Difficult Times

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Are There Times When You Should Never Give Up Unschooling?

Are there times when you should never give up unschooling? Are there circumstances that could cloud your judgement and lead to poor decisions? Life might not be going well, and you could blame unschooling. You decide everything will be better once you take control and get everyone back on track. But is unschooling the problem? Or is it the scapegoat for something else? Life can look grey when you’re tired…
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What if Our Unschooled Kids Complain or Reject Everything We Hold Dear?

I took my blog offline to fix a few technical problems, but at the back of my mind was a question: Have I had enough of blogging? Maybe I should keep my blog hidden permanently from public view. Perhaps it’s time to become an ex-unschooling blogger. Contemplating retirement as a blogger is nothing new. I’ve done this a few times over the past 14 years or so. But this time,…
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Does Love Keep You Awake While Others Sleep?

Lying in bed, trying to conquer insomnia, I noticed bright intermittent flashes of light illuminating the night sky. I slid from under the quilt, padded to the living room, and peered out the window, trying to locate the source of the light. White, blue, and green electric balls of light, accompanied by loud bangs, were exploding from the power line strung high on the other side of our road. Showers…
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Do You Need a Happy List?

I’m at a cafe with my pretend friend Amina, who places her mug of coffee on the table between us, sighs and says, “Unschooling doesn’t guarantee our kids won’t have challenges in life, does it?” “I wish it did,” I reply. “Oh, yes, wouldn’t it be good if our kids sailed through life feeling happy all the time?” “We’ve all got to face difficulties,” I say, “including our kids.” It’s…
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Is Unconditional Love at the Heart of Unschooling?

Recently, while travelling to town with two of my daughters, we talked about unschooling and how it’s impossible to say to another family, “Unschool in the same way as us.” Each family is different. Kids have their unique needs based on their personalities, interests and missions in life. And families have different circumstances such as number of children, health, commitments and responsibilities. Even the place where a family lives affects…
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Unschooling Strong

Yesterday we did lots of complaining because it felt like a very hot day. We were glad when evening arrived, and the sun went down. Hoping for a cool breeze, we ate ice cream and swapped hot stories. Here’s mine: I reminded my family of the scorching hot and bone-dry summer we experienced three years ago when a roaring and seemingly unstoppable bushfire surrounded our village for many weeks. One…
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My New Book: The Unschool Challenge

I have some big news: I’ve finished and published my third unschooling book, The Unschool Challenge, and it’s now available on Amazon! My author copies of my new book arrived the day before my daughter, Charlotte, and I set off for the coast for a special mother-daughter holiday. I packed The Unschool Challenge, with its distinctive green cover, into my bag, with my beach towels, sunscreen and swimmers! So what’s my unschooling book…
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Can Video Games Be Safe Places For Our Kids (And Us)?

Do kids who are denied their freedom want to spend a lot of time on their devices? Do they retreat into their games because, unlike the real world, they’re in control of these virtual ones? Do kids use games as a safe refuge from a sometimes difficult real world? Are devices and video games and the reason kids want to spend so much time in front of their screens more…
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A Message We Can All Share Even if Our Unschooling Lives Aren’t Picture-Perfect

When we’re posting photos or writing stories or talking about unschooling directly with our family and friends, do we ever stop and wonder if it’s necessary to have perfect kids when we’re sharing this way of life? Lots of people want to promote or defend unschooling. I do as well. So we all share social media photos and stories of our thriving, happy kids doing wonderful things. We want to…
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When the Outside Looks Wrong Because We Don’t Understand

My daughter Imogen knows I love proteas so when she saw a bouquet of native Australian flowers while shopping, she decided to buy them for me. A day or two previously, I’d told Imogen about the magnificent native flower garden that was in front of the house where we lived when she was five years old. I loved that garden. I spent many hours peering out the living room window,…
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When You’re Tempted to Leave Unschooling and Try Something Else

Every evening of our recent holiday, Imogen and I swished through the warm waves as we walked along the beach, waiting for the sun to set. One evening, I noticed a group of birds on the sand. At first glance it looked like a gathering of seagulls, but there were two imposters in the lineup. The word imposter makes me think of all the times I’ve felt like an unschooling…
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Could a Lack of Freedom Damage Our Kids’ Mental Health?

On the first morning of my recent holiday with my daughter Imogen, I got up early, grabbed my camera and headed to the beach. I sat alone on the sand, waiting for the sun to rise and thought about freedom. The last couple of years have been hard, haven’t they? In 2020, here in Australia, we endured a lockdown of several months. Last year, I was confined to home for…
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