Unschooling Credo

Manisha and I were discussing our core beliefs about unschooling and we came up with a few:

• Humans - children and adults alike - are curious and learning creatures, and we learn through living.
• Children are the owners and architects of their own lives. Our job as parents is to act as coaches and facilitators.
• Having an interesting life is the main goal - learning is a by-product.
• There isn't a body of knowledge that everybody must know.
• Anyone can learn anything at any time; nothing has to be learned by a certain age.
• Learning is not about memorizing facts; it's about making connections.
• Everything is connected with everything else; the division of knowledge into "subjects" (especially at school-level) is for the convenience of the school system. Subjects do not exist in real life.

These beliefs about learning are based in turn on a couple of meta-beliefs:

• It's an abundant and friendly universe - you can have an interesting, happy, rich (in all senses of the word) and successful (as you define it) life.
• Unschooling is about self-actualization in the ultimate analysis. The "quest" is to have an interesting, happy, rich, successful life.

This is a work in progress. We'd love to hear your thoughts, comments, criticisms.

Taekwondo Promotions

We had our testing on Wednesday and all of us advanced to the next belt level. We did the Basic poom-se, followed by sparring. Supriya broke two 1 cm-thick pine-boards with a hammer-fist and one with a kick, and has now advanced to the yellow belt with a black stripe. Then Aseem broke two boards - one with his hand and one with a kick. Now he has the yellow belt. This was my first testing, and I was a little apprehensive when Master Freddy brought out 2 2 cm-thick boards for my hand strike. I did a practice-strike, and then jumped in the air and brought down my hammer-fist on the boards with all the force I could muster. And of course the boards broke! (It's truly amazing how powerful you feel when you have just broken wooden boards.) Next I broke a board with an Axe kick, and now I have my first earned belt - white with a yellow stripe. I am really enjoying the workout and doing it with Aseem and Supriya. By far the best thing I have done in 2007...