Because our public school system has now considerably deteriorated, many parents, teachers, and individuals have taken it upon themselves to create public and private alternatives to that traditional system which is definitely failing. It is important for parents to know that they now have choices, alternatives to the neighborhood school. How do you know that it is time to look for another educational approach for your child? Here are some of the signs.
Large traffic email list whose stated purpose is to move out of comfort zones and critically examine beliefs, ideas, and viewpoints about learning, and seek a deeper understanding of unschooling and more respectful relationships with one's children.
This is a place to exchange stories from your unschooling life. Describe how your child learned to read. Tell us anecdotes of how your child made unexpected connections. How does your child learn math through play and everyday activities? This list is for stories of how unschooling works. You'll learn from each other by sharing experiences and observations.
This website is presented by two unschooled siblings who have since grown up and are happy to share their experiences with this educational model. Unschooling provides so many opportunities for children to learn about the world without the constraints of a classroom by celebrating a natural love of learning. Families and children can benefit from this wonderful way of learning.
Patrick Farenga's discussion of the role John Holt played in the evolution of the homeschooling movement.
Get information and support from fellow homeschoolers by visiting this unschooling message forum. Discussions include resource sharing, video and podcast links, and discussion and support for parents who have chosen to unschool their children.
African-American Unschoolers provides information and support for Black families choosing to home educate, especially with an emphasis on an unschooling approach. Find homeschool help, information, social connections, and more.
this list is a forum for former unschoolers and homeschoolers of any religious, philosophical or political persuasion. Discuss your 'unconventional' upbringing and the ways in which it's shaped your life. What was your experience? Do you plan to home/unschool your children? How are you living now? How are you continuing to learn?
Share successes and ideas and build a helpful, welcoming archive for the new unschoolers, the newly-unschooling, and the nicely unschooling.
This list is for the broad-ranging discussion of unschooling. It is sponsored by Home Education Magazine.
A look at an unschooling family's approach to managing chores around the house. Although this approach may not work for everyone, the emphasis on flexibility and respect for each others needs and inclinations is enlightening.
John Taylor Gatto looks at alternatives to our present standard educational model.
A wonderful list of things that can lead to math learning.
A homeschooling mom travelled 3500 miles cross-country with her son and found educational experiences in some unexpected places. Drives home the point that learning can happen in many different ways and that we cannot always plan how our children will learn.
Unschoolers Unlimited is an informal network of people who are learning to trust their own and their children's ability to choose the best ways to learn and grow.
Unschoolers meet to talk and share ideas at this vegsource.com message board.
This was compiled from many of the wise voices of a great internet list called The Unschooling List. A great basic primer on the concept of unschooling.
This message board is designed for unschooling parents to connect, ask questions, share information and ideas, and get support.
In 1980, Marlene Bumgarner, a homeschooling parent, hosted author John Holt in her home while he was in California for a lecture tour. While he played in the garden with her two children, John and Dona Ana, she interviewed him for the bimonthly magazine Mothering. In this article, Holt answered such questions as, "What is your philosophy of learning?", "Why homeschool?", and "What about the child's social life?"
One of the most important duties of parents is to help their children to discover and pursue new interests, retaining the love of learning that is almost universal in young children and almost universally extinct in conventionally educated adults. Standardised curricula, and the stultifying educational hoops that schoolchildren have to jump through, sabotage this aim. This can cause trouble for parents who have to satisfy other people ... that they are educating their children properly. Under pressure, they may slide into a "homeschooling" mentality that distorts and damages their children's education.
This is the "Radical Unschoolers List". It is for all families, regardless of religious affiliation, choosing to unschool. Unschooling is learning as a part of life. It allows the child to learn naturally, without adult-imposed "lessons", schedules, or timelines. This list is to offer support, information, perspective, and enlightenment to anyone already unschooling or interested in unschooling.