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This was written by Pam Sorooshian===and not too long ago:

Principles of Unschooling

Learning happens all the time. The brain never stops working and it
is not possible to divide time up into "learning periods" versus
"nonlearning periods." Everything that goes on around a person,
everything they hear, see, touch, smell, and taste, results in learning
of some kind.

Learning does not require coercion. In fact, learning cannot really
be forced against someone's will. Coercion feels bad and creates
resistance.

Learning feels good. It is satisfying and intrinsically rewarding.
Irrelevant rewards can have unintended side effects that do not support
learning.

Learning stops when a person is confused. All learning must build on
what is already known.

Learning becomes difficult when a person is convinced that learning
is difficult. Unfortunately, most teaching methods assume learning is
difficult and that lesson is the one that is really "taught" to the
students.

Learning must be meaningful. When a person doesn't see the point,
when they don't know how the information relates or is useful in "the
real world," then the learning is superficial and temporary - not
"real" learning.

Learning is often incidental. This means that we learn while engaged
in activities that we enjoy for their own sakes and the learning
happens as a sort of "side benefit."

Learning is often a social activity, not something that happens in
isolation from others. We learn from other people who have the skills
and knowledge we're interested in and who let us learn from them in a
variety of ways.

We don't have to be tested to find out what we've learned because the
learning will be demonstrated as we use new skills and talk
knowledgeably about a topic,

Feelings and intellect are not in opposition and not even separate
things. All learning involves the emotions, as well as the intellect.

Learning requires a sense of safety. Fear blocks learning. Shame and
embarrassment, stress and anxiety - these block learning.

Hilary

Pam - Can I please put these on my website in the education section
(www.labouroflove.org) with full credit to you of course!
I think its wonderful.
Warmest,
Hilary

--- In [email protected], kbcdlovejo@a... wrote:
>
> This was written by Pam Sorooshian===and not too long ago:
>
> Principles of Unschooling
>
> Learning happens all the time. The brain never stops working and it
> is not possible to divide time up into "learning periods" versus
> "nonlearning periods." Everything that goes on around a person,
> everything they hear, see, touch, smell, and taste, results in learning
> of some kind.
>
> Learning does not require coercion. In fact, learning cannot really
> be forced against someone's will. Coercion feels bad and creates
> resistance.
>
> Learning feels good. It is satisfying and intrinsically rewarding.
> Irrelevant rewards can have unintended side effects that do not support
> learning.
>
> Learning stops when a person is confused. All learning must build on
> what is already known.
>
> Learning becomes difficult when a person is convinced that learning
> is difficult. Unfortunately, most teaching methods assume learning is
> difficult and that lesson is the one that is really "taught" to the
> students.
>
> Learning must be meaningful. When a person doesn't see the point,
> when they don't know how the information relates or is useful in "the
> real world," then the learning is superficial and temporary - not
> "real" learning.
>
> Learning is often incidental. This means that we learn while engaged
> in activities that we enjoy for their own sakes and the learning
> happens as a sort of "side benefit."
>
> Learning is often a social activity, not something that happens in
> isolation from others. We learn from other people who have the skills
> and knowledge we're interested in and who let us learn from them in a
> variety of ways.
>
> We don't have to be tested to find out what we've learned because
the
> learning will be demonstrated as we use new skills and talk
> knowledgeably about a topic,
>
> Feelings and intellect are not in opposition and not even separate
> things. All learning involves the emotions, as well as the intellect.
>
> Learning requires a sense of safety. Fear blocks learning. Shame and
> embarrassment, stress and anxiety - these block learning.