Perfectly Them
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How Much Is Enough?
Once upon a time I used to worry about how much learning my children were doing each day. “Can we go now, Mum? Have we done enough school work for today?” How much is ‘enough’? I used to look at…
How NOT to Be Your Child’s Worst Nightmare
Have you ever seen this meme? I am not your friend I am your parent I will stalk you I will flip out on you Lecture Drive you insane Be your worst nightmare and Hunt you down when needed Because…
The Joy and Love of Living an Unschooling Way of Life
Last Friday, my girls and I had a wonderful morning filming Imogen’s latest music video on the banks of a local river. On our way home, we couldn’t help expressing our gratitude for the life we lead. While other people…
Kids and Computers
Each member of our family has a computer of her own which she is allowed to use without any restrictions. This doesn’t mean we spend all our time looking at screens. No, we like to do other things too like…
Unschool: Greater Things
She was tempted to aim low, afraid to risk failure, but she knew she shouldn’t settle for ordinary. More was expected. So she gathered her courage, did what she should, and life got exciting. And she changed. How often do we aim low because we’re too afraid to risk disappointment or failure? We want to stay where it’s comfortable and won’t be criticised, so we fail to dream, use our talents, and live life to the full. We could also…
Unschool: Favourite Kids
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Unschool: Experiencing Energy and Gravity
Do parents need to teach kids about such things as forces, gravity, density, heat conduction, friction, the seasons, energy, and life cycles? Or will children learn a lot about these things by experiencing them while engaged in play and other activities?…
Unschool: Disco Boots and Old Stories
Family stories bind us together. They tell us who we are. We have a shared history and belong together. Our stories also teach us a lot about such things as history, geography, science, and how the world changes quickly. We learn about our faith and relationships and how we’re not alone when we struggle, grieve, get upset or feel pain. There’s a wealth of learning experiences wrapped up in our family stories.…
Unschool: Clothes, Connections and Reflections of Love
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Unschool: Babies and Perfect Love
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Unschool: Aqua Waves and Awe
Be Curious The aqua waves rise high and then fall, rolling towards the shore as we watch with awe and wonder: why is the ocean so blue? Do you view the world with wonder and awe? Are you a curious person who asks questions and searches for answers? Does your curiosity encourage your kids to be curious too? Awe, Wonder, Curiosity While my daughter, Charlotte, and I were on holiday at the beach, we spent hours watching the rolling…
Questioning the Wisdom of Unconditional Love
Do you ever have doubts about your parenting? Do you ever wonder if your ideas are wrong? The other day, I wrote something about unconditional love, and later, rereading my words, I began to doubt what I’d said. While sharing my thoughts in blog posts and Instagram captions, perhaps I’m passing on false ideas and leading people astray. Here’s what I wrote: We often talk about accepting our kids just as they are. But can we really do that? Surely…
Sitting Quietly: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Kids Sitting Quietly in Church The other day, I was asked: How do you get young, unschooled children to sit quietly, without disturbing anyone,…
Reassessing
It’s the first day of the official school holidays so my husband Andy is home from school for two weeks. He’s looking forward to…
Misconceptions: Unschooling Children are Self-Centred and Inconsiderate
Imagine giving children the freedom to choose. What if they are allowed to follow their own interests, and do whatever they like? What if…
Is It Working? Wrestling with Doubt in Unschooling
A grey day arrives that completely blots out the memory of all the preceding good days. We feel overwhelmed, tired, worried and lost. We wonder why we ever decided to unschool. A puddle of doubt about unschooling forms around us. What do we do? Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing unschooling doubts and sharing our experiences in episode 10 of…
How Unschoolers Can Deal with Questions and Sceptics
My mother-in-law visited us for the birth of our son, Thomas. After he died and we’d buried him in his tiny white casket, Andy’s mother asked me if we wanted more children. As I replied, “Oh, yes!”, my mother-in-law’s face dropped into a disapproving frown. “She thinks we already have enough kids,” I thought as my defence hackles rose. But…
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…
Shall We Talk About Christian Unschooling?
I often get to the point where I feel I haven’t got anything more to say about unschooling. I wonder: is it time to move on? At the beginning of last year, I reached such a point. However, instead of thinking about moving away from unschooling, I proposed the idea of exploring unschooling from a different angle. Should we discuss…
Christian Unschooling: Should We Encourage Our Kids to Seek Security?
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