what's unschooling like?

Unschooling: one on one educational experience outside of school - watching butterflies, spiders, caterpillars, birds - writing a journal, riding bikes to get spring water, setting up tarp, rolling down a hill, learning to use a compass.


"Did I hear a bell in the far distance? Oh! I guess I didn't."

Be present!

I am writing a story and had just taken a break from typing on the computer to get a drink. I returned to this note added to where I left off. My 11 year old daughter had written;
"Enjoy life as it is, and not how it should be. People can dream, but try to live your life in the present. We are always thinking about the past and the future; but we never really think about the present. The present is where we should be. Sometimes you can think about other things but mainly the present is the best."

Got Smarts? Use them well.

It is worth noting that environmental devastation is not the work of ignorant people. Rather it is largely the results of work by people with BAs, BSs, LLBs, MBAs, and PhDs. Elie Wiesel once made the same point, noting that the designers and perpetrators of Auschwitz, Dachau, and Buchenwald-the Holocaust-were the heirs of Kant and Goethe, widely thought to be the best educated people on earth. But their education did not serve as an adequate barrier to barbarity. What was wrong with their education? in Wiesel's words, "It emphasized theories instead of values, concepts rather than human beings, abstraction rathr than consciousness, answers rather than questions, ideology and efficiency rather than conscience."

I believe that the same could be said of our education. Towards the natural world it too emphasizes theories, not values; abstraction rather than consciousness; neat answers instead of questions;and technical efficiency over conscience. It is a matter of no small consequence that the only people who have lived sustainably on the planet for any length of time could not read or like the Amish do not make a fetish of reading.
-David Orr, Earth in Mind

"It's all spirit and it's all connected."

Elder's Meditation of the Day - January 15

"It's all spirit and it's all connected."


--Grandfather William Commanda, ALGONQUIN


If everything is connected, we cannot disconnect. To disconnect is not a real choice. This is why we are always spiritual no matter what we do. Every alcoholic is spiritual. All our brothers and sisters are spiritual. We may not be behaving correctly, but nevertheless, we are spiritual.

Our choice is to live out of harmony with spiritual ways or in harmony with spiritual ways. Everything is spiritual.

Great Spirit, give me the knowledge to be in harmony with the spirit today.

Favourite Books

If you get excited about your favourite book, and want to let others know about them, here is the place to do it! We are going to be setting up a reading room section on the blog that will continiously be updated so keep checking in.
They can be fiction,non fiction and in between. Zines, magazines- and for all ages!
Go get 'em!

If you've got them, use them!

Legs. We take them for granted don't we? Until we can't -walk that is.
Here's a little musing from my daughter about walking:

A Winter's Walk: by Bronwyn Kay

I was walking with my mom and dad in the snow and I was running ahead and I thought, walking is so wonderful. You can skip, you can run, you can walk, you go go any which way you want. You can talk and run, you can talk and skip, you can go as far as you want to go. You can walk in the woods. You can walk by the road. You can walk anywhere you want. You don't know how important your legs are until you don't have them. So you should walk and run with joy.

You don't need to be going anywhere: just walk and think how lucky you are to have legs. So go out now with joy. Don't think, "Oh, it's cold" or "Oh, it's so hot out today." Just think how lucky you are to HAVE legs! I hope that made an impact on you to go out and walk RIGHT NOW. Thanks!

just like other learners?

Are un-schooling kids different than other kids? We asked some neighbourhood school kids for their opinions.

un-conundrum