“Hard cases make bad law” and tomorrow’s hearing of a homeschooling bill in the California legislature is a prime example.
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Slow down, you move too fast! Here are some concrete actions and inspiring ideas for stepping way from conventional, multitasked, overscheduled family life and on to the path of home and community built on shared responsibilities and self-directed learning.
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After news of the Parkland gun massacre came out, “Jack Kingston, a former United States representative from Georgia and a regular CNN commentator, asked, “Do we really think—and I say this sincerely—do we really think 17-year-olds on their own are going to plan a nationwide rally?” Why can’t we just support and encourage these young people in their single, clear goal of banning assault weapons instead of assimilating their effort into the conventional, adult-driven, conservative/liberal battle narrative?
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Two new online forums built expressly for unschooled teenagers are described by Jim Flannery, the founder/moderator of both. Plus the third Northeast Changemakers Jam happens at the end of March.
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Marilyn Rowe wrote this short, sharp book about why you should consider self-directed education for your children, and also provides an update about the changing scene for homeschooling in Quebec.
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Sitting in a classroom or at home in front of a teaching machine is hardly a major advancement for a child’s social, physical, and mental growth. Our 19th century school assumptions about how learning happens bind us to an industrial model of the school as a knowledge factory, rather than a model of people as active learners. The photo on this post is from an article about the history of B.F. Skinner and his teaching machine by Audrey Watters.
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Since the dawn of time children were an integral part of adult daily life, for better or worse, but since the Industrial Revolution we've deliberately kept them out of adult society to focus them on school instruction, school schedules, and school awards.
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"This article may be very useful to homeschoolers, not only as a guide in their own work with children, but also as something to quote from in their homeschooling proposals."—John Holt. This excerpt from math Prof. David Wheeler's paper contains his five principles of remediation, which can be helpful as you seek to walk a more patient path of learning with your children.
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There aren’t many homeschoolers and unschoolers who openly discuss mental illness in their lives but those who do, such as Mary Herrington, show us how people can successfully manage even these difficult lives . . .
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John Young writes, "John Holt wrote comparatively little on religion per se, . . . However, I think his occasional comments on the matter enrich our understanding of unschooling, especially as the topic of religion comes into play."
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This is a great resource for anyone thinking about what we can do besides replicate conventional school practices and schools.
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Fifty years ago John Holt woke the dreary world of educational theory by showing that for small children “learning is as natural as breathing.” His brilliant observations are as true today as they were then. Over a million copies were sold worldwide in the decades that followed. This new, 50th anniversary edition features a Foreword by teacher/author Deborah Meier, who praises Holt's influence on herself, in schools, and in homes.
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A new report encourages states to promote homeschooling as a viable option to families. Citing research and the current political situation, this is a good summary of homeschooling from an education policy perspective.
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On Thursday, June 22, noon to 9 pm, you can ask me anything online at the Alliance for Self-Directed Learning member forum. We can chat about John Holt, homeschooling, unschooling, learning, teaching, schools and what they can learn from looking beyond their learning paradigms, issues and regulations that challenge the growth of homeschooling and self-directed education around the world—whatever you want!
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Learn about free CLEP and AP classes, free How to Homeschool videos, and radio broadcasts about self-directed education and homeschooling issues.
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The photo shows the cast and crew of the homeschool, teen-operated Firebird Youth Theater's 2015 production of Alice in Wonderland (photo by Katherine Bourbeau), one of a few theater groups operated by teenagers. I interview teen directors/founders Leo Lion of Firebird and Abby Dickson of Youthquake about their latest shows.
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Two conferences to check out this summer: The Education Jam, July 3–9, in Baltimore and the AERO 2017 conference, August 3–6, in Greenvale, NY.
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This video announces the official opening of self-directed.org. Pat Farenga describes the Alliance for Self-Directed Education and why you should check it out.
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. . . If I could have given myself one piece of advice when I was a child, it would have been: “If you happen to make your mark by doing what you purely enjoy, then fine. But never do what you fail to enjoy for the sake of making your mark.” . . .
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It seems that every discussion about education assumes the primary goal of lower educational institutions is to get people into higher educational institutions. But there are better ways of thinking of one’s learning besides as a means to get a checkbox ticked on an application—after all, learning never stops, it ebbs and flows in intensity over your life . . .
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