Category Archives: Learning

Jerusalem Addendum

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Amy

I feel compelled to write a quick addendum to last night’s post on Jerusalem. I’m not completely sure it was clear that the rude behavior we encountered was not just a cultural difference (as is found in other parts of … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Learning, Life Learning, Socialization, Travel | Tagged addendum, cultural differences, dead sea, devout, family, israel, Jerusalem, life learning, old city, religious, travel, unschooling | Comments Off

Freeing the mind

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Amy

The number one reason to support working with our hands is that it distracts the mind, or perhaps engages the mind in such a way that it frees it. Of course the sheer pleasure of creating, repairing or repurposing something … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Learning, Life Learning, blogging | Tagged crayons, create, hand sewn, handwork, life learning, made by hand, plot problem, solve a problem, unschooling, walk away, wash dishes | Comments Off

Library

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Amy

Public libraries are amazing places. The main branch of the NYC Public Library, located on 5th Avenue at 42nd Street is, perhaps, more amazing than most, but only in its’ size, grandeur and stacks of rare & wonderful books. … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Learning, Life Learning | Tagged 42nd St. Library, city council meeting minutes, Free Range Kids, freedom, lending library, Lenore Skenazy, library, life learning, NYC public Library, rare books, reading room, self-directed learning, stacks | Comments Off

A visit with Christopher Columbus

Posted on September 27, 2012 by Amy

One of my favorite scenes in the movie “Dead Poets Society” (a film made almost entirely of exceptional scenes) is when Robin Williams’ character, Professor John Keating, commands his students to stand on top of their desks. They are reluctant, … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Learning, Life Learning | Tagged art, Central Park, christopher columbus, cnn, columbus circle, dead poets society, desk, discovering columbus, john keating, life learning, living room, perspective, robin williams, tatzu nishi, views | Comments Off

What would Bono do?

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Amy

I love this story. Someone once asked Bono (who has raised millions of dollars to fight AIDS & other diseases in Africa) how he can work with so many super conservative U.S. Senators? How does he get them to donate … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Learning, Life Learning, Unschooling, blogging | Tagged aids, bobby kennedy, bono, common ground, dr. king, education, empathy, life learning, mlk, mlk jr., senators, unschooling | Comments Off

Social life, high school & college

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Amy

One of the pervasive myths in our society is that high school is the pinnacle of social fun, surpassed only, of course, by college. I hate it when people talk about the “good old days” when they were 17 … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Learning, Life Learning, School, Socialization, Unschooling | Tagged acting, College, diver, high school, kevin s., life learning, lori p., mod, samantha, school, science resource, social life, socialization, tartuffe, unschooling | 2 Comments

Read All About It!

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Amy

As you approach the entrance to the Newseum in Washington D.C., you walk by a long row of glass cases. Each of them contains the current front page of a newspaper from every state in the Union and several countries. … Continue reading →

Posted in Learning, Life Learning, Travel, Unschooling | Tagged beheadings, boston american, dewey defeats truman, front pages, great war, headlines, jesse james, learning, life learning, mcelhany & bros, mme caillaux, naps, neosho times, newseum, newspapers, Red Sox, servia, times, travel, unschooling, Washington D.C. | Comments Off

Living history

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Amy

Museums are a big part of trips to D.C., but our favorite turned out not to be part of the Smithsonian, whose 19 buildings dominate the landscape around the National Mall. Instead, the place that captivated us, made us … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Learning, Life Learning, Travel, Unschooling | Tagged 1986, axel springer verlag, berlin, berlin wall, charlottenstrasse, checkpoint charlie, east germany, education, gdr, graffiti, guard tower, learning, life learning, living history, newseum, the american sector, the zone, unschooling, Washington D.C., zimmerstrasse | 1 Comment

Impressions of D.C.

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Amy

I’ll say this for Washington D.C. It is possibly the cleanest city I’ve ever been in, bar none. Maybe that’s because Congress is currently on vacation. Our almost three days there were filled with sightseeing – the museums, the monuments, … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Family, Learning, Life Learning, Travel, Unschooling | Tagged abraham lincoln, Ben, congress, disneyworld, grace coolidge, jerrold nadler, learning, life learning, lincoln bedroom, macro shots, Maya, photography, the capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Smithsonian, the Vietnam War Memorial, the White House, travel, unschooling, Washington D.C. | Comments Off

Country living

Posted on July 3, 2012 by Amy

We arrived to a very hot, very dry Indiana yesterday. Driving down the last few miles to my parents’ house we passed entire fields of corn that are lost to the drought. Brown stalks of corn no more than 3 … Continue reading →

Posted in Family, Learning, Life Learning, Writing | Tagged 4th of july, cornfield, drought, family, fire dept., fireworks, garden hose, hudson, Indiana, life learning, public pool, swimming | Comments Off