Is it Really Okay to Give Unschooling Kids Unlimited Access to Screens and the Internet?
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If You Think Computer Games Are a Waste of Time…
Does your child like to play computer games? Maybe you wish he’d do something else because you think he’s wasting his time, doing nothing much at all. If you do, I have a story for you! The other day, my…
Why My Unschooler Isn’t Going to Learn Any More Maths
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Unschooling Imposters and Difficult Days
After a few quiet weeks – life has been busy – I’m back with a new podcast, episode 97. It’s called Unschooling Imposters and Difficult Days, but I could have called it Our Weight Loss Adventure! Here’s the podcast summary:…
The Difference Between Radical Unschooling and Unparenting
Someone says, “Radical unschooling is an irresponsible way of life. I know a family of radical unschoolers. Their kids are wild and out of control.” And someone else replies, “Are you sure that family is radically unschooling? To me, they…
How Light Can Turn into Deep and Serious
I love Sunday mornings. We usually go to 7.30 am Mass and then when we get home, we have a leisurely breakfast in the family room. While we’re eating toast and Nutella and porridge and syrup, we talk. “What’s the latest royal news, Dad?” someone always asks. Andy grabs his phone and does some googling, and then he entertains us with the latest royal gossip. The goings-on in the royal family is our fun topic. “It looks like Meghan Markle…
Opening Myself Up to Criticism
I’m It’s inevitable: someone is going to criticise my unschooling books. No one has yet, but someone will. How do I know this? Well, even though we would like to think everyone agrees with our ideas and likes our work, that’s just not true. It’s impossible to please everyone in this world. A week or so ago, I finished listening to the audio version of Trent Dalton’s, Boy Swallows Universe. Maybe my family was glad when I came to the…
Stories from My Closet
Yesterday, I sat inside my walk-in-wardrobe (closet) for an hour. Do you know what I was doing in there? I wasn’t sorting out my clothes. I was recording a podcast! Why was I podcasting in my closet? Well, in podcast episode 151, I was pondering the possibility of making an audio version of my book Curious Unschoolers. Do I have the necessary speaking skills? Could I make my recording sound good? A listener -James – stopped by to say, “You…
Stories from ‘Curious Unschoolers’
I wrote an unschooling book called Curious Unschoolers. I published it. Then I told everyone about my book. I received many wonderfully supportive comments. A few days ago, I posted the following words on Instagram: I was telling my husband Andy about my brilliant friends: “It was wonderful how everyone got excited when they heard I was about to publish my unschooling book. Then I announced the book is available and they ordered copies and couldn’t wait for them to…
My Book ‘Curious Unschoolers’ is Now Available!
My book Curious Unschoolers is now available for purchase. I’ve been wanting to say those words for a very long time. Yes, it has taken me years to write and publish this book! You might know that I received a proof copy of Curious Unschoolers in the mail about a week ago. Since then, my daughter Imogen and I have been adjusting the formatting of the book so that it looks as good as possible. Last night, we finally got…
The Best Time and Place for Things to Go Wrong
On Sunday morning, Sophie and I headed into town for Mass. Earlier, I’d said, “Let’s take our cameras with us. After Mass, we can do some street photography, and we could have coffee in that cafe down the far end of town, the one we’ve never visited before.” So that was the plan. A morning out with my teenager daughter. We travelled along the back road to town, up hills and down. When we reached the final hill, I noticed…
Unschooling Books and Bedtimes
Knock! Knock! My husband Andy looked at me and I looked at him. We both looked at the clock. Who could that be at our front door, at 8 o’clock on a weekday evening? Andy heaved himself out of his armchair and plodded off to find out. “Hello!” Our new friends Tony and Ellie appeared in the doorway of our living room. “I hope you don’t mind us dropping by.” They smiled, their eyes meeting mine. Then their eyes wandered downwards…
Unschooling Book Two Is Done Too!
Would you like to hear my latest unschooling book news? As you might know, I finished writing Curious Unschoolers a few weeks ago. Now I’ve finished my second book, Radical Unschool Love! I don’t know if that’s good news for my daughter, Imogen, because I’m about to give her more work to do. Soon she’ll be formatting the manuscript ready for publication! . I feel like I’ve been writing my unschooling books forever. Many, many times I’ve wanted to walk…
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…
Keeping Teenagers Safe from the Dangers of the World
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Teenagers, Friends, School and Unschooling: An Interview
A couple of years ago, I interviewed my daughter Sophie. In the video, Self-Directed Learning: An Unschooling Interview, we talked about teenagers, friends, school…
How Unschoolers Can Deal with Questions and Sceptics
My mother-in-law visited us for the birth of our son, Thomas. After he died and we’d buried him in his tiny white casket, Andy’s mother asked me if we wanted more children. As I replied, “Oh, yes!”, my mother-in-law’s face dropped into a disapproving frown. “She thinks we already have enough kids,” I thought as my defence hackles rose. But…
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…
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…
When We Can’t Decide What’s the Best Way to Bring Up and Educate Our Kids
Do you ever swap between the various methods of homeschooling looking for the perfect way to bring up and educate your kids? I used to do that. I’d try one thing after another, confusing myself and my kids, while never finding what I was searching for. As I said in my book Curious Unschoolers: … I pondered lots of questions:…
Is It Okay if Parents Want to Influence Their Unschooling Kids?
Is it okay if we try to influence our unschooling kids? What if we’d like them to acquire particular values? Can we expose them to our beliefs? Or should we stand back and try to keep quiet about the things we base our lives on and let our kids work out everything for themselves? Let’s say we decide it’s…