John O. Andersen

I strongly believe in unschooling, or "delight-directed" learning. But in
order for it to succeed, it's IMPERATIVE that parents offer an
ever-expanding variety of "delights" to which their children may wish to
latch themselves.

In other words, it's not enough to leave the child to fend for him or
herself when it comes to discovering interests. Wise parents aggressively
seek opportunities to expose their children to the wider community, to
complex issues, to a spectrum of people, to the greatest minds, and so
forth.

Take your children to an art museum. Interpret a painting for them. Then
ask for their interpretations. Go home and create your own oil paintings.
Take your children to a public meeting. Point out the mayor. Try to have
them meet the mayor, or a senator, or congressman. Take them to a street
demonstration. Take them to the zoo. Sit on a bench with them for awhile
and watch a particular animal. Talk about what you see. Volunteer with
your children at a library, or other community center. Take walks through
nature preserves. Intentionally slow down and truly notice the plants, and
wildlife. Write about it when you get home. Seek out interesting and
creative people in your community; inventors, authors, scientists, poets,
etc. Arrange to visit with these people in their homes, or go to hear them
speak, or write letters to them. Visit the city hall, the state capitol,
the history museum, the bookstores. Read books together everyday. Talk
about ideas and philosophies at the dinner table. Be a passionate scholar
yourself. Visit historical sites. Talk about your visit. Write letters to
grandparents. Help your children imagine what life was like many years
previous when their grandparents were children themselves. Take your
children camping to a variety of places. Go on guided tours whenever you
can. Write about them after you return home. Arrange for penpals for your
children; ideally, this could be children from other countries and cultures.
Travel often both locally and, when possible, internationally. Make a point
to talk with people on the street and in the shops. Be endlessly curious.
Read books about your travel destinations beforehand and then books about
your favorite places after the trip is over. Record your itinerary in a
journal. Be actors in a local play. Join a gymnastics club. Take fencing
lessons as a family. Learn to play a musical instrument.

The list goes on and on and on.

Proper unschooling is anything but passive and directionless. On the
contrary, it is arguably one of the most demanding of all learning methods.
And, we think it could be one of the most stimulating as well. Parents just
need to break out of their comfort zone and aggressively seek to harness the
endless resources of their community and ultimately the world around them.
It's not a job for the feint-hearted or those who are happier just following
instructions from so-called experts.

In a nutshell, it's about lighting a fire within yourself and letting it
burn brightly enough that your children naturally desire to become engulfed
as well.

John Andersen
Uncoventional Ideas at http://www.spiritone.com/~andersen
Themestream Articles
http://www.themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_by_tag.gsp?auth_id=34436
Read about the Andersen family travels:
http://www.spiritone.com/~andersen/travel.html