Popularity, Learning to Read and Shakespeare

Is there such a thing as a typical unschooling day? What about a typical unschooling week? Do my children spend equal time on all the key learning areas? The answer is no! We tend to get immersed in a few…

My Unschoolers’ End-of-the-Year Reports

My husband Andy is a primary school teacher, and twice a year he has to write school reports for all his children. For a couple of weeks, we see nothing of him except his back, as he sits in front…

When Our Kids Are Wired Differently

Amina lowers her voice. “I don’t like to admit this, but one day I said, ‘Harry, can’t you do as I want for once? Can’t you be nice to me just for one day?’ Harry looked confused. Be nice to…

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Motivated to Learn

Did you ever hear my physics story? When I was in grade 11, we moved house, and so I had to go to a new school. On my first day, I turned up at a physics class. The teacher who’d never had girls in his class before said, “What are you doing here?” And I told him I’d come to learn physics. He replied, “We’ll see about that!” I was told that I’d have to prove that I was worthy…

Some Real Life Covid English

The other morning, while we were driving to town, my daughter Gemma-Rose did something that’s socially unacceptable: she sneezed! “It’s okay,” I said. “We belong to the same bubble.” Then we had a very interesting conversation about words. Since covid-19 appeared, how many words have gained additional meanings? Bubble used to conjure up images of filmy spheres that delight children (and adults), and now when we hear that word we think of the people who share their everyday lives with…

Unschool, Martian, and Risqué Stories

A few days ago, we all got very excited when a box of Frost Hands landed on our doorstep. My daughter Imogen opened it, eager to see the print version of her latest novel for the first time. Would it look good? We all agree that Frost Hands looks fabulous. My daughter Charlotte designed its cover and we love it. Imogen talks about the exciting arrival of her books in the latest episode of my podcast. Yes, Imogen is joining…

Doing What Kids Ought to Do

Years ago, we lived in a back-to-front cottage. The back door faced the long driveway that led to the road, and the front one turned towards an endless paddock of chewing-the-cud cows. Around the cottage was what the real estate woman had called a yard: “It’s nothing fancy,” she’d said on the day when she’d shown me the house. Her yard was my garden, and my garden was my kids’ magical world. They loved the untidy grass, the crabapple tree,…

Do We Have Trouble Trusting Our Kids Because of Our Own Experiences?

Can kids be trusted? If we give them the freedom to direct their lives, won’t they do nothing much at all? Won’t they choose to be lazy? I wonder if we have trouble trusting our kids because we remember what we were like when we were children. Perhaps we weren’t hardworking. Could we have spent lots of time trying to avoid such things as chores? Maybe we weren’t dedicated to our school work and needed someone to push us along…

Unschooling, Plot Holes, and Twonk

Yesterday, something unexpected happened: I recorded a new podcast episode! It had been a long time since I last headed into my closet, set up my mic, and started talking. Yes, I’d been neglecting my podcast. But why? A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post called Falling Apart. I explained how I was feeling overwhelmed and needed to take a break from some of my regular activities. I wrote: It’s been a long time since I made my…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Curiosity, Flexibility, and Trust

I’m a Lady Fixing the World! Cecilie Conrad kindly invited me to join her and Sandra Dodd for Season 2 of her podcastThe Ladies Fixing the World. We recorded our first unschooling conversation together in November 2024 before life got extra-busy with Christmas, and it has just gone live! The audio version. Here’s the audio version: You can also listen…

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…

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…

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…
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