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…

Preventing Childhood Trauma with Unconditional Love

Childhood trauma can follow us into adulthood, affecting what we do, how we feel about ourselves and how we relate to others. We can trace many of our adult problems back to something that happened as we were growing up.…

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…

My Homeschool Records Book

Tomorrow is the first day of the final term of the school year. Andy is busy preparing lessons for his school class (he is a primary school teacher). And I am not busy preparing lessons. I have hardly thought about the new…

Latest

Are We Living a Second Best Kind of Unschooling Life?

Sometimes I wonder: Are we living a second best kind of unschooling life? Perhaps we should move to a farm or a large property. We could grow organic vegetables, have chooks, a goat, and even a donkey. Maybe we could get a milking cow. And what about a horse? We could ride bikes, go off-grid, and recycle everything. We could spin wool, bottle fruit, and make our own soap. The kids could swim in the river (or dam), chop wood,…

How Introverts Aren’t Necessarily Shy

Introverts aren’t shy. At least we’re not. Yes, we’re an introverted family. The whole lot of us. This is rather nice because we understand each other perfectly. Outsiders often don’t. When we’re at a gathering, especially if there’s a crowd, we might be quiet and reserved. We’re out of our environment. We don’t feel comfortable. And people might say, “Join in. Don’t be shy!” We protest, “We’re not shy!” But maybe no one believes us. Shy people stand on the…

Do You Live in the Best Place in the World?

Two girls, a dog, and a mother. We’re strolling down the middle of the road under the midday sun, heading for the bush. A few minutes later, dog by my side, I’m running over the red sandstone and under the tall gum trees. And as I run, I listen. Michael Hyatt is talking about the forces that can shape our character. He says something like this: If we want to become good leaders, we have to work on our characters.…

How to Start a Great Art Conversation

On Monday, I plug my mic into my computer, open Audacity, hit ‘record’, and start to talk.  For 40 minutes, I discuss a current unschooling topic. Along the way, I share some family news. Before I know it, I have a new podcast episode to upload to Podbean. Episode 82 is done. And it’s only a day late! On Friday, I think, “If I want to post next week’s episode on time, I should record it this afternoon.” But before…

How NOT to Be Your Child’s Worst Nightmare

Have you ever seen this meme? I am not your friend I am your parent I will stalk you I will flip out on you Lecture Drive you insane Be your worst nightmare and Hunt you down when needed Because I love you. Every time I see these words, I feel very sad. Why do so many people think we can’t be both parent and friend to our children? Do we really need to be their worst nightmare in…

A Day in the Life of an Unschooling Teenager: Miles Brack

From the outside, my day looks like this: I wake up somewhere between 11 am and 1 pm Play video games till about midnight. And go to bed. Very basic and boring to write about. However on the inside: This morning I woke in my bivouac which I built in the backyard, in order to test out my new folding bed which is going into my Andersen Shelter I am digging on our block of land. The temperature was between…

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 way for your kids? Will you think you have failed? Will you wonder if you did something wrong? I have a few unschoolers who are hoping to do amazing things. In particular, my daughters Imogen and Sophie have big dreams. Imogen…

Are You a Daring and Adventurous Parent?

Last week, my husband Andy and I took our four youngest girls away on holiday. We spent a few days at a salt water lake, swimming, kayaking and making sandcastles. Two of my girls are young adults, but they were just as keen to make sandcastles as their younger siblings. “Will they ever grow up?” joked Andy as we sat on the sand watching our girls. “Will our daughters be making sandcastles forever?”Later, I told Imogen, our 21-year-old daughter, what…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

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…

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.…

Unschooling Is Carried by Conversations

Dinner tables, car rides, bedtime chats, and café corners are the real places where unschooling lives and grows. Conversations—often unscheduled, informal, and unplanned—can become the central structure of a learning life. Gathering at the Dinner Table In our house, we never met for breakfast or lunch. Those were meals where people ate what, where and when they liked. But we…

Christian unschooling

When We Can’t Decide What’s the Best Way to Bring Up and Educate Our Kids

Do you ever swap between the various methods of homeschooling looking for the perfect way to bring up and educate your kids? I used to do that. I’d try one thing after another, confusing myself and my kids, while never finding what I was searching for. As I said in my book Curious Unschoolers: … I pondered lots of questions:…

Reading Out Loud and a Generous Christmas

Do you like listening to stories being read out loud? I have to admit that this isn’t my favourite activity. My mind tends to wander and I miss half the words. But my kids are different from me. They love reading aloud time. Even though most of my children are grown up, they still like to gather whenever anyone opens…
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