Free to Learn: Five Ideas for a Joyful Unschooling Life: Living Joyfully with Unschooling, #1
3/5
()
About this ebook
Humans are born to learn. So why are we so determined to get in our children's way?
Leaving the traditional education system behind is definitely unconventional and sometimes scary, but it enables us to preserve our children's curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm for learning. And that means more learning, not less.
With more than a dozen years of unschooling experience, Pam Laricchia explains the five paradigm-shifting ideas about learning and living that freed her family from the school system's compulsory schedule and typical teaching methods. Her practical examples and stories may make all the difference in your life and the life of your child.
In Free to Learn, you'll discover:
- Why you want to look for learning, not teaching
- How to see the learning that is happening everywhere, all the time
- How judgement and shame short circuit learning, and what to do instead
- How saying yes more encourages our children's learning and cultivates their confidence
- How to give your children a voice in your family, and much, much more!
Through its concise, easy-to-understand language, Free to Learn explores the depth and potential of unschooling and how it can strengthen your family's learning and relationships. If you like thoughtful educational ideas, step-by-step guides, and complex concepts explained in simple ways, then you'll love Pam's robust, user-friendly book.
Buy Free to Learn today to find the joy in learning for your family!
Read more from Pam Laricchia
What is Unschooling? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Unschooling Journey: A Field Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Living Joyfully with Unschooling Box Set Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to Free to Learn
Titles in the series (3)
Free to Learn: Five Ideas for a Joyful Unschooling Life: Living Joyfully with Unschooling, #1 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Free to Live: Create a Thriving Unschooling Home: Living Joyfully with Unschooling, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life through the Lens of Unschooling: A Living Joyfully Companion: Living Joyfully with Unschooling, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related ebooks
Life through the Lens of Unschooling: A Living Joyfully Companion: Living Joyfully with Unschooling, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Free to Live: Create a Thriving Unschooling Home: Living Joyfully with Unschooling, #2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School? Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Better Together: Strengthen Your Family, Simplify Your Homeschool, and Savor the Subjects that Matter Most Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homeschool Adventures, Learning Through the Power of Field Trips Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No-Sweat Homeschooling Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Happy Child: Changing the Heart of Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homeschooling Gifted Kids: A Practical Guide to Educate and Motivate Advanced Learners Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe New Face of Education: How Homeschooling Goes from Counterculture to Mainstream Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Plan Your Year: Homeschool Planning for Purpose and Peace Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Homeschooling Handbook: How to Make Homeschooling Simple, Affordable, Fun, and Effective Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homeschooling for Absolute Beginners: Make Learning at Home Simple, Affordable, Fun, and Effective Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Successful Education: How to tailor an education to perfectly fit your unique child's needs. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Core: Teaching Your Child the Foundations of Classical Education Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Survive Homeschooling - A Self-Care Guide for Moms Who Lovingly Do Way Too Much Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Brainy Bunch: The Harding Family's Method to College Ready by Age Twelve Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5JOYFUL TODDLERS AND PRESCHOOLERS: Create a Life that You and Your Child Both Love Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dirty Teaching: A Beginner's Guide to Learning Outdoors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Way They Learn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homeschool Basics: How to Get Started, Keep Motivated, and Bring Out the Best in Your Kids Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrowing Without Schooling Volume 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Path of their Own: Helping Children to Educate Themselves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Growing Without Schooling Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEvidence that Self-Directed Education Works Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Unschooling To University: Relationships matter most in a world crammed with content Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Relationships For You
I'm Glad My Mom Died Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5She Comes First: The Thinking Man's Guide to Pleasuring a Woman Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Child Called It: One Child's Courage to Survive Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of 30-Day Challenges: 60 Habit-Forming Programs to Live an Infinitely Better Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Great Sex: Creating a Marriage That's Both Holy and Hot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Codependence and the Power of Detachment: How to Set Boundaries and Make Your Life Your Own Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Talk so Little Kids Will Listen: A Survival Guide to Life with Children Ages 2-7 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Polysecure: Attachment, Trauma and Consensual Nonmonogamy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Becoming Free Indeed: My Story of Disentangling Faith from Fear Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mating in Captivity: Unlocking Erotic Intelligence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The ADHD Effect on Marriage: Understand and Rebuild Your Relationship in Six Steps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Covert Passive Aggressive Narcissist: The Narcissism Series, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Brain's Not Broken: Strategies for Navigating Your Emotions and Life with ADHD Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Not Die Alone: The Surprising Science That Will Help You Find Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Boundaries Workbook: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/58 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Makes Love Last?: How to Build Trust and Avoid Betrayal Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's Not Supposed to Be This Way: Finding Unexpected Strength When Disappointments Leave You Shattered Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All About Love: New Visions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer: A Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: the heartfelt, funny memoir by a New York Times bestselling therapist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Free to Learn
2 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Free to Learn - Pam Laricchia
Free to Learn
Five Ideas for a Joyful Unschooling Life
PAM LARICCHIA
Copyright © 2012 Pam Laricchia
All rights reserved.
Published by
Living Joyfully Enterprises
Erin, Ontario, Canada
ISBN-13: 978-0-9877333-0-6
Edited by Alexandra Peace
Cover design by Jane Dixon-Smith
Cover photo by Lissy Laricchia
I have been learning from my kids, Joseph, Lissy, and Michael, since they were born. We have been living together joyfully through laughter and tears, consternation and celebration, Harry Potter and Zelda. Each day is new and exciting, even if we stay in our pyjamas, and our conversations are always interesting and thought-provoking! They are shining examples to me of staying true to yourself, especially through the challenging times, and for that I dedicate this book to them.
I LOVE YOU!
Introduction
Hi, I'm Pam Laricchia. Our family is a wonderful web of three teenage children (Joseph, Lissy, and Michael), me, and my husband, Rocco. We've been happily unschooling in Ontario, Canada since 2002. Nice to meet you.
As background, I thought I'd share a bit about my life before, and my journey to, unschooling. Having earned an Engineering and Management degree through a unique five-year university program, I was firmly entrenched in the public and post-secondary education system, as were all my family and friends. Soon after, I was happily married and had children. But even as my parenting began veering from the mainstream, it didn't occur to me to question the system when my eldest reached school age. I do remember thinking it would be an interesting ride when we walked out of Joseph's junior kindergarten teacher interview, during which he didn't say a word to answer her questions. He smiled and explained to me that he didn't feel like talking to her today, but that he'd speak to her once he started school. I laughed and tousled his hair.
In those first years some teachers were more flexible, while others were quite determined to shave off his uniqueness. I researched, I left my career to stay home full-time, and I worked with his teachers and principals to try to help them better understand him. I even gave a presentation about spirited kids at a teacher's meeting and donated books to the library for other parents. Most of the teachers understood what I was talking about, but their feedback was that they don't have the time to work with kids outside the personalities and learning styles that mesh with the classroom setting. The kids have to fit the surroundings, not the other way around. It became clear to me that he would not thrive in public school. In my continued quest to find a learning environment that worked well for him, I found a specialized private school. The environment was better—the teachers and staff are being paid to work outside the typical lines—but still not great.
Then, through still more research, I came across the concept of homeschooling and was thrilled to discover it was legal where we lived. Rocco and I discussed it at length over the next couple of weeks and realized that there seemed no downside to trying it out for a year; if it didn't work out they could return to school. It was March Break and none of the kids went back. They were ecstatic with their newly-found playtime and I was now happily researching homeschooling. I soon discovered the notion of unschooling and after a couple weeks of trying to entice them to do some workbooks, I realized I was hindering, not helping, their learning. We spent the next months deschooling and living and having a great time. We still are!
There were five ideas along the way that really helped me to shift my mindset and to understand the potential of unschooling. Of course I didn't know that these would turn out to be such influential ideas for me. At the time I was just deeply immersed in learning all I could about unschooling and living joyfully with my children.
And I loved learning about unschooling! I still do. As I began to more fully understand the common issues surrounding unschooling, I was inspired to help others learn about it as well. I began by developing a website, and named it livingjoyfully.ca because even at that point I understood that that is what it all boils down to for me—that living joyfully, living fully with joy, leads to an immense amount of real learning. For both myself and for my kids.
Eventually my joy in helping others learn about unschooling (along with inspiration from Kelly Lovejoy's Live and Learn conferences based in the US) led me to host an annual unschooling conference in the Toronto area. With six years of the conference under my belt, my goal remained firm: to bring unschooling families together face to face in a relaxed and supportive environment that is conducive to learning more about unschooling, not only from the speakers but also from each other.
I've had the idea for this book in my head for a few years, but I wasn't comfortable taking the next step. I wanted to share my learning journey, but I didn't feel like I was experienced enough to speak with conviction; I didn't feel it in my bones. Every year or so when I read over the outline, I liked it more and more. But when I took a look at it again in the fall of 2009, I felt absolutely and wonderfully overwhelmed with all that I had to say about these ideas. It was finally time to write and I dove in.
So here's what I've learned.
What Is Unschooling?
When I first became a parent I was woefully unaware of my options when it came to my children's education. School is mandatory, right? That's why there are attendance laws and truant officers. I didn't know anybody who had questioned that. Public schooling was the one and only way for children to learn, (except for private school, but that was an expensive and out-of-reach option). The kids went to public school and I worked hard to make the best of it for them.
Then I came across the concept of homeschooling-kids learning outside of school (usually based out of their home, though sometimes out of the family's RV or boat). I was thrilled to discover that the school system was not the only legal option available in Canada (or in many other countries). We had a choice! This was a profound realization for me, and has been for many parents. You have a choice.
As parents, whether you choose public, private, or alternative school, homeschooling or unschooling, the act of making a conscious, well-informed choice regarding your child's learning environment is a crucial step. It is part of your journey as their supportive partner in life.
And remember, any choice you make now is not cast in