Unschooling happily and successfully requires clear thinking. I don't think it works as well when people just look at those with young adult kids who are happy and successful
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—Pam Sorooshian
photo by Belinda Dutch
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![]() | Live your life in such a way that you're not ashamed if someone quotes what you said, or tells something you did. |
![]() | Consider ideas. If something makes sense, good. Use the idea. Remember where you got it. Be honest. |
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You have to know a lot to learn more, and if you know nothing, you can't learn anything. | ![]() |
Becoming the sort of person you hope your child will be, or that your child will respect, is more valuable than years of therapy. And it’s cheaper. | ![]() |
Before you can see anything in an unschooling light, you must have an unschooling light to see by. | ![]() |
Reading about unschooling without doing it is like reading a cookbook without making any food, or reading woodworking project books without owning a saw. Do it! | ![]() |
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The difference between poverty and abundance is sometimes the ability to see what one has. There have been times when I didn't have a car, we had a leaky roof, and the washing machine wasn't working. There have been more times that the car and washing machine were functioning, the house was solid, and I forgot to appreciate it.
![]() | Sometimes, be still. Don't be still all the time—kids and life are busy, busy, busy! Notice moments of stillness, and breathe there. |
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I do worry about my boys playing computer all day.I responded:
I have three kids who have played hundreds of games among and between them--Holly learned two new card games just this month that nobody else in the family knows, even her dad who has been a big games guy all his life. There is no game called "computer." I think you mean playing ON the computer. HUGE difference.
We have dozens of nice board games here, and table games (games involving cards or other pieces, to be laid out on a table as play proceeds), but those aren't referred to as kids playing board, or kids playing table.
The computer is not itself the game. There are games on the computer. There is information on the computer. It's not really a net. It's not really a web. It's millions of ideas, words, jokes, pictures, games, a ton of music and videos and.... But you know that, right?
Clarity can begin with being careful with the words you use. Thinking about what you write will help you think about what you think!
I think every moment an unschooling parent spends reflecting on what and how and where she learned things is time well invested. | ![]() |
If it happened when you expected it, it wouldn't be surprising. Be open to finding joy in the unexpected. | ![]() |
People don't bend to become unschoolers. They stand up tall enough to look all around. | ![]() |
![]() | Generosity makes you generous. Kindness makes you kind. Respecting others, and their ideas and their interests, makes you full of respect—respectful. These are little things that build up quickly. |