The Dangers of Distraction
September 24, 2022 from Stories of an Unschooling Family
We often let ourselves be distracted, don’t we? But while we’re enjoying the excitement of pursuing something new and sparkly, there’s a danger we’ll lose the important things we already have. I dart from one project to another as they catch my attention. And then I have a brand new idea and get extra excited. This is it! I drop everything to explore this fabulously delicious fresh idea.
Self-consent & finding our lost voice.
September 22, 2022 from Radical Mothering
I’m on a consent roll so I’m going to keep rolling with it. I’ve been learning lots about self-consent this week. It’s been fascinating and eye-opening to me. It’s like, we often say that parenting is really about US, that we are the ones needing to show up for change and healing, not our children. That if we don’t love ourselves unconditionally, then we will struggle to unconditionally love and accept our child; that we need to show ourselves compassion before we can truly show others that same compassion.
Gaming and Growing Up Unschooling with Xander MacSwan, Episode 119 Flashback
September 22, 2022 from Living Joyfully with Unschooling
I get so many questions about "screen time" and video games and how they fit into an unschooling life, so I thought it might be helpful and fun to reshare to a conversation I had with Xander MacSwan in 2018. Xander left school in the 5th grade when his parents—both professors in the University of Maryland’s College of Education—decided the best thing they could do was to start unschooling. We dove deep into Xander’s passion for video games, including the difference between gaming as part of deschooling and choosing gaming as a passion, the joys of gaming, and things he learned or experienced through gaming that continue to be relevant in his life.
Episode 37: Homeschooling and Unschooling with Jenni Mahnaz
September 20, 2022 from Mom Curious
Jenni Mahnaz is a Homeschool Consultant and Unschool Advocate based in upstate NY. For over ten years, she has worked with families in NY and beyond to find their footing and build their confidence as they take charge of their child(ren)'s education. Over the course of her personal journey into alternative education, she has worked closely with Manhattan Free School (now ALC NYC), Brooklyn Apple Academy, ALC Mosaic in Charlotte, NC, and Omnis Education. Her writings on education can periodically be found in Tipping Points, the online publication for The Alliance For Self-Directed Education. Jenni is now homeschooling and learning alongside her 3 unique little humans.
The Secret to Getting Kids to Play Outside? Hint: It’s Cheap and at Lowe’s
September 20, 2022 from Free Range Kids
In Part 2 of Let Grow’s “Practical Tips for Getting Your Kids Outside” series, one mom divulges the simplest, cheapest trick of all: “Hands down, the best thing I have ever done to encourage outdoor play (other than modeling loving the outdoors) is to purchase a stack of 8-foot 2″x3″ pine boards. Lots and lots of them. I cut some into shorter lengths of 3 feet or 2 feet. My children use them like life-size Lincoln logs to build cabins and lean-to’s and obstacle courses.”
Unschool Yourself First - A Parents Gateway To Self Directed Learning by Mark Beaumont (audiobook recording)
September 20, 2022 from Audioboy
Worldschooling - Planning, preparations & packing with Worldschooling Mom Saren Schapiro
September 19, 2022 from Lainie Liberti
Enthusiastic Consent & Self-worth
September 18, 2022 from Radical Mothering
Last time I talked a bit about negative consent, and this time I want to talk about what really makes consent-based living, consent-based. Like, what consent culture really relies on to make it what it is. And for me, that is enthusiastic consent. Well, actually it’s two things. Enthusiastic consent AND an explicit dialogue around hierarchies of power, and how they affect our family, our relationships and our community.
Kids Want to Cooperate, But We Make Them Compete
September 18, 2022 from Freedom to Learn (Peter Gray)
A few years ago, I had the pleasure and pain of reading and reviewing (here) an interesting book by Hillary Friedman entitled Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture. It describes the methods and findings of an extensive study that Friedman conducted originally as a doctoral dissertation in sociology at Princeton University.
The Role of The Unschooling Parent
September 18, 2022 from Radical Learning Talks
In this episode we share our perception of what our role as unschooling parents is. For us, the most critical thing in unschooling is understanding that more than anything, what our kids need is for us to do some serious inner work on ourselves. That means it's not so much about “doing things right”, but rather focusing on the relationship we’re building with our kids. Why? Because relationships are the context in which all learning happens!
Reschooling Posts // September 18-24, 2022
Thanks for this round up, really useful.