From Unschooling to Successful University Learning
A couple of days ago, Imogen logged into her Open Universities account to check some details she needed for her youth allowance application. She checked her mail while online and received a nice surprise. “Hey! I got a Distinction for that last university unit I did.” “But you finished that unit ages ago. Why didn’t you look at the results sooner?”…
Breeding like Mice
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Chess, Sudoku and Lazy Summer Days
I haven’t thought much about unschooling, records books, my blog… in a long time. We’ve been far too busy enjoying lots of lazy hot summer days. But I know a time will come when we will be ready for new challenges. After a few weeks of rest, we will want to do more than potter idly through our days. We…
Encouragement from a Super-Hero Sister
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My Unschoolers’ End-of-the-Year Reports
My husband Andy is a primary school teacher, and twice a year he has to write school reports for all his children. For a couple of weeks, we see nothing of him except his back, as he sits in front of his computer, trying to condense six months’ learning and progress for each child into a limited number of characters.…
When Will I Use All This Maths, Mum?
My older children all learnt maths in a formal manner, using a text book course. All three started the advanced maths course and all three dropped out partway through, complaining they hated it and were no good at maths.“When are we ever going to use all this maths, Mum?”“But you have to do maths!” I insisted. Isn’t it an essential of education?…
What to Do When Strewing is Rejected
Recently I found all kinds of things to strew in front of Charlotte. I came across a website and DVD series that has an episode about a man who settled on the uninhabited Cocos Islands, later making himself king over the workers of his coconut plantation. His family ruled for 150 years before Australia brought that rule to an end.…
Encouraging Kids to Become Independent Learners
Many years ago, at a homeschooling picnic, I met a family who had a baby a little less than a year old. I watched her as we sat on a picnic rug together, eating our sandwiches. The little girl reached for a knife. It was rather big and sharp. I looked at the mother and father, expecting them to take…
A Real Maths Learning Moment
Sometimes real life maths turns up when I least expect it. Maths learning moments suddenly appear. And if I take advantage of these moments, some wonderful real maths learning can happen… Yesterday the girls and I were watching art history videos on the Kahn Academy website. Before we moved off the site, I did a bit of exploring and found…
Giving a Child Unasked-For Help
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Fan Mail and Lots of Unschooling Thoughts
This morning I felt very discouraged. Perhaps it was the result of being overtired. I don’t know. It’s strange how grey the world looks when we’re tired. Earlier today, nothing excited me. I didn’t want to blog or podcast. Sharing unschooling didn’t seem important. All…
Our Unschooling Morning Routine
Just before Christmas, Karen asked me if I could write about our typical unschooling days. I spoke about this topic in a podcast a few months ago, so I thought I’d share some of what I said in a short series of posts. Today, I’m…
How Ticking Off Boxes Can Be a Waste of Time
Do you ever tick off boxes? When we have a lot of things to do, making a list, and then ticking off the items…
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?…
Old and New Stories, a Book Club and Other Unschooling Things
A few weeks ago, I received a letter from Fr James Tierney who is the author of the Bush Boys children’s books. Fr and…
Guiding My Children Responsibly Without Imposing Rules
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As the Unschooling Season Changes
Parents, sadly fed up with having their kids at home, are beginning to say, “When does school begin again?” My once-glorious hydrangeas are turning…
It’s Not for Me
What if we share our work with the world and then someone comes along and criticises it? Some people might write bad reviews that…
An Answer to the Chores Problem
We’d all like our children to be considerate, hard working and happy to help others. We’d especially like them to be willing to help…
Christian Unschooling: Disciplining With Unconditional Love
If our children misbehave, what do we do? Make them sit on the time-out chair? Punish them? Perhaps we should withdraw our love. Be…
Sitting Quietly: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Kids Sitting Quietly in Church The other day, I was asked: How do you get young, unschooled children to sit quietly, without disturbing anyone,…
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…
How We Unschool Despite Strict Homeschool Regulations
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t have to answer to anyone and could unschool our children with total freedom? I guess some people…