 | Every time "have to" comes up in writing, speech or thought, back up two words and see it as a choice, and not a have to. You don't "have to" do that, but your ability to make choices and to live a life of abundant gratitude will be hampered if you don't. |
| "Don't shelter them from the world. Don't let them loose in it. Walk with them, paying attention to what it looks like they need to know (not what you think they should know). Partner with them in this real world we live in, so that they can learn, with your guidance and support, how to make the most of their explorations and their ever-growing experience." —Karen James |  |
| Children are born learning, and unless and until that joy is extinguished (by school or pressure or shaming or belittlement), it will thrive and grow. Learning is easy when the people around are smiling, encouraging and helpful. |  |
| "If you lose at first, try again — it doesn't mean you will never win. If you lose, shake the other person's hand. It isn't possible to be unbeatable." —Adam Daniel (when he was six) |  |
 | Once school is behind and life is in front, learning becomes self-perpetuating. |
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| Our lives are peaceful, our pressures are self-inflicted and mostly optional, we’re free to visit historical sites when there are no crowds, to leave town during the week, to sleep late or have guests whenever it’s convenient for us, without regard to school’s schedule. |  |
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| It has been a long time since I worried about whether they would grow up whole and functional. They were whole, functional, bright and conversant all along. —Sandra Dodd, in 2006, even less worried in 2016 |  |
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| My kids think math is a tool and a toy and a game. Why would they want to be saved from it? "We don't have to know that" isn't anything I have ever heard my children say. Because there is nothing they do "have to learn," there is nothing that is off their learning list either. In artistic terms, without the object there is no field. In math-lingo, they have the infinite universal set. In a philosophical light, they avoid the dualism of learning and not-learning. |  |
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| "Figure out what would help you the most and make the changes to make it happen. Maybe that means putting a garbage can in every room, having baskets or bins to chuck stuff into, having a container of those premoistened cleaning wipes in every room. Get a Roomba and let it go. Cook enough for two meals one night so you don't have to cook the next night, etc. Joyce recommended a pizza night so you don't have to cook. You could have sandwich night and everyone can eat off paper towels." —Deb Lewis |  |
| BE AWARE of who this child is and of your potential to help or to harm. |  |
 | Life is made of little moments. A good life is made of moments seen and appreciated. |
| "Fill your house with peace, toys, interesting things, good food, and love. Create abundance, not scarcity, even if you have very little in terms of monetary resources. Love and peace and happiness don’t cost a thing." —Colleen Prieto |  |
| My strongly held belief about most things is that no one knows for sure, knowledge grows and changes, but that stress and fear are always harmful. |  |
 | TAKE THE EASY WAY!!! Make people’s lives easy. Don’t think there’s virtue in allowing difficulties to continue. Make his life easier, if you can do it in some simple way. |
 | "You can read all the books, you can talk to unschoolers, attend a conference and join some lists. But until you GET IT at the internal level, until there is trust and a willingness to extend that trust to your children, unschooling is just a nice idea or philosophy to discuss...nothing more. For those that decide to learn to trust themselves and their children, they soon find their lives a bubbly, interesting swirl of natural learning." —Ren Allen |
