A few weeks ago, I wrote a post defending teachers. I still agree with my post, but I do feel that some of my viewpoints have been refined slightly. First, I feel that it is very very politically incorrect to criticize teachers. We must always acknowledge how great they are, how they are in the […]
Archive > November 2009
Teaching and Learning
At the end of last week, I was part of an excellent online discussion on the differences between teaching and learning, and the detriment of using the word “teach”. This conversation was held on Twitter and blog posts and comments, and was sparked from my post called The Role of Parental Instruction. You can see […]
Unschooling and Food
In a previous post, I talked about having to “teach” our kids healthy eating habits. I have to admit, I’m having second thoughts about that sentiment. First, Idzie shared her experience with being allowed to choose her own eating choices and that she came to the conclusion, at the ripe age of six, to become […]
Who Taught My Son to Crawl?
I read an article recently by a homeschooling mother that concerned me a little. Actually, I should say I half-read it, because after reading the premise, I just didn’t see the point in continuing. And, no, I’m not going to give you the link because 1) I don’t have it anymore, and 2) it would […]
The Validity of Being Wrong
I really enjoy reading blogs of other unschoolers – both kids and parents – and I often get sparks of ideas from one thing, which leads me to write a post on a completely different topic. Such as it is with today’s post about the validity of being wrong. A couple of weeks ago, I […]
The Role of Parental Instruction
It seems to me that there is a distinction that must be made for unschooling parents and for people criticizing them. When we talk about principles versus rules and allowing our kids to follow their passions, there may be a tendency to believe that means letting kids do whatever they want. In reality, there are […]
How Can Teachers Unschool?
Alright, I need your help. Yesterday, I wrote about talking to teachers and getting our unschooling principles into the ideals and minds of institutionalized educators. At one point I mentioned that we can offer suggestions to teachers about how to use unschooling principles in their classroom (you may not want to call it “unschooling,” though. […]
Grassroots
So, I was thinking about the tough position teachers are in (as I wrote about yesterday), and I wanted to offer some ideas for solutions. First, though, I need to speak to my fellow unschoolers. We all believe in the process of unschooling and therefore have taken steps to ensure that our children receive its […]
In Defense of… Teachers
I think I’m going to start writing a semi-regular “In Defense Of” article. I keep thinking of things I’d like to defend, and offer my opinions about. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise, since this entire blog is essentially “In Defense of Unschooling.” For the first in this series, I’d like to talk about […]
Trust the Fall
I have a new game with our 7 month old son. It’s a falling game. And I realized yesterday that it is not only a great metaphor for unschooling, it is an example of it. Here’s what I do: First, I take a big, fluffly comforter and pile it up on the floor. Then, I […]