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When an Unschooler Feels Like Taking a Course

Do you ever feel like taking a course, reading a textbook, or following someone else’s instructions to learn something? Do you want someone to say, “Follow my plan, and when you get to the end, you’ll know how to bake bread, fix a car, understand classical music, draw a face

When Mothering Is Not Enough

Christian Unschooling, Me, Technology, Unschooling

I got together with a few friends, and while we were sitting around the table sipping tea, our conversation turned towards kids, screens, and the Internet, a popular topic. Someone told us about a doctor who advocated having no technology in the family home because she believed this was the

Reaching the Finish Line: Achieving Our Dreams

Me, Unschooling

I spend months updating my first children’s novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek. I revise the words, check the punctuation and grammar, add a new image to each chapter, and create a fresh eye-catching cover. Eventually, I reach the finish line: I have a file and a cover image to

Encouraging Kids to Say Thank You

Parenting, Unschool Challenges, Younger Unschoolers

The other day, someone asked, “When you had younger children, how did you encourage them to say thank you?” My first response was, “I can’t remember.” It’s strange: we realise our kids learnt the necessary social skills, but looking back, we can’t work out how they did it. Did we

Christian Unschooling: Do Kids Need Silence and Space to Hear God?

Christian Unschooling, Christian Unschooling Challenges, Me, Unschooling

We should share our faith with our kids, but do we also need to give them space to ponder, wonder, and hear God in the silence? Or is that risky? Is faith something we need to impress on our kids, insisting they adopt it without question? Because we don’t want

Does Christian Unschooling Interest You?

Blog/podcast/write, Christian Unschooling, Unschool Books, Unschooling

I’ve written three unschooling books. I focused on the educational side of unschooling in Curious Unschoolers. I extended the unschooling story in Radical Unschool Love by sharing parenting thoughts and stories. And I offered practical suggestions for turning all those interesting unschooling ideas into something real in families’ lives in

Choosing an Exceptional Unschool Life and Other Things

Books, Podcasts, Unschooling, Videos

Sometimes, we wake up in the morning and want to know exactly how we’ll spend the day. We’d like someone to say, “This is what you need to do today,” and lay out a plan for us. Perhaps we’re too tired, distracted or unsure about what we should be doing

Is It Wrong to Love Without Limits?

Christian Unschooling, Parenting

We’re often told that kids won’t learn right from wrong if we love them without limit. But what if the world has things back to front? What if it’s unconditional love that bathes us in the gentle light of self-awareness and spurs us to become the people we were created

How to Parent So We’ll Have No Regrets

Parenting, Unschool Challenges

When I look at family photos from a few years ago, I remember those chaotic and messy days when I was at the centre of my children’s lives. I felt like those days would last forever. Sometimes, that was good: I wanted to stay firmly in the love-filled middle of

The Problem of Introverted Kids and Blogging Mothers

Books, Family, Parenting

Is introversion a problem? What if our kids are introverted? Should we push them to be more outgoing? I’m sharing some thoughts, experiences and stories about our introverted family and the situations we’ve faced. To read this post, enter the password below. Password: If you’d like to make a small

Would You Like the Key to the Secret Unschooling Garden?

Blog/podcast/write

The other day, I stumbled across a ‘hilarious’ radical unschooling collection on someone’s blog, and there was the graphic for my post When Rules for Teenagers Aren’t Necessary. People online were laughing at me. Now, I’m not surprised when others think my ideas and opinions are ridiculous. In a way,

What if Adding Joy to Your Days Was Simple and Inexpensive?

Parenting, Unschooling

When I ask my husband, Andy, what he wants to do to celebrate his birthday, he replies, “Let’s go on a picnic.” It’s winter. An icy wind has been blowing for days. It’s not ideal picnic weather, but does that matter? No. We’ll be brave and gritty. We’ll face the

The Art of Conversation and Lifelong Learning

Interviews, Podcasts, The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschooling, Videos

Everyone has a story to share. Everyone is interesting. Unschoolers and hosts of the Self Directed podcast, Jesper and Cecilie Conrad, roam the world seeing spectacular sights, but the real heart of their travels is the people they meet. As Cecilie says, “People are the adventure.” I once read that

Is Trying to Impress Others a Waste of Time?

Christian Unschooling, Me, Unschooling

Strolling between the gum trees on a winter’s morning with Nora and Quinn, my fingers painful with the cold, I meet Matilda. I smile and stop. So do my dogs. They thrust their grinning heads into the undergrowth, happy to sniff up all the smells of the bush while I

Stories of Awful Hair Styles and Inspector Morse

The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschool Challenges, Unschooling

I’ve been watching Inspector Morse, an old TV series, starring John Thaw. My dad was a great Morse fan. I contributed to his Morse DVD collection, buying him a new series for some of his birthdays. I knew my dad enjoyed this crime series but never wondered what exactly it

When We Don’t Know What to Do

Christian Unschooling, starting unschooling, Unschooling

I’ve just updated my blog. I started at the first post I ever wrote and then worked my way through 14 years of stories, reading each one before deciding whether to keep it or revert it to draft. I then checked the formatting of the retained posts, rearranging paragraphs, eliminating

Intuition and Independence: Unschooling Tips and Practical Advice

Parenting, Radical Unschooling

What do we do if a child refuses to brush her teeth? What if our kids choose not to wash their hair or shower their bodies? Personal hygiene is important, isn’t it? Without self care, our kids might develop cavities. They could end up not being accepted by other people.

Unconditional Love: the Glue that Sticks Us Together

Me, Parenting, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling, Videos

I miss my Mother's Day breakfast. My husband, Andy, and some of our adult kids enjoy coffee and pastries after the early Sunday Mass without me. I’m at home, a blanket drawn up to my chin with razor blades scratching my throat and a drum beating in my head: I’m

A Birthday Chat

Ageing, Podcasts, Unschooling, Videos

Every time I celebrate a birthday, going up a number, I ponder ageing anew. How do I feel about getting older? Am I reluctant to admit my age? Or am I grateful to be who I am at the age I’ve reached? I once saw a sign saying, Experienced cars

Live a Radical Life of Unconditional Love

Parenting, Podcasts, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling, Videos

Cecilie and Jesper Conrad invited me to be part of their Self Directed podcast, so I met them online, via Zoom, and I had a fabulous time recording episode 65 with them. After the interview, one of my daughters said, “How did it go, Mum?” and I replied, “I must

Encouraging My Daughters and Other Women by Embracing My Age

Me, Parenting, Podcasts

I was 58 on Christmas Day, 2019. If you do some real-life maths, you’ll soon work out how old I am today. There have been times when I haven’t wanted to admit my age and wished to appear younger than I am. Why? Did I fear no one would like

An Unschool Conversation with Jesper and Cecilie Conrad on the Self Directed Podcast

Unschooling, Videos

Remember how I was talking about pushing ourselves to do things outside our comfort zones? Well, I almost said no the first time someone invited me to discuss unschooling on their podcast because I didn’t want to put myself in an unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable situation. I was confident talking

Pushing Ourselves Instead of Our Kids

Podcasts, Unschooling

Often, we push our kids to try new things, don’t we? We want them to be adventurous. We say, “If you give it a go, you might discover you like it. You might be good at it.’ But what about ourselves? Are we willing to try new things? Or do

Chatting with My Unschooled Author Daughter

Books, Podcasts, Unschooling

It’s been a while, but I’m back with a new podcast episode! My author daughter Imogen is back too. In episode 205 of my Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast, we’re chatting about: Writing and how Imogen is promoting and selling her YA novels Collaboration and how we achieve more

Challenging Ourselves to Put Away Our Phones

Parenting, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling

Did you hear the story of the photographer who visited the Grand Canyon and took millions of photos of the awe-inspiring sights, and then later realised that he hadn’t seen a thing despite having his eye glued to his viewfinder the whole time? He retraced his steps, his camera dangling

Taking Risks, Looking Strange

Me, starting unschooling, The Unschool Challenge, Unschool Books, Unschool Challenges, Unschooling

A few days ago, when I arrived at my weekly parish women’s group meeting, I greeted my friend Anabelle, and the first thing she said was: “What do you do to your eyebrows?” My brows? Oh no, did they look bad? I gulped before saying, “I usually dye them, but

An Almost Empty Unschool House

Parenting, Unschooling

Recently, two of our daughters moved out of home, leaving behind two empty bedrooms, which my husband and I are turning into a study and a studio. For the first time ever, I will have my very own space where I can write, record audio and video, and join in

Too Anxious to Unschool?

Unschooling

Some parents say they can't let go of control and unschool because they're too anxious about the outcome. What if things don't work out and kids fail to receive the upbringing and education they need? Perhaps it seems like unschooling and anxiety are incompatible. But I've never had a problem

When Children Move Out of an Unschool Home

Parenting, Radical Unschool Love, Radical Unschooling, Unschool Books, Unschooling

Some parenting ‘experts’ advise us to push our kids out of the family home as soon as possible. They tell us to make our kids stand on their own two feet. But my husband and I have ignored this advice. We’re happy for our kids to remain with us as

How to Respond to ‘Unlovable’ Kids and Cats

Parenting, Radical Unschooling, Unschooling

Poppy died, and I cried despite not liking the cat. Poppy was a grumpy animal. She was messy and unkempt, preferring not to groom herself. An unpleasant odour followed her wherever she went. We bathed the cat, clipped her long fur, and sprinkled deodoriser all over her body, trying to

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