from Life Learning magazine, January/February 2003
Learning to Balance Learning
By Katherine Michalak 

When I was younger, my parents did the worrying about the structure of my days. When they enforced a study period it was because they were concerned about the multiplication or history I didn’t know, but my only awareness was of that half hour of practice; I gave little thought to the reasons why or why not I should be practicing, and when I was allowed to play imaginary games for days on end I never thought about the alternatives. What structure or lack thereof was healthy for my development was of no concern to my young self; I simply followed my inclinations and dealt with outside influences when they came, leaving the analyzing of my actions to the adults.

But in the process of growing up I outgrew that oblivion. As my perceptions widened I started consciously anticipating the results of my actions and becoming, in a way, my own unschooling parent, balancing guiding and being guided by the learning process in my own life.
Since beginning to assume the guiding responsibility away from my parents, I’ve toyed with everything from following my every impulse to rigidly structuring my days, all in search of what exactly it means to be in control of one’s own life learning.

Inspiration is a key element in the learning process, and thus much of my observation has been of this phenomenon that seems beyond our control. Who can say why I picked up Peterson’s Guide to Western Birds ten days ago when I’d never before had the slightest interest in birds? Suddenly I was creeping around the garden, binoculars in hand, guide book lying on the grass, and .  . .

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At age 17, Katherine Michalak, unschooled all her life, plans to live with her family indefinitely. She is loathe to leave her garden, her friends (er, family members), their beautiful home and the tiny town of Crestone, Colorado, nestled against 14,000 ft. peaks. College is not a high priority but writing is. She is a four-time contributor to Growing Without Sschooling and has had an article on human rights published in the local newspaper.