Mid-Week Links
ABC News’ Nightline earlier this month profiled an unschooling family from New Hampshire. The Martins (who appear in our blogroll as The Sparkling Martins) threw open their doors and showed the world how they unschool. While watching the video, however, I could not help but feel that the network seemed to have their own agenda and may have skewed the article and video so that they cast doubt and suspicion on the practice of unschooling. And then I came across Dayna Martin’s post Nightline Truth, which gives us the inside story about what happened during the production of the video.
In April, ABC News also profiled another unschooling family, the Bieglers. Viewer response to that show was so great that the network invited Phil Biegler and Christine Yablonski to their studio the next day to field questions on unschooling. Pat Farenga, the president of Holt Associates, also appears on the video. The Bieglers did a wonderful job explaining what they do to a skeptical audience. As Dayna says in her blog: “It’s all Baby Steps…I feel the progress.”
How do we view children? Do we often think of them as ‘cute’? John Holt has a piece on why we should try to get out of the habit of seeing little children as cute. He says that we should try to be more aware of what it is in children to which we respond and to tell which responses are authentic, respectful, and life-enhancing, and which are condescending or sentimental.
Homeschoolers are probably already familiar with this tongue-in-cheek comparison of public school and homeschool.
Author Laura Brodie decided to homeschool her daughter, Julia, for a year when she was in fifth grade because she struggled in school and came home desolate. Julia is described as a dreamy child with a unique learning style who grew increasingly unhappy with the relentless test prep, drills and worksheets. Brodie writes about her experience in her latest book Love in A Time of Homeschooling.
Copyright Photos8.com
In a new study, researchers have found that breast milk kick-starts the immune systems of breast-fed babies, making them more resistant to infections than their bottle-fed counterparts. The study discovered that the milk activates the body’s natural defences in a way that formula cannot. Breast milk triggers a reaction in the gut which helps to defeat infection.
Every child is an individual and each child is different in her learning style. This article tells us more about learning styles—about how people learn and process information. There are lot of links to other resources and reading materials and also a learning style assessment.
And finally, here’s a video that has some excellent descriptions of attachment parenting.
Awesome compilation, thanks so much. We’re radical unschoolers and I really appreciate your objective take on the subject, and for helping more people find truthful perspectives from families who are enjoying the lifestyle.