Good that you rambled on so long. I am looking forward to the other episodes.

In Germany homeschooling is illegal and school attendance is strictly enforced. But you can live an unschooling attitude nevertheless.

Downloaded your podcast to my iPhone and listened to it Saturday on the plane ride from Austin to Phili (in Austin to spend the day on Friday with a realtor looking at houses). Just wanted to say thanks! Really enjoyed it. I especially like what you said about not taking any ones “theory” or “philosophy” or “approach” (I’m not sure of your exact words here…just paraphrasing) as the gospel. That one needs to grab pieces here and pieces there to fit their individual lifestyle. Without thinking about it I have always done this and it just creates such an awesome life! So while I may find some aspects of Radical Unschooling or LoA appealing, there may be some aspects I don’t find appealing…I grab what I need…the concepts that feel right to me that I can use to build the life I want. I have a pretty interesting life with many interests and dreams. Taking things too seriously or living my life in too linear of a fashion would be boring and non authentic! Thanks for making me think more about LoA and other concepts.

Long story short, I just discovered THIS blog tonight and have been trying to do some catching up. I want to say thank you SO much for the shout out and I hope you didn’t think I was just being rude and not acknowledging that you said hi…

Thanks SO much again for shouting out to me and addressing my question/suggestion for a podcast. I thought it was AWESOME.

On a pedagogical note, episodes 46-51 of my own Complete Liberty Podcast covered the ins and outs of governmental “education” as well as the brilliance of unschooling principles (I put some links to Kohn, Holt, et al., and Dayna Martin’s great vids in the shownotes:).

In regard to School House Rock and “Bills,” here’s another informative take on the subject:
Pirates and Emperors – Schoolhouse Rock
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQBWGo7pef8

=)

While I’ve been reading about homeschooling vs. schooling, and even a bit about unschooling with John Holt and with Gatto, I grabbed a bunch of books at my library that primarily address schooling at home (which I knew I didn’t want to do) just to see if there was anything of value. One of the books I hadn’t cracked open yet was The Well-Trained Mind, which was highly recommended on Amazon. Then I listened to your assessment of it on your podcast as the driest book. So, I had to at least read the introduction! Wow, talk about putting emphasis on one type of learning! Logic, speaking well, analyzing information etc. are all important, but the implication in the book was that such skills are gained only through a careful and rigorous structure done for 12 years! Then, I watched Sir Ken Robinson on TED talk about how children need to learn to their strengths because for too long schools have emphasized the skills needed to be … a college professor! ( I got the link for that talk from your blog, by the way).

Anyway, I sit in my living room spinning wool on my spinning wheel ( an interest that has come from my own unschooling, now that I’m all done with all the education I “should” have had, and now have time to pursue so many things I’m really interested in) and I’m listening to your podcast. Between that and the internet I’ve joined a huge community of people like me, and I’ve joined a discussion essentially about life and its purpose. What fun! Thank you so much for sharing what is on your mind, how you are living, and the ideas behind it all.

If you’re taking suggestions for future topics, I’d love to hear about how you facilitate your children’s learning. I know it should be basic, but I feel like it’s much more natural for my husband than it is for me. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.