What do Children Need for a Happy Childhood?

Sometimes my children’s words warm my heart. “Don’t you just love being us?” asked my daughter Imogen, turning to me with a huge smile. I was surprised. Why did she suddenly feel like a big ball of happiness*? It wasn’t…

Everything is Educational, Even Disney Princesses

I’ve been thinking… Are some things more educational than others? And what makes something educational anyway? Can Disney Princesses be educational? Or are some things only fun things? The other evening I discovered my teenage daughters, Imogen and Charlotte, in the…

Have I Changed My Unschooling Mind About Screens?

If I had younger children, would I give them iPads of their own? Would I encourage them to spend as much time as they liked using technology? Is this the right unschooling thing to do? I’ve pondered these questions a…

Adult Peer Pressure, Clothes, Rules, and Compassion

Have you even made decisions based on other people’s opinions rather than the needs of your own family? I have. I almost ruined my relationship with my eldest daughter by doing this. I chose to listen to my friends rather…

Latest

The Power of a Few Encouraging Words

Have you ever had a dream? I have. When I was a child, I wanted to write children’s novels. But somewhere along the way, I gave up the idea of becoming an author. There was no time for dreams. I had to be sensible and get a regular job with a regular income. That was what was expected. Then one day, a few years ago, I found myself dreaming again. All it took was a few words written by a…

An Elvis Family Tradition

On Easter Sunday I say, “It’s time to sing By Your Kingly Power O Risen Lord!” Gemma-Rose finds the hymn books, I set up my camera on the tripod, and everyone lines up. They know the routine. We’ve been singing our favourite hymn on Easter Sunday morning for years. It’s an Elvis family tradition. “Are you ready?” I ask. A moment later I hit the ‘record’ button. And everyone opens their mouths and sings. Several minutes later, I have my…

Changing People’s Minds about Unschooling

Sometimes when I’m hopping around the unschooling blogosphere I stumble across places where I don’t feel I belong. As I read the posts, I can feel the high emotions: “No one can tell us what to do with our own children. Society is wrong and we’re going to fight the system.” And although I agree, I don’t really see myself as a person who’s willing to put on my tough boots, arm myself with strong language, and head into battle.…

Funny How Things Change

Last Friday, I was ready to swing into a new season of our unschooling year. “No more record keeping for this term,” I announced to my girls. No more looking out for educational experiences to turn into Evernote notes. No more strewing. No more reading aloud. No more… “Would you like to…?” “Shall we…?” “This looks interesting…” “Did you know…?” Time to take a break, relax, spend more time on my own projects, and look forward to Easter. But on Monday morning,…

Using Evernote to Record Unschool Maths

Proving a child is learning maths, for homechool registration purposes, could be rather tricky for unschoolers. We don’t have any maths workbooks or exercise books to show an Authorised Person (AP) when she comes to visit us. We don’t have any printouts or achievement certificates or other records from online maths courses either. Actually we don’t have any paperwork at all. So what did I present to our AP at our recent registration visit? I showed our AP our Evernote…

Registering as Homeschoolers Using Evernote Unschool Records

The other day I promised to tell you more about our recent homeschool registration visit. An Authorised Person (AP), from the education department (NSW), came to our home to see our children, and look at our records and education plans for the future. And we were hoping everything would be in order and she’d grant us another two years of registration. We’ve had many homeschool registration visits over the years, but this one was a little bit different. For the…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Curiosity, Flexibility, and Trust

I’m a Lady Fixing the World! Cecilie Conrad kindly invited me to join her and Sandra Dodd for Season 2 of her podcastThe Ladies Fixing the World. We recorded our first unschooling conversation together in November 2024 before life got extra-busy with Christmas, and it has just gone live! The audio version. Here’s the audio version: You can also listen…

Unschooling: Coping With the Unexpected

I used to think I could control my life. To achieve a perfect life, all I had to do was organise everything well, including my kids. What is a perfect life? My perfect life vision included a graduated row of good-looking and well-behaved children. I wanted people to admire my family and home, saying, “Sue is such a good mother!…

Christian unschooling

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 touch. We wonder, “Does it matter if I accept? Will anyone notice if I’m there or not?” This happened to…
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