Pi and Tea, and Our Dog’s Tea Bag Collection

Our puppy Nora has a tea bag collection. She keeps it under the conifer tree at the bottom of our garden. Every day she pushes her long doggy nose between the wooden slats of the compost bin, in search of…

My Unschoolers’ End-of-the-Year Reports

My husband Andy is a primary school teacher, and twice a year he has to write school reports for all his children. For a couple of weeks, we see nothing of him except his back, as he sits in front…

Connecting Unschooling and Ageing

I’m lying on my bed thinking about ageing when my daughter Sophie appears. “I thought I’d come and have a chat with you before I go to bed,” she says as she curls up alongside me. “I’ve been mulling over…

Latest

A Balanced and Productive Unschool Life

It’s good to read stories about unschoolers, isn’t it? What do they think? What do they do? What kind of people are they? Stories about real unschoolers bring unschooling alive. But there is something better than reading stories. And that’s listening to unschoolers themselves. In this week’s podcast: A Balanced and Productive Unschool Life, I’m chatting with my teenage daughter, Sophie who has lots of her own stories, ideas and opinions to share. We start with these conversation prompts: Something…

When an Unschooler Isn’t Interested in Maths [Podcast]

Every morning, I lace up my running shoes and then grab our dog Nora’s leash before sliding the kitchen door open and stepping out onto the patio. Sometimes I have to pull Nora from her kennel but usually, she is eager for a run and as soon as she sees me, she bounds ahead to the gate. Once the dog is secured to the leash, I open the side gate and we all head out to the front garden and…

Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case: [Podcast]

In this week’s podcast episode, I’m sharing a story called Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case. And I’m discussing the main points in it. Is it sensible to make all kids learn maths just in case? What if kids need maths to go to university? What if they decide they want to go to school? This is another episode in my blog post story podcast series! Show Notes Blog post Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case…

Sitting Quietly: Unschool Bits and Pieces

Kids Sitting Quietly in Church The other day, I was asked: How do you get young, unschooled children to sit quietly, without disturbing anyone, in church? This was my reply: When my kids were very small I didn’t expect them to sit quietly in church. Little children aren’t designed to sit still for long periods of time. So whenever my kids would get upset, I’d take them outside or I’d walk up and down at the back of the church…

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 :…
1 … 44 45 46 47 48 … 109

My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

What Is Unschooling?

What is unschooling? I’ve been blogging about unschooling for over 5 years now. You’d think I would already have written a post with this…

The Ladies Fixing the World

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…

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.…

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…

Christian unschooling

Shall We Talk About Christian Unschooling?

I often get to the point where I feel I haven’t got anything more to say about unschooling. I wonder: is it time to move on? At the beginning of last year, I reached such a point. However, instead of thinking about moving away from unschooling, I proposed the idea of exploring unschooling from a different angle. Should we discuss…

Christian Unschooling: Should Parents Demand Obedience from Their Children?

Not so long ago, I was reading a spiritual book that mentioned monks and their life of poverty, chastity and obedience. And this got me thinking about obedience. Monks are obedient to their superiors and the rule of their order. They are imitating Jesus who was obedient to God the Father even until death. Obedience is obviously good so perhaps…
Go toTop