Education or Propaganda? Why Remembrance Day Needs to be Re-Examined
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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3y ago
CONTENT WARNING this post contains multiple references to and mentions of genocide, rape, the murder of children, and other disturbing topics related to war. When I was a child, I was taught to observe Remembrance Day the way most children in Canada are. We would watch the ceremony in Ottawa live on TV, complete with solemn music, speeches about sacrifice and heroes and freedom, and the recitation of In Flanders Fields (a poem I memorized, because memorizing poetry was very much my thing). But as I grew older, and as my political understanding grew along with my knowledge of history, I start ..read more
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12 Unschooling Misconceptions (and Why They're Wrong)
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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4y ago
There are a lot of misconceptions out there about what unschooling is, how it works, what people mean when they use the term... So I wanted to do a post on the topic addressing some of the biggest misunderstandings that seem to crop up repeatedly. Misconception #1: unschooling is just a synonym for homeschooling. While unschooling falls under the homeschooling umbrella, it is its own unique approach, lifestyle, and understanding of how learning works and how children should be treated. While "homeschooling" frequently means school-at-home, unschooling is delight-driven, interest-based, self ..read more
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Happiness, Productivity, and the Fall of Capitalism (or We All Deserve to Live Joyfully)
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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4y ago
Do parents care about their children's happiness? I think it's an easy answer to say overwhelming they do, very much so. And yet, they don't necessarily prioritize it in the daily lives of their children. I feel like a lot of parents erroneously believe that academic success will lead to happiness, and that if they can just keep their kids on the "right" path they will eventually be happier for it. This belief in future gains lets them absolve themselves of the need to make sure that their kids are happy NOW. While there are plenty of people out there who will inform you with great indignati ..read more
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Education Outside the Fishbowl: Observation, Evaluation, and How Children (Really) Learn
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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4y ago
If a child learns in the forest, and there are no adults there to see it, did they really learn at all? The summer my sister turned 13 was spent in a patch of woods--one of the few semi-wild spaces near us to be spared from development--with a group of neighborhood kids. They dragged in used furniture found on big-pickup trash days, set up complex political systems, and built and played from when they staggered out of bed in the early afternoon until everyone got too hungry and made it back to their respective houses for supper. There was arguing and conflict resolution, wild creativity and ..read more
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Homeschooling in the Age of COVID-19: Advice from Six Unschooling Parents
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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4y ago
We are living in difficult times. Around the world, people’s lives have been upended as everyone struggles to deal with this crisis. And one of those changes has been that suddenly, countless people who never expected to be in such a position are doing some version of homeschooling. Before I go any further, I’d like to make it clear that this is not what homeschooling normally looks like, not how it’s supposed to be. The “home” bit doesn’t mean that school-free families are used to being chained to their houses, as homeschoolers generally take full advantage of various classes, homeschool co ..read more
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Yes, There ARE Things Every Kid Should Know: Social Justice and Self-Direction
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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4y ago
I’ve seen some interesting discussion from fellow leftists in and around the unschooling world in regards to social justice and the importance of children--all children--knowing certain things. The issue raised is this: if we can agree that there are important issues of power and oppression that all children should understand, how do you reconcile that with an approach which, on the surface, looks like children learning whatever they want, regardless of what anyone else thinks? I agree that there is a baseline of knowledge and understanding necessary in order to be a thoughtful and kind pers ..read more
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On Seasons and Cycles: Unschooling and Nature
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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5y ago
This post was originally published on my Patreon in February 2019. While most of my Patreon posts will remain exclusive to financial supporters, occasionally I share an older one over here as well. You know winter is truly over when you hear the spring peepers. Even living in the suburbs, the wetlands, tucked discreetly behind houses with manicured lawns, would fill with with tiny frogs, their distinctive chorus echoing down streets and bouncing between buildings. A local zoo that focuses on fauna native to the Saint Lawrence River Valley would open up the gates at the back of their property w ..read more
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When Learning is Like Breathing: On Awareness and Evaluation
I'm Unschooled. Yes, I Can Write.
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5y ago
One of the biggest revelations offered by people who live outside of schools and enforced curriculum is just how effortless, how ever-present, how natural learning can be. People sometimes ask me how I learned a specific thing, growing up, and I often have trouble answering. Both because, by now, my childhood was quite a while ago and my memories aren’t as clear, and also because, when you’re not using a curriculum, the exact mechanics of how learning happens are not always so easy to track. This is definitely the case when it comes to writing. The short answer is that I just… started doing ..read more
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