Unschooling

Radical Unschooling
This is the "office" of Sandra Dodd,
who thinks and writes and speaks about unschooling,
and whose children Kirby, Marty and Holly were always unschooled.

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Active Unschooling
Adversaries
Again! Again!
Art
Art about Art
Attitude
Babies
Bad Moments
Balance
   en français
Barbie
Bedtime
Being
Beginning
Better Choices
Bicycle (like a...)
Books
Boredom
Breathing
Bribery
Cat / Nintendo
Change
Chat
Checklists
Choices
Chores
Clarity
Coins
College
Communicating
Comparisons
Confidence
Connect • the • Dots
Considerate Children
Control
Curriculum
Cursive Writing
Dads
Decisions
Definitions
Deschooling
   en français
Dictionaries
Discovery
Dishes
Divorce
Do It
Driver's Ed
Economics
Elvis
Empowerment
   en español
Energy
English Language
Etymology
Expectations
Eye Contact
The Fabric of Unschooling
Factors, Problems...
Fallacies
Father's Day
Fears
Fighting
Flitting
Focus
Food Issues
Force
Freedom
French translations
Friendship in Families
Full of Yourself
Gamble
Games
Generosity
Geography
Getting It
Gifts
Giftedness
Gilligan
Gradual Change
Gratitude
Guarantees
Handwriting
Happiness
"Have To"
Help
Hindsight
History
Holt Quotes
How?
How much time?
"If I let him..."
"If only...sooner"
Imagination
Integrity
"It Depends"
John Holt
Joy
   en français
Labels
Language Arts
Late nights
"Lazy"
Learn vs. Teach
  en français
Learning
Lies
Logic
Maps
Math
Meanings
Mindful Parenting
Mistakes
Mom Happiness
Moments
Money
Movies
Museum-house
Music
My Little Pony
Myths
Needs
Negativity
Nest
"No"
Noisy Peace
Not Funny
Online Safety
Options
Parental Authority
Parenting Peacefully
Parenting Topics
Parents
Partners
Phonics
Playing
  en français
Principles
Priorities
Reading
Rebellion
Relatives
Reluctance
Research
Respect
  en español
Rules
Shakespeare
Seeing it
Sleeping
Spanking
Special Needs
Spelling
Spirituality
Spoiled Children
Stages of Unschooling
Stress
Strewing
Subjects
Substance
Teens
Test avoidance
Time
Times Tables
Tiny Monsters
Toddlers
To Be Fascinating
To Get Jokes
Transition
Triviality
TV/Video
Typical Days
Video Games
Violence
   Toy Guns
   Siblings
   Video Games
   TV
   Parents
Wishlist
Wise children
Wonder
Words & power
Writing
"Yes!"

"You could grow up to be President!"
not applicable in the U.K., Canada, NZ or Australia
No WAIT! It is!

"Read a little, try a little, wait a while, watch."

LEARNING ALL THE TIME

People learn by playing, thinking and amazing themselves. They learn while they're laughing at something surprising, and they learn while they're wondering "What the heck is this!?"

I have a discussion group called AlwaysLearning, where the principles underlying unschooling are discussed. There is a live chat each Wednesday: SandraDodd.com/room.

CAN IT WORK IN THE REAL WORLD?

If unschooling can't work in the real world, nothing at all can. People will say "How will they learn algebra in the real world?" Is there algebra in the real world? If not, why should it be learned? If so, why should it be separated artificially from its actual uses? "Why?" should always be the question that comes before "What?" and "How?" There is a Sesame Street book called

Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Museum. There is a "things under the sea" room and "things in the sky" room, but still each room is just a room in a museum, no windows, everything out of context. Then he opens a big door marked "everything else in the whole wide world" and goes out into the sunshine. There is unschooling.
I've removed the link I had because used copies on Amazon are listed way too high. Don't pay over $5 for it. More images are here

NOT JUST FOR KIDS!

The way adults tend to learn things is the way people best learn—by asking questions, looking things up, trying things out, and getting help when it's needed. That's the way pre-school kids learn too (maybe minus the looking things up), and it is the way "school-age" kids can/should learn as well. Learning is internal. Teachers are lovely assistants at best, and detrimental at worst. "Teaching" is just presentation of material. It doesn't create learning. Artificial divisions of what is "educational" from what is considered NOT educational, and things which are "for kids" from things which are NOT for kids don't benefit kids or adults. Finding learning in play is like the sun coming out on a dank, dark day. [Playing ]

LINKS TO OTHERS' WRITINGS

Joyce Fetteroll
Pam Sorooshian
Deb Lewis
Robyn Coburn
Danielle Conger
Mary Gold
Ren Allen
Schuyler Waynforth

JennyCyphers
Kelly Lovejoy
Dan Vilter
Lyle Perry
Pam Laricchia
Ben Lovejoy
Kathy Ward
Linda Wyatt
Shell in NZ

SOME UNSCHOOLING ORGANIZATIONS

Regional groups, lists and resources
(by language, nation, state, religious or special focus)

Daily Inspiration:
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Books
The Big Book of Unschooling

Moving a Puddle and other essays by Sandra Dodd

Sandra in Person
October 2012 Florida
December 2012 Albuquerque
May 2013 Minneapolis
June 2013 Lisbon, Leiden
July 2013 London
DETAILS

Recordings and Interviews
Videos on unschooling topics, and recorded interviews are here:
SandraDodd.com/listen
Print/text-based interviews are being collected here:
SandraDodd.com/interviews