Sue Elvis

I'm an Australian blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber. I write and speak about unschooling, parenting and family life. I'm also the author of the unschooling books 'Curious Unschoolers', 'Radical Unschool Love' and ‘The Unschool Challenge’. You'll find them on Amazon!

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Leaving Magical Fingerprints on Each Other’s Lives

Friends leave their magical fingerprints on our lives. I remember the day that I heard that Nancy Shuman had died. It was a Sunday. Andy, the girls and I had spent the afternoon with my parents. My son Duncan was at home looking after our new puppy, Quinn. It was just a normal weekend day. But when we arrived home, I knew something was wrong. Duncan’s face was creased into…
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Old and New Stories, a Book Club and Other Unschooling Things

A few weeks ago, I received a letter from Fr James Tierney who is the author of the Bush Boys children’s books. Fr and I are old friends. We’re also writing buddies. And Fr is also a great source of inspiration and encouragement for me and my family. As I was writing my reply to Fr’s letter, I realised that Fr Jim must have recently celebrated his anniversary of ordination.…
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Encouraging Each Other to Do Difficult Things

The other morning while I was running with our dog Quinn, we met a man ambling along with a huge roly-poly overweight dog. There they were on the track just ahead of us. Instantly, I came to a halt and grabbed Quinn’s collar. The man took hold of his dog and tried to stop too. But he couldn’t. His dog was determined to greet Quinn nose to nose. It edged…
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How It’s Okay if We’re Not Perfect Parents

Do I want to be as good a mother as Sue Elvis? Or do I want Sue Elvis to be my mother? Perhaps a bit of both. Another phenomenal book that I’ll read again and again. Sue’s books remind me that there’s so much fun & whimsy to motherhood & childhood. I just love everything about these 2 books and hope more will come soon. I found the above words…
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Being Unschool Superheroes Who Save the World

A few days ago, it was my husband Andy’s birthday and our children gave him a lot of superhero-themed gifts: an Iron Man t-shirt, the original Hulk DVD and matching socks, a Captain America shirt and a Superman towel. Perfect presents for Andy who is our superhero. [/bigletter] I was thinking about superheroes while I was writing my book Curious Unschoolers. One of the last stories in the book is…
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Fearing Our Kids Will Fail

When I was about eleven or twelve, I swam in a school carnival. I didn’t want to. You see, I wasn’t a strong swimmer. I was rather alarmed when I found out that I’d been entered for a freestyle race. The only good thing about the race was that it was short. I only had to swim the width of the pool. Anyone could do that, couldn’t they? Except somehow…
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Building Strong Relationships With Our Kids

Last week, we went on an adventure. Sophie, Gemma-Rose, Andy and I travelled to a small country town in the north of our state to visit our son Callum. We spent a few days bumping along dirt roads in Callum’s truck seeing all the local sights. We saw herds of cows, grubby sheep, an unusually huge black wallaby as well as kangaroos, wedge-tailed eagles, a couple of open cut coal…
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Another Way of Looking at Our Unschooled Kids’ Learning

I didn’t publish a podcast episode last week. That might not surprise you because recently, I’ve become an unreliable podcaster. But maybe you will be surprised when I tell you that I did make an episode. This morning, I dashed into my closet recording studio and recorded episode 155. I edited it and then checked it by listening to it while walking the dogs. And then I uploaded it. It’s…
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Another Way of Looking at Our Kids’ Learning

While I was eating my lunch today, I thought about all the things my daughter Gemma-Rose did this morning. I mentally translated all her learning experiences into schooly language. I knew I could write lots of impressive notes that would convince an education authority that Gemma-Rose is learning everything that they think is essential for a good education. And then I thought about how Gemma-Rose’s learning experiences aren’t just about…
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Becoming Brave and Gritty

This morning, I posted the following words on Instagram: Hello! It’s Monday morning here in Australia. I am thinking about the day ahead. Should I start it with a run? The only problem is the temperature. It’s below freezing. Should I be brave and gritty and head out for a run even though I know I’m going to feel cold and uncomfortable?  At the time of writing, I was sitting…
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