February 13-19 2022
Education ➡ Adventure (on the origins of this project)
Posted on February 19, 2022 on Notes on Adventure
Twenty years ago, I stumbled into the world of alternative education by discovering a few great books. This intellectual awakening led me to abandon my path in the sciences, design a major in education, and begin working face-to-face with self-directed teenagers. These teens, in turn, inspired me to continue reading, writing, and exploring the topics of motivation, productivity, college admissions, and alternatives to college, resulting in four moderately successful books (5000+ copies sold each), a fun podcast (~100 episodes), and little side-careers in public speaking and private coaching.
Delights: An Unschooling Challenge
Posted on February 19, 2022 on Stories of an Unschooling Family
I‘ve experienced many dark days over the last couple of years. There have been lots of times when I’ve wanted to run away, but that hasn’t always been possible. Where can one go when no one is allowed to leave home? I’ve had to find another way to survive the strange times we’re living in. I decided to search for the beauty that I was sure was still in our world. Each day, I looked for delights. Many times, I captured what I found with my camera. I’m talking about delights in my latest vlog which I filmed at our local lake. I share some of my recent delights, and I challenge you to go searching for some of your own.
Do risky kids freak you out?
Posted on February 18, 2022 on Radical Learning Talks
Your kid wants to jump off of that cliff, cut with a sharp knife, walk to the store by themselves… How do you respond? In this episode we talk about the role of risk taking in our kid’s evolution, what trips us up in the process and how supporting our kids to take risks not only helps them grow, but also helps us foster more connection and trust in our relationships with them.
Unschooling in Context with Anna Brown, Episode 317
Posted on February 17, 2022 on Living Joyfully with Unschooling
Anna Brown joins me for another Unschooling in Context episode! This time, we explore unschooling in the context of boundaries, comfort zones, and capacity. This topic came up as we were diving into cultivating self-awareness in the Living Joyfully Network last month and we wanted to talk about it here too!
Have I Changed My Unschooling Mind About Screens?
Posted on February 17, 2022 on Stories of an Unschooling Family
If I had younger children, would I give them iPads of their own? Would I encourage them to spend as much time as they liked using technology? Is this the right unschooling thing to do? I’ve pondered these questions a lot.
Not so long ago, I’d have said, “Kids learn a lot from the Internet and their devices. Books are good, but technology is even better! Yes, there’s nothing wrong with giving young kids unlimited access to the Internet and devices.”
Kids Who Won Free Pre-School Ended Up Losing
Posted on February 16, 2022 on Free Range Kids
A researcher who spent 10 years following 3000 kids who applied to get free pre-school in Tennessee discovered the opposite of what she’d expected: The ones who got in — demographically identical to the ones who didn’t — were doing worse all around by 6th grade. Worse on tests. Worse on discipline. Worse when it came to being diagnosed with learning difficulties — that is, the pre-k kids had developed more of them.
Accessibility of Counter Cultural Institutions (Part 2)
Posted on February 15, 2022 on Swimming Upstream
After my post about opting out being inaccessible, I was fortunate to dive in a bit deeper with other folks discussing accessibility, especially around unschooling, and there were a few other pieces to the conversation that I felt were worth expanding on. I think there are two parts to the “accessibility” of unschooling that often get caught up together in the discussion that are worth teasing apart.
Reclaim. Resist. Resilience.
Posted on February 15, 2022 on Honey! I’m Homeschooling the Kids
Homeschooling shifts and changes with the season, doesn't it? Our homeschool seasons may follow a weather pattern, but more often than not, they follow development, physical cycles and the impact of our life experiences. In this episode Kelly Edwards and I talk about this newest season of homeschool that we face. Our kids are getting older, the world around us is shifting and our needs have become clearer. What we need is our 3 R's- Reclaim, Resists and Resilience.
Addicted to Technology
Posted on February 14, 2022 on Unschooling Mom2Mom
The big fear I'm hearing on the internet these days: “I think my kids are addicted to technology!” That’s what lots of parents are saying. It’s what even more are thinking, but NOT saying. And then they hear things like unschoolers don’t set any limits on their kids, when it comes to their phones, tablets, desktops - all their electronic devices.
Allergic to upholding oppression
Posted on February 1, 2022 on femmefeelosophy
So my kid went over 2 weeks of feeling miserable with what we thought was pink eye because of the redness and eye irritation it seems it turned out to be allergies. He’s on what now seems like the proper medication and feeling much better now 😅 If anyone has more homeopathic remedies for allergies esp with eye irritation, feel free send em my way. From there we can see what he will actually try and what works for him, besides what he’s currently taking.