Remember when blogging was the thing to do? We all created blogs instead of social media accounts. We shared our lives, writing our stories, filling our sidebars with photos of our kids, sometimes naming them, frequently hiding their identities under pseudonyms like Princess and Tiger.
We followed each other’s blogs. When a new name and face appeared in our followers widget, we grinned. Someone new wanted to read our posts!
We rushed to read each other’s offerings before leaving lively comments. Or maybe we just said, “Great post!” because sometimes it was challenging to keep up with everything that was going on. We were prolific writers and commenters.
Long or short comments, we always got lots of responses to our posts. As soon as we’d hit the publish button, we waited for the first comment to appear. Usually, we didn’t have to wait long.
Some of us had multiple blogs. Ad-free Blogspot blogs were free, and it only took a minute to create a new blog. So that’s what I did when I had a new blogging idea. I made at least 6 blogs, contributed to 2 or 3 other ones, and then there were my kids’ blogs. Unfortunately, finding content for more than one blog was difficult. We ended up abandoning many of our blogs. Some we deleted, others we made private, and we left some unattended. Abandoned, they’re still floating online. To find them, you just need to know where to look.
Do you remember linky parties or blog hops? We’d all write posts on the same topic. Then each week, we’d hurry to add our links to a widget on the host’s blog. Would we be first, at the top of the list? The list grew. We’d scroll through it, choosing links to follow, posts to read.
Sometimes we’d visit a friend’s blog and discover they’d redecorated their online home, perhaps turning it from country cosy to modern chic. They might have added a brand new header. Maybe they’d spent hours browsing blog background websites, looking for the perfect new look.
The blogging world, or blogosphere, was a community of friends. We shared our lives and encouraged each other. We were sure we’d be best buddies in real life. Imagine if we could live next door to each other!
Often we said, “One day we shall meet!”
Very occasionally, we actually did meet a blogging friend. Such excitement! Hugs and long conversations. “Do I look like my profile photo?” Not really? Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea to post only beautiful, younger-looking photos of myself.
Or maybe when we saw each other for the first time, we soon realised that we weren’t kindred spirits after all. That happened to me. Online friends who couldn’t wait to meet me in real life discovered I’m rather ordinary, not interesting at all. They drifted away. That’s okay. I still have J. I’ve met up with her a few times over the years. We really are best buddies.
Most of the time, we never met our blogging friends, but dreaming about ‘one day’ was fun.
It happened gradually. One by one, my fellow bloggers disappeared, abandoning their sites crammed full of their stories and photos. They moved to social media.
Those who lingered a bit longer eventually put up signs: I’ve moved to Substack.
Wanting to maintain connections, I followed everyone else. I tried social media. It didn’t work out. I considered Substack. If I moved there, I wouldn’t have to pay for my hosting and other website costs. I wouldn’t have to maintain my blog. But I like my independence. My blog is my place. I’m not exchanging it for Substack, which belongs to someone else.
So, I’m still here, a dinosaur blogger. I think this is my 15th year.
At the beginning of every year, there’s a new batch of blog posts with titles like, Is Blogging Dead? or Should You Create a Blog in 2024… 2025… 2026?
The writers of these posts tell us blogging is still alive and you should join us.
And I agree.
I love how blogs are individual, unique. The blogger’s personality marks each one. It’s their online home and tells us a lot about who they are. People do their best to be themselves on social media, but it’s more difficult when everyone uses the same template and has to conform their posts to the algorithm.
I enjoy hunting through a blog, following links, scrolling through the archive, deep-diving into the blogger’s work, and getting to know them and their thoughts and ideas. I save links, make notes, ponder stories, and enjoy reading about someone else’s experiences.
Despite the big exodus to social media, there are still a few brilliant unschooling blogs that are active. I have a list of them on My Big Page of Unschooling Resources.
Every now and then, I go through this list, checking links, making sure everyone is still there online. Sadly, I recently had to cross a few blogs off my list. A few more bloggers have disappeared.
My List of Brilliant Unschooling Blogs
Here’s my updated list:
Stories of an Unschooling Family: My blog, of course! Unschooling, parenting, and family life. Most importantly, it’s all about unconditional love.
Sandra Dodd: Learning for fun is the best way to learn, and to live. I have gathered much and written some to inspire you to revel in your own learning, in your children’s learning, and in your friends’ curiosity and happiness in the face of a world of information!
Just Add Light and Stir: Inspiration and encouragement for unschooling parents.
Ever Learning: Eclectic homeschooling and beyond.
Cecilie Conrad: It is all about life, our moments, our freedom, our love.
The Conrad Family: We live an absolutely brilliant life. Really. We are out of the Matrix, out of the box, happy and free. Ready for transformations even bigger, ready to bask on hot rocks and hike in mountains, ready for passion fruits and friendships, ready to be ready.
Taking a Kinder Path: I want to take a kinder path for myself and for those I love and surely that’s got to be good for everyone.
The Educating Parent: Children learning and living naturally at home and in the community.
Laura Grace Weldon: Free-range learning, creative living, gentle encouragement, big questions, poetry. occasional drollery.
Unschooling Mom2Mom: Your children. Their learning. Your relationship with them. Things that really matter.
Living Joyfully With Unschooling: An online home for engaged parents choosing to live joyfully with their children through unschooling.
Happiness is Here: I share about our life of living and learning together, and my passion for natural learning and respectful parenting.
All About Being Brilliant
Here’s a blog post that I wrote in 2012. It captures some of the excitement of those old blogging days, when I thought I was brilliant and funny. Probably no one agreed, but it didn’t matter. Everyone was kind, and I had fun as I explored words and found my voice.
I have this brilliant idea. I run to my computer and start typing. My fingers fly over the keys, and every now and then, I smile. I can’t help it. This post is going to be so good. Eventually, my fingers come to a halt, and I read what’s appeared on the screen. I change a word here and there, reread my post, and change some more words until I’m satisfied. Yes, my idea was brilliant. My post is brilliant. I am brilliant. Look at how skilfully I have expressed myself. The words are just right. Perfect. Wait until everyone reads this. I can’t wait to share.
I hit ‘publish’. There! Done! Have I got time to make some coffee before the comments come flooding in? I decide I can risk a few minutes away from my computer. I fill the kettle and wait impatiently while the water boils. Then I rush back to my seat.
I head straight to my dashboard to read the comments. And there aren’t any. And I think, “Where is everyone? Why isn’t everyone at their computers waiting for my post to be published? It’s brilliant.”
A vague thought enters my mind: Could there be more important things than my post? Families, work, chores, crying babies, homeschooling. No. It’s more likely everyone is away from their computers, making coffee.
So five minutes pass. Surely everyone has returned by now. They’ll all have read my post. They will think it is wonderful. My dashboard will soon be overflowing with comments. But when I look, there still aren’t any.
By the time bedtime arrives, I am sighing deeply. No one has commented on my brilliant post. It hasn’t even had many page views. Should I sit up and wait for everyone to discover it? Or should I go to bed? I decide to go to bed. I smile because I’ve had a new thought. I will be away from my computer for 8 whole hours. By the time I get up tomorrow, I will need to publish comment after comment after comment.
So I lie in bed, but I can’t sleep. Words from my post keep running through my head. Finally, I drift off.
The next morning, I wake instantly. I can’t wait to go online. But first, I make myself shower, have breakfast, say my prayers and do the chores. I am putting off that moment of pleasure, enjoying the anticipation. Finally, I let myself turn on the computer. And I am disappointed.
A vague thought enters my head: Perhaps my post wasn’t that brilliant after all. No. It’s more likely that everyone is on holiday away from their computers.
By lunch time, I am fed up. I am never going to write another post. No one appreciates me. What’s the point of writing such brilliant stuff if no one reads it? I might as well talk to myself. So I resolve to give up blogging. That’s it. That’s the end of my writing career. I have no more to say.
So I close my computer. I make some coffee and think about what I’m going to do now that I’m an ex-blogger. Five minutes pass, then ten and then this brilliant idea pops into my head.
Where did it come from? No one has ever had such a great idea before. I am sure of it. I must write it down, share it with the world. Everyone is going to be astounded. They are going to say, “Sue, we have never read such a brilliant post as this.”
So I run to my computer and start typing. I’ve forgotten the last post. I am chasing a new idea.
But then I remember I’m an ex-blogger. I’ve given up writing. I pause, my hands on the keyboard. After a moment, I think, “Give up writing? What a stupid idea that was!” What a stupid woman I am.
I can’t help myself. I have to write. My fingers fly over the keyboard, and I smile as the words appear. This post will be brilliant!
Then a vague thought appears in my head. What if my post isn’t brilliant? What if no one likes it? I think about this some more. I finally admit to myself that it probably won’t be as brilliant as I hope. Does that matter? You know, I don’t think it does.
The thrill is in the writing, not in the applause.
I finish my post. I hit ‘publish’, and before I know it, to my surprise, there’s a comment: “Just saw your last two posts, Sue. I’ve been away from my computer. Brilliant! Love from your sister.”
Sister? I smile. Mine is brilliant.
A Big Thank You…
Thank you to my fabulous supporters, who, with their donations, keep this blog ticking along.
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PDF Blog List
If you’d like a PDF copy of my brilliant unschooling blogs list, please download a copy. It has clickable links.
So, are you a blogger? Maybe you know the thrill of creating your own online space where you can tell your story? Did you use to blog?
I know you read blogs because you’re reading mine! Do you have any favourite unschooling ones? Why not stop by and share them? Another reader may enjoy your recommendations. And by sharing, you’ll be helping the bloggers who spend a lot of time writing about their experiences, passing on ideas and letting us know about wonderful resources. We always appreciate links to our blogs!
If you let me know about your favourite unschooling blogs, I could put together another post: My Readers’ List of Brilliant Unschooling Blogs!
Sue, thank you very much for including Ever Learning. Very much appreciated!
Yes, I do remember those days. I wasn’t a blogger but I was a reader of the bloggers and I loved that era! We were all taking time to read things more deeply rather than the quick snapshots of social media, but I suppose there weren’t nearly so many to read. Now it’s hard to know where to begin and end (but I do love that that shows how many more people have found their way to unschooling and home education in general). I am so glad you continue blogging as an anchor along this changing landscape.
Erin,
It was my pleasure including your site in my list. I’m so pleased to know you and your work. You’re always encouraging and supporting me. So thankful for your friendship!
Oh yes, there are loads of unschooling/homeschooling social media accounts, and it’s wonderful to see that so many people want to share their experiences and help others. Social media is easier than blogging, so it’s allowed people who don’t want the commitment of a blog to have a voice. I can see the benefits of places like FB and Instagram, though I still prefer blogging!
A changing landscape? You’re right. I wonder what is ahead of us? I love discovering new technology that I can use on my blog, but will there be something big that will eventually draw me away from blogging?
Thank you for your kind words about being an anchor!
I’m so glad we found each other on our blogs. What an amazing friendship it entailed.
I love your list of blogs. Since I gave up YouTube I find myself looking for blogs to follow. Now I have some new places to explore and dive into. Thanks!
Jack,
Oh yes, we have an amazing friendship that began with blogging!
I love how you followed one of the blog links in this post, read and enjoyed some articles, and then shared something you’d read with me via an email.
Now that we email each other, we don’t often connect via our blogs. It was fun to revisit the ‘old’ days and exchange blog comments. Thank you for stopping by! ❤️
I Just can’t wait to read all of this, Sue. I love reading blogs. I Spend a good time in childhood making blogs on blogger when I was 10 years old, so good memories about
I’m slow replying to your comment. I’m sorry! I seem to have neglected my blog recently. Maybe next week will be a good blogging week.
Years ago, every day was a good blogging day. We had so much to write about and so much encouragement from our online friends. Oh yes, lots of good memories!
All my kids were bloggers. They wanted to do what I was doing. I really enjoyed sharing blogging with them. My children’s blogs are still online. Sometimes I scroll through them, reading the posts, and enjoying them all over again.
I wonder what your blog was called. Naming a blog was part of the fun, wasn’t it? You didn’t mention a current blog so maybe you’re no longer a blogger. Thank you for being a blog reader! 😊
Sue, I’ve been reading your blog for a couple of years and I enjoy it, even though we are not unschoolers. I’m slowly transitioning from a strict Charlotte Mason schedule to a more relaxed cm method, but there are still many things that I require my children to learn. I think unschooling the way you did it sounds beautiful, but I’m so scared to let go of those last things (math, writing and grammar, required reading lists).
A few examples- my daughter wants to be a pilot, but to get into flight school in Canada she needs high marks in gr 12 university level math and English and physics. She won’t do math if I don’t require it (she is 14) but then when I back off and don’t tell her what to do she gets upset that she is behind. There are other things that we learn as a family, such as reciting poetry, music, French etc I don’t think most of my children would participate if I didn’t require it but in the end we all enjoy the time together and it draws us closer as a family. I’m unsure about unschooling because it feels like we’d lose some bonding and closeness we gain through our required morning lessons. Do you have any thoughts or suggestions?
Oh yes, it can be hard to let go of things like maths. I hung onto maths for years, even though I could see that my kids weren’t learning well with me in control.
The Charlotte Mason method is so attractive, isn’t it? I’ve pondered why that is. I decided that all the beauty, truth and goodness speaks to our hearts. I wonder if you’ve stumbled across my Charlotte Mason posts.
I hunted out a post about my daughter Imogen’s unschooling plan to get into university.
https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/imogens-unschooling-plan-to-get-into/
If kids have a good reason for learning particular subjects, like wanting to get into university, they are motivated to do the required work. At least, that’s our experience. At one time, Imogen thought she might like to be a doctor, so she did an advanced maths course. Her choice, not mine. She completed the course and did well, though she changed her mind about medicine and went to uni to study writing instead!
We also discovered that there are university preparation courses for such subjects as maths. They can be done when a child is ready. I believe that learning happens very quickly when someone is motivated to learn. Resistance or lack of interest slows learning down and may not even result in much learning.
I agree: time spent together as a family draws everyone close together if everyone enjoys the activities. It sounds like your kids all enjoy your shared times learning poetry, music and French.
Unschooling kids might all have different interests, but I found we had loads of connecting times together. We all took an interest in each other’s interests. I learnt a lot about cars from my son, Callum. We all wanted to ride in the old classic cars that he bought and fixed. We worked together on various projects, like music videos, contributing our individual talents. And we had shared family interests like running and reading.
Unschooling is all about connection. Maybe it sounds like everyone in the family learns on their own and is absorbed in solitary pursuits, but that’s not how it works.
Unschooling is something that can sneak up on you. We found our way here without ever intending to. Maybe you will too. Perhaps you can keep reading and pondering.
It’s been good to chat! 😊
Thank you, Sue. I enjoyed the link you included about Imogen’s journey. It sounds like she and my daughter are quite similar in interests! My daughter is also a talented writer (in the humble opinion of her family anyway!) and I could imagine that being part of her career if she doesn’t go into flight.
Yes, I’ve read many of your posts and you always give me a lot to ponder on. What do you think is the best way to move to a more unschooling life? I’m not ready to just let everything go! I always imagined having a rigorous, academic homeschool but that’s been leading to so much conflict and lately I’ve been hating homeschooling. Then I let go of a lot and feel guilty that we aren’t doing enough! I have children with dyslexia/dysgraphia which makes it all the harder.
It’s amazing how diverse our kids’ interests can be, isn’t it? I guess our children have lots of career choices. Also, careers don’t have to last a lifetime. There’s plenty of time to swap between interests.
I wonder what your interests are. Are you a writer, too?
Oh yes, don’t just let go of everything at once. Parents and kids need time to adjust when moving to unschooling. Time is needed for pondering and understanding. And maybe there are things that you’re doing as a family that you all enjoy and want to continue doing, so you won’t want to get rid of them. One change at a time. Could you start with the thing that’s causing you and your kids the most conflict? How would you change it?
I really like Sandra Dodd’s approach to starting unschooling: ‘Read a little, try a little, wait a while, watch.”
https://sandradodd.com/readalittle
Sandra, Cecilie and I mentioned this approach quite a few times in our Ladies Fixing the World podcast conversations.
When you’re feeling guilty and wondering if your kids are doing enough, could you write down all learning they’re doing? Keep a journal. Sometimes learning doesn’t look straightforward or as we’re used to seeing it. We can look at experiences and activities and not see any learning because we’re not used to looking for it. I’ve written posts about seeing the learning in outings, movies, shopping lists cooking etc. Also, learning is more than learning academics. Perhaps there are more important things we’d like to pass on to our kids before they grow up.
https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/another-way-to-look-at-our-kids-learning/
https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/unschooling-learning-the-important-things-before-time-runs-out/
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with dyslexia/dysgraphia. I wonder if your kids learn in ways other than reading, writing, and doing maths formally. Do they like audiobooks, dictation, videos, movies, hands-on maths activities etc?
Have you done a Google search of ‘dyslexia/dysgraphia and unschooling’? Perhaps you’ll discover that unschooling is particularly helpful for anyone who doesn’t learn well in the traditional way. If you find anything, perhaps you’ll let me know. I always like to know about resources I can recommend to parents who read my blog.
Yes, I love seeing my children’s diverse interests blossom! I do love writing as well. It seems there are a lot of us English/writing majors in the homeschooling world. I also enjoy piano, sewing, baking, hiking etc although my time for these things is very limited.
I enjoyed that link from Sandra about read a little… I’m still trying to wrap my mind around what unschooling is and isn’t and what we are ‘supposed’ to do and not do. Your podcast has been helpful too. I just finished the typical day podcast and it’s had me thinking about whether 100% unschooling is right for us. Sandra said we should be out exploring, which we would love! But our budget is tight, I currently share a vehicle with my husband until at least spring, so we are home all day. We live in a quiet town and I love it here, but anything such as museums, galleries, theatre, zoos are two hours away in Toronto or Ottawa. All we do is the same library, beach in summer or hikes! I think that’s why CM is so attractive- it is a structured to expose my children to find art, music, literature, Shakespeare and so on, that we wouldn’t encounter in our daily lives.
Thank you for the links. I have read a lot on dyslexia but hadn’t thought of searching in the context of unschooling. Yes, my two who struggle with reading love audio/read alouds and are extremely creative. My 13 can barely write a sentence despite years of struggle and fighting, yet he’s an excellent imaginative story teller. It can be discouraging.
Thanks for taking the time to process with me! I’ll keep reading and listening, but not too much 😉
Another writer!
Unschooling looks different on the outside for each family. I’m sure Sandra’s and Cecilie’s lives are totally different from mine. Our children grew up in different environments and were exposed to different experiences. But that was okay.
We live in an area with lots of nature but limited museums, art galleries etc. We only have one small 2-room village museum. There’s no zoo or science museum. We don’t even have a beach! But we always found plenty to do together. Walking to the park or the village shop was our daily adventure. We’d hike through the bush, have plenty of picnics. The rainy day car picnics were the best! Once a year, we’d travel to the city to visit a science museum. We had a few holidays at the beach.
I sometimes wondered if our lives would be richer if we lived in Sydney where there are lots of wonderful places to explore, but we like living where we are, so we stayed here. I’m sure I wrote a blog post about that. If I find it, I’ll add a link later.
I wonder if you found my Charlotte Mason posts as you’ve been exploring my blog. We can still expose our kids to all the beauty and goodness of CM while unschooling. We can strew all the things that’s found in her lessons, enriching our kids’ environments. I shared Shakespeare, poetry, music, musicals, operettas, ballet, art history, classic novels, nature, and so many other things with my kids. We watched videos, listened to podcasts, played the piano, sang, read books, put prints of paintings on the walls of our home, tried drawing nature, prayed together, and talked about everything that we discovered. I think my kids were surrounded by beauty, truth and goodness.
Could you turn your 13-year-old’s situation around, reframing it? He’s an excellent imaginative story teller. That’s encouraging!
We love where we live too and don’t want to move, but I feel guilty sometimes about not offering a lot of unique experiences for our children (we have hardly any homeschoolers here either, at least my children have multiple siblings to play with). But I imagine that if we lived in the city, I might be feeling bad that they didn’t get to experience nature and the freedom of small town life!
Yes I actually found your blog by searching for Charlotte Mason and unschooling! I’ll have to re read your posts about CM. Did you ever read Shakespeare plays aloud with your children? I’ve always loved Shakespeare but I fear that reading aloud the recommended three plays a years is creating a bit of an aversion for them.
Reframing – I love that idea! Thank you 🙂
We want to give everything to our kids, don’t we? But that’s not possible. Maybe we need to accept where we find ourselves in life, our location, family members and other aspects of our unique situations, which shape our kids perfectly.
My kids relied on each other for friendship a lot of the time, too. We travelled to homeschool events to give them opportunities to make friends, but day-to-day, they did things with each other.
We read a few Shakespeare plays aloud, but what we enjoyed more was watching different productions. I think the plays are meant to be watched and not read. They were written for an audience. Until we watched a play, the words didn’t come alive for us. We all remember watching Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet. The words fell from his lips in such a natural way. It was obvious what they meant. Our love of Shakespeare came alive!
We watched many productions of Shakespeare’s plays. Watching different productions of the same play gave us a chance to compare them. We became critics, sharing what we liked and disliked and why. Watching the same play multiple times gave us a chance to continue absorbing all that the play had to offer. We always noticed something new. We became more familiar with the script. We took delight in the familiar as well as the new discoveries. My kids were able to quote many lines naturally because the words captured their imaginations.
We watched more than three Shakespeare plays a year. But we didn’t work our way through each play, reading them all aloud. I hoped to pass on a love of Shakespeare to our kids. I think focusing on the productions achieved this.
I found the post I mentioned in my earlier comment. I don’t know if it’s as helpful as I thought, but I’ll share it anyway.
https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/is-unconditional-love-at-the-heart-of-unschooling/