Fan Mail and Lots of Unschooling Thoughts

This morning I felt very discouraged. Perhaps it was the result of being overtired. I don’t know. It’s strange how grey the world looks when we’re tired. Earlier today, nothing excited me. I didn’t want to blog or podcast. Sharing…

Do You Need a Happy List?

I’m at a cafe with my pretend friend Amina, who places her mug of coffee on the table between us, sighs and says, “Unschooling doesn’t guarantee our kids won’t have challenges in life, does it?” “I wish it did,” I…

Searching for Daily Delights

In episode 178 of my podcast: Strewing, Unschooling, and Charlotte Mason, I mentioned a book called The Book of Delights, written by Ross Gay: ‘In The Book of Delights, one of today’s most original literary voices offers up a genre-defying…

How Do Kids Learn to Be Generous?

On Monday, my daughter Imogen and I were the filling in a truck sandwich as we drove from our quiet village, along the busy motorway, through the heavy rain, to the city shops. I wanted to buy some white sneakers,…

Latest

Why You Should Consider Radical Unschooling

This week, in episode 109 of my unschooling podcast, I’m discussing radical unschooling. Do you unschool but don’t like the sound of radically unschooling? Maybe you’re convinced you’ll never do it? If so, I hope to change your mind! I’m pondering lots of questions including: How did we end up becoming radical unschoolers (when I said we’d never do this)? Are radical unschooling parents irresponsible? Or are the critics wrong? How will our kids learn to do the things that are necessary and right if…

How Kids (and Adults) Learn

In this week’s podcast, episode 108, I’m telling some stories and chatting about how kids and adults learn: What is the best motivation for learning? Why do we persist using teaching methods that we know aren’t working? Why do we waste our time? Would more people unschool if there was no such thing as homeschool registration? What bad habits have adults learnt that get in the way of learning? Do other people’s words have an effect on our inclination to learn? When…

Is Unschooling for Everyone?

A note before you listen to this week’s episode: Episode 107 is only a conversation starter. I’m sure my thoughts are incomplete. Sometimes we have to work at jobs that we’d rather not do because we have families to support. My husband Andy was in this situation for many years so I understand how it might not seem possible to resign from such a job to follow a dream. However, perhaps there’s still room in our lives for a little unschooling. We might find…

Changes

This week, in episode 106 of my podcast, I’m talking about changes both in my online and offline lives. I’m sharing: Some further thoughts on kids, screen time and Internet usage The future of my unschooling blog and podcast A few resources More about learning from life Some family news including the fur coat story Show Notes Blog Post Is it Really Okay to Give Unschooling Kids Unlimited Access to Screens and the Internet Michael Mosley Resources The Truth…

Social Media, Internet Addiction, and Screen Time

A week ago, I signed into Facebook for the last time. After a quick glance at my timeline and blog page, I headed to the settings so that I could delete my account. The deletion link was accompanied by some words of warning. Had I considered how important social media is? How will I connect with the people who are most important to me without the aid of Facebook? You see, social media is an essential part of modern life.…

Is the Internet Addictive or is There Another Reason Why I Waste Time Online?

I’ve announced I’m leaving Facebook. I could have slipped away quietly. It was tempting to do that. But I wanted to thank my friends for including me in their lives, taking an interest in mine, and being so kind and loving to me and my family over the past few years. Yes, Facebook hasn’t been all bad. Actually, it has enriched my life in many ways. So many kind comments: “I’ll miss you!” and “No!” and “I understand!” and “Can…

Disentangling Myself from the Internet

I’m lying in bed. Thoughts are running laps inside my head. Of course, I can’t sleep. I wonder if I should get up and write down what I’m thinking. Write the blog post that wants to be written. But I don’t push back the blankets and head for my computer: It’s cold. Instead, I continue to write inside my head until, several hours before dawn, the thoughts crash into each other and fall in a tangled heap. I finally fall…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: Trust, Autonomy, and The Realities of Learning

The Ladies are Fixing the World again! Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing the words ‘self-regulation’ and ‘limits’. When we say, “I’ve let go of control, and now I’m waiting for my child to learn how to regulate his time playing video games (for example),” do we have expectations about what that regulation should look like? Do we want…

Is It Working? Wrestling with Doubt in Unschooling

A grey day arrives that completely blots out the memory of all the preceding good days. We feel overwhelmed, tired, worried and lost. We wonder why we ever decided to unschool. A puddle of doubt about unschooling forms around us. What do we do? Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing unschooling doubts and sharing our experiences in episode 10 of…

Learning to Read and Trusting Unschooling

It is absolutely essential that we are curious people who are excited about the possibilities in life. The atmosphere in our homes gets picked up by our kids so they think it’s normal to learn, to be curious, to follow thoughts and ideas and try things out… I was battling with my kids for a while. They kept saying, ‘Why…

Christian unschooling

Should We Encourage Our Kids to Follow Their Dreams?

What did you want to be when you were a child? I wanted to be a writer. I had a cardboard box inside my wardrobe where I stored my scribbled stories about princesses, dragons and faraway kingdoms. At night, in bed, before dropping off to sleep, I’d think up stories about large happy families who were a lot like the…
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