Helping a Child Discover Her Talents
If a child has a talent won’t it just appear without any encouragement? If you’re meant to be an artist, it will be very evident. The same with being a writer or a musician or even a fireman. Surely, a…
Nothing is More Important than Love
“What would you rather do, play that computer game or come and give me a hug?” I ask my daughters. Without a moment’s hesitation, Gemma-Rose says, “Hug you of course!” “Do you even need to ask?” says Sophie. I am…
An Education at the Museum
I have read stories about teenagers who’ve dropped out of school and into the world, in order to obtain a real education. They spent their days, not at home behind a desk, but out and about, visiting places of interest…
Encouraging Each Other
Sue Elvis is a mother of 8 with stacks of stories to tell. She generously shares her Stories of an Unschooling Family on her blog, YouTube channel, podcast, Instagram and most recently in her books, Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool…
When in Doubt, Just Love
Last Wednesday, I pushed our living room sofa out of position, exposing a stretch of plain duck-egg blue wall. I placed a chair and a small table where the sofa had been. On top of the table, I stacked six…
Mud Pies, Stews and Cakes
Gemma-Rose and Sophie are outside. They have been in the garden for hours despite the cool winter temperature. They have sand buckets and spades, and a big box of odds and ends: plates, bowls, spoons, pots, all leftovers from different tea sets. On the outdoor table there are piles of flowers, berries, weeds, grass, twigs and pebbles. And a bucket of soil. Somewhere down at the bottom of the garden is a hole, a hole that is getting bigger and…
Doing Nothing?
Many years ago, when my first child Felicity was five, we went to our first homeschooling conference. Our speaker was Jill, an experienced unschooling mum and she was pure enthusiasm. She walked around and around the room talking at speed, flinging her arms this way and that in emphasis. Jill told us how children are eager to learn; they love learning; they don’t need to be taught. A parent’s role is not to be a teacher but a facilitator. She…
Babies, Toddlers and Unschooling (Part 3)
Our 8th child, Gemma-Rose was our most needy baby of all. Unfortunately, she had silent reflux and was in pain for the first few months of her life. She screamed whenever she was awake, and never slept deeply, waking constantly to writhe and moan, and then she’d need settling again. She never fed to sleep: feeding wasn’t a pleasurable activity for her. There were many days when I was exhausted. If Gemma-Rose had been our first child I’d have fallen…
Babies, Toddlers and Unschooling (Part 2)
Felicity, our firstborn child was an excellent baby. She fed every 3 or 4 hours, I’d change her nappy, pop her in her cot and soon she’d drop off to sleep without a problem. Between naps, she was happy and contented. And at the age of 5 weeks, she started sleeping through the night… in her own cot… in her own room. I thought I was the perfect mother. Duncan was an almost excellent baby. He fed more frequently and…
Babies, Toddlers and Unschooling (Part 1)
Gemma-Rose is now seven. She is our youngest child and so it’s been a few years since we’ve had a baby or a toddler in our family. It’s been a long time since we’ve had to work our homeschooling day around the needs of a young child. For us, homeschooling is relatively easy. We have a lot of freedom to do what we want, whenever we want. But… … we no longer have a gorgeous little bundle to hold or…
In the Kitchen with a TV Chef Dad
Can I talk about food? First, I will have to start with a story that happened about ten years ago. My husband Andy was playing touch footy with a group of homeschooling fathers and children. It was a cold and damp day and after the game, everyone eagerly returned to the shed for a hot cup of coffee. All except Andy… After some time, I became anxious and went looking for him, only to discover he’d been abandoned by mistake on…
A Typical Unschooling Day?
Is there really any such thing as a typical unschooling day? Each day can be so different from the one before; each day is a new adventure; each unschooling day has its own delights. That’s one of the wonderful things about living an unschooling life. So perhaps the ‘typical’ unschooling day I described in my post What Next? wasn’t really typical at all. Perhaps I should tell you about yesterday: The day did start the same as our What Next…
What Next?
I will admit it: I am stuck. I don’t know what to write about. I created my blog to tell you some stories about our journey to unschooling, and all about Suzie Andres’ books and I feel I have done that. I really enjoyed writing those stories too! And having Suzie visit and everyone comment and share… But now I am sitting here thinking, “What next?” Could this be the blog with the shortest history in all the blogosphere? I…
What Kind of Home Do Kids Need?
The other day, while walking our dogs through the bush close to home, I met a neighbour who warned me to watch out for…
Unschooling Books and Bedtimes
Knock! Knock! My husband Andy looked at me and I looked at him. We both looked at the clock. Who could that be at…
Old and New Stories, a Book Club and Other Unschooling Things
A few weeks ago, I received a letter from Fr James Tierney who is the author of the Bush Boys children’s books. Fr and…
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: Trusting the Process and Letting Go of Control
“I kind of love my title for this podcast. It’s very ambitious. Let’s fix it all!” And so begins another Ladies Fixing the World conversation in which Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd and I dive deep into unschooling, sharing our thoughts and experiences. In S2E4, we discuss Unschooling: Trusting the Process and Letting Go. Want to know more…
The Role of Repetition in Learning, Unschooling, and Shaping Identity
What if kids want to watch the same movies, read the same stories, or play the same games again and again? Should we try to move them on to other activities? Or is there value in repetition? Does repetition have an important role in our lives?…
Christian Unschooling: Should We Encourage Our Kids to Seek Security?
Should we encourage our kids to seek security? Is it our parental duty to make sure they receive the education and opportunities they might need to get safe, well-paying jobs when they leave our care? Or is that kind of security not what our children need? Could security be about something else?…
Kids, Needs, and Church
Should unschooled kids be forced to go to church? I wonder if this is the wrong question to ask when our kids protest about coming with us. Would it be better to ask, Why doesn’t my child want to go to church? In this week’s podcast, I talk about this question as well as : The importance of trying to see…