2008. Roll of adding machine paper. 5 year old boy. Wasteful? Not, when you can have this much fun with it.
July 26, 2010
March 4, 2010
‘Radical Parenting’ on Discovery Health
So, I just got done reading Heather Burditt’s review of the Radical Unschooling segment of the show on her blog here.
This is the reply I left her and how I felt about the segment in general:
“eh. It was alright. I highly agree that only portraying one radical unschooling family was a poor choice. While I am a fan (maybe that’s not the right word) of the ‘Clan of Parents’, seeing a variety of families, especially at least one with older or grown unschoolers, would have been better. I also didn’t like how the ‘experts’ didn’t have to support their (what seemed like) opinions with any research, statistics or examples. I also didn’t like that the Parents weren’t able to speak back to the experts or that there wasn’t a pro-radical unschooling ‘expert’ to offer counter arguments. In all, I didn’t see it as really balanced…not to mention that the way it was cut up seemed kind of staged and almost like it all happened in one day. An entire hour with equal time from both sides of the argument and at least two more families, might have made began to make a difference.”
Sarah Parent and her family were representing Radical Unschooling and I think they did a fine job, given how the footage was cut and the fact that they really didn’t get to speak to anything that the ‘experts’ said.
Did you watch it? What did you think? Did you write a review (leave me a link)? Were you one of the people mysteriously contacted by Discovery Health prior to the airing?
August 2, 2009
5th Annual Anarchist Picnic
Yesterday was POG’s 5th Annual Anarchist Picnic in Pittsburgh, PA. We had fun, though I didn’t find it as enjoyable as last year. I guess mainly because the location changed and it seemed like fewer people came out.I’ve got a few pictures for you though…
group photo
the future belongs to the daring
I just got hit with a water balloon thanks to Elijah!
water balloon fun
more water balloon fun
Elijah getting ready to launch a balloon
Tragedy struck shortly after the water balloon fight…Elijah was headed off to go play with the other kids again and he stepped on a bee. Somehow, I just knew that’s what he had done. I ran over grabbed his foot and used to my finger nails to tweeze out the stinger without squishing the venom sac and forcing more into his foot. Then, without even thinking about it, I sucked as hard as I could on the spot and spit to get out as much venom as I could. No big deal you say, but I am allergic to bees…like hand me an epi-pen or I’ll die allergic to bees. It’s been around 18 years since I’ve been stung by a bee and I have no idea how I might react.
Elijah ended up in pain a bit, but no swelling and no other ill effects. I had a numb mouth, lips, slightly tight throat and a really fuzzy head. No one went to the hospital, no one died and we learned that Elijah isn’t allergic to bees. As for me, well, if getting a little venom in my mouth can cause the reaction that it did, then I don’t think I want to get stung any time soon. Unfortunately, we did have to leave before the piñata fun, but we were able to raid the piñata for a couple goodies for the ride home — no one likes to see a sad/hurt child.
Here’s our moments of fame from local media…
KDKA Channel 2
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Channel 11 News came out, took some pictures & filmed a bit, but apparently we weren’t “radical” enough for them to put us on the TV
July 13, 2009
Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning
Just added a link to The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Education (JUAL) to my sidebar under “Educational Freedom”. I wanted to quickly post it here for those who might not browse my sidebar often.
Here is a link to the newest issue.
