BY Peter Gray Ph.D.Freedom to Learn “Suppose you, magically, were part of a committee charged with developing, completely from scratch, a school system for our modern times. You and the other committee members realize that before designing the structure, you need a clear idea of the purpose of schools. And let’s […]
By PATRICK FARENGA Homeschoolers are often criticized for depriving their childen, particularly teenagers, of group socialization and for keeping them out of the real world, ensconced in a bubble of parent-controlled choices. This ill-informed opinion has not matched our personal experiences of homeschooling and there is plenty evidence that giving young […]
Why not ask a parent to play a problem-solving video game with you? Shutterstock/Alan Ingram This is an article from Curious Kids, a new series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or […]
Those with screen time of more than four hours per day were three-and-a-half times likelier to sleep fewer than five hours at night, a probe found. (Jack Frog / shutterstock.com) You’re tired of fighting with your kids to put the iPad down during dinner or having to skulk around to […]
By Idzie Desmarais, a 20-something year old lifelong learner who lives in Montreal, Quebec. As unschooling in particular and homeschooling in general become ever more widespread, the rumblings of unease from everyone not unschooling (or homeschooling) also seem to get louder: wait, why isn’t there more oversight? These families could […]
Almost every star has planets – so there are more planets in our galaxy than there are stars. NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, CC BY-SA From Curious Kids, a new series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome […]
This is an article from Curious Kids, a new series aimed at children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or wacky! The truth is we don’t really know if space goes on forever – […]
Education that derives from the self-chosen activities and life experiences of the person being educated. Let’s start with the term education. In everyday language people tend to equate education with schooling, which leads one to think of education as something that is done to students by teachers. Teachers educate and […]
By Peter Gray Ph.D. Before one develops anything, one should have a pretty clear idea of its purpose. What is the thing you are building supposed to do? It makes no sense to talk about the structure of something without having in mind, first, a clear idea of its function, […]
By GenDIY Updated Feb 16, 2017 Tyler Nakatsu There is a growing reality that young people don’t need school. Students don’t need “school” that isn’t learner-led, that forces students through a pipeline that isn’t built on the passions and skills of each unique student. In a recent episode of the […]