Of Spiders and Saints and So-Much-Kindness

A Guest Blog Post by Suzie Andres My family and I are visiting my husband’s family in Florida. Yesterday my husband surprised me by getting up early (this is vacation!) and asking if I’d like to go with him to…

Where I’m At With My Unschool Blog

I’ve created a monster, a huge blog that needs a lot of maintenance. It’s sucking up my money and time and giving me headaches. Frequently, this blog falls apart or runs so slowly that readers give up waiting for new…

Sophie’s Unschooling Holiday

On the official last day of the school term: Sophie: No more learning for two weeks! Imogen: No more learning? We learn all the time, not just in term time. Charlotte: What are you planning to do for the next…

What a Day Without Rules Looks Like

My children said, “Sleep in tomorrow, Mum. You’re overtired. You haven’t had much sleep in the last 48 hours.” So I slept in. When I got up, the kitchen was deserted. Everyone had had breakfast, washed the dishes, cleaned up,…

A Wasting Time Unschooling Challenge

When I was a child, I always felt I should be doing something useful rather than sit still and dream, think or watch TV. I thought I had to be productive and not waste time. As an adult, I‘ve discovered…

Latest

How the Girls and I Take a Weekly Trip Overseas

Every week the girls and I take an overseas trip. The week before last we went to Vietnam. We flew into Hanoi, the city of rickshaws and mopeds and many people. We stood, rather bewildered, as streams of two-wheeled vehicles surged past us. Before long, we’d mounted our own bikes and were puttering out of the busy city headed for the quiet and peace of the delta.  “Rice paddies!” someone shouted.  The Vietnamese farmers smiled and waved at us. We…

Favourite Sewing Books for Children: Gemma-Rose Sews a Mermaid

A book lands in our mailbox: Fleecie Dolls by Fiona Goble.  The girls turn the pages: “Oh! I want to make this one! And that one… and this one too!”  At last, a decision is made: “I’m going to make Tilly, the mermaid.”  So we go shopping and come home with…  a colourful pile of soft fleece, sparkling purple sequins and, a ball of orange and green, uneven knobbly yarn. I hunt out…  a scrap of felt, reels of sewing threads,…

Aiming for Love, Not Perfection

 I had a vision…  By the age of 18 all my children were going to be perfectly brought up and perfectly educated. I wanted them to fly off into the world without a problem. I was going to sit back and sigh with satisfaction and happiness. Pat myself on the back: A job well done.  In order to make my goal come true, I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect way of homeschooling, and stressing out over…

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 humbled. What did I do to deserve such love?  I love my children so much it hurts.  “I love you so much,” I say.  My girls smile. “We know that!”  Maybe my children weren’t always aware of just how much…

When a Child Has Only One Interest.

“It’s all very well, letting children follow their own interests, but my daughter only wants to do one thing. She’s not interested in science or maths or writing… All she wants to do is cook and how’s that going to satisfy the educational authorities?” a hypothetical mother asks.  What would I do if one of my girls only wanted to cook, and wouldn’t consider learning anything else? I might try an idea I picked up at the very first homeschool…

Making Children Learn What They Don’t Want to Know

We can’t force knowledge into children if they aren’t interested, though it might appear we can. For, of course, children learn things they don’t want to learn all the time. Anyone who’s been to school is very aware of this. Bribes, punishments and even shame are used to ensure children learn things they’re not interested in. But is this kind of learning valuable? Or will children forget knowledge gained this way? Is it better to give ownership of learning to…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

Discouraged

I’m feeling discouraged. I wonder: why am I doing this? Why am I blogging and podcasting? I know the answer: I want to spread…

The Ladies Fixing the World

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…

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…

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…

Christian unschooling

Christian Unschooling: Should Parents Demand Obedience from Their Children?

Not so long ago, I was reading a spiritual book that mentioned monks and their life of poverty, chastity and obedience. And this got me thinking about obedience. Monks are obedient to their superiors and the rule of their order. They are imitating Jesus who was obedient to God the Father even until death. Obedience is obviously good so perhaps…

Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents

Does having a simple Christmas sound good? It does to me. This year, like last year and the one before, I wanted to announce that I’m not buying a lot of Christmas presents. I thought about saying that I’m not buying any at all. I didn’t want to think and think until the perfect gift ideas came to mind. I…
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