent did nothing but smile and shrug and tell me how much their child likes to draw.    I’ve been with another … Read more

Ok, so who says reading Dooce.com isn’t educational?   Today I was scanning through her Friday edition of “Stuff I Found While Looking Around”, and saw a link to something about the physics of why cats always land on their feet.

The universe is paying attention, people.  Just yesterday, Ben said, “Is it true that cats always land on their feet?”  I said, “Yes, I think it is.”   He asked, “Why do they always land on their feet?”   I said I didn’t know and that we’d have to look it up.   Then something else happened and we got distracted and … Read more

I read somewhere once that on average a person needs to hear something three times before it sinks in.   So even though I’m sure I’ve touched on this in the past, it is worth revisiting if it means someone finally “gets it”.

The “this” to which I am referring is the true purpose of schools as opposed to the lies we are told (and that most of us believe) regarding the purpose of schools, and how to make both the truth and the lies irrelevant.

Ready?

The true purpose of schools is to turn out a uniform workforce of minimally … Read more

A few days ago, in one of my posts on Slow Living, I mentioned a Times review of Madeline Levine’s new book, “Teach Your Children Well: Parenting for Authentic Success”.   I’m assuming she chose that title because of the Crosby, Stills and Nash song, but I wish it had been titled “Guide Your Children Well”.

Today in the Sunday Op-Ed section of the Times (which has recently been exceptional in its’ content; well done NY Times), Ms. Levine has an article titled “Raising Successful Children” where she discusses the dangers of overparenting.

For the most part, I agree with … Read more

In my last blog entry I wrote about essential vs. inessential learning, and was thinking about it from the point of view of what is taught in schools in the name of preparing kids to function in the “real world”.   After reading it, a friend and fellow unschooling parent sent me an email in which she asked why I didn’t mention other things that could well be considered “essential”.  Knowing how to sew a button, or wield a hammer, for example; knowing north from south, the name of our nearest ocean or where Europe is on a map.    She also … Read more