The Five C’s Of Education

[Unschooling]

Choice

The Illusion of Choice

“The illusion of freedom will continue for as long as it’s profitable to continue the illusion. At the point where the illusion becomes too expensive to maintain, they will take down the scenery, move the tables and chairs out of the way, then they will pull back the curtains and you will see the brick wall at the back of the theater." ~ Frank Zappa "If you can see through the illusion, you are part of the solution." "Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want t…

The Time is Now: Differentiating “Force” from “Choice”

Natural Consequences

Children learn from their experiences through natural consequences which comes from respecting their rights and instilling good values. Obedience and punishments serve only to hamper their natural growth and development. "There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." ~ P. J. O’Rourke "The thing about natural consequences is that you don’t make them happen. They are the consequenc…

Living by Principles Instead of by Rules

“Children who live surrounded by rules, instead of learning about principles, end up becoming adept at getting around rules, finding the loopholes in rules, disguising non-compliance, or deflecting blame for non-compliance (i.e. lying about what they did). These are the skills that they then bring into adult life.” ~ Robyn Coburn "Often a child’s very gifts (his great intensity of feeling, depth of experience, curiosity, intelligence, quickness—and his ability to be critical) will confront …

Children's Rights

"Parents give up their rights when they drop their children off at public school." ~ Melinda Harmon, Federal Judge, 1996 “Children don’t like school because they are not free.” ~ Peter Gray A lot of parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves. No rights means no values. Rights protect peoples values. Instead we deny many of the children’s rights that protect and build upon these values. There are approximately 75 million kids under 18 which is 23% of the entire popul…

Collaboration

Free Play

Free Play is non-existent at schools and is essential for Self Discovery, Curiosity, and Creativity to flourish which are squashed and squandered at schools. Play based learning gives children the opportunity to develop the skills of the 4Cs: creativity, communication, collaboration and critical thinking. "Unschooling is not about the discovery of any particular body of knowledge. It is about the discovery of self." ~ Ben Hewitt [Home Grown] "Self-education through play and exploration requ…

Rewards & Punishments

"Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education." ~ Zhuang Zhou (Taoist Master) “Schooling that children are forced to endure—in which the subject matter is imposed by others and the “learning” is motivated by extrinsic rewards and punishments rather than by the children’s true interests—turns learning from a joyful activity into a chore, to be avoided whenever possible. Coercive schooling, which tragically is the norm in our society, suppresses curiosity and overrides children’s n…

Communication

The Truth About Socialization

Are your kids being socialized? The socialization schools offer is actually Social Engineering which is why the truth may surprise you! The truth is that kids that are unschooled are FAR BETTER socialized than SCHOOLED kids mostly because they are interacting with people of all ages, young and old in the real world. Kids in school only socialize with kids their own age which does not prepare them for the real world. School is great for socialization…where else can your children be routinely exp…

Critical Thinking

Question Everything

Our society has been dumbed down and indoctrinated to the point that most people actually believe everything they hear and assume that every critical thinker is a conspiracy theorist. Part of the problem is that people are so distracted with TV shows, movies, video games, media, sports, etc. People are so preoccupied with meaningless things that they never question or look into things. The term “Conspiracy Theory” was coined by the CIA during the Kennedy Investigation and was designed to discre…

Creativity

What Can We Create Instead of Consuming?

Most people merely consume their way through life, their lives are all-consuming where almost every aspect of their lives is someone else’s creation. It’s no surprise why we do this, as we often spend the first quarter of our lives, our most important years of learning, consuming other peoples creations instead of creating the life we want. Are you creating the life you want or consuming the life you have? Get In To The Habit Of Asking Yourself: "Does This Support The Life I’m Trying To Create?…

The Most Valuable Skill in the 21st Century

[The Most Valuable Skill in the 21st Century]