Homeschooling 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.
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"Children today are cossetted and pressured in equal measure. Without the freedom to play they will never truly grow up . . ." Thoughts about Dr. Peter Gray's latest article, The Play Deficit.
Dr. Peter Gray writes a followup article to his controversial Salon essay, "School is a Prison and Damaging Our Children" . . .
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The latest U.S. Dept. of Education study of the number of homeschoolers in America shows continuing growth, though the rate of growth is slowing . . .
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The latest issue of Learning All the Time, the HoltGWS newsletter, is now available for free.
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Free recordings from the first online, global homeschooling conference, including all the audio-visual presentations, are available now . . .
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 . . .
Carlo and I finally published this book! I think it was worth the wait and I hope you'll agree. Pat Farenga talks about the creation of this book and Holt's legacy and work this Friday, August 23, 11AM, at the free, online global Homeschooling Conference.
This inaugural conference is our attempt to bring together as many groups and people who have a genuine interest in helping children learn in their own ways and schedules, rather than forcing children to learn what economists, politicians, and educators have decided they should know at any given age. Steve Hargadon and I have created this event rather quickly this year, but we decided we had to give it a shot and bring it to life on our own rather than continue to wait for sponsorship and the perfect moment . . .
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Colllege enrollments and tuitions rose like bottle rockets for years but now they are crashing as quickly as spent fireworks.
A new study shows that exposing children under 2 to learning videos, apps, and other screen-based educational products is not effective and the educational claims being made by the manufacturers are overblown. But parents seeking an edge for their child continue to purchase these products . . .
Homeschool Alumni Reaching Out (HARO), wants to be a nonprofit that provides physical, legal, and financial assistance to current and former homeschoolers in unhealthy situations.
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Day Farenga at the Eiffel Tower, July 4. Did that really happen?
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Education and Consumerism: Have schools confused being a consumer with being a citizen? Ivan Illich wrote, "The existence of schools produces the demand for schooling. Once we have learned to need school, all our activities tend to take the shape of client relationships to other specialized institutions . . ."
Recordings of the four speeches featured at the Alternatives to Compulsory Education Conference on April 27, 2013, at Harvard University. Speakers Cevin Soling, Pat Farenga, Peter Gray, and Peter Bergson gave powerful talks about the competence of children and offer solutions to the control and predict mentality of compulsory education.
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."
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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 . . .
Children 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.
Meaningful relationships with adults and honoring sleep patterns are two factors for success in life that are neglected in just about all school reforms. Photo: Kids and adults at the first Holt/Growing Without Schooling picnic in 1986.
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