books

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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 for weeks—I no longer drag my DSLR camera around with…
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When an Unschooler Feels Like Taking a Course

Do you ever feel like taking a course, reading a textbook, or following someone else’s instructions to learn something? Do you want someone to say, “Follow my plan, and when you get to the end, you’ll know how to bake bread, fix a car, understand classical music, draw a face or write a story”? I usually learn bit by bit,…
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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…
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Crime Novels and Priestly Detective Rules

While browsing the books in the library, looking for a new author to read, a man thrust a novel towards me, saying, “You should try Baldacci. I love his books!” A few weeks later, our libraries closed, declared unsafe spaces by those who thought they knew best. We were isolated from our source of unread books. Fortunately, Big W was…
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The Stories of Our Lives

In this episode of the Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast, I discuss a range of topics from unschooling and homeschool record-keeping to generating writing ideas and dealing with social media distractions. I also share some resources, including Tiago Forte's book, Building a Second Brain, and Matthew Dicks' Storyworthy. If you're interested in unschooling, homeschooling, or just love listening to…
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Social Media, Hooks, Distractions, and Books

My daughter Imogen and I aren’t big social media people. For some reason, we find platforms such as Instagram and Facebook a bit overwhelming. Could that have something to do with our introverted natures? Often, we disappear. But, after a while, we try again. Maybe we have to. Because social media is where everyone hangs out. It’s where people are…
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Unschool, Martian, and Risqué Stories

A few days ago, we all got very excited when a box of Frost Hands landed on our doorstep. My daughter Imogen opened it, eager to see the print version of her latest novel for the first time. Would it look good? We all agree that Frost Hands looks fabulous. My daughter Charlotte designed its cover and we love it.…
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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 bushfire emergency warning. A few minutes later, Andy phoned me and I said, “The fire isn’t far away.” It was burning in our neighbouring village. My voice wobbled as I added, “Everyone has been told it’s…
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It’s Not a Periscope 4: Morning Tea and Library Books

Every day at 10 am we drop everything and have morning tea. But we don’t always drink tea. Sometimes we have coffee or hot chocolate or even a cold drink. Confusing? If you have a morning tea custom, you’ll understand! Today I’m inviting you to visit me for morning tea. You don’t need to bring anything to eat. Sophie has…
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