Which Parts Are Important?
We published our first post a year ago in April, 2013. The focus of the blog changed at times as we wrote and reflected and responded — it moved further from the old journal that had originally inspired it. But…
What Are They Doing Now — The Answers
— Guest Post by Whitney Muscato In introduction:The last post was a survey of grown unschoolers and homeschoolers, plus Sudbury school graduates, on behalf of my younger sister Whitney. She is writing a research paper for a college class, and she…
“What Are They Doing Now?” Survey: Adults After Alt Ed
This is an unusual post, but I’m excited to share it – and hoping to hear from lots of you! My family had some great discussions around a couple of posts from September of last year – posts that addressed…
Homeschoooling With a Support Group
Mom and I were invited by The Homeschooler magazine to write about the homeschooling support group our family participated in while I was growing up. The piece was published in their Winter 2013 issue. The article was a conversation between my…
Living in the Now, And Looking for Balance
In the last post, I asked “why now?” regarding the growth of homeschooling in my lifetime. I sited Sugata Mitra and Sir Ken Robinson’s ideas about the outdated industrial-era model of our current education system. I also discussed Douglas Rushkoff’s…
Education’s Present-Shock
One question that I’ve been trying to examine is: Why is the homeschooling movement growing now? What are the defining social conditions that shifted, beginning with a few inklings in the 1970s and picking up momentum in the 1990s, when…
Finding Homeschoolers In All 50 States: 1989 & Now
A while back I shared a pen-pal letter that my older sister and I sent out to other homeschooling children in 1989. We used the directory in the back of the Growing Without Schooling Magazine to gather names and addresses, and…
Changing the Route Can Change the Destination
It’s a busy time of year for everyone – I don’t expect you have much time to cozy up to your computer screen (or tablet, or phone) and read blog posts. But that’s not the real reason I’ve been slow…
Those Who Can
I have been exploring what motivates different people to pursue work as teachers. This interview and my last post represent two interesting paths and experiences of peers of mine — a young generation of teachers. This interview is with an old friend…
The Kind Of Teacher That Makes Me An Optimist
Apologies for the recent quiet on the blog! It has been a hectic month of work, to say the least. But I have been working on a couple fun interviews with teachers I know. This first one is a conversation…