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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Imogen Talks about the Role of Parents in Unschooling

Last week I made a video of my 18 year old daughter Imogen talking about unschooling and university. Thank you to everyone who took the time to watch it! Bernice left a question for Imogen in the combox: How did your parents make your unschooling/homeschooling a positive experience? Imogen and I discussed this question together. Then I grabbed the video camera and the tripod, ready to interview my daughter once…
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How to Have Demanding Children Who Rule the House

Things people sometimes say… “You’re not feeding that baby again, are you?”  “If you feed your baby to sleep, she’ll never learn to go to sleep on her own. It won’t hurt her to cry.”  “You’re not giving into her again, are you?”  “If you carry your baby around all the time, she’ll never want to be put down.”  “You’re still feeding during the night? It’s time you got that…
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Imogen Talks about Unschooling and University

Today I made my first ‘talkie’ video. We’d been discussing ideas for the last couple of weeks, and just needed a free moment to actually start filming. “Why don’t you interview me this afternoon?” suggested my daughter Imogen. “I’ve got some free time.” So I grabbed the video camera and Imogen hunted for the tripod. Unfortunately the tripod didn’t want to be found so I raided the bookshelf for a…
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Why it’s Not a Good Idea to Read Slowly and Carefully

My girls come home from the library with towering stacks of books. Even as they walk through the front door, they have their noses between the pages of the first book in their piles. A couple of hours later, a sigh of contentment can be heard as a book is closed. “I enjoyed that!” By the end of the week, I hear, “When are we going to the library again,…
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The Problem of Applying Sunscreen to Wet, Sandy Bodies.

My husband Andy is home from school for two weeks. “What shall we do during the holidays?” he asks. “Let’s go to the beach!” The girls’ eyes light up. Callum’s eyes light up. It’s been two years since we last saw the sea. We pack bags of swimming gear, and an esky full of delicious picnic food. Shall we take SAND-wiches? We grab the sunscreen and our hats and sunnies.…
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Do You Know What’s at the End of Our Road?

“Shoes on!’ I shout. “Grab a jumper. Do we need sunscreen?” Soon we’re ready. The girls and I are off on an outing. “I’m going to record some video,” I say, holding my camera aloft. “Nancy wants to see where we live. We’re going to show her what’s at the end of our road.” I’m going to make my second movie. The Elvis girls are going to star again. “Everyone…
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Bite-Sized Pieces of Unschool Maths

So many people love the idea of unschooling and are even tempted to give it a go, but often there is one huge stumbling block… maths. Very few parents seem to be confident that their children will learn all the maths they need to know, without being prodded along by some kind of intentional instruction. Many homeschoolers who decide to unschool make a compromise. They might say something like, “We…
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Enjoying an Unexpected Little Adventure

The kids pile into the car. I settle myself into the passenger seat and bang the door shut. My eldest-at-home daughter, Imogen makes sure her ‘L’ plates are attached to the front and back of the vehicle, before sliding into the driver’s place. We are off to town. Charlotte has a piano lesson and Imogen is going to drive us. When we get to the end of our street, Imogen…
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Interviewing My Children and Other Family Movies

 I have this brilliant (?) idea. I might have to learn a few new skills to put it into action. “Girls, do you want to learn how to make videos? We could make some and post them on our blogs.” “What will we film?” my daughters ask. “We could film our everyday lives, our outings, things we do… I could interview you, ask you questions. I’m sure you’ll think of…
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Giving Up My Perfect Start-of-the-Year Plans

On the other side of the world from us, homeschoolers are ‘going back to school’. Catalogues have been browsed, curricula, resources and books have been bought, plans have been drawn up, and hope and excitement are in the air. When I was a fairly new homeschooling mother, I had similar feelings of excitement and anticipation at the start of the new school year. After weeks of preparation, I was ready.…
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Live Life to the Full, Have No Regrets

Today we are going on an adventure.  The girls giggle. “We’re going on a ‘school excursion’!” they say. We imagine a long straggly crocodile of paired off and name-tagged children, walking hand-in-hand. Where are they off to? The museum? The zoo? The fire station?  No crocodiles for us. No museum or fire station. We pack a picnic, pull on our track pants and running shoes, and grab our cameras. We…
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