We should be careful that America does not become a society of obedient “little soldiers,” abdicating our individual liberty to the powers of the state under the guise that it’s good for us. High test scores may be commendable, but not if they come at such a high price.
Tag: education
Some Things are Constant
Just like you don’t need to wake up each morning and test to see whether a dropped egg will still fall, you don’t need to wonder if it’s still not within your rights to walk around shooting random people or walking into their houses and taking what you want.
Unschooling and Workbooks
Just as we have crayons and paper, books and computers, yarn and playdough, magazines and watercolors, we have workbooks. They are nothing fancy–just the ones you can pick up at a local store or online (my gang seems to like Brain Quest)–but they are scattered around our home. These workbooks are available to the kids, just like all other tools and supplies, to use and explore as they like.
Voluntary Law and Order
People are not all the same, and they make different choices because they have different values, circumstances, and levels of understanding. Sometimes those choices are peaceful and wise; sometimes they are not. So what are the best ways to promote good choices and cooperation while preventing and providing resolution for conflict?
Flags, Football, and Begged Questions
Defenders of Donald Trump’s condemnation of NFL players who “take a knee” during the national hymn — sorry, anthem — beg a few questions. They assume the truth of matters that are or should be in dispute. So, not so fast, Trump defenders. You have work to do.
Letter To a Prospective Homeschooling Parent
Welcome to the exciting world of learning without schooling! You have already taken the important first step in redefining your child’s education by acknowledging the limitations of mass schooling, recognizing the ways it can dull a child’s curiosity and exuberance, and seeking alternatives to school. Now it’s time to take a deep breath, exhale, and explore.
Self-Directed Education Is Instinctual
The key advantage of Self-Directed Education is that it empowers parents and children. Parents learn to trust their children’s natural learning instincts while tapping into their own instincts about how to best nurture their children’s growth. Children learn to trust themselves, retaining their innate creativity and desire to explore and understand the world around them.
White Privilege is Definitely Real
I believe in white privilege in a very significant regard. The privilege that I speak of is so significant that it’s had the power to allow millions of my fellow whites to lift themselves out of a countless number of circumstances and to reach the highest levels of social, political, and economic class. For those who don’t have this privilege, it’s kept them mired in internal and external conflict, convinced that without this privilege they can never achieve the same levels of whatever class as those who have it. And the thing is, they aren’t wrong.
A Voluntaryist 7-Point Plan
As advocates of a truly free society, we voluntaryists, unlike the statists who outnumber us, do not engage in traditional political activism. This simple fact got me thinking about a habitual plan or checklist each of us might form or follow quite naturally, in the course of our daily lives in order to promote the kind of stateless socioeconomic order we envision.
As If It Matters (Because it Does)
Making the most out of your life even when circumstances are less than ideal is not some sort of ad-hoc consolation prize invented by motivational speakers. It’s literally the only possible way for our species to survive.