Posts in Unschooling
Starting to Homeschool

This series of starting to homeschool webinars presents homeschooling as a flexible, vibrant, and social way to learn with children. Homeschooling is an option open to anyone willing to try it. Even if your children are happy in school and you are satisfied with how your home and school work together, it is good to know what your modern educational options are as your family grows up.

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Treating Children As Less than Human

Trying 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 . . .

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Give and Let Give: Homeschooling from the Ground Up

"Homeschooling is more than just freedom to learn. It’s more than just awesome classes or innovative learning centers. It’s time with family. It’s building close relationships with your kids. It’s going through real life ups and downs with the support of your friends, your community. It’s kids finding their own mentors by virtue of living an authentic life . . . "

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New Unschooling Videos

Three types of media for you to enjoy: The slides, bibliography, and videos from my recent talk about how parents of preschool-age children can best help them learn; a new video about Holt's Learning All the Time; and a synchronized update of my slides and video, Homeschooling and Unschooling, presented at the Alternatives to Compulsory Schooling conference at Harvard University in April 2013.

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Do Hunter–Gatherers Spoil Children?

In 1975 The Continuum Concept was published and John Holt was an early, enthusiastic supporter of the book as another reason why parents should trust themselves and their children to learn and grow without constantly referring to experts to be sure they're doing it okay. Today, hunter-gatherer cultures are studied more but, as this exchange shows, what we can learn from them is difficult for many to grasp.

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Alternatives to School

For those who do not enjoy and flourish in conventional schools there seem to be few choices: homeschool or enroll in a private school. However, even most of those choices mimic the conventional school model, so for someone who does not learn or enjoy the way school teaches they are not great options . . .

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