Unschooling Writing

A collection of all my unschooling writing, both from this site, from other places, translated work of mine, and interviews!

Introductory Unschooling:

Unschooling 101
So You've Started Unschooling... Now What? Tips On Not Stressing Out As You Start Your First Unschool Year
Why You Should Start Unschooling
Occupy Education Conference Talk

How Unschoolers Learn/How Unschooling Works

Everything Doesn't Have to Be a "Passion:" Why Half-Assing Things is Fine, Too
Why Boredom is an Important Part of Learning
No Classes, No Teachers, No Books? The Reality of Structure in Unschooling
The Role of Boredom and Dabbling in Pursuit of Passionate Learning
Learning by Doing: Education Made Real
Learning AuthenticallyBuilding Life on a Foundation of Untamed Learning
Unschooling Isn't Just Self Directed Schooling
Learning Happens When it's Relevant and Relatable: the Case for Learning in the Real World
When You Unschool, You Don't "Unparticipate:" Community Engagement and the Value of Different Ideas
Authentic, Personalized, Flexible Learning: Why Curriculum Will Never Be Good Enough
I'm Not Bill Gates. I'm Still An Autodidact (and So Are You.)
Breaking Down Hierarchies in Learning: Re-Imagining the Student-Teacher Relationship Through Unschooling
6 Reasons I'm Glad I Grew Up Unschooling
Experiences Aren't Universal: Why Personalized Education is Important
Unschooling Doesn't Mean There's No Hard Work
Unschooling Isn't More Risky, It's Just Less Conventional
Learning Advice from a Learning Life
Unschooling: Are We Teaching Ourselves? 
Misconceptions About Unschooling 
Unschooling: A "Hands Off" Approach?
Unschooling Creates "Gaps in Education" 
5 Things Unschooling Is Not, and 5 Things Unschooling Is
"What Do Unschoolers DO?" 
Unschooling is Learning From Everything
Bare Feet and Learning Connections (on Enjoy Life Unschooling)

Socialization, Fitting In, and How People Treat Unschoolers

The Ultimate Unschooling Socialization Post
The Importance of Solitude: When Socializing Isn't All It's Cracked Up to Be
Your Child Doesn't Have to Be a Homeschool Poster Child
How Do We Value Ourselves?
How Unschooling Shaped My Social LifeValuing a Different Kind of Education
How Unschooling Shaped My Social Life
The Socialization Question Hits Adulthood: Unschooled Identity and Fitting In
The Frustration of Being That Unschooled Person
When You're An Unschooler, Ignorance is the Greatest Sin
My Least Favourite Thing About Unschooling
Quizzing is For School, Not Life
The Myth of "Social Awkwardness" Among Homeschoolers & Unschoolers
Blame Unschooling!
Unschooling Questions 
Struggling With Unschooling Negativity
The Cons of Unschooling



Academic Subjects

Unschooling My Way to a Love of Classic Poetry
The Value in Writing for an Audience, Not a Grade
How I Learned to Read and Write
The Necessity of Shakespeare
How I Learned to Write (It Involved a Lot of Reading!)
5 Ways to Help Someone HATE Reading
5 Ways to Help Someone LOVE Reading
On Being Academic (Or Not!)

Unschooling and Media


Why Some Learning Isn't Better Than Other Learning: Television and Books Through An Unschooling Lense
"I want to unschool, but what if my kids just watch TV all day?"
Storytelling: An Art With Many Forms, or Why TV Shows Are Cool
Unschooling and Access to Media

Family Life and My Personal Story

How I Came to be an Unschooler
Growing Up Unschooled...With Siblings 

The Unschooling Community 

The Language That We Use Matters: Why Schooled People Aren't Sheep
In Praise of the Unexceptional: Because Unschooling Doesn't Have to Be Impressive
When Unschooling Isn't Perfect: a Call for More Compassion and Less Striving for Philosophical Purity
Vague Advice and the Flexibility of Unschooling
Critiquing the Radical Unschooling Critique: Real Negatives or Gross Generalizations?
Unschooling Gatherings

Terminology and Definitions

Unschooling is Not Relaxed Homeschooling
"Unschooling": Good Term, or Bad?
Teaching vs. Learning
Some More Thoughts on Teaching and Learning
The Term "Homeschooling" Sucks

Unschooling Publicity

Breaking News: Unschoolers Not as Good at School as Schooled People 
Unschooling Gets Publicity...In a BIG Way!
Unschooling Publicity in Montreal
Unschooling in the News

Anti-School


The Hidden Curriculum and the Truth About Schooling


Unschooling and Trust

Why People Don't Get Unschooling #1: Don't Trust Yourself!
Unschooling and Trust

When Parental Views Seem a Little Off

A Parental Right?
Homeschooling Doesn't Mean Your Kids Will be Like You

Miscellaneous Unschooling, Parenting, and Youth Rights


How to Talk About Homeschooling (So That People Will Listen)Growing Through Traveling: Independence, Confidence, and What We Become Away from HomeLearning to Eat: How Life Learning Principles Helped Me Develop a Healthy Relationship With Food
Unschooling Isn't New. Really, It Isn't.
Why I Think Unschooling is the Best Option... For Everyone.
Unschooling, Blogging, and Visions of the Future
School-Free Learning and Religion

Older Posts that May Not Be As Relevant

Unschooling 

Speeches

Unexceptionally Exceptional (presented at the Northeast Unschooling Conference in 2015)

Unschooling is Forever (given at the Toronto Unschooling Conference)

Against the Current  (given at the Toronto Unschooling Conference)

Notes on Unschooling (from a talk by Idzie and her Mother Debbie at the Quebec Association of Home-Based Educators Symposium in 2010)

Interviews & Questionnaires:

A Short Interview With An Idzie: Making the Choice and What Separates Unschooling (Also in Romanian)
Not Alone in the Woods podcast interview from The Unschooler Experiment (from Aug/09/11)
La Rééducation Webisode #22 - Interview with Idzie and her mother Debbie starts at 3:40, interview is in English with French subtitles (from Apr/13/11, though interview was actually conducted about a year earlier)
Interview With An Unschooler on Make it Education That Promotes Intellectual Curiosity (from Dec/01/08)
20 Unschooling Questions: Idzie from Montreal, QC, Canada on Do Life Right (from Jul/29/09) 
Unschooled for Life: Idzie's View on Radio Free School (from Apr/14/10)
Life Learning: An Unschooler's Perspective on Connected Mom Magazine (June/08/10)


Reviews of Unschooling and Unschooler Friendly Books:

For The Sake of Our Children by Leandre Bergeron
The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
101 Reasons Why I'm an Unschooler by ps pirro
A Rule is to Break: A Child's Guide to Anarchy

Writing About Unschooling Conferences and Gatherings I've Been To:

Not Back to School Camp 2008
The Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering 2009
The Northeast Unschooling Conference 2009
Not Back to School Camp 2009
The Unschoolers Winter Waterpark Gathering 2010

Translated Writing

Portuguese:
I'm unschooled. Yes, I can write. (Eu pratico Unschooling. Sim, eu sei escrever.)

Romanian:
The Need for Schooling/Nevoia de școlarizare
Unschooling Creates "Gaps in Education"/Unschooling provoacă “lacune în educație”
Unschooling: A "Hands Off" Approach/Unschooling: o abordare de tipul “nu te băga”?
Misconceptions About Unschooling/Prejudecăți despre unschooling
Unschooling/Unschooling (văzut de un unschooler)

Hebrew:
Teenage Rebellion: An Unschooling, Respectfully Parented Perspective/ של מי שגדלה בחינוך חופשי ומכבד מרד גיל ההתבגרות: מנקודת המבט

Russian:
The Value in Writing for an Audience, Not a Grade/СОЧИНЯЕМ НЕ ДЛЯ ОЦЕНКИ

Swedish:
Unschooling 101/Översättning av Idzies ”Unschooling 101”