Unschooling in Alabama

Welcome to my home education page.

As you have probably already figured out, my pages have a garden theme. That's because I have come to believe that children are like flowers. Give them lots of love (sunshine), some gentle guidelines (weeding), lots of freedom to learn what they want (rain), and lots of resources to learn from (soil), and they will bloom!

We have been home educating for 3 years now. At first we started out like most homeschoolers, recreating school at home. Gradually, though, we learned about unschooling, and it just seems to fit our family better.

It is a miracle that curiousity survives formal education -- Albert Einstein

What is Unschooling?

The simplest way to describe unschooling
is to call it child-led, or interest-led, learning.

To me, it basically means trusting that your child will learn what he/she needs to learn for his/her life. It's not following some
educator's or bureaucrat's guidelines.

Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire -- William Butler Yeats

Every child is unique, and each will need their own unique knowledge
and skills to become the person he/she is meant to be.
All we, as parents, can do is be his/her facilitator - providing him/her with the resources and the freedom in which to learn.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or faraway -- Henry David Thoreau

Children will learn. They crave learning, just as they need air to breathe and food to eat. Remember how your toddler found everything new and exciting? What happened to that excitement after a few years of public school? Somewhere along the way, it died. For our family, unschooling brought back that excitement, and our children are blooming again.

What is most important and valuable about the home as a base for children's growth into the world is not that it is a better school than the schools, but that it isn't a school at all -- John Holt

Homeschooling/Unschooling Books

There are many books written about home education and unschooling.
For a list of some of my favorite, and links to other home education pages with further information about Unschooling, visit my
Unschooling Books/Resources page.

Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of
education there is -- Isaac Asimov

I have been collected math resources and have finally gotten a webpage up listing them. This is only a partial listing of the great resources that are available to everyone. If you know of others, please don't hesitate to email me and I will gladly add them to the page!
Math Resources

What we learn with pleasure we never forget -- Alfred Mercier

There are many email lists and newsletters that can help you in your home education journey. Currently my website lists almost 200 of these.

My listings of email lists and Free Newsletters has been moved to my new website, HELM Online!
Homeschool Email Lists, Support Groups and Newsletters

It is better to ask some of the questions than to know
all the answers. -- James Thurber

Our family is working on reviews of books that we have read, some of which are homeschool related. Visit our Reviews page, read our reviews, and even order the books!
Homeschool Resource / Book Reviews

Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education
there is. -- Isaac Asimov

Home Educating in Alabama

Homeschooling in Alabama can be interesting, given the state's unique church school laws and lack of homeschool laws. For more information on educating your child at home in the State of Alabama, please check out my
Alabama Homeschool Page.

You will find links to other Alabama home educator's websites,
as well as useful information.

I have been writing some articles and other items about home education. I hope you enjoy reading them.
Home Education Articles

Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist; it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will be your road map through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to die.
-- From Dumbing us Down
by John Taylor Gatto

If you have any questions about unschooling, or homeschooling in Alabama, please don't hesitate to write me.

If you have problems with this page please contact Karen.

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