Encouraging Kids to Say Thank You

How do we encourage our younger children to say thank you? Do they need only our good example to copy? Is learning good manners enough? Our kids could just repeat the polite words. But is it better if their response…

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…

Rules, Responsible Parenting and Radical Unschooling

If you do a Google search on unschooling it won’t take you very long to find someone criticising unschoolers. The most judged unschoolers are those who have adopted a radical way of life: those who do not force a set…

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How I Gave Up and Started Unschooling

A guest post by Venisa McAllister We started with high hopes. When my oldest daughter Sarah was old enough for kindergarten I enrolled her in a program called k-12. They would give us a computer, fun learning materials, and help me turn my daughter into a genius! We started with high hopes. How could it not work? Everything came beautifully organized in a large box and it seemed very well planned. The downside was that this curriculum was very big…

Adult Peer Pressure, Clothes, Rules, and Compassion

Have you even made decisions based on other people’s opinions rather than the needs of your own family? I have. I almost ruined my relationship with my eldest daughter by doing this. I chose to listen to my friends rather than to my child. You see, I wanted to be accepted by the group. I bowed to adult peer pressure. Adult peer pressure can affect the way we unschool. Sometimes we might find ourselves doing things we just aren’t ready for…

If We Collaborate Could We Light a Gentle Unschooling Fire?

I’m looking for collaborators. People to work with. Other bloggers and podcasters and vloggers and authors who are passionate about spreading the unschooling message. In a gentle way. Helen Keller said: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. And Louisa May Alcott said: It takes two flints to make a fire. I only have to look at my family to see how much can be achieved when a few people pool their talents and work…

My Unschooling Podcast Adventure

Almost three years ago, I recorded my first podcast. For a few hours, I was very excited about what I’d produced. But then a short time later, I almost deleted the episode. I’m glad I didn’t because I know if I had, I probably wouldn’t have continued on and made 100 episodes. Yes, I have arrived at Episode 100. That feels like a huge achievement. I’ve been wondering about the future of my podcast. Is it better to stop now?…

Real Life Family Unschool Maths

A few years ago, when my daughter Sophie was 10, she started to say, “I’m no good at maths. I hate it!” At the time, Sophie was using a formal structured maths course. When she started sighing over her work, I knew that it was time to face an uncomfortable idea and unschool maths. Of course, I could have forced Sophie to keep working at her course. I could have ignored her complaints and pushed her to complete the exercises.…

Unschool Maths and Uncomfortable Ideas

Some ideas might make us feel uncomfortable. We push them to the back of our minds, not wanting to consider them. This is how I used to feel about unschooling maths. We used to be unschoolers who unschooled everything except for maths. (Should we really have called ourselves unschoolers?) There were a few reasons I didn’t want to consider the idea of letting go of control of maths. For example, having my kids do some structured maths each day was…

When New Ideas Make Us Feel Uncomfortable

I’ve had times in my life when other people have presented me with new ideas and I haven’t wanted to know about them. I hear what they’re saying, but I don’t want to consider the ideas too deeply. Why would I do that? Isn’t it good to be challenged, to learn and to grow? Sometimes being challenged makes us feel very uncomfortable. What if we decide our beliefs or our actions are wrong? We might have to change. Change pushes us…
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My Unschooling Books

Wholy Souly

Belong
Belong

On a mid-spring day that feels like summer, I walk through the bush with Nora and Quinn, scanning the sandy track ahead for snakes among the fallen tree branches. The [...]

The Premature End
The Premature End

I’m going to do something I shouldn’t because it’s breaking the rules. But I’m going to do it anyway. I’m breaking my blogging pact. Yes, two weeks in, and I [...]

Rereading the Day
Rereading the Day

Each evening, do you reflect on your day? Do you make a note of the blessings and delights you received? How about the difficult times? Perhaps you think about the [...]

Shame About AI
Shame About AI

Should people who use AI feel ashamed? Should I feel that way? While researching AI, I found a commenter saying authors who use AI to promote their work should be [...]

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