Un-Schooling Adventures

Tips for un-schooling...

2011-09-03T19:22:00.000-07:00

These are tips and ideas for both unschooling families AND homeschooling families. Borrowed from Joyfully Rejoycing .com

Show respect for all of a child's interests equally.
Keep the child in mind as I go through life, so that I notice things that might be of interest to that child.
Find ways to include the child in my own daily life - live a more"open-book' life than the norm.
Follow up on things the child is interested in - and do this in a wide variety of ways, not only by "getting him a book on it."
Live a family life that is rich with experiences of a variety of kinds both at home and outside the home.
Have resources around the home that are interesting and stimulating - things that will encourage exploration of ideas.
Discuss things - spend time in conversation. This is probably overall the most important parental"action' involved in unschooling.
Have a"playful' attitude - play together, have fun, appreciate the amazing world around you. Don't be cynical, be able to be amazed and find the world a fascinating place. THIS is the most important"attitude' for an unschooling parent.
Be self-aware of your own thinking and behavior. Purposely stretch your imagination - question your own assumptions, check your own automatic impulses.
Be very observant of what your child is really doing - don't view him/her in a shallow superficial way. Recognize that there is a reason for a child's actions, that a child is"born to learn' and is always learning. Get to know your child's own special favored ways of learning
Wholeheartedly support a child's passions EVEN if, to you, they don't look like "education."

Autumn....

2011-08-31T16:40:00.000-07:00

Slowly the season begins to change, public schools are beginning to open their doors, the air begins to stir with the scents of autumn. The breeze begins to cool and leaves begin to change. So what can we do to add a bit of fun into our normal un-schooling day?

Since the nights slowly begin to cool, this is when we pull out our large telescope and use it on clear nights to observe the moon, Jupiter and Saturn with her rings. The air is cool and fresh, keeping our minds alert to learn and be excited about seeing far off celestial bodies dance in the sky.

We create flower arrangements in small decorative pumpkins and gourds and bring them to nursing homes or local businesses to spread Autumn's beauty with others. They can be made by simply hollowing out a pumpkin or gourd, taking fresh flower oasis foam that has been soaked and placing a chunk inside. Then using fall colored flowers like mums, nasturtiums, daises, roses and poppy's and adding locally found wild items like Holly, Oak or Pine for green. These make simple, affordable decorations, gifts and surprises to be shared with anyone.

We are making pine cone bird/squirrel feeders. Taking large pines cones, wrap the small end with wire to make it a hanger, so it hangs now upside-down. Then fill the pine cone leaves with natural peanut butter (we use chunky) and then roll it is a good high quality bird seed mix.... add some dried fruits and corn for a treat. We also roll some in only dried fruit mix as well. We then hang these from branches of trees in our yard, our neighbors yards and in the empty lot near our home. We have also giving them away as gifts for other bird lovers.

We also have begun to plan and Autumn Equinox feast. Roasted Chicken with Roasted Root Vegetables and Swiss Chard and roasted garlic and 10 grain bread on the side. A mixed fruit tart with creamy cheese filling will be dessert.

So we add a bit of fun into our autumn experience, so not only do we learn, but we share and allow creativity to encourage growth and generosity.

We hope your Autumn season is a bountiful blessed one!

A guide for the pending internet apocalypse....

2011-07-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

(Was not sure where to post this, here or my personal blog. Well since my personal blog is currently private and has no readers anymore, I decided to post this here.)

It has come to my attention that Facebook is once again getting slammed with virus laden links and posts. It is now bad enough that my husband's FB friends are panicking and asking him to call me, the computer nerd, for help. Let me make it clear, it is NOT just a Facebook thing... this also happens on Myspace, Friendster, and every social network, message board, forum, comment posting place on the internet superhighway. Also, this has been going on forever, sadly this is nothing new. So how can you prevent a virus or phishing attack? Well below find some tips and tricks that I use, things that have helped me and my computers stay virus free since the beginning of my internet journey. :)

Let me start with Facebook first (some of these tips can be used in different social network sites, but I personally only use Facebook)

Head into your Account tab at the top Right of the screen. Click Privacy Settings.
Go down to "Things Others Can Share" and click "Suggest photos of me to friends"..
here click Edit settings and then click Disable.

Now as you go back to the Privacy Settings page, on the bottom left of the big box, you will see Apps and Websites, Click EDIT SETTINGS. Then Find the Info accessible through your friends option (2nd one down) and click Edit Settings. Make sure NONE of those boxes are checked, IF they are, uncheck them. Then click Save Settings.

Throughout the settings areas you can customize it how you like. The majority of my profile is FRIENDS ONLY with only a little bit view-able to everyone. I also have further customized some items, like phone number, email addy etc to be viewable to ME ONLY. Lastly I have a few things view-able to a selected number of people, you go into Edit on the Custom setting tab on the desired setting and then add a user's name to the list.

As far as I can see so far, we can not prevent Tagging of videos and pictures 100% BUT we CAN remove the tags that we do not want.

DO NOT ever click LINKS on videos or pictures posted with tags or featuring comments such as "OMG check this out, I can't believe it!" If you do not recognize the person in the photo, it is safer to not click it, but hide it from your view. (click the "X" that shows on the right of the post and remove that post)

It is also advisable to send a quick message to that friend and let them know that posts are being generated from their account with numerous tags and those posts may contain viruses.

If a clicked link requires credit card info, personal info or a survey, it is BAD, either virus or Phishing and it is best to close the screen immediately.

NOW ONTO GENERAL COMPUTER PROTECTION:

Make sure you have up to date virus protection. I have always and only used AVG anti-virus and have NEVER had an infection. It runs in the background protecting me as I surf and get emails etc.
Here is the link http://free.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download click the first column option if you want FREE or if you do want to PAY, there are different options for that.

I also use Both SpyBot Search and Destroy and Adaware... both of which removes adware, spammy links, spyware, and other nasty things we can pick up when visiting websites. Below are the two links for free downloads...

SpyBot http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html download from any of the first 6 mirror sites.

AdAware http://free.lavasoft.com/products2.aspx Click FREE option

Once download, update and run each program separately. It will take time, but it will clean your PC of problem items on your hard drive.

LASTLY, clean your computer!

Depending on use, I will move all important documents, videos and photos off of my hard drive onto either a disk, thumb drive, zip drive or an external hard drive. (I normally do this once a month)

Make sure all software is up to date. Update virus protection, operating system (MAC, Windows XP, Vista or W7 (or others OS)) (via windows update... manually or set it up to check daily) , update your Web Browsers and Spy/ad protection at least once a month, I check about once a week during heavy virus spikes. Always try to get each program to check for updates daily automatically to take the worry away.

It is also good to clean the history and cache of your internet browser. Enter the tools tab on your browser and click clean history and clean cache. (may say delete cookies, delete browser history or something similar)

NEXT...
Go into your computer Control Panel, and Head into System and Security... Here you can Search from problems, run diagnostics and most importantly, Enter the ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS area.
In Administrative Tools there are two things you need to do.

First Free up Disk space... which cleans your hard drive of unneeded fluff. Just click and clean both drives....Follow the prompts and ONLY clean what is safe (recycle bin, temporary files, history and cache)

Now you need to Defragment your hard drive.
Just click that and follow the prompts for both disks/drives.. but leave your system alone while it works.

In the general System and Security/administrative tools area you may be able to Schedule tasks.... IF there is an option to automatically clean disks, defragment etc.. go ahead and set that up for once a week or once a month at least. Then your computer will do that work for you. You can ALSO right click "free up disk space" and Defragment your hard drive" and create a desktop shortcut... that way it is easy to find again.

(I have done this and then placed both of those short cuts along with the Spybot, Adaware and AVG shortcuts into a folder on my desktop labeled Clean-up)

MORE ADVANCED;

If you like to poke about your computer I have two areas you may enter and be safe.
If you Run a windows system the follow applies... if you are an owner or administrator (on main account)

Click "Computer" or "My computer" in your Start menu (bottom left)
Click "C" drive
Click "Windows" folder or option
The windows folder may ask for permission to enter, just click yes.
In Windows you will find more folders, they are alphabetical.
Find the "PREFETCH" folder, click that. (may ask for permission again, say yes)
In this folder highlight ALL items and right click to delete, click yes... everything should go away.
Click back to return into the main "Windows" folder and now find the "TEMP" folder, click this.
Once again, highlight and delete EVERYTHING in this folder. It should all disappear. Sometimes one or two may stay, or refuse to delete, leave those be.
Now head to your desktop... click your recycle bin and delete EVERYTHING that is in there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You have now protected and cleaned your computer.
I have done this from day one and have never had an issue... I was self taught.. and you can find walk throughs on the internet for each browser and operating system if you need to see what to do.

With a bit of proactive usage we can all stay virus free.

Below are some safe surfing tips....

Never enter credit card or personal info on a site that is not secure ( MUST HAVE the LOCKED PADLOCK in the browser)

Do not open emails from unknown parties, especially links contained in emails.
*****IF your financial institution (bank, credit card etc) emails you to update their system..CALL THEM!!!!! Never click those links and enter info... no REAL bank or financial institution will ask for that info online via an email or IM. Just call them and speak directly to them by using the phone numbers YOU HAVE already, do NOT use any info in that email to contact them!

With a anti-virus software installed, like AVG.. if you click a bad link online, it will block it and tell you it is dangerous. Follow the programs suggestions. If it says you encountered a trojan, virus etc... immediately stop what you are doing and run your anti-virus and then your spybot and adaware. This will clean you right up.

IF you fear you have been infected your anti virus like AVG can fix it, but you can also use another free program..there are many options. Below is a link that will take you to part one of the list.
http://www.hddoctor.net/top-25-free-anti-spywareadware-software-download-part-i/
Here is part 2
http://www.hddoctor.net/top-25-free-anti-spywareadware-software-download-part-ii/

Good luck and safe browsing!!!!!

The beach:

2011-07-20T18:14:00.000-07:00

We have found that not only is the beach always fun, but offers a wealth of opportunity to learn naturally and without coercion.

By simple observation and verbal exploration via questions, answers and sharing we each can take home new info. This time for instance, not only did we get in much needed sun and swim time, but also learned quite a bit.

There were turtle mounds complete with informational signs, but also the turtle watch group was there and we were able to ask questions and even see some real eggs. Then we observed the normal birds and fish, but via the internet were able to research new ones right there on the beach. We then saw jellyfish in the water, who seemed to be attracted to us... then learned they were non-stinging and quite fun to hold. We also saw a group of Manatee near the shore and learned not only of their mating habits, but also about the laws that protect them because fish and game were called to keep people away.

We then visited the local museum and learned of the history of the island and it's people and were able to learn of the changes through the years and current improvements happening today.

Even the simplest of day trips can naturally be filled with tid bits of new information and opportunity to learn, grow and open your eyes. :)

Returning to normalcy..

2011-07-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

Now that the excitement of vacation has waned and life has settled back into it's normal routines, we find comfort in the recent events. Every experience has placed within our daughter the desire to improve herself and test her limits and comfort levels. She is ready to take on life's challenges head on. So with that, as a family we will assist in that desire and more than likely experience it all along with her.

Adventure is a big part of life, learning and the human experience. So adventure will be a cornerstone to our un-schooling/home-schooling family. There are marine biology field trips with Mote Marine Laboratories, in depth behind the curtain studies at each aquarium and zoo that we have contacted in the state and local places (shelters, parks, rehabs etc) that are willing to take us under their wing and show us what it takes to be a shelter, a wild animal rehab facility or other care facility within the plant, animal, marine, land or fresh water areas.

TIP:
I have found that if you are interested in having a better, more in depth and carried home school or un-school experience...when venturing out or planning field trips, vacations or visits to places, check their website for special evens, home-school activities or other options. If you do not find anything on their website, please try calling the venue, speak to guest relations or the educational/school department and see what they have available for you and your children or even small groups. Sometimes simply speaking with a representative and explaining your desire to educate a bit further than what is available to the everyday guest you may find one or two areas, employees or departments that are willing to give you access behind the scenes or other restricted areas. Remember these types of businesses, be it a zoo, aquarium, botanical garden or museum are all about education, helping younger generations and keeping their future alive and that is done with each new generation that walks through the door.

Unschooling and vacations

2011-07-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

We recently went on our first ever real family vacation. It included over a week away from home and a hotel stay. We had the Disney experience of a lifetime.

How did we fit home school/ unschooling into it? Well that came naturally. We purposefully set out to experience as much as possible. Generally speaking those parks are quite entertaining and educational at the same time IF you allow it to be and actually desire it to be.

From our daughter's standpoint, she read the educational signs, visited each museum-like attraction as well as the rides. She asked millions of questions, learned a bit of history and trivia. She experienced everything imaginable all the while learning. She learned about behind the scenes at the parks, to the history of the parks, the world, our country and cinema and science. We watched her transform, her vocabulary has massively improved and she is now interested in new things and now is thinking of her future careers.... not just one but a few!(and no they are not Disney jobs)

To HER it was NOT just rides, and constant entertainment and fun fun fun, mindless drivel BUT it was an all encompassing study on life, living, entertainment, business, history, psychology, art, music, language, culture, math, science, biology, chemistry, theater, cinema, health, and so much more!!!! She loved it and now is planning with us future endeavors, for the coming months and the next 4 spring vacations. The future is bright and exciting!

She also learned about people, I suppose to put a label on it would be, social studies. She learned that everyone is different, unique... but that does not always mean it is always in line with others.. but we must somehow learn to practice kindness, patience and a bit of tolerance... but we never have to adopt those differences or beliefs as our own. We must stay true to ourselves.

All in all it was a well rounded, fun and educational trip. It has really changed her.... all of us actually.

Quotes and Thoughts On un-schooling

2011-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Since we can’t know what knowledge will be most needed in the future, it is senseless to try to teach it in advance. Instead, we should try to turn out people who love learning so much and learn so well that they will be able to learn whatever needs to be learned. - John Holt

"Curiosity is the first step in learning. To understand a subject well, one must first have an interest in that subject, questions that need answering, and a desire to know more. True learning does not occur when curiosity is absent." -Karen with Leaping from the box

They learn what they need now. The nows just naturally keep coming along and the kids end up where they are today already knowing what they needed last year and acquiring what they need for today. When we learn by living life, all those subjects/areas of study are just tools that we pick up and use when we need them. And we learn how to make the tools work by using them. -Joyce Fetteroll

"Children are born passionately eager to make as much sense as they can of things around them. If we attempt to control, manipulate, or divert this process...the independent scientist in the child disappears." ~ John Holt

"The ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursing his own education. This will not be a widely shared pursuit until we get over our odd conviction that education is what goes on in school buildings and nowhere else." — John W. Gardner

Education is a private matter between the person and the world of knowledge and experience, and has little to do with school or college. -Lillian Smith

A sense of curiosity is nature's original school of education. -Smiley Blanton

The most important outcome of education is to help students become independent of formal education. -Paul E. Gray

Education would be so much more effective if its purpose were to ensure that by the time they leave school every boy and girl should know how much they don't know, and be imbued with a lifelong desire to know it. - Sir William Haley

You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself. - Galileo Galilei

If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. - Ignacio Estrada

The secret of education is respecting the pupil. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school. -Albert Einstein

It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Albert Einstein

To waken interest and kindle enthusiasm is the sure way to teach easily and successfully. -Tyron Edwards

Personally I'm always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught. -Winston Churchill

Any place that anyone young can learn something useful from someone with experience is an educational institution. -Al Capp

Our school education ignores, in a thousand ways, the rules of healthy development. -Emily Blackwell

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. -Clay P. Bedford

Learning is finding out what you already know, Doing is demonstrating that you know it, Teaching is reminding others that they know it as well as you do. We are all learners, doers, and teachers. -Richard David Bach

You teach best what you most need to learn. -Richard David Bach

A Day In The Life:

2011-05-28T17:29:00.000-07:00

In general she is living life as normal. She wakes up and watches the news (currently we have been glued to the Casey Anthony Case in Orlando), I then make her breakfast. She puts in her order and then begin our daily cooking show. I try my best to put on a funny accent and with the most flare I can muster to teach her how to cook. It is all fun and games, but she is in fact learning. The rest of her morning is between reading books and watching the case on TV. Sometimes she may play a video game and research pokemon characters in her various pokedex directories. Lunch time we socialize and try to figure out what else we will do for the day.

Each day is different, some day she wants to help out around the house like a little homemaker, other times she craves to be outside working with me. One day a week or more we try to take a tip out...it may be local or further away but each trip is an opportunity to learn. Some places we have gone and frequent are, the local library, Local Gem Panning, Highlands Hammock our local state park, Bok Tower Gardens, Anna Maria Island, Venice Beach(to hunt sharks teeth and fossils), The Peace River(more teeth and fossils), GatorRama, Lion Country Safari, Tampa Aquarium, Mote Marine Laboratory, Mosi and more.

Reading is her passion lately. She is reading the Harry Potter Series, recently read the Twilight series but also adores living books like The Little House series, Little Woman, Secret Garden and the like. So we have available to her a vast collection of historical novels and more modern best sellers and popular young adult books. We have available to her what she needs to feed her passion and learn through these books. We have noticed her vocabulary, spelling and verbal interactions with us have improved exponentially since she began reading without limits.

Once we relaxed, gave her freedom and dropped the undo pressures and stresses regarding learning and teaching she began to learn immediately without any prompting. I saw that we do not need to force anything on her, just provide tools to help her gather the knowledge she needs when she needs it, because frankly it does not work the other way around. She is now happier and more interested in expanding her sights towards things she would not have been interested in before. For instance, She has asked me to buy us tickets to a local play AND to the live feed of MacBeth and Swan Lake at our local theater. 3 months ago should would have balked at the thought of a ballet or opera.

Each day is new and exciting, each day an opportunity to learn and explore. Learning should be fun and an adventure.... the World is our classroom.

The journey to here:

2011-05-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the short version of our home school journey. (well it is as short as I can make it to make sense)

Back in 2007 our daughter was in 4th grade and 9 years old. Also, she was in public school. From day one of trying to conform and do what was "normal" we placed her first in day care and then in the public school system. This is what is considered the "norm".

BUT what was not normal to ME, was WAS normal to everyone else was how my daughter reacted to being left at day care or school. I was told by EVERYONE I knew that this was in fact a normal part of growing up, of becoming independent and a socialized child. I could not wrap my mind around the thinking that putting a child through such pain and trauma, such emotional heartache was in any way GOOD for them. BUT I continued on that path because everyone said this was "normal" and the BEST thing to do for her.

" Pain be it emotional are otherwise is NOT good... does not guarantee POSITIVE outcomes or effects, OFTEN it will cause or set into motion negative effects. "

" PAIN hurts either physically OR emotionally because it is in inert, natural WARNING that whatever is causing said pain is NOT GOOD. "

**From Kindergarten through the start of 4th grade, things got from terrible to traumatically worse. **

Grade K;
Kindergarten, the year of new discovery, fun and games only offered her an aggressive, loud and disorganized teacher, who had the habit of screaming and using improper and inappropriate language and sharing inappropriate stories/examples to a room of 5 year olds. A woman who demanded and threatened to force the children to read and do math sheets and write and learn things they NEVER saw before in their lives.
This is when I became active in our daughter's public school experience, this is when I knew I was up against a wall. I attempted to change teachers and classrooms, was told "ALL of the teachers teach the same stuff and the same way" (Boy that was a scary idea! They all yell like that and talk that way??)

Grade 1 through 3;
3 teachers whom were either unwilling or unprepared professionally to deal with children and their demeanors.... 3 teachers who had different degrees of disassociation while in the classroom, not being as proactive as a teacher should be. 3 teachers who REFUSED to offer any one on one help, who refused to open their eyes and minds, who refused to even try to work with me as a parent. Had 4 meetings a year to try to "fix" things.. meeting with the teachers, the principal and counselors to no avail.

Grade 4; THIS is when the struggle came to a head.
A teacher who was unattached to the job, taking more days off than at work, who placed dittos in front of 4th graders depicting simple remedial shapes to color and label and worksheets depicting images of popcorn to count. Substitutes would do even less towards working with the children educationally.
SO I demanded a meeting with the teacher, the principal, the vice principal, two of the counselors, an outside tutorer who also had a degree for counseling as well as a neutral accountability mediator. (my parents and my husband were available on site as well) We met, I had documentation from day one, proof of the emotional toil this took on my daughter but also on us as a family. Time lines and examples of everything. In the end, this 1 3/4 hour meeting was to no avail. They refused to see my side, refused to do anything at all to change. They claimed innocence on all documented issues, denied emphatically EVERYTHING I said, everything my daughter even added when she was called into the room.

On December 24th 2007, we removed our daughter form the public school system permanently.

We met as a family unit, discussed options, researched the laws for the state of Florida and the requirements both legally and educationally of each option.
We decided home school was our answer. At the time, for us, the most comfortable option was traditional home schooling by recreating a school like setting in our home. Utilizing purchased text books, educational materials such as worksheets, books and web sites. It worked for about a year or so.....then soon our daughter began to grow and mature. She asked about something new, IF we could try something different.

We then switched our home school routine to a web based learning program called Time For Learning. That also worked well for her for about 1 and a half years. She was independently learning in a new style which was exciting and interesting to her. Then, like all growing and maturing young people, she became bored as she mastered the available subjects and areas. We decided as a family to just go back to workbooks and hands on learning in a more relaxed style with out all of the class room mumbo-jumbo.

On May 24th 2011, we made a drastic change, the best decision to date.

I began a conversation with my dearest cousin and best friend Kim about her home schooling style. She encouraged me and gave me a lot of info as to what she was doing and her beliefs. She is un-schooling her son, which is a style of home schooling. She provided me with several links to information and groups that center around home based education and the un-school way of thinking.

Then I joined the same Yahoo group she is a member of, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unschooling-dotcom/
There I posted a question asking for tips and info, especially in regards to anything pertaining to Florida Laws and requirements. I was responded to with mention of umbrella schools. I disregarded this option and suggestion at first because when we were first looking into homeschool, everything that mentioned umbrella schools also mentioned fees, tests, phone calls and too much prying into our lives. Something a person who is looking for freedom did not want to partake of. Little did I know, I was misinformed. A second person posted a reply, mentioning umbrella school once again, but offered a link to a Florida one. I clicked and read the website front to back and in that short time I was convinced this was the way to go for us.

Umbrella schools come in different shapes and sizes, each can have different rules and requirements. The trick is, just like everything else, to research and read and then research some more. Keeping an open mind and heart helped me see the truth in regards to this issue.

So this is where we are today;
We are now officially un-schooling our daughter at home under an umbrella school. It has taken the worry, stress and uncertainty out of everything. We now have the freedom to allow our daughter to learn.... naturally.

NEXT POST: A Typical Day

Un-Schooling:

2011-05-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

I will open this blog with some resources to help get us started... I have also included some quotes to invoke some thought on this subject.

http://www.naturalchild.org/
Unschooling isn't a recipe, and therefore it can't be explained in recipe terms. It is impossible to give unschooling directions for people to follow so that it can be tried for a week or so to see if it works. Unschooling isn't a method, it is a way of looking at children and at life. It is based on trust that parents and children will find the paths that work best for them - without depending on educational institutions, publishing companies, or experts to tell them what to do. (http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/earl_stevens.html)

My Favorite Site thus far:
http://joyfullyrejoycing.com/
When we learn by living life, all of the (school type) subjects are just tools that we pick up and use when we need them. And we learn how to make the tools work by using them. They learn what they need now. The nows just naturally keep coming along and the kids end up where they are today already knowing what they needed last year and acquiring what they need for today.

For Florida, this is our umbrella school:
http://www.freewebs.com/floridaunschoolers/
There are some ideas and links there that apply to everyone.

Some FAQS:
http://www.unschooling.com/library/faq/index.shtml

Another site:
http://www.unschooling.org/

The LEGAL Side of things, IF home Schooling:
http://www.hslda.org/hs/default.asp

Some quotes:
"You cannot teach a person anything; you can only help him find it within himself." -Galileo

"It is... nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreak and ruin. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty." -Albert Einstein

"Public school--where the human mind is drilled and manipulated into submission to various social and moral spooks, and thus fitted to continue our system of exploitation and oppression." -Emma Goldman

"Living is learning and when kids are living fully and energetically and happily they are learning a lot, even if we don't always know what it is. " ~John Holt

"Children do not need to be made to learn to be better, told what to do or shown how. If they are given access to enough of the world, they will see clearly enough what things are truly important to themselves and to others, and they will make for themselves a better path into that world then anyone else could make for them" ~John Holt

"The child is curious. He wants to make sense out of things, find out how things work, gain competence and control over himself and his environment, and do what he can see other people doing. He is open, perceptive, and experimental. He does not merely observe the world around him, He does not shut himself off from the strange, complicated world around him, but tastes it, touches it, hefts it, bends it, breaks it. To find out how reality works, he works on it. He is bold. He is not afraid of making mistakes. And he is patient. He can tolerate an extraordinary amount of uncertainty, confusion, ignorance, and suspense ... School is not a place that gives much time, or opportunity, or reward, for this kind of thinking and learning." ~John Holt

The principles of unschooling are that humans are born learners. That children will learn best when given the freedom to learn what, when and how they want.
But when we learn by living life, all those subjects are just tools that we pick up and use when we need them. And we learn how to make the tools work by using them.
They learn what they need now. The nows just naturally keep coming along and the kids end up where they are today already knowing what they needed last year and acquiring what they need for today. All from Joyfullyrejoicing.com

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. ~Albert Einstein

OUR NEXT ENTRY WILL BE A BIT ABOUT OUR JOURNEY THUS FAR IN THE WORLD OF HOME BASED FAMILY LED EDUCATION