How to Write a Million Unschool Love Stories

I used to think the defining word of unschooling was freedom. Freedom attracted me. I wanted to be free to do whatever I liked. I wanted to get up each day and do anything or nothing at all. But I…

How Do Kids Learn to Be Generous?

On Monday, my daughter Imogen and I were the filling in a truck sandwich as we drove from our quiet village, along the busy motorway, through the heavy rain, to the city shops. I wanted to buy some white sneakers,…

The Saturday Unschool Examen

Every Saturday, while my husband, youngest daughter and dogs are still in bed, I sit on the living room sofa, journal on my knee, scrawny cat by my side, and by the light of a lamp in the pre-dawn dark,…

Latest

How to Turn Movies into Homeschool Records Notes

Our kids are watching movies. Of course, they’re not wasting time. They’re busy learning. But will the education authorities agree when it comes to homeschool registration time? How do we turn movies into acceptable homeschool records notes? This is how I do it: Label the Movie with a School Subject. Some movies appear to be more ‘educational’ than others. Pride and Prejudice is definitely English. This is easy to see. It could also be History. And how about Creative Arts? We could…

Grateful

It’s Father’s Day. We head to the car with a picnic basket. We’re going to the river. “I hope we get a picnic table,” I say. “Maybe everyone will be celebrating Father’s Day at the river.” But they’re not. When we arrive at the riverside park, it’s almost deserted. Two families and us. We look at the seven empty picnic tables. Which one shall we claim? “The one in the sun,” someone says. The spring sunshine is warm, but the…

How Sharing Interests Strengthens Family Bonds

The other evening, I scrolled through my Youtube feed looking for something to watch. I clicked a link, a video loaded, and I heard these words: “Early one morning, just as the sun was rising, I went to the weir,  to record a Youtube clip.” I listened as my husband Andy sang his made-up song in a strange broad accent. My family looked at me when they heard my giggles. “What are you watching, Mum?” asked my daughter Imogen. I removed…

Radical Unschooling

Are you thinking about radical unschooling? Maybe you see the benefits of educational unschooling and now you’re thinking about letting unschooling spill over into all aspects of life. What do you do next? Perhaps you say to your kids, “We’re going to try radical unschooling. From now on you’re free to choose when you go to bed, what you eat, if you help with the chores… You can do whatever you like.” But will this work? Surely letting go in…

Learning from Life, Record-Keeping, and Strewing

Last week, life was very busy. And even though there was no time for such things as ‘school’, we had a week jam-packed with learning. By the time Friday rolled around, I had an equally jam-packed unschool records book. Yes, notes were spilling out of my Evernote notebook, and our heads were buzzing with all the things we’d learned. In this week’s podcast episode, I tell you about our week and how I recorded all our wonderful learning experiences. I…

Go Out There and Make a Difference!

Do you ever compare yourself to someone else who’s doing similar work to you? Do you feel discouraged if they seem to be more successful than you? Perhaps you feel like giving up. Why bother? Well, don’t give up. You have a unique voice. So do I. So does everyone. No one can do things in the exact same way as us. We all have an important job to do. And we have to get out there, do it, and…

How to Make Evernote Unschool Records Look Impressive

Every two years, an Authorised Person (AP) from the Education Department comes to visit our family as part of our homeschool registration process. We have to show her what we’ve been doing. We have to prove to her that my girls are fulfilling the necessary registration requirements. Last time our AP came to see us, I presented her with our Evernote records. I opened my computer and set it down on the table in front of her. She scrolled through…
1 … 61 62 63 64 65 … 108

My Unschooling Books

Boy Stories

Locked Out, Locked In, and Lies

This afternoon, I was poking about on an old blog of mine, reading old stories and remembering when my children were much younger. Locked…

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…
Go toTop