Are We Becoming the People We Want Our Kids to Be?

Last weekend, my son Callum came home for a visit, and on Saturday morning, we had a breakfast picnic together at our local lake. After we’d eaten, we took Callum’s dog for a walk around the lake. It wasn’t a…

Strange Goings-On in the Cemetery

I wonder if we’re the first people ever to film a music video in our local cemetery? Has anyone else ever stood next to one of the old sandstone headstones and sung a song from The Phantom of the Opera?…

Homeschooling Heidi

“Can we have another chapter of Heidi, please Mum?” begs Sophie. It’s the third time I’ve been asked that question today. “If you make me a cup of coffee and get the book ready, I’ll be there in a minute.” The girls…

Kids, Needs, and Church

Should unschooled kids be forced to go to church? I wonder if this is the wrong question to ask when our kids protest about coming with us. Would it be better to ask, Why doesn’t my child want to go to…

Resisting the Temptation to Interfere

Or trusting children to learn in their own time  I have been rather busy recently, my eyes glued to the computer screen, my mind miles away.  “Please can we use the scrapbooking paper, Mum?”  “Yes, you may.”  “Please can I…

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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…

Pondering Trust

I never wanted to be in a position where I had to trust God. I preferred to rely on my own resources. I wanted to be totally in control of my own life. That seemed easier to do because trusting is so very difficult. Or so it can seem. Then one day, at a time when I was feeling rather proud of the way I was handling my life and my family, my world fell apart: “I’m very sorry but…

Becoming Real Life Maths Detectives

“We use maths all the time,” I say to my daughter Gemma-Rose (10). “Maths is everywhere.” Everywhere? She doesn’t look convinced. “You use maths to count your money,” says Sophie, “and when you’re cooking.” Cooking? How many times have you heard this example when real life maths is mentioned? “Real life maths? You know, cooking.” My girls cook all the time. I have lots and lots of cooking entries in my homeschool records book. They all say similar things: my…

Have You Been Thinking About Visiting Me?

Have you been thinking about visiting me? Well, this weekend would be the perfect time. You see, we have a clean fridge. I cleaned it out all by myself. Yes, I tossed out all the old food and scrubbed the shelves. The fridge looks good! If you arrive unexpectedly on our doorstep this weekend, I won’t have to panic if you approach my fridge, looking for milk to add to your coffee. Gemma-Rose was impressed by all my work: “Wow,…

What is it Like to Be an Unschooling Parent?

Ten Minutes on Thursday I have to admit I failed: Five Minutes on Friday has turned into Ten Minutes on Thursday. I just couldn’t say all I wanted about this week’s topic, in only 5 minutes. Well, maybe I could have, if I’d been organised and used a script. But I chose to chat off the top of my head, as usual, with only a few scribbled notes for guidance. Making a video is so different from writing. When I…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Learning to Read and Trusting Unschooling

It is absolutely essential that we are curious people who are excited about the possibilities in life. The atmosphere in our homes gets picked up by our kids so they think it’s normal to learn, to be curious, to follow thoughts and ideas and try things out… I was battling with my kids for a while. They kept saying, ‘Why…

How Unschooling Doesn’t Guarantee a Fairytale Life

Yesterday evening, like all Sunday evenings, my kids who live locally came to dinner. Six of us gathered around our dining room table, savouring a meal cooked by my husband while enjoying the usual end-of-the-week lively catch-up conversation. There was a time when we dreamed that all our children would buy houses on the same street as our family home.…

Christian unschooling

Igniting a Child’s Love of Learning

Do you wake up each morning with a delicious feeling of anticipation? Do you swing your legs out of bed quickly, anxious to get dressed and move onto the business of the day? Another day of learning with your children stretches ahead… Do you feel excited? Once upon a time, I used to drag myself out of bed and…

Is Trying to Impress Others a Waste of Time?

Strolling between the gum trees on a winter’s morning with Nora and Quinn, my fingers painful with the cold, I meet Matilda. I smile and stop. So do my dogs. They thrust their grinning heads into the undergrowth, happy to sniff up all the smells of the bush while I exchange a few words with my next-door neighbour. We talk…
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