Thursday, July 12, 2007

Comments from readers

Thanks to each of you who commented on my previous entry. In a way, this revolution really is as simple as two of you put it: "follow the child" and get out of their way so they can learn! If we could accomplish nothing else but to get a significant number of people in our society to appreciate these principles, it would be a huge step. Still, as Jason so eloquently explains, there is value in developing a coherent, comprehensive philosophy that supports not only those who choose to unschool, but people from many different backgrounds and situations who find various other kinds of educational alternatives suitable for their children. Sometimes it does make sense to thoughtfully guide rather than completely follow the child, to provide what Montessori called a "prepared environment" to help them structure their learning rather than completely staying aloof from their learning process. But how do we know when this makes sense, and to what degree? That is where a coherent philosophy helps. And I'll continue to think and write in pursuit of this task.

Jason, I deleted a few earlier blog entries and comments because I wanted to keep this space as current as possible. I'm sorry you lost some entries you wanted to revisit. But I really appreciate your very thoughtful comments as well as your support, and I look forward to our continued dialogue and collaboration. Your ideas for additional sites for discussion and networking are great. Let us know when they're up and running.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure it's possible to be completely aloof from one's children's education, no matter how radical an unschooler one may be. Either way, what it comes down to for me is common sense and intuition.

"Follow the child" means you follow their cues, which includes the signs they will give you when they need some help and guidance. I can't tell you precisely what those are since they will vary widely with each child, and some will tell you more explicitly than others what they need from you, and of course they will get better at this as they get older.

It would seem to go without saying that you need a "prepared environment" - a child won't learn to read if you don't provide books.

Anonymous said...

...please where can I buy a unicorn?

Anonymous said...

He dejado pasar algo? http://nuevascarreras.com/category/cialis-generico/ cialis generico Mi scusi per quello che sono a conoscenza interferire… questa situazione. Dobbiamo discutere. comprar cialis contrareembolso bnekadxhvv [url=http://www.mister-wong.es/user/COMPRARCIALIS/comprar-viagra/]viagra cialis[/url]