People think research about the efficacy of schooling proves that our national well-being, personal advancement, and intellectual abilities are deeply connected to attending school. A new article argues that research about the efficacy of education is deeply flawed and prevents us from creating better solutions for helping children learn. . .
Read MoreI lived through the reading wars and survived, though it wasn’t easy in the homeschooling movement. Phonics purists couldn’t quite embrace John Holt’s ideas since he considered phonics to be just one way that children can learn to read, and not necessarily the best way. “It is good books, not good reading methods, that make good readers,” John said . . .
Read MoreAlison Gopnick's research into how children learn supports so many of the observations John Holt wrote about, especially his chapter from Learning All the Time, "Young Children as Research Scientists."
Mosaiculture is a horiticultural art form you can share with your family. All sorts ideas and opportunities for exploration are embedded in this unique, outdoor art.
What happens when homeschoolers get to use a technological platform reserved for university-level courses (Blackboard Collaborate) to co-create a free, online, nonsectarian homeschooling event? Read about it and see some presentations to draw your own conclusions.
"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.
Free recordings from the first online, global homeschooling conference, including all the audio-visual presentations, are available now . . .
The Common Core Curriculum eliminates handwriting in favor of teaching keyboarding skills instead. This might make sense on paper, but are we seeing the future clearly with this change?
Read MoreA 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 . . .
Day Farenga at the Eiffel Tower, July 4. Did that really happen?
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 . . .
Though we are pushing Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics as the skills most needed to compete economically with the rest of the world, the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates jobs that require empathic skills are also surging in demand . . .
A report on the Alternatives to Compulsory Education Conference on Saturday, April 27, 2013 at Harvard's Graduate School of Education.
A homeschooler volunteering at the local library during school hours. This is just one of the many opportunities you can help children use in lieu of classroom seat-time. Read to learn more about the Alternatives to Compulsory Education Conference on April 27, 2013 at Harvard University.
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.
Read MoreMy 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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