Reschooling Posts // January 29 - February 4, 2023
Two years ago today...
February 4, 2023 from Think Again
Two years today my first book, Changing Our Minds, was published. It was the culmination of years of thinking, research and writing. I started thinking I needed to write a book when I was at a time of life when I had no time at all. I jotted down notes on my phone when an idea came to me, and wrote little pieces about seeing my children’s learning in action because I knew that otherwise I would forget. Such an intense time, of which I now remember very little of the detail.
Right-based Parenting + Child Liberation with Eloise Rickman
February 3, 2023 from Consent-Based Everything
Fran chats to Eloise Rickman about parenting rooted in children's rights and why research around children's rights and education can be so gatekeepy and obscure. They also talk about writing about adultism and how it shows up, about the way we see children, and what child liberation is and can look like!
20 Practical Examples Of Algebra In Everyday Life
February 2, 2023 from Different by Design Learning
These 20 examples of algebra in everyday life are a perfect answer to your teen’s question, “Why do I need to learn algebra if I am not going to have a career that requires it?” I understand the question. As a person who has never been very good at math, and who spent far too much time finding ways to avoid taking advanced math in high school and college, I have asked the same question.
EU341: Unschooling "Rules": Don't Use Curriculum
February 2, 2023 from Living Joyfully with Unschooling
Anna Brown and Erika Ellis join me on the podcast for the next episode in our Unschooling “Rules” series. We use the word “rules,” in quotes, to draw attention to the fact that there is no such thing as an unschooling rule! It can feel easier to reach for a set of rules to follow, especially when we’re learning something new, but we want to offer you space to look within, to find what makes sense to you and what makes sense to the individual members of your family.
Cottonwood ALC seeks Youth Coordinator and Had A residency program!
February 1, 2023 from AERO
Cottonwood NYC, located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn is looking for a dynamic educator to join our team! Cottonwood is currently accepting applications for a Youth Program Coordinator to facilitate and lead our Center’s youth programming including our full-day program of learners aged 6 - 13 years, after school, and summer camp programs.
38. Supporting Neurodivergent Unschoolers
February 1, 2023 from Radical Learning Talks
There is no one size-fits all approach to unschooling. What works for one young person/ family may not for another and we definitely do our young people a disservice if we have unrealistic expectations of them or try to force them to adapt to circumstances that they may not be ready for. This is especially true in supporting neurodivergent kids and in this episode we share some of our discoveries and learnings in supporting our own neurodivergent unschoolers in their process.
What to Do When You Doubt Your Choice to Homeschool
February 1, 2023 from Raising Lifelong Learners
A listener shared this question with me and it’s so similar to the kinds of questions I hear from moms when we work together one-on-one, and also some discussions we’ve been having recently in The Learner’s Lab so it felt like an important one to address in a podcast. This mom asked … What are some of the things you say to yourself when you start to doubt and feel like you’re not doing enough and you want to do more, but then you just don’t know how you could possibly do any more than you’re doing and you feel like you’re not actually cut out for this?
Who Decides When Kids are Old Enough to Walk to Dunkin’ Donuts?
January 31, 2023 from Free Range Kids
A mom in Killingly, Conn., wrote to us a few months ago to tell us the story of Super Bowl Sunday, 2019: The day she and her husband let their kids, 7 and 9, walk to the local Dunkin Donuts about a mile from the house. The kids hadn’t gotten more than two or three blocks in this quiet town when the police came to this mom’s door to say her kids had been stopped. Why? Because they were “too young” to be out and about on their own, the cops said.
#35 Healing, trust, and low demand parenting. Unschooling and PDA, with Amanda Diekman in North Carolina
January 31, 2023 from The Unschool Space
My guest this episode is Amanda Diekman. Amanda lives in North Carolina with her husband and three sons, who are 6, 8 and 10. Amanda’s journey to unschooling started with her 8 year-old who is autistic, PDA and the reality that school was a difficult and traumatic experience for him. Her 10 year old son, who is also autistic later chose also to leave school. We talk about how we can meet the needs of a PDA child, and how essential it is that we leave behind any mainstream ideas about parenting and education that are unlikely to serve us.
The Unique Challenges of Homeschooling Gifted Kids
January 30, 2023 from Raising Lifelong Learners
I shrug a lot, shake my head with a smile, even chuckle. My kids are a blast. They’re different and difficult and quite the handful, but at the end of the day I don’t know what I’d do without the constant excitement of their excitabilities or the quick wit (that also gets them into trouble). They do something in the back seat or an adult comes to tell me something they’ve said, and all I can do is shrug, shake my head, and laugh.
Do We Have Miserly Brains?
January 30, 2023 from Think Again
The human brain is built to be miserly. We continually hoard mental energy so that we are always ready to fulfil our evolutionary flight-or-fight needs." says Alex Quigley in a recent TES article. He goes on to talk about the problem of children’s minds wandering whilst they are read a story - apparently, this ‘mind-wandering’ is a way of conserving mental energy.
