Today I Saw Thomas

it’s our son Thomas’ birthday. This morning, the girls and I visited the cemetery. When we arrived, we saw people preparing for a burial. A grave was open. There were chairs arranged in the shade ready for the bereaved who hadn’t…

Time and Trust and Letting Go

If Darth Vader somehow got into your podcast, would you still publish it? If you tuned into a podcast episode and heard some noisy breathing, would you continue listening? Why am I asking these strange questions? Well, the latest episode…

Exciting Times, Slow Times and Unschool Holidays

There is nothing more exciting than watching a child who is gripped by a passion. Early each morning, my 13 year old daughter Sophie knocks on my bedroom door. I invite her in and the first thing I notice is…

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…

Latest

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…

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…

A Very Resource Full Week: Rescued Paintings, Graphs, and Expensive Cats

At the beginning of the week, I said, “What shall we do today, Gemma-Rose?” My youngest daughter replied, “How about some maths?” Maths? I nearly fell off my seat. Gemma-Rose is not a maths fan. “Are you sure? Yes? Well, perhaps we can find something interesting.” Art Documentaries As I opened up my computer, I had an idea. Could we find some art related maths? Gemma-Rose loves watching art documentaries. So do I. At the moment, we’re working our way…

The Extraordinary Ordinary Things of Life [Podcast]

In this week’s podcast, episode 85, I share a story. It’s about love and pain and this extraordinary unschooling life we are living. This is how the story ends: So I live in the present moment and I enjoy the ordinary things of life which I suddenly realise aren’t so ordinary after all. Ordinary becomes powerfully extraordinary when combined with love. As each child comes to say goodnight, I enfold her within my arms and I hug. I hug tightly,…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

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…

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…

Christian unschooling

Can Unschooling Be a Christian Thing to Do?

When a child has been controlled all her life, she just might grow into the kind of adult who says, “Nobody is ever going to make me do what they want ever again. From now on I’m going to do what I want.” She might close herself off, stand well back, not let anyone get too close. Because you never…

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…
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