Growing Kids Who Like to Help
Not so long ago, I posted a photo and caption about kids and chores, and a friend stopped by and left this comment: My kids are only 5 and 2 at the moment but I’m trying to figure out how…
Do Our Kids Know Themselves Better Than We Know Them?
As parents, we might think we know what’s best for our kids. We’re the adults. We’re older. We have experience. But my daughter Sophie disagrees. She says, “I think sometimes parents forget that a child knows herself better than the…
Speed Angel Joy
I am sitting by the lake watching four girls scooting along the path. They are the Speed Angel Sisters and they are fast! Every now and then the girls veer off onto the grass and come to a sudden…
Finding Unschooling in Unexpected Places and Other Things
A couple of weeks ago, I read C.G. Drews’ young adult novel, A Thousand Perfect Notes after hearing about it in one of my daughter Imogen’s book review videos. In the story, Maestro, a former famous pianist, forces her son…
Why I Wanted to Delete My Blogs
I was staring gloomily at my computer this morning. “What are you doing, Mum?” asked my daughter Imogen. “I’m about to delete my blogs,” I answered. “Don’t, Mum! Why would you want to do that?” “Listen!” I replied. We could hear…
Doodling
My girls love to doodle. I do too! I used to think doodles were those scribbles people draw while they are talking on the phone. They are, but they’re also a whole lot more. Doodles are easy to draw, require little artistic skill but are so satisfying to work on. Anyone can doodle. Anyone can produce drawings that satisfy. I also like how they encourage creativity. Doodling is a bit like writing. You set off not knowing where you will…
An Absolutely Wonderful Book on the Apostles’ Creed for Children
The Creed in Slow Motion was written by Monseigneur Ronald Arbuthnott Knox. Arbuthnott Knox? Don’t you just love that name! It immediately captured my girls’ imaginations, even before they started listening to his book. I first came across The Creed in Slow Motion in Suzie Andres’ book Homeschooling with Gentleness. Suzie and her son were reading it together, and they were both thoroughly enjoying it. I rushed off to the Kindle store to see if I could also find a copy.…
Great Australian Historical Fiction
There was great excitement yesterday when the postman arrived with a book shaped parcel. Inside was a second-hand copy of Jamberoo Road by Eleanor Spence. It is the sequel to The Switherby Pilgrims which we read last year. Both books are published by Bethlehem Books and both books are historical fiction set mainly in Australia. The Switherby Pilgrims Miss Arabella Braithewaite of Switherby knows there is no future for the ten orphans—a remarkable mix of genteel and working class children—she…
A Homeschooler’s Thoughts on Her First University Exam
Yesterday, I spent over two hours sitting in the car outside the Flight Centre at Goulburn Airport. Inside this building, Imogen was doing her very first university exam. She has spent the last semester studying the unit Introduction to University Learning through an online course provided by the Open Universities. During the long drive to Goulburn, Imogen and I had a chance to talk: Imogen: I’m really enjoying university work. It’s good to make friends (online) and discuss the subject.…
The Rose Round – children’s fiction
I have just finished reading Meriol Trevor’s book The Rose Round to Sophie and Gemma-Rose. They were enthralled with the story from the very first page. So was I! The book description on Amazon doesn’t say much at all: Young Matt Rendal’s first experience with the extraordinary inhabitants of the great crumbling house called Woodhall was terrible. What had he done to deserve being sent here? I don’t know if I would have been enticed to buy the book from those…
Charlotte the Unschooling Chemist
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Smiling Over Unschoolers and Maths Text Books
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Wanting to Learn How to Spell
Gemma-Rose isn’t a defiant child so when she said to me, “You can’t make me learn anything I don’t want to learn,” I stopped and listened. We were talking about spelling. Did Gemma-Rose want me to enrol her in an online spelling program? “No thank you, Mum.” “Well, how will you learn how to spell?” “I’ll pick it up as I go along,” she answered confidently. “But wouldn’t it be easier to do a proper program. Don’t you think it’s…
When New Ideas Make Us Feel Uncomfortable
I’ve had times in my life when other people have presented me with new ideas and I haven’t wanted to know about them. I…
Will We Have Done Enough?
Are our kids ‘doing enough’? Maybe we often ask ourselves that question. But what do we mean by ‘doing enough’? Do we worry that…
Discouraged
I’m feeling discouraged. I wonder: why am I doing this? Why am I blogging and podcasting? I know the answer: I want to spread…
Unschooling and Connections: How Learning Is All About Creating a Web of Understanding
When I finished my university degree, I threw all my botany and biochemistry lecture notes and books into the garbage bin with relief. And I said, “No one will ever make me learn anything ever again!” I have a science degree, which was presented to me while I was wearing a fancy gown with a mortar board on my head.…
Unschooling, Attachment, and the Art of Letting Go: Building Trust Instead of Rules
We don’t make rules in our family, so how do my children know what is right and what is wrong, if they aren’t guided by clearly stated limits? Do I believe my own quiet example of appropriate behaviour is all that is needed in order to influence my children? Perhaps I stand back, hands-off, and let my children behave as…
Unschooling: How Do We Know They’re Learning?
There are loads of unschooling questions we could ask about learning: How do we know unschooling kids are learning? Should they be learning particular things? Is there knowledge that all kids need? Are our unschooled kids learning enough? Can they get behind? Should we just trust our kids are learning? But what if we have doubts? Or what if we…
A Genuine Invitation for Christian Unschoolers
Sometimes, invitations aren’t genuine invitations. They might sound like proper invitations. We say the right words, “Would you like to…?” but expect a particular response that doesn’t include the right to decline. Then, some invitations are issued without a personal touch. We wonder, “Does it matter if I accept? Will anyone notice if I’m there or not?” This happened to…
About Me, About Being Different
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