How Much Is Enough?
Once upon a time I used to worry about how much learning my children were doing each day. “Can we go now, Mum? Have we done enough school work for today?” How much is ‘enough’? I used to look at…
My New Book!
Quinn barks loudly at a man in a mask who’s walking up our driveway. I open the front door, holding back the dog, and the man thrusts a box at me. No need to sign for it. No one does…
Getting Kids to Help with the Chores
Should parents expect kids to help with the chores? How do we encourage kids to have a generous attitude and want to be part of the family team, helping with the work? Here’s a simple suggestion that doesn’t involve chore…
Can We Say We’re Unschoolers if We Require Maths?
Some people will tell you if you unschool everything except maths, you’re not really an unschooler. For how can we say to our kids, “I trust you will learn everything you need to know… but not maths”? We either trust…
Do Unschooled Kids (and Parents) Need Time Away From Their Devices?
If we conclude that good mental, physical, and spiritual health requires silence, nature, real people, and exercise, what does this mean for our unschooling kids? Should we limit their screen time? Should we force them off their devices and make…
An Unschooling Challenge: Looking for Joy
Each week, in our Stories of an Unschooling Family Community, I post an unschooling challenge. The challenges are a way for us to explore the principles of unschooling, ponder a few ideas together, and make unschooling a reality in our lives. A few weeks ago, I shared the following challenge. A Looking for Joy Challenge Do you ever look for ways to add joy to your days? Well, that’s this week’s unschooling challenge! Here’s an old Instagram post that I…
Searching for Daily Delights
In episode 178 of my podcast: Strewing, Unschooling, and Charlotte Mason, I mentioned a book called The Book of Delights, written by Ross Gay: ‘In The Book of Delights, one of today’s most original literary voices offers up a genre-defying volume of lyric essays written over one tumultuous year. The first nonfiction book from award-winning poet Ross Gay is a record of the small joys we often overlook in our busy lives. Among Gay’s funny, poetic, philosophical delights: a friend’s…
Is it Okay to Share Our Kids’ Photos and Stories Online?
The other day, I asked my kids, “Would you like me to delete my blog?” ”Why would we want you to do that?” “Well, you might not like your photos and stories all over the Internet.” ”But you’ve been posting them for years.” ”I know, but you might have changed your mind about wanting to share them. Perhaps you’re no longer happy to have your photos online.” “I don’t mind you using my photos,” said Imogen. “And you can tell…
Locked Out, Locked In, and Lies
This afternoon, I was poking about on an old blog of mine, reading old stories and remembering when my children were much younger. Locked Out, Locked In, and Lies is one of those stories. I wrote it four years ago for an A-Z blogging challenge. Of course, it was my L post! urry! Hurry! Time to go!” I yelled as I herded my three oldest children through the front door. I swung my bag onto my shoulder, scooped up the…
A Fresh Perspective
One of the huge delights of my unschooling life is sitting quietly with my children while chatting together. I’m good friends with my kids. We’re always sharing our thoughts, ideas, stories, dreams, problems, and moments of joy. We don’t talk so that I can impress my opinions on my children. I don’t tell them what I think and therefore what they should think. Instead, I’m interested in what they have to say. Who are they? What ideas do they have?…
Strewing , Unschooling, and Charlotte Mason
In this week’s podcast, episode 178, I’m sharing and discussing two stories about strewing: Time For Some Strewing Unschooling When Charlotte Mason Also Appeals to Our Hearts I’m also talking about overwhelming times, how we don’t have to be perfect, and looking for the delights in our days. Show Notes A Blog Post Unschooling When Charlotte Mason Also Appeals to Our Hearts Podcasts Episode 151: All About Strewing Episode 30: Why Classical Music Is Not Enough A…
Encouraging Unschooling Kids and Mothers
In this week’s podcast, I’m talking about encouragement. I have two encouragement stories to share with you which I’m hoping you haven’t heard before. But if you are familiar with them, will you think, “Sue is getting repetitive”? Will you consider giving my podcast a negative review? I hope not. Instead, maybe you’ll offer some feedback. Do you have any ideas for future episodes of this podcast? What would you like to hear about? Most of my kids are grown…
How Curious Unschooled Kids Learn
The big question is this: will I be awake at 1 am tomorrow (AEST)? Will I join the first live session of my Homeschooling Global Summit interview? Earlier today, I received a Summit email that included these words: If you are available for any of your two sessions, we would love to have you come and join us to chat and engage with the audience. Two sessions? Yes, my interview will be streamed again with another live chat session at…
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…
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…
Unschooling, Homemaking, and a Mother’s Role
Erin wrote: What does the idea of homemaking mean to you? Is it a certain skill set or talent? Does it need to look…
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.…
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…
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…
Does Christian Unschooling Interest You?
I’ve written three unschooling books: I focused on the educational side of unschooling in Curious Unschoolers. I extended the unschooling story in Radical Unschool Love by sharing parenting thoughts and stories. And I offered practical suggestions for turning all those interesting unschooling ideas into something real in families’ lives in The Unschool Challenge. Three books. A trilogy. Everything I can…
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…