So I’ve known for quite a while now that unschooling rocks and works. But today I got conclusive proof of how incredibly awesome it really is.
I’m working with another homeschooling mom to put together a presentation at the local library’s summer reading club for kids on the theme “The Library is Your Kingdom.” I got pulled in because, hello, my name is Mari and I’m a total medieval geek. But I’m the kind of geek that doesn’t feel the need to take things tooooo seriously so this presentation is partly educational, partly action-packed, and fully hella fun. Continue Reading
The gradual development of our philosophy on unschooling has paralleled our God journey to a place free from the obligations of religious institutions that we like to call “unchurching.” We didn’t deliberately set out to do this, but rather God has gently called us out of the comfort of the structures that held us, and He has brought us into a place of true freedom. Continue Reading
Our “Unschooling in Action” series highlights photographs of real, live unschoolers doing real, live unschooling. If you’d like to see your unschooling photo here, please post it on our Facebook wall!
When boredom strikes, climbing the walls (or in this case the door frame) IS an option.
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Coming up with creative solutions for washing a magnetic marble track.
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Watching the mamas and calves play and eat while getting raw milk straight from the farm.
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The boy LOVES watching the milk coming straight from the cow when we go get milk.
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Discussing programming and game design with Dad, who is working on building a game engine.
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Homework during a camping trip? Nope. Unschooling. 🙂
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Full time care of baby lamb. 🙂
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Doing picture find puzzles.
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”Mom, I just want to go home and read quietly.”
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Unschool friends from across the country meet in real life and choose to play scrabble.
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Brothers sharing their race cars and entertaining the dog all at the same time. 🙂
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Out for a walk and giving the flowers new names!
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Share your unschooling photos on our Facebook wall for a chance to see them showcased here next week! Meanwhile if you crave more, you can browse previous Unschooling in Action posts, or check out the Unschoolers’ Art Gallery blog for cool art from unschooled kids.
There was once a bloke who knew just about everything there was to know about … well, everything! He liked to hang around with his mates having a yarn about stuff. They went fishing and boating together, he washed their stinky feet, spoke wisely, told stories, encouraged questions, fed the hungry, rested, cared for the destitute, and welcomed grotty kids. He loved sharing life with his mates and chatting as they walked along the road getting dust in their sandals. Continue Reading
What is the one subject that strikes fear into the hearts of homeschooling moms everywhere?
Math!
Math was the one subject that I couldn’t get rid of when we started unschooling. It was easy to let go of history, English, and science because we still were reading about those things and finding ways to use them in our every day lives. But math? Continue Reading
The room was nearly silent. The awkwardness was palpable. Even the speech therapist … bubbly, outgoing and friendly until just a few weeks prior, absolutely refused to look us in the eye, instead staring down at some imaginary spot on the table. I remember looking at the clock – a standard issue, one-in-every-room school clock – and watching the second hand slowly sweep around until I heard the audible click that signified that another excruciatingly long minute had gone by. Continue Reading
Did I inflame you with my title? Or, maybe you are nodding your head in agreement.
That title is exactly what I thought, at one time, about parents who chose unschooling.
How judgmental was I?
In my mind, unschooling was a great concept in theory. In reality, however, I didn’t see it being played out very well. Parents would simply trust their child to decide when they wanted to learn math? It sounded like an utter FAIL. Continue Reading
Our “Unschooling in Action” series highlights photographs of real, live unschoolers doing real, live unschooling. If you’d like to see your unschooling photo here, please post it on our Facebook wall! Continue Reading
When I first heard of the philosophy of unschooling, it immediately stirred something inside of me. I could sense an innate truth within it and my heart both eagerly and timidly reached out to grasp it. But my mind? Well, my mind took a little longer.
You see, my mind needed evidence. Logic. Proof. And while those things can definitely be found in unschooling, they’re not black and white. The proof in the pudding of unschooling is not standardized, it’s individualized and it flows like the Spirit. The evidence you have of your six-year-old reading might not materialize the same way with my six-year-old because we’re all different and have different interests and develop at different paces. Continue Reading
Our “Unschooling in Action” series highlights photographs of real, live unschoolers doing real, live unschooling. If you’d like to see your unschooling photo here, please post it on our Facebook wall!
With V-Readers in the go-cart.Archery lessons with grandpa.Bug watching.Statues carved directly into still-planted tree stumps.Nature walk with dad.Nature walk with dad.After a field trip.Reading about Wild Bill Hickok and frontiersmen.Thinning kale.Playing one of several versions of Monopoly.Oregon Museum of Science"What's making the air bubbles?"Enjoying nature's beauty.Owl pellets.Teaching mom to make paper flowers.Making a surprise for a penpal.Reading ... even at the lake!Mini planetariums with Boy Scouts.Reading Car and Driver magazine.Spring butterfly!Unschooled teen volunteers at local museum and shares knowledge with visitors.Daddy explains his toolbox.Helping dad hook up electronics.Watching the workers outside.Inspecting old x-rays.
Share your unschooling photos on our Facebook wall for a chance to see them showcased here next week! Meanwhile if you crave more, you can browse previous Unschooling in Action posts, or check out the Unschoolers’ Art Gallery blog for cool art from unschooled kids. Happy unschooling!
