Unschooling NYC

The Final Act of our Halloween trio was, of course, trick or treating.   The bonus of living in a large building in New York City is that you can visit lots of homes without ever going outside.   We had 37 apartments on our list, which means the kids came back with boatloads of candy.   Parent dressing up is highly optional, but this year I was inspired by an old episode of Alias (I’ll let you figure out which one) and thoroughly enjoyed my two days as my punk alter ego.  Apparently I wore it well, as several people commented that … Read more

Today was the big day of the party.   After a morning spent blacking out our windows (we face south and somehow the bright sun and royal blue skies just didn’t read  ‘scary Halloween setting’ for us), picking up cupcakes, buying myself a studded collar (you’ll have to tune in tomorrow for more on that) and setting up our games, we were ready.      Guests arrived, oohing and aahing at our costumes and decorations, and Maya was in heaven.   After all was said and done, everyone agreed they had the most fun bobbing for apples!  An oldie but apparently a very goodie.    … Read more

Maya loves parties.   She loves planning them almost as much as the party itself.   Where she gets this trait is a complete mystery.   I can’t think of any blood relative on my side of the family who gets a thrill out of throwing parties, and Joshua’s family doesn’t seem like the theme party type, either.    And it’s not just the fact of the party.   My parties, should I throw them, would consist of setting out bowls of snack and soft drinks, everyone coming over and hanging out.    Maya’s favorite parties are those with a holiday attached, however ‘lesser’ it may … Read more

I’ve been staring at the screen now for a while, trying to find a good way in to this topic, and have come to the conclusion that there probably isn’t one.   So here goes.

A friend of a friend calls school and all the trappings surrounding it and supported by it a form of ‘normative abuse’.   Abuse so commonplace that it is accepted, and not even seen as abuse.   Until recently I might have thought this a bit harsh.   There are kids who have temperaments that do ok in schools.   They do the work, get the grades, and graduate with … Read more

First, a quick welcome to my new WordPress powered blog.  I’m still working out a few details, like how to add the RSS subscribe option, but basically we’re up and running!

Two big developments on the unschooling front since we returned from England on Saturday.   First, Maya has been doing a lot of journaling and writing, and yesterday she told me that she is working on her handwriting because “it was really awful”, to quote her.  The back story to this is that in my old structured homeschooling days I would try to get her to work on her handwriting … Read more

This post was the first one I wrote, on August 11, 2010.   For those who may just be joining us on this blog, I thought it worth revisiting.

But what do you do all day?   You mean the kids can just do whatever they want?  What about learning math?  How do you know if they’re learning what they need to know?
These are the most common questions I get when I tell someone we are unschooling and then try to explain what that means.   It often feels like I am trying to describe the ocean to someone who has spent … Read more

Now that I have the new platform, I just need to figure out how to use it. Be patient, and hopefully in a day or two the green mangoes blog will be back in action!… Read more

A while back, I wrote an entry titled “Math Mania”.   Over the weekend, that entry appeared as an article in the NYCHEA newsletter for October.  Apparently, I’ve struck a nerve.  Several people have contacted me to voice their displeasure with the article.  All parents of homeschoolers.   If you recall,  at that time I’d sent out a message to a bunch of people I know, asking them for their experiences with Math in school and growing up, then asked them what they do for a living and what kind of Math they use in their daily lives.   Most people use only … Read more

Over the weekend I debated whether or not to go and see “Waiting for Superman”, which opened Friday.   This, as you probably know, is a documentary about the failings of the public school system and the charter schools which seem to provide a good alternative, but which are too few for the many children who might benefit from them.  In the end,  I decided not to see it.   I’ve read so much about it and seen so many clips that, as my neighbor said, “I feel like I’ve seen it already.”   Davis Guggenheim is a great film-maker, so I’m sure … Read more

I took a page out of Lenore Skenazy’s Free Range Kids book today, and let my kids do some unsupervised cooking.   Maya’s friend Greta was visiting, and at lunch Maya said, “Can we make cookies?”   So I said yes, and then explained that this time, it really would be them making the cookies.   A few minutes later, Greta, Maya and Ben headed out to the grocery store armed with a list of ingredients they needed to get, and some money.   When they got back, I showed them how to turn on the oven and set the temperature (I didn’t do … Read more