Unschoolers, Chores and Rosters

How do parents encourage kids to help with the chores? Is the example of parents important? Do parents have to be willing to do everything they want their kids to do? Do they need to have a generous and loving…

An Unschooling Fitness Challenge

Do you ever worry that your kids aren’t getting enough exercise? Maybe they spend a lot of time doing sedentary things such as playing computer games or reading books. Are you tempted to say, “Go outside and get some fresh…

10 Reasons Why You Should Read My Blog

What if someone said, “Sue, there are lots of people writing about unschooling. Why should I follow your blog and read your posts?” What would I say? I did some thinking and came up with 10 reasons why you might…

Why We Should Praise Our Kids

Praise is a tricky topic, isn’t it? Do we praise our kids or not? Many unschoolers and parenting experts warn us to stay well away from praise. We shouldn’t manipulate our kids with our words, should we? And will…

Reject What Doesn’t Feel Right and Just Love

If it doesn’t feel right, we shouldn’t do it. For example: I used to battle with my kids as I tried to get them to do what I thought was important. Yes, they protested, but I had to persist. I…

Latest

Unschooling Siblings and Other Stories

I started writing this blog post last Friday. This is all I managed to write before I was interrupted: I didn’t make a podcast last week. Some unexpected things happened and so I didn’t find time to sit in front of my mic and record one. I felt a little frustrated because I’d promised to get back on track and podcast more regularly. But perhaps we just have to accept what life brings, go with the flow, just do our best…

What Do Unschoolers Do All Day?

Years ago, when we first started homeschooling, I used to wonder, “What do unschoolers do all day?” Even though I’d read a few books, I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to my question. I needed a fly-on-the wall view into the unschooling life. This is why I decided to tell stories about our unschooling life when I began this blog. Turn unschooling theory into stories about real children. Perhaps it’s helpful to see unschooling in action? In this week’s podcast,…

Our Unschooling Story

Imagine if you visited us. You’d knock at our front door. We’d invite you in. We’d sit around our kitchen table. Sip coffee. Eat chocolate muffins. What would we talk about? Lots of things! You’d tell me about your family. I’d tell you about mine. We’d probably chat about unschooling. Maybe you’d ask about our unschooling story. In this week’s podcast, episode 93, I tell you about our unschooling story. I share stories about how we started as unschoolers but drifted…

Does My Trust in Unschooling Ever Waver?

A friend asked if I’ve ever been unsure about unschooling. And I replied: Yes, there have been times when I’ve questioned what I’m doing. Even now I have an odd day when I wonder if I should be doing something different. Hard to admit because this is probably not what everyone wants to hear. But I think that it’s quite okay to have low days when we question things. Unschooling isn’t a magic solution. It’s life and life can be…

How Unschooling is About Being Connected With Our Kids

Some parenting ideas seem to make a lot of sense. For example, children have far less life experience than parents, so we are in a better position than them when it comes to decision making. If we give our kids too much freedom, they might make poor choices. Some mistakes might not be significant, but what about those that affect their futures? Surely, a responsible parent will tell her kids what they should be doing? And many parents do exactly…

Imogen and Andy Elvis Presley

My husband Andy and my daughter Imogen both have singing lessons on Saturday mornings. Andy has the first lesson, and while he is busy, Imogen sits in the car, drinks coffee, and works on her computer until it’s time for her own lesson. But yesterday, Imogen did something different: She recorded a vlog for her Facebook page. In the video, Imogen mentions that someone has asked her to sing an Elvis song. Imogen Elvis singing Elvis. Wouldn’t that be fun?…

Do You Know Who You Are?

Do you know who you are? That might seem like a silly question. We’ve lived with ourselves for years. Surely we know ourselves better than anyone else in the world? But just recently, I’ve been wondering if there are things about myself that I haven’t been able to see. One thing that has occurred to me is that I’m a perfectionist. It really is quite obvious when I think about it. It’s the reason that I have notebooks full of…

Why You Should Consider Keeping an Evernote Homeschool Records Book Even If You Don’t Have To

The other day,  our Authorised Person (AP) from the education department came to see us. It was time for our biennial homeschool registration visit. “We’re still using Evernote to record our homeschooling,” I said as the AP sat down in front of my computer. She scrolled through a few notes before catching sight of a link to one of Sophie’s videos. A click later, and she was watching and listening to my fifteen-year-old daughter talk about motivation and exercise. “Sophie…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

How Unschooling Doesn’t Guarantee a Fairytale Life

Yesterday evening, like all Sunday evenings, my kids who live locally came to dinner. Six of us gathered around our dining room table, savouring a meal cooked by my husband while enjoying the usual end-of-the-week lively catch-up conversation. There was a time when we dreamed that all our children would buy houses on the same street as our family home.…

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…

Christian unschooling

Love or Fear? What Guides Our Lives?

There are so many things we could fear. We might be too afraid to send our kids to school if we listen to the loud voices telling us how bad traditional education is. We might choose homeschooling because of that fear. If we decide to homeschool, we’re still not safe. Fears could follow us. We might be too afraid to…

Is Trying to Impress Others a Waste of Time?

Strolling between the gum trees on a winter’s morning with Nora and Quinn, my fingers painful with the cold, I meet Matilda. I smile and stop. So do my dogs. They thrust their grinning heads into the undergrowth, happy to sniff up all the smells of the bush while I exchange a few words with my next-door neighbour. We talk…
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