Reinventing Ourselves
When I was younger, I often came home from social gatherings and replayed conversations in my head. Did I talk too much? Had I sounded silly? I’d wish I could go back and change what I’d said. I wanted to…
Be Brave
Yesterday, my Youtube subscribers must have fallen over backwards with surprise: I published a new video! It had been a very long time since my last one. In this vlog, I’m sharing a story about red hair, shampoo, and…
The Most Powerful Motivator of All
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Locked Out, Locked In, and Lies
This afternoon, I was poking about on an old blog of mine, reading old stories and remembering when my children were much younger. Locked Out, Locked In, and Lies is one of those stories. I wrote it four years ago…
The Unschool Fangirl Returns
I’ve been a guest on other people’s podcasts, but I haven’t made a new episode on my own Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast for many months. But that has changed. Yesterday, I plugged my mic into my MacBook and…
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…
All About Strewing
I have a few strewing stories in my blog’s archive, and I’d like to include a couple of them in my unschooling book. Maybe Time for Some Strewing and What to Do When Strewing is Rejected would be appropriate choices. Have you read these stories? If you haven’t, you could listen to them. I’m sharing and discussing them in this week’s podcast. In episode 114, I answer the following questions: What is strewing? When do we need to do it? How do…
Spreading the Radical Unschooling Message
Not so long ago, I made a podcast called Why You Should Consider Radical Unschooling. I wanted to encourage everyone to let unschooling spill over into all aspects of life, and not just the educational part. I wanted to say, “Unschooling is very good indeed, but radical unschooling is even better. Take the next step. Don’t be scared.” Don’t be scared? Yes allowing kids to make their own decisions about all areas of their lives might sound frightening. What if they…
Why I Wanted to Delete My Blogs
I was staring gloomily at my computer this morning. “What are you doing, Mum?” asked my daughter Imogen. “I’m about to delete my blogs,”…
When Children Move Out of an Unschool Home
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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…
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.…
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?…
Pondering Trust
I never wanted to be in a position where I had to trust God. I preferred to rely on my own resources. I wanted to be totally in control of my own life. That seemed easier to do because trusting is so very difficult. Or so it can seem. Then one day, at a time when I was feeling rather…
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…