Are You an Unschooling Multipotentialite?

Are you an unschooling multipotentialite? If someone had asked me that question a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have had an answer. I’d never heard of that word before. Yes, multipotentialite is a new word in my vocabulary. My friend…

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…

What if Unschooling is Wrong?

Today, I’m sharing an incomplete thought. Some thoughts are like that. They sit at the edge of our minds, refusing to enter completely. We could dismiss them, but they might hold something of value. If only we could grasp them…

Reluctant Spouse: Unschool Bits and Pieces

Reluctant Spouse What does my husband Andy think of unschooling? Was he always in favour of it? Or did I have to convince him that unschooling is the right thing to do? Parents frequently ask me these questions especially when…

Our Unschooling Story

Imagine if you visited us. You’d knock at our front door. We’d invite you in. We’d sit around our kitchen table. Sip coffee. Eat chocolate muffins. What would we talk about? Lots of things! You’d tell me about your family.…

Latest

REAL LIFE Junk Mail Catalogue MATHS

Yesterday I noticed a pile of junk mail catalogues sitting on the kitchen bench, waiting to be thrown into the recycling bin. I had an idea… “If I gave you $500 what would you buy, if you could choose anything from these catalogues?” I asked my youngest daughters. Both Gemma-Rose’s and Sophie’s eyes lit up as they began thinking of all the wonderful things they could buy. “Is the $500 real or imaginary?” asked Sophie hopefully. “Imaginary, of course!” I…

A Typical Unschooling Day at Home

Yesterday… The phone alarm beeps at 6.10 am. A few minutes later, I swing my legs over the side of the bed, and pad down the hall to the girls’ bedrooms. I open their doors and say, “Anyone want to come running with me?” I can see vague shapes stirring in the semi-darkness. Soon after 6.30 am, Charlotte, Sophie, Gemma-Rose and I are walking down the road to the park. It is quiet and cool, the best time of day.…

Time for Some Strewing

Sometimes life provides my children with more than enough learning experiences without any help from me. A bushfire might be burning on our doorstep, giving everyone a unique learning opportunity. At other times, ordinary life provides one question after another for us to answer:  We might discuss the problem of a broken washing machine or we’re anticipating the installation of a hot water system. We might have a pile of books we’re engrossed in, or we have dozens of projects we’re working on. There’s lots going on. We are…

The Curriculum of Life

What curriculum are you using this year? The girls and I are going to be using the curriculum of life. Surely day-to-day life doesn’t provide many learning experiences? Most days are the same, aren’t they? And perhaps this is true unless we regain our sense of awe and wonder about life, and keep alert. How often do we wander from day to day without asking any questions? I am sure we miss many opportunities to muse and ponder and take…

Team-Writing a Fantasy Novel

Or how I’m writing a third of a novel I am writing a novel. More accurately, I am writing a third of a novel. I am part of the team, the fairy tale writing team. The other evening when I went into the younger girls’ bedroom I discovered Gemma-Rose scribbling in her notebook. She and Sophie were discussing the novel they are going to write together. They told me they intended to write alternate chapters. “Sophie is going to write…

Everything is Educational, Even Disney Princesses

I’ve been thinking… Are some things more educational than others? And what makes something educational anyway? Can Disney Princesses be educational? Or are some things only fun things? The other evening I discovered my teenage daughters, Imogen and Charlotte, in the family room deep in conversation. One had a white-board. The other was typing furiously on her computer. “What are you girls doing?” “We’re planning a new novel,” Charlotte told me. “We’ve brainstormed ideas on the whiteboard. Now Imogen is making…
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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 Isn’t Freedom Gone Wild: Why Choices Matter More Than Ideals

My husband Andy returned to work today after two weeks at home. Holiday time is over. We’ve now moved into term time. A whole term of possibility days stretches before me. I’m free to do whatever I like with my time while Andy is at school. My eyes light up with delight. But then I remember there are many…

Unschooling: Coping With the Unexpected

I used to think I could control my life. To achieve a perfect life, all I had to do was organise everything well, including my kids. What is a perfect life? My perfect life vision included a graduated row of good-looking and well-behaved children. I wanted people to admire my family and home, saying, “Sue is such a good mother!…

Christian unschooling

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…

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…
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