Thinking Critically About Unschooling

The other day I was talking about obstacles to unschooling. I said, “So I wonder if there are things about unschooling that bother you, It can be a useful exercise to think about what it is that’s stopping you from…

Warming My Homeschooling Heart

A couple of weeks ago, our family attended a party, one of those wonderful affairs with all aged children and adults milling around, chatting and eating, laughing and playing. At one point in the evening, Charlotte found herself next to…
a screenshot of my unschool unplanning strewing notebook

My Unschool Unplanning Strewing Notebook

How can we unschool and, at the same time, be registered homeschoolers? What if our kids have to follow the school syllabus in order to fulfil the registration requirements? And what if we have to present a plan of how…

Handwriting Matters or Maybe it Doesn’t

Some of my children have beautiful handwriting and some don’t.  “What are you going to do when you go to university? Your tutor won’t spend time trying to decipher your essays. If he can’t read them, you’ll fail.”  My eldest…

Latest

Are You a Curious Unschooler?

Do you ever follow rabbit trails, going from one thing to other until your head is spinning with new knowledge? My head is constantly spinning. I guess my girls’ heads are too. You see, I don’t keep my discoveries to myself. I’m always saying things like: “Hey, girls, listen to this…” “Did you know…?” “Can I tell you about…?” “Would you like me to read…?” “What do you think about this?” “Want to watch this video with me?” “Wow, you won’t…

My Perfect Christmas Present Secret

Have you got piles of presents hidden in your bedroom waiting for Christmas Day? I have. Except they’re not really hidden. They’re scattered around my room in the most inconvenient of places. I keep tripping over them. It took me a long time to buy all my gifts. And a lot of effort. To be honest, I don’t like Christmas shopping. I’m tempted to say, “Let’s not have presents this year. It’s all a commercial trick to make us part…

Bob Blogosphere Discovers Imogen Elvis

The phone rings. “Hello?” “Sue!” A deep smooth voice from the past hits my ear. “Bob!” It’s Bob Blogosphere, the most powerful man in the blogosphere. He’s famous for his deep and probing interviews. He’s the man behind Blogosphere News. “Sue, I’ve been browsing your blog.” “My blog?” I ask. “Why?” “Well, normally, I wouldn’t bother with your blog. But I was desperate. It’s been a slow news week, and I need an interesting story.” “Did you find anything?” “Surprisingly, I did!”…

The Difference Between Radical Unschooling and Unparenting

Someone says, “Radical unschooling is an irresponsible way of life. I know a family of radical unschoolers. Their kids are wild and out of control.” And someone else replies, “Are you sure that family is radically unschooling? To me, they sound like they’re unparenting.” So what’s the difference radical unschooling and unparenting? How do we know we’re doing one and not the other? And how do we radically unschool anyway? Is it a matter of just letting go completely, stepping…

What if My Child is ‘Ordinary’?

Occasionally, I receive an email that goes something like this: Sue, I’ve been reading your blog and enjoying your stories about your daughters. They are doing some amazing things. I can see that unschooling is working for you. But will it work for my family? You see, I have ordinary children. They’re not musical like yours. They don’t write. They don’t draw. In fact, they don’t seem to have any particular talents… Usually, the parent I’m chatting to has children…

Making an Aussie Bush Christmas Tree

A few days ago, we were planning my daughter Imogen’s latest music video. “I’m singing a Christmas carol. Where do you think we should film the video?” “We could put up our Christmas tree early and film it inside.” “I bet most people would do that. We should do something different.” “We could film the video at the nature reserve or in the bush.” “But how would we make an outside location look like Christmas?” “I could make an Aussie…

Are You an Unschooling Multipotentialite?

Are you an unschooling multipotentialite? If someone had asked me that question a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have had an answer. I’d never heard of that word before. Yes, multipotentialite is a new word in my vocabulary. My friend Lucinda introduced me to the concept of multipotentiality. She sent me over to the blog Puttylike. I started reading and soon I was thinking, “Oh my, this describes my family perfectly!” Puttylike is written by Emilie Wapnick. This is how…

Not the Usual Reason for Playing Board Games

Do you enjoy playing board games with your kids? When they say, “Do you want to play a game with us?” do you immediately put down what you’re doing and join in? I must admit, I’m not very good at doing this. Quite often I say, “I’m busy at the moment. Maybe another time.” Unfortunately, ‘another time’ doesn’t arrive very often. But yesterday… About 8.30 pm, my daughter Imogen said, “Let’s finish off the evening with a rousing game of…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

How Unschoolers Can Deal with Questions and Sceptics

My mother-in-law visited us for the birth of our son, Thomas. After he died and we’d buried him in his tiny white casket, Andy’s mother asked me if we wanted more children. As I replied, “Oh, yes!”, my mother-in-law’s face dropped into a disapproving frown. “She thinks we already have enough kids,” I thought as my defence hackles rose. But…

Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Curiosity, Flexibility, and Trust

I’m a Lady Fixing the World! Cecilie Conrad kindly invited me to join her and Sandra Dodd for Season 2 of her podcastThe Ladies Fixing the World. We recorded our first unschooling conversation together in November 2024 before life got extra-busy with Christmas, and it has just gone live! The audio version. Here’s the audio version: You can also listen…

Unschooling: Trust, Autonomy, and The Realities of Learning

The Ladies are Fixing the World again! Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing the words ‘self-regulation’ and ‘limits’. When we say, “I’ve let go of control, and now I’m waiting for my child to learn how to regulate his time playing video games (for example),” do we have expectations about what that regulation should look like? Do we want…

Christian unschooling

Christian Unschooling: Letting God into Our Kids’ Lives

I used to tick off my spiritual boxes religiously every day. I said a lot of prayers and read my Bible. And I got extra ticks whenever I was able to get to daily Mass, so I made the effort to get there as often as life allowed. It wasn’t easy doing all that, but I did it. I had…

Sharing the Catholic Faith With Our Kids

Maybe you’re thinking about unschooling. Letting children follow their own interests, and trusting they will learn all they need to know sounds great. But stop! Wait! What about religion? This is important. You think: “Can I just stand back and hope my children will want to learn about their faith? Doesn’t that sound a bit risky? What if they don’t…
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