More people are grasping that there are many other ways to live and learn with children besides telling them to perform in classrooms as instructed by adults. Further, some young people are being empowered to speak out on their own. Here are some events and activities from young people, educators, and parents from around the world that may interest you.
Read MoreSince 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.
Read MoreJohn 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."
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreThe voices and ideas of the young are often paid lip service and then ignored by those in power—at home, in school, and in politics—so is it any wonder the young are jaded about the political process?
Read MoreChildren's rights are not a conversation starter in most circles, but this recent interview I did goes there in-depth.
Read MoreChildren’s Mental Health Crises Plummet in Summer and Rise in the School Year . . .
Read More"In a world consumed with uncertainty and a growing sense of the obsolescence of our education systems, how can we ensure the success of ourselves as individuals, our communities, and the planet? We need to evolve education."—From Manifesto 15.
Read MoreMany educators grasp the importance of letting children learn through their own joy and passions, but almost none recommend that unschooling can be a sound way to do so. Even fewer dare to be education heretics and question why we need to box children into schools and how else they might learn and grow in today's world . . .
Read MoreTrying to break the cycle of child abuse seems like a gargantuan task, not just because all sorts of experts, institutions, laws, and religious beliefs encourage and support corporal punishment but also because the majority of adults don’t think children are capable of having deep thoughts and feelings . . .
Read MoreEmpowering children to question authority and become active citizens rather than passive students is not high on the agendas of religious and educational institutions, since they consider physical and psychological punishments to be necessary components of their teaching processes. This is why I’m writing about the Protect Children Project—its primary purpose is to end corporal punishment in school—and they have declared May 15, 2014, as Protect Children Day.
Read More"You don’t learn to love freedom by being a slave." This and many other juicy quotes by John Holt and author/psychologist Richard Farson are in this interview from 1974 about children's rights. Read about the interview and listen to it here . . .
Read MoreHomeschooling is spreading around the world, but it is facing serious challenges from institutions and governments that prefer a single, compulsory, standardized education system for processing everyone.
Read MoreHomeschool Alumni Reaching Out (HARO), wants to be a nonprofit that provides physical, legal, and financial assistance to current and former homeschoolers in unhealthy situations.
Read More "Don't
limit a child to your own learning, for he was born in another time."—Rabindranath
Tagore.
The young man in this video makes a strong case about this, and other learning issues, from the point of view of the learner . . .
Read about Cevin Soling's new project: "Seeking submissions of student works expressing their hatred of school for publication . . ."
Escape From Childhood is back in print as a paperback for the first time in over 20 years! Plus a preview of the new book The Legacy of John Holt: A Man Who Genuinely Understood, Trusted, and Respected Children.
Homeschooler's Anonymous has created a petition to the Home School Legal Defense Association: ". . . As former homeschool students, homeschooling parents, and community allies, we demand that HSLDA takes a stand against child abuse and neglect in homeschooling families."
Read MoreChildren who were homeschooled by parents with extreme religious views, now adults, have formed an online group to help them and others process their pain and move forward in their lives.
