Unschooling NYC

Had cousins in town today, and spent the afternoon with them.  We visited the WTC Memorial and I don’t know what I was expecting but I found it…..sterile.    Maybe once the buildings around it take shape and the trees grow beyond their current sapling height, it will exude a different vibe.    I caught myself still trying to visualize the Towers and the plaza between them, and craning my neck to see farther into the reflecting pools placed where the Towers once stood.   I left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction and disappointment at that dissatisfaction.   Then again, maybe nothing can … Read more

Just some stuff I like, because today was gray and rainy  (neither lion nor lamb, and if you follow me on Twitter, you know that I settled on ‘howler monkey with a chip on its’ shoulder’ for how March came in in NYC) and these things made me smile.

Passing that smile on to you….

I’m not a regular viewer of Colbert, but that was really good.

Next, in the category of If  “You’re Going To Do Something, Give It Your All!!”

Finally, my favorite photos of the past couple of weeks (that I took).

Maya's hair in a bun,

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Yesterday I started reading Seth Godin’s manifesto (or “rant” as he calls it) on education, “Stop Stealing Dreams”.   The link to it is here.

So far, and I’m only a few pages in, my two favorite quotes are:

Culture changes to match the economy, not the other way around. The economy needed an institution that would churn out compliant workers, so we built it. Factories didn’t happen because there were schools; schools happened because there were factories.

The reason so many people grow up to look for a job is that the economy has needed people who would grow up

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Anyone who is unschooling and has spoken about it with someone whose kids are in school has heard this one:

“Oh, that would never work in our house.  [Name of child] would never do anything but play video games and sleep.”

Translation?  “My kid is too lazy to learn on his own.”

Where did this myth that kids are lazy come from?   I think it comes from the fact that after spending many hours each day in a classroom, most kids want to do nothing but ‘zone out’.    Boredom does that to you.   Think about it.  If you’ve ever worked … Read more

Ok, I haven’t read it yet.  I’m downloading my copy tonight.  But I’ve never read anything from Seth Godin that wasn’t 100% on track.   (And if you haven’t read any of Seth’s stuff, please stop reading this, go to Amazon or Barnes & Noble or wherever you go to buy books, and buy his.  All of them, or one of them or as many as you can.   I guarantee you will not regret it.)

Then, once you’ve done that, click on this link and download “Stop Stealing Dreams”, Seth’s 30,000 word manifesto on education.   I’m going to go start reading … Read more

I don’t monitor “screen time” with my kids.  They both spend a lot of time on the computer, and up until today if you had asked me what they do on said computers, I would have, in all confidence, told you.   Maya is usually working on videos, chatting with friends or watching tutorials on various Sculpey or resin crafts, and Ben?  Well, Ben is usually watching his favorite videos or shows.

Turns out I have been sorely deceived.

This afternoon we decided to spend some time watching an episode of the BBC show “Merlin”.   While the DVD was loading, I … Read more

Nobody knows how to have silly fun better than Ellen Degeneres.  I remember seeing her in one of her stand up shows talk about how grown ups need to have more fun – like kids do.   She then said something like, “Wouldn’t it be great to just run up to some random person on the street, tap them on the arm and yell, ‘Tag, you’re it!’   And wouldn’t it be even better if they played along?”

Yes, yes it would.

We’re often so busy being the “adults” that we forget how to laugh and be silly.   Which is such a … Read more

Dana Goldstein believes that when children learn outside of school, it violates progressive values.   You can read her article about it on your own, if you wish.  I have no desire to print quotes from it here.

Let me just say that the thing that offends me most about what Ms. Goldstein’s writes is her belief that a true liberal would send their kid to public school.  Any other choice, in her opinion, is anathema to a progressive belief system.  She believes that homeschoolers and unschoolers are not serving the greater good.   She believes that only the well-to-do can homeschool.  … Read more

While my kids were in their Spanish class today, I caught up with my NYTimes for the week, as well as a couple of magazines (Time & NY Magazine) that have been languishing on my table.

It was a busy week for articles on learning and schooling, as it turns out.   Here then, are a few of the nuggets of absurdity and/or wisdom that stood out.

From “The Art of Distraction” by Harif Kaneishi on why focus might be slightly overrated:

For me, now, things do get done; books are finished, and other projects are started that are also finished.  

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Tonight I have one request, and that is to go to this link and help Blake Boles reach his goal of $8500 necessary to publish his book, “Better Than College: How to Build a Successful Life Without a Four-Year Degree”.

Sounds good, right?  I’ve made my contribution.  Please make yours.

In case you don’t know who Blake is, you can check out his website at blakeboles.com.   There is also a great interview with Blake here, in which he talks, among other things, about how he got involved in the unschooling movement:

In Spring 2003, when I was an

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