Guest post by Jan Hunt. Many homeschooling parents have puzzled over the distinction between “guidance” and “manipulation”. As a parent strongly committed to “unschooling” (learner-directed homeschooling) with my son Jason, now 17, I have sometimes wondered if I should encourage certain activities in spite of a lack of interest on his part, or at least…
Tag: schooling
School is Bad for Children
Guest post by John Holt. Almost every child, on the first day he sets foot in a school building, is smarter, more curious, less afraid of what he doesn’t know, better at finding and figuring things out, and more confident, resourceful, persistent and independent than he will ever be again in his schooling – or,…
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…
The Anti-Educational Effects of Public Schools
Guest post by Gennady Stolyarov II. With so many state governments’ budgets now under severe strain, there are serious discussions throughout the country about whether or not to cut state funding to public education — an expenditure that, in some states, consumes more than half the budget. Unfortunately, because of extensive resistance by teachers’ unions…
Can a Single Parent Unschool?
Guest post by Jan Hunt. These days, many parents find themselves alone, whether by choice or by circumstances. Many of these parents assume that unschooling is not an option for them, but like many other assumptions, this can be self-fulfilling. Happily, unschooling in single parent families is easier now than it has ever been. With…
Living an Unschooling Life
Guest post by Pam Sorooshian. Unschooling is both easy and difficult to describe. The easy answer is that unschooling means “not schooling,” but it is a lot harder to explain what we do instead of schooling. Unschooling means not depending on the usual school methods. It means no lesson plans, no curriculum, no assignments, no…
What is Unschooling?
Guest post by Nicole Olson. Asking, “What is unschooling?” is a little bit like asking, “What is love?” or “What is happiness?”. It means different things to different people. But within its broad framework, there are some fairly consistent themes and basic beliefs that most unschoolers embrace.What is unschooling… Belief #1: Children are hard-wired to…
Button Pushing and the Radical Libertarian
Post by Skyler J. Collins. Originally written August 2011. Since I once claimed to be a radical libertarian, the question presents itself, “What is a radical libertarian?” Though I’ll give my own thoughts on the question, I could not answer this any better than one of the greatest of radical libertarians, Murray Rothbard: The true…
A Man of Few Words
Guest post by Nicole, Unschoolers.org. My husband Ted did not come to the unschooling life as quickly or as easily as I did. It was kind of a long road for him, with some serious doubts and struggles along the way. So it’s been very cool to watch as he has become increasingly confident in…
Toward a Voluntaryist Praxis
Guest post by Nicholas Hooton.“When philosophy dies, action begins.” – Casey Maddox The overwhelming resurgence of interest in voluntaryist philosophy over the past five years has been inspiring to witness. It enjoyed a brief spotlight in the early 1980s with Carl Watner’s publication of The Voluntaryist newsletter; but the communication technology of the early 21st…