The other day, I made a big mistake. I uttered the word ‘maths’ in Gemma-Rose’s presence. Oh my! She instantly became stiff and prickly.“What’s wrong with maths?” I asked.“It’s boring. It’s just
Some time ago, Gemma-Rose asked, “Can I read to you, Mum?” She settled herself next to me on the sofa, excited because she was in the reader’s chair. She smiled at me
Yesterday I noticed a pile of junk mail catalogues sitting on the kitchen bench, waiting to be thrown into the recycling bin. I had an idea… “If I gave you $500 what
We can’t force knowledge into children if they aren’t interested, though it might appear we can. For, of course, children learn things they don’t want to learn all the time. Anyone who’s
I was asked to share some thoughts on learning to read and write. Shall I start with reading? When I created this blog, Gemma-Rose was almost a fluent reader so I haven’t
What if, instead of doing what you usually do, you did some of those things your children have been wanting to do for ages… you know, all that fun stuff that usually
Andy returns to work tomorrow. He’s a primary school teacher. “This is Dad’s last day of holiday,” I say to the girls. They are quiet for a moment, and then it suddenly
The other day I went to the library with my older girls. Sophie and Gemma-Rose weren’t with us. I decided to choose a few books for my younger daughters, and when I
Gemma-Rose is eight years old, and she still can’t tell the time. Well, that’s not quite true. If I put my watch in front of her and say, “What’s the time?” she’ll
I'm an Australian unschooling author, blogger and podcaster. I've been blogging here since 2011 and have loads of stories about all aspects of unschooling to share with you.