Is it Risky to Share Our Book Collections? What Will People Think?
Do our bookshelves reveal things about ourselves? Are there times when we'd rather no one knows what we read to avoid possible criticism? Do we use books to project a particular image? Maybe our book collections sometimes deceive? Are some books better than others? Or can we learn something from everything we read? Could sharing the books we're reading lead to some fascinating unschooling conversations?
Unschooling: Doing What Is Right
Tough or Unconditional Love? Parent or Friend?
Should we be firm with our kids, demanding they obey us, even if this causes conflict and unhappiness? Perhaps it’s our duty to remember who’s the parent and who’s the child and not be tempted to act as friends to our children. Is the tough love parenting method the most effective way to ensure our kids become responsible and good people?Or should we love our kids unconditionally and connect closely with them? Does love and strong bonds result in secure and confident kids who want to do what is right without coercion? Can we be friends with our children as well as their parents?
Preventing Childhood Trauma with Unconditional Love
Childhood trauma can follow us into adulthood, affecting what we do, how we feel about ourselves and how we relate to others. We can trace many of our adult problems back to something that happened as we were growing up. If we understand this, we’ll protect our kids, the best we can, from anything that might affect them adversely. But what about the trauma that's disguised as ‘good’ parenting techniques? Can we unintentionally harm our kids by doing what we think is right?
Could Unschooling Be Exactly What Teens Need to Do?
When unschooling children reach the teenage years, is it time for them to stop following their interests and do some serious structured work instead? If they continue to unschool, will they fail to gain enough knowledge to get into university? Do they need to learn how to write essays, complete assignments, meet deadlines and deal with exams? Do parents need to tighten the rules for teens? Perhaps they should restrict their teenagers’ freedom to keep them safe because their worlds are getting bigger and there are a lot of dangers out there. Or is leaving unschooling behind the wrong thing to do? Could unschooling be exactly what teens need to do, (even if they haven’t unschooled before)?
Who Should Be Responsible for a Child’s Education, the Parent or the Child?
Who should be responsible for a child's education, the parent or the child? Is learning an active activity that needs the learner’s cooperation? Is it impossible to force knowledge into a child without resorting to teaching methods that ultimately destroy their natural love of learning? Is forced learning real learning? Is it better to unschool and let children learn what’s important to them? But if we choose unschooling, will our kids, one day, accuse us of side-stepping our duty and not providing them with a good education?
What Do Unschoolers Do Each Day?
Is unschooling about staying in bed late, spending lazy days in the forest, and baking cookies? Or is there more to unschooling than that? What does a typical unschooling day look like? Will it be different in different families? Will it change over time?Whatever it looks like, will it always be packed with deep learning?
Should We Push Kids to Use Their Talents, Aim High and Impress?
Unschool Basics: What is Unschooling?
What is unschooling? Is it a method of homeschooling, or is it more than that? Could it be a way of life? I share my ideas about what unschooling is and add links to other people’s articles on this topic. I also ask AI for its opinion!
The Stories of Our Lives
In this episode of the Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast, I discuss a range of topics from unschooling and homeschool record-keeping to generating writing ideas and dealing with social media distractions. I also share some resources, including Tiago Forte's book, Building a Second Brain, and Matthew Dicks' Storyworthy. If you're interested in unschooling, homeschooling, or just love listening to podcasts, tune in for some great insights and ideas.
Video Games, Control, Mental Health and Freedom
Are kids more likely to suffer mental health problems if they experience excessive control?Could video games provide a safe space for kids to retreat when life becomes too difficult?If we insist that kids leave their games and they get upset, could it be the real world that we’re forcing them to return to that’s the problem and not the video games?And if kids do have genuine trouble handling games and protest loudly when we take them away, how will they learn to deal with their feelings if they’re not allowed to play?
How Our Unschooling Lives and Kids Don’t Need to be Picture-Perfect
Do you ever feel discouraged when you see social media posts of unschooling families that seem to have everything worked out? Do you wonder why your unschooling life isn’t picture-perfect like theirs? Are you doing something wrong? Why isn’t unschooling working for you? Is it time to do something else before family and friends start to criticise your choices? In this article, I offer reassurance and reasons why you should ignore social media and critics, stop comparing, and continue unschooling.
Do Unschoolers Drift Aimlessly Through Each Day?
Is Unconditional Love at the Heart of Unschooling?
What to Do When Unschool Kids Have No Interest in Topics They’re Required to Learn
Unschooling Charlotte Mason
Charlotte Mason often entices families away from unschooling. Maybe that’s because of three words often associated with this method of homeschooling: beauty, truth and goodness. Aren’t these what our souls yearn for? Aren’t they what we need? Could Charlotte Mason be the right way to live?Or can we find everything our souls crave in the real world of unschooling?
Unschool: Greater Things
Unschool: Experiencing Energy and Gravity
Do parents need to teach kids about such things as forces, gravity, density, heat conduction, friction, the seasons, energy, and life cycles? Or will children learn a lot about these things by experiencing them while engaged in play and other activities?