The Wobbly Moments of Life

The doorbell rings. Our puppy Quinn barks. I look at my daughters and they look at me. “Who can that be?” I wonder. “The postman?” “A courier?” “Someone who’s lost?” “We could answer the door and find out,” suggests Charlotte.…

Basking in the Reflected Glory

Not so long ago,  early one morning, I put on my coat – there was a bitter wind blowing – and set out on a solo adventure with my camera and a travel mug of coffee. Thirty or so minutes…

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…

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How to Help Our Kids With Their Career Choices

How do we help our kids with their career choices? Should we push them to get a university degree to increase their opportunities? What if our kids don’t like that idea? What if their opinions and ours differ?…

An Irresistible Invitation to an Unschooling Voyage of Discovery

Isn’t it wonderful to receive an invitation? Someone has chosen us! There are all kinds of invitations, from coffee dates to weddings. I love hearing, “Mum, would you like to meet up for lunch with me?” Sometimes, we eagerly accept an invitation: “Lunch sounds good! Thank you for asking me!” But occasionally, we express our regrets and decline the invitation. That’s okay. An invitation isn’t an order. No one is forcing us to accept it. Recently, I excitedly accepted an…

Unschoolers Taking Over the World

A sign at our local nursery recommends purchasing native plants like wattles, bottlebrushes, waratahs, and hakeas for our gardens because we live so close to the Australian bush. Everyone in our village seems to have ignored this advice. Each front garden on our road has many exotic agapanthus plants. In summer, we all enjoy a glorious display of blue/purple and white flowers. There are also agapanthus plants in the park, right next to the bush. The council ignored the nursery’s…

Irreplaceable Unschool Dogs and Kids

People often have favourite breeds of dogs, don’t they? Maybe they love greyhounds like a couple living in a nearby town who dress their trio of thin dogs in bright-striped pyjamas to keep them warm on below-zero days. Or they might be dachshund people like a woman I recently heard about who runs with her short-legged friend tucked under her arm. People often decide to replace their dogs with one of the same breed when the life of their first…

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 soon realised there’s a problem with freedom. If we always do whatever we like, won’t we become self-centred? Thinking only of ourselves won’t lead to happiness because we were made for love, and love involves other people. I heard that…

Reflecting Badly On Our Family

Andy and I take Nora and Quinn to the vet for their annual checkups. We wonder if our dogs are the correct weight for their size. Are their coats clean and shiny? Do they look happy and well cared for? The vet says our pets are magnificent. We swell with pride. We passed the test. Our dogs are an excellent reflection of us. But are our kids excellent reflections of us? If someone looks at them, will they say, “Andy…

What Snakes Can Teach Us About Unschooling

Strolling through the bush on a spring afternoon, sunscreen on my bare arms, a dog on a leash, I round a bend in a track and almost trip over a writhing venomous brown snake. With my heart beating fast, I jump, tighten my hold on Quinn’s leash and then run. I finish our walk with my eyes glued to the ground, scanning the track for further snake danger. Snakes are a part of life where we live. There’s no avoiding…

When Our Kids Are Wired Differently

Amina lowers her voice. “I don’t like to admit this, but one day I said, ‘Harry, can’t you do as I want for once? Can’t you be nice to me just for one day?’ Harry looked confused. Be nice to me? I don’t think he deliberately tried to upset me. He was just being himself. Wasn’t that okay? – Amina, my pretend friend Do you have ‘different’ kids? Have you ever wished they were ‘normal’ because your heart breaks when…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

How Unschoolers Can Deal with Questions and Sceptics

My mother-in-law visited us for the birth of our son, Thomas. After he died and we’d buried him in his tiny white casket, Andy’s mother asked me if we wanted more children. As I replied, “Oh, yes!”, my mother-in-law’s face dropped into a disapproving frown. “She thinks we already have enough kids,” I thought as my defence hackles rose. But…

Unschooling Isn’t Freedom Gone Wild: Why Choices Matter More Than Ideals

My husband Andy returned to work today after two weeks at home. Holiday time is over. We’ve now moved into term time. A whole term of possibility days stretches before me. I’m free to do whatever I like with my time while Andy is at school. My eyes light up with delight. But then I remember there are many…

Christian unschooling

Love or Fear? What Guides Our Lives?

There are so many things we could fear. We might be too afraid to send our kids to school if we listen to the loud voices telling us how bad traditional education is. We might choose homeschooling because of that fear. If we decide to homeschool, we’re still not safe. Fears could follow us. We might be too afraid to…

Can Christians Unschool?

Can Christians unschool? We’re Christian unschoolers. Maybe you’re Christian unschoolers too? There are lots of us living this way of life. But are we doing the right thing? Or are we side-stepping our responsibilities when we choose to unschool? Are we choosing the easy, lazy path? I often hear of parents who are struggling with homeschooling. Their kids aren’t doing…
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