Holt/Growing Without Schooling

"In fact, the phrase “the teachable moment” seems to imply that some moments are not teachable; or worse, that teaching is something that needs to be added to the moment, rather than discovered within it …" Read the entire article for free:

Observing Without Interfering Reporting Self-Directed Education to School Officials

It’s not uncommon for parents to worry if their children will find work worth doing as they get older but the catch-all answer to that is often to send the child to college in the hope that something there will lead them to their life’s work. However, people have been questioning the value of a college degree for employment since I went to college in the 1970s.

This essay by an unschooling mom from GWS 122 appeared in 1998 but still has resonance today. https://patrickfarenga.substack.com/p/the-social-stigma-of-not-going-to

I spoke at the Maine Home Education Alliance conference on May 2; it was a very well-organized and family-friendly event.(https://www.facebook.com/MaineHomeEducationAlliance/)

One of the sponsors of the conference was General Dynamics/Bath Iron Works, a major company that designs, builds, and maintains ships for the US Navy. They had a popular exhibit that featured hands-on activities, such as building boats that can withstand heavy weight or rough seas in the large water tanks they provided, radio controlled vehicles to drive, 3D pens for making models and sculptures, and friendly, helpful staff members.

A representative from General Dynamics spoke before my speech and she noted how the homeschoolers they hire are team players, take initiative, and are problem solvers, which are the traits the company seeks in its employees and why they support the homeschooling conference. Fortunately for me, that theme was also part of my speech that followed, Learning is Natural, Schooling is Optional. I said: …

Read the rest of this article for free on my Substack. https://patrickfarenga.substack.com/p/learning-is-natural-schooling-is?r=ve95b

Most educators believe it is problems with curricular materials, families, and children’s health that are the key issues preventing learning in school, not with the structures and assumptions of school. Nonetheless, unschoolers often describe how their children learn school subjects, particularly math, in the course of their lives, not while they are engaged in course work. Here’s a story from GWS 73 that illustrates this.

This is Aaron Falbel's complete article from GWS 92 that inspired me to write the first part of this essay. I hope you enjoy this final section and find his writing and ideas helpful:

"But the new educational supermarkets, which offer courses (for a fee) on everything from breastfeeding to sensitivity training, are a step in the wrong direction. Though such courses are not compulsory, they end up convincing people that learning through living is inferior to instruction. Why learn to diaper a baby by watching Granny do it when you can receive “parental education“ from a professional parental educator?

"Most of us have forgotten what it was like to follow our own noses, to ask our own questions and find our own answers. Years of educational treatment have convinced us that learning is, and can only be, the result of teaching. We grow up into adults who insist that our children 'receive' an education. We trust neither ourselves nor our children to learn."

My new article is live on Substack now:

Learning? Yes, of course. Education? No thanks. Any social transformation brought about by education will not lead us to "fairer futures." We must detach ourselves from it, reject certainties, ask more questions, look deeper, and look further back …

I'm presenting a keynote speech at the Maine Home Educators conference in Portland, May 1 and 2. I speak about "Learning is Natural, Schooling is Optional" on May 2.

Patrick Farenga - Ryan Eldridge from Kennebec Cabin Company at The Great State of Maine Homeschool Conference May 2-3, 2025 at the Augusta Civic Center.

More parents write about how they homeschool their only child in my latest post. Though these stories are from years ago they still resonate because so many issues between parents and children are timeless. If you have a story about homeschooling an only child today that you want to add to the mix, feel free to add it to the comments here, or on my Substack.

Homeschooling an Only Child Part 2 of a 3-part series of letters from Growing Without Schooling issues 53, 70, and 72

Socialization is a concern for many homeschoolers. Here's a variety of ways homeschoolers/unschoolers with one child handle the situation.

Homeschooling An Only Child Part 1 of a 3-part series of letters from Growing Without Schooling issues 53, 70, and 72

The conclusion to The Empty Ritual of Schooling is published now.

The Empty Ritual of Schooling (Part 3) Reclaiming Public Spaces for Learning and Friendship