Issue 2: The Unschool Files Z I N E

Issue 2 May 2022

this zine is a labor of love. the contents have been︎

collected + curated by meghan, the host of The Unschool Files Podcast︎ ︎ if you have acquired this outside of the subscription,︎ please send at least $1 via ︎ PayPal/ theunschoolfiles@gmail.com or Venmo/ @iamsilenth︎ ︎

OR ︎ a mutual aid fund of your choice and send ︎ a screen shot to meghan@theunschoolfiles.com︎

Sara of @_fen_cottages has 2 older always-unschooled kiddos who she has shared a love of nature with, and now she also shares it with preschoolers at her job as a Nature Specialist.

Cas (15) often helps out too!

Here is a craft they did recently that you may like to try.

Remi , Sara’s oldest (21) works with school children, bringing them the magic of unschooling

Hi my name is Willa. I am 8 years old and I am a unschooler. I painted my cat named Cookie.

I love my cat so much! Well he kinda is still a kitten, but I love him so much! He is so cute!

This is cookie in real life.

He is a mischief maker.

Community Recipe Box

William created Darkark

a mashup of a dolphin and shark.

The third eye on his top fin creates a Psychic type attack, Psychic Mind.

This attack does 10 damage to the opposing Pokémon, and gives 10 health to Darkark.

It's other attack is Dolphin Wing and does 50 damage.

Jaise created Stefirey

a Steel Fire type Bird, with a watery heart.

Attacks include Fly Away Slap- fire builds up on it’s wing and is smacked across the opponent.

Metallic Tears - Stefirey flies over the opposing Pokémon and cries out metal tears.

Whitney created Furlingo a shy awkward psychic type Pokémon.

Preferring to stay out of battle, it's only attack is Confusion and uses it only when necessary to avoid others.

I’m usually listening to podcasts or audio books when I draw to help me think.

Meghan 2022

TAKE WHAT YOU NEED,

friend

I am raising an Ordinary Child

By Nikita Palresa Someone who knows that sometimes you have to wait..for our turn..in the queue.. for a dessert.. for not everything is available right here right now.

In the waiting we have learnt to savour.

Someone who may not be aware of academics but who recognizes a sad heart and has learnt to sit by their side.

In the quiet we have found solace.

Someone who has found peace in a piece of dough.. who rolls it, molds it and thus goes her day.

In the everyday life we have found treasures.

Someone who knows to include everyone and every being... if I forget, she will remind to be kind to everyone of every kind.

In the inclusion we have found closeness.

Someone who cries with all her heart and laughs the most beautiful laughs. Who also feels sad, frustrated and angry.

In feeling the feelings we have found wholeness.

Someone who enjoys the silence as much as she enjoys her talks.. who floats far off into the clouds and comes back to us to clarify her doubts.

In boredom we have found creativity.

Someone who knows no lyrics but sings from the bottom of her heart... for music needs no words it comes from the soul.

In the gibberish we have found our melodies.

Someone who will take her time for everything she will do.. because she is doing with her heart and mind and spirit too!

In the being we have found our flow.

Someone who doesn't care whether she is first, second or last.. who cares when you are having a blast!

In the game (of life) we have found friendships (not competitions).

Someone who loves her food and potty too... because both are two sides of the same coin no!

In the normal we have found profound happiness.

Someone who makes friends with babies and old people and everyone she meets.. for life is but a bunch of stories we weave.

In the people we have found stories and in the stories we have found life.

Someone who is unafraid and bold.. who does not like to do as she is told.

In the assertive we have found our true selves.

Someone who finds happiness in the simplest of things.. her greatest ambition is a cake she can binge...

In the simplicity we have found everything.

Maria art

🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 🦖 on The Unschool Files discord server and in our communities around the globe , we’ve taken to adopting the T Rex as the Unofficial mascot of Neurodiverse Unschoolers.

Why? it started with an emoji reaction, then a meme about flags with stripes being boring and the need for a T Rex flag... then, personal stories of arm flapping and the request for ND camaraderie a-la T Rex!

do you want to design an ND flag? if so, send it to theunschoolfiles@gmail.com

By Unschoolers ages 6-52 from an Agile Learning Community, Explora ALC Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca Mexico

Monsters Going Swimming By: Ro Age 5 in Ontario, Canada His favorite thing about/in life: Youtube

By Cassidy Younghans, SDE Facilitator in Dallas Texas as part of an in progress SDE coloring book

UNSCHOOLING in LA

Chelsea, Marc, Griffin and Odin We knew in the first month of our new school that it wasn't a good fit, so we began talking about leaving, and then the pandemic hit and remote learning added another level of complication.

We stuck it out for two grades, looking into other schools and researching homeschooling all the while.

Ultimately, we decided as a family to homeschool, but we didn't want the teacher/student dynamic or curriculum of traditional homeschooling.

I started looking into project based learning since that's what we came from at our school in NYC. This led us to self directed learning and finally, unschooling.

What started out as a decision based on the needs of one child, ended up being a total shift of perspective and huge personal growth for us both as adults and as a family.

We love traveling!

Unschooling has given us the gift of time to enjoy the various terrains of our new state.

We took a 10 day road trip from Los Angeles to Solvang, San Luis Obispo, through Big Sur, to Monterey and down to Paso Robles.

We are hoping to get to Arizona and Yosemite next.

The biggest challenge we've experienced so far is finding other unschoolers to spend time with in real life.

Between our move, the pandemic, and unschooling, it has been harder than anticipated to find friends.

It's also taken some re-evaluating of how we defined community and what we want it to be as we move forward.

Griffin: "electric cars & how they're made, building and designing with wood and creating using 3-D printing".

Odin: “I'm interested in robots. I love them. I also like some octopuses, transformers, jet skis, airplanes, and motorcycles" Chelsea: "cooking & eating good food, journaling/writing, reading, anything outdoors, exploring new areas (don't like going to the same place more than once), working out, growing plants.

Marc: "traveling, film making, bingeing on Netflix"

Ros Age 4

Kentucky

Penny and Rose

See you at MoMA @uhmandasayswhat

What is Unschooling?

These responses were collected over several weeks from unschooling parents on instagram via the stories “ask a question” feature from @theunschoolfiles account

Hi I’m Dori. I’m a 13 year old unschooler and I love to make art.

These are the characters Nico di Angelo and Will Solace from my favorite books written by Rick Riordan.

Nico is the son of Hades the Death God, and Will Solace is the son of the Sun God Apollo.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an agreement by countries who have promised to protect children’s rights.

The Convention explains who children are, all their rights, and the responsibilities of governments. All the rights are connected, they are all equally important and they cannot be taken away from children. Not all Nations have ratified this agreement including but not limited to the United States

where you’ll never be charged a monetary fee to be in community. everyone needs a soft place to land.

please send all submissions to be considered for the next issue of the z i n e to meghan@theunschoolfiles.com