An Elvis Family Tradition
On Easter Sunday I say, “It’s time to sing By Your Kingly Power O Risen Lord!” Gemma-Rose finds the hymn books, I set up my camera on the tripod, and everyone lines up. They know the routine. We’ve been singing…
Who’s on Your Team?
The other day I went for a walk with my daughter Imogen. As we were heading along a bush track, I noticed she was fumbling with her iPod. “Are you listening to something?” I asked. “No,” she replied. “I just…
Disentangling Myself from the Internet
I’m lying in bed. Thoughts are running laps inside my head. Of course, I can’t sleep. I wonder if I should get up and write down what I’m thinking. Write the blog post that wants to be written. But I…
Saying Yes: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Saying Yes When Gemma- Rose asked if we could get a puppy, we could have thought of many reasons to say no. But we didn’t. A year ago, a tiny Shar Pei/ Great Dane puppy joined our family and we…
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…
The Non-Super-Mum’s Approach to Creative Arts
I am sadly not one of those super homeschooling mothers who organises impressive art and craft projects for her children. I like to hop around the blogosphere enjoying everyone else’s beautiful photos and ideas, but rarely do I say to my kids, “Today we’re going to make… sew… paint… this.” Instead I buy books and supplies, and I let my girls create by themselves. I am always on the lookout for good art and handicraft books. We have quite a…
With So Much Freedom, Will an Unschooler Choose to be Lazy?
If a child is given the freedom to choose what she wants to do every day, isn’t there a risk she will choose to be lazy and not do anything at all? Or maybe she will decide to do what is easy, rather than what is challenging… While we were driving to town this morning, I asked the girls if they’d brought along some books they could read, while waiting their turn to have their piano lessons. “I’ve got Les…
Never Ending Unschooling
Imogen has started full time university work. She’s studying professional writing and publishing. She’s also having singing and piano lessons and preparing for exams. You wouldn’t think she’d have much time left over in her day, would you? But recently… Imogen has pulled on her running gear, and headed down the tracks with us, whenever I’ve suggested a run. She was eager to watch the TV series, Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets, when the other girls and I settled…
Why Do Some Children Love Writing?
The other day, Sophie appeared with a huge smile on her face. “I’ve written a blog post,” she announced, and then added, “I wrote it your way. It’s like one of your stories.” “Tell me about it,” I encouraged. “Well, I mentioned my feelings as well as the action… and I used the present tense like you do sometimes. I like the present tense. It puts the reader right in the middle of the action.” Sophie is right. I use…
Thinking about Maths Creatively
It seems to me there are three main ways of learning maths: the workbook way, the real life maths way and the messing-about-with-numbers way. Sophie once learnt maths the workbook way. She wasn’t actually using paper books. She was using an online structured maths course. The course looked attractive, even exciting. There were flashing and colourful interactive activities, cute avatars to change each day, virtual rewards and points to collect… But really, online maths courses are just a dressed up…
What if…?
What if instead of doing what you usually do, you did some of those things your children have been wanting to do for ages. All that fun stuff that usually has to wait until all the serious stuff has been completed. The stuff there’s never time for? What if you and your children read a funny book aloud, and watched an entertaining movie, and sang along to some upbeat music, and strolled down to the park to feed the ducks,…
A Real Science Education
The other day I was writing about our experiences unschooling high school science. I mentioned a couple of books I thought my chemistry-loving-daughter, Charlotte, might like to read. Of course, I couldn’t help myself. After publishing the post, I just had to buy both books. Well, it is the start of the new school year and everyone (on this side of the world) is busy buying resources. It’s the natural thing to do. I know… we have heaps of books and…
An Unschooling Way of High School Science
I hop from blog to blog, sampling a homeschooling science program here, and one there, and I become alarmed and a bit unsettled. The programs all look so impressive and detailed. I creep quietly back to my own little blog and our own little way of unschooling, and I hope no one asks me about my science program, because we don’t actually have one. Now this doesn’t mean my children don’t learn about science. They do. They just don’t learn…
Unschool Maths and Uncomfortable Ideas
Some ideas might make us feel uncomfortable. We push them to the back of our minds, not wanting to consider them. This is how…
When We Fail
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
My Number One Unschooling Fan
I’m my kids’ number one fan. I cheer my children on from the sidelines, encouraging them to develop their talents and become the people…
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.…
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…
Unschooling: Trust, Autonomy, and The Realities of Learning
The Ladies are Fixing the World again! Cecilie, Sandra and I are discussing the words ‘self-regulation’ and ‘limits’. When we say, “I’ve let go of control, and now I’m waiting for my child to learn how to regulate his time playing video games (for example),” do we have expectations about what that regulation should look like? Do we want…
Unschool: Greater Things
She was tempted to aim low, afraid to risk failure, but she knew she shouldn’t settle for ordinary. More was expected. So she gathered her courage, did what she should, and life got exciting. And she changed. How often do we aim low because we’re too afraid to risk disappointment or failure? We want to stay where it’s comfortable and…
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…