Undercover Homeschoolers

Have you heard our unschooling story? Just in case you haven’t, I’m reposting a couple of updated posts that tell the story of how we began our homeschooling adventure as unschoolers but then got distracted by other ideas before returning…

Imogen’s Unschooling Plan to Get into University

One of the most common worries homeschooling parents seem to have is: Will my children be able to get into university? The answer to this question is definitely yes. But what about unschoolers? Again the answer is yes. My unschooler…

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 on kids, screen time and Internet usage The future of my unschooling blog and podcast A…

Solo Adventures

This morning, Gemma-Rose and I left home earlier than usual because we wanted to drive the scenic route to town instead of going the direct way. After my youngest daughter slid into the driver’s seat of her nifty blue car,…

Unschooling, Strewing and Unplanning

The other night I turned off my computer for the day, and settled down with my family to watch a movie… at least I tried to watch. My mind kept straying from Beauty and the Beast to Evernote. Then just…

Latest

Approaching Maths Backwards

The other day, I made a big mistake. I uttered the word ‘maths’ in Gemma-Rose’s presence. Oh my! She instantly became stiff and prickly.“What’s wrong with maths?” I asked.“It’s boring. It’s just a lot of numbers.” “You don’t like numbers?” “No.” I attempted a little nudge: “Numbers can be fun. We could play a game together… a computer game.” Gemma-Rose flung herself down on the sofa next to me, with a huge sigh. I opened my computer and soon we…

Twice Five Minutes on Friday: Does Unschooling Work?

I had a bright idea. A very bright idea. It was a halogen lamp of an idea which solved a problem. Let me explain… I recorded my last video, What is Unschooling? in our family room, which was rather inconvenient for the rest of my family. Because we have an open plan house, they all had to keep very quiet while I had the camera running. After the 5th take, I felt like a nuisance: “Sorry kids! I’ll get it right…

The 20 Minute Challenge

I have 20 minutes before dinner. Can I write a blog post in 20 minutes? I don’t think I can. Impossible! But I shall give it a go. Gemma-Rose is sitting next to me. She’s also got a computer on her lap. “What are you doing, Gemma-Rose?” “Writing.” Writing again? Doesn’t she ever do anything else? “All this writing… don’t you want to play a computer game or watch TV?” No, she doesn’t. She’s obsessed. I guess I am too.…

How to Have an Unschool Adventure, No Camper Van Needed!

Wouldn’t you like to go on an unschool adventure, maybe climb into a camper van and travel the world doing amazing things? My girls want to go on an adventure, but we don’t have a camper van. “Can we go to the beach on my birthday?” asks Sophie. The beach? We hardly ever go to the beach. Would it be an adventure if we spent a day at the beach? “But what if it rains on your birthday?” I ask.…

Five Minutes on Friday: What is Unschooling?

I had an idea. Another one. Is it a good idea? I don’t know! Maybe I can tell you about it… I’ve been pondering the idea of recording a series of videos on basic unschooling topics, each one lasting about 5 minutes. I could call the series, Five Minutes on Friday. I‘d post one a week every Monday. Just joking!  I would post them on Fridays, of course. (I’m feeling silly, maybe because it’s the end of the week and…

A Perfect Method for Keeping Unschooling Records

Last term, this old mother learnt a new trick. After using the same method (my old exercise book) for many years, to record my girls’ learning activities for registration purposes, I actually considered a new method. And I liked it. I discovered Evernote! I mentioned this program in my last video. I said, “I think Evernote’s the perfect record keeping method for unschooling.” That’s a big claim, I know. You might already have a system you think is pretty good. But if you…

Unschooling and Trust

I have been struggling with this post for a while now, and wondering why I’m having so much trouble finding the right words. And I have decided it’s the language. I want to write a story from a personal point of view like I normally do. And I can’t. We had such a gradual transition to unschooling, I didn’t really face the issues I want to write about. So why write about them? Shouldn’t I leave this topic to someone…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

Are You a Proper Unschooler?

I used to worry about labelling our family as unschoolers. What if someone came along and said, “You’re not proper unschoolers”? Some people don’t…

The Ladies Fixing the World

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.…

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…

Christian unschooling

Should We Encourage Our Kids to Follow Their Dreams?

What did you want to be when you were a child? I wanted to be a writer. I had a cardboard box inside my wardrobe where I stored my scribbled stories about princesses, dragons and faraway kingdoms. At night, in bed, before dropping off to sleep, I’d think up stories about large happy families who were a lot like the…

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…
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