unschooling Helen Keller

From a National Geographic book, Helen's Eyes: A Photobiography of Annie Sullivan by M. Delano, about teaching Helen Keller after she was able to learn words (after the water pump incident):

"From that point on, learning became an exciting adventure, and Annie let Helen's interests lead the way to learning opportunities. No more boring, repetitious classroom lessons for them! Instead, they spent most of their days outdoors. ... Helen later recalled that 'everything that could hum, or buzz, or sing, or bloom, had a part in my education.' "

Helen Keller would go on to take classes at Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston and eventually attend Radcliffe (and was a Socialist). Image at right is Helen Keller holding a doll with Anne Sullivan, 1888, thanks to Creative Commons.

I have read so many biographies where someone leaves school for economic or health reasons and it becomes a pivotal time in that person's life. In fact, there is a lot written about steady institutionalization and what it does to human beings. (see Illich and Holt)