Texas Unschoolers

ALT Thank you for an amazing 10 years! - Texas Unschoolers

ALT We were free to stay as long as we wanted, take as many laps as we wanted, and follow whatever conversation our visit prompted. With a class field trip, none of that is possible. - Matt Crossman

ALT Trust yourself, allow yourself to make mistakes, and know it’s all part of the process. - Bria Bloom

ALT Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it. - Maya Angelou

ALT It doesn’t matter if you’re a model maker, a potter, a dancer, a programmer, a writer, a political activist, a teacher, a musician, a milliner, whatever. It’s all the same. Making is making, and none of it is failure. - Adam Savage, Every Tool’s a Hammer

ALT Being able to learn in one semester everything that’s covered in four years of high school has reinforced my belief that the public school system is a scam and not worth it. - Ryan Farley

ALT There is massive evidence that self-selected reading, or reading what you want to read, is responsible for most of our literacy development. Readers have better reading ability, know more vocabulary, write better, spell better, and have better control of complex grammatical constructions. In fact, it is impossible to develop high levels of literacy without being a dedicated reader, and dedicated readers rarely have serious problems in reading and writing. - Stephen D. Krashen

ALT I think the thing people mostly worry about is not socializing with people your own age, but while I think it’s useful to socialize, the “your own age” part is probably unnecessary. Do socialize with people who will treat you as a full-fledged human regardless of your age. - Luca Masters

ALT Parents ought to want their children to grow up independent, interdependent and able to direct themselves. The trouble is that we end up providing precious little of this self direction to our children across the childhood.

ALT My best advice would be to get involved as much as possible and guide your kids where they want to go. I would’ve missed out on countless wonderful experiences if my parents hadn’t found out about opportunities and asked me if I was interested. If your child is interested in attending college, you should definitely take advantage of early college start programs. -Wyatt Keller, grown unschooler

ALT During your teen years, what did you end up focusing on, working on, or learning? I learned plenty of history, math, sociology, psychology, and other useful knowledge. But I chose to focus on music. By the time I reached the end of my teen years I was a proficient pianist, drummer, and producer/songwriter. - Michael Stellman

ALT Tweet by Erin Kennedy: Dear Young Adults, You can leave. If you don’t like your doctor, walk out in the middle of your appointment. Leave the party. End the date. Don’t wait until the “polite” time to leave or endure because you think you’ll make a scene. You can go.

ALT Tweet from Rachel Miller: IF up through 17yrs & 364days kids have been told they have no choices, no opinion, all adults are authority, have no autonomy - then turning 18 is not suddenly going to erase 2 decades of “training” to defer & blindly accept however they are treated.

ALT Gaming today is a connected, multiplayer, interactive entertainment experience. It’s full of competition, problem solving, puzzles, logic. Good stuff, right? It’s also full of conversations, culture, history, musical scores, art, dialogue, moral choices — stuff you actually want your kids to learn. Plus, gaming has philosophy, strategy, and amazing skill. - Cara Lane

ALT Not with the intent of cramming knowledge down their throat, but experiences, and really filling them up with what the world has to offer. - D'Anne Lawley

ALT The student earns a behavior disorder diagnosis in the classroom. Medications may be employed. Rewards and punishments, including bad grades, are levied. How often have I seen these methods produce an engaged and motivated student? Never. And yet, the same methodology continues. When it doesn’t work, blame lands on the student. - Yvonna Graham

ALT What advice would you give to someone beginning their unschooling/alternative schooling journey? Enjoy the time you have and use it well. Enjoy the freedom you have to explore and try out what interests you. What advice would you give to their parents? You should support them in whatever they choose to do, no matter how ridiculous it may seem! - Lia

ALT I’ve started saying “learning outside the school paradigm”. I realized how many tie the word "learning" to school and at this time I’m just not interested in learning from a school perspective. I’m interested in learning from a human perspective and they are different. - Shannon Stoltz

ALT When you put your child in an institution, the life of the child and the life of the family start to revolve around the institution rather than the education of the child. - Brian Ray, NHERI

ALT If you’re finding yourself having to teach something, it means you’re not living it. Your living it is the example that teaches. If you have to pull it out and put it in its own special category, that’s where your work is, figuring out ‘Why isn’t that my life?’ - Erika Davis-Pitre

ALT I don’t really want to be called a teacher because I want to work on facilitating learning and creating spaces where everyone can take turns sharing their knowledge and learning from others. I want to work with people to build a community space that understands that education and learning is far more than what we’re taught in schools. - Nerd Teacher