Why I’m Not a Good Homeschooling Teacher

Everyone thinks I homeschool my fourteen-year-old daughter, Charlotte. I don’t. She homeschools herself. I try to help her: “Charlotte, I have a new book we’re just about to start reading. What you like to join us?” “No thanks, Mum. I…

It’s Not a Periscope: Introduction

I’ve been thinking about periscopes. It seems to be the latest thing. Loads of people are making them. They head over to Twitter and announce they’ll be speaking live at a certain hour. Hopefully, a few viewers tune in at…

An Education at the Museum

I have read stories about teenagers who’ve dropped out of school and into the world, in order to obtain a real education. They spent their days, not at home behind a desk, but out and about, visiting places of interest…

Latest

Do Our Kids Know Themselves Better Than We Know Them?

As parents, we might think we know what’s best for our kids. We’re the adults. We’re older. We have experience. But my daughter Sophie disagrees. She says, “I think sometimes parents forget that a child knows herself better than the parent does.” Children know what’s important to them. They know what they need. A couple of years ago, when she was 14, I made an interview video with Sophie. We chatted about how important it is to listen to kids.…

Does the World Need Unschooling?

Kids won’t work hard if you don’t make them. I was thinking about these words as I was getting ready for bed last night. Why do some parents insist their kids won’t do anything unless they are forced to? Are kids naturally lazy? Can’t they be trusted to work hard and achieve goals without being pushed? Before I hopped into bed, I jotted down a few of my thoughts: We all need something worthwhile to do. Some way of using…

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 and unschooling: What does it mean to be a self-directed learner? Does Sophie know everything her school friends know? If she doesn’t, is this a problem? How will she get into university (if this is what she decides to do) if she doesn’t cover all her bases by learning everything in the school syllabus? What if…

My Unschooling Teenagers’ Typical Days

On a typical day, my daughter Sophie (16) gets out of bed soon after 5 am. By 6.10 am, she’s heading out the door with sister Imogen who drives her to work. A few minutes later, Gemma-Rose (14) and I also leave the house. We’re on our way to the bush tracks at the end of our road for our morning run. This is how my unschooling teenagers’ typical days begin. A typical day doesn’t stay typical for very long.…

Kids, Needs, and Church

Should unschooled kids be forced to go to church? I wonder if this is the wrong question to ask when our kids protest about coming with us. Would it be better to ask, Why doesn’t my child want to go to church? In this week’s podcast, I talk about this question as well as : The importance of trying to see the world through our kids’ eyes How we’re not giving in to our kids when we respond to their needs…

Unschooling and University: Learning from Our Own Experiences

Years ago, I completed a Bachelor of Science degree majoring in botany. I did okay. I was awarded an honours degree. Eventually, I got a job in a science department of a university. But I also got nightmares. Recurring ones. They stem from the experience of having little control over my education. I went off to university because it was the next expected stage of my life. I studied science because I was told this was a good choice. I…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

Following My Mothering Instincts

Some years ago I came across a talk on discipline by a well-known speaker, an experienced family man, an ‘expert’ perhaps. The talk went…

Unschooling Poster Kids

All seven of my unschooled kids went to university when they were 14 and got their degrees before they reached adulthood. No they didn’t.…

The Ladies Fixing the World

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: 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…

Christian unschooling

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…
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