Critics, Unschooling, and Independent Learners

 A New Podcast Series Do you listen to my podcasts? I’ll still be making new episodes while I’m working on my book. These episodes will be shorter than my usual ones. Each one will be based on a blog post…

Unschooling Resources: Discoveries of 2014

This week’s podcast is all about resources. I talk about some of the interesting things we discovered during 2014 and… I answer the following questions: How do I discuss at least 17 resources in only 30 minutes? Do I talk…

Stories from ‘Curious Unschoolers’

I wrote an unschooling book called Curious Unschoolers. I published it. Then I told everyone about my book. I received many wonderfully supportive comments. A few days ago, I posted the following words on Instagram: I was telling my husband…

Our Unschooling Story

Imagine if you visited us. You’d knock at our front door. We’d invite you in. We’d sit around our kitchen table. Sip coffee. Eat chocolate muffins. What would we talk about? Lots of things! You’d tell me about your family.…

Latest

How Will You Know if Unschooling Works?

How will you know if unschooling works? Will you know it works if your children get into good universities, earn degrees, and then get high status jobs, ones that are well paying, safe and secure? Will you grin with delight and say to those who criticised your way of life, “Look, unschooling works!” Will your friends and family be impressed? Will your children’s achievements change their opinion about unschooling? Will you feel relieved that it all worked out?  Or will…

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,…

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…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

Trying to Be a Fun Mum

When my first two children were very small I had a best friend called Mellie. We got on extremely well despite being very different.…

The Ladies Fixing the World

Learning to Read and Trusting Unschooling

It is absolutely essential that we are curious people who are excited about the possibilities in life. The atmosphere in our homes gets picked up by our kids so they think it’s normal to learn, to be curious, to follow thoughts and ideas and try things out… I was battling with my kids for a while. They kept saying, ‘Why…

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…

Christian unschooling

Christian Unschooling and Other Things

I made a new podcast episode! Yes, after an absence of a few weeks, I’m back. So where did I go? Nowhere in particular. I was just at home enjoying lots of slow summer days. Maybe I was feeling lazy. But yesterday, that changed. I suddenly felt like getting back to work. And so I thought I’d record a catch-up…

When We Can’t Decide What’s the Best Way to Bring Up and Educate Our Kids

Do you ever swap between the various methods of homeschooling looking for the perfect way to bring up and educate your kids? I used to do that. I’d try one thing after another, confusing myself and my kids, while never finding what I was searching for. As I said in my book Curious Unschoolers: … I pondered lots of questions:…
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