Live Science article on World of Warcraft and Unschooling

Kelli Traaseth and Jill Parmer were interviewed by Jeremy Hsu for an article for LiveScience.

http://www.livescience.com/technology/081003-school-games.html

Schooled (Indie Film About Alternative Education)

I'm sharing this e-mail in case anyone who didn't get it is interested. To respond to the author, it's a gmail address and the first part is themusiclives4

Hello,

My name is Erin Umstead, a graduate of Fairhaven School in Maryland,
which is based off of the Free and Democratic model of Sudbury Valley.

I'm writing because I think your community
would be interested in knowing
about a film written and directed by Brooks Elms
called "Schooled."
www.SchooledTheFilm.com

It's played at education conferences all over the world
because it challenges viewers to fundamentally re-think
the way they connect with children in the classroom
as well as the living room.

If you agree the film's message seems aligned with
the interests of your community, let me know and
I'll give you the details about how they can see it
at a special discount.

Thank you very much for your time!

All the best
Erin Umstead
Community Connections Team
"Schooled"
www.SchooledTheFilm.com

John Holt on boingboing.net

(all quotes, no comments:)

How Children Learn: classic of human, kid-centered learning
POSTED BY CORY DOCTOROW, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008 6:50 AM

Earlier this year, a reader sent me copies of John Holt's classic books on children's education, How Children Learn and How Children Fail and tonight, I finished the first of them (and will be reading the other next). It was one of the most profoundly moving books I've ever read, the truest account of how I remember my best learning experiences as a child and an adult.

Holt was a dedicated teacher and a very, very keen observer of children from babyhood up. Most of How Children Learn takes the form of notes from his diaries, his later reflections on his failures and successes, and letters and feedback from other parents and educators.

Holt's basic thesis is that kids want to learn, are natural learners, and will learn more if we recognize that and let them explore their worlds, acting as respectful co-learners instead of bosses and it continues...

Open Education

Sugata Mitra and Minimally Invasive Education - Confirmation for HomeSchool and UnSchooling Proponents

This could be an excellent link for skeptical relatives, or for new unschoolers who wonder about natural learning. Many of you probably knew about the "Hole in the Wall" project, but this has follow-up and expansion on what was learned then.

World of Warcraft and Unschoolers

15 Minutes of Fame: Horde of Unschoolers, and interview from January 2008, in WoW Insider. I'm sorry I didn't know about it sooner, but now it has 101 comments. Many of them are predictably lame and tacky, but the interview itself is very nicely done.

One of the quotes is:

Are unschoolers actually succeeding in college and later in life? According to Sarah Spooner, senior admission counselor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, they most assuredly are. "These students are really well motivated, have done their homework and done their research," she affirms. "They're the type of students who excel when they get on a college campus because they can keep themselves in check and make sure they're doing well and succeeding."

I would like to have seen it sooner so I could say my unschooled son works at Blizzard Entertainment, but I can say it here.

Two father-and-son stories

Both of these boys have moms, but the articles both focus on the father/son aspect. Neither is written from a pro-homeschooling point of view, but the joy of the boys shines through.


Dad lets kid drop out to watch movies

This dad has written a book about it.

Bad Dad? Parents Let Son Drop Out to Pursue Gaming Career

A Homeschooling Win in California

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1832485,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-nation
Time Magazine, August 13, 2008

Pam Sorooshian is quoted at the end:

"[This ruling] gives us a lot more confidence and a lot more sense of freedom," says Pam Sorooshian, an uncredentialed teacher of her three daughters in Las Alamitas, Calif. "We can get back to educating our children and not be distracted."

(She didn't mention that she teaches college mathematics, but that's still not "credentialed" for elementary or secondary education.)