When New Ideas Make Us Feel Uncomfortable

I’ve had times in my life when other people have presented me with new ideas and I haven’t wanted to know about them. I hear what they’re saying, but I don’t want to consider the ideas too deeply. Why would…

Reclaiming an Unschooling Sense of Adventure

I’ve been thinking about maths… high school maths. The other day I wrote about my unschooling high schooler. I told you how my sixteen year old daughter Charlotte feels like she is drowning in maths. The exercises for each of…

A Bit of Murder in Our Typical Unschooling Day

“Miss Scarlett did it in the conservatory with the dagger,” Gemma-Rose announces to her older sisters. Miss Scarlett, the conservatory and the dagger: Those words belong to my childhood. Many years ago, I loved playing Cluedo with my own sisters.…

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…

When Excitement for Learning Appears to Disappear

It’s very exciting watching a child who is gripped by a passion. But what about those times when interest in learning seems to disappear? I like to get up early. I leave my bed while everyone else is sleeping, feel…

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…
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My Unschooling Books

Parents and Kids

When We Fail

“I didn’t feel right from the moment I woke up,” says Amina. “I knew it was going to be a bad day.” My friend…

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 Isn’t Freedom Gone Wild: Why Choices Matter More Than Ideals

My husband Andy returned to work today after two weeks at home. Holiday time is over. We’ve now moved into term time. A whole term of possibility days stretches before me. I’m free to do whatever I like with my time while Andy is at school. My eyes light up with delight. But then I remember there are many…

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…

Can Christians Unschool?

Can Christians unschool? We’re Christian unschoolers. Maybe you’re Christian unschoolers too? There are lots of us living this way of life. But are we doing the right thing? Or are we side-stepping our responsibilities when we choose to unschool? Are we choosing the easy, lazy path? I often hear of parents who are struggling with homeschooling. Their kids aren’t doing…
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