Misconceptions: Unschooling Parents are Lazy

I republished this post after reverting it to draft. I have doubts I expressed my thoughts properly. My intention was to encourage parents, who are thinking about unschooling, not to be put off by claims it’s a lazy way of…

Accidental Unschoolers

This is the second part of our homeschooling story. It follows on from my post Undercover Homeschoolers. When our first child Felicity was about 6 years old and we’d been homeschooling for maybe a year, I met Anna. She lived…

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How to Unschool During the Baby Seasons of Life: The Magic Answer

Maybe most people think of me as an older unschooler blogger because, at the moment, I'm surrounded by unschooling teens and young adults. I'm also older in age! But, of course, my children were once babies and toddlers and younger unschoolers. I remember those hectic days of trying to unschool some children while, at the same time, trying to see to the needs of the smallest members of our family. Like many parents, I searched for the magic answer to…

Are We Becoming the People We Want Our Kids to Be?

Last weekend, my son Callum came home for a visit, and on Saturday morning, we had a breakfast picnic together at our local lake. After we’d eaten, we took Callum’s dog for a walk around the lake. It wasn’t a quick walk. Every few metres, we had to stop because people kept asking, “What breed is your dog?” Callum’s 5-month-old puppy, Crash, is a Great Dane/Stag Hound/Staffy cross. He has a striking coat, huge oversized paws that he’ll grow into,…

An Unschooling Fitness Challenge

Do you ever worry that your kids aren’t getting enough exercise? Maybe they spend a lot of time doing sedentary things such as playing computer games or reading books. Are you tempted to say, “Go outside and get some fresh air!”? Years ago, I was always looking for ways to include some activity into my kids’ days. We’d go for walks and do scavenger hunts along the way. Before we left home, I’d write a list of things for us…

Why We Have to Accept Ourselves as We Are

Sophie points her camera at me and says, “Smile, my beautiful mother!” I reply, “I’m not beautiful. Look at all my wrinkles!” Sophie pushes my words away. I may have wrinkles, but they’re not important to her. They’re a blur. Insignificant. She sees different things. To her, I’m beautiful. So I smile. I also adjust my position as I say, ‘Think thin!’ And Sophie replies, ‘You’re not fat.’ No, even though I’m not as slim as I used to be, my…

Adding Rhythm to Our Unschooling Days

Years ago, when we first began unschooling, I thought that to unschool properly, we had to get up each morning and take the day as it came. Do whatever we felt like at each moment without thinking too far ahead. This sounded attractive – we’re free to do whatever we like!- but we soon found ourselves drifting through our days not achieving much which was very unsatisfying. I needed to do something. I added some rhythm to our unschooling life.…

How Limiting Screen Time Can Limit Our Learning

Do you use the screen time feature on your phone and other devices? I used to. At the end of every week, I received a report telling me how much time I’d spent on my iPhone and iPad and how I’d used that time. When I saw the number of hours I’d spent on my devices, I felt guilty. How could I have let myself sit in front of my screens for so long? Each week, I told myself I…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

What Is Unschooling?

What is unschooling? I’ve been blogging about unschooling for over 5 years now. You’d think I would already have written a post with this…

The Ladies Fixing the World

The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?

There are many unschool maths questions. Here are just a few of them: Can kids really learn maths without formal instruction? What does unschooling maths look like? Can we strew unschool maths? Is it possible for registered homeschoolers to unschool maths? How can we provide evidence kids are learning maths when we don’t have formal records like workbooks and test…

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 Unschooling Doesn’t Guarantee a Fairytale Life

Yesterday evening, like all Sunday evenings, my kids who live locally came to dinner. Six of us gathered around our dining room table, savouring a meal cooked by my husband while enjoying the usual end-of-the-week lively catch-up conversation. There was a time when we dreamed that all our children would buy houses on the same street as our family home.…

Christian unschooling

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…

The Problem With Being Too Nice

Are you too nice? I am. I want to help everyone. Support and encouragement are my middle names. Send me an email and I’ll spend hours answering it. Write me a comment and I’ll always reply. Ask for some mentoring and I’ll do my best even though you tell me you can’t pay. I write a book. And another. Then…
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