The following is quoted from a response that Maisha Khalfani gave when a new unschooler asked for a definition of the conceptt: Can I offer another perspective on what you are looking for? Many of us come to unschooling wanting to “do it right”. We have been conditioned to find the right answer – in [...]
I can’t even count how many times I heard this as a child. The underlying message was: 1- you’re not smart enough to know what’s good for you 2- the things that make you happy are bad for you 3- the things you want will end up hurting you because 4- you have no self [...]
The Rethinking Everything Conference in Dallas is my family’s FAVORITE annual event. It beat out the local Folklife Festival by a mile. Even if you can’t attend, the recommended reading list is a meaty selection of books that will help YOU rethink parenting, education, freedom, sustainability and yourself. Enjoy… Check out the Ultimate list of [...]
by Christian D. Larson Promise Yourself To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. [...]
A middle school mom, Ann Wentworth of Fon du Lac Wisconsin wants these books banned from her daughter’s school district. She’s petitioned the school (at the expense of local taxpayers) and lost the first request for censorship. She keeps adding books to her list. I imagine every time she reads one it ends up going [...]
Five Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!” By Alfie Kohn Hang out at a playground, visit a school, or show up at a child’s birthday party, and there’s one phrase you can count on hearing repeatedly: “Good job!” Even tiny infants are praised for smacking their hands together (“Good clapping!”). Many of us blurt out [...]
After close observation of their own children, with a combined age of 61 years, observations of many other children in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Israel, Greece, Italy, Swiss, France, Holland, Belgium, England, Scotland, and the Bahamas, and numerous reports throughout recorded history, the authors have determined that a widely-distributed behavioral disorder has somehow been overlooked [...]
Thoughts on Punishment by Sidney Craig, Ph.D. The most commonly used and socially acceptable parental response to a display of “irrational” behavior (a temper tantrum, for example) is to punish the child for it. Most parents operate according to the widely held belief that the child will not repeat a form of behavior for which [...]
The Case Against Time-out by Peter Haiman, Ph.D. For generations, parents have sought a reliable and dependable way to handle childhood misbehavior. The most recent and popular discipline technique is time-out. Although time-out is better than spanking, it is not an appropriate way for parents to cope with the misbehavior of their children. Moreover, the [...]
Children Don’t Really Misbehave by Thomas Gordon, Ph.D. Most parents and teachers think of children as either “behaving” or misbehaving. ” This labeling of behavior as “good” and “bad” begins when the child is quite young. In our [P.E.T. and T.E.T.] training programs we try to help parents see that children don’t really misbehave. Interestingly [...]
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