Why I’m Content to Be a Blogger and Not an Instagram Influencer
I deleted IG. What will I do without social media? Can I blog without it? Is it okay to forget my silly dream of being a famous, unschooling influencer?…
How to Beat Time Who Jolts Us Forward Without Permission
Time moves us forward without our permission. If we don’t want to look back with regret, we should stop worrying about the future and focus on the present moment, extracting joy from each unschool day before it disappears.…
Who Would We Be Without Unschooling?
Unschooling changes parents as well as kids. We learn, face life’s challenges with courage, soak up the joys, do things we never expected. We grow and become different people from those we were when we first set out on our homeschooling adventures. Who would we be without unschooling?…
Some Strange and Interesting Bookish Questions
If you could have only half of a book, would you prefer the first half or the second one? My daughter Imogen and I discuss this question after I tell her a friend gave me too much money for a copy of one of my Angels novels: “She gave me…
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 fly away north. Time is moving on. This morning, I…
Need Some Unschooling Encouragement and Ideas to Ponder?
I chatted with Cecilie Conrad and Sandra Dodd this morning via Zoom. We were recording episode 6 of the second season of Da Ladies Fixing the World podcast. I’ve known Sandra for many years, much longer than she’s known me. A long time ago, I googled unschooling and discovered Sandra…
Unschooling: A Slow but Productive Way of Life
My beautician and I have thought-provoking conversations. Yesterday, while Bonnie was taming and tinting my ageing eyebrows, making them look fierce, we chatted about time. We started with photography and how phones have simplified the process of capturing images. After buying an iPhone 15 Pro Max—I saved up for it…
Unschool: Be Brave, Adventurous and Just a Bit Daring
Sometimes we have to be brave, adventurous and daring. We can’t remain on the sidelines of life where it feels safe. We’ve got to get involved, take up challenges, live life to the full, and not let fear hold us back. But what about the danger? Most times, we inflate…
Strewing to Share Passions and Keep Our Bonds Strong
Driving past a cafe in town, I spied a blue racing car. “I need a photo of the car to send to Callum!” I cried. So Andy turned the car around and headed back to the cafe. As we parked the car, my husband said, “Do you want to jump…
Imposing Rules on Children: Is There a Better Way?
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
Unschooling: Learning the Important Things Before Time Runs Out
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
Peering out of the living room window, Quinn spots the postman approaching our house. She barks deep and loud. I abandon my iPad, tossing it on the sofa, push my [...]
I complained about last year’s Christmas tree: “It hasn’t got enough colour!” So, I ordered a string of red lights to brighten up this year’s tree. When they arrived in [...]
The other day, after my husband had washed the dinner dishes, I returned to the kitchen and discovered everything was clean and tidy except for the sink. A pile of [...]
Thinking Critically About Unschooling
The other day I was talking about obstacles to unschooling. I said, “So I wonder if there are things about unschooling that bother you,…
Unschooling and Connections: How Learning Is All About Creating a Web of Understanding
When I finished my university degree, I threw all my botany and biochemistry lecture notes and books into the garbage bin with relief. And…
A Triple Celebration
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
The Extraordinary Ordinary Things of Life
I’m at Thomas’ wake. I have his memory box on my knee, and I take out a few photos and pass them to a…
How to Respond to ‘Unlovable’ Kids and Cats
Poppy died, and I cried despite not liking the cat. Poppy was a grumpy animal. She was messy and unkempt, preferring not to groom…
Focusing on the Smaller But More Important Things in Life
In my last post I said: What am I going to do next? What are my plans? What’s ahead for me? Someone at the…
Is Unconditional Love at the Heart of Unschooling?
Recently, while travelling to town with two of my daughters, we talked about unschooling and how it’s impossible to say to another family, “Unschool…
When Children Move Out of an Unschool Home
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
Radical Unschooling
Are you thinking about radical unschooling? Maybe you see the benefits of educational unschooling and now you’re thinking about letting unschooling spill over into…
Unschooling Imposters and Difficult Days
After a few quiet weeks – life has been busy – I’m back with a new podcast, episode 97. It’s called Unschooling Imposters and…
How Well Do We Love?
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…