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en français
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en français
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How?
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John Holt
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en français
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Learn vs. Teach
en français
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"You could grow up to be President!"
not applicable in the U.K., Canada, NZ or Australia
No WAIT! It is!
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Happiness, Freedom and Peace of Mind Kirby in Austin, tortoises |
food, math, Kirby, rebellion, successes, "help!" |
REAL libraries, Food, History, Fun!, Numerals and Counting, Mystery Art |
"unschooling webified," flowing, awesome, refreshed, "You really 'brought it home'..." |
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'm a big John Holt fan. Even the book titles are informative and inspiring: Learning All the Time; Never Too Late; Teach Your Own.
There is a discussion group for John Holt fans called AlwaysLearning which can be joined by sending a blank e-mail to AlwaysLearning-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Some other discussion lists of interest are described and linked here.
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. 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 ]ARTICLES BY SANDRA
Descriptions and links to essays and articles are here. Some are linked in the list to the left, but others defy short description, and those are probably the best ones!
You can get notification by e-mail of new articles and other site additions.
Some newer articles are
Confidence or Arrogance?
LINKS TO OTHERS' WRITINGS
OTHER RESOURCES
NHEN (National Home Education Network intro page)Homeschool News and Muse
Links to current articles about unschooling, and sometimes unschooling in general
Life Learning Magazine
Live Free, Learn Free
Radio Free School blog with links to downloads
Connections: ezine of unschooling and mindful parenting sample issue
| The editor received this after the first official issue was published: "AWESOME! The piece by Sandra Dodd totally had me all welled up! ALONE it is worth the price of subscription!" |
UNSCHOOLING ORGANIZATIONS
Regional groups, lists and resources(by language, nation, state, religious or special focus)
InterviewsAn Interview with Sandra Dodd, by Emily Subler, originally in Home Education Magazine in 1998Living Unschooling with Sandra Dodd, interview by Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko (PDF file), which is a transcript of most of this Radio Interview. BookMoving a Puddle and other essays by Sandra DoddGame/Toy:Thinking Sticks
RecordingsfreePeaceful Parenting, a talk given in 2002 with Richard Prystowsky Improving Unschooling, radio interview by Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko
MP3 Download:
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