Reluctant Spouse
What does my husband Andy think of unschooling? Was he always in favour of it? Or did I have to convince him that unschooling is the right thing to do? Parents frequently ask me these questions especially when their spouses or partners don’t like the idea of unschooling.
So was Andy always supportive of unschooling? Yes, but he didn’t realise we were unschooling. I didn’t either. We lived this way of life for a long time before it occurred to us that we are unschoolers. We arrived at unschooling in a gradual and natural way, and the word ‘unschooling’ was never mentioned. As far as we were concerned, we were just ‘doing our own thing.’
Maybe the word ‘unschooling ‘ puts people off because it gives them preconceived ideas that aren’t necessarily true. So I’m wondering if it’s better to talk about what’s working and what’s not, what we want for our kids and what we want to avoid, our children’s hopes and dreams and how we can help them achieve them, what is important for our family… instead of announcing a desire to unschool. Unschooling can sound like a weird idea, can’t it? But there’s certainly nothing wrong with nurturing our kids’ talents, being a good example ourselves, enjoying learning, being curious, accepting and loving our kids, and becoming the people we are meant to be.
Of course, these days Andy and I use the word unschooling all the time. We’re not afraid of it because we can see the results of living this way of life.
What Do I Think of School?
This is another question that I’m asked from time to time, probably because Andy is a school teacher as well as an unschooling father. I wrote my answer in a blog post: What Do I Think of School?
Reluctant Spouse Podcast
I don’t have a reluctant spouse story to share with you (because I never had one!), but you could listen to Zac and Heather Lake’s story. In episode 128 of the Exploring Unschooling podcast, they chat with Pam Laricchia about how Zac went from reluctant spouse to unschooling advocate.
Shakespeare Comics
If you like the idea of Shakespeare stick figure comics, take a look at the Shakespeare section of the Good Tickle Brain website!
A Writing Podcast
Do you need a weekly dose of writing inspiration? You might find the Writing Excuses podcast helpful and interesting. The episodes are short and fast-paced and include a writing exercise suggestion. If you’ve always wanted to write a novel but haven’t known where to start, you could work your way through Season 10:
We set out to do something new in 2015 and organized the season as if it were a novel-writing master class you could take at a fine university somewhere. Each month was devoted to a step in the process of creating a novel. The month-by-month breakout is listed below.
February: Characters
March: Story Structure
April: Beginnings
May: Worldbuilding
June: Scenes
July: Middles
August: Pacing
September: Plot Twists
October: Endings
November: Revision
December: Show Your Work
How Play Helped My Daughter Write a Novel
Earlier this week, I wrote a post about play: Is it Really Okay for Kids to Play All Day?
My daughter Imogen says that her childhood games helped develop her creative thinking skills and her imagination. All those long days of free play led to the publication of her first novel, The Crystal Tree. If you haven’t already done so, why not check it out? It’s available on Amazon as a paperback or Kindle ebook.
And if you’re interested in writing, Imogen blogs at Write, Rewrite, Read. She’s also on Instagram!
Siblings Working Together
You probably know that my girls love working together. They’re sharing their talents as they help each other follow their dreams. If you listened to last week’s podcast episode 129: Unschoolers Earning Money, Following Passions, you will know that Imogen and Sophie are now working together in a cafe. They’re earning money to support their interests, hoping that one day their interests will support them.
I didn’t make a podcast this week, but I’m hoping to get together with Sophie in the next couple of days and record episode 130. I rather like the idea of having a teenage co-host. I hope you like this idea too!
When Kids Won’t Cooperate
Talking of working together, I wonder what you think of the ideas in this article: When Kids Won’t Cooperate. It was written by
So, here’s the skinny on kids & cooperation. I realized at one point that when I complain that one of my children isn’t cooperating, what I usually mean is “my child won’t listen to me” or “my child won’t do what I tell him”. I can become frustrated and angry when my kids won’t “get with the program” especially if I’m in a rush or distracted. I’ve learned that I need to keep the big picture in mind: what I want for my child is for her to experience life as a gift, and this means I protect her dignity at all costs. I could threaten, scream, or bribe my way to cooperation — eventually, these tactics will work and our child will do what we want, but the cost is high. The cost is our child’s sense of security and her sense of connection to us.
That’s all my bits and pieces for this week! I’d love to hear what you’ve been doing recently. Please stop by and say hello!
