Discouraged
I’m feeling discouraged. I wonder: why am I doing this? Why am I blogging and podcasting? I know the answer: I want to spread the word about unschooling. I want to pass on what I’ve learnt. Tell others about the…
Parents Or Friends? Or Can We Be Both?
A few weeks ago, my gorgeous adult daughter, Imogen, said, “Mum, we need a break. How about we go to the beach together for a few days?” Oh my, that was a fabulous suggestion. We’ve both had a hard time…
An Unschooling Imposter
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A Typical Unschooling Day at Home
Yesterday… The phone alarm beeps at 6.10 am. A few minutes later, I swing my legs over the side of the bed, and pad down the hall to the girls’ bedrooms. I open their doors and say, “Anyone want to…
Will All Unschoolers Do Amazing Things?
Will all unschoolers do amazing things? If you do some googling, you’ll find many stories of young unschoolers doing extraordinary things. You might think that every unschooler has a guaranteed amazing future. But what if it doesn’t turn out that…
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.…
A Gradual Approach to Unschooling
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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…
Unschooling Imposters and Difficult Days
After a few quiet weeks – life has been busy – I’m back with a new podcast, episode 97. It’s called Unschooling Imposters and Difficult Days, but I could have called it Our Weight Loss Adventure! Here’s the podcast summary: This week, I answer the following questions: Why did I feel like an unschooling imposter? Why is unschooling the perfect way of life even though life isn’t perfect? Why should we stop and reassess what we’re doing every now and…
What Do I Think of School?
A friend asked me what I think of school. I decided to write my answer as a blog post. It’s no secret that, as a child, I hated school. It seemed like a waste of time. I had to learn things I wasn’t interested in just to pass exams, and when I’d achieved that, I instantly let all that knowledge seep out of my brain. I was kept so busy I had no time to discover who I am and…
How an Unschooling Life isn’t Perfect and Why That’s Okay
I take a look at my drafts file. I have SEVENTY half-written blog posts! Can I finish any of them? How about this one? I began writing this post some time ago when I was enthusiastically working on my unschooling book. If I publish it, will I feel motivated to continue writing my book? I’m writing an unschooling book. I’ve been thinking about the main message I want to share. What do I really want to say? Of course, I want…
Unschoolers Earning Money, Following Passions
How can unschooling kids keep following their passions once they get to an age where they need to earn money to support themselves? Some…
Younger Unschoolers: What About Technology and Screen Time?
When I announced that I was going to write about younger unschoolers, a friend said, “I’d love to read about little kids and…
Encouraging Kids to Become Independent Learners
Many years ago, at a homeschooling picnic, I met a family who had a baby a little less than a year old. I watched…
Unschooling: How Do We Know They’re Learning?
There are loads of unschooling questions we could ask about learning: How do we know unschooling kids are learning? Should they be learning particular things? Is there knowledge that all kids need? Are our unschooled kids learning enough? Can they get behind? Should we just trust our kids are learning? But what if we have doubts? Or what if we…
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…
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?…
Shall We Talk About Christian Unschooling?
I often get to the point where I feel I haven’t got anything more to say about unschooling. I wonder: is it time to move on? At the beginning of last year, I reached such a point. However, instead of thinking about moving away from unschooling, I proposed the idea of exploring unschooling from a different angle. Should we discuss…
Unschooling and Trust
I have been struggling with this post for a while now, and wondering why I’m having so much trouble finding the right words. And I have decided it’s the language. I want to write a story from a personal point of view like I normally do. And I can’t. We had such a gradual transition to unschooling, I didn’t really…