Unschooling NYC

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 religion with the town water tower as its’ god.

The writing is compelling enough, but I wondered why this book merited a National Book Award.   I found the characters so stereotypical as to almost be caricatures – the wiry mean kid who turns out to be intelligent, the skinny science geek with the high pitched voice and no social skills, … Read more

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 of absolutely essential ‘skills’.   Call it my life-learning curriculum if you want to, but you won’t find it in any textbooks.

1)  Respect:     Specifics would include being on time to appointments;  if you are late it is disrespectful to the person you are meeting.   If you are running late, pick up a phone and call to let them know.    If … Read more

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 agenda and nothing much was off limits, but now that we no longer use a sitter, we’ve had to put those individual outings on hold.

Today, however, Maya was invited to her friend Greta’s birthday party which began at noon and went until 6pm.   I told Ben that we would spend the day together.   In the past, Maya always wanted … Read more

95 degrees today in the city.   The heat comes off the pavement in waves, and the subway platforms become exercises in surviving a sauna while fully clothed.

But we were oblivious to all that, because at 9:30am we boarded a nice cool subway train after only seconds on the platform and just over 50 minutes later we were at Brighton Beach.    We went there with our friends Kim and Kaitlyn, and had one of the best days I can remember.    The ocean was very calm in the morning, and then in the afternoon, when temperatures were at their highest, a … Read more

I just had to start with this photo.   Wasn’t it a gorgeous day?

Our friend Andrea sent me this link:

http://m.npr.org/programs/all/2/137009154

NPR published a story written by Sam Fuller from Albany, California, who is unschooled.   (Actually, I don’t know if what is written is a transcript from an interview or a piece written for the NPR site..)    Sam, who is 16,  gives the basics of what unschooling is and explains why his mother, who was a teacher, chose it.   What I enjoyed most was his comment about his 12 year old brother who is currently ‘between interests’ and having to … Read more

We are still several years away from the perils of dating and boyfriends and girlfriends, but an article in today’s Times made me think about all the ways in which parents can undermine their child’s happiness, not the least of which is attempting to dictate who they can and cannot love.

The article points out that even the most liberal of parents can suddenly denounce a significant other as ‘unfit’ or ‘improper’, based on nothing more than race.   Korean parents whose children were born and raised in Maryland insisting that their children marry Koreans – in an arranged marriage, if … Read more

Today, in lieu of a proper post from me, I am sending you to the website of Edward Barnard and Ken Chaya, who have spent the last 2 1/2 years mapping the trees in Central Park – all 172 species of them.   This is an incredible feat,  since there are an estimated 23,000+ trees in the park.  The two men captured just under 20,000 of them on their new map which shows the exact location of each one.   Mind boggling.

For us locals, the map provides access to a dendrological bonanza, almost literally outside our front door.  I am excited … Read more

On May 29th, CBS posted an Associated Press article on its’ Moneywatch website with the title, “Tech mogul pays bright minds not to go to college”.   The tech mogul is Peter Thiel, one of the co-founders of Paypal.   Although he himself is a graduate of Stanford Law School, he believes that young people with an entrepreneurial spirit can make a difference without spending at least 4 years in college becoming, “debt slaves”.      This belief led him to set up the “20 Under 20” Fellowship.    Thiel hand-picked the winners (there were actually 24 winners, all 20 years old or younger) and … Read more

Today as I was getting my mail, I overheard a conversation between two residents of our building.   One of the women was telling the other about her daughter, who is in high school and is having a hard time in one of her classes.  The conversation went something like this:

Woman #1:   The teacher put her in Pre-Calc instead of Advanced Algebra, because if she wants to get in to a good school, she needs to have Pre-Calc on her transcripts.

Woman #2:   I know.  It’s vital for all the good schools.  You can say good-bye to the Ivy League, … Read more

Just one week ago, we were walking around in jeans and jackets and wondering if the weather would ever get warmer.  Well, guess what?  It did!  Today it was 90 and humid after a few days in the mid-80’s and even though this kind of heat and humidity is not my favorite thing, our increase in outdoor activities without the annoyance of being cold is very welcome.   The sudden advent of summer has also worked up our creative juices, and we have at least two great projects planned for the next few weeks.  (Can’t tell you what they are yet, … Read more