Monthly Archives: June 2011

Andrew Penman disappoints

When we were in England last Fall, I picked up the book School Daze: Searching for a decent state education by Andrew Penman.   Penman, a respected investigative journalist for The Daily Mirror (or so his bio states) writes about his … Continue reading

Posted in Homeschooling, Learning, Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

If I could lead the revolution

In his book The Underground History of American Education, and again in  Weapons of Mass Instruction,   author, homeschooling advocate and former NYC Teacher of the Year John Taylor Gatto says that one of the main reasons that our public education … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

12+ Hours of hell (and the silver lining)

At about 6pm yesterday I thought “Wow, my stomach doesn’t feel great” but chalked it up to the overwhelming scent of a citrus cleaner being used in my kitchen.   Wrong.   At 6:15 I raced to the bathroom and spent a … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Roots & Wings

I have to start this post by saying that I know some great nannies.   Actually, I know two great nannies, both of whom used to work for families in our building.    One is Irish, the oldest of 10 kids;  she … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The follow instructions, do as you’re told, make no mistakes so take no risks, be perfect and never act silly method of learning (and why it doesn’t work)

Actually, it should be obvious why it doesn’t work.   I don’t really have to explain it, do I?    What I will point out is how many schooled children, despite what the school might say, are being taught exactly that method … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, School, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Every Day?

Recently someone asked me how I can possibly write almost every day on the same topic.    The question hadn’t occurred to me before, because with the exception of a handful of days where what I wanted to write about would’ve … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , | Comments Off

Tony Madness!

Tonight is the Tony Awards – the Oscars for the Broadway set – and this year, for reasons having to do with Cirque du Soleil, the awards ceremony is being held right in our neighborhood at the Beacon Theater.    Usually … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Parent vs. child

I just finished reading a book called Godless by Pete Hautman.   It is a young adult novel and a National Book Award Winner about a young ‘disaffected’ (the reviewers word) 15 year old agnostic who decides to create a new … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Parenting, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

My life learning curriculum

Forget SAT prep tests and expensive, six figure earning tutors like those hired by parents of private school students in NYC to assure their kids get the highest possible scores on tests and college admission exams;  here is my list … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Mama & Ben Day

When the kids were younger and we had a regular part time sitter, I would set aside one day each week to spend out with either Ben or Maya.   They both loved those days, when they got to set the … Continue reading

Posted in Life Learning, Unschooling | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off