Unschooling starts the day your child is born

This is a guest post from Erin Wetzel. She is a painter and a poet who lives in Tacoma, WA with her husband and daughter. You can connect with her on instagram @ekwetzel

My decision to unschool arose, not from an idea I superimposed onto our life, but out of a fundamental shift in my worldview. I put my faith not in any external system, but in the ability of my child to know her own needs. This mindset permeates everything about how I interact with my daughter, including how I potty her and how I unschool her, even at age three. Read more

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Why do most kids say they like school?

I love this picture because it reminds me how difficult it is for parents to know what makes their kids happy.

This moment was right after my son did a great solo performance in Chicago. It was downtown, so we stayed at a swanky hotel across from the performance center, and we went back to the hotel for lunch and then swimming. Read more

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Why I take anxiety medicine to be with my kids

It’s important that you do not have your kids home with you all day if you hate your life. But it’s also important to recognize that you might hate your life whether or not your kids were home with you all day. For example: Read more

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Silicon Valley is innovating babysitting, not education

In Silicon Valley, land of money and innovators, people throw around the word disrupt. Like, eBay disrupted how we sell second-hand goods by completely changing the market we can sell to and the tools we can use to make a deal. Facebook disrupted how we keep in touch with friends because it used to be one-to-one, but now it’s one-to-many. Read more

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Which books are the best homeschooling books?

I have noticed lately that the best writers about the homeschooling movement don’t even know they are writing about homeschool. Read more

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School commute times ruin family life

During one of my eight-hour trips to and from Chicago for cello lessons it occurred to me that I am part of a larger trend where parents are giving up their family time in exchange for commute time. Read more

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Gifted is a messed-up moniker

We have an ongoing discussion in our family that goes something like this:

“Mom, remember when I was the smartest in the class?” Read more

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Trendspotting firm predicts surge in unschooling

If you’re on the fence about homeschooling, the first thing you worry about is curriculum. And then, it seems,  you write an email to me. Because I get two or three emails every day from people who ask me how I deal with curriculum. Read more

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Considering homeschooling? Ask yourself these questions

Sometimes I visit Science Daily and click around until I find something fun. Recently I found this: Homeschool kids are leaner than kids who go to school. And I thought to myself, of course this is true.

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You can’t teach kids how to manage themselves online. So leave them alone.

Do you remember when you were a kid, staying a little too long in public restrooms reading the writing on the wall? Did you ever notice that there’s very little writing today? It’s because social media has replaced writing on the bathroom wall.  Read more

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