A quick overview of the articles you might like to explore. More are being added every month so be sure to bookmark us and come back to the “pit” soon.

ABOUT

• An Unschooling Journey. By Arun.
  A personal story of our journey from Steiner (Waldorf), organic, no TV living… then to homeschooling… then to natural learning… and to radical unschooling.
  We had countless fears – my worst nightmare was that it would create self centered, selfish, junk food eating couch potatoes through permissive parenting. Even at my more optimistic moments food and TV were big concerns.
• Quick Definitions. By Arun.
  Understanding the jargon, definitions of unschooling, radical unschooling, NVC, PET and more.
  Radical Unschooling is a relatively new term that describes families who apply the principles of unschooling to a child’s entire life…

UNSCHOOLING

• Conversations From the Future. Author Unknown.
  A hilarious fictional conversation between two mums in the future.
  (to a mum of a schooled child:)don’t you worry about all the opportunities they’re missing out on? I mean they’re so isolated from real life — how will they know what the world is like — what people do to make a living — how to get along with all different kinds of people?
• Nurturing Children’s Natural Love of Learning. By Jan Hunt.
  For us parents learning to support learning rather than obsessing about teaching.
  The main element in successful homeschooling is trust. We trust the children to know when they are ready to learn and what they are interested in learning. We trust them to know how to go about learning.
• What Home Educating Parents Can Teach the World About the Nature of Learning. By Alan Thomas.
  Fascinating journey of an academic from teaching paradigms to appreciating the value of natural or “informal” learning.
  We know that children continue to learn through play after they have reached school age. And yet in schools it is looked upon as a waste of time and of recreational value only.
• Unauthorised Dad Handbook. By Arun.
  A guide for Mums who wish to unschool dealing with ‘less than cooperative’ Dads.
  So we are scared – what if unschooling does “not work”? What if we are ridiculed? What if our kids turn out to be socially ineffective freaks? Often these fears will be unfounded but the other thing about us Dads is that we don’t talk about these things to people. So the fears have a habit of being unconscious, unstated and silently festering until they explode…

PARENTING

• 12 Exercises for Mindful Parenting. By Myla and Jon Kabat-Zinn.
  We love Jon Kabat-Zinn’s work… and this is as effective as any of his writing.
  Try to imagine the world from your child’s point of view, purposefully letting go of your own.
• 20 Alternatives to Punishment. By Aletha Solter.
  Some useful tips from the woman who brought us Aware Parenting.
  If your child is mad at you, invite him to express his anger in a playful pillow fight with you. Play your part by surrendering dramatically. Laughter helps resolve anger and feelings of powerlessness.
• 5 Reasons to Stop Saying “Good Job!”. By Alfie Kohn.
  A great introduction to the perils of rewards and punishments in parenting.
  Talk less, ask more. Even better than descriptions are questions. Why tell him what part of his drawing impressed you when you can ask him what he likes best about it?
• Aware Parenting for Health. By Melissa Macdonald.
  The idea of “healthy releases” of emotion in Aware Parenting still pushes buttons for many of us, here Melissa introduces the main concepts of this approach.
  Even the birth process itself is traumatic for our young ones and the best way to heal from that is to have a big release cry in your loving arms…
• Parenting is Making My Brain Hurt. By Arun.
  A light hearted description of my journey from distraction & solutions to connecting with my children via countless books and head aches.
  I feel like telling my daughter, “wait… just let me think for an hour, check these books, make a phone call, run some scenario’s by a few egroups, then I’ll get back to you with a response that will validate your feelings, identify your needs, support you in generating win win strategies, and connect us as two empowered yet autonomous human beings!”
• Surviving the Toddler Years. By Naomi Aldort.
  An approach outlining how to let go of control in the toddler context and develop trust, patience and sanity.
  To respect and meet their needs is the best way to assure happy and cooperative children. Play and experimentation are the “job descriptions” of a toddler, and he needs our vote of confidence in him.
• Being “In Control”– The Possible and Impossible in Parenting. By Patty Wipfler.
  More on the theme of control, compassion with the child and yourself as well as learning.
  every parent needs time away from their children, every parent needs others to care about their children, every parent needs people to think and talk with about the details of life with children. Every parent needs help!

CONSCIOUS LIVING

• 10 Steps to Peaceful Living. By the Centre for Non Violent Communication.
  Simple tips for living based on the NVC philosophy.
  Instead of saying what we DON’T want someone to do, say what we DO want the person to do
• PET & NVC: Similarities & Differences. By Cate Crombie.
  Simple tips for living based on the NVC philosophy.
  NVC and PET both offer a model of “power with” rather than “power over”. They each make reference to Alphie Kohn’s work…

QUOTES

• Rue Kream – Parenting A Free Child. By Arun.
  One of my favourite books outlining unschooling and parenting approaches that are inspirational.
  Kream seems to prioritises living each moment joyously herself and with her family. I was struck by her ability to see the world as an exciting and amazing place. Fear plays no role in her world whatsoever.
• Unschooling & Parenting Egroups. By Arun.
  A beginners guide to getting online help from egroups.
  If i just read two it would be Always Unschooled and Consensual Learning… but depends on my needs at the time.

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