Skin Color: The Shame of Silence. Book Review.

Skin color matters.
If you think that in today's society, skin color is no longer an issue, you are probably still being white.

 History matters! At a conference for Christian groups to learn from Indigenous people about moving towards reconciliation and justice, one of the participants—a reverend of a church—later said to me, "I expected to be inspired! I expected to learn something new, something I hadn't heard before. Instead I was made to feel guilty and uncomfortable."
"If it has to be said over and over again, maybe that’s because people like you have yet to take responsibility for your inherited white skin privilege," I wanted to say. "Did you think you would come here not be challenged?" I replied instead.
The poor man was expecting great things of others and very little of himself!

This is an example of why we are nowhere near a just society for all.  It is why we need books such as Skin color: The shame of silence by Conrad P. Pritscher.
White people need white awareness education by white people.White people need to acknowledge their white skin privilege. White people need to be challenged and they need to challenge the deeply ingrained, deeply harmful belief of white supremacy that is ingrained in our culture.
This book helps white people talk to white people about white racism, “since people of color have been talking about these racial matters until they are “blue” in the face and it does not seem to make a dent in the institutionalized racism (white racism) that continues to exist in our society.”(23)

Pritscher defines himself as a recovering racist—‘recovering racist' implying that "although European Americans are often born and acculturated into a racist society, in a position of power and greater wealth because of their ancestry, they can recover from this societally inherited disease if they choose to by actively fighting the racism in themselves, as well as in the larger, institutionally racist society.

Education
Not until we have higher levels of white awareness (by whites) will we have a noticeable reduction in racism.  Education is at the heart of how we can reduce racism and Pritscher’s writing is an offering of how to do so—in and out of school.
So before you protest loudly, “I’m white but I‘m not racist. I don’t need this book,’
I invite you to pause for a moment. If you are living your life blind to your white privilege, you are part of the problem.
Pritscher argues that if as an educator, you are not actively addressing issues of racism, then you are likely perpetuating racism: “If you are actively permitting the status quo, you are permitting racism period. The responsibility is yours to work towards racial justice.” (36).

It does not surprise me when Pritscher postulates that the demand for certainty in our society—to exist in comforting constraints—breeds and upholds attitudes of rigidity and inflexibility of mind.
He argues that currently, schooling provides conditions for the continuation of racism. He points out the connections that have been made between rigid thinking, (“closedness’), conformity and desire for predictability to heightened degrees of racism. He emphasizes that there is a strong link between "dogged and excessive obedience to authority" (which schools often cultivate) and a tendency towards racism.
  “Should we ask what kind of schooling promotes people who are prone to fear and aggression, are resistant to change, and are intolerant of ambiguity?  What continues to foster such high needs to obey authority and to be certain?” Conrad asks (18).

Pritscher explores the pitfalls of traditional schooling (including college and universities), and the idea that it tends to control students minds to the point where students often seek additional control, conforming to the dictations of the 1%.

High Quality Education

Education is not enough. What is required now is a fundamental shifting of how we educate; a high quality education described by Pritscher as comprising of self-direction, “which is thought to help people be more tolerant of ambiguity, be more open to change.”
Quality learners will be less prone to fear and aggression, which is after all the root of racism.
Pritscher explains, “Self-directed education (quality learning rather than ‘training’) fosters freedom and in turn, racism reduction. To self direct your learning is to be open to the unexpected, the surprise and the habitual chaos. It is to be unafraid of ambiguity, uncertainty but nurtures the believe in oneself, not external authority and in turn less suspicion of others.”

Other examples of what white people can do to unlearn racist ways include ‘living room sessions,’—inviting friends and families to share discussions on oppression, contacting school boards, school superintendents, teachers, city council members, and others in positions of power, with phone calls, letters to the editor, e-mails etc. and expressing the view that “we now, as whites, need to be a traitor to whiteness if we are to be loyal to humanity.”

Pritscher covers the roots of white privilege and the contribution of our 'image and idea makers' (experts and researchers in the fields of social sciences, psychiatry, medicine, education) towards perpetuating oppression, when they tell us what is normal, abnormal, deviant) “These images and ideas are used to label, divide and oppress people, often in ways that are difficult to detect.”

But: “There's no one natural category for anything, yet the mostly white value system generally holds that there is.  We too often believe that there is an essential nature of man.  Once this nature is discovered through science, it is used to determine value.  One of these implicit white values was, and continues to be for some whites, that whites are better than African-Americans and other people of color. (38).

Pritscher very kindly takes in to consideration your white feelings:
“This does not mean white people are bad.  It means the way we have taught our young has not changed in over a century.  We, our parents, and grandparents often unconsciously hold that which prevents us from noticeably reducing racism.”(21).

In conclusion, speaking as a person of colour, white people need to take their hurt feelings out of the picture (“Oh I feel so awkward—“me, me this is all about me and my feelings”). They need to stop undermining the experiences of people of colour, ("Some of the nuns are hurt by all this talk about how bad the residential schools. It wasn’t all evil.”). They need to be willing to do this work so that we can have a just society for all people.

With Pritscher, “white people can no longer in good conscience, avoid  dealing with the bigotry and racism that is ingrained in white communities. It is white people’s responsibility to educate themselves on these issues.”

8 obsolete ideas in education.

I bet you can think of a tonne more but here are my eight, unhelpful ideas in education. Thanks be, these beliefs are starting to fall by the wayside.

1. The idea that the earlier you 'teach' kids skills like reading, the smarter they will become.

This is not true at all. If a kid shows interest in learning how to read, for instance or doing math then by all means, don't stop them. (My 3 year old nephew is keen to do addition and is always asking about numbers and what they add up to. My own daughter taught herself how to read at 4, after showing a natural inclination towards letters). But to believe that hammering their heads full with your agenda to get them 'smart' is likely to have the opposite effect--and worse, it might even cause undue stress and lack of self-confidence in children whose work is after all, to play.

2. Learning that is dolled out in bite sizes.

This is a pet peeve. If you think about the way you approach something you are keen on, it is with a wholeheartedness that doesn't stop just because the clock says it's 10.30. That interest is alive within you--you reflect a lot on  it, you see connections and synergies evolving because you are primed to learn more about it; your radar is up and at the ready. When a kid is learning naturally, you will notice much the same: they want to learn in gulps!

3. Constantly interrupting the learning process.
We all do it. We especially interrupt ourselves! But when children are in the midst of exploring, examining, playing, we would do well to try to avoid worrying the process. Just watch a little kids' face when they are concentrating--it's a joy to behold.

Urggh.

4. Learning has to be evident and measurable--by a certain standard. Our standard.

Hence homework and testing because if you can't prove it, you don't know it.

5. Learning anything without context.
Without real life, tangible context, how can education be meaningful?

6. Well roundedness.
The danger is that you are likely to end up with mediocrity in everything and mastery in nothing.

7. The school day.
The school day, we all know is based around the 9 to 5 schedule but as work evolves and changes, school will have to keep up as well.

8. The school itself. The classroom setting. The bell ringing.
Break it open, let the family and the community be part of educating our children.

Let's hear it from our readers now!

Unschoolers go to school:The easier way?

I remember when one of my daughters wanted to go to school. She said, "I don't like homeschooling. It's weird. I want to go to school." That was in grade 6. She is now in grade 11 at high school. She has long since been disillusioned with public school. She tires of the day to day routine, the lack of stimulating material. She is bored by the tediousness of homework, quizzes, tests, more tests.  She now appreciates the unschooling mindset and is amused by the dogged insistence of her peers that without a high school diploma, you can't get anywhere in life ("How else will you get a job?"). Where before, she wanted nothing to do with homeschoolers and unschoolers–trying her best to distance herself from that embarrassing part of her history–now she celebrates the open-mindedness that unschooling fostered in her.

However, she stays on in school.
Why does she stay on? She knows she could drop-out or 'rise-up' if you like, at a moment's notice. But no, she languishes on.

It is because of the ease of schooling; the sheer convenience of it.
You go in. Someone else fills your day for you.  Everything is set up so that you don't need to think to deeply about it. If it is not to your liking, well then, you can complain and point fingers and accuse someone else for why that is so–let someone else take the blame for why things aren't working for you.  It's not your fault after all, it's the system's fault. You don't have to take responsibility. In fact, you are discouraged to do so!

At school, the path is direct. Do A and then B and you should get C. It's a formula that many people buy into and those who know better still delude themselves with.
My daughter says she would quit school IF she had something solid (by this she means if she had acting gigs lined up at the ready) so that she wouldn't distract herself by hanging out online all day and wasting her time. IF there was a structure to the day. IF there was a plan.

I don't knock it: having structure is important. Setting goals is necessary. But why does someone have to stand over you to ensure that you actually do it? Why does some outside authority have to monitor you, prod you, 'make you do it?' To me, that sounds awfully a lot like slave mentality. Do it yourself!
But free will seems lacking. Again, I'm not knocking it. People have to do what they have to do in order to get motivated.
Most people don't believe that they can propel themselves without being forced to. But is that due to a lack of self trust? I don't know.  Do you?

Is it time to reclaim the word 'education'?

Ivan Illich defined education as “learning under the assumption of scarcity.”
In Natural Born Learners, Writer, Aaron Falbel explains Illich’s thinking further:

The very idea education conveys to people is that valuable learning is scarce in society. Valuable learning, in this way of thinking, is not something that happens readily. On the contrary, special arrangements must be made to impart it. If we just left it up to chance or up to the personal initiative of the learner, most people would not learn those things due to their scarcity. Education is an institutional, deliberate, arrangement whereby scarce knowledge is held. 

Falbel continues:

llich says we have evolved into a subspecies called Homo Educandus, which means the human being born in need of education, in need of educational treatment. This is a fundamental belief of most people today: Just like we have a need for food and shelter, we have a need for education, and if we don’t acquire it we are deeply deprived, stigmatized, and disadvantaged.

Here’s what John Holt said about education in 1976:

It’s not a word I personally use. . . . The word “education” is a word much used, and different people mean different things by it. But on the whole, it seems to me what most people mean by “education” has got some ideas built into it or contains certain assumptions, and one of them is that learning is an activity which is separate from the rest of life and done best of all when we are not doing anything else, and best of all where nothing else is done—learning places, places especially constructed for learning. Another assumption is that education is a designed process, in which some people do things to other people or get other people to do things which will presumably be for their own good.  Education means that some A is doing something to somebody else B. (as cited in Hern, Deschooling Society. 2008, p. 61)

Still, when Ivan Illich talked about “the stench of education” permeating all areas of society (as it has now done so), and Holt promoted ‘instead of education,’ both men recognized their own privilege—that of having used their ‘education’ in order to examine the ills of institutionalized education. 'Unschooling,' a term that Holt came up with and 'deschooling,' Illich's word, were words that sought to do something about this stench that is corrupting our understanding of the natural, human impulse to learn.
Now, I’m starting to smell the ‘stench of unschooling.'  I ask myself, has unschooling become as narrow in definition, self-limiting, pretentious and exclusionary as ‘education’ has?

On a private unschooling facebook page where people share advice and support, I was told that my use of the word ‘educate’ was inappropriate: it is not an “unschooly" word (I was also told that my topic, ‘climate change’ was inappropriate for the group). I was silenced and my post removed.

I have since had time to think about this. To be in a position to unschool is to be in a position of privilege.  It usually means that you have experienced 'education/ing' and refused it. Unschoolers have been able to pick apart the understanding of education—that 'education' as we know it, is more about being taught than about learning. We recognize that conventional thinking continues to defer education to professionalism and authority that is outside of oneself.

Education: Not a dirty word.
But doing a basic google search, I learn that ‘education' is known to have several root words. It is popularly known to be derived from the Latin root 'educo' meaning to 'educe'- to draw out.
 It also has root words, 'educare' and 'educere'. 'to "educare" which means to  'rear or to bring up' and it refers to child rearing, whereas, 'educere' which is derived from two roots 'e' and 'ducere' means to 'draw out from within' or to 'lead forth'.
"To draw forth from within" Upbringing rather than instruction, "to develop from within.”
This definition, I can live with. It conveys a process of growing in knowledge and understanding-starting from what is already there. Also, it involves growing of character, personality--not just in skill and knowledge.

Yes, the concept of education has been deeply sullied, but it might be time for all those interested in pursuing and helping others to pursue 'knowledge and mastery' to reclaim this word as ours.

When it comes to 'learning,'Aaron Falbel compares learning with education:
In Natural Born Learners he builds on Ivan Ilich’s work saying about education:

Learning, on the other hand, is a natural process—a biological process really, similar to breathing: we do it all the time. From the moment they are born, babies are already learning. They are good at learning, their learning does not need to be developed or improved or enhanced in any way. The notion that people need to be taught how to learn or need to go to school in order to learn how to learn—phrases we hear all the time—is preposterous and deeply insulting to babies who are prodigious learners. I don’t use the word “learning” very much, because I think we get into trouble when we make such an issue out of learning, particularly when we try to control it or direct it. Why do we need to make such a fuss out of something we all do naturally?

But 'learning' is the process while 'education' is what emerges out of the process. Education is ever-evolving, and is a direct result of learning.

I turn it over to you! What are your thoughts? Do you like the word 'education?' Is it useful?

Diverting Learning

My three year old nephew goes to afternoon 'school.' I asked him one day how he was liking it.
"I like it but my friends interrupt me when I'm doing something," he frowned. "They keep interrupting me."
His sulky comment is the crux of the problem of how we divert learning from happening. We place kids in situations where they are unable to carry out their thought processes to the higher levels.
At school, we move children from subject to subject so that they have no time to sink their teeth into material they might, given peace and quiet, gain meaning from.

But it is not only at school that learning is diverted. We all do it. Our kid is in the middle of figuring out a tune on the piano, or noticing details about the way a tool is put together, or observing tadpoles wiggling about amongst the lily pads--and we are in a hurry to refocus him on what we think needs to get done. We demand that he leaves what is interesting to him at the moment and heed our perspective and enter into our concerns (which are vastly more important of course).

We do it to others, and we do it to ourselves. We are constantly being interrupted, or interrupting ourselves be in by social media distractions, multi-tasking, our families etc.
I have to admit that the week at home when our family had no phone and internet connection was  a very restful week where I was actually able to read an entire novel, go to bed earlier and actually gather my thoughts together!

Personally, I feel increasingly like less and less of what I do is done with my complete attention. I feel divided by multiple duties and expectations (my own, or those of others).

So for the next few days, I plan to make an effort to stop interrupting myself by checking Facebook, emails etc.  I plan to spend time working on stilling my chattering mind. I plan to talk less and listen and watch more. I plan to not be so available to the world.

What about you? How have you been diverting learning from happening and how are you changing that?

Determining the proper questions to ask.

You get to the solution by asking the right questions.

Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.”
Do we spend time determining the proper questions to ask? Hardly. We tend to stick to the familiar path. We ask questions that reflect our personal convictions—our personal world view. Our believes.
And the answers we come up bring no revelation; they can not surprise us, they are predictable.

In life, we rush to get to the correct answer. We feel compelled to come up with solutions lest we are found wanting. School is a training ground for this attitude, where we are expected to deliver answers efficiently and thoughtlessly, in the time we are allocated to do so.

We don't teach kids to ask the difficult questions. When it comes to children, it goes easier for us if they ask the questions we have neatly packaged answers for.
But if we could begin to think of inquiry as a process and not an end product what a world of possibilities that would open up.
We want change? Then we need to take it outside of our comfort zone.
In her book, ‘The Art of the Question’ Marilee Goldberg said, ‘A paradigm shift occurs when a question is asked inside the current paradigm that can only be answered from outside it.'
And American author and polymath, Robert Anton Wilson, "Every kind of ignorance in the world all results from not realizing that our perceptions are gambles. We believe what we see and then we believe our interpretation of it, we don't even know we are making an interpretation most of the time. We think this is reality."
There are many realities: we have exhausted nothing.

Here's a really handy resource by Vogt, E., Brown, J. and Isaacs, called The Art of Powerful Questions: Catalyzing Insight, Innovation and Action. It will get you thinking about what a powerful question look like—such as it:

• generates curiosity in the listener
• stimulates reflective conversation
• is thought-provoking
• surfaces underlying assumptions
• invites creativity and new possibilities
• generates energy and forward movement
• channels attention and focuses inquiry
• stays with participants
• touches a deep meaning
• evokes more questions

Make it better?

People are asking what would make school better. I thought it would be interesting to flip that around and ask, what elements of schooling would make an 'unschool'  situation better?

A child is born. Immediately, the child begins to learn as is natural to human beings. The child begins by observing, exploring, imitating what s/he sees. As the child grows, s/he asks questions, seeks answers, and if there is an environment of freedom to learn, is encouraged to do so.
That environment of freedom offers lots of time to reflect, time to tinker, time to play. Time to rest. Time to do nothing. Time to give it your all--no interruptions. Time to exercise.
If that environment is nurturing, the child gains more access to the world around him/her.
The free learning environment has individuals that support the child wholeheartedly. People (or more even one person) who believe in the child unconditionally.

Can such a situation as described above be improved upon by features of the schooling world?

Let's see--school offers:
1. More adults (teachers) who care about the child's passion.
Not really. Teachers are themselves overworked and have to manage many other young people.
2.More time to develop your interests.
No. Everything is superficial as through the day you move from subject to subject in blocks of time.
3. Opportunities to think and reflect on the big questions of our era?
No. There is constant interruption and pressure to come up with quick answers.
4. Problem solving skills? Independent thinking?
Rather, a perfect set up for plagirism, lazy thinking, dependency on others cheating and so on because really, why bother? It's your interest, not mine.
5. Kids who are kindered spirits.
Yes. You can find friend but be warned, kids who follow their interests too passionately and vocally at school are often considered 'nerds' at school.

Humm. I am having a hard time coming up with anything that is worth borrowing from school except that (and this is not a merit of schooling, rather what happens as a result of institutionalizing learning) school is where the people, actual bodies are congregated. It is where human resources are locked up; where dollars are spent; where time is stolen; when dreams are made mockery of, where you learn to accept the status quo.
 It seems to me the only redeeming element of school is people and many of them do not wish to me there at all.

Can someone else please unschool my kids?

Q. Learning from a place of passion and love. Learning by following your own interest and curiosity. Community supported and engaged learning. Unschooling. I really want this for my kid. I've heard of all the benefits: kids become better at self-starting, develop character, learn tolerance, maintain their love of learning, hone their skills and apply their creativity... It sounds great but I don't have the patience for it. Nor the time. Nor the skill set. What I'm really asking is can someone other than me, the parent, unschool my kids?

A. Why not? The arrangement is not dissimilar to when a tutor might be hired into the home.

Q. But I thought it had to be the whole package—isn't the point that you have that special bond with your kid: YOU know your kid better than any teacher can ever know..and all that? Doesn't farming them off to be unschooled by someone other than the parent disrupt that bond?

A. While a parent will know their kid in a way that a teacher, coach, education facilitator etc does not, it is not always the case that the child's 'interest needs' are being served sufficiently by the parent.
'Special bond' or not, often, personalities clash, or there is not enough time in the day to focus on that child (other responsibilities, children etc). More often than not, the kid needs a greater network of community members. The parent is not and should not be the 'be all, end all' for the child's education. That is too much of a burden.

Q. So can you share some scenarios where unschooling can happen without the parent as a facilitator or the child's education?

A. I personally don't know of any families where the unschooling is facilitated by someone other than the parent. I do know that parents who unschool often get together and share activities that kids can choose to engage in or not. There are many arrangements that are available, from co-ops, associations, free schools, learning studios, casual drop-ins, and hang outs, and more and more of these are cropping up across North America.  Increasingly, we are seeing opportunities for older kids especially to do self-directed learning guided by people other than mum and there is a burgeoning of 'alternatives to high schools.'

Examples:

Summerhill

Sudbury Valley 

SelfDesign

North Star 

Purple Thistle Centre

Fertile Grounds

Compass Learning Centre

Deep root centre

Praise Overload

Here's a piece I wrote that just appeared in ParentsCanada Magazine Nov. 2013.

Here's the link for easier reading:

http://www.parentscanada.com/family-life/praising-children-the-difference-between-enthusiasm-and-unrealistic-expectations

Next page:

Last:

Hamilton’s first Self-directed and Interest-based Education Centre is opening soon!

 OPENING JANUARY 2014

Hamilton’s first Self-directed and Interest-based Education Centre for Teens is accepting applicants!

Located in the James Street North Neighbourhood, Hamilton, Fertile Grounds is a self-directed, community-based, interest-led learning studio for teens aged 12 to 17.

We offer teens the opportunity to be pilots of their own learning, study what they are passionate about, and learn practical skills. An incubator of ideas and possibilities, it is a place where youth are invited to actualize a vision, inspire and be inspired, in a community setting. 

Young people are visionaries, innovators and creators when they are given the support, space, and time to find answers to their questions.  At Fertile Grounds, we assist in the development of each teen’s talents and interests—remaining respectful of their unique learning paths.

Fertile Grounds Learning Studio is an alternative to high school for kids who:

·                love learning but are bored in schools,

·                are talented, skilled, but unsatisfied with school,

·                have a hard time in school and are falling between the cracks

·                have no sense of belonging, and feel they do not fit in,

·                have big dreams but no time to pursue them,

·                are project-oriented but don’t have the time of space to explore,

·                want to focus on their strengths

for more information please visit, www.fertilegrounds.ca

Anti Oppression, anti-Racism Education.

For any person facilitating learning, it will be an incomplete education without the constant presence of anti-oppression, anti racism awareness as part of the program.

“But our family is not racist!” you might be exclaiming.

What you want to consider is that oppression is not only the overt suspicion, dislike and hatred of people of another skin colour or race or gender, or sexual orientation, but it is also the insidious upholding of  negative cultural attitudes against those who do not conform to 'mainstream' portrayal of 'normal,' (read 'best').
Until representation of people who are not white-skin in media becomes the norm, until gender discrimination in the work place and in other institutions like schools is arrested, we are all implicated in the upholding of an oppressive society.
Some will argue (and I am one such person) that if you are not actively challenging racism and oppression, then you are part of the problem.

Have you checked your privilege today?

From jessiehmann.com images

You can start by examining your own privilege. Whether you have white skin, or you are middle class, or cis-gendered, or able-bodied, or Christian, unschooling etc., it is important to acknowledge how your privilege operates within an oppressive society and what you can do to promote social justice for all.  That's called taking responsibility for our privilege--and acting intentionally to pull down systems of oppression.

It is not enough to think of oneself as exempt from anti-oppression education. Even people of colour for example, need to continue to educate themselves on the issue: we are horrified by the depth to which some people of colour have internalized racism and actually identify with the oppressors!

Many (usually white people) object to 'non-privileged' peoples wishing to retain the use of labels when talking about themselves and their struggles. For example here's a quote from a well-meaning person:

 I can't help but wondering if something isn't lost in all this labeling. What happens in my personal relationships when I focus on who has the power advantage in this category, but not in that category etc.? Doesn't it over-emphasize difference instead of recognizing shared humanity? 

My 17 year old daughter expresses it perfectly:

Labels, when applied by the marginalized, serve to express experiences, shared identity, and systemic oppressions. Recognizing shared humanity is impossible as long as the experiences of groups of humans are informed by an unjust social and political landscape. We do not share humanity while there is injustice; privileged people do not have the right to inform us that our labels are what prevents equality; what prevents equality is the unwillingness of oppressive groups to acknowledge and dismantle their privilege. Only when our rights and opportunities are equal in every respect will our humanity be the only label necessary.

In my next post, I will be reviewing a book about anti-oppression education, so stay tuned! 

Natural Born Learners: Unschooling and Autonomy in Education. This book coming to you really, really soon!

We had some difficulty coming up with the perfect cover for our book, Natural Born Learners: Unschooling and Autonomy in Education.  Shout out to Tom Raczka blanketstudio.ca for all his hard work!
Here's the final version:

















Here's the progression (various shades not shown here):

You know you want to. Unschooling.

You've heard about it. It sounds amazing: learning in freedom. Learning what YOU want to learn. learning because you LOVE it.
Unschooling, otherwise known as self-directed learning. Learning from a place that starts with being genuinely interested in a thing—because we are actually passionately moved by that thing, truly wanting to learn so that it is impossible to be be stopped.
This, balanced on the other hand with 'incidental' learning: picking up things by merely existing around them with little effort at all. There is all sorts of research supportive of the unschooling learning-style.
There's ample evidence that it works.
But can YOU do it? After all, you have to be around the kids 24/7 and don't you have to have the patience of Mother Teresa for that?
There are so many reasons why you can't do this: You don't have the money not to mention you lack the skills and education that is needed in order to educate others. You don't know anyone else who is doing it and it will feel lonely. If you're really honest with yourself, you just don't have the motivation nor the innovative mindset.
Besides, what will the neighbours say not to mention your parents, your in-laws, your brother, your hairstylist, the people at work, the cashier at the supermarket etc etc.

It's just not going to work for you. So what do you do? You keep reading about it; you secretly join unschooling groups, unschooling Facebook pages, and fantasize about one day leading the self-directed learning lifestyle with your family. And time goes by..

But the thing is, there is no way of knowing if unschooling is for you and your family until you take the plunge and begin already.

Don't be afraid to get your feet wet.

Yes, it's messy, it's non-linear, there are times, many times when you think, "What am I doing?"

Similar to the creative process or like, well, life—right?

Once you open your mind to the possibilities, to the opportunities that abound, once you make the commitment and hold on for the ride, you will find the support you need to help you.

You will get to that place of self-trust, which is better than what any list of does and don'ts can offer.

Play with me!

"Play with me," a child calls to his mother and then proceeds to demand that she play in the exact way he wants her to: "Pick up the blue one, not the purple." "You have to turn left, not right."
"Move the train around the track after  I do."
Not nice.
When you try to suggest ideas, you get turned down with a resounding "NO!"
 "This just isn't fun," you say to yourself. After all, no one wants to be bossed around by their kid.

And while we are constantly being told that we need to be playing with our kids to aid along their development as well as to enjoy tighter bonding, it is often the case that we don't know how to—nor do some of us really want to. "I've pulled out the puzzles, we've done lego and played chase and now what? I'm bored," a friend tells me.

I think about how my kids played when they were little and how I too had to play the roles assigned to me. For example, with Thomas the Tank Engine stories, I had to be the greedy capitalist, Sir. Topham Hat, extracting ever more labour from the non-unionized working trains.
Often I'd be rotten Diesel 10, running after the other little engines and causing havoc.
In Lord of the Rings, I had to be Saruman (always the bad guy, never the good person).
I understood that I was a mere character in the script to be moved around at will but I did not mind because I truly enjoyed scaring the kids and chasing them around.

Interestingly enough, the way we westerners may think of play is not necessarily how other cultures do. For instance, in some cultures and indeed, from what I understand, hunter-gather societies, kids will hang around parents and play along side the parent, usually playing (and even contributing in their own small way),  at imitating their parents working; eventually growing up to do the jobs the parents do.
In other cultures, there is no distinction between work and play..it is all one and the same with adults simply doing their work, but doing it with cheerfulness and fun.

Today, just as we make special arrangements for education, we make special arrangements for play time. So it is not surprising that to many of us, it doesn't feel natural, especially if we are not playful by nature.
I suggest not getting hung up on the word 'play' but rather pursue things you both like to do together--for instance story telling with stuffed animals and puppets was fun because I really enjoyed it.
Maybe you like fixing things; here's a way your child and you can 'play' at fixing while chatting and laughing together. No one says it has to be physical or fantasy to be play--just do things creatively and  cheerfully—that is, don't focus on correcting the child, or controlling too closely the project.
The trick is not to think of play as 'entertaining kids,' but rather authentically being in the moment.

The good things in life come free...but not always.

"I've come to accept that for kids to have really interesting experiences, you have to put in the dollars."

That's what a friend of two unschooling teens shared with me. She is far from rich. She and her husband have 4 kids (two kids under 12). Her daughters are off to London for the one to take acting classes at a school she has long had her eye on. It's a two week course and the daughter has worked and saved up all year for tutiton while mum and dad will be covering the trip over.

While the 'good things in life are free,' having that extra to make a dream possible adds spice to life experiences.
Where there is a will, there is a way, so the saying goes. What my friend is saying, is that there comes a time when you might need to make a sacrifice: if that is the dream, help them get there by being willing to do the financial piece.
I know that music lessons were and continue to be important to my family and we make it happen. Now my middle gal teaches a little and she teaches at her violin teacher's studio and gets $10 off her lessons.This helps us (the parents).
Daughter plans to do acting lessons in Toronto so that means dollars. She is saving up her earnings and we will also be helping with tuition and transportation.
Another daughter wants singing lessons. She has wanted singing lessons for a long time—years even. But she too must pull her weight so that we can push her along.

Baulking at spending money is understandable but you can also look at it as an investment—in order for the kids to grow in their experiences and skills and yes, even happiness.
We are not talking here about catering whims. Rather, when the interest rings authentic, when there is effort made on the part of the child, real effort, then it's time to aid the kid along. Cheering the kid along won't suffice without actually putting dollars behind the interest. Otherwise it shrivels on the vine.

If there really is no way to squeeze blood out of a rock, then try battering. Look around and see if there is a way to make the costs more reasonable by doing a small group singing lesson, for example. There are always ways to get around the barriers. Be patient.

The other thing is exposure: your child is unlikely to flourish in her talent if there is no one to aspire to; no great models to try and emulate.
Again, that sometimes means dollars. Take music. Going to concerts to hear live music are costly. But often, there are half price or even free lunch hour concerts that are made available to the public.

I'm interested in learning about how readers of this blog 'make it happen' when it comes to paying for experiences and opportunities. Please drop us a line!

6 ways unschooling can inform practice for innovative educators

I'm so excited to be a guest writer over at The Innovative Educator.
Here's how it starts:


The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.  —Henry David Thoreau

There is a whole world of learning that unfolds, starting with the spark of an interest.  For unschool educators, it is a matter of following the lead of the learner.

The learner focuses on what he wants to know about. From this node of knowledge, like an octopus sending out its many arms to the environs around, the learner links to ever more nodes—making connections and expanding his knowledge.

It’s the job of an educator to shine a light on the nodes so that the child can choose to look closer at or not.

Putting a spin on some familiar platitudes that are regularly associated with school, I offer six thoughts on how the unschooling method can inform and help us improve educational practices everywhere:


1. Share
Imagine you are holding a newborn baby—fragile and utterly helpless. But then you see the light in the baby’s eyes—the way she searches the room, the way she tries to focus on her immediate surroundings: the patterns on the blanket, the shaking rattle, her mother’s face.

You notice the length of time she stares at her waving fingers and you begin to understand that she is taking it all in, working it out—as much as she is capable of, a little at the time.

The newborn infant has power—however limited it may be. She is already a great communicator. She lets us know her needs (belting it out for all to hear and we’d better hop to it quickly!) and we have the power to meet or ignore those needs.

We begin to understand that education is not being ‘done’ to the learner. Rather it’s a partnership we enter into together with our young learner—herself, a self-educator—who is sharing her educational path with us.

We commit to the child, meeting her half way in her effort to learn. We do not begrudge the baby nor do we mark her ‘wrong’ for not being interested in what we might be offering.

2. Discipline…
yourself.  You’re so excited that your learner is excited! As unschool educators I can’t tell you how many times we want to rush in—uninvited. But what can happen is that the interest cools because, in our enthusiasm, we’ve unintentionally taken over the project. Slap your hand and remind yourself, “Not yours.”

Ever noticed on birthdays how everyone gets the kid something around a theme or subject they like? She loves horses? People bring horse books, horse sweaters, posters of horses, mugs with horse images on them. “I love horses but I like other things too!” my daughter once said.

At times, we might be more invested in the thing than they are. Months and even years later, we might still be assuming the passion or interest is current when in reality it has long since morphed into something else. No child should be beholden to an interest.


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Mind your language

My daughter (17) is working at a summer camp with kids ages 9 and 10. It's a literacy camp in an impoverished and 'high-needs' area of our city.
She's enjoying it and the kids adore her. She tells me she uses her extensive (and highly prodigious) vocabulary—never simplifying her speech.
Their curiosity is peaked. "They like it when I speak to them using my full vocabulary," she explains. "They don't always get it and I have to explain words. Kids want to know what is going on, they should try and figure things out."
She is giving them that opportunity and they rise to the challenge. There is no dumbing down of the conversation because, "It's the context that matters. They don't understand the words but they get the meaning of what I am saying—or they try to get the meaning."

Berthe Morisot

That's been my approach exactly in raising my kids. No baby talk.
And when it comes to books I am a snob.  Choosing books to read to little kids is a great responsibility (and an honour) which I take it very seriously.
When the kids were young and even into their early teens, I would always go for well written books, books with beautiful language; the poetic, the books that were multi-layered in their stories and that had meaning and scope for reflection. It is not surprising that my teens are all well spoken.

The other day I was at the library looking for books for my three year old nephew. I was really dismayed at the array of books on display: dull, trite material with very limited room for interpretation ('This is Bob. Bob is a builder').
Is this a case of the library buying what the public demands I wonder?

I lament at what has happened to many of the classics—like Winnie the Pooh (the Disney versions)—that have been stripped of all art, imagination and beauty. What we are left with are caricatures of the real thing, a dismal situation that detracts from the meaningful and lively content that the author worked to convey and that children respond to with delight and enthusiasm.

My friend was telling me how her husband was reading Dr. Seuss books to her 3 year old and how they didn't understand any of it.  I asked her why that mattered to her? What they are actually picking up (besides cuddle time with Dad), is the play of language, enjoyment in the spoken word, entertainment and fun.
Stay tuned for a list of my favourite books for young children for my next post.

The Unschooling Book: Almost there!

Stuck in Unschooling.

"She's too comfortable. Everything is way too easy at home."
"We want him to gain more experiences..but he won't leave the home!"
Lately, I've been hearing such laments from a number of parents of teen unschoolers.
The parents worry that their child is not pulling his weight; that nothing is happening etc.
They wonder, "Is our unschooling practice dis-empowering him?"
Some parents are taking action:
"He'll be off to school come the Fall- so that he can challenge himself, of course."
One parent is planning on sending her son out to a family friend out west this summer, in order for him to gain work experience on a cattle farm.  The intention is to get some new ideas flowing for the kid; a change of scenery; generate other interests.

Who can blame a parent for fretting when the son is snug as a bug, seated at the computer in pyjamas all day, sipping cappuccino and barely leaves the house? What if he's still here in five years time?
Scary thought. And yet, he's content, isn't he?  So why the concern?

"Please don't wake me up. I'm only sleeping."

"It's not all about how happy he is," one mother tells me angrily. We've both read somewhere that there needs to be a little stress in a life in order for any personal growth to be made. I believe it.
How will the young 'un be prepared to face life's challenges if he hasn't been challenged by life?

So the question is, do we seek out challenges (and a little stress) or do we wait for these to come (as come they undoubtedly will)?
If you go by the premise that there is actually no such thing as a completely stress free life, it might be useful to consider that your child might even be coping with stress or worry that you are unaware of. How do some people cope? There's escapism and what might look like the child being content with his life, doing stuff on the computer could in fact be a way to de-stress or deal with anxiety.

On the other hand, the kid could be really content and will eventually emerge, seeking relationships and community outside of the home.
And remember, some people (kids included!)  just don't need a lot of interaction. Some find enough stimulation in books, family, the cyber world of the internet.

From all that I've read and seen, kids go through a tricky time starting at age 12 to around 15 and then they grew into their own and begin to amaze you. With my own, I didn't have the chance to see this play out as they have opted for school but with my friends' kids, I have to say this is true.

I think of one kid I know who is now a ballet dancer with the Royal Winnepeg Ballet. Her mother would lament and fret constantly that her daughter was always reading—never socializing or doing other things. However, by the time she turned 16 she was interested in a whole other bunch of stuff (boys included).

Sandra Dodd has written about this in some of her works and in our interview—that there is this weird period where to the worried, judgy eye, the kid seems to know nothing compared to school kids. He or she seem to be doing nothing, appear unmotivated and then...the plunge happens into what ever it is they are suddenly anamoured about. After all, as Matt Hern puts it, "Nobody wants to grow up ignorant and dumb."
Everyone wants to contribute in some way and it is up to us as parents, guardians, teachers, aunts and uncles to help the kids in our care find that way.

It doesn't hurt to make a deal with them if you really feel you can't wait for the change to happen: "Join this or that, do this or that and I'll do such and such for you."or whatever works—just to get the kid out of what could be a limiting habit of refusing to try something new.
See if a friend could invite your teen to that art show or to a movie etc. Let others know what's happening and let them know you would appreciate them including your child if opportunities arise.
There is no shame in discussing your concerns with others who get it. By and by, as happens time and again, your teen will find something they will latch on to that will be a channel for their passion and contribution.

Everybody seems to think I'm lazy
I don't mind, I think they're crazy
Running everywhere at such a speed
Till they find there's no need. 

"I'm Only Sleeping"
—The Beatles 

Musings on staying home and giving up a job.

What happens when you are a professional mum and you have a baby; you fall in love with that baby, you want to stay home with that baby and not go back to your job? That's the discussion over at Life and love in the petri dish. What a great discussion. In the context of unschooling, many of us face the same situation: we ask ourselves "what about all those years of studying we've put in; the enormous about of work done to get to where we are?" And then to go and throw it all away?

The concern is that the profession will not wait for those who leave it for even just a few months. Getting back into the job-loop once you step out to do that unproductive, bothersome little thing called raising your child, can be nearly impossible. It's a tough call for all those women who have to make that decision.

On the other hand, as one woman comments, isn't it rather insulting to child-rearing to think that a highly educated parent is a waste on the child?

In my case, I hadn't started a profession when I got pregnant-I had only just finished an undergraduate degree. Three babies later (in rapid succession), there was no way I was going to get professional and leave my three kids at daycare!  I then learned about unschooling and decided to follow that path, thinking that when the kids got older, I would go get myself a career.
And why not? There is a time for everything. Sometimes kids take precedence. The way I see it, kids are small for only a short while-so if as a parent you want to be with your kids most of the day, our society needs to respect this desire and make it easier to do so.

By the same token, we need to make it possible for professional moms to gain ready and seamless re-entry into a profession (that is provide support and training) if they decide to take time to raise their children. We need to be pushing our institutions and governments to grant women longer leaves from work if that is what they want to do. Digging into the issue, part time work is viewed as the best of both worlds if you can get it, except often, as pointed out in the post's comments-and I speak from experience as well- it can amount to part time work for full time stress!

What I found interesting was the absence of one of the most obvious ways to keep a foothold in the working world and even gain reentry into that world (probably doesn't work for professions like medicine and other such areas): volunteering. Sitting on boards. Collaborating on projects. Participating and taking on an active role within your community, so that when your kids don't need you as much, as they grow, you have a foot in the door; people know you and respect what you have to contribute.

Some women/parents say they are bored being with their kids at home all day- so don't be at home all day!
Too many people think that being a stay at home mom, or unschooling mom means that you give up your interests and your life; give up adult conversation and interaction to become a servant to the child. This is so unfortunate: there is a whole world out there that you as a home-educating parent can contribute to on all sorts of levels. You are NOT limited to the home; only to what your interests and imagination dictate. Broaden your interests, your concern for your community and there will be no way that the community will reject what you have to offer.

When it comes to the changing face of the economy, the movement towards more sustainable, just and localized economies, social enterprises and co-operatives is already underway. No doubt this global development facilitates and makes acceptable, the idea of flexibility in women's efforts to earn a wage, raise our own kids, or transition over to employment after raising kids.

Message to the People

Truer and truer:

All the knowledge you want is in the world, and all that you have to do is to go seeking it and never stop until you have found it. You can find knowledge or the information about it in the public libraries, if it is not on  your own bookshelf. Try to have a book and own it on every bit of knowledge you want. You may generally get these books at second hand book sores for sometimes one-fifth of the original value……
The value of knowledge is to use it. It is not humanly possible that a person can retain all knowledge of the world. But if a person knows how to search for all the knowledge of the world, he will find it when he wants it. A doctor or a lawyer although he passed his examination in college does not know all the laws and does not know all the techniques of medicine but he has the fundamental knowledge. When he wants a particular kind of knowledge, he goes to the medical books or law books and refers to the particular law of how to use the recipe of medicine. You must, therefore, know where to find your facts and use them as you want them (pp. 5-6). Marcus Garvey, 1887-1940.

This excerpt is from Message to the People: The Course of African Philosophy 

Who was Marcus Garvey you ask?
Marcus Mosiah Garvey was a Jamaican political leader, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator who was a staunch proponent of the Black nationalism and Pan-Africanism movements, to which end he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL). He founded the Black Star Line, part of the Back-to-Africa movement, which promoted the return of the African diaspora to their ancestral lands.
Garvey was unique in advancing a Pan-African philosophy to inspire a global mass movement and economic empowerment focusing on Africa known as Garveyism.

Peter Gray's Free to Learn: Book Review

Jamie is a rummager. He's not quite two but he likes to nose about in our drawers. He pulls everything out; examines what is of interest, shakes his head at what isn't exciting to him (not the blue bottle of nail polish, nor the silver! Yes! That's right. The red!).
He can't speak much yet, but he knows how to show me what it is he wants. He pulls my hand to bring me over to where his uncle's bike stands so that we can closely examine the lights, the bell, the wheels and the brakes. He wants to know how it works; does it move? What happens when I touch this? What if I shake it, bang it, prod and push it? Let me look at it. Let me press the switch!
Sitting at the piano, he lifts my hand so that I can play along with him on the piano keys. James watches me closely to see what I'm doing and he wants to do it too (it's fun of course—no point in doing it if it is not!). Outside, there is still snow but he remembers that flowers grow out here, so we need to go look for them in the garden. You will see him stop to pick up stones or leaves; whatever is on the path—until another intriguing path draws him away. Back inside, you can watch him experiment with his own balance as he bounces up and down on the bed or runs after a moving object.

We say he is playing. And in his play, he is learning about the world around him.
He's also learning other skills: how to judge weight, distance, how to speak, sing. He learns how to assess danger. He learns how to be self assertiveness and self-knowledgeable.
James is learning all this at an unbelievably rapid rate and he is learning this, not seated at a desk—which would be ridiculous—but by playing.

This brings me to Peter Gray's exciting new book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life.
Gray is an evolutionary psychologist and popular blogger at Psychology Today. He has spent many decades studying how children learn and has come to conclude as have many before him- that children come into this world, "burning to learn and are genetically programmed with extraordinary capacities for learning."(x).

Gray research is backed by a fresh perspective to the discourse: his work has focused on studying hunter-gather societies (old and new) and how the children in these groups learn. Not surprisingly, those children are allowed to continue to teach themselves in the same way very young children like my nephew James does—before we interrupt their self-education with our vision of what they need to know; what curriculum they need to cover; what tests they must pass in order to prove they know what we say they must know. They learn by playing freely.

Gray is not by any means, the first person to ask "What have we done to Childhood?" Nor is he the first to state that we have imprisoned children on all fronts—so that they can no longer play (and learn) the way even we were still able to do, just a few generations back. Today, we go out on the street and wonder where all the kids are? The answer? Safe inside away from predators, strangers and drug-pushers.Gray documents the rise in anxiety and depression in kids as free play declines.
No wonder, later, that when they are older so many of them have never known self-autonomy or developing 'an external or internal locus of control.'(17). They are helpless—where they should feel strong and powerful, because they have not had the opportunity to develop these latter traits through Nature's way of 'free play'(not the overly supervised, adult directed kind).

"Play," Gray says,"is Nature's way of helping children discover what they love." From love comes true learning.  Children, Gray continues, "have an intense drive to play with other children." And the best play, as observed within hunter gather societies is where the child learns cooperation with other kids of differing ages.

In Free to Learn, Gray takes us through the history of education, beginning with that original democratic society—the hunter-gathers—whose existence depended on co-operative and good will and sharing. The advent of agriculture was the game changer that impacted from there on, how we raise children. Even the word 'raise' comes from the metaphor of farming, Gray notes.
Once we settled down to till the land, we had to work hard. While before, as documented in modern hunter-gather societies, people worked very little and had more time to play, relax, make art and music etc, a farming family needed to work long hours on the farm and had less time for other pursuits. They needed more children to help do the menial repetitive tasks and thus, the roots of child labour. Now there is less time for play.

And where before a hunter-gather society meant individuals had to be more creative, more adaptive and in tune with Nature in order to develop the high skills of hunting, foraging etc individuals in farming societies tend towards being more conservative and obedient. "Agriculture is a continuous lesson in controlling Nature," quips Gray and this of course extends to controlling children.
Feudalism, monarchism, then the industrial revolution followed, where business ownership became more powerful than landownership, and children where needed to work the factories. With the 'Protestant work ethic' hot on the heels of the Industrial Revolution, schools were set up to develop God-fearing, obedient workers (J.T. Gatto writes extensively on the purpose of schooling). Gray explains the origins of compulsory schooling (Prussia) when the state took over the educating the young (beginning of the 19th century) and that remains the cornerstone of our education system up until the present day: the belief that children are incapable of making their own decisions.

Democratic Schools, Unschooling and more.
With Joesph Pearce, Jerome Bruner, Maria Montessori, John Holt or any other regular adult with eyes in their head, Gray remarks that "children come into this world with an instinctive drive to educate themselves." 113.  What is more, "the enormous educative power of play lies in its triviality." (154). And when it comes to the social and emotional development of children the role of free play in  can not be rivaled.
Gray devotes entire chapters to explaining what exactly play is and how the playful state of mind is the ideal state for learning new skills, solving new problems, and engaging in all sorts of creative activities. We (both children and adults alike) are at our best frame of mind to be creative when we play.

There are still those opportunities to allow kids to be responsible for their own education. Gray gives us a famous example in the Sudbury Valley School, Massachusetts that has been around for 40 years (Gray's own son attended the school years ago). Here, each and every child is responsible for his or her own education. "Sudbury is the functional equivalent for our time and place of a hunter-gather band," Gray writes (p.100). As a parent of kids that were unschooled (now in high school), I would say that unschooling (self-directed, interest-led, playful learning), is an equal model of this type of hunter-gather scenario: kids are exposed to the world and learning opportunities that are the direct result of this exposure-the exposure being facilitated by the adults.
-----
Free to Learn is a book written in clear, accessible language that uses an engaging writing style so that I think you will find it both informative as well as entertaining. A very insightful and helpful read!

And the winning title for the Radio Free School Reader is........................

It was a tie between:

Natural Born Learners. 

Unschooling and autonomy in education; a Radio Free School reader

Born to Learn. 

Unschooling and autonomy in education; a Radio Free School reader

Hummm. Still not 100% sure. Gosh, this is tough. I'm still open to suggestions folks so bring 'em on.

Balancing opportunity and commitment

What happens when your child has a commitment to something and then an opportunity comes up that is too good to pass up, but will take her away from her commitment?
What do you do?
This happened to my daughter. She is in an 'elite' chamber ensemble and they rehearse every Friday from 4 to 7.30pm. Sometimes, things come up that she would like to attend but she doesn't because the expectation is chamber comes first; "Friday is sacred to Chamber," quips the chamber director.

Once in a while though, as in the case of having the chance to play with Amanda Fucking Palmer-in a cabaret rock band, the decision as far as daughter is concerned is to ditch Chamber.

Maddie playing with Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra, Phoenix, Toronto Nov 2012

She plays and has one of the most memorial times of her life. She is completely inspired. Her instructor/chamber mistress gives her grief: "You are letting down the group,"  guilting her out with words such as, "you are being selfish. If you were playing rep in a hockey team, would you do that?"

Another occasion where opportunity knocked and daughter answered was just the other week when she was asked to help out with a prestigious orchestra (they were lacking a player) and she decided to leave chamber a half hour earlier. She worked really hard to learn in four days time, musical pieces that took the orchestra entire months to learn. She had a great experience and again learned lots- especially what it feels like to play in another orchestra setting. Again, the director was unhappy. She claimed that my daughter would not have been able to take advantage of these opportunities if it had not been for having weekly chamber rehearsals and learning to play in an ensemble.  Who is in the right? The director or my daughter?

I say both. Commitment to the group is crucial if the group is to remain elite. And yes, playing with this elite ensemble has helped daughter develop her skills and get good. Of course it has. But I think that within reasonable limits, chamber should not hinder her wider experiences playing in the community.

Why won't the teacher see this as a launching pad to other experiences and adventures- that will inspire and broaden the students love and commitment to violin? If she were more reasonable she would see that going out and garnering more experiences enhances the learning daughter is doing in chamber-by bringing those other experiences to the group. An understanding teacher would be proud of her student's achievement instead of being angry and offended. A supportive instructor would applaud the student; encourage her. Instead, my daughter is met with hostility. But commitment to the chamber should not mean enslavement.
In the long run, an inflexible hold on the members of the group ends up creating an uninspiring environment that drives the best students away.
What do you think? How do you balance commitment with opportunity?

Nurturing your budding writer

A reader of this blog contacted me asking for tips on where young people can publish their writing.
I thought of the piece I wrote back in 2011 for Home Education Magazine called 'Nurturing your budding writer,' that relates to her request (still have not been paid for it!!).
Here it is below:
Since my 15-year-old daughter Eva is a young writer, I'm always on the lookout for mentoring and writing opportunities for her. Because for years we had a weekly radio show (Radio Free School was our family's radio program--by, for and about home based learners), she had the chance to interview some of her then favorite authors such as Gordon Korman and Kit Pearson. She's even met J.K. Rowling and received an autographed book (this as a result of a draw we won).

Eva has had her work published in various local papers such as the Hamilton Spectator and its Power of the Pen competition and many on-line websites. Her most recent poem has been published in Teen Voices.http://teenvoices.com/2010/11/28/poem-eternity-and-the-art-of-falling/#comment-532

Eva has written two novels (not yet published), a collection of poems, and is currently working on another poetry collection. In turn, she has encouraged her youngest sister to complete a short novel too. Eva and her two sisters all keep blogs of their own where they share their ideas and thoughts on topics they are interested in.

My experience supporting my children's writing interests continues to be so rewarding that I'd like to share tips on how to go about nurturing the young writer in your care.

Read

If you want to be a writer, you have to read. Make sure that your young charge has plenty of time to read, read, and read some more.

Read to your child

When my children were very small, in fact when they were no older than six months, I started reading to them (to be honest, because I love reading).

It was always a favorite time for us, and going to the library almost every day was a routine of ours. The bottom of my stroller fell through because of the number of books we carted back and forth.

My oldest had memorized every rhyme in My Very First Mother Goose by Rosemary Wells well before she was two. By the age of six, she was already a fan of the Lord of the Rings--the book that defined her life for the next seven years.

Amusingly enough, despite her love of literature (she had memorized reams of Shakespeare by age six) she didn't actually learn to read by herself until she was eight.

As for reading to kids, I still read to my youngest who is twelve, simply because she enjoys it so much. Browse reading lists such as Hoagies' Gifted Education Page for general exposure to good writing http://hoagiesgifted.org/hoagies_kids.htm

But remember, don't be too quick to denigrate writing that is considered "bad." Writers can learn from poorly written novels what makes a poorly written novel!

Seek exposure to other writers

Get to know the local writers in your community. My daughter has recently been taken under the wing of a well respected local poet who offers her constructive feedback. Although my daughter doesn't always use the advice, she appreciates an experienced pair of eyes on her work. Take your young writer to reading events where published authors share their work with the public. Libraries often host writers' events and so do local book stores.

Small press fairs are some of the best events that you can plan to attend. And they are so much fun! On a few occasions, we, as a family have rented (for a very affordable price) a table at the fair and have all enjoyed selling our wares--usually poetry collections or handmade zines. Zines are do-it-yourself home made publications written in a variety of formats from hand-written to computerized, to comics and combinations of these.

My youngest daughter started a zine called Kitty Corner when she was seven and has just recently moved on to other projects. The zine was about all things "cats"--cat jokes, cat facts, cat stories, cat drawings. We would photocopy the original pages, and she would hand color all her drawings so that each copy was unique. Over the years she earned quite a bit selling Kitty Corner.

Attend workshops

These are low cost ways to learn more about the craft of writing, to actually write, and to meet other writers. Local colleges offer day-long courses.

For more regular support, getting involved in a book club or a writers' group to discuss books and receive ideas on work in progress can be both helpful and inspiring to the young writer. The library and community center often advertise meetings in their bulletins or websites.

Find writing opportunities

Young writers with something to say will often be met with encouragement from editors of local papers; a simple letter to the editor expressing concern or support in a topic of interest is a good place to start.

Starting a blog is a very accessible and easy way to maintain a writing project. My daughters all have their own blogs where they express their views and opinions pertaining to their current interests.

My oldest also writes on deviantart, an online community of peer writers--an excellent way to get her work out there and to learn from others as well as support other writers. The website is http://www.deviantart.com/ .

Develop writing buddies and use NaNoWriMo

Eva has a friend who shares the same passion for writing, and they've collaborated on many projects. For the past two years, they've participated in the National Writers Novel Month challenge (NaNoWriMo). A fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing, participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel by 11:59:59, November 30 (approximately 175 pages).

To learn more, go to http://www.nanowrimo.org/ . Each girl has completed two 50,000-word novels. Last summer, they had great experience collaborating on writing a play.

I should add that their friendship originated out of a writing opportunity; all three daughters had expressed interest in having pen-pals and a call to the homeschool list I was on at the time resulted in Eva connecting with this very special friend out in California (we're in Ontario). This was five years ago and their friendship has since blossomed and deepened.

Use the internet

The internet is a world of wonder for resources and online writing courses. Check out these links as a starting point:

http://www.pandorascollective.com/literary-links/young-writers 
http://www.poeticpower.com/
http://www.youngpoets.ca/markets_and_contests

Competitions and writing challenges are all great ways to get sharpen writing skills. As mentioned above, the NaNoWriMo competition is worth , and they have a children's challenge of 10,000 words.

Provide the young writer with plenty of time and space in which to write, to dream, to think, to talk over their ideas or to simply let their ideas percolate.

© 2011, Beatrice Ekwa Ekoko