The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?

There are many unschool maths questions. Here are just a few of them: Can kids really learn maths without formal instruction? What does unschooling maths look like? Can we strew unschool maths? Is it possible for registered homeschoolers to unschool…

Unschool Basics: What is Unschooling?

What is unschooling? Is it a method of homeschooling, or is it more than that? Could it be a way of life? I share my ideas about what unschooling is and add links to other people’s articles on this topic.…

A Teenager Talks About Unschool Maths

My daughter Sophie hasn’t done any formal maths since she was about 9 or 10 years old. But she does know a lot about this subject. She’s been learning maths in a different way. Several years ago, I said to…

Latest

How Do I Turn Unschooling Life into Homeschool Records?

Sometimes life is quiet. We can stay at home and relax.  There’s plenty of time to say such things as “Would you like to watch a Shakespeare play with me?” We read books and drink hot chocolate. We write and chat and work on our individual projects. And as we do all this, I add links and notes to our homeschool records book. But sometimes life races along at an incredible pace. We take trips away from home. I drive a…

What is Unschooling? A Transcript

Hayley from the blog Taking a kinder path transcribed my video What is Unschooling? allowing me to turn that video into a blog post. I’ve made minor changes to the original words so that my points are easier to understand – I never say things in a video or podcast as well as I’d like! – and to make the spoken words flow better as written ones. Being a perfectionist, I’m tempted to rewrite everything. (Perhaps, three years after making the video,…

No More Nice, Dead People!

This is a guest post by Carolyn Blessington. Late 2012, about when the world was supposed to end and more than two years before my first child was born, I took a class called REALationship 101 with a guy named Steve1.  My boyfriend and I needed help communicating and working out our differences.  So, we delved into Marshall Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication (NVC)2 and developed an awareness of our feelings, needs, and wants, and how to make requests (not demands) of…

Accepting, Respecting, and Loving Unconditionally: An Unschooler’s Thoughts

In episode 70 of my podcast, Trust, Respect, and Love Unconditionally. my daughter Sophie shared some very insightful thoughts about respecting kids, accepting them for who they are, and making them feel unconditionally loved. Here is a transcript of part of our conversation. Sophie was 15 at the time of this podcast interview. Sue: When you listen to other families talking to each other, what do you hear? Sophie: Parents always criticise: My child doesn’t do this. My child is…

Podcasting Breaks and Unschooling Books

This is a very short blog post. All I want to say is: I’m taking a short podcasting break while I work on my unschooling book. If you’d like to hear more about Podcasting Breaks and Unschooling Books, you could listen to this week’s very short podcast, episode 103. I hope you’ll watch out for a regular full-length podcast episode in a few weeks’ time! Podcast music: Twombly by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0) Image: I didn’t record a podcast episode last week because…

Miles’ Model Munitions Germination

This is a guest post by unschooling teenager Miles Brack. About a month ago, my local home-schooling group held a “winter markets”. Mum suggested that I sell my wooden model guns… Setting up for the markets was a little hard. Seeing as I’d never met the audience I had no idea what to make for them. I had a hunch that the long guns had potential to be a best seller, but since they were the hardest and most expensive…

Ideas for Starting Unschooling

A few posts ago, I was talking about collaboration. Would anyone like to work with me as we try to spread the unschooling message? Could we light a gentle unschooling fire together? I was afraid no one would respond to my invitation, but quite a few people did! You might have noticed the recent guest posts which have widened the unschooling conversation. Instead of just reading my thoughts and ideas and hearing about what my family is doing, you’ve been…

Watching a Child Learn

This is a guest post written by Elizabeth Johnson. As mothers (and fathers) we are blessed with an incredible privilege: watching our children’s minds unfold to the world around them. I used to take great pleasure from seeing an “A” at the top of my daughter’s spelling tests and would congratulate myself on parenting well done when my son could parrot back to me the correct answers for an upcoming science test. Never mind the distasteful preparation on behalf of…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

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…

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling Isn’t Freedom Gone Wild: Why Choices Matter More Than Ideals

My husband Andy returned to work today after two weeks at home. Holiday time is over. We’ve now moved into term time. A whole term of possibility days stretches before me. I’m free to do whatever I like with my time while Andy is at school. My eyes light up with delight. But then I remember there are many…

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…

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

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…

Speed Angel Joy

I am sitting by the lake watching four girls scooting along the path. They are the Speed Angel Sisters and they are fast! Every now and then the girls veer off onto the grass and come to a sudden halt: a pedestrian is approaching. Now the speedway is clear again, and strong legs start pushing, wheels are revolving, hair…
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