Do You Need a Happy List?
I’m at a cafe with my pretend friend Amina, who places her mug of coffee on the table between us, sighs and says, “Unschooling doesn’t guarantee our kids won’t have challenges in life, does it?” “I wish it did,” I reply. “Oh, yes, wouldn’t it be good if our kids sailed through life feeling happy all the time?” “We’ve all…
Put on Your Real-Life Maths Eyes
Lying awake in bed last night, I did some real-life maths: how long was it before I had to get up for Mass? As the sleepless hours ticked by, the answer to that question became smaller and smaller. After I emerged from the bathroom after this morning’s shower, I said, “Andy, we forgot to pick up some money for the…
A Perfect Curriculum or Unschooling?
During our early years of homeschooling, a friend, her eyes alight with excitement, told me about a curriculum she’d just purchased for her children. She described the neatly packaged units of beauty, truth and goodness, which included famous works of art and music and great literature, as well as the basics of a thorough education. My friend’s enthusiasm was contagious.…
Is It Time to Have an Unschool Adventure?
Have you been on an unschooling adventure recently? Perhaps an adventure arrived unexpectedly? Maybe you dropped everything, climbed into your vehicle with your excited kids, and set off on a spur-of-the-moment adventure? Spur-of-the-Moment Adventures Years ago, we had an unexpected whale adventure. It was so good, we’re still talking about it today. I wrote about our memorable day at the…
Helping Kids When Their Interests Are Different to Ours
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The Unschool Challenge: Writing an End-of-the-Year Review
The changeover of the years is an excellent time to examine our lives, isn't it? As Socrates said, An unexamined life is not worth living. Yes, we should think about the year that's just ended. What did we learn? How did we grow? Is our family going in the right direction? Do we need to make some changes? And what…
And Now For Something Completely Different
I’d like to welcome Jay Hvidsten to my blog. Thank you, Jay, for this post! In the 1970’s, British comedy group Monty Python released an entire movie compiled of seemingly unrelated skits. The tagline as well as the title was “And Now For Something Completely Different”. Looking back over the years and miles between our different seasons of life, this…
Getting on Track: Introducing Janelle and Her Unschool Story
I’m delighted to welcome Janelle and her family to my blog! After sending out a plea for help, Janelle contacted me, saying: I believe we have somewhat always been unschoolers or lifeschoolers under the guise of eclectic homeschooling. As our children aged, I thought education or learning should become more rigid or something but that has made them hate school.…
Do You Have an Anti-Library?
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Santa, Books, and Expectations
Desires and Expectations Are desires good? What about expectations? Are these about control? Can our expectations lead to disappointment and spoil our family celebrations? Should we burden our kids with our expectations? Do our worries and concerns affect our kids’ confidence? Should the only expectation we have is that they’ll be okay? Challenges Should we set our kids’ challenges to…
Perhaps I Shouldn’t Have Told You about Our Typical Unschooling Day
In my last podcast, I spoke about our typical unschooling day. Every day we get up early, do our chores as a team, and then say prayers together before getting on with the work of the day. We eat regular meals, sitting around the same…
Chores and Our Typical Unschooling Day
The other morning, after we’d done the morning chores and said prayers together, I asked my girls what they wanted to do. “Can we go to the post office?” asked Gemma-Rose. “I want to post my letters.” My eleven-year-old daughter has been writing a lot…
Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case
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How Children Learn According to Sophie
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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,…
Books That Make Us Cry
On the last day of the last school term for 2019, I sent a text message to my husband, Andy: We just got a…
Brothers But Different
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Real Life Maths: Designing a Dream Home
“Anyone want to watch Grand Designs?” I shout. My family appears. “We do!” We turn on the TV, slip a disc into the DVD…
A Baby’s Birth and Death, and Christmas (Again!)
It was our son Thomas’ birthday on Sunday. The next day was his death day. We’ve been remembering these two days for the last…
Sitting Quietly: Unschool Bits and Pieces
Kids Sitting Quietly in Church The other day, I was asked: How do you get young, unschooled children to sit quietly, without disturbing anyone,…
An Irresistible Invitation to an Unschooling Voyage of Discovery
Isn’t it wonderful to receive an invitation? Someone has chosen us! There are all kinds of invitations, from coffee dates to weddings. I love…
Do You Need to Follow an Older Unschooler? (Part 2)
I choose the photos I share online with care, looking for ones with good, flattering light. I also need my photo smile to be…
My ‘Bad’ Homeschooling Days
Some years ago I offended a friend. She was telling me about her bad homeschooling day. I should have offered some empathy but I…