Posts by Khalif Williams

Unschooling Is About Context

When my family decided to give homeschooling a try, we knew we wanted to define our own philosophy and approach. Being huge fans of the unschooling concept (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling) we began our adventure with the assumption that our children's curiosity would drive our inquiry, explorations, and adventures. We even use the term "unschooling" often to describe that to which we are up. This term keeps us grounded in our primary motivation for the endeavor: freedom and success.

But, my wife and I both have brown skin, and come from backgrounds that don't privilege a free-form attitude about freedom and success, even defined simply as having enough food, clothing and a...

Read full article

Posted on Mar 19, 2010 - 08:31 AM by Khalif Williams

Democracy as Carpentry

By the time my son, Ezra, was 5, he had his own set of tools (real ones) and a tool box in which to keep them. I immediately began to introduce him to a few simple principles that have now become our family carpentry creed:

1) Only use tools for their intended purpose. To do otherwise is bad for the tool and potentially dangerous.

2) Never take your eyes off your work. E.g. If you have to look away while you are sawing, stop sawing.

3) Put away your tools when you are done, even if you plan to use them again first thing in the morning!, and finally

4) If you were playing with your hammer and left it in the sandbox in the rain and now can't find it, don't expect to borrow...

Read full article

Posted on Mar 15, 2010 - 08:32 AM by Khalif Williams

Too Easy?

“I hate to say it, but I think our kids have it too easy.”

How many times have you heard, thought, or said that phrase in your life? A friend of mine recently mused out a version of that old dismissive turn of phrase recently after one of her daughters refused a simple request to help clear the table after lunch.

I think it's common and rational that many parents of my generation make the assumption that previous generations, perhaps forever, have judged their own children as having an easier life then they had themselves. The conventional perspective is that each successive generation has more play time and toys, yet fewer rules and less responsibility.

Were 5-year-old boys really...

Read full article

Posted on Feb 26, 2010 - 10:26 AM by Khalif Williams

They want to be just like me.  Great!  Now what?

Many of us who strive to nourish democracy in our society and strive tirelessly for equality, justice, peace and compassion have a break down in execution when it comes to our own home life. It's very easy for even the most mindful, progressive parents to replicate systems, dynamics, and roles we experienced in childhood, rather than the ones we aspire to create in our adult lives. Most of us working for in progressive education or for progressive causes didn't come from that experiential background.

Our young children don't have access to our intellectual sensibilities or our academic pursuits regarding education, democracy, sustainability, or anything else. And they could care...

Read full article

Posted on Feb 11, 2010 - 03:42 PM by Khalif Williams

Lost and Out of Control. . . At Last.

Falling in love, finding that perfect line to finish your poem, stepping in to break up a fight -- some of the most valuable and rewarding things in life simply cannot be done by following a plan. And so goes parenting. And so goes democratic education at home. And so, now that I think about it, goes a life worth living.

I envision my life with my wife and 2 sons as an exercise in liberation, for all of us. As my wife and I attempt to liberate ourselves from some of the less-than-helpful cultural habits of parenting (maintaining control and power at all costs, or needing to be “right” all the time), we are hopefully liberating our children. We're allowing them to maintain their...

Read full article

Posted on Nov 18, 2009 - 02:46 PM by Khalif Williams

The First Three Minutes of Unschooling

Even though we went to mediocre public schools and are the products of lovingly conventional parenting, my wife and I are trying to create our own family quite differently by embracing attachment parenting and, more recently, unschooling our children.

We want our two young boys to remain the wise, compassionate, and engaged souls they are today. We want them to avoid the coercive, limiting regime of schooling we experienced which might, as with us, render their learning passive and repress their will to freedom and self-expression.

At four years old, after weeks of talking over educational options, my oldest son Ezra decided he wanted to go to pre-school. After visiting several, we...

Read full article

Posted on Oct 26, 2009 - 12:06 AM by Khalif Williams

What Is Uncharted Parenting?

For anyone dedicated to the ideals of democracy, peace, and equality in education, parenting can be just as complex as it is beautiful; just as frustrating as satisfying. That's because we're in new territory, endeavoring to respond to a failed schooling system and a troubled society in need of new solutions. We want to raise happy families that are resilient enough to find purpose and security despite our economic and educational systems showing ever greater signs of distress. We know that, to create the world we want, we must begin where we are. So we pour our hearts and souls into parenting our children in way that reflects our courage and hope for a better society.

The story of...

Read full article

Posted on Oct 25, 2009 - 12:31 AM by Khalif Williams