Unschooling NYC

Let’s just make one thing really clear.   Unschooling is natural for kids.   It’s the way they learn from birth and would continue learning if the parents didn’t get involved and start insisting that the kids be ‘taught’.  Parents brought up in school systems and who have school brains.     Unschooling is difficult for parents because it means that a lot of the time they need to get out of the way.   They need to let the kids follow their interests and simply be there to assist; whether that means providing transportation, or a map, or a comfortable chair and some food.   … Read more

Sandra Dodd, who I’ve mentioned before and to whose site I have a link on my blogroll, has a weekly live chat to discuss learning, unschooling and anything else of interest that may come up.   I was reading a transcript of an older chat session, and one parent asked if she should be worried that her son wants to do nothing but sit in front of the computer all day, playing video games.   Sandra immediately responded that the parent should not be worried, but should make sure the child has a comfortable chair to sit in and eats something periodically.   … Read more

The shooting of a U.S. Congresswoman over the weekend has promoted a ton of debate and discussion over the toxic political climate in the country.   I’m not going to join in that discussion.    What I’m going to talk about is prevention vs. cure.   We in America are big on cures.   Everywhere you look you can find someone talking about some kind of ‘cure’.   Cures for cancer, cures for homelessness, cures for illiteracy, cures for drug abuse and now of course, how we can cure the current divisive political climate.      What isn’t talked about so much is prevention.  (Unless you’re talking … Read more

Before we get into the actual post, I have to tell a typical New York story.  We went out to dinner this evening at a local diner, the West Side Restaurant.  It’s a good diner, been there for years, but nothing super special.   Not a ‘see and be seen’ type place.   We were sitting eating dinner when in walked Kyra Sedgwick with a friend.  They sat at a booth next to ours and had coffee.   (In case you don’t know, Kyra Sedgwick is the star of the TV show The Closer, and is married to Kevin Bacon.)   Nobody even blinked … Read more

“I just can’t get my kids to do _____”    You fill in the blank.  Their homework?  Anything around the house?  Their chores?   The list is endless.    Unless of course you let it go.   Part of unschooling is learning how to let go of the idea that we must always be ‘getting’ our kids to do things.    But if we don’t ‘make’ them do  ______, will they ever learn to do it?

I must say that this is the hardest part of unschooling.   Or at least it was for me.  The nagging thought at the back of your brain that says … Read more

So here we are arriving at Lincoln Center at about 10:15pm last night.  The opera crowd had mostly dispersed, which means the show must have started at 7 and not 8, but there were still a few stragglers walking across the plaza.     The fun got going in earnest as we walked over to the steps that lead up to the plaza which is surrounded by the Metropolitan Opera, the NYC Opera, the NYC Ballet and Alice Tully Hall.   Maya started jumping into the frame as I tested the night setting on my camera to see what it would do with … Read more

When Maya was a baby, I spent a lot of time outside, walking around the city, pushing her in the stroller.   It was often the only way she would nap, and I got a lot of exercise.   Often if she was upset (and she had a scream that could break glass and eardrums) I would put her in the stroller and go out.   Just the change of sound and energy was enough to change her mood and mine.    Going out and instantly being able to see people and enter a different space is one of the reasons I love the … Read more

Some days, for some reason are what I call ‘clueless days’.   These are the days where if someone was to interview me about unschooling I would just shrug my shoulders, sip my giant iced latte and say, “I don’t know.  Your guess is as good as mine.”

What are we learning?   Well, a lot, but none of it has to do with academics, unless you took a course called, “Teaching your kids all about how not to have a relationship and reproduce.”   This, courtesy of a friend of mine who got out of a marriage recently, started dating someone (and … Read more

Today was one of those great days.  This usually happens for us when we haven’t over-planned.   We had a visit from Brittany (in the photo with Maya & Ben) who was our sitter two summers ago and who is one of the sunniest people you’ll ever meet.  She goes to law school in Philadelphia, and was in the city for one night.  Joshua and Ben met her by chance on the subway platform yesterday, so she dropped by this morning to visit.   Both kids were so thrilled to see her, which of course could not have happened had they been … Read more

I think most parents will agree that changing diapers is a task that loses its’ appeal pretty quickly – like after the second or third time you do it.   So it’s no wonder that potty training is a big deal.   My kids both started resisting diapers when they turned two – almost like a switch had been flipped, and so I told them fine  (no really, it’s totally fine with me that you no longer want to wear diapers!);  no diapers means it’s the toilet now for you, complete with your own super comfy cartoon decorated seat to fit your … Read more