Unschooling NYC

It’s a bit of a surprise to me, when I think about it, that neither of my kids is interested in sports.   Not in playing and not in watching, either.   I grew up watching the Cincinnati Reds baseball and Indiana University basketball.  (Or any basketball, really.  It’s the state past-time.)   I could shoot a game of HORSE as well as anyone, and I was a gymnast from the time I was six years old until the age of 14.   To this day I love watching tennis, dance, gymnastics and figure skating.  My baseball allegiance now lies with the Yankees, and … Read more

This morning we returned from a week in Southern California.   As vacations go, this one was pretty good;  we stayed in the home of some friends and enjoyed the sun, the beach, and the luxury of doing nothing all day and not feeling guilty about it.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but whenever I travel anywhere I think what it would be like to live there; what if this place was my every day.    Inevitably I return to the fact that, despite loving travel and our vacations,  for me, there is no better place to live than New … Read more

The other day I wrote about Seth Godin’s “Stop Stealing Dreams” and how I thought it missed the mark by 1) assuming that schools can be completely overhauled in a way that would enable children to pursue self-directed learning and 2) dismissing homeschooling as an unworkable model for most people.

I gave Godin the benefit of the doubt regarding unschooling (and perhaps I shouldn’t have, since as Wendy Priesnitz pointed out in her comment,  he cites Clark Aldrich’s “Unschooling Rules” and Laura Weldon’s “Free Range Learning” in his bibliography) in the hopes that he might, at some point, revise his … Read more

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a post about the beginning of Seth Godin’s education manifesto titled “Stop Stealing Dreams”, because I liked what he was saying and thought much of it applicable to unschooling.    Then,  a day or two ago I read a comment on Facebook by Wendy Priesnitz (editor of Life Learning Magazine and author of several books on life learning) in which she criticized Godin for thinking schools can be reformed, and for dismissing homeschooling as unworkable.   He does not mention unschooling at all, which was seen by Wendy & those joining her in the discussion … Read more

Today we drove down to Newport Beach and spent the afternoon in the sun and on the sand.  Can I just say, “Ahhh!”    So much better than navigating the crazy traffic in Los Angeles.   We saw a pod of dolphins swim by, not 100 yards off shore, and I watched pelicans dive bomb for fish all afternoon, which was incredible!  These enormous birds circle around, maybe 15-20 feet above the water and then all of a sudden they fold their wings against their bodies and drop like missiles head first into the water.   It is the most amazing thing, and … Read more

When people come to visit New York and leave with the impression that the entire city is like Times Square (because that is where they stayed and they spent time in only the busiest tourist spots), I feel they have missed out on the real New York City.   The one that is made up of the corner deli and the favorite diner; that place in Riverside Park and the rocks below the Harlem Meer.   Of course when you come to the city you want to see the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty; Madison Square Garden, Central Park … Read more

Just a quick post this evening, with my favorite photo of the day, courtesy of our morning visit to the Barnes & Noble in Orange, California.   By the end of the week I will be an expert in freeway driving!

Anyway, here it is.  Those of you who, like me, enjoy Lenore Skenazy’s “Free Range Kids” blog will love this.

Thank you Jacob Weinstein, for the best laugh of the day!

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…”                               -Charles Dickens,  A Tale of

… Read more

Biggest difference (besides all the vegetation, types of houses and massive freeways) I’ve noticed so far between Southern California and New York?   The prevalence of  women wearing sweatpants, sweatshirts and Uggs at my morning Starbucks run…

We are having a great time on Day 1.   Martha & Jim are lovely hosts and their house is gorgeous.   So far we’ve driven their boat (I drove) all over the lake:

Just call me "Captain Amy"

You see I’m wearing a coat – it hasn’t been very sunny today, except for a brief period this afternoon while we were out walking, at which … Read more

I started reading Jonah Lehrer’s new book “Imagine: How Creativity Works” the other day.  One of the things mentioned on the inside flap of the book was the “importance of…adopting an outside perspective (travel helps).”

Isn’t it nice when something you love to do turns out to be beneficial for creativity?  (Are there people who don’t love travel?  There must be, but I feel sorry for them…)

Tomorrow we get to travel and spend a week as outsiders on the West Coast – not quite so culturally different as, say, ARGENTINA (waiting on that parent’s trip, Blake) but still pretty … Read more

“Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never harm me.”

“The pen is mightier than the sword.”

One might debate the relative truth of these quotes, but not if you are a student in the NYC public school system, in which case you’ll never get the chance, at least if the Dept. of Ed gets its’ way.

Why?

Because both of these quotes contain “forbidden” words that the Dept. of Ed has suggested be banned from their tests.  (Of course, in my opinion, they should ditch the tests altogether, but not because of words they might or … Read more