unschooling - Page 2

L

Love or Fear? What Guides Our Lives?

There are so many things we could fear. We might be too afraid to send our kids to school if we listen to the loud voices telling us how bad traditional education is. We might choose homeschooling because of that fear. If we decide to homeschool, we’re still not safe. Fears could follow us. We might be too afraid to…
W

Words Matter

Yesterday, I sang happy birthday to a friend in a video message despite thinking I have a terrible voice. “I’ll sing the low version,” I announced before plucking up my courage, taking a deep breath, and attempting the first note. My low voice is the one I use when I’m messing around with my family, pretending to be a bass…
W

What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up?

“When I grow up, I’m going to be a YouTube Shorts video creator,” I tell Amina. My pretend friend raises her eyebrows and says, “But I thought you wanted to be a graphic designer.” “I could be a graphic designer who makes YouTube Shorts.” “When I was a child, I wanted to be a fashion designer,” says Amina. “I loved…
D

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…
P

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

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.…
A

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…
G

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.…
P

Preventing Childhood Trauma with Unconditional Love

Childhood trauma can follow us into adulthood, affecting what we do, how we feel about ourselves and how we relate to others. We can trace many of our adult problems back to something that happened as we were growing up. If we understand this, we’ll protect our kids, the best we can, from anything that might affect them adversely. But…
1 2 3 4 … 26
Go toTop