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…

Speed Angel Joy

I am sitting by the lake watching four girls scooting along the path. They are the Speed Angel Sisters and they are fast! Every now and then the girls veer off onto the grass and come to a sudden…

Suzie Andres Chats about Unschooling

Last week, Suzie Andres emailed: “Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow…  I’ll be on Judy Dudich’s blog/talk radio show to speak about unschooling…”  So I tuned in, eager to hear what Suzie had to say. I was also…

Latest

Unschooling: Haircut Courage

When I asked the hairdresser to cut my hair short, I had a definite idea of what I wanted. ”I like Andrea’s hairstyle,” I said, mentioning the name of a well-known TV presenter. “Could you cut my hair like hers?” Andrea’s hair was short and bouncy. It brushed the tops of her ears. It was feminine. It also looked very easy to look after. That’s the sort of hairstyle I needed. With three young children, I wanted something that I…

Unschooling: Frozen to the Bone

The other day, my girls and I were talking about our music video days. On film shoot mornings, we’d get up very early, pack our equipment in the car, and then drive to our chosen location, hoping to be there before the sun rose so we could catch the best light of the day. During winter, getting out of a warm bed at 4:30 am was hard. Even more difficult was standing on frosty ground in an icy wind, operating…

Unschooling: Elephant Education

The last time we went to the zoo, we stood shoulder to shoulder along the fence of the elephant enclosure, waiting for an educational presentation to begin. At the advertised hour, a young man dressed in khaki shorts and shirt, holding a mic, strode into the open space in front of us. He treated us to a huge zoo-welcoming smile and shouted, “I’m Noah! I’m your host for today’s elephant talk!” And then he gave a slick word-perfect lecture that…

Unschooling: Dishes

This evening, after dinner, I didn’t want to help with the dishes. I just wanted to relax on the sofa and leave everyone else to clean the kitchen. I could have done that. I could have taken advantage of my position as parent. Or I could have mentioned how tired I am. I’m sure my kids would have said, “Mum, you sit down. We’ll do the work.” Someone would have made me a cup of tea. They wouldn’t have made…

Unschooling: Clock Watching

I used to watch the clock a lot. Many years ago, when I was at school, every classroom had a clock on the wall. And each of those clocks had leaden hands that moved so slowly that I often thought I’d go crazy before they reached the half-hour or hour position. At those magical points on the circle, a bell would ring, releasing us, sending us into a flurry of activity. We’d thrust our books into our bags and race…

Unschooling: Boring or Maybe Not

Do you find certain things boring? Do your kids? I used to tell everyone I disliked science. I found it boring. This was sad because I did a Bachelor of Science degree. On paper, I’m a scientist. In real life, I’m a writer. The other day, I set out across the Internet, hopping from link to link and ended up having a wonderful adventure. It all started when I found an image of some Great Barrier Reef corals that I…

Unschooling: Absorbed

Many of us have a hard time focusing on the things we really want to do. We are easily distracted. We check emails or our social media notifications because that’s easier than getting down to some serious work. I had a distraction problem when I was writing my unschooling books, Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool Love. I used to get frustrated with myself because I seemed unable to spend time doing deep work. I read Cal Newport’s book Deep Work…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

Discouraged

I’m feeling discouraged. I wonder: why am I doing this? Why am I blogging and podcasting? I know the answer: I want to spread…

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling Is Carried by Conversations

Dinner tables, car rides, bedtime chats, and café corners are the real places where unschooling lives and grows. Conversations—often unscheduled, informal, and unplanned—can become the central structure of a learning life. Gathering at the Dinner Table In our house, we never met for breakfast or lunch. Those were meals where people ate what, where and when they liked. But we…

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…

Christian unschooling

Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents

Does having a simple Christmas sound good? It does to me. This year, like last year and the one before, I wanted to announce that I’m not buying a lot of Christmas presents. I thought about saying that I’m not buying any at all. I didn’t want to think and think until the perfect gift ideas came to mind. I…

When We Don’t Know What to Do

I’ve just updated my blog. I started at the first post I ever wrote and then worked my way through 14 years of stories, reading each one before deciding whether to keep it or revert it to draft. I then checked the formatting of the retained posts, rearranging paragraphs, eliminating dead links, and changing or improving the images. As I…
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