More Unschooling Math/s – What Does Learning Mathematics Naturally Look Like
When my kids were younger, I’d search for maths associated with their passions. I’d Google ‘maths and Jane Austen’ or ‘maths and art history’ or ‘maths and Shakespeare’. I discovered loads of unschool maths and interesting facts that I made into notes to include in our homeschool records book. I shared this story and other unschool maths ones in the…
Why Parents Should Help with the Family Chores
When I was at school, my friend Beatrix never had to do any chores. She didn’t have to wash dishes, clean bathrooms, or sweep floors. I wonder if she had to clean her bedroom. Beatrix’s mother said that once she was grown up and had a home of her own, she’d have to do all the chores. She wouldn’t have…
Does Respecting Older People Begin with Respecting Kids?
Whenever someone says I look young for my age, I grin. I accept the compliment. But recently, I’ve wondered: what’s wrong with looking my real age? Do I need to appear younger than I am? There’s an older woman who sits in the front pew at Mass. One day, when the service was over, I couldn’t help but overhear…
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…
Do Unschooled Kids (and Parents) Need Time Away From Their Devices?
If we conclude that good mental, physical, and spiritual health requires silence, nature, real people, and exercise, what does this mean for our unschooling kids? Should we limit their screen time? Should we force them off their devices and make them exercise and spend time with us? Perhaps we should announce we’re having a screen-free day, and everyone must spend…
The Discomfort of Letting Go and Allowing Our Kids (and Ourselves) to Grow
We organise life so we’re not challenged too much. We don’t want to stray outside our comfort zone because that could be painful. We say no instead of yes to our kids, not wanting them to go to parties at night, ride their bikes on the road, run through the bush alone, or learn to drive. We don’t want thoughts…
Unschooling: Trusting the Process and Letting Go of Control
“I kind of love my title for this podcast. It’s very ambitious. Let’s fix it all!” And so begins another Ladies Fixing the World conversation in which Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd and I dive deep into unschooling, sharing our thoughts and experiences. In S2E4, we discuss Unschooling: Trusting the Process and Letting Go. Want to know more…
Some Not-Your-Average Maths Websites for Unschool Strewing
Do you strew maths resources for your kids? I used to. I offered books, games, links to websites, and videos because I was legally required to offer maths learning opportunities to my children, and they protested when I presented them with traditional workbooks. They even rejected attractive online interactive maths programs. So, I hunted for other ways to introduce my…
An Unschool Challenge: Name Conversations
It seems to me that names can lead to many interesting conversations and much learning. While we’re sharing our name stories, we connect with the members of our family, present and past. We might learn more about each other, different places, historical events, books and a lot more. Sometimes choosing a name for a child can be delightful. Other times,…
When Parents Want What Is Best for Them, Not Their Unschooling Kids
I stretch out my legs in front of me and immediately realise I’ve brought something back from my recent dog-walking expedition in the wet bush. I leap to my feet and scare Quinn by screaming, “Get off me!” A leech is feasting on my blood. I try flicking the leech off, but I know this won’t work: it’s firmly attached…
Unschooling Teenagers: What They Think and What They Do
Have you ever wondered what unschooling teenagers are like? What kind of people are they? What do they think? What do they do? Have you ever googled the words ‘unschooling teenager’ to find out more? If you have done a search using those words, you might…
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 all aspects of life. What do you do next? Perhaps you say to your kids, “We’re going to try radical unschooling.…
Pi and Tea, and Our Dog’s Tea Bag Collection
Our puppy Nora has a tea bag collection. She keeps it under the conifer tree at the bottom of our garden. Every day she…
A Very Resource Full Week: Rescued Paintings, Graphs, and Expensive Cats
At the beginning of the week, I said, “What shall we do today, Gemma-Rose?” My youngest daughter replied, “How about some maths?” Maths? I…
Excited About Maths
“Hey! I’ve found an interesting website,” I said. “Do you girls want to have a look?” “What’s it about?” asked Gemma-Rose suspiciously, and when…
How to Start a Great Art Conversation
On Monday, I plug my mic into my computer, open Audacity, hit ‘record’, and start to talk. For 40 minutes, I discuss a current…
Unschool: Aqua Waves and Awe
Be Curious The aqua waves rise high and then fall, rolling towards the shore as we watch with awe and wonder: why is the…
From Unschooling to University and Work (Part 2)
Ten Minutes on Thursday Last Thursday I posted the first part of From Unschooling to University and Work, a video interview with my 22…
Stories About Connection from Radical Unschool Love
In this week’s podcast, I’m sharing a few stories that can be found in my book, Radical Unschool Love: A Teenager’s Thoughts Learning Right…
How Much Is Enough?
Once upon a time I used to worry about how much learning my children were doing each day. “Can we go now, Mum? Have…
Examining An Unschooling Life
I drop a peppermint teabag into my favourite glass mug, add boiling water, and carry it to the living room. Opening the blinds so…
The Photography Girls Head into the Bush
The other week while the girls and I were at the lake, we spied a track that disappeared enticingly into the bush. I promised…
Unschooling Siblings Working Together
My daughter Imogen’s latest music video features her three younger siblings, Charlotte, Sophie, and Gemma-Rose. The four girls sing the Enya song, Wild Child.…