Reschooling Posts // September 17-23, 2023
Liberated Learning and Learning for Liberation with Raj Kanani
September 23, 2023 from Rethinking Self-Directed Education
We talk to Raj about how he came to SDE (such an interesting story!) and his experience in building an SDE community centering BIPOC folks and collective liberation. We talk about SDE center struggles, corner store candy runs, tweens & tweens, social justice and anti-racism in SDE centers, and what it means to be a community that is really supporting one another in all the struggles centers go through.
Why Do They Say No All the Time?
September 23, 2023 from Think Again
Some children seem to be born saying No. They say No to the park, no to playing games, no to things which all the other children seem to love. The No comes so fast that it can be bewildering – and yet when you push back on it, it comes back even stronger. It can feel like life is a minefield of No’s. Any direction you look in, there’s another No on the horizon.
What Do Unschoolers Do Each Day?
September 23, 2023 from Stories of an Unschooling Family
Is unschooling about staying in bed late, spending lazy days in the forest, and baking cookies? Or is there more to unschooling than that? What does a typical unschooling day look like? Will it be different in different families? Will it change over time? Whatever it looks like, will it always be packed with deep learning, the kind that matters and makes a difference?
Hunt, Gather, Parent, Get Chewed Out by The Cops for Letting Your Kid Walk Two Blocks
September 22, 2023 from Free Range Kids
All hail Michaeleen Doucleff! She’s author of the incredibly great, life-hacking, eye-opening book, “Hunt, Gather, Parent.” She and her daughter Rosy traveled the world to witness the parenting practices that have been working for millennia in traditional societies. They watched kids happily hunt, gather, clean up, make food, and help their parents every which way, in three far-flung, indignous communities from Africa to Canada. And meantime, here in America, she dropped a note to the nonprofit that grew out of Free-Range Kids, Let Grow…
The Day My Unschooled Teen Built His Own Computer
September 21, 2023 from Let ‘em Go Barefoot
On his 15th birthday, my son emptied the Amazon cart he had been filling up with parts and pieces to build his very own computer. This was a goal he set for himself and it was months in the making. When he first started sharing his wishes with me, I was both excited AND impressed. My teen wants to build a fully functional computer and he seems quite comfortable that he can get it done? How cool is that!?
Redefining Success and Parent-Child Relationships
September 21, 2023 from Living Joyfully with Unschooling
This week on the podcast, we’re sharing a conversation I had recently for the Self Directed Podcast with Jesper and Cecilie Conrad. It was such an invigorating conversation that I asked if we could share it here as well and they graciously agreed. We dive into the art of fostering strong, respectful, and trusting parent-child relationships, redefining success, and experiential learning—basically, cultivating the space for our children to learn through their interests and experiences, while having conversations about it all with someone who loves them deeply.
Isn't being consent-based the least of our problems?
September 20, 2023 from Radical Mothering
I have often thought about how indulgent, or excessive, in a way, it feels to focus so much on consensual relationships when all around me I see children in desperate situations: living in poverty, being mistreated and abused, struggling with physical and mental health, experiencing discrimination. Do you feel like this, ever? As if there are bigger things to worry about?
Nurturing Authenticity | Supporting Neurodivergent Children in Discovering Their True Selves
September 20, 2023 from Raising Lifelong Learners
In the world of homeschooling and raising neurodivergent children, fostering an environment that promotes authenticity and self-discovery is of utmost importance. It’s important to help our kiddos be true to themselves, explore their interests and passions, and embrace their unique identities. So, how can homeschooling parents create a nurturing environment that encourages open communication, acceptance, and self-discovery for their neurodivergent children?
#48 Unschooling our children and our own lives, with Holly from South Wales
September 19, 2023 from The Unschool Space
In this episode, I’m chatting with Holly from South Wales. Holly has three children, aged 9, 7, 5 and began unschooling three years ago, when her eldest started to struggle at school. Holly worked as a teacher, and shares her experience of transitioning from a schooled way of thinking about learning to unschooling.
When to Change Course
September 19, 2023 from Brave Writer
ALL that matters is that you not persist in a program that deadens the life and learning capacity of your child. If either of you aren’t happy and energized…it’s over. Remember: you are cultivating a LIFE. Your child’s experience of learning is the key to a healthy, valuable education.
Unschooling Outcomes with Gina Riley
September 19, 2023 from Sage Family
Gina Riley, Ph.D. is an educational psychologist, Clinical Professor, and Program Leader of Adolescent Special Education Programs at CUNY-Hunter College. Dr. Riley has extensive experience working with teens diagnosed with learning, intellectual, and emotional/behavioral disabilities. In addition, Dr. Riley has over 25 years of experience in online, hybrid, and HyFlex education at the college/university level. She is known internationally for her work in the fields of intrinsic motivation, homeschooling, unschooling, and self-directed learning.
I’m Not Responsible For My Child…
September 18, 2023 from Untigering
I don’t think I’m responsible for my children. I know that’s a bold statement to put out there. Even irresponsible, perhaps? But hear me out. What if we thought of parenting as being responsible TO our children rather than responsible FOR them? That is a question I posed to my Untigering Circle group a few weeks ago. And the more I think about it, the more I think it’s not just a matter of semantics. There’s a clear distinction between the two.
Why Did Teen Suicides Increase Sharply from 1950 to 1990?
September 18, 2023 from Freedom to Learn
In my last post I presented a table and a hand-drawn graph showing changes in the suicide rate for U.S. teenagers, separately for boys and girls, from 1950 through 2021. Here—with thanks to my colleague Tony Christopher (executive director of the National Institute for Play)—I present a more polished version of the graph along with the table.
Tracking My Attendance
September 18, 2023 from Think Again
I’m at a conference. I wanted to come here, in fact I have paid a lot of money to come here. It’s about something which is of great interest to me. I came in person, because the time between sessions is often when I learn the most as I make connections with other therapists.
What Tracking Does to the Parent-Child Relationship
September 17, 2023 from Free Range Kids
Today’s Atlantic has a great piece called “The Very Common, Very Harmful Thing Well-Meaning Parents Do.” And what is that common thing? TRACKING. As the article’s subtitle puts it bluntly: “Surveilling your kids will only backfire.” The piece is an excerpt from the new book “Growing Up in Public,” by Devorah Heitner. We caught up with Heitner to talk about the ever-expanding adult supervision of kids. Contents have been edited for length and clarity