It Begins with a Question

Gemma-Rose and I gaze upon the flowers. They’re pretty, bright, colourful, showy. A gorgeous backdrop for a photo. We raise our cameras. Cameras down. We look around. There’s a Chinese gentleman. He’s standing in a garden bed erecting a parasol. We…

Thankful and Facing Facts

I’m very pleased to announce that Venisa McAllister is my guest podcaster for this week’s episode: Thankful and Facing Facts. Thankful Venisa is talking about: Her own educational and childhood experiences How her family moved from homeschooling to unschooling Her children…

A Genuine Invitation for Christian Unschoolers

Sometimes, invitations aren’t genuine invitations. They might sound like proper invitations. We say the right words, “Would you like to…?” but expect a particular response that doesn’t include the right to decline. Then, some invitations are issued without a personal…

Time to Unschool

Gemma-Rose (7) had a loose front tooth. Every spare moment, she could be found, fingers in her mouth, wiggling and twisting and turning that little tooth. Soon it was hanging by a thread. At lunchtime, two days ago, it finally…

Latest

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…

What We Need to Film Imogen’s Music Videos

The evening before a music video shoot day, I say to my girls, “Have we got everything ready? Are the camera cards empty? Have we charged the batteries?” We find all our equipment and pile it by the front door. The next morning, we gather it together as we head out into the dark, shortly before sunrise. We’ve got into a good routine. We know exactly what we need to film each music video. So what do we need?…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

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…

The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?

There are many unschool maths questions. Here are just a few of them: Can kids really learn maths without formal instruction? What does unschooling maths look like? Can we strew unschool maths? Is it possible for registered homeschoolers to unschool maths? How can we provide evidence kids are learning maths when we don’t have formal records like workbooks and test…

Christian unschooling

Radical Unschool Love, Praise and Joy

Do you ever praise your kids? Do you tell them you’re proud of them? Some people say we shouldn’t praise our kids. Maybe that’s because our children might end up doing things only because they want to gain our approval. And is there a risk a child might think she is better than everyone else if we praise her too…

Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents

Does having a simple Christmas sound good? It does to me. This year, like last year and the one before, I wanted to announce that I’m not buying a lot of Christmas presents. I thought about saying that I’m not buying any at all. I didn’t want to think and think until the perfect gift ideas came to mind. I…
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