Judging and Other People’s Opinions
Why do we judge each other? Why do we worry so much about other people’s opinions of us? And what would everyone think of me if they knew what I did? In this vlog, I tell a story about a…
Pushing Ourselves Instead of Our Kids
Often, we push our kids to try new things, don’t we? We want them to be adventurous. We say, “If you give it a go, you might discover you like it. You might be good at it.’ But what about…
Unschooling Strong
Yesterday we did lots of complaining because it felt like a very hot day. We were glad when evening arrived, and the sun went down. Hoping for a cool breeze, we ate ice cream and swapped hot stories. Here’s mine:…
When Our Help and Strewing Are Rejected
My daughter Charlotte used to be openly enthusiastic about everything. Every evening she’d be eager to tell me about all the things she’d discovered that day. She’d listen to my ideas and ask for resources. Then things changed. During the…
Education Doesn’t Have a Use-by-Date
Yesterday Imogen was peering over Charlotte’s shoulder, looking at all the interesting things she is learning. “You are giving yourself a much better education than the one I gave myself,” Imogen complained. “Look at all those wonderful books you’re reading.…
How I Removed an Engine from a Car
Callum arrives home from town. He stops by my bedroom to say hello. I glance up from my computer and say, “Callum! You could have changed your clothes before going out!” Callum grins. His long shorts are streaked with grease. His fingers are black. He has a smudge on his face. “What will people think?” I am smiling. I don’t really care what people think. “You’re a reflection of your family,” I tease my son. “Everyone will say, ‘Didn’t Callum’s…
Following My Mothering Instincts
Some years ago I came across a talk on discipline by a well-known speaker, an experienced family man, an ‘expert’ perhaps. The talk went something like this: The father must be the authority figure in the family. The mother should keep a misbehaviour chart for each of her children. When the father returns from work, he must deal with all the discipline issues that have occurred during the day. If a child has a ‘mark’ against his name he must…
Gemma-Rose (9) Talks about Novel Writing
The other evening Gemma-Rose asked me if I’d like to listen to another chapter of the NaNoWriMo novel she is currently writing. I settled back on the sofa. She opened her computer and started reading. “Do you like writing novels?” I asked, when she came to the end of the chapter. “Oh, yes!” We talked novel writing for a while and then I said, “How about I interview you? I could make a video of you talking about novel writing.”…
Reclaiming an Unschooling Sense of Adventure
I’ve been thinking about maths… high school maths. The other day I wrote about my unschooling high schooler. I told you how my sixteen year old daughter Charlotte feels like she is drowning in maths. The exercises for each of the maths topics in her course are never-ending. They take a long time to complete. Which would be okay if it was interesting and relevant. But it’s not. So what’s the point? Because she really wants to learn maths? I…
Encouragement, Example and the Fun of Sharing Passions
It’s the first of November. Today we’re celebrating All Saints Day. Today we’re also starting our NaNoWriMo novels. There is a sense of anticipation in the air. But before I dive head first into the imaginary world of my novel, I want to write a quick post. I had announced I was going to write a long blog post as my novel. Of course, it would really have been lots of different blog stories joined together in one document. Who’d…
Sharing a Few Ideas with My Unschooling High Schooler
“How about we have a chat after lunch?” I ask 16 year old Charlotte. “You can tell me what you’ve been doing recently. Maybe I can help with some new resources.” So after the lunch dishes have been cleared away, we meet in the family room. I have my computer on my lap. Charlotte has her notebook. “How’s maths going?” I begin. Charlotte screws up her nose and sighs. “You should see the amount of work in the algebra section.”…
Homeschooling in a Crisis
“So what have we got planned for today, Mum?” Sophie asks me. “Well, nothing really,” I reply. “We can’t go anywhere because of the bushfire, but I guess I don’t have to keep such a close eye on the fire updates. I could read to you, or we could watch a DVD together.” Sophie smiles. Doing something together? That sounds good. We’ve been living next to a huge bushfire for 8 days now. Life has not been normal for all…
Learning from Life
Today I am tired. I don’t feel like strewing. I don’t feel like discussing or watching or listening. I don’t feel excited or enthusiastic. My children feel the same way. We’ve been living with an out-of-control fire on our door step for the last 5 days, and yes, we are all tired. Normally, I have loads of learning experiences to record in my dreaded records book at the end of each day, despite our unstructured relaxed life style. The girls…
Boy Stories
Usually I speak and write about my four youngest daughters. But not today. For this week’s podcast, I share some boy stories. I received…
Guiding Our Kids by Radically Unschooling
Is radical unschooling all about stepping back and letting our children make their own choices without any influence from us? They might make choices…
Challenging Parents to Get Involved with Kids’ Passions
A while ago, Sophie challenged me to do a 100 squat challenge. And recently, I challenged Sophie. “I have a new idea,” I told…
How Unschoolers Can Deal with Questions and Sceptics
My mother-in-law visited us for the birth of our son, Thomas. After he died and we’d buried him in his tiny white casket, Andy’s mother asked me if we wanted more children. As I replied, “Oh, yes!”, my mother-in-law’s face dropped into a disapproving frown. “She thinks we already have enough kids,” I thought as my defence hackles rose. But…
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…
Is It Working? Wrestling with Doubt in Unschooling
A grey day arrives that completely blots out the memory of all the preceding good days. We feel overwhelmed, tired, worried and lost. We wonder why we ever decided to unschool. A puddle of doubt about unschooling forms around us. What do we do? Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing unschooling doubts and sharing our experiences in episode 10 of…
Parenting: Doing Our Inadequate Best
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
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…