What Do Unschoolers Do All Day?

Years ago, when we first started homeschooling, I used to wonder, “What do unschoolers do all day?” Even though I’d read a few books, I couldn’t find a satisfactory answer to my question. I needed a fly-on-the wall view into…

Misconceptions: Unschooling Parents are Lazy

I republished this post after reverting it to draft. I have doubts I expressed my thoughts properly. My intention was to encourage parents, who are thinking about unschooling, not to be put off by claims it’s a lazy way of…

My Unschooling Teenagers’ Typical Days

On a typical day, my daughter Sophie (16) gets out of bed soon after 5 am. By 6.10 am, she’s heading out the door with sister Imogen who drives her to work. A few minutes later, Gemma-Rose (14) and I…

Latest

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 me years ago when I was a naive Facebook user. I received an invitation to a baptism. There was only…

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…
1 … 6 7 8 9 10 … 109

My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

When in Doubt, Just Love

Last Wednesday, I pushed our living room sofa out of position, exposing a stretch of plain duck-egg blue wall. I placed a chair and…

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

Could Ebooks Save My Unschool Blog?

The other day, I logged into my blog hosting account to find out when my next payment is due and how much it will be. When I saw the bill due later this year, I gulped and said to my husband, “Do we want to spend so much money on a site that’s often slow or offline because of a…
Go toTop