Quotables

Some quotes from unschoolers, gathered from the Interwebs over the past few days. I love the atmosphere of love and respect and simple compassion that these quotes reveal about the unschooling community.

Heather Burditt: "Phoenix is going to be 2 next month. We have never had any expectations surrounding his sleep... He knows what it means to be tired and when his body has had enough. That is more than most adults can say, even myself sometimes. Forcing him to bed before he is ready, is not worth the lasting negative effects." (from this post)

TJ Phillips: "...there is nothing cuter in the world then when Phoenix walks up to you sleepily, holds up his hands for you to pick him up and says in his little voice 'ni-nite.'" (from a comment on Heather's post above, made profound by the knowledge that *every single time* Phoenix asks to be held, he is)

Ren Allen: "I'm so grateful [my children] can sleep until their bodies are done sleeping, and go to sleep when they choose. I remember the torture of trying to get through a school morning and not being able to fall asleep at night. They've never known that…" (from a comment on Heather's post above)

Trisha Laszlo: "I want my kids to know they can wake me any time they are scared, and I won't be angry." (from a comment on Facebook about Heather's post above)

Jenna Robertson: "Parenting with integrity and respect requires us to involve our children in the conversation. We must be honest and we must not be arbitrary. If we say 'no' then we need a real, fact based reason why. If we can get to the teen years with our parental integrity intact, with our children knowing that we are willing to help them explore the options and answers, that we are not trying to control or manipulate their behavior to make our life easier, and we are truly supportive of the person they are, the better our relationship will be." (from this post)

Jeff Sabo: "And where personal freedom is subjugated, learning is inhibited. In fact, it doesn't become learning at all; it becomes indoctrination. The students have no choice in what they learn, when they learn it, how they are taught it, or by whom. That, my friends, is indoctrination." (from this post)

Jeff Sabo: "Parents who want to be better usually care enough - and have courage enough - to evaluate whether or not they're doing well. Perfection is not the goal; growth in an environment of joy and peace is. And letting go of our need to control is the first step." (from this post)

Shannon Burton: "Oddly, though, this remembering doesn't make me angry, anymore. Instead, it tends to defuse situations where I might react angrily to my own children, because my emerging memories are complete with how i felt at the treatment, and I don't want my children to feel the way I did then...." (from a comment on Facebook)

Frank Maier: "I support you. I love that you are pursuing your dreams, whether that dream is a solo circumnavigation or a desire to be a manga artist. Keep going after whatever it is that you want. Ignore the annoying cawing of the doom-crows. Listen to your own inner voice. It's your life. Live it." (from this post)