Basic Formula for Parents:
Stay out of child’s way +
Don’t try to be a teacher +
Don’t hijack your child’s learning +
Wait….wait…wait (and be patient) +
Don’t stress (talk to other unschoolers when you worry!) +
Read lots of books out loud when your child wants to +
Have lots of interesting books available +
Be ready as a resource when you child asks for it
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= A child that reads. Eventually. On his own timetable.
Last night, as the whole family sat down to watch another downloaded episode of The Amazing Race, DS7 pulled out a sketch …

I’ve been noticing how M, now 7, has become more and more social as time has gone on.  Socialization is, of course, one of the hot button issues when it comes to learning outside of school.  Why people think learning to be social with 30 other kids who are also learning to be social makes sense – especially when the main lessons are to sit down, be quiet and do what you’re told – is beyond me.  (If recess were 6 hours long, I could see school as a place …

When we moved to Costa Rica, Arp and I felt we had to eventually learn to speak Spanish. As adults, we had our own language goals almost immediately. We wanted to speak the local language, connect with locals, and begin to establish a sense of community here.  Arp plunged right in and started speaking to the locals (he learns language well in an aural fashion). I took my time and started using Rosetta Stone (I learn much more visually). But the kids took a different path, one that many expats …

Ever wonder what might happen when an always unschooled kid decides to try school? Will he like it? How will he compare to the public school kids? How will he feel about the experience?
I’ve always wondered that myself. Well, here is a post from a perceptive unschooled teen named Kevin that will give you an answer. He tries out public school for a year, for the 9th grade, and gives us his feedback. I particularly like this quote:
Would I recommend sending a kid to school? Absolutely not. It’s much too …

I managed to break our new (used) washing machine. I blame myself partially, but also our shitty rental. The problem is, the “mountain water” that we are using is literally filled with sediment and debris. Large debris sometimes. So the little filter on the washer intake got totally clogged. So then I had this seemingly genius idea to just remove the filter. I figured that would keep the water moving. It worked so well that some debris came right in and managed to clog the intake valve. The washer overflowed, …