This is an article about deschooling and the process. http://www.examiner.com/article/homeschool-101-what-is-deschooling
I would suggest taking a look at it if you are looking to take your child out of public school and home school.
Update for June
Hey guys! Sorry about not posting an entry for last month, but here’s an update on how things’ll go for this month:
The Real School is on a reduced schedule right now. Currently, we are open on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. We will have an updated calender in the next few weeks. Everyone is welcome to join us on our “open” days, you do not have to be a co-op member. Please call if you would like to host an event for young people; or, if you and your family would like to visit. Happy Summer! 713-523-0066, unschool@therealschoolhouston.org
April’s Awesomeness!
Hey people who actually read this blog, this month is quite interesting! In this marvelous month of April, there’s not many changes from last month. But, Thursdays, the students will be choosing whether to go to The Temple on 2300 McKinney st., or to stay and hang out at the building, on a week to week basis. Keep up with what’s going on on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/therealschoolhoustontexas/ . As for what’s happening this month, here are some details (Not much different from last month really):
Open House
Open house for visitors, Wednesday, April 9th, 11am to 1pm. Please call or email if you wish to attend: unschool@therealschoolhouston. org, 713-523-0066. Hope to see you there!
Game Night Fundraiser!!
This monthly event will be happening on Saturday April 19 from 6-10 pm. Everyone is encouraged to come and bring their favorite games, whether table top, card game s or video games. More specific information can be found out by calling our school phone. All ages, small donation($5-10) requested, and there is always some great food available as well as coffee, tea, water, and sometimes soda. You are also welcome to bring your own snacks and drinks! It is always a fun time filled with lots of laughter and different types of games! Donations help us maintain our building and do more fun activities!
All Ages Karaoke
Join us on the first Saturday of the month for some laid back Youtube Karaoke! You can perform any song you want and we have all the equipment needed! Snacks and beverages welcome! Small donations encouraged! This will be happening on April 5th from 6-10pm.
Writer’s Group
Evening writer’s group will be going on every other Thursday, on April 10 and 24 from 6 to 8:30pm. We hope you will join us and give a small donation. It is a fun, accepting, and relaxed group!! Invite your friends, too! This is an all ages meet-up!
Archery Classes
Join us at 19407 Park Row, Katy, for some all ages archery classes. In these classes, we will be taught how to properly hold and use a longbow. These classes cost $10 to join and we also suggest wearing clothing you can move in. We hope to see you in the classes on April 1, 15, and 29 from 2-3 (Although it takes about 45 minutes to get there from the building, so you should probably leave early or you’d miss the class)
Acting Classes
Ohohohoho! Acting classes! In these classes, we aim to be able to perform a play confidently in front of our friends and peers. The play has yet to be decided, but it will definitely be worth watching when it’s performed. So come and join us in the acting classes or watch the play when it’s performed, maybe even both! These classes will be happening weekly on Wednesdays from 11-1:30
Serving with Food Not Bombs Houston
This month, every other Wednesday, in the evenings, we will be helping the other volunteers serve food. We are joining a local group that serves home cooked meals to hungry people downtown 4 days a week. We want to practice cooking healthy meals and to support others in our community. We will be serving on April 9th and 23rd from 8-9. Please feel free to join us to either serve the food you make or help others serve theirs.
Please check our calendar or contact us by phone if you are looking for more events! Our building is also available to host events for a small fee. We can be contacted at 713-523-0066. All events that take place at our building will be at: 2805 Wichita St. Houston, TX 77004. We can also be reached by email at:unschool@therealschoolhouston.org
Photos from some of our field trips last month
March Mayhem?
Mayhem in March? We’ll see how it turns out….
This month, our organization has decided to merge with Solidarity Houston. With this merging we hope to create a space that shares resources and ideas to the mutual benefit of multiple groups with similar goals. In other words, we hope to bring more diversity to our cooperative. On another note, we will continue on a Tuesday through Thursday, 10-4, schedule, with Thursdays at The Temple at 2300 McKinney st. Houston TX., 77003. We also plan to partake in more outings. As for what’s going on, here are some details:
Music Classes
These classes are filled with a variety of instruments and a variety of people. Our musical teacher plans to continue to teach us how to read music and play it. We plan to learn many songs over the course of the month. These classes take place at 2300 McKinney st. Houston TX., 77003 on Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:30. So come on over to learn music or just to jam with us!
Cooking for Food Not Bombs Houston
This month we are joining a local group that serves home cooked meals to hungry people downtown 4 days a week. We want to practice cooking healthy meals and to support others in our community. We will be cooking every other Wednesday at 2:00 pm, the 12 and the 26, and food serving occurs downtown at 521 Lamar St. at 8:00pm. If you want to join us or donate dry goods or vegetables, please get in touch! More information on FNB here: http://houstonfoodnotbombs.org/fnb-gallery/
Game Night Fundraiser!!
This monthly event will be happening on Saturday March 15 from 6-10 pm. Everyone is encouraged to come and bring their favorite games, whether table top, card games or video games. More specific information can be found out by calling our school phone. All ages, small donation($5-10) requested, and there is always some great food available as well as coffee, tea, water, and sometimes soda. You are also welcome to bring your own snacks and drinks! It is always a fun time filled with lots of laughter and different types of games! Donations help us maintain our building and do more fun activities!
All Ages Karaoke
Join us on the first Saturday of the month for some laid back Youtube Karaoke! You can perform any song you want and we have all the equipment needed! Snacks and beverages welcome! Small donations encouraged! This will be happening on March 1st from 6-10pm.
Writer’s Group
Evening writer’s group will continue at 6-8:00 PM every other Thursday! We hope you will join us and give a small donation on Thursday March 13th and 27th It is a fun, accepting, and relaxed group!! Invite your friends, too! This is an all ages meet-up!
Archery Classes
Join us at 19407 Park Row, Katy, for some all ages archery classes. In these classes, we will be taught how to properly hold and use a longbow. These classes cost $10 to join and we also suggest wearing clothing you can move in. We hope to see you in the classes.
Please check our calendar or contact us by phone if you are looking for more events! Our building is also available to host events for a small fee. We can be contacted at 713-523-0066. All events that take place at our building will be at: 2805 Wichita St. Houston, TX 77004. We can also be reached by email at:unschool@therealschoolhouston.org
Photos from our first archery class and free pancake day.
February Activities!
It’s a new month with a new schedule!
With the new month and the resignation of our greatly loved facilitator, Marie, the school is moving to a Tuesday through Thursday(10-4) schedule. On Thursdays we will be at the Temple at 2300 McKinney st. Houston TX., 77003 from 10 am to 4 pm. We have many creative events planned for this month and hope to see many new people. As for what we are doing this month, here’s some details:
Music Classes
These classes are filled with a variety of instruments and a variety of people. Our musical teacher plans to teach how to read music, and currently we’re working on the song Khusidlekh. We plan to learn many more songs over the course of the month. These classes take place at 2300 McKinney st. Houston TX., 77003 on Thursdays from 12:30 to 1:30. So come on over to learn music or just to jam with us!
Cooking for Food Not Bombs Houston
This month we are joining a local group that serves home cooked meals to hungry people downtown 4 days a week. We want to practice cooking healthy meals and to support others in our community. We will be cooking every other Wednesday at 2:00 pm, and food serving occurs downtown at 521 Lamar St. at 8:00pm. If you want to join us or donate dry goods or vegetables, please get in touch! More information on FNB here: http://houstonfoodnotbombs.org/fnb-gallery/
Art Workshops
We let our inner artists come out in this new workshop focusing on trying out different kinds of art. We want to accomplish all of our artistic goals in this workshop on Wednesdays from 11:30 to 1:30. So join us in these workshops and make some wonderful art with us!
Game Night Fundraiser!!
This monthly event will be happening on Saturday February 22 from 6-10 pm. Everyone is encouraged to come and bring their favorite games, whether table top, card games or video games. More specific information can be found out by calling our school phone. All ages, small donation($5-10) requested, and there is always some great food available as well as coffee, tea, water, and sometimes soda. You are also welcome to bring your own snacks and drinks! It is always a fun time filled with lots of laughter and different types of games! Donations help us maintain our building and do more fun activities!
All Ages Karaoke
Join us on alternating Fridays for some laid back Youtube Karaoke! You can perform any song you want and we have all the equipment needed! Snacks and beverages welcome! Small donations encouraged! This will be happening on February 14th and 28th from 7-10pm.
Writer’s Group
Evening writer’s group will continue at 6-8:00 PM every other Thursday! We hope you will join us and give a small donation on Thursday Feb. 13 and 27. It is a fun, accepting, and relaxed group!! Invite your friends, too! This is an all ages meet-up!
Minecraft Meet-Up
On February 25, Tuesday, from 12-3:30pm we will be having a Minecraft meet-up at the ACT building! We hope you will join us and give a small donation. This event will be filled with Minecraft fans and we will all play Minecraft together and share our expertise. This is an all ages and all levels of skill meet-up and we hope to see you there!
Please check our calendar or contact us by phone if you are looking for more events! Our building is also available to host events for a small fee. We can be contacted at 713-523-0066. All events that take place at our building will be at: 2805 Wichita St. Houston, TX 77004. We can also be reached by email at: unschool@therealschoolhouston.org
Pictures from a visit to the skate park in Denver Harbor and Geocaching!
Upcoming Events-January!
Hello and Happy 2014!
We have several events on our calendar page and we plan to add more as the month goes on. We are currently trying to schedule regular Music and Drawing classes, but we need a little help from the community!! If you are interested in playing/teaching music or in teaching Drawing to a small group of young people, please get in touch! As for things we have scheduled, here are some details:
Writer’s Group:
Evening writer’s group will continue with a slightly adjusted time of 6-8:00 PM every other Thursday! We hope you will join us and give a small donation on Thursday Jan. 16th and 30th. It is a fun, accepting, and relaxed group!! Invite your friends, too! This is an all ages meet-up!
Game Night Fundraiser!!
This monthly event will be happening on Saturday January 25th from 6-10 PM. Everyone is encouraged to come and bring their favorite games, whether table top, card games or video games. More specific information can be found out by calling our school phone. All ages, small donation($5-10) requested, and there is always some great food available as well as coffee, tea, water, and sometimes soda. You are also welcome to bring your own snacks and drinks! It is always a fun time filled with lots of laughter and different types of games! Donations help us maintain our building and do more fun activities!
Book Club
We have been reading a lot the last few months!! We are currently working on The House on Mango Street, by Sandra Cisneros and plan to discuss the book on Weds. the 15th. After that we will start on a new book and continue discussions every week on Weds. at 12:00pm. We are open to reading suggestions and welcome people who want to join us! Please call ahead if you plan to come!
Cooking for Food Not Bombs Houston
This month we are joining a local group that serves home cooked meals to hungry people downtown 4 days a week. We want to practice cooking healthy meals and to support others in our community. We will be cooking every other Wednesday at 2:00 pm, and food serving occurs downtown at 521 Lamar St. at 8:00pm. If you want to join us or donate dry goods or vegetables, please get in touch! More information on FNB here: http://houstonfoodnotbombs.org/fnb-gallery/
All Ages Karaoke:
Join us on alternating Fridays for some laid back Youtube Karaoke! You can perform any song you want and we have all the equipment needed! Snacks and beverages welcome! Small donations encouraged!
This will happen on Friday Jan 17th and 31st, 7-10pm
Field trips:
We regularly take Park Trips on Thursday from 2-4pm to meet up with other homeschoolers in the Heights.
We also take trips from 12-3 on Fridays and people are welcome to join us wherever we go! Recently we have gone to the library, ice skating, free zoo days, museums, and roller skating! Contact us for more information if you want to meet us somewhere!
Please check our calendar or contact us by phone if you are looking for more events! Our building is also available to host events for a small fee. We can be contacted at 713-523-0066. All events that take place at our building will be at: 2805 Wichita St. Houston, TX 77004. We can also be reached by email at: unschool@therealschoolhouston.org
December Announcements!
December 14th: HUK Craft Market at The Real School from 2-4pm. $1-5 donation suggested. Everyone is welcome! Please come support some crafty Unschooled kids!
Welcome to December!! We had a very busy month of November full of art, parties, reading, and our fair share of fresh air! We said goodbye to two of our founding members, Krenie Stowe and Issac Taylor, as they are continuing their Unschooling journey in Oregon and passing the torch to our younger generations. We plan to continue growing, changing, and learning together, and we sincerely hope you all will join us!! We will be closing a few days for the holidays this month but please keep in touch and come to the events we will have scheduled!
Game Night Fundraiser: Saturday the 14th, 6-10pm, following HUK craft Market!
We will have food and drinks available! Everyone is welcome to bring their favorite table top or video games, or join on to a game here. We regularly play Bananagrams, Werewolf, Apples to Apples, and various card games! $3-10 suggested donation.
Like to sing?
Join us for karaoke every other Friday(Dec. 6th &20th) from 7-10pm. Small donation suggested. Bring your own drinks and snacks!
Do you knit or crochet?
So do we! We have all levels or knitters and crocheters here and we look forward to any chance to sit around together and get crafty! If you would like to come by and crochet or knit with us please contact us to schedule a day and time!
Writers:
Specific workshops aimed at improving different areas of our writing will be happening this month. This is aimed at less experienced writers but more experienced writers are welcome to join! Tuesdays at 2:00pm.
Our Thursday Evening writing group has now been going for several months! We encourage people of all ages to bring their work to share, bring questions and/ or ideas and be ready to listen to and discuss with others! Happens every other Thursday this month at 5:30pm. $1-5 Donation Recommended.
Please check our calendar or get in touch with us for more events and information! We are constantly adding events!
All events will take place at the ACT building which houses The Real School: 2805 Wichita St. Houston, TX 77004.
Contact us by email at: unschool@therealschoolhouston.org or with more immediate questions at: 713-523-0066
We hope to see you soon!
Upcoming Events: November!
November Events:
Last month was full of celebrations! This month we will be hosting several unique events and focusing on reading and writing oriented workshops. We will also be including art events such as Origami and trips to Ren Fest and Brazos Bend State Park on our calendar. We hope you will join our Saturday Game Night Fundraiser with Games and Food! All Events Are For All Ages and Sliding Scale donations recommended. We are a community funded cooperative and any support is greatly needed and appreciated. Please see our Fundly page if you are able to make a donation at this time: https://fundly.com/support-these-awesome-unschool-kids We hope to see you this month!!
If you have questions about any events or our school please contact us at: unschool@therealschoolhouston.org or 713-523-0066
All events will be held at the ACT/Real School building at 2805 Wichita St. unless otherwise specified.
This Month’s Event Details
Beehive Design Collective presents: MesoAmerica Resiste! poster tour
on Friday, November 8th at 1pm
The Final Graphic in an Epic Trilogy about Globalization in the Americas!
A swarm is coming! The Beehive Design Collective, a non-profit arts and activism organization dedicated to “cross-pollinating the grassroots”, is heading this way to share their recently completed work, Mesoamérica Resiste.
The event is free and open to the public, donations to Beehive or The Real School encouraged.
For more information, visit http://www.beehivecollective.org.
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More about Beehive Collective:
The Beehive is an all-volunteer swarm of educators, artists, and activists using images to communicate and educate about the complex realities of our times. The dizzyingly detailed, hand-drawn, large-format posters and banners they tour with are portable murals that come alive through storytelling, illuminating how single issues are interconnected and part of bigger systems. Join in as the Bees deconstruct often overwhelming global issues in an engaging and interactive presentation, using metaphors from the natural world to connect social and environmental struggles.
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Game Night FUNDRAISER! on Saturday, November 9th. From 6-10pm |
All your favorite games and food! Proceeds help us keep this place running and improving!
Join us for another month of fun and food! We will have video games, card games, role playing, table top games, and more mischief! Bring your favorite games if you wish!
Bring your own drinks or snacks if you’d like!
All ages welcome! $5-10 donation.
Know Your Rights Workshop
Wednesday November 12th at 1:00pm
A lawyer will be joining us for a presentation/ Q&A aimed at informing us of our rights when stopped, questioned or detained by police and dispelling misinformation on various issues. Donations appreciated. All ages welcome.
Open Dialogue: Unschooling 101–the deconstruction of schooling and Adultism
Saturday November 16th from 1-3:30pm
This open discussion will be an introduction to Unschooling and the ideas of Adultism. We will discuss how we can deconstruct ideas of schooling and the structures that harm young people. All questions around unschooling, learning, non-coercive parenting and adultism are welcome! We also welcome people to come learn more about our cooperative. All ages welcome. Donations to The Real School encouraged.
Community Potluck for Unschoolers and Allies of Community Education
on Wednesday the 20th at 6-10PM!!
Vegetarian friendly and open to everyone!!! Bring a friend and some food and join the conversation around Unschooling, non-coercive parenting, Adultism, and community education.
Writing Workshop Groups:
Specific workshops aimed at improving different areas of our writing will be happening this month. This is aimed at less experienced writers but more experienced writers are welcome to join! Tuesdays at 2:00pm
Our Thursday Evening writing group has now been going for several months! We encourage people of all ages to bring their work to share, bring questions and/ or ideas and be ready to listen to and discuss with others! Happens every other Thursday this month at 5:30pm. $5 Donation Recommended
Please check our calendar of events for more information on our current workshops and other happenings such as book clubs, documentaries and Karaoke!!!
Thanks for reading!!! –The Real School
This month’s blog post by: Marie and Lou!
October Events: Crafts, Karaoke, Yoga, Documentaries and lots of celebrating!
Real Schoolers Playing Cranium in September!
September was a great month full of yoga, crafts, German and lots of game playing! We invite you to join us for our numerous events and celebrations in the upcoming month. We ask for donations for our events as we are very low budget and seeking to expand our projects. We are self sustained, and we count on everyone to contribute to keeping us open! All events are open to all ages unless otherwise specified. Events/times are subject to change or be added at any time, please check back with the calendar for updates.
FUN-draiser Game Night on Saturday the 5th from 6-10 PM
Join us for another month of fun and food! Bring your favorite table top, video and role playing games!! $5-15 Suggested Donation. All ages welcome! There will likely be birthday cake this month as we have a large amount of people celebrating!
Yoga Beginner’s classes:
Every Thursday at 4:00pm.
Our friend Dan P. has been volunteering to work with people of all ages and help us with some basic Yoga skills. $5-10 suggested donation. Wear stretchy clothes and bring your own mat if you have one! Space is limited to about 9 people.
Writing Workshop Group:
Our writing group has now been going for several months! We encourage people of all ages to bring their work to share, bring questions and/ or ideas and be ready to listen to and discuss with others!
$5+ Suggested Donation. Workshops happen every other Thursday, this month Oct. 3rd and 17th(the 31st will be canceled this month).
Arts and Crafts!
We will be hosting different arts and crafts events on Wednesday mornings this month! We may be working on origami, zines, coloring, painting, or various other crafts. We will have a Halloween themed craft session on the Wednesday before the 31st. Catch these on: the 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th from 10-2pm.
Isaac’s Farewell/ Real School Joint Birthday Party:
Thursday the 10th from 5:30-11:00 pm.
One of our founding members, Isaac Taylor, will be leaving Texas after this month and he is also celebrating his birthday this month, on the same week as two of our other participants. There is a larger birthday party planned for the weekend, so this is primarily a good chance to give Isaac a send off before he leaves for Portland! People are welcome to bring games to play, food, presents, or donations to The Real School.
Spanish:
Spanish meet-up has been moved to Fridays at 11:00am and will last for an hour. People of all ages are welcome to come if they have an interest in learning or practicing Spanish!
Community Potluck for Unschoolers and Allies of Community Education
on Wednesday the 23rd at 6PM!!
Vegetarian friendly and open to everyone!!! Bring a friend and join the conversation around Unschooling, non-coercive parenting, Adultism, and community education.
Open Dialogue: Fatherly concerns about Unschooling: What to do when Dad isn’t on board with Unschooling
Unschooling fathers address frequently heard concerns from other dads such as, “how will my kid get a job without going to school?” All ages welcome! Donations encouraged.
Saturday Oct. 19th from 1:00-4:00pm
Documentaries and discussions:
A few of the participants and staff have been watching and discussing documentaries frequently and we have now set a time for it! Join us on Mondays at 11:30 am for a different documentary (streaming from Netflix or Youtube) each week. We do not have a projector at this time but are working towards getting one. Bring snacks and drinks if you’d like!
Other Events:
We are currently still planning on re-starting our cob house project, going on geo-caching trips, and planning a “Toxic Tour” with our friends at T.E.J.A.S., as well as other field trips around Houston for this month! Please keep checking back with our calendar and there will likely be another post about some of these happenings! Feel free to contact us if you have questions about our events at: 713-523-0066.
All events are at our building unless otherwise specified(such as birthday parties or field trips). Our address is:
(The A.C.T. Building)
2805 Wichita St.
Houston, TX 77004
We hope to see you there!
-The Real School
September Events! Added workshops, Crafts, Yoga, Karaoke and more!!!
For the last month we have been actively adding events to our calendar including: more language groups, Yoga, Knitting/Crochet, gender studies and fun events like Karaoke and delicious experiments in baking and ice cream making. Our writing and math groups continue this month and we will also be hosting our monthly Game Night and Potluck, and working on our mural and a Zine (booklet) including work from our participants! The ACT building hosts various community events this month as well which are not directly related to us but are part of our growing community project; contact us if you are interested in hosting an event at our building. All events hosted by the Real School are open to people of all ages unless otherwise stated and are donation based. Please help us sustain our cooperative with a generous donation when possible!
Check out events on the ACT(home to TRS) building calendar here:
This Month’s Open Dialogue is on: The De-schooling Process
This month we will discuss the transition from schooling to Unschooling and how to support our young participants and others during this transition. The process of De-schooling often includes a lot of questions, uncertainty and lack of direction which can cause parents a lot of concern. It is clear to those of us that have made it through this period that there is a time of confusion, when we are no longer being constantly directed and controlled, in which it takes personal growth and reflection to move forward into self directed action and freedom. We will be discussing what this period looks like and in what ways we can support transitioning into Unschooling and a freedom based educational and lifestyle approach.
Saturday September 21st from 1-4 PM. Donations to our cooperative encouraged.
FUNdraiser Game Night on Saturday the 14th from 6-10 PM
join us for another month of fun and food! Bring your favorite games!! $5-10 Suggested Donation.
Community Potluck for Unschoolers and Allies of Community Education
on Wednesday the 25th at 6PM!!
Vegetarian friendly and open to everyone!!! Bring a friend!
Yoga Beginner’s classes:
Every Thursday at 4pm.
Our friend Dan Panzone will be volunteering to work with people of all ages and help us with some basic Yoga skills. $5-10 suggested donation. Wear stretchy clothes and bring your own mat if you have one!
Knitting and Crochet group:
Facilitated by our friend Abbie every Wednesday@ 11am. Abbie will share skills on Knitting and Crochet for beginners and anyone who knits or crochets is welcome to join us and build friendships! Small donation suggested and we are still looking for donations of yarn and hooks/needles. All ages welcome!
Grand Ripley Day
To Celebrate The Real Schools Furry Security Guard Feel Free To bring Dog food And a $5-10 donation All Day Thursday the 12th. – Lou
ICE CREAM Making TUESDAY THE 10TH At 12 noon
With Your Choice Of Different Flavors. Bring A donation For Materials, $5-10 Recommended. Bring Your Own Plastic Bag If Possible.
Gender and Sexuality Studies Discussion
Wednesday the 18th at 12pm.
An Unschooler and staff members are hosting a discussion on gender and sexuality for Unschoolers and young people. We will be addressing questions about how we perceive gender, gender expression and sexuality and any other related discussion topics in the field. There will be a presentation of resources on gender and sexuality and we will plan what kind of studying and discussions we may like to see take place in the future. This will be a safe space for young people to ask questions and discuss with other young people and supportive adults. Parents are asked not to attend to maintain an area for free expression.
More information:
We have various workshops that have been ongoing the past few months including writing and math. For details on those please see recent blog posts or contact us directly.
Phone: 713 523 0066 email: unschool@therealschoolhouston.org
All events will be at the ACT building unless otherwise specified: 2805 Wichita St. Houston TX 77004
This month’s blog post was brought to you by: Marie and Lou
The Real School 