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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Getting into the Ivy League is not a good reason to homeschool—there's no guarantee you will gain admission and why put all that pressure on a young child? But following your children's interests and developing their character are good reasons to homeschool, as these stories show.
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North Star celebrates self-directed learning in its local community with an annual award that goes to a publicly nominated person who did not complete high school (though they may hold a GED) and who “lives as a model of successful self-directed learning . . ."
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Striking comments and evidence from mainstream economists that increasing college graduation rates and getting better job training are diversions from the real work of finding work worth doing and getting paid fairly for it . . .
Read MorePrior learning assessments (PLAs) are gaining more acceptance as the costs of higher education rise and alternatives to conventional schooling proliferate . . .
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An interest-led learning opportunity in Peru for teens and young adults and a new guide for earning college credit for what you know . . .
Read More. . . The main reason I mention James is because of how quickly things are changing for people without college degrees. Google is now not only hiring people like James—they recruit them . . .
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Colllege enrollments and tuitions rose like bottle rockets for years but now they are crashing as quickly as spent fireworks.
What a treasure this is: If you meet anyone who claims homeschooled children can't get into college, or will have extreme difficulty being admitted, please direct them to this web page. It was updated in 2013 and provides hard evidence that being homeschooled won't stop you from getting into a selective college or university.
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"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 . . .
The status symbol of a university degree is wrapped up in many values for Chinese and American education consumers: their high cost, the scarcity of top-level teachers and resources, public bragging rights about you or your child’s intelligence, and so on. I’m reminded of Ivan Illich’s phrase, “The university graduate has been schooled for selective service among the rich of the world.” . . .
College is a costly lottery that has no guarantees for its graduates, but it does enrich itself whether you graduate or not. Before you commit to a four-year college program, consider some of these other options . . .
Any
young person who feels they don’t have options other than going to college or
being a loser should read this book. Hacking
Your Education is a career guide and self-help book for people who don’t
have a college degree in the 21st century, but it can be useful for
older people with degrees who are seeking work or new careers, too . . .
My interview with Wes Beach concludes with a discussion about his experiences and solutions working with at-risk students and gifted children in school for many years and how Wes helps homeschooling work for them.
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Part two of my interview with Wes Beach, teen advisor for students who need options to conventional high school. In this part, Wes details how to create and customize a high school transcript so homeschoolers/unschoolers can gain access to college or work.
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Pat Farenga interviews Wes Beach about how his work in school led to his strong support for homeschooling; little-known ways that homeschoolers and other nontraditional learners use to gain access to community college courses; gifted children; and many stories about how Wes helped overcome educational peevishness about people’s learning.
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In this final installment of my three-part interview with Blake Boles, author of Better Than College, we discuss two of his current projects—The Grown Unschooler Opportunity Network and Zero Tuition College—and how we can encourage people to think big and embark on grand plans. We also unpack the argument that graduating from college will give you a huge earning premium just by holding a four-year degree.
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Blake Boles is the author of books, articles, and web projects about learning and finding good, meaningful work without going to college whose work I have followed for some time. His recent web projects include Zero Tuition College, the Grown Unschooler Opportunity Network, and Trailblazer: "a gathering for self-directed learners, ages 18–22+. From June 10-15, 2013, you'll connect, learn, and grow with other young adults blazing their own trails through life" Blake's most recent book is Better Than College which we discuss, as well as how he came to support the world of homeschooling and unschooling so energetically even though he, himself, was never homeschooled. This is the second part of a three-part interview.
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Blake Boles is the author of books, articles, and web projects about learning and finding good, meaningful work without going to college whose work I have followed for some time. His most recent book is Better Than College, which we discuss, as well as how he came to support the world of homeschooling and unschooling so energetically even though he, himself, was never homeschooled. This is the first part of a three-part interview.
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