Learn Nothing Day 2011

Today is Learn Nothing Day.    Learn Nothing Day was started by Sandra Dodd in honor of unschoolers who are learning  24 hours a day 7 days a week – these kids need a break!

But, as she said, “we have had no reports of any great success thus far.”   Which is, of course, the point.   It is impossible to go even 24 hours without learning anything.   As we were returning from a birthday party this afternoon Maya listed all the things she’d learned today, pronouncing that she had ‘failed’ Learn Nothing Day in miserable fashion.   She must have learned at least a dozen things.   Probably more.

So when people ask me, “But how do you know they are learning anything?” I always think of Learn Nothing Day.   I know that when people ask that question, they are referring to “the things that kids need to know as designated by the school system”, which may or may not have anything to do with actual learning.   If I am feeling particularly feisty, I will say something like, “Well, did you learn anything today?  How do you know?”    Which usually gets me an eye roll or a “that’s not what I mean!”  response.    If I say, “I know they are learning because they live in the world,”  most people are confounded.  Some will sputter.  I always thought saying someone ‘sputtered’ was just a descriptive word authors chose, but I can tell you it is something people actually do.  I have seen people sputter before my eyes as they try to comprehend that my kids do not follow any approved (or even unapproved) curriculum!

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Greetings from the alien planet of Life Learning.

Happy Learn Nothing Day!

About Amy

Amy Milstein was born and raised on a farm in Indiana, but after 20+ years considers herself a full-fledged New Yorker. She is married with two kids, who do not go to school but are instead life learners. This means they learn by living in the world (real life ) instead of hearing about it and simulating it in a classroom. With her family, Amy loves to travel, read, watch movies, write, sew, knit - the list is endless.
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