Words Packed with Unschool Maths

‘Today will be 17 degrees cooler than yesterday: 20 degrees.’ This morning, I wrote those words in an email to a friend. And then I added this: ‘That sentence reminds me of unschool maths.’ Oh yes, those ten words are…

A Triple Celebration

I thought my daughter Charlotte and I had two good reasons to celebrate.  Reason Number One:  Charlotte ended an intense year of piano work with an exam. (The results haven’t been published yet, but she thinks she did okay!)  Reason…

Fabulous Christmas: Gift Ideas and Traditions

My head is always overflowing with creative ideas, and there’s nothing I like better than turning them into reality. And so I spend lots of time making things. But they’re things no one can hold. You see, I’m a virtual…

Unschool Socialisation: Making Friends, Being Different

It’s Saturday afternoon. I’m at home, settled in front of the heater, thinking about socialisation. Am I’m feeling sociable at the moment? No. I’m quite capable of socialising, but I’m happy sitting here alone with my computer. Actually, I often feel…

Memories of an Inexperienced Mother

When our first child was five days old, I was discharged from the hospital. A nurse carried our brand new daughter to the door, where my husband Andy was waiting to drive me home. The nurse turned to me and…

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What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

“When I grow up, I’m going to be a YouTube Shorts video creator,” I tell Amina. My pretend friend raises her eyebrows and says, “But I thought you wanted to be a graphic designer.” “I could be a graphic designer who makes YouTube Shorts.” “When I was a child, I wanted to be a fashion designer,” says Amina. “I loved making clothes for my Barbie dolls. I had loads of ideas for fabulous clothes collections.” “Why didn’t you become a…

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 my turn to sigh. Amina nods. “Yes, that’s the way…

Put on Your Real-Life Maths Eyes

Lying awake in bed last night, I did some real-life maths: how long was it before I had to get up for Mass? As the sleepless hours ticked by, the answer to that question became smaller and smaller. After I emerged from the bathroom after this morning’s shower, I said, “Andy, we forgot to pick up some money for the collection.” My husband yawned, despite a good night’s sleep, and slid back the bed quilt, saying, “We really should organise…

A Perfect Curriculum or Unschooling?

During our early years of homeschooling, a friend, her eyes alight with excitement, told me about a curriculum she’d just purchased for her children. She described the neatly packaged units of beauty, truth and goodness, which included famous works of art and music and great literature, as well as the basics of a thorough education. My friend’s enthusiasm was contagious. I wondered: do we need this curriculum too? Perhaps my kids would miss out on something essential if we continued…

Is It Time to Have an Unschool Adventure?

Have you been on an unschooling adventure recently? Perhaps an adventure arrived unexpectedly? Maybe you dropped everything, climbed into your vehicle with your excited kids, and set off on a spur-of-the-moment adventure? Spur-of-the-Moment Adventures Years ago, we had an unexpected whale adventure. It was so good, we’re still talking about it today. I wrote about our memorable day at the beach in my post, Younger Unschoolers: Spur-of-the Moment Adventures. Here’s how it begins: One of the best learning days that…

The Unschool Challenge: Writing an End-of-the-Year Review

The changeover of the years is an excellent time to examine our lives, isn't it? As Socrates said, An unexamined life is not worth living. Yes, we should think about the year that's just ended. What did we learn? How did we grow? Is our family going in the right direction? Do we need to make some changes? And what will we take forward with us into the year that's about to begin? What are our hopes?…

Do You Have an Anti-Library?

There are two untidy, unread book towers balanced on my desk. Every now and then, I add another book to one of the piles. And occasionally, I remove a book, settle somewhere comfortable and read it. Standing in front of the book display in our local department store, Big W, I used to say to my daughter, Imogen, “I’d love to buy this book, but I shouldn’t. I’ve got lots of unread books at home.” I thought collecting more books…
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The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?

There are many unschool maths questions. Here are just a few of them: Can kids really learn maths without formal instruction? What does unschooling maths look like? Can we strew unschool maths? Is it possible for registered homeschoolers to unschool maths? How can we provide evidence kids are learning maths when we don’t have formal records like workbooks and test…

Unschooling Isn’t Freedom Gone Wild: Why Choices Matter More Than Ideals

My husband Andy returned to work today after two weeks at home. Holiday time is over. We’ve now moved into term time. A whole term of possibility days stretches before me. I’m free to do whatever I like with my time while Andy is at school. My eyes light up with delight. But then I remember there are many…

Christian unschooling

The Discomfort of Letting Go and Allowing Our Kids (and Ourselves) to Grow

We organise life so we’re not challenged too much. We don’t want to stray outside our comfort zone because that could be painful. We say no instead of yes to our kids, not wanting them to go to parties at night, ride their bikes on the road, run through the bush alone, or learn to drive. We don’t want thoughts…

Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents

Does having a simple Christmas sound good? It does to me. This year, like last year and the one before, I wanted to announce that I’m not buying a lot of Christmas presents. I thought about saying that I’m not buying any at all. I didn’t want to think and think until the perfect gift ideas came to mind. I…
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