What’s the difference? A lot. People are usually using the terms “unschooling”, “child-led learning”, “child-centered learning” and “homeschooling” in ways that may not be accurate. Let’s dig into the various terms used to describe educational activities outside of a brick and mortar school…
Continue reading Vocabulary matters: labels that will make you think
I am one of those people that really enjoys a good introspective workbook. Like a “transformative change” junkie. One of the things I find is doing these things over time–over and over again–starts to help train your brain to look at yourself a bit more objectively. That was really helpful this week… Continue reading When all of that resolution crap creates a breakthrough
“Honoring your children” is a phrase you will hear a LOT in the homeschool community–but especially the unschooling community. I’ve come to see how this phrase is very subjective–with an incredibly broad spectrum of meanings.
Let me tell you what it does (and does not) mean for my family… Continue reading How do you honor your children?
So often I find myself wondering what to do and how to facilitate learning at the direction of my children and in the last year, I have struggled most with Girly.
And it’s kind of stupid because for one, she TOLD me what she wants. All I needed to do was follow. I didn’t. So that was the first mistake to correct. Continue reading Focus on forgotten fundamentals: exposure and experiences
October 11, 2012… it was a stunning day. Girly was a month away from being 4 and BigGuy was 8–on the cusp of 9. I was so discouraged–having lived in Illinois for 2 years and not feeling like I had “fit” anywhere really. I ran into someone I knew loosely and she invited me into a small circle of families that changed my life for a while in a way that has changed me forever. See that picture? That was the second time we were all together. Let me tell you what this group was like–what made them so incredible… Continue reading Waxing reminiscent of my dreams today
And so it begins…
People always worry that unschooling won’t prepare kids for the real world. How will they learn (insert any number of skills here). It’s a scary place to be for parents–especially since unschooled kids often don’t learn things when their classroom-schooled age-peers learn these things. Suddenly, there’s an overwhelming fear that they’ll be “behind” and at a disadvantage that will render their children unable to support themselves in society.
And that’s a really valid fear when you consider that we don’t have a lot of open role models who have been unschooled. But let’s break it down and analyze it. Continue reading When unschooled kids learn “all that stuff” people think they never learn
We are ending our sixth year of homeschooling. For the first 1-2 years, I waffled between scheduled and notsomuch scheduled when it came to academics. If not for all our moving, I might have tried to find a schedule that worked until I gave up. Instead, I threw my hands up and said “He’s ahead–I’m not gonna worry about it”.
But we’ve entered a new phase of life…
Educated Adventures 