How One Teen Left School to Pursue a Real Education.

I wanted to share a post I came across about how one girl persuaded her family to let her leave school, and take control of her own learning. If you are a teen or know a teen who might want

Posted in Alternatives, Independednt Studies programs, Opt-Out

More on Community College for “Underage” Youth

Brenda Leach, a dear unschooling mama  friend of mine who’s 4th child is attending Cabrillo College (our local Community College) this semester has this advice for  parents of teens and teens wanting to take Community College Classes. This advice is

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An Underage Path to Community College

One option that many teen homeschoolers and unschoolers use is their local Community Colleges. But this option can be available to any teen! Local Community Colleges offer a wide variety of courses, often more interesting to teens- since they can

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Six Things You Can Do to Create a Better Learning Environment for Your Teen. (Some will surprise you!)

Grades are an illusion. Passion and insight are reality. –Seth Godin We all want our teens to be happy. We all want our teens to be well educated and ready to approach life as young adults, successfully and meaningfully.  However,

Posted in Opt-Out, Parent-Teen Relationships

Daniel Pink: the Puzzle of Motivation

Dan Pink delivers an inspirational talk on what motivates people- is it monetary rewards? or intrinsic motivation to do what matters to them? Social scientists have found over and over that people perform BETTER on creative complicated tasks, when they

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Giving kids more freedom, and taking closer care of babies

I’m reblogging a post I came across from the Guardian. ( I think the title is a little misleading– there is a whole part here about taking closer care of our babies). I copy and pasted the article, because I

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Accreditation-not as important as people think.

This post was originally written before Pacific Sands Academy offered an accerdited option. It has been edited to reflect Pacific Sands Academy’s current offerings. Many people worry about  accreditation of their potential schools. Is your school accredited? It’s a common

Posted in Alternatives, Homeschooling, Independednt Studies programs

Teens: Give Up the Boredom and Join Us! – Scholarship Opportunity

Are you a teen looking for something different for your education? Do you want to leave the boredom and drudgery of your school? Do you long to spend your time pursuing what you love? Do you believe there’s more to

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Posted in Alternatives, Drop-Out, Independednt Studies programs, Opt-Out

Reconnecting with your kids

How do you go backwards and repair damage from authoritative parenting to partnership based parenting? I think that at any  point- when the parent shifts from control/authoritative to a partnership paradigm,  a more positive relationship and healing from the past

Posted in Parent-Teen Relationships, Uncategorized

It’s not Quitting– It’s the Modern Day Equivalent of Hunting a Lion.

I just posted an article  about  5 reasons to let your kids quit school, but I’m inspired by something I read yesterday by Erika Christakis   —What the Pygmies Can Teach Us About Child Rearing,  about using evolution to guide

Posted in Alternatives, Opt-Out, Parent-Teen Relationships