![]() | "When I stumbled across unschooling I grabbed hold. I read and I tried things and I moved further away from the childhood I had known to the parenthood I wanted to know." —Schuyler Waynforth |
photo by Sandra Dodd
![]() | "When I stumbled across unschooling I grabbed hold. I read and I tried things and I moved further away from the childhood I had known to the parenthood I wanted to know." —Schuyler Waynforth |
Peace is a prerequisite to natural, curious, intellectual exploration. What is peace, then, in a home with children? Contentment is peace. | ![]() |
We appreciate people who can share knowledge, ideas and stories with us. |
![]() | Nurture peace and presence. |
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"It is a matter of choice. You choose to serve others, to see it as a divine gift and to be filled with joy, awe and magic. You could also see it as a simple unpaid chore and feel miserable and make everyone miserable. The act is the same; the attitude is different and so the atmosphere you create is different." —Manuela Jaramillo |
Unfold upward and outward. Expand one connection at a time. Laugh when you can. | ![]() |
"Looking through some old photos. I just really liked this one. Nothing special. Everything special." —Karen James | ![]() |
"Life can never be perfect, but mothers have the power to make it a little better, a little better, and a little better." —Sandra Dodd La vida no puede ser perfecta, pero las mamas tienen el poder de hacerlo un poco mejor, un poco mejor... —translated by Yvonne Laborda | ![]() |
You can't and don't need to "trust 100%." You need to see the progress in your own children's life. Then it's not "trust." It becomes knowledge and experience. | ![]() |
![]() | "Don't become emotionally invested in your child's choices. If you want to invest your emotions, invest them in creating an atmosphere where kids feel supported in trying what appeals to them AND turning down what doesn't." —Joyce Fetteroll |
![]() | Homeschoolers think a lot about learning—but they often focus on learning to read, write, do math, or learning science or history, etc. Unschoolers tend to take that kind of learning for granted, it happens along the way. Instead, as we get more and more into unschooling, we tend to focus on things like kindness and creativity and honesty—all those character traits that will determine "how" their learning will be used in their lives. —Pam Sorooshian |
![]() | "Notice how awesome your children are. Enjoy them, be grateful for your days with them and enjoy what they are enjoying. They will blossom in that light." —Debbie Regan |
"I found early on the less I talked the more I was heard." —Karen James | ![]() |
![]() | Look at things others might not see. See their shapes, their backgrounds. Light changes. Wind comes. Things were once younger, smaller, newer. They will be older, different, gone. See what's around you. |
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B: board games, books, books on tape, bike riding, baby-sitting, balloon animals, Brain Quest, basketball, baking, building, beading, braiding, bubbles, Boy Scouts, baseball, bird watching, bowling, blocks, building toys, bugs
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Costumes, make-believe and juxtaposition touch on art, real life, and being in the moment.
"Learning flows when needs are met, connections are strong, and kids can absolutely trust their parents, and know their parents are there for them. Some of the core values of natural learning are trust, support, joy, and freedom. You are putting up scaffolding for years and years of learning by the choices you make now." —Caren Knox | ![]() |
Pattern tiles, magnets, puzzles, kits and other such fiddlin'-around stuff are good for children and adults both. They create opportunities for parents and children to interact in wordless or talkative ways, as suits the moment. (Or you could go play miniature golf.) | ![]() |
In the beginning, unschooling can seem like a long, dark passage, but you will start to see the light and soon the darkness will be behind you. | ![]() |
If you feel you should be doing more for your child, do more. If you feel you should be being with your child more, do that. If you feel you should be doing more with school and schoolishness, back away from that. That is NOT your child. | ![]() |
"Mostly when people think about being 'organised' they think about structure and predictability. For me the point of being organised is to achieve a particular objective. I actually really like that I don’t need to have a lot of structure to achieve the goals of exploring cool things, learning about the world and having fun. Of course some of the basic organisational skills that I have learned do come in handy, like knowing where to find things that I’ve saved and keeping track of our calendar so we know where to be and when. But in terms of Adam’s learning I don’t feel the need for structure and predictability because I can see how incredibly efficient his natural learning process is."