Nina’s Note: Our older kids have been seriously involved in Magic The Gathering game lately. They go to weekly local play sessions and participate in tournaments. They also play at home almost every night. Initially, I thought it was a waste of time. Now I realize that the game is beneficial to the kids and can be extremely useful for our homeschooling. It helped my kids develop better social skills and reduced their performance anxiety. By playing together, they bond with each other and with their Dad and learn to work as a team when they help each other and teach the game to their younger siblings. My kids also show great improvement in their reading, math, and strategic thinking skills. So I asked Kon – who himself is an avid player and who introduced the kids to the game – to write this article describing the game and its benefits.

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Even though I unschool my kids, I never tried unschooling on myself until I started BJJ. Here is what I learned.

Maybe it’s different for you. For me, the best memories of my childhood were those moments when something unexpected, spontaneous happened – something that would break out of a schoolchild’s monotonous routine. Like skipping school or playing on the streets with friends after school. I have fond memories of these moments, but I don’t have any lasting memories of school classes or after-school activities that my parents put me in.

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I am anti-college. At least I am against college in the traditional, brick-and-mortar sense. I think attending a formal college is a waste of time and money. But people sometimes call me out for it, asking how I can be anti-college if I went to college myself and even had one of these unemployable majors, in Art. Well:

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Here are the main principles of our unschooling and self-directed learning philosophy as explained in this infographic:

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We once signed up our daughter for private piano lessons. She loved it while it lasted. After a while, we decided to stop the lessons and see what happens. She didn’t miss it and never asked to resume the lessons. Neither did she continue piano on her own. She adored the lessons while they lasted, but once they stopped, she lost interest. The same exact story happened with whatever we signed her up for: gymnastics, clay, Jiu Jitsu.

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Parents often have a hard time setting rules for their kids regarding watching TV. Should we even have a TV? Do we limit TV time? What programs are allowed? Here’s how we do it.

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