four years boy playing with colorful wooden blocks With Christmas looming, many people will be considering what present to buy for their children, nieces and nephews, grandchildren and friends. Soon, if not already, we will be reading lists of the top trending presents for 2017. These lists will no doubt […]
For a student who is blind, the obvious test adjustment is providing a braille test if they are proficient in braille. Shutterstock Since it was introduced in the 1800s, standardised testing in Australian schools has attracted controversy and divided opinion. In this series, we examine its pros and cons, including appropriate […]
By Idzie Desmarais I have a confession to make: I really love makeup. No, wait, that’s not right. Not the loving makeup part: that’s entirely accurate, but the confession part. While I can sometimes have twinges of embarrassment or uncertainty around interests of mine that are often ridiculed or seen as shallow […]
By Peter Gray Ph.D.Freedom to Learn The cat is slowly scratching its way out of the bag. Ever more people are becoming aware of the colossal waste of money, tragic waste of young people’s time, and cruel imposition of stress and anxietyproduced by our coercive educational system. Source: Google Images filtered for reuse […]
The lack of skilled teachers is the biggest problem, the report found GETTY IMAGES More than half of England’s secondary schools, 54%, did not offer GCSE computer science in 2015-16, a report from the Royal Society has found. It urged the government to increase spending on computer education tenfold over […]
from Idzie I’m Unschooled. Yes, I can write I talk a lot about learning in a general sense, but sometimes people want to know a bit more about my learning, my experience as an adult unschooler, and how that works. How do I decide what to learn next? How do I […]
How often do you take away your kid’s phone? RoongsaK/Shutterstock Do you take away your teenager’s phone to manage their behaviour? Maybe when they arrive home late from a party or receive a bad report card? Confiscating, time-limiting or permitting additional access to technology has become a popular parenting strategy. Surveys […]
Not all young children want – or are able – to sleep at the same time. Shutterstock The legislated regulatory standards for sleep, rest and relaxation in early childhood education and care have changed this week. What are the changes and why have these been made? From October 1, the National Quality Framework […]
BY Peter Gray Ph.D.Freedom to Learn Delinquent boys made huge academic gains when freed from classroom lessons. Some of the most fascinating experiments in education occurred in the 1920s and ‘30s, and almost nobody talks about them today. That was an era when progressive ideas about education were in the air. Even […]
‘m Jim Flannery and I want to help make the world a better place. I know how cornball that sounds, but my intentions are genuine and I firmly believe that promoting unschooling is a significant way to improve the human condition on a global scale.