Saying No and Other Things
I wonder why we get so afraid of saying yes to our kids. Perhaps we think they will get spoilt if we respond to their requests in a positive way too often. Perhaps they won’t appreciate the special things of…
Ideas, Passions, and Earning an Income
Has blogging changed? Are people no longer very interested in reading my posts? Maybe they prefer listening to my podcasts? Is it time to close up my blog and move onto other things? I pondered these questions in my last…
When Unschooling Doesn’t Seem to be Working
We decide to unschool. Everything goes really well. Our kids are learning. Our family bonds are strengthening. Life is full of joy. Then one day, things change. Something happens. Maybe a child makes a mistake. She could choose to go…
Facing the Fact We Are an Introverted Family
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Challenging Ourselves to Put Away Our Phones
Did you hear the story of the photographer who visited the Grand Canyon and took millions of photos of the awe-inspiring sights, and then later realised that he hadn’t seen a thing despite having his eye glued to his viewfinder…
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
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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…
Do Beautiful Photos Fail to Tell the Whole Unschooling Story?
Can photos reflect the beauty of an unschooling life? We could post loads of pictures of smiling kids involved with impressive activities or running…
When We Can’t Decide What’s the Best Way to Bring Up and Educate Our Kids
Do you ever swap between the various methods of homeschooling looking for the perfect way to bring up and educate your kids? I used…
Changes
This week, in episode 106 of my podcast, I’m talking about changes both in my online and offline lives. I’m sharing: Some further thoughts…
Unschooling: How Do We Know They’re Learning?
There are loads of unschooling questions we could ask about learning: How do we know unschooling kids are learning? Should they be learning particular things? Is there knowledge that all kids need? Are our unschooled kids learning enough? Can they get behind? Should we just trust our kids are learning? But what if we have doubts? Or what if we…
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: 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…
How Unschooling Saved the Dragon Mother
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When We Don’t Know What to Do
I’ve just updated my blog. I started at the first post I ever wrote and then worked my way through 14 years of stories, reading each one before deciding whether to keep it or revert it to draft. I then checked the formatting of the retained posts, rearranging paragraphs, eliminating dead links, and changing or improving the images. As I…