Listening to Kids

The other day I interviewed my 14-year-old daughter, Sophie: I wanted to hear her opinions about perfect families, mistakes and listening to kids. It was only later when I watched the finished video, I realised I’d made a big mistake:…

Unschool: Disco Boots and Old Stories

Family stories bind us together. They tell us who we are. We have a shared history and belong together. Our stories also teach us a lot about such things as history, geography, science, and how the world changes quickly. We…

Should a Child Be Given the Freedom to Choose?

If children are given the freedom to do whatever they want, will they choose to do nothing at all?… Imogen, would you like to discuss this question with me, in this week’s podcast?” My nearly 20-year-old daughter said, “Okay!”, so…

What Do Unschoolers Do Each Day?

Is unschooling about staying in bed late, spending lazy days in the forest, and baking cookies?  Or is there more to unschooling than that? What does a typical unschooling day look like? Will it be different in different families? Will…

Latest

Lacking Inspiration

My writing life goes round in circles. At times, I feel excited. I have lots of things I want to write about. My words flow onto the computer screen, no problem at all. And then one day I wake up and I feel flat. When I write, my words are two-dimensional. No amount of effort will pump them up and make them exciting. A few times in the past, when I’ve been in one of these phases, I’ve written a…

Letting Our Writing Imaginations Go Wild

The day before yesterday, while we were driving down the back road to town, we saw a tractor. “I’m glad it’s not going our way,” I remarked as it crawled along the road in the opposite direction. Yesterday, we were out on the road again. And again we came face-to-face with another slowly chugging tractor. This morning, as we were driving out of our village… “Look another tractor!” “The third this week!” Now tractors aren’t an uncommon sight in our…

Real Life Maths: Designing a Dream Home

“Anyone want to watch Grand Designs?” I shout. My family appears. “We do!” We turn on the TV, slip a disc into the DVD player and settle back to enjoy. In every episode of the TV lifestyle program, Grand Designs, a couple or family builds their dream home in their dream location. In every episode, something goes wrong: “The house will go over-budget,” someone predicts. “The windows won’t arrive on time.” “They’ll find an underground river just where they want…

Stolen Paintings and Real Life Maths

Last week was a hunting week… My daughters and I watched as the FBI tried to hunt down a number of stolen masterpieces. And then I went on a hunt for some real life maths experiences. (Where’s all that maths everyone says the world is full of?) Did the FBI recover the paintings? Were the criminals apprehended? And did I find some maths notes to add to my rather empty looking homeschool records book? All will be revealed in this week’s…

If You Think Computer Games Are a Waste of Time…

Does your child like to play computer games? Maybe you wish he’d do something else because you think he’s wasting his time, doing nothing much at all. If you do, I have a story for you! The other day, my girls were playing computer games at the Coolmath Games website. “What game are you playing?” I asked. “Run!” said Gemma-Rose. “It’s great. Run 2 is even better.” “Can I have a go?” I asked. “Oh yes!” A moment later, I…

Is it Necessary We Agree with Each Other’s Ideas?

A reader once linked one of my posts to her blog and added the words: “I don’t agree with all her ideas, but I like this one.” Someone liked my post! I smiled. But a small part of me thought, “What’s wrong with some of my other ideas?” I wanted the reader to agree with everything I have to say. Is that just a natural reaction? Have you ever felt that way? Maybe most of us want our opinions to…

How to Live Radically

Radical unschooling children don’t necessarily brush their teeth, or shower and if they want to exist on an exclusive diet of coca cola and donuts, well, that’s up to them. Or so the stories go. And for some people that might not sound a very attractive way of life at all. But what if we forget about teeth and showers and junk food?  Perhaps there’s something far more important at the heart of a radical way of life… What if…
1 … 71 72 73 74 75 … 109

My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Is It Working? Wrestling with Doubt in Unschooling

A grey day arrives that completely blots out the memory of all the preceding good days. We feel overwhelmed, tired, worried and lost. We wonder why we ever decided to unschool. A puddle of doubt about unschooling forms around us. What do we do? Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing unschooling doubts and sharing our experiences in episode 10 of…

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.…

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…

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…
Go toTop