Education Options

What is deschooling and how long does it take?

If you’ve been looking into alternative education paths, you’ve likely run across the term “deschooling.” I’m not sure who officially coined this term, but I’d guess that the 1971 book Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich has much to do with this term’s popular use among unschoolers, homeschoolers and other alternate schools today. What the deschooling means: [...]

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Free School Benefit – Plenty of Free Play

A new study looking at 34 child care centers serving young children found that parents are instrumental in how much physical activity (or not) kids are getting. In all cases, no matter the setting (inner-city, suburban, Head Start, or Montessori) researchers found that kids are sitting sedentary for most of their day and that very [...]

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What really constitutes a failing school?

President Obama has been fairly outspoken about what he thinks of schools in America, noting at various speeches that “Four out of five schools will be labeled as failing.” Along those same lines, last year, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told Congress No Child Left Behind (NCLB) would end up labeling about 82% of all [...]

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Parents Encouraged to Participate in American Education Week

In case you missed it, it’s officially American Education Week, an event sponsored by the National Education Association (NEA) November 14-19. The event’s goal is to celebrate and observe, “Students’ hard work to learn, the professionalism and dedication of teachers, support staff and other educators and the parents and members of the community who help [...]

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Alternative education options for kids with single parents

Wrapping your head around alternative education options, is already very hard. In this country, we’ve been well-programmed to think that public education is our best and only option. Even for parents and students who are dead-set against public school, transitioning into a different educational path can be a tough road. On top of that, if you’re a [...]

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How to afford private school tuition

If you’ve had it with public school, and you’re looking into private schools for your child, you’ve probably noticed a big down-side… cost. Private school can be extremely expensive. In fact, the National Association of Independent Schools(NAIS) notes that the average private school costs $19,075 annually. Some figures are lower, such as the annual $10,045 quoted in [...]

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Some people think my son is a big fake

According to some people, my son Cedar isn’t real. Not quite yet anyway. When I tell people that I don’t send Cedar to a public school but instead to a democratic school, often, people flip out. I can take it though. After 10 years of unschooling and democratic school, I’m way used to getting comments [...]

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Is going to school your child’s high or low?

At my house, each night, near the end of dinner, my family plays High-Low. For those unfamiliar with this game, each family member says what the best and worst parts of their day were. About 99% of the time, my son, who attends Village Free School, a democratic school, says, “My high was school.” On [...]

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Is unschooling the same as democratic schooling?

Unschooling is not the same as democratic schooling or free schooling, although all of these educational paths, in my opinion, have some stuff in common. Unschooling is an educational label that’s usually used by families who don’t send their child to any school. However, there’s some stretching room. For example, I consider us unschoolers, yet [...]

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Declining creativity in school children is a real problem

Of all the problems I have with traditional schooling, squashed creativity is a top concern. Squashed creativity in public schools is an actual growing problem. Newsweek recently posted a piece called The Creativity Crisis. It’s long, but worth the read. To sum up: Back in 1958, a group of nearly 400 Minneapolis children completed a series [...]

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