“Toward Freedom” is an Everything-Voluntary.com series sharing personal stories about the journey toward freedom. Archived stories can be found here. Submit your story to the editor. A lot of people go through life without ever questioning things, but I’ve always identified with Socrates’ sentiment that the unexamined life isn’t worth living. In the realm of…
Tag: journey
Where to Start my Research on Unschooling?
I had a friend email me recently asking about how we homeschool our kids. Long story short, well, short story short, we don’t. We unschool, and there’s a world of difference between the two. I sent him this in response: Here’s what you and your wife need to do: Step 1: Read this page under…
You Are an Individual
Guest post by Jesse Mathewson. The act of voting is a simple one, you make your way to the nearest voting booth, and after being barraged by endless television promotions and signage, you choose the one you believe is most likely to do what you want, and the least likely to do what your neighbors…
What I Learned in the Men’s Room
Guest post by Ted Olson. “Daddy, listen!” A common plea from my son, Thomas. I’m often lost in thought or working on a post, or trying to dictate a command. Getting my full attention can be difficult. Listening, really listening, is not easy. Yet, deep listening makes all the difference in a relationship. What does…
Discipline, Respect and Obedience
Guest post by Ted Olson. Many of us parents have a traditional view of discipline, respect, and obedience. That is, children must be taught to obey and to respect their elders. Discipline measures vary, but range from time-outs to spanking. Many of us grew up in homes where kids were to be seen and not…
Chapter 21 – Whose Goal is it, Anyway?
Table of ContentsPrevious – Section Four – Chapter 20 – “What is Unschooling?” by Earl Stevens 21 Whose Goal is it, Anyway? by Pam Laricchia It all started with a plant. My husband was talking about training a plant – just the right combination of water and fertilizer, the right soil and sun conditions, a…
Everything Voluntary – Preface
Table of ContentsPrevious – Foreword Preface If I may take a personal route, this book is the culmination of the last 7 years of my academic life. It’s been quite the intellectual journey. I’ve evolved from a progressive liberal to a free-market conservative to a laissez faire libertarian, and finally, a voluntaryist (or voluntarist). Of…
Everything Voluntary – Unschooling Resources
Table of Contents Previous – Section Four – Chapter 23 – Grown Without Schooling by Jason Hunt Unschooling Resources Books How Children Learn, by John Holt “This enduring classic of educational thought offers teachers and par-ents deep, original insight into the nature of early learning. John Holt was the first to make clear that, for…
Re: A Parental Right?
I have to say, I share Idzie D.’s feeling of uneasiness when I hear the term “parental rights”. It’s a great term when considering parental rights relative to the state, but relative to children, we should tread very lightly. My voluntaryist journey only recently lead me to consider more and more the rights of children.…
Education in The 21st Century
Originally published in September 2011. A study published in July showed that people have become less likely to remember things that they know are only a click away on the Internet. In other words, our selective memory has expanded to exclude things easily found via a web search. I interpret this revelation as meaning that…