Using Evernote to Record Unschool Maths

Proving a child is learning maths, for homechool registration purposes, could be rather tricky for unschoolers. We don’t have any maths workbooks or exercise books to show an Authorised Person (AP) when she comes to visit us. We don’t have…

An Unschooling Experiment

Do you listen to my podcasts? Normally, I don’t. I make an episode and that’s that. I hope everyone enjoys it, but I don’t really want to go back and listen to my own voice talking about unschooling. But this…

How My Daughters Are Organising My Education

Once again, it’s Monday, the day the girls have their piano lessons. Once again, Charlotte took Les Miserables to read, while she was waiting for her turn at the piano. “So how did you get on with your book?” I…

Trying to Be a Fun Mum

When my first two children were very small I had a best friend called Mellie. We got on extremely well despite being very different. I was an always-in-control type person. As well as liking an organised and spotless house, I…

Latest

Thankful and Facing Facts

I’m very pleased to announce that Venisa McAllister is my guest podcaster for this week’s episode: Thankful and Facing Facts. Thankful Venisa is talking about: Her own educational and childhood experiences How her family moved from homeschooling to unschooling Her children and how they have their individual learning styles The reasons she is thankful that her family is unschooling Facing Facts I’m talking about: How perfectionists like me don’t always face facts What I discovered when I was brave enough to…

My Number One Unschooling Fan

I’m my kids’ number one fan. I cheer my children on from the sidelines, encouraging them to develop their talents and become the people they are meant to be. I tell them I’m proud of them. I share in the joy of their achievements. Now some people might not approve of all this cheering. Maybe they worry that with all this positive attention, a child might start to think she’s someone special, someone better than everyone else.  However, my daughter…

Confident to Be Me

8Love and acceptance are so very important. They give our kids the confidence to go out into the world and be themselves. This post was written by my daughter Imogen. It’s easy to recognize the Elvis Gang when we’re on the move. There’s us four (at-home) girls and Mum, tunic dresses fluttering over denim leggings, striking a ridiculous pose for a photo by a classical statue in a garden, striding through the Australian bush, or maybe just taking an epic…

What Do Children Need to Learn?

Here’s another younger unschooler story. My daughter Gemma-Rose was 8 when I wrote this post. Being the youngest child in the family, Gemma-Rose often slipped under my radar as far as teaching her the essential skills of life goes. But did that matter? Regardless of me, did she learn what she needs to know?  A couple of weeks ago, Gemma-Rose thrust her feet towards me and said, “Please can you lace up my shoes for me, Mum?” I was busy…

Challenging Parents to Get Involved with Kids’ Passions

A while ago, Sophie challenged me to do a 100 squat challenge. And recently, I challenged Sophie. “I have a new idea,” I told my teenage daughter. Sophie waited patiently while I explained. (She’s used to me and my ideas.) “How about you become a regular contributor to my blog? I’d love you to make some unschooling videos for me.  Do you think you could do that?” “I could give it a go.” I liked Sophie’s answer. I smiled and got…

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 an idea for a podcast,” I say. “Can I tell you about it?” Sophie nods so I continue: “I’m going to talk about ageing. It seems like an appropriate topic because my birthday isn’t far away.” I tell Sophie how…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

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…

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!…

Christian unschooling

The ‘Risky’ Business of Trusting Children

Trusting children to make their own choices sounds risky enough when it applies only to education, but what if you extend this trust to other areas of life? Will children decide they don’t want to go to Mass or eat healthy food? Perhaps they will want to watch inappropriate movies or play computer games all day. Some parents decide they…

Can Unschooling Be a Christian Thing to Do?

When a child has been controlled all her life, she just might grow into the kind of adult who says, “Nobody is ever going to make me do what they want ever again. From now on I’m going to do what I want.” She might close herself off, stand well back, not let anyone get too close. Because you never…
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