How Choosing a Different Path Can Cause Conflict

When we choose to do things differently from those around us, it’s rarely simple. Although we might say that it’s okay for everyone to do what suits their own family – which is true – somehow it’s hard not to…

Maths and Other Wild and Yummy Stories

We’ve just had a very wild week. A week ago, we thought we’d arrived at summer. But by Tuesday we’d been thrown back to winter. The temperature plummeted, the rain fell and the wind howled. On Wednesday morning we woke…

Unschooling: Kippers and Other Conversations

We’re watching Masterchef. In tonight’s episode, there’s an identification challenge. Laid out on a table is an array of small, large, speckled, dark, pink, long, flat, thin, goggled-eyed, scaly fish. The contestants stand in a line waiting for their turn…

How Curious Unschooled Kids Learn

The big question is this: will I be awake at 1 am tomorrow (AEST)? Will I join the first live session of my Homeschooling Global Summit interview? Earlier today, I received a Summit email that included these words: If you…

When a Child Is No Longer Gripped by a Passion

A friend asked: “Have your kids ever been between interests?” The short answer to that question is yes. There have indeed been times when my kids have lost their enthusiasm for their interests. Their excitement for learning, in general, disappeared.…

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…

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…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: Trusting the Process and Letting Go of Control

“I kind of love my title for this podcast. It’s very ambitious. Let’s fix it all!” And so begins another Ladies Fixing the World conversation in which Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd and I dive deep into unschooling, sharing our thoughts and experiences. In S2E4, we discuss Unschooling: Trusting the Process and Letting Go.   Want to know more…

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…

Christian unschooling

Is It Okay if Parents Want to Influence Their Unschooling Kids?

Is it okay if we try to influence our unschooling kids? What if we’d like them to acquire particular values? Can we expose them to our beliefs? Or should we stand back and try to keep quiet about the things we base our lives on and let our kids work out everything for themselves? Let’s say we decide it’s…

When Mothering Is Not Enough

Should our kids be our whole world? Should we dedicate all our time and effort to raising the most precious people in our lives? Or is it okay to combine motherhood with our own interests? Could there be advantages in using our gifts and pursuing the things that bring us joy not only for us but also for our kids?…
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