As the Unschooling Season Changes

Parents, sadly fed up with having their kids at home, are beginning to say, “When does school begin again?” My once-glorious hydrangeas are turning brown, and my agapanthus flowers are resembling dirty cotton mop heads. Soon, the carol bird will…

Ideas for Starting Unschooling

A few posts ago, I was talking about collaboration. Would anyone like to work with me as we try to spread the unschooling message? Could we light a gentle unschooling fire together? I was afraid no one would respond to…

Babies, Toddlers and Unschooling (Part 1)

Gemma-Rose is now seven. She is our youngest child and so it’s been a few years since we’ve had a baby or a toddler in our family. It’s been a long time since we’ve had to work our homeschooling day…

My Homeschool Records Book

Tomorrow is the first day of the final term of the school year. Andy is busy preparing lessons for his school class (he is a primary school teacher). And I am not busy preparing lessons. I have hardly thought about the new…

Turning a Shopping Trip into Homeschool Record Notes

Earlier this year, when the covid restrictions eased, and life felt like it was returning to normal after our lockdown – and before the next lockdown arrived – my girls and I enjoyed a big shopping day out together. After…

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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…

A New Unschooling Year Begins

 Andy returns to work tomorrow. He’s a primary school teacher. “This is Dad’s last day of holiday,” I say to the girls. They are quiet for a moment, and then it suddenly dawns on them. “You mean the new school term starts tomorrow?” says Sophie, a smile appearing on her face. I nod, and Gemma-Rose shouts, “Hooray! You can read to us again.” “Well…” I begin. “I didn’t say our term begins tomorrow.” The smiles disappear. “But there’s so much…

Imogen’s Unschooling Plan to Get into University

One of the most common worries homeschooling parents seem to have is: Will my children be able to get into university? The answer to this question is definitely yes. But what about unschoolers? Again the answer is yes. My unschooler is all set to study a Bachelor of Arts degree. How has she got to this point? This is Imogen’s year 12 story… Last year, at the beginning of her final official year of homeschooling, Imogen thought carefully about what…

From Unschooling to Successful University Learning

A couple of days ago, Imogen logged into her Open Universities account to check some details she needed for her youth allowance application. She checked her mail while online and received a nice surprise. “Hey! I got a Distinction for that last university unit I did.” “But you finished that unit ages ago. Why didn’t you look at the results sooner?” I asked. Imogen shrugged her shoulders. Then she smiled, “I didn’t expect a Distinction.” Last year, 17 year old Imogen…

Chess, Sudoku and Lazy Summer Days

I haven’t thought much about unschooling, records books, my blog… in a long time. We’ve been far too busy enjoying lots of lazy hot summer days. But I know a time will come when we will be ready for new challenges. After a few weeks of rest, we will want to do more than potter idly through our days. We will be keen to dive into some serious learning. I must admit I could quite happily continue in this lazy…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

The Ladies Fixing the World

Unschooling: How Do We Know They’re Learning?

There are loads of unschooling questions we could ask about learning: How do we know unschooling kids are learning? Should they be learning particular things? Is there knowledge that all kids need? Are our unschooled kids learning enough? Can they get behind? Should we just trust our kids are learning? But what if we have doubts? Or what if we…

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

Shall We Talk About Christian Unschooling?

I often get to the point where I feel I haven’t got anything more to say about unschooling. I wonder: is it time to move on? At the beginning of last year, I reached such a point. However, instead of thinking about moving away from unschooling, I proposed the idea of exploring unschooling from a different angle. Should we discuss…
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