Learning Through Unschooling
The Mission News: October 23, 2017
“In the end, the secret to learning is so simple: forget about it. Think only about whatever you love. Follow it, do it, dream about it. One day, you will glance up at your collection of Japanese literature, or trip over the solar oven you built, and it will hit you: learning was there all the time, happening by itself.”
-Grace Llewellyn
News that matters
➜ Today, spiders and snakes pose no realistic threat, yet many recoil just at the thought of encountering one. Is this strong reaction innate or learned? Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences have recently discovered that the fear of spiders and snakes is hereditary.
➜ A recent study conducted by the Academy of Finland found that parental support is important during all levels of a young person’s life. Previously, it’s been thought that support was most important during early childhood, but these new findings suggest the opposite. Instead, support is most impactful during the teenage and young adult years.
What we’re reading
From the book:
“Universal education through schooling is not feasible. It would be no more feasible if it were attempted by means of alternative institutions built on the style of present schools. Neither new attitudes of teachers toward their pupils nor the proliferation of educational hardware or software (in classroom or bedroom), nor finally the attempt to expand the pedagogue’s responsibility until it engulfs his pupils’ lifetimes will deliver universal education. The current search for new educational funnels must be reversed into the search for their institutional inverse: educational webs which heighten the opportunity for each one to transform each moment of his living into one of learning, sharing, and caring.”
Peter Gray’s Study of Unschoolers
Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, conducted a study analyzing the effects of unschooling on adulthood. Here are the four parts of the series called A Survey of Grown Unschoolers:
What we’re listening to
A podcast for those interested in unschooling their children. Amy offers advice on how to unschool, details what it means to be an unschooling parent, and explains ways to embrace learning in the real world.
What we’re watching
Callie Vandwiele and her five siblings were unschooled. These are her thoughts on unschooling, education, and the future of learning.
“Schools are an old tool that we are trying to apply in a new world.”
This is a classic TED talk given by Ken Robinson. If you haven’t seen it yet, we highly recommend you check out. If you’ve seen it before, then we don’t need to convince you to rewatch it 😉. Through humor and personal anecdotes, Ken delivers a profound message: kids’ creativity must be harnessed if we hope to have a successful future.
“My contention is, all kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty ruthlessly.”
Originally published on our M-F Newsletter.
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