Christian Unschooling: Are Desires Important?
Do you have great desires? Are there things you want to do with your life? Maybe you know in a vague kind of way that you need to do something, but you don’t know what you should do. Or perhaps…
More Unschool Writing Ideas and Resources
Back in February, my author daughter Imogen joined me on my podcast to talk about unschooling and writing. In episode 148, Our Writing Unrules for Unschoolers, we explored the question: Can unschoolers gain the writing skills they need without any…
Do You Have an Anti-Library?
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Strewing to Share Passions and Keep Our Bonds Strong
Driving past a cafe in town, I spied a blue racing car. “I need a photo of the car to send to Callum!” I cried. So Andy turned the car around and headed back to the cafe. As we parked…
No More Nice, Dead People!
This is a guest post by Carolyn Blessington. Late 2012, about when the world was supposed to end and more than two years before my first child was born, I took a class called REALationship 101 with a guy named…
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.…
Is it Really Okay if Kids Play All Day?
Parents value play when children are very young. At this stage of life, we all agree that children should be playing. But what about when they get older? Should they still be allowed to play as much as they would like? When children reach an age when they could go to school, play is often pushed to one side. It no longer holds the centre position in children’s lives. It’s now time for more serious things like learning about maths and…
Parent and Friend: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Parent and Friend A lot of people say our kids need us to be their parent and not their friend. “There’ll be plenty of time to be friends when they are grown up.” But why waste all those years when we could have been friends? My teenage daughter Sophie says if we want to be good friends with our older children, we have to start when they are young. “Parents can’t just turn around and say, ‘Now you’re an adult,…
Unschoolers Earning Money, Following Passions
How can unschooling kids keep following their passions once they get to an age where they need to earn money to support themselves? Some unschoolers step straight into a career based on their interests Some might decide to get a job in a completely different field and continue following their interests in their spare time Others will find a job that will earn them money while they keep working on their passions. They hope that eventually, they can give up…
What if Unschoolers Don’t Know How to Write Essays?
What if unschoolers don’t know how to write essays? Will they be at a disadvantage if they want to go to university? This post follows on from How an Unschooler Learns to Write. My daughter Imogen taught herself to write. After learning the basics, she read widely, observing the example of good authors. She experimented with different styles and techniques. She wrote and wrote and wrote. I wasn’t surprised when Imogen announced she wanted to study writing at tertiary level.…
How an Unschooler Learns to Write
My daughter Imogen loves writing. It’s part of who she is. “When did you start writing?” I ask. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing.” My fourth child was writing stories long before she knew how to form letters into words. “Do you remember how Charlotte and I would sit side by side at the kitchen table and draw our stories?” says Imogen. “We’d chat about what was happening in the story and then draw it. Then we’d chat…
Adding Joy: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Adding Joy to an Unschooling Day Not so long ago, a mother told me she only arranges special outings for ice cream or coffee or lunch with her kids as a reward. They can earn special time with her by working hard at their school work. I feel sad that the special moments of life seem to be rationed out. (And learning is done for rewards and not out of love.) Maybe some people think that I’m spoiling my kids…
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 in a wooden oasis of a house on the top of a hill that led down to the creek and the bush. The house was a warren of fascinating rooms filled with unusual treasures, a real storybook home. And in…
Getting Kids to Help with the Chores
Should parents expect kids to help with the chores? How do we encourage kids to have a generous attitude and want to be part…
Resolutions, Reading, Writing, and Coarse Language
I have a lot of questions… What happens when we remain open to new experiences? Do I have any good tips for anyone who…
Radical Unschool Love, Praise and Joy
Do you ever praise your kids? Do you tell them you’re proud of them? Some people say we shouldn’t praise our kids. Maybe that’s…
The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?
There are many unschool maths questions. Here are just a few of them: Can kids really learn maths without formal instruction? What does unschooling maths look like? Can we strew unschool maths? Is it possible for registered homeschoolers to unschool maths? How can we provide evidence kids are learning maths when we don’t have formal records like workbooks and test…
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…
Unschooling: Coping With the Unexpected
I used to think I could control my life. To achieve a perfect life, all I had to do was organise everything well, including my kids. What is a perfect life? My perfect life vision included a graduated row of good-looking and well-behaved children. I wanted people to admire my family and home, saying, “Sue is such a good mother!…
Letting Go of Control
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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…