Positive article on unschooling in Quebec

Faire la classe à la maison - «Il faut réinventer l'école»



And interview withSonya Olthof in Montréal


Click above to go to the article.

A Google translate-to-English link (when it opens, click "translate")
http://translate.google.com/#fr|en|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ledevoir.com%2Fsociete%2Feducation%2F334967%2Ffaire-la-classe-a-la-maison-il-faut-reinventer-l-ecole

The google page for others: translategoogle.com

A situation in France

English summary:
http://rodriguez-martin.horsdesmurs.com/rodriguez_martin_presse_version_anglaise_horsdesmurs.pdf

Updates, in French:
http://rodriguez-martin.horsdesmurs.com/

Videos in French and English appeared in this blog in March:
http://unschooling.blogspot.com/2011/03/sylvie-martin-rodriguez-on-unschooling.html

Canadian article on unschooling

Unschooling: Legitimate pedagogy or foolish fad?
Why some scholars are adopting an educational philosophy that eschews formal lessons and any form of structure – and why others think it could be dangerous.

by Tim Johnson

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/unschooling-legitimate-pedagogy-or-foolish-fad.aspx

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This article is critical and a bit alarmist, and some of the examples they gleaned from the parents they interviewed are lame, but unschooling is difficult to understand even for those who want to, and easy to MISunderstand for those who want to revile it. —Sandra

Two other TV interviews of the Bentley family

KGUN9 (Tucson, AZ) Interview on Radical Unschooling, July 2010



Unschooling Bentley Family on The Today Show, October 14, 2011

Unschooling Bentley Family on KTVU FOX 2 Unschooling segment, November 4, 2011

Unschooling Bentley Family on KTVU FOX 2 Unschooling segment, November 4, 2011

Lisa Cottrell-Bentley's family:

WomanMagazine, U.K.

For a larger image, click (and then click that one again):

Fox Carolina article

"More parents choose to 'unschool' kids"
by Diana Watson

Posted: Oct 31, 2011 9:29 AM MDT

http://www.foxcarolina.com/story/15914475/more-parents-choose-to-unschool-kids

The article quotes Kelly Lovejoy and refers to Jeff and Kelly Halldorson's family, but I wish it had been edited better.

Unschooling: A natural way to learn

September 30, 2011, Portland Family:
Unschooling: A natural way to learn, by Carisa Brewster

http://www.portlandfamily.com/posts/unschooling/

Survey needs homeschoolers' responses, please

Roya is Pam Sorooshian's daughter. Please help her out with this! Pass it on. (The photo is Roya and her mom.)

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Note: The survey is set up for U.S. families only. Sorry to the many others who will come by here!

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Dear Homeschooler,

My name is Roya Dedeaux. I am currently working on my Master’s degree in Counseling at California State University, Long Beach to meet my goal of becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). I was homeschooled from the age of ten, when my mother removed me from the public school system. From that time, I have been interested in how our alternative education has impacted us as a culture.

As I began my studies in the Counseling field, I became more and more aware of how many therapists are unaware of the diversity that the homeschooling population includes. I also heard many anecdotal stories of homeschoolers who felt they could not go to therapy because they were afraid that the therapist would not understand their lifestyle.

I decided to use my current studies to benefit the homeschooling culture that I grew up with. The purpose of my study is to measure adult homeschooler’s mental health needs, and their attitude towards seeking therapy. The results of my thesis will hopefully be used to benefit the homeschooling population by providing much needed information to the mental health profession. If there are any significant barriers for homeschoolers to seek therapy, this survey will isolate those as well.

I found your homeschooling organization’s email address from an online search. To qualify to take this survey, you need to be over the age of 18. Additionally, you need to have EITHER been homeschooled yourself, OR homeschooled your own children. Any types of homeschooling methods, religious affiliations, or mental health needs are welcome. It should take approximately 25 minutes, is completely anonymous, and at the end you are qualified to win one of 2 $50.00 electronic gift certificates to Amazon.com!

Please feel free to pass this survey along to any other adult homeschoolers you know. I have two goals: 1st, to get 1000 responses, and 2nd, to get responses from every state!

Thank you in advance for your help and support of a fellow homeschooler.

--Roya Dedeaux

THE SURVEY:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/homeschoolerssurvey

Unschooling — Is This A Cure For Our Failing Education System?

Unschooling — Is This A Cure For Our Failing Education System?

http://www.courant.com/features/parenting/hc-unschooling-parenting-pelham-20110930,0,3987396.column

The beginning of the article:

If we were to start from scratch, how would we create the best possible learning environment for our children? Would we organize children in neat rows of uncomfortable desks and chairs, segregated by age and alphabetized? Would we try to squeeze seven diverse subjects into a six-hour day? Would every child be forced to learn the same information at the same time and then get tested immediately to make sure it stuck?

Obviously, no. But the factory-style school system is the system currently in place, and many families are deciding that they want something different, something more natural for their children. A few leaps beyond homeschooling is unschooling, a concept with a definition that is different for every unschooled child. Perhaps one-third of the thousands of homeschooled children in Connecticut are unschooled.