trust - Page 2

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Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents

Does having a simple Christmas sound good? It does to me. This year, like last year and the one before, I wanted to announce that I’m not buying a lot of Christmas presents. I thought about saying that I’m not buying any at all. I didn’t want to think and think until the perfect gift ideas came to mind. I wanted to avoid battling my way around the shops or…
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An Unschooler Talks About Life, Work and Dreams

Perhaps we worry that if we let our kids follow their interests, they won’t gain all the knowledge they will need if they decide to do some kind of tertiary study in the future. How will they get on when the time comes to study at a university or other higher education institution? I have five children who have studied at university level without a problem. Being interested in a…
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When a Child Is No Longer Gripped by a Passion

A friend asked: “Have your kids ever been between interests?” The short answer to that question is yes. There have indeed been times when my kids have lost their enthusiasm for their interests. Their excitement for learning, in general, disappeared. Nothing seemed to grab their attention. They were no longer gripped by a passion. At first, this worried me. But now, having experienced this situation a number of times, I think quiet…
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Difficult Things

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Pam Laricchia from the Living Joyfully with Unschooling website: Would I like to be part of her Exploring Unschooling podcast? As I read the invitation, I felt excited. I’m a fan of Pam’s. I knew it would be good to chat with her. But then, my excitement was overtaken by fear. I suddenly thought of a dozen reasons why I shouldn’t do the interview.…
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The Extraordinary Ordinary Things of Life

I’m at Thomas’ wake. I have his memory box on my knee, and I take out a few photos and pass them to a friend. “He was a chubby baby!” she exclaims. I reply, “He wasn’t really. Those photos were taken at the funeral home. He looked different at the hospital.” I think about this. I remember how much I longed to see Thomas once more at the funeral home…
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Unschoolers Talk About Freedom to Choose

“If children are given the freedom to do whatever they want, will they choose to do nothing at all?” I ask my daughters. Sophie smiles and says, “It’s not possible to do nothing.” “But I’ve heard parents say to their kids, ‘You’ve done nothing today!’” I insist. Imogen joins the conversation: “Perhaps parents don’t value whatever the child has been doing. To them, it’s ‘nothing’. It doesn’t count.” I ask…
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When Unschooling Doesn’t Seem to be Working

We decide to unschool. Everything goes really well. Our kids are learning. Our family bonds are strengthening. Life is full of joy. Then one day, things change. Something happens. Maybe a child makes a mistake. She could choose to go her own way. Do something we’re not happy about. We begin to doubt what we’re doing. We think: Perhaps unschooling doesn’t work after all. Maybe the critics are right: You…
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Parents, Teenagers and Opinions

Why do some parents want to impose their opinions on their children? Do they do this because they care? Perhaps they want their teenagers to benefit from their experience. Prevent them from going down wrong pathways and making mistakes, ones they might have made when they were younger. Maybe it feels safer to force their teenagers to adopt the ideas they think are right rather than let them develop their…
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Unschool Reading: A Slow Learner

It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was helping my daughter Gemma-Rose learn to read. She’d choose a book and we’d sit side-by-side on the sofa and we’d enjoy the story together. Actually, I don’t know if ‘enjoy’ is the right word. Reading was a very slow process. We hardly ever got to the end of a book. I’d think, “Will Gemma-Rose ever read fluently?” which was a very…
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What Do Children Need to Learn?

Here’s another younger unschooler story. My daughter Gemma-Rose was 8 when I wrote this post. Being the youngest child in the family, Gemma-Rose often slipped under my radar as far as teaching her the essential skills of life goes. But did that matter? Regardless of me, did she learn what she needs to know?  A couple of weeks ago, Gemma-Rose thrust her feet towards me and said, “Please can you…
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