The following is a lightly edited transcript from Pam Laricchia’s interview of me on her podcast, “Exploring Unschooling” at the beginning of 2016. PAM: Hi everyone! I’m Pam Laricchia from livingjoyfully.ca and today I’m here with Skyler Collins. Hi Skyler! SKYLER: Hello. PAM: It’s great to have you on the…
Epilogue
The editor asked, “Phil, were you going to write something for the book?” I was. Then my brain got overpopulated. Can I keep mine short and sweet? “I unschool because the Internet doesn’t shame my kids for wrong answers. I hope this will help them never feel stress in relationship…
Thomas Knapp – News Analyst
News Analyst, Florida, USA My wife and I didn’t intend to become unschoolers. From our kids’ birth, we began investigating more formal homeschooling options, but both boys wanted to attend government (“public”) school, and we allowed both of them to give it a try. It was a disaster. In fairness,…
Terry McIntyre – Retired Computer Pro.
Retired Computer Pro., California, USA I’m a retired computer professional, but didn’t earn much initially, back when my wife and I homeschooled; we were below or at median income until our divorce, when our two children began high school. You needn’t have a six-digit income; we certainly did not. I’m…
Ron Patterson -Retired Major USAF
Retired Major USAF, Texas, USA I don’t know a lot about unschooling. But I had faith in my wife and faith in my kids. We have many things to learn in life but you don’t necessarily have to learn any of it in school. People think that’s the only way,…
Peter Gray – Psychology Professor
Psychology Professor, Massachusetts, USA Editor’s Note: The following was originally published as the Prologue in the author’s book, Free to Learn.[1] It was submitted by the author. “Go to hell!” The words hit me hard. I had on occasion been damned to hell before, but never so seriously. A colleague,…
Mike Durland – Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur, North Carolina, USA Editor’s Note: The following is a lightly edited version of an audio recording submitted for this book. My son went to public school for five years. I didn’t understand for a long time the damage it was doing. When I grew up I went to public…
David Friedman – Law Professor
Law Professor, California, USA Editor’s Note: The following was originally written in 2007. It was submitted by the author with an updated postscript at the end. I’ve decided to write on how we educate our children in two parts. The first part will describe the arguments for our approach, and…
Skyler Collins – Entrepreneur
Entrepreneur, Utah, USA The thought of sending my children to school sends shivers down my spine. The reasons for this are many-fold, but primarily it is my commitment to raising my children without coercion or manipulation. My discovery of unschooling came just after my wife and I decided to raise…
Rob Nielsen – Online Education and Training
Online Education and Training, Utah, USA Being a good husband and father is the core of my life. I am a working professional, but I aspire to become financially independent. My wife and I have two children. My experience with school and educational environments includes: “public” [government] k-12 schools (student,…