Directing Our Lives Instead of Letting Life Direct Us

‘ve always wondered about the connection between freedom and not wasting time. We have a limited number of hours, so we should make the most of them, shouldn’t we? But we don’t want to live on a tight schedule, slotting…

It’s Not for Me

What if we share our work with the world and then someone comes along and criticises it? Some people might write bad reviews that make our hearts sink. We could wonder what we’ve done wrong. Why doesn’t everyone like what…

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…

Difficult Things

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Pam Laricchia from the Living Joyfully with Unschooling website: Would I like to be part of her Exploring Unschooling podcast? As I read the invitation, I felt excited. I’m a fan of Pam’s. I…

Latest

Are You a Curious Unschooler? [Podcast]

I recorded a new podcast episode! That might surprise you because it’s been quite a while since my last episode. I’ve become a bit of an unreliable podcaster. But, hopefully, that’s about to change: I’m planning to record a new series of episodes. Each episode will be based on a blog post. I’ll be telling a story and then chatting about its main points. Sharing some unschooling thoughts and ideas and maybe a few resources as well. I hope you like…

What if Your Right is My Wrong? Unschool Bits and Pieces

What if Your Right is My Wrong? I’m always talking about how important it is that our children develop a sense of right and wrong. But what do we mean by ‘right’? Could your idea of what is right be my wrong? Could my right be your wrong? Although we are all unschoolers, we might not share the same values and beliefs. And this might worry anyone who is thinking about unschooling. What if we give our children the freedom to…

Unschooling, University and More: An Interview

How do unschoolers get into university? Does unschooling prepare kids for the university experience? How do they get on studying in an educational institution for the first time? When my son Callum was 22, we discussed these questions in a video interview. Here’s the transcript of our conversation. Sue : Callum, you were homeschooled right up until the time you went to university. Did you enjoy homeschooling? Callum: I did, yes. Sue : What in particular did you enjoy about it? Callum :…

Critical Comments: Unschool Bits and Pieces

Dealing With Unschooling Critics I know your heart is in the right place. You’re full of love. I can see that. But is that enough? Frankly, my dear, I’m worried. I’m not saying this lightly. I’m not the kind of person who likes to interfere. Everyone knows that. However…. don’t you think you’re putting your kids at risk? They need discipline. Rules. Limits. The other day, I discovered these words in my notebook and for a moment, I wondered who’d said…

Is Our Unschooling Life Rich Enough?

Some unschooling families seem to live very adventurous lives that make ours look rather ordinary. And I wonder: Is our life rich enough for our children? Are they getting all the opportunities they need to learn so that they grow into the kind of people who will change the world for the better? Perhaps it’s time for us to live differently. We could buy a farm, grow our own organic vegetables, have alpacas, spin wool, weave our own cloth, live…

Junk Food and Poor Hygiene: Is Radical Unschooling Wrong?

Have you heard the stories? The ones about the radically unschooled kids who refuse to eat healthy food and never brush their teeth? Perhaps these stories make you wonder if there’s actually something wrong with radical unschooling. How can parents stand by and watch their child fill up on junk food and let her teeth decay? Surely influencing a child to do certain things is the right thing to do? Not so long ago, I read a story about a…

Reluctant Spouse: Unschool Bits and Pieces

Reluctant Spouse What does my husband Andy think of unschooling? Was he always in favour of it? Or did I have to convince him that unschooling is the right thing to do? Parents frequently ask me these questions especially when their spouses or partners don’t like the idea of unschooling. So was Andy always supportive of unschooling? Yes, but he didn’t realise we were unschooling. I didn’t either. We lived this way of life for a long time before it…

Unschoolers Talk About Freedom to Choose

“If children are given the freedom to do whatever they want, will they choose to do nothing at all?” I ask my daughters. Sophie smiles and says, “It’s not possible to do nothing.” “But I’ve heard parents say to their kids, ‘You’ve done nothing today!’” I insist. Imogen joins the conversation: “Perhaps parents don’t value whatever the child has been doing. To them, it’s ‘nothing’. It doesn’t count.” I ask my girls what they choose to do with their time.…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

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…

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: How Do We Know They’re Learning?

There are loads of unschooling questions we could ask about learning: How do we know unschooling kids are learning? Should they be learning particular things? Is there knowledge that all kids need? Are our unschooled kids learning enough? Can they get behind? Should we just trust our kids are learning? But what if we have doubts? Or what if we…

Christian unschooling

Can Christians Unschool?

Can Christians unschool? We’re Christian unschoolers. Maybe you’re Christian unschoolers too? There are lots of us living this way of life. But are we doing the right thing? Or are we side-stepping our responsibilities when we choose to unschool? Are we choosing the easy, lazy path? I often hear of parents who are struggling with homeschooling. Their kids aren’t doing…

Unschooling and Trust

I have been struggling with this post for a while now, and wondering why I’m having so much trouble finding the right words. And I have decided it’s the language. I want to write a story from a personal point of view like I normally do. And I can’t. We had such a gradual transition to unschooling, I didn’t really…
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