About Me, About Being Different
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Why I Like Empty Weeks & Other Busy Week Stories
Last week started off gently, and then life moved into top gear, and we found ourselves hurtling along at a fast pace. But today, I’ve stopped moving. Yes, I am sitting still, enjoying some quiet Saturday time, after a too…
How Younger Siblings Learn by Listening In
On Sunday Father S began his homily: “In Hamlet, it says, ‘To thine own self be true’.” Gemma-Rose dug me in the side and whispered loudly, her eyes wide with excitement, “Hamlet!” We are halfway through reading this Shakespeare play…
Sharing Jane Eyre
“The cinema is showing Jane Eyre,” says Imogen, her voice full of longing. “Would you and Charlotte like to see it?” I ask. A big smile spreads across Imogen’s face as she answers, “Yes, please!” “You could come with us!”…
Approaching Maths Backwards
The other day, I made a big mistake. I uttered the word ‘maths’ in Gemma-Rose’s presence. Oh my! She instantly became stiff and prickly.“What’s wrong with maths?” I asked.“It’s boring. It’s just a lot of numbers.” “You don’t like numbers?”…
How Our Unschooled Kids Need a Deep Kind of Example
Sometimes I’m asked: ‘How do I get my kids to get up early? How do I get them to exercise? And I’d like to get the chores done as a family at the start of each day. Then there are prayers and other things I’d like to fit into our day. How do I establish a rhythm in our home that looks like yours?’ So what do I say? Well, all families are different, aren’t they? Our days are never…
Discussing Books and Writing Stories
Not so long ago, I posted the following words, about the current pandemic and control, in the Stories of an Unschooling Family community: One of the things that I’m finding hard to deal with at the moment is the lack of control I have over my life. Someone else is making decisions that affect me. I can’t do anything about that. I know that these are extraordinary times. Decisions are made with safety in mind. (Though a few of the…
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 I decide I need to offer something extra. How about a book club? I pay for blog and podcast hosting…
There Has Never Been a Better Time to Start Unschooling
Have you ever thought about unschooling but have hesitated? Maybe you haven’t quite been able to do it. What if things don’t go well? What if your kids get ‘behind’ while you’re experimenting? Will you regret your decision to give unschooling a go? Even though I think there’s no reason to be concerned – unschooling is a fantastic way to learn! – I do understand why you might be worried. It’s hard to try something new, isn’t? It’s difficult to…
Could This Be Your Best Unschooling Year Ever?
You can find the following words on the back cover of my unschooling book, Curious Unschoolers: Have you ever wondered how unschooling works? What do unschoolers do all day? Perhaps they don’t do much at all? Or do unschoolers live amazing lives full of love and learning? In Curious Unschoolers, Sue Elvis discusses all aspects of unschooling including starting unschooling, passions and interests, trust, technology and screen time, maths, reading, writing, homeschool registration, responding to critics, difficult days and much…
Christian Unschooling: the Foremost Task of a Parent
A few days ago, in my Stories of an Unschooling Family community, I posted these thoughts: A parent does her best to give her child a good education but should concentrating on academic success be her main focus? Perhaps a parent’s most important task is to teach a child about love. Intelligence and academic achievements are highly regarded by the world. And I value them too. Our intelligence was given to us by God. But using our intelligence without the…
Punctuation and Grammar and Other Unschool Writing Stories
Many people think kids need to be pushed. If we don’t tell them what to do, they won’t do much at all. But, of course, this isn’t true. Kids are curious people. They are wired to learn. If we don’t keep them busy fulfilling our goals, they will challenge themselves, they’ll work hard and achieve amazing things. Some kids might end up writing and publishing a novel. Or two. Several months ago, my daughter Imogen published her second novel, The…
Unschooling Cats and Rats and Trust
Did you hear that we’ve had lots of rain recently? It’s brought everything back to life after the bushfires. The burnt bush is regenerating. We’ve got grass, instead of stubble, in our back garden. It’s lush and green and knee-deep. We have new life inside our home as well. There are rats living upstairs in our roof space. They are huge. Yesterday, Gemma-Rose asked me, “Why did God create rats?” As far as she could see, they don’t contribute anything…
What if We’d Like Our Kids to Be Early Risers?
Sometimes when I write a post about our typical unschooling days, a reader stops by and says, “Oh, Sue, your mornings sound delightful! I…
Unschooling Poster Kids
All seven of my unschooled kids went to university when they were 14 and got their degrees before they reached adulthood. No they didn’t.…
Sibling Rivalry: An Unschooling Interview
Sometimes people ask me if my children get on with each other. Have I ever had to deal with sibling rivalry? I think back…
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…
Resources for Unschoolers
Strolling towards the shopping centre, I spy an older man with three hand-reared brightly coloured parrots. A few wide-eyed kids are gathered around him, and as I watch, he transfers a parrot to one of their shoulders, where it bounces lightly upon its feet, nuzzling a little ear. The child grins, hardly daring to move. The children have questions which…
The Role of Repetition in Learning, Unschooling, and Shaping Identity
What if kids want to watch the same movies, read the same stories, or play the same games again and again? Should we try to move them on to other activities? Or is there value in repetition? Does repetition have an important role in our lives?…
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…
Christian Unschooling: Disciplining With Unconditional Love
If our children misbehave, what do we do? Make them sit on the time-out chair? Punish them? Perhaps we should withdraw our love. Be cold and distant. Make things unpleasant for our kids because they need to know how upset we are, don’t they? We want them to feel bad because then, maybe, they’ll remember to act in the right…