Interview with Wanda, the Feral Homeschooler

Wanda Vesana in a playful pose.  Wanda advises
that finger puppets are a great buy, as they are
 more adept at teaching geometry than parents.

You've probably heard of Feral Homeschooling by now.  It's a new movement that's sweeping the homeschooling community and gathering adherents faster than you-know-what gathers flies!  And Wanda Vesana is the one who started it all; the guru of the movement, if you will. We caught up with the mom everyone wants to know about at her home recently.  She told us all about her unique style of homeschooling, which is definitely a trend that's here to stay!

Laura:  Let's start at the beginning.  What made you want to homeschool in the first place?
Wanda: I kind of have a problem with authority.  I just didn't like the idea of some smarty-pants teacher telling Silas and Verna what to do. That's my job!
L:  So what's this 'Feral Homeschooling' thing, Wanda?
W: I know, it sounds like one of those horror stories about kids locked in closets for years at a time while their parents claim to be homeschooling.  Nothing could be farther from the truth!  Everybody's got to have a homeschooling style, and I just couldn't find one that fit, and we're a bit...uncivilized? And I wanted to embrace that! So Feral Homeschooling is my new thing.
L: Couldn't find one that fit?  I thought you started out with the Charlotte Mason method?
 

Some of Wanda's current "hot reads".  "Always insist on quality
materials", says Wanda.  

 W:  Well, they have some neat ideas, but they put such a big emphasis on the whole 'living book' thing; that kids should not be reading textbooks and books that are mindlessly churned out by publishers, and instead should be reading books that are written by authors who are really passionate about their subjects.  That's all very well and good; but what really knocks my socks off, as you know, are books that got published only because the author really did something that made the publisher sit up and take notice.  I'm talking about posting a video on Youtube and having it go all viral! This is the hottest trend in publishing, and these are great books. My kids learn plenty from them.  Also I love the trend of teaching all subjects exclusively with comic books.  That's definitely got the Feral Homeschooling seal of approval!
L:  How about Unschooling?
W:  So, I understand that if we unschool, I can't tell my kids what to do?  Excuse me, but I have to ask, what's in it for me then? Plus I can't afford an Xbox.
L: Unit studies?  You like that approach, right?
W: That was okay when Silas was into trains.  We learned train words, train history, counted trains, listened to train music... he even learned his alphabet and numbers from the New York Subway.  That was cool.  But he was, like, three.  Now, he's into axolotls.  And Verna's into slime mold. There's, like, no documentaries to watch, no masterpiece paintings of these things to see at the art museum, no songs about them,  no wonderful body of children's literature to be explored, you know, like thrilling historical novels about 'Salavera the Slime Mold of Ancient Greece'.  And I couldn't figure out how to work long division into that.  At least we did try cooking with them, but that's as far as I'll go.
L:  Waldorf?
W: I make a point never to take advice about how to educate my child from dudes who talk to gnomes.
L:  I see...And you're not an Eclectic Homeschooler?  I thought that was kind of a catch-all for people like you who don't really relate to any one specific category of homeschooling.
W:  But that makes it sound like I'm some wishy-washy flake who can't make up her mind and stick with something that works.  Or like some hipster pairing a poodle skirt with a fetching cameo brooch. I do have a definite style, and it isn't "Eclectic".
L: So, what exactly is "Feral Homeschooling"?
W:  Well, I'm still working with my editor on the official manifesto, but I can give you a little overview.  I've boiled it down to four main principles.  The first, and most important, is an uncivilized approach to life.  Not being some namby-pamby conformist, you know? It's the "who-cares-what-you-think, I-know-I'm-awesome" attitude.  Second, having a sincere optimism about education- you can turn just about anything into an educational opportunity, no matter how bad things get. People always say you learn the most from your mistakes, so why hasn't anyone yet turned that into an official educational philosophy?  That's what I'd like to know. Third, for sure Feral Homeschoolers have a belief in direct experience as the best teacher of all.  And, fourth, high standards for literature and teaching materials in general.  Garbage in, garbage out!
L:  Tell me what you've been doing lately with your homeschooling.
W:  Well, I'm the kind of person who really prides herself on being able to turn lemons into lemonade.  Like when I got a speeding ticket and turned it into a civics lesson.  Also, uncle Jerry had to go to jail for a while, after getting caught with those mattress tags, and I thought that sure sounded awfully boring for him. So I got Silas and Verna to write him letters.  They sent him their favorite knock-knock jokes!  And they used their official 'Handwriting Without Tears' looseleaf, so they did a good deed, which is totally 'service learning', and improved their handwriting at the same time.  Brilliant!  So I always make the best of things.
L: I really admire that about you.  What's this pile of books? Is this what  you guys are learning about now?
W: Oh lord.  Well, my library card is maxed out, as usual, and some of these things are a bit overdue.  I have to go through them...
L:  Wait- isn't that papyrus?!
W: That's actually quite a bit overdue.  I think it was checked out from the library at Alexandria.
L: Whoa.  Um, so, do you guys have educational pets?

"Caring for an educational pet is very foundational to homeschooling",
says Wanda.  Pictured here is the family's pet lizard, Charlie. 

W:  Of course.  Educational pets are must for homeschoolers! You must have noticed the footprints in the glitter. Those were probably made by Charlie over there in that tank. That's another thing, I haven't gotten around to cleaning up after that last craft project.  Verna is just mad for glitter! Kind of no point to cleaning up after it though, you know, glitter just never seems to go away.  So why waste time?
L: Ain't that the truth!
W:  I'll say.
L:  Now, your homeschooling style is really all about 'direct experience', right?  Can you tell us more about that?
W:  Basically, when you homeschool, you're not tied to a classroom all day, the world is your classroom!  So you get out and have direct experiences.  It's way more memorable than learning from textbooks, not all memorizing just long enough to remember it for the test, but real lifetime memories.  That's what we really are into. Now, the kids at the public school learned about soil, and earthworms, etc.  They just learn about them from worksheets for the most part, so who knows what they even remember? We actually made a worm bin, and observed the worms.  And we went out at night with a red flashlight and caught nightcrawlers, which was totally a lot of fun!  And we wondered about them, because although they're absolutely colossal as far as worms are concerned, they're pretty small compared to us.  So how is it that when you catch one, and it's halfway down its burrow, and you're pulling on it, how can it put up such a fight?  Well, it turns out they have these tiny bristles in their skin they can poke into the soil to kind of anchor themselves in place.  And you can totally feel that when you swallow them.
L: So I hear you're thinking of starting your own homeschool blog?
W: Yes.  Now the thing you have to think about when you do any kind of writing, is, why will people want to read it?  And I took a look at some of the most successful homeschool blogs out there, like Pioneer Woman and SouleMama, and the thing about them is they're totally aspirational.  People see those gorgeous pictures of those happy kids in dappled sunlight with barn wood and felted animals all around them, and they just want their lives to be just the same.  I know I can do it too.
L:  I bet you can!  Can you actually felt?

Wanda's felted Opabinia.

W: Oh yes.  Actually, anyone with opposable thumbs and a sharp needle can pretty much felt.  It's not brain surgery.  And I have a particular eye for color and form that gives me a real talent.  Although, to be honest, it's kind of a pain if you have two pieces of wool that are pretty much completely felted already and you want to stick them together.  Then I just whip out my glue gun.  You can't tell in the pictures, and that's what counts.  If you felt, you can make such precious little animals!  And nature photography is totally a must for a homeschool blog,  and I've got, like, hundreds of soft-focus macro pictures of slime mold I really should do something with.  And really adorable pictures of Silas and Verna catching snakes together. In dappled sunlight and everything.
L:  I have to ask, how is fame affecting your life?
W: It's an awesome feeling to be such a role model for so many people.  Fortunately, I was prepared to deal with the paparazzi from the beginning.  I've taken a number of steps...Well, I probably shouldn't go into them too much.  But I have to protect the privacy of my children.  And now of course it's a number one priority to maintain my level of glamor, for those unexpected moments when the flashbulbs are bursting.  I'm hoping to really hit the ground running when my book comes out, "The Feral Homeschooler's Manifesto".
L:  Rock on, Wanda! And thank you so much for your time.
W:  You're welcome!

Since our interview, Wanda has decided that she's far too busy to write a blog of her own.  Instead she has graciously agreed to occasionally share her wisdom and guidance through guest posts.  She plans to institute a new tradition here at Stag Beetle Power of "Feral Fridays", when she will contribute posts when time permits.