Trust and respect go together. Someone who is trustworthy will be respected. | ![]() |
photo by Julie D.
Trust and respect go together. Someone who is trustworthy will be respected. | ![]() |
![]() | Casual and alert are better than intense and hurried. |
The basic idea of unschooling is that we learn what we need by using it. And that's exactly how kids learn to speak English. Toddlers aren't trying to learn English. They're using a tool (English) to get what they want: which might be juice or a hug or picked up to see better. The English tool is more efficient than other tools they've been using: pointing or crying or wishing. And because English is more efficient, they use it more. And because they use it more, the get better at it. Kids learn English (and everything else) as a *side effect* of living and pursuing what they enjoy.
Be brave, be calm, be happy. | ![]() |
![]() | Sometimes it's fun to try to think with fewer words. Unschoolers can move toward "better" by making better choices. Imagine a way to be. What about clean, moving water? When you choose activities, responses, thoughts and moods could you choose things more sparkly and flowing? |
![]() | Be the kind of person you want your child to be. Nurture your own curiosity and joy. Find gratitude and abundance in your life. Explore. Make connections, on your own. Share those with your children when they're interesting. |
![]() | It's hard to explain unschooling, partly because the best answers are "it depends," followed by questions for the parents to consider while they're making their decisions. . . . . Getting unschooling is a process. There will be more to get once you're comfortable with the new understandings and behaviors. |
For the parents, deschooling is learning about learning. | ![]() |
photo by Janet Rohde Buzit
__
Let everyday things bring joy. | ![]() |
![]() | It's fun to be on the lookout for art in unexpected places. Sometimes people purposely make art and hide it, for kids to find. Find art wherever you are. |
Yesterday was David's birthday and we had guests. I left dishes in the sink when I went to bed. I got up early with the dogs but then went back to bed. When I got up later Dylan had done the dishes.He said "I know you really like to do the dishes mom, so I hope you don't mind, but I just felt like doing them."
Dylan is twelve.
I *know* living life joyfully makes a difference in the way our kids see us and the way they see the little things that make life better.
By choosing to unschool, I am giving my children the ability simply to enjoy the journey rather than to seek some unknown destination that falsely promises an end product. My children’s lives are their own; their dreams and passions belong to them, and in gathering the bits that matter, they are showing me that natural learning is grand and simple all at once. The light that emanates from them awes me to silence. —Ren Allen |
![]() |
It was the issue of food that provided the epiphany for me to "get" what unschooling is about. When I realized that there are foods out there that make me gag, and I wouldn't want to have to finish them (or even put a bite in my mouth) the light dawned. Why do it to kids, if there's something that I refuse to eat? —Heidi C. | ![]() |
"I think trying to see the world through young kids' eyes can help us move toward wonderment." —Chris Sanders | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() | I have some good plants in my house. Outside it can be too harsh for most plants to survive, but indoors is safer. The photo was taken far from New Mexico, but still shows some life inside, and some less-lively structure outside. Two ideas: Sitting around watching plants grow isn't as good as some other things you could do, and don't be too prejudiced against being inside! |
He's confident in his skin, in his mind, and in his being.
He's not afraid of his parents.
He goes to sleep happy and he wakes up glad.
My priorities could have been different.
![]() | "The top itself was not what caught Ethan's attention. For me, it was. For Ethan, it was the swirly lines that were the treasure he happened upon and wanted to explore more." —Karen James, 2017 |
![]() | Remember that your child is a whole separate person. |
![]() | I believe that if children learn happily, without pressure and without shame, that they will continue to do so for the rest of their lives. |
![]() | "Lots of people make this point, but I never see the negation as negative in a value-judgment sense when I use the word—to me unschooling is as positive as unchaining, unbinding, unleashing, unfolding, unfurling, unlimiting.... "All mean freedom and growth and vast possibilities to me." —Zann Carter |
There do need to be breaks for familiar, comforting activities, but a rich life should include newness for the sake of learning (and fun), and an unschooling parent should be aware of the learning that's happening in the children and in the parents, both. Learning isn't just for kids! | ![]() |