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 we done enough school work for today?” How much is ‘enough’? I used to look at my records book. Did it have enough written in it? I used to look at the clock? Was there time…
Some Bits and Pieces…
The other day I was looking at a letter Gemma-Rose had written to a friend. It was long and detailed and her spelling was almost perfect. “When did you learn to spell so well?” I asked. Gemma-Rose shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. I do read a lot, you know. Maybe I remember what the words look like.” Well, she…
Nurturing Independent Learners
To me, unschoolers are independent learners. At least mine are. What further can I say? Because one sentence isn’t much of an article, I decided to do a little research to see what other people have to say about this topic. I did some Googling, but before I found what I was looking for, I got side-tracked by an article…
Suzie Andres Chats about Unschooling
Last week, Suzie Andres emailed: “Just wanted to let you know that tomorrow… I’ll be on Judy Dudich’s blog/talk radio show to speak about unschooling…” So I tuned in, eager to hear what Suzie had to say. I was also eager to hear Suzie’s voice. Although we are friends, we have never met. I soon realised I am pronouncing Suzie’s…
Having the Confidence to Ignore the Opinions of Others
Gemma-Rose is eight years old, and she still can’t tell the time. Well, that’s not quite true. If I put my watch in front of her and say, “What’s the time?” she’ll screw up her face and look unhappy for a while, and then eventually she’ll give me the correct answer. But her calculating will be accompanied by a lot…
Giving My Unschoolers a Maths Test
I had this brilliant idea. Well, I thought it was a pretty good idea until this morning. It was all to do with maths. How do you prove your children are covering the required maths syllabus, and achieving the necessary outcomes, when they don’t use a formal maths program? I’ve been thinking about this for a while. My husband is…
How the Girls Are Going to Write Novels in Only One Month
The girls can’t wait. They’ve been planning for weeks. There’s only seven days to go…. until… NaNoWriMo. NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. I heard about this yearly online event on Kari’s blog, Overflow, last year, when she announced her intention to write a 50 000 word novel in one month. Write a novel in only one month? Could…
Tired and Cranky and Lacking Enthusiasm
I was awake nice and early this morning. Too early. I lay awake at 4 am thinking… How will I be able to run if I don’t get more sleep? How will I get through the day? But of course, sleep never happens when we most want it. So I got up this morning, a Monday morning, and I didn’t…
Forcing a Child to Do What He is Afraid to Do
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…
Resolving to Go on More Adventures
This afternoon I had to drive to town to buy a few essentials: cheese and biscuits, wine and coke. Andy and I are off to our parish’s trivia event tonight, and we need to take along a few things to nibble while we exercise our brains trying to answer the questions. I wanted to make the most of the 40…
Fan Mail and Lots of Unschooling Thoughts
This morning I felt very discouraged. Perhaps it was the result of being overtired. I don’t know. It’s strange how grey the world looks when we’re tired. Earlier today, nothing excited me. I didn’t want to blog or podcast. Sharing unschooling didn’t seem important. All…
Reassessing
It’s the first day of the official school holidays so my husband Andy is home from school for two weeks. He’s looking forward to resting after his busy term teaching. He got his holiday off to a good start by sleeping in a little later…
Unschool: Experiencing Energy and Gravity
Do parents need to teach kids about such things as forces, gravity, density, heat conduction, friction, the seasons, energy, and life cycles? Or will…
How to Get Children to Do Their ‘School Work’
I often hear parents chatting together about how they can’t get their kids to do their school work. What do they do? Keep pushing…
Real Life Family Unschool Maths
A few years ago, when my daughter Sophie was 10, she started to say, “I’m no good at maths. I hate it!” At the…
Strange Goings-On in the Cemetery
I wonder if we’re the first people ever to film a music video in our local cemetery? Has anyone else ever stood next to…
Helping a Child Go Where She Wants to Go
Not so long ago, we had a big running week. Day after day, we rolled out of bed early and hurried down to the…
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…
Turning My Teenager’s Unschool Learning into Homeschool Records
How do we turn our unschoolers’ learning into homeschool records notes? What do we write? What educational language can we use? If we haven’t…
Today I Saw Thomas
it’s our son Thomas’ birthday. This morning, the girls and I visited the cemetery. When we arrived, we saw people preparing for a burial.…
What if My Child is ‘Ordinary’?
Occasionally, I receive an email that goes something like this: Sue, I’ve been reading your blog and enjoying your stories about your daughters. They…
The Fear of Failing
Last Wednesday morning, just after sunrise, we headed into the bush to record another music video for Imogen. “What song are you singing today,…
Knowing Ourselves: Do We Need to Change?
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.…