Nothing is More Important than Love

 “What would you rather do, play that computer game or come and give me a hug?” I ask my daughters.  Without a moment’s hesitation, Gemma-Rose says, “Hug you of course!”  “Do you even need to ask?” says Sophie.  I am…

How Introverts Aren’t Necessarily Shy

Introverts aren’t shy. At least we’re not. Yes, we’re an introverted family. The whole lot of us. This is rather nice because we understand each other perfectly. Outsiders often don’t. When we’re at a gathering, especially if there’s a crowd,…

Getting Older, Unschooling, and Moving On

My unschooling blog has a limited life. One day, in the not too distant future, I will no longer have anything to write about. My youngest child will have grown up and moved onto a new stage of her life.…

Unschooling: Good Education

When I open the front door, a man with a winning smile immediately launches into a slick presentation. Do I have children? Yes, I have two. Would I like them to receive a good education? Yes. Do I want to…

Latest

Podcasting, Blogging, Books and Lice!

I’ve been learning new things. You could say I’ve been unschooling! Yesterday, I worked out how to make a podcast. It wasn’t that difficult. I downloaded Audacity, pressed the ‘record’ button and then started chatting. When I’d finished speaking, I exported the recording as an MP3 file, which I uploaded to the podcast hosting site, Podbean. Voila! I am now a podcaster! The hardest thing about podcasting is talking. Well, perhaps not talking. I don’t seem to have any trouble…

Homeschool Meetings, Talking and Turkeys

It’s hard being the new girls. “Hi, I’m Sue. I’m new to this group.” “You’ve just started homeschooling?” “No. We’ve been homeschooling for 22 years.” “So you’ve just moved to this area?” “Well, no…” “So why have you suddenly decided to come along to our meetings?” “We thought it would be nice to get out and meet some new people.” I’ve had the above conversation a lot lately. Actually, I’ve had it with every mother I’ve spoken to at the…

The Writing Game: No Shortage of Writing Ideas

My daughter Gemma- Rose and I are having some mother-daughter time. We sit at one of the wobbly white tables in the shopping mall and sip our drinks. I have a coffee. She has a chocolate milkshake. “What have you been enjoying recently?” I ask. Gemma-Rose sucks on her straw for a moment and then says, “Writing. I love writing.” “There’s lots to write about, isn’t there?” “There is?” “Oh yes! I have lots of writing ideas! And if I…

Yelling at Maths Games and Other Stories of Our Week

I didn’t make a Thursday video this week. I wonder if you noticed. I meant to. I even had a ‘great’ video idea. I’d planned to interview Andy, my school teacher husband. A school teacher with unschooling children? That might have generated some good conversation. But I never actually got around to doing the interview. Andy and I got side-tracked with other things. One thing in particular took up lots of hours this week. We’ve been formatting my children’s novel,…

From Unschooling to University and Work (Part 2)

Ten Minutes on Thursday Last Thursday I posted the first part of From Unschooling to University and Work, a video interview with my 22 year old son Callum. This week, I’m posting the second half of our interview… Callum and I chat about his current passions, and his dreams for the future. I ask him about his thoughts on family: Is family still important now he is an adult? How does he get on with his parents? What role do…

From Unschooling to University and Work (Part 1)

Ten Minutes on Thursday “I can do that interview for you this afternoon,” said my son Callum. “I just need to get my hair cut first.” He ran his fingers through his floppy locks and grinned. “I have to look respectable for the video, make a good impression, otherwise what will everyone think?” “It doesn’t matter what everyone thinks, Callum. Your hair’s not important.” And although my words are true, I was still glad he went to get his hair…

My Draft Posts File is as Fat as Our Cats, and Other Stories

My draft posts file is getting bigger and bigger. It’s looking rather fat, just like our cats. Each afternoon, for the past few days, I’ve fed it with another failed post. I’ve wanted to write but can’t seem to find the right words. There’s lots of things I want to mull over, like…  chores. I know I’ve already written about this topic. Actually, I think Getting Kids to Help with the Chores is my most popular post ever. It just shows what a…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

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…

Is Unschooling for Everyone?

A note before you listen to this week’s episode: Episode 107 is only a conversation starter. I’m sure my thoughts are incomplete. Sometimes…

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling Is Carried by Conversations

Dinner tables, car rides, bedtime chats, and café corners are the real places where unschooling lives and grows. Conversations—often unscheduled, informal, and unplanned—can become the central structure of a learning life. Gathering at the Dinner Table In our house, we never met for breakfast or lunch. Those were meals where people ate what, where and when they liked. But we…

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

Does Christian Unschooling Interest You?

I’ve written three unschooling books: I focused on the educational side of unschooling in Curious Unschoolers. I extended the unschooling story in Radical Unschool Love by sharing parenting thoughts and stories. And I offered practical suggestions for turning all those interesting unschooling ideas into something real in families’ lives in The Unschool Challenge. Three books. A trilogy. Everything I can…
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