When in Doubt, Just Love
Last Wednesday, I pushed our living room sofa out of position, exposing a stretch of plain duck-egg blue wall. I placed a chair and a small table where the sofa had been. On top of the table, I stacked six…
Cold Piano Fingers
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The Extraordinary Ordinary Things of Life
I’m at Thomas’ wake. I have his memory box on my knee, and I take out a few photos and pass them to a friend. “He was a chubby baby!” she exclaims. I reply, “He wasn’t really. Those photos were…
Live Life to the Full, Have No Regrets
Today we are going on an adventure. The girls giggle. “We’re going on a ‘school excursion’!” they say. We imagine a long straggly crocodile of paired off and name-tagged children, walking hand-in-hand. Where are they off to? The museum? The…
Unschool English Records: 20 Ideas for Evernote
I love Evernote. I think it’s A Perfect Method for Keeping Unschooling Records! You might already know this if you’ve read some of my other Evernote blog posts or watched my videos. Yes, I’ve got a lot to say on…
Dragon Mothers and Parenting Mistakes
In a previous post, I wrote: Oh my, you should see my file of ‘failed’ podcasts. Yesterday, I added another one to the pile. “How did your podcast go, Mum?” my daughter Imogen asked me, and I replied, “It wasn’t quite right. It didn’t flow.” And with a sigh, I added, “I’ll have to record it again.” Well, today, I had another go. I recorded a new version of episode 118 (on a different topic). Is it better than the…
Christian Unschooling and Other Things
I made a new podcast episode! Yes, after an absence of a few weeks, I’m back. So where did I go? Nowhere in particular. I was just at home enjoying lots of slow summer days. Maybe I was feeling lazy. But yesterday, that changed. I suddenly felt like getting back to work. And so I thought I’d record a catch-up podcast episode. In this week’s episode, Christain Unschooling and Other Things, I’m talking about what’s been going on around here…
An Impossible Adventure
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Letting Go of Control
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Bringing God into the Unschooling Picture
A few months ago, I wrote a post called Why This is the End of the Line for Me. I decided that I’d explored unschooling from every possible angle. What more could I write about? It was time for me to move onto other things. Let my kids tell their own unschooling stories and find something else of my own to do. I’ve spent weeks trying to work out what that ‘something else of my own’ is. Should I blog…
Is It Time to Unschool?
A new year. What’s ahead? More of the same? Or are you going to try a few new things in 2018? How about unschooling? If you’ve been sitting on the fence, thinking about it but not actually committing to this way of life, perhaps it’s the perfect time to let go and do it. Jumping into unschooling might feel scary. Are you really prepared for what feels like a huge step? Perhaps you should read one more book or blog?…
Why It’s Important to Allow Kids to Follow Their Interests and Passions
After my recent series of short unschooling blog post story podcasts, I now have a longer episode. It’s jam-packed full of thoughts, ideas and news! In episode 116, I’m discussing the following questions: Does planning have any place in unschooling? Can we make attractive planners using Evernote? Will I continue my Evernote workshop series? How does balance fit into an unschooling life? Why is it very important that we let our kids follow their passions and interests? Is it okay to…
Learning During a Crisis
In this week’s podcast, episode 115, I’m sharing and discussing two stories: Learning From Life and Homeschooling in a Crisis I’m talking about those times when we don’t need to strew because life is rich enough without any help from us. Maybe life is sometimes too rich. We might have a crisis to deal with that prevents us from getting involved with our kids’ learning. Should we worry if we can’t do all the things we normally do? And what about our…
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…
What a Day Without Rules Looks Like
My children said, “Sleep in tomorrow, Mum. You’re overtired. You haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.” So I slept in. When…
Tired and Difficult Days
Today I’m tired. “Have you got anything you really need to do?” asks my daughter Imogen. “I haven’t yet recorded my podcast,” I reply.…
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 and Connections: How Learning Is All About Creating a Web of Understanding
When I finished my university degree, I threw all my botany and biochemistry lecture notes and books into the garbage bin with relief. And I said, “No one will ever make me learn anything ever again!” I have a science degree, which was presented to me while I was wearing a fancy gown with a mortar board on my head.…
The Role of Repetition in Learning, Unschooling, and Shaping Identity
What if kids want to watch the same movies, read the same stories, or play the same games again and again? Should we try to move them on to other activities? Or is there value in repetition? Does repetition have an important role in our lives?…
Is It Wrong to Love Without Limits?
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Christian Unschooling: the Foremost Task of a Parent
A few days ago, in my Stories of an Unschooling Family community, I posted these thoughts: A parent does her best to give her child a good education but should concentrating on academic success be her main focus? Perhaps a parent’s most important task is to teach a child about love. Intelligence and academic achievements are highly regarded by the…