Embracing Gaming: An Unschooling Challenge

What do we do if our kids want to play games for hours, and we’re not happy about that? We could limit their screen time. Make some rules about when and what and where children can play games. We could…

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…

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…

Wasting Time Watching Too Many Movies?

“What shall I get Dad for his birthday?” I asked, and my girls giggled, and with one voice said, “Flowers… chocolates… promises you don’t intend to keep…””Flowers… chocolates… promises you don’t intend to keep…? Where’s that quote from?” “Beauty and…

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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: 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…

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 packed with maths! Numbers: 17 and 20 Temperature: degrees C Comparison: cooler than Time: today and yesterday There could also be addition if my friend is tempted to add the temperatures together – which she probably will – to find…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: Trust, Autonomy, and The Realities of Learning

The Ladies are Fixing the World again! Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing the words ‘self-regulation’ and ‘limits’. When we say, “I’ve let go of control, and now I’m waiting for my child to learn how to regulate his time playing video games (for example),” do we have expectations about what that regulation should look like? Do we want…

Unschooling Is Carried by Conversations

Dinner tables, car rides, bedtime chats, and café corners are the real places where unschooling lives and grows. Conversations—often unscheduled, informal, and unplanned—can become the central structure of a learning life. Gathering at the Dinner Table In our house, we never met for breakfast or lunch. Those were meals where people ate what, where and when they liked. But we…

Unschooling: Coping With the Unexpected

I used to think I could control my life. To achieve a perfect life, all I had to do was organise everything well, including my kids. What is a perfect life? My perfect life vision included a graduated row of good-looking and well-behaved children. I wanted people to admire my family and home, saying, “Sue is such a good mother!…

Christian unschooling

Bringing God into the Unschooling Picture

A few months ago, I wrote a post called Why This is the End of the Line for Me. I decided that I’d explored unschooling from every possible angle. What more could I write about? It was time for me to move onto other things. Let my kids tell their own unschooling stories and find something else of my own…

Sharing the Catholic Faith With Our Kids

Maybe you’re thinking about unschooling. Letting children follow their own interests, and trusting they will learn all they need to know sounds great. But stop! Wait! What about religion? This is important. You think: “Can I just stand back and hope my children will want to learn about their faith? Doesn’t that sound a bit risky? What if they don’t…
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