unschooling - Page 21

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Deciding to Be Positive about Homeschool Record Keeping

“Hey, girls, come and look at my video!”“It looks wonderful, Mum!” (My daughters know exactly the right words to say!)“Do you like the slideshow? How about the pan and zoom effect? Does that work?” The girls nodded. And, of course, I smiled. I love learning new things. It’s a wonderful feeling gaining a new skill. And it’s great having people…
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Starting Unschooling

Initially, I liked the idea of unschooling so we set off down the unschooling pathway. But it didn’t take me long to discover a few things I didn’t like about this way of life. We ended up moving away, travelling down various side-tracks as I explored other homeschooling philosophies. For a few years, I searched for the perfect way to…
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What I Think Unschooling is All About: the Podcast

I’ve been having trouble finding the right words to express the ideas swirling around inside my head. But instead of worrying about it, I’ve been heading out the door to run along the sandstone tracks that weave their way through our local bush. I’ve also been reading my library books, and knitting some of Gemma-Rose’s hooded cape. I’ve even watched…
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Misconceptions: Unschooling Children are Self-Centred and Inconsiderate

Imagine giving children the freedom to choose. What if they are allowed to follow their own interests, and do whatever they like? What if there are no rules? Perhaps this sounds like a recipe for disaster. Will it produce self-centred and inconsiderate children? A lot of people believe it will. And maybe they’re right. We’ve all heard of children who…
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Misconceptions: Unschooling Children Will Choose Not to Do Difficult Things

I often run down the main fire trail that winds its way through our local bush. The track descends gently at first, but then drops away so steeply I have to take care not to lose my footing. After I have descended 57 metres from my starting elevation, I turn around, ready to make the return journey. It doesn’t take…
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Misconceptions: Unschooling Parents are Lazy

I republished this post after reverting it to draft. I have doubts I expressed my thoughts properly. My intention was to encourage parents, who are thinking about unschooling, not to be put off by claims it’s a lazy way of life.  I fear I was defensive rather than encouraging. Even if the post isn’t well worded, you might like to…
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Should a Child Be Given the Freedom to Choose?

If children are given the freedom to do whatever they want, will they choose to do nothing at all?… Imogen, would you like to discuss this question with me, in this week’s podcast?” My nearly 20-year-old daughter said, “Okay!”, so I grabbed my notebook and we began brainstorming points we could talk about. Soon we had a list of additional…
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How We Unschool Despite Strict Homeschool Regulations

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we didn’t have to answer to anyone and could unschool our children with total freedom? I guess some people are fortunate to be able to do this. But we’re not. In our state of Australia, if we want to homeschool, we have to fulfil certain requirements. Our children are supposed to follow the same syllabus…
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Unschooling Experts, Criticism, and Radical Chore Rosters

Last week, I wrote a blog post called Are You a Proper Unschooler? I scheduled it to publish while we were away on holiday in Canberra. By the time we arrived home, the post had been online for about 12 hours and it hadn’t had many page views at all. I thought, “Oh well, not many people are interested in…
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What is it Like to Be an Unschooling Parent?

Ten Minutes on Thursday I have to admit I failed: Five Minutes on Friday has turned into Ten Minutes on Thursday. I just couldn’t say all I wanted about this week’s topic, in only 5 minutes. Well, maybe I could have, if I’d been organised and used a script. But I chose to chat off the top of my head,…
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Twice Five Minutes on Friday: Does Unschooling Work?

I had a bright idea. A very bright idea. It was a halogen lamp of an idea which solved a problem. Let me explain… I recorded my last video, What is Unschooling? in our family room, which was rather inconvenient for the rest of my family. Because we have an open plan house, they all had to keep very quiet while…
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Five Minutes on Friday: What is Unschooling?

I had an idea. Another one. Is it a good idea? I don’t know! Maybe I can tell you about it… I’ve been pondering the idea of recording a series of videos on basic unschooling topics, each one lasting about 5 minutes. I could call the series, Five Minutes on Friday. I‘d post one a week every Monday. Just joking!…
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