Vague memories of the good old days is no basis for a system of education!

Vague memories of the good old days is no basis for a system of education!


Advent of Google means we must rethink our approach to education
We have a romantic attachment to skills from the past which are no longer relevant on a curriculum for today's children

Sugata Mitra, in
The Observer, Saturday 15 June 2013 21.00 BST



"The brain remembers good things from the past and creates a pleasant memory of the "good old days". It forgets the rest. It is dangerous to build a present using vague memories of the good old days."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jun/15/schools-teaching-curriculum-education-google

Playing (Andre Stern)

Short, profound video (French with English subtitles of Andre Stern talking about the importance of play, for learning (and the frivolous nature of "education"):


http://journaljose.blogspot.ca/2013/05/andre-stern-in-english-lifelong-playing.html

And a link to an interview, there.

Accuracy in Academia, small article on homeschooling

Homeschooler uprising in America?
Spencer Irvine, May 3, 2013

http://www.academia.org/homeschooler-uprising-in-america/


WASHINGTON – According to researchers, disgust, dissatisfaction and disillusionment with the U.S. public school system is on the rise, so much so that the number of homeschoolers is on the rise.

“Since 1999, the number of children who are being homeschooled has increased by 75%,” Julia Lawrence reports in Education News. “Although currently only 4% of all school children nationwide are educated at home, the number of primary school kids whose parents choose to forgo traditional education is growing seven times faster than the number of kids enrolling in K-12 every year.”

. . . .

Australian family on video

Pros and cons of home schooling
au.tv.yahoo.com

http://au.tv.yahoo.com/sunrise/video/-/watch/ccfb7e2c-bc5b-3cfe-acef-b4df073bb86f/pros-and-cons-of-home-schooling/

Don't spoonfeed babies

Avoid Obesity and Let Babies Eat With Their Hands

"Babies who feed themselves with their fingers chose less sugar and were less likely to become obese than spoon fed babies, according to a study in the British Medical Journal Open.  It was a small study based on recollection, but the findings were still interesting and give us clues about how children self regulate food."

More:
http://healthwise-everythinghealth.blogspot.com/2012/02/avoid-obesity-and-let-babies-eat-with.html

What this has to do with unschooling is that it's a match for all of this:   The Full Plate Club

The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning

from the site:

This journal seeks to bring together an international community of scholars exploring the topic of unschooling and alternative learning, which espouses learner centered democratic approaches to learning. JUAL is also a space to reveal the limitations of mainstream schooling. JUAL understands learner centered democratic education as individuals deciding their own curriculum, and participating in the governance of their school-if they are in one. Some examples of learner centered democratic possibilities are unschooling, Sudbury Valley , Fairhaven , the Albany Free School , and the Beach School in Toronto. In terms of unschooling, we view it as a self-directed learning approach to learning. Free, open access Current issue

Archive

Hacking your Education

Hacking Higher Education: Dale Stephens and Unschooling

Forbes, March 18, 2013

Book review/article by Anthony Hennen.

Apprendre sans l'école, Interview in French

Lafamille Laferrière-Meloche wrote:

Voici une entrevue que j'ai donné sur notre quotidien d'unschoolers. La journaliste a simplement rapportée mes propos et son introduction est très positive!

Here's an interview I gave on our life unschoolers in french)! The introduction of the journalist is very positive! Apprendre sans l'école
http://ecoleurbania.ca/apprendre-sans-lecole/
Ne pas envoyer ses enfants à l'école. Certains le font, dont Stéphanie et Alain, et on a jasé avec eux.

Home, sweet school (Australian article)

Home, sweet school

Sydney Morning Herald, February 9, 2013
by Catherine Keenan

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/home-sweet-school-20130204-2dt7h.html

World of Warcraft in the classroom

Teamwork, interpersonals, vocabulary...

Teacher ditches books for video games AmericaNowNews.com

Part of the article:

Words like "quest," "guild," "story," and "epoch" comprise the game's key vocabulary.

"I didn't think language arts could be fun, but this actually makes it really fun," said Cheyenne, a student in the class.

Cheyenne is the only girl in the class, but she says the class is a team and the members are now her friends.

"Since I've been in here, we have been doing quests together and, in a way, getting to know each other better," she said.

http://www.americanownews.com/story/16954437/one-teacher-ditches-books-for-video-games