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…

Is it Really Okay if Kids Play All Day?

Parents value play when children are very young. At this stage of life, we all agree that children should be playing. But what about when they get older? Should they still be allowed to play as much as they would…

Are You a Curious Unschooler?

Do you ever follow rabbit trails, going from one thing to other until your head is spinning with new knowledge? My head is constantly spinning. I guess my girls’ heads are too. You see, I don’t keep my discoveries to myself.…

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Excited About Maths

“Hey! I’ve found an interesting website,” I said. “Do you girls want to have a look?”  “What’s it about?” asked Gemma-Rose suspiciously, and when I told her it was a maths site she groaned and didn’t look at all interested. Sophie, on the other hand, instantly plonked herself down next to me on the sofa and was very eager to find out more.  “Murderous Maths,” I said in a creepy voice. Gemma-Rose decided to come and have a look after…

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, and disappeared. I found myself some cereal and made a cup of tea, and then went back to the warmth of my bed to enjoy my breakfast. Gemma-Rose (9) discovered me a short time later. “Mum! You’re awake. I was…

Why I Wanted to Delete My Blogs

I was staring gloomily at my computer this morning. “What are you doing, Mum?” asked my daughter Imogen. “I’m about to delete my blogs,” I answered. “Don’t, Mum! Why would you want to do that?” “Listen!” I replied. We could hear Sophie and Gemma-Rose crying, and one older son bumping his way around the house in a disgruntled mood. Earlier, Sophie and Gemma-Rose had been arguing over the possession of a book. I hadn’t taken the time to find out the…

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 reluctantly face the day. Homeschooling seemed like a chore, a duty I had to fulfill. I wasn’t full of joy, and…

How to Get Children to Do Their ‘School Work’

I often hear parents chatting together about how they can’t get their kids to do their school work. What do they do? Keep pushing their kids because that’s what parents are expected to do? Is this part of their duty? Or maybe they could change their ideas about how kids learn. I’m at a dinner party.  A woman sitting next to me says, “I’m Irene,” and then she asks, “What do you do?” “I homeschool my children,” I answer. Irene’s…

Getting Kids to Help with the Chores

Should parents expect kids to help with the chores? How do we encourage kids to have a generous attitude and want to be part of the family team, helping with the work? Here’s a simple suggestion that doesn’t involve chore charts, games, rewards, punishments or frustration. Could it be the magic answer to the chore problem?…

Why I Don’t Restrict My Children’s Time on the Computer

“How long have you been on your computer, Mum?” asks my daughter Imogen. “You’ll be getting rectangular eyes if you’re not careful.” “Not long,” I say hurriedly. “Oh, all right. I admit it. I’ve been on here quite a while, but you should see what I’ve been doing.” The girls gather round and I proudly show them an animation I’m working on. “Look! My sprite is moving across the screen and then it turns around and comes back,” I say…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Curiosity, Flexibility, and Trust

I’m a Lady Fixing the World! Cecilie Conrad kindly invited me to join her and Sandra Dodd for Season 2 of her podcastThe Ladies Fixing the World. We recorded our first unschooling conversation together in November 2024 before life got extra-busy with Christmas, and it has just gone live! The audio version. Here’s the audio version: You can also listen…

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…

Resources for Unschoolers

Strolling towards the shopping centre, I spy an older man with three hand-reared brightly coloured parrots. A few wide-eyed kids are gathered around him, and as I watch, he transfers a parrot to one of their shoulders, where it bounces lightly upon its feet, nuzzling a little ear. The child grins, hardly daring to move. The children have questions which…

Christian unschooling

Christian Unschooling and Other Things

I made a new podcast episode! Yes, after an absence of a few weeks, I’m back. So where did I go? Nowhere in particular. I was just at home enjoying lots of slow summer days. Maybe I was feeling lazy. But yesterday, that changed. I suddenly felt like getting back to work. And so I thought I’d record a catch-up…

Christian Unschooling: Letting God into Our Kids’ Lives

I used to tick off my spiritual boxes religiously every day. I said a lot of prayers and read my Bible. And I got extra ticks whenever I was able to get to daily Mass, so I made the effort to get there as often as life allowed. It wasn’t easy doing all that, but I did it. I had…
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