Reflecting Badly On Our Family
Andy and I take Nora and Quinn to the vet for their annual checkups. We wonder if our dogs are the correct weight for their size. Are their coats clean and shiny? Do they look happy and well cared for?…
How to Talk and Save Lives, and Can I Mention the Weather?
I ponder a few questions in this week’s podcast: Is it okay to talk about the weather or should that topic be avoided if you want to have an interesting conversation? Is it important for our children to have good…
Do You Need to Follow an Older Unschooler? (Part 2)
I choose the photos I share online with care, looking for ones with good, flattering light. I also need my photo smile to be just right. Sometimes, my smile looks a bit goofy because of my overbite. I reject these…
Unschool Cemetery Maths
The mist drifts across the field and through the cemetery. Together with the rising sun, it streams between the trees and onto the graves. Golden rays fall upon a black marble monument which rises high, taller than the surrounding stones.…
Teenagers, Rules and Rebellion
“My daughter will be 13 soon,” says a mother. She groans: “There’s trouble ahead!” The other mothers nod in sympathy. Yes, life is about to get very difficult. It always does when there’s a teenager in the family. But are…
Is It Ever Too Late to Start Unschooling?
Is it ever too late to start unschooling? I’ve been asked this question a lot and my answer is always “No!” Even if a child is a teenager or older, there’s still plenty of time because unschooling isn’t a method of homeschooling that ends at the usual school-leaving age. It’s something that’s life-long. And it’s not just about life-long learning. The most important aspect of unschooling involves relationships. Unschooling leads to close bonds between parent and child. These connections tell…
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 snakes. He’d almost stepped on one and had sighted others that had slithered away. Years ago, one of my kids yelled, ‘Mum, there’s a snake outside!’ I dashed to the window and saw a snake coiled up on the path between our garage and the back door. What were we to do? Until the snake disappeared,…
Heavy Metal Music and Keeping Kids Safe
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Unschooling: Learning the Important Things Before Time Runs Out
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How Do Kids Learn to Be Generous?
On Monday, my daughter Imogen and I were the filling in a truck sandwich as we drove from our quiet village, along the busy motorway, through the heavy rain, to the city shops. I wanted to buy some white sneakers, and Imogen suggested we visit the Converse shop. I protested: “Converse sneakers are too expensive!” but Imogen pushed me through the door, and soon I was trying on some All-Star low tops. They were perfect. Imogen told me to take…
The Dangers of Distraction
We often let ourselves be distracted, don’t we? But while we’re enjoying the excitement of pursuing something new and sparkly, there’s a danger we’ll lose the important things we already have. I dart from one project to another as they catch my attention. And then I have a brand new idea and get extra excited. This is it! I drop everything to explore this fabulously delicious fresh idea. I work out how to make reels and shorts and wonder if…
Should We Encourage Our Kids to Follow Their Dreams?
What did you want to be when you were a child? I wanted to be a writer. I had a cardboard box inside my wardrobe where I stored my scribbled stories about princesses, dragons and faraway kingdoms. At night, in bed, before dropping off to sleep, I’d think up stories about large happy families who were a lot like the Brady Bunch. I dreamed of writing books that would be displayed on library shelves, and hoped I’d marry a man…
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 try ignoring our worries, remind ourselves of the benefits of gaming, and then let our kids get on with it (until our doubts overwhelm us once again). Or we could embrace our kids’ passion for gaming. Instead of just tolerating…
A Message We Can All Share Even if Our Unschooling Lives Aren’t Picture-Perfect
When we’re posting photos or writing stories or talking about unschooling directly with our family and friends, do we ever stop and wonder if…
Unschooling Teenagers: What They Think and What They Do
Have you ever wondered what unschooling teenagers are like? What kind of people are they? What do they think? What do they do? Have you…
When Unschooling Spills Over into Parenting
Some random thoughts about unschooling and parenting… Sometimes I get the feeling most of the world thinks I’m a little strange. Whenever I post…
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.…
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: 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…
Pondering Trust
I never wanted to be in a position where I had to trust God. I preferred to rely on my own resources. I wanted to be totally in control of my own life. That seemed easier to do because trusting is so very difficult. Or so it can seem. Then one day, at a time when I was feeling rather…
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…