The Awesome Teacher and Other Stuff
My daughter Sophie is very busy. Every morning she opens her computer, impatient to begin work. “What are you doing?” I ask. “I’m coding. I’m modifying the template on my ‘test’ blog.” Sophie shows me what she’s doing. “Are you writing the code from scratch?” I ask. “Sometimes. Other times I’m making changes to other people’s code.” I don’t mind…
From Around the Web: Unschooling and Learning to Read
How do unschooled children learn to read? Can we trust them to learn to read in their own time? What if a child is still not reading after a ‘reasonable’ amount of time? I’ve gathered a few blog posts from around the Internet on unschooling and learning to read. I hope you enjoy them! 1. How Late is a Late Reader?…
Why We Don’t Have to Push Kids to Work Hard
This morning, my husband Andy watched as our girls and I got ready to go for a run. As we laced up our shoes, he grinned and said: “What a mean mother you are making everyone run before breakfast!” Although Andy was joking, I’m sure many people might take his words seriously. Perhaps they would indeed think I am a…
Getting Older, Unschooling, and Moving On
My unschooling blog has a limited life. One day, in the not too distant future, I will no longer have anything to write about. My youngest child will have grown up and moved onto a new stage of her life. I’ll no longer be sharing her unschooling learning, and so it will be time for me to move onto a…
Fabulous Christmas: Gift Ideas and Traditions
My head is always overflowing with creative ideas, and there’s nothing I like better than turning them into reality. And so I spend lots of time making things. But they’re things no one can hold. You see, I’m a virtual creator. I make things while tapping on my computer keyboard. But during Advent it’s different. At this time of year,…
Trying to Be a Fun Mum
When my first two children were very small I had a best friend called Mellie. We got on extremely well despite being very different. I was an always-in-control type person. As well as liking an organised and spotless house, I liked my children clean and tidy and always presentable. Hair ribbons were good too. I encouraged my children to sleep…
When Amazing Things Aren’t Happening
I haven’t felt my usual self this week. Perhaps it’s got something to do with my son Thomas’ recent birthday and death-day. These days consume a lot of energy. There isn’t much left over for other things. So for the past week or so, I haven’t felt excited about learning. I haven’t jumped out of bed each morning eager to…
Lacking Inspiration
My writing life goes round in circles. At times, I feel excited. I have lots of things I want to write about. My words flow onto the computer screen, no problem at all. And then one day I wake up and I feel flat. When I write, my words are two-dimensional. No amount of effort will pump them up and…
Letting Our Writing Imaginations Go Wild
The day before yesterday, while we were driving down the back road to town, we saw a tractor. “I’m glad it’s not going our way,” I remarked as it crawled along the road in the opposite direction. Yesterday, we were out on the road again. And again we came face-to-face with another slowly chugging tractor. This morning, as we were…
Real Life Maths: Designing a Dream Home
“Anyone want to watch Grand Designs?” I shout. My family appears. “We do!” We turn on the TV, slip a disc into the DVD player and settle back to enjoy. In every episode of the TV lifestyle program, Grand Designs, a couple or family builds their dream home in their dream location. In every episode, something goes wrong: “The house…
Maths, Chores, and Thanking Our Kids
For the past couple of weeks, we’ve been living a quiet life. We haven’t done anything exciting. No music video shoots. No picnics by the lake. We haven’t even been running. The reason? We’ve all been unwell. It can be frustrating having to slow down,…
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 of the family team, helping with the work? Here’s a simple suggestion that doesn’t involve chore charts, games, rewards, punishments or…
Encouragement, Example and the Fun of Sharing Passions
It’s the first of November. Today we’re celebrating All Saints Day. Today we’re also starting our NaNoWriMo novels. There is a sense of anticipation…
Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
Unschooling: Clock Watching
I used to watch the clock a lot. Many years ago, when I was at school, every classroom had a clock on the wall.…
What Is Unschooling?
What is unschooling? I’ve been blogging about unschooling for over 5 years now. You’d think I would already have written a post with this…
Sew Easy
When I’m not writing, I love to sew clothes for my girls. And when I’m not sewing pretty skirts, I like to sew pictures.…
A New Series of Unschooling Videos
Have you subscribed to my Youtube channel? Perhaps you’re one of my recent subscribers? (If you are, thank you!) Over the past couple of…
Younger Unschoolers: Including the Baby in the Adventure
We’re going on an adventure. We’re going to have a wonderful time. But wait! What about the baby? We can’t just rush out the…
Thinking about Maths Creatively
It seems to me there are three main ways of learning maths: the workbook way, the real life maths way and the messing-about-with-numbers way.…
When You’re Tempted to Leave Unschooling and Try Something Else
Every evening of our recent holiday, Imogen and I swished through the warm waves as we walked along the beach, waiting for the sun…
Clock Watching, Short Lessons and Curious Questions
This morning, after a long break, I dusted off my mic, sat down and made a new podcast episode! I enjoyed doing this, but…
Unschooling: Judging One Another
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…