I believe in the power of interest-led learning to transform the face of education. I believe it’s the only way that children learn naturally, the way they were born to learn. When children’s interests and imagination are captured, it provides the intrinsic motivation for them to learn more, create meaningful, personal goals and retain a…
Category: Connections
Learning through Living – Tips for Including Your Young Child in Your Daily Life Part 1
Young children learn by doing. Actually, we all learn best by doing- it’s the best way to create the neural pathways in our brain that allows learning to really “stick.” But, young children especially need a lot of time to use all their senses in learning. Young children also want to do real things. I…
15 Interest-Led Learning Families You Should Get to Know
Unschooling blogs usually read like a diary. A peek into other people’s lives. It’s not that you don’t get that peek in more traditional homeschooling blogs, but unschoolers tend to live unusual lives….and I like unusual! You get to see what resources and materials they use in the context of their lives. You get to…
10 Not-Your-Usual Fun Fall Ideas
There’s five more days of summer left. That’s it. Not that I’m complaining. Since we’re a school-free family, our lives are not that affected by the days of the year. We can still play outside all day if we’d like, or stay inside and work on projects indoors. Instead of feeling the crispness of the…
Instead – An Unschooling Poem
I thought I ‘d do something a little different today. Since I was in a creative mood I wrote a poem. INSTEAD Instead of waking up in a flurried frenzy of speed dressing, food gobbling and “Can you hurry, up please?” we’re eating breakfast in our p.j.s, rubbing sleep from our eyes, and…
15 Unschooling & Interest-Led Learning Travelling Families You Should Get to Know
To wrap up my September travel series, I’d like to pay homage to some of the many blogs and websites by travelling unschoolers & interest-led learners who have inspired me to pursue even greater adventures. They’ve shown me how travel can make learning richer and deeper. They’ve taught me to go outside my comfort zone. …
25 Things my Kids Have Learned from Watching Scooby Doo
My kids love watching Scooby Doo. They’ve watched all the seasons of the What’s New Scooby-Doo? series as well as dozens of episodes of the original Scooby-Doo series, too. My son watches mostly for the monsters, and my daughter for the mystery. I’m sure that anyone just casually watching my kids viewing a Scooby Doo…
10 Ways to Take a Trip around the World without Leaving far From Home
No matter what your interests are, travel can enrich and expand those interests. If your child likes to cook, taking him to restaurants in other parts of your country or foreign countries may spark ideas for new culinary creations. If you like to play an instrument, it’s an incredible experience to hear musical performances in…
10 Unusual Ways to Explore Music
Young children are naturally musical. It’s like they live and breathe music. My children hop and skip down aisles and sing at the top of their lungs in grocery stores. Yes, I have to admit that sometimes it can be a bit embarrassing, but most times I receive warm smiles from other shoppers. I think…
Interest-Led Travel: Stepping Off the Mainstream Path
It seems like when I talk with different people about their travel plans I usually get some variation of the same answer: Disneyworld, camping, or to a beach resort. Now, there’s definitely nothing wrong with any of those places. Although we wouldn’t choose Disneyworld as a vacation destination, we love the beach and would spend…