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"Internships & Apprenticeships"
from "The
Teenage Liberation Handbook"
by Grace Llewellyn
 Whenever a discussion ensues about
homeschooling, and especially unschooling, in our many discussion groups, Grace's name
always comes up along with her landmark book. Grace Llewellyn is a former middle school
English teacher, the director of Not Back to School Camp, the founder of the Genius Tribe
resource center and mail order catalog, and the editor of two other books on unschooling.
She has graciously permitted us to reprint part of Chapter 33 which deals with Internships
and Apprenticeships.Don't forget to join our unschoolng support group where you can ask
your questions or make a comment.
 "Homeschooling Without
Reason"
by Lauren
Brenner-Katz, homeschooling parent
This homeschooling mom says, "When I first started
homeschooling, the one thing that drove me crazy were the questions. Not the constant
stream of questions from my children. But rather the barrage of homeschooling questions
from neighbors, friends, family, and the world-at large....My kids do a whole lot of
learning by simply being involved our daily family life and in the real world. That
there’s no shortage of resources and support and information out there." Lauren
tells us about her personal journey with her family and how she handles the
"questions" from non-homeschoolers. As part of the essay, we have ideas and
support for you and the opportunity to ask your questions on our support group.
Christian Unschooling:
Growing Your Child
in the Freedom of Christ
by Teri Brown with Elissa Wahl
  Unschooling,
child-led learning, free learning, interest based education, child-delighted learning -
These are the many names that are used to describe unschooling. Teri Brown with Elissa
Wahl have a book that addresses the needs of both "Christians" and "unschoolers". For
those Christian parents who are facing school-at-home burnout form a strict schedule, they
offer another path to learning. The book includes many essays from veteran homeschoolers
as well as practical information on how to start your own support group is included. In
this essay which is the first chapter in her book, she describes "The Dream" of
homeschooling and how to achieve it. There is also the opportunity to ask your question in
our many different homeschooling support groups.
Gour-den Delights
Using
gardening as part of a homeschooling curriculum
by Blythe Pelham
  As an
artist I'm very much a create-as-I-go kinda gal. Our children have been homeschooled since
birth, though since I think of life as learning it often seems silly to me to label what
we do as schooling. One method I frequently use in guiding/teaching involves doing
something I enjoy and pulling the children into the activity along with me. One such
passion for me is gardening. Our current gardening project took us in many directions from
which learning can 'grow' from a garden! Our gourds have seeded projects in music,
history, art, science, marketing, and more. Take a look at what we've done and tell us
what you're doing!
Summer Learning by Osmosis
by Beth Bruno
 Many educators say, "Students leave us every spring as
efficient, effective learners, but after two months of vacation their minds have turned to
mush! We have to spend many weeks every fall reviewing and re-teaching them what they have
forgotten over the summer." Whether your child is in a traditional school or you are
a homeschooler, essential skills can be lost over the summer, unless you take an active,
yet subtle, role in your kids continuing education over the summer.
Full Circle
Returning to
childhood creative processes
by Lara Kehler, veteran homeschooler
 My experiences as a Home
Schooled kid were amazing, motivational, and have allowed me the passion to pursue the
things I do today. I grew up on a mountain 15 minutes outside of Abbotsford, a town in the
Fraser Valley of British Columbia. I discovered my love of working with talented artists
and writers. I received a diploma in Structural Civil Engineering, and developed work
experience as a Engineering Technologist. But - - My dream? Produce a well designed
magazine with its' entire content dedicated to art and ideas of alternative learners
around the world! Learn more about how I came "full circle."
Self-Directed
Home Schooling
by Lisa
Rivero
author of "Creative Homeschooling for Gifted Children"
  There are nearly as many definitions of unschooling as there are
people who consider themselves unschoolers. Lisa Rivero, author of Creative Homeschooling
for Gifted Children, says: "I prefer to use the phrase self-directed learning
or self-directed home schooling to unschooling as a way to describe our home
schooling approach, because it is a more positive description of what actually
occurs." In this adapted excerpt from her book, she describes how self-directed
learning is an educational philosophy that emphasizes the child's role as an active
learner. She shows how parents can introduce self-directed learning to their children by
giving their children input into the content of study, materials used for study, and the
pace of study.
Waiting for Unschooling to Work
by Shay Seaborne
 Unschooling is a process, and I'm still working on
setting myself free from the ideas ingrained through my years of public school education.
It has been difficult to un-learn what I was taught about education. Remarkably, the best
homeschooling advice I received came when my first child was a baby. I've finally stopped
expecting my children's interests to take hold according to my objectives. It has taken a
great amount of patience, this waiting for unschooling to work.
Unschooling - Learning Through Everyday Life
by Suzannah
Harris, editor of "The Unschooler" e-zine
 Children
are better off learning at home, away from the traditional teaching techniques offered by
public and private schools. Unschoolers contend that none of us excels at everything, and
to expect children to excel in all subjects is unrealistic and harmful to a child's self
esteem, drawing children away from feeling useful, productive and involved in the
mainstream of the community and society in general. Unschooling parents discover that
there are many ways that different children learn the same things, that each child's view
of the world is unique, and that choice of methods, tools, etc., can be in constant
change. Find out more.
Montessori Education: Is It For You?
by Chrystal Mueller
To me, the Montessori method is such a logical way to learn. Each piece of work
prepares the child for the next work he will be doing. And each work is self-correcting so
the child may discover his mistake while the teacher says nothing.
The Showgoats
Vet-by-day,
Musician-by-night
hosted by Joanne Spataro
  Dr. Walker Meadows, a
talented veterinarian, has a fun and unique hobby. When it’s time to call it a day,
Dr. Meadows enjoys playing music in his band The Showgoats. It helps him unwind after his
busy days taking care of animals. The Showgoats’ specialize in country tunes,
complete with catchy lyrics and excellent music! Dr. Meadows was inspired to be a
veterinarian when he was in high school. He was a stable hand for a carriage company. He
enjoyed the regular visits a veterinarian made to check up on the horses. And so he became
one.
 about Dr. Meadows and "The
Showgoats"
"So, What Made You Decide to Homeschool?"
by Carol Moxley
I precariously juggle my schedule, my toddler, my kindergartner, the curriculum, the
housework, and my insecurities as a teacher. If you want to see it all crash down from the
great heights of my homeschooling ideals, just ask me, "What made you decide to
homeschool?" Call me picky, but the semantics just throw me off. Let me tell you
more.
Life's Little
Lessons
"The Grey Knit Vest"
by Linda Caroll
 Grandpapa always read to me....
It is my sincere hope that sharing this story with you will inspire you to share something
of yourself. How wise the words, "Sharing makes everything better." The need to
reach out to another human being is instinctive, and as necessary as the air that we
breathe.
Please read on 
Faces of Home
Education Profile
The Pattern of Success
Homeschooler sews her
way to a successful business
hosted by Joe Spataro
  Homeschooler Jennie
Chancey was able to take advantage of the flexibility offered by homeschooling to learn
how to sew. She has turned this love into a successful business
called Sense & Sensibility. I had the opportunity to interview Jennie and ask her a
few questions about homeschooling, her vintage dressmaking business and how she is helping
other homeschoolers to share in her love of vintage dressmaking.
Faces of Home Education Profile
Can you
spell - "suc-cess"?
Minnesota
Homeschooler
wins national spelling bee
 Thirteen year-old homeschooler Sean
Conley of Anoka, Minnesota returned to the 74th National Spelling Bee on May 31, 2001 to
become the winner after being runner up last year. He correctly spelled the word
“succedaneum” (definition - one who or that which supplies the place of
another). Speaking of replacing "another", Sean has received most of his
education through home schooling by his parents. Recently many of the winners of this
contest, such as Rebecca Sealfon and George Thampy, have "replaced" their
traditionally schooled counterparts by winning this contest. Find out more about Sean, the
spelling bee and more about "unschooling".
Meet the specific
needs of each child....
  Marsha
Ransom, the author of The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Homeschooling, says, "I feel that each
family should work together to develop a program that will meet the specific needs of each
child in the family....Taking the children's interests into consideration is the best way
to develop self-motivated and self-directed learners. It's been my experience, and
that of many homeschoolers, that by planning around a child's interests, you can cover
almost every curricular requirement without losing the joy of studying something that
interests the child.
see more from Marsha on "Developing
Your Program"
Meet the Author
The Explosive Child
by Ross
Greene, Ph.D.
hosted by Joe Spataro
interview & FREE Guide to Explosive
Children
  Now
there is a new way for you, your child, and your entire family to find help. In this
groundbreaking new book, Dr. Ross Greene, a child psychologist at Massachusetts General
Hospital and Harvard Medical School, makes a compassionate argument that the difficulties
of these children stem from developmental deficits in two critical skills: flexibility and
frustration tolerance. He asserts that if such children could do well, they would.
We have an interview with Dr. Greene and an excerpt for his book that will help you
identify if you child has this problem and what you can do about it.
Unschooling, a
Christian perspective
Laurie Callihan, author of The Guidance
Manual for the Christian Homeschool,   comments on unschooling by saying, "We have found that
philosophically we agree with many of the tenets of unschooling....teaching children is
best done while following that child's interests and motivation. Home schooling lends
itself easily to a more relaxed and efficient learning environment. ....Children need
parents to diligently guide and inspire them to learn and to teach them the principles of
the Christian faith, and parents are accountable to God to train their children. So, we
would add a dose of "Christian work ethic" and an understanding of the
God-ordained leadership of the parent to the unschooling approach. Otherwise, we would
find many of our methods and pedagogy to be similar to the unschoolers.
see the rest of this interview with the Callihans
Don't get hung up
on content....
Meet the
Author, David H. Albert of And the Skylark
Sings with Me, as he discusses unschooling,   he
says, "It is easy for parents to get hung up on content, whether it be
"classical" or governed by their own sense of what children of the same age
might be studying if they were in school. I see content, especially for children in their
pre-teen years, as a playground – it is good to expose them to content which will
reward serious effort (better the Odyssey than the Adventures of the Ketchup
Sisters, better The Magic Flute than Britney Spears), but to worship at the
altar of content is to miss the point. It is a false god, as anyone trying to remember
what it is they have forgotten about the content of their own elementary education can
readily attest."
An open approach
to schooling
Meet the
author - Judith Allee
as she discusses unschooling
 Oh, some of
each, mostly leaning toward unschooling. I admit we w---a--y overstructured with my first
child, and he suffered through our growing pains. My daughter learned to read (seemingly
in one morning!) at age eight. At nine she asked for her own subscription to Readers'
Digest and National Geographic Magazine for Christmas. She was such a joyful learner and
voracious reader that I didn't have a need to do much "enforcing" when it came
to homeschooling....(see more)
Feature Article:
The Curriculum Question:
An Unschooler's Approach
by Candace Thayer-Coe
We are a homeschooling family living in the Philippines. We are Canadian/American
and have two children Chris 14 and Amber 12. Charles is employed with the Asian
Development Bank. Our discoveries lead us right into an unschooling mentality in a school
"habit of mind" world. Here in Manila, Philippines there are very few people who
homeschool and those who do definitely "school" at home. We increasingly
preferred our children to follow their interests and "passions". Find out more.
A
word from our unschooling friends... |
Growing With Schooling
by John Holt
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