The Complicated Issue of Unlimited Screen Time

If we give kids unlimited access to screens and the Internet, will they all learn to self-regulate their usage? Perhaps all we need to do is let go of control and trust. Maybe allow a bit of time for kids…

Unschooling Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason often entices families away from unschooling. Maybe that’s because of three words often associated with this method of homeschooling: beauty, truth and goodness. Aren’t these what our souls yearn for? Aren’t they what we need? Could Charlotte Mason…

Miles’ Model Munitions Germination

This is a guest post by unschooling teenager Miles Brack. About a month ago, my local home-schooling group held a “winter markets”. Mum suggested that I sell my wooden model guns… Setting up for the markets was a little hard.…

Latest

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…

Breeding like Mice

It began with a cage, a cage Felicity dragged all the way home from town. It was large and heavy and, by the time she reached our house, one of her arms was longer than the other. I’d already said, “No mice!” “But the cage was such a bargain, Mum. And the boys would love a mouse… We have a cage now. We might as well get a mouse… or two. What do think, Mum?” I should have said…

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…

Encouragement from a Super-Hero Sister

Sophie is the 7th child of 8, and the 4th daughter of our family, and she mistakenly believes she is the only one without any special talents.  “I can’t draw as well as Charlotte.”  “I can’t play the piano like Immy.””Callum and Immy and Charlotte can sing, and I can’t.”  “I can’t run as well as Gemma-Rose.”  She doesn’t see that she can do all these things, and will excel at them, like her siblings, if only she perseveres. She…

My Unschoolers’ End-of-the-Year Reports

My husband Andy is a primary school teacher, and twice a year he has to write school reports for all his children. For a couple of weeks, we see nothing of him except his back, as he sits in front of his computer, trying to condense six months’ learning and progress for each child into a limited number of characters.  “Writing my end-of-the-year school reports is easy,” I say to Andy. “My students write their own.”  “I wish my children…

When Will I Use All This Maths, Mum?

My older children all learnt maths in a formal manner, using a text book course. All three started the advanced maths course and all three dropped out partway through, complaining they hated it and were no good at maths.“When are we ever going to use all this maths, Mum?”“But you have to do maths!” I insisted. Isn’t it an essential of education? As a compromise, my children agreed to do the general maths or maths in society course instead. So they learnt…
1 … 96 97 98 99 100 … 109

My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

An Answer to the Chores Problem

We’d all like our children to be considerate, hard working and happy to help others. We’d especially like them to be willing to help…

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…

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.…

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

When Mothering Is Not Enough

Should our kids be our whole world? Should we dedicate all our time and effort to raising the most precious people in our lives? Or is it okay to combine motherhood with our own interests? Could there be advantages in using our gifts and pursuing the things that bring us joy not only for us but also for our kids?…

Christian Unschooling: the Foremost Task of a Parent

A few days ago, in my Stories of an Unschooling Family community, I posted these thoughts: A parent does her best to give her child a good education but should concentrating on academic success be her main focus? Perhaps a parent’s most important task is to teach a child about love. Intelligence and academic achievements are highly regarded by the…
Go toTop