If anyone else wants to take a try at deciphering the insanity, it's here: [link] The true insanity starts about two posts down, the one that starts "b more careful."

Maybe I can make up for it by letting them have total freedom in their teens. They will choose right; I just know it.

No, Laura, I'm sorry; it's too late. You've already corrupted them with your bad adult actuals.

Happy Birthday NoiseDesign!

I'm very tired. Damn cat doesn't like new food I bought and spent the wee hours of the morning purring and pawing at my face hoping I'd get up to get him something different. I like it better than yowling, but it still interrupted my sleep! But, I have my health so I'll stfu now.

sj, I hope you find a suitable apartment soon. Much health and alien-DNA removal for the sickies. And Congrats to Juliana!

I hope my dvr actually records tonight's episode of Drive. For some reason sometimes it starts to record when things are scheduled and sometimes it doesn't, with no rhyme or reason why.

The last two years I lived in Madison, I worked at a bakery co-op. We ran everything by consensus, and we had no one in charge.

Once me and two friends of mine at the co-op were reading an essay answer to a question on an application that a job applicant wrote for us. The guy was going on about how hierarchy is this capitalistic invention, and how we should all try to emulate Nature instead, because it's completely non-hierarchical.

Oh gawd, did we laugh our asses off. A friend said, "What, has this guy never heard of a pecking order?"

Anyway, I have a feeling if I met the "true freedom" person, their views would spark a lot of deja vu for me....

Juliana congrats on the job!

Hil, I've read about this unschooling thing. It kind of sounds like lazy parenting to me.

I had a rather unpleasant weekend. I was hit with a stomach virus Saturday night and spent Sunday feeling icky (especially after I over did it and ate a banana). Today I stayed home from work but tomorrow I'm going in, my tummy feels better, I've been drinking watered down Gatorade and water and eating crackers and jello and finally up graded to some apple sauce and plain rice. Although I think the rice was pushing it.

Hil, I've read about this unschooling thing. It kind of sounds like lazy parenting to me.

From what I've read about it, and a few unschooled kids that I taught during summer programs, it seems like it can work well if it's done right and with real thought put into it. What this person is advocating doesn't sound to me like the way I've generally seen/heard about it practiced, though.

Congratulations, juliana!!! May this job treat you very well!

Hil, I've read about this unschooling thing. It kind of sounds like lazy parenting to me.

From what I've read about it, and a few unschooled kids that I taught during summer programs, it seems like it can work well if it's done right and with real thought put into it. What this person is advocating doesn't sound to me like the way I've generally seen/heard about it practiced, though.

I know one gung-ho unschooler. She's bright and dedicated to her children, but I've also seen (through her) some of the weirder philosophies behind "unschooling." It's very Lockean at its core--the "noble savage" and all that.

FWIW, unschooling is mostly in Texas--where the homeschooling laws have been gutted by Christian fundamentalists who don't want the evil, sectarian gubbement telling them what to teach their children. But it's been embraced by granola, new-age hippies as well. So you get a wide-spectrum of practices within the unschooling movement that ranges from really teaching kids based on their own interests every day to having a 14 year old who can't read because he didn't want to learn.

I'm not exactly an advocate of child-led education. I know where my kids would lead me if they could.

And are there any results of the "un-schooling" out and about trying to make it as adults now?

Yeah, the girl I knew who was unschooled was definitely from the crunchy granola side of it. Great kid. I can't really say anything definite about her academically, since I didn't teach her, but to get into this program (for the class she was taking) required getting something like 550 on the verbal section of the SAT in seventh grade.

Most of the stuff that I've read about it has been from the John Holt/Learning All the Time side of it. I haven't seen much "noble savage" stuff there, more of a "kids won't learn much if their motivation is grades or gold stars or praise from a teacher -- learning how to get the right answer is a totally different skill than learning the material" philosopy. But I'm been purposely staying away from the totally crazy ends of the spectrum.