Wanted:
Parents who are passionate about sharing unschooling with the world.
Do you like writing and speaking?
Are you willing to tell some family stories?
Do you enjoy pondering new ideas?
Are you continually learning and growing?
Is unconditional love important to you?
Do you enjoy my blog and podcast?
Are we kindred spirits?
Would you like to work together?
For the past year or more, I’ve been wondering if I need to move in a new direction. Now that all my kids are grown up and I have no more stories to tell, perhaps I should leave unschooling behind, let go of my blog and podcast, and go do something else.
But recently, I had another idea. Perhaps it’s not me who needs to move on. Could it be my blog that needs to change direction? Could I stay here and continue blogging and podcasting with the help of other unschoolers? Perhaps what my blog and I need is new input: fresh ideas and stories from other people.
So this is what I’m thinking:
What if I included contributions from you on my blog? Maybe we could collaborate on my podcast? What if I helped you promote your own work?
What if we worked together, sharing our ideas and enthusiasm, offering each other friendship and support?
Would my blog and podcast grow in value? Would I help you in return? Would we learn together?
Would I feel less alone? Would I still have a place in this online unschooling world?
So what do you think? Are my ideas, experiences and aims in line with yours? Are we kindred spirits wanting to share love with the world? Do you think we could work with each other? If we did, would we end up somewhere unexpected and amazing?
Shall we set out on a new adventure together?
Photos
I’d love to sit at a cafe table with you, drinking coffee and discussing ideas. My daughter Imogen frequently does that with her writing friends. They gather together in Sydney to organise their NaNoWriMo events, plan book fairs and encourage each other with their writing projects. Collaboration is good, isn’t it? Together, we have better ideas. We achieve more. We feel supported. Together, we could open up a world of possibilities!
Please stop by…
… and share your thoughts. (Silence is discouraging!) Even if you don’t feel able to work with me, perhaps you have some additional ideas you’d like to offer. Maybe you’d just like to say hello!
Our family is a whirlwind of Chaos. My youngest, 14 is unschooled due to his crushing anxiety and his intelligence at school from an early age. It took pulling him out of school for him to grow and thrive. I certainly am still growing and learning, the high school years as a homeschooler are intimidating!
I think you might be on to something with this new idea. There are so few resources for unschooling, I feel terribly alone sometimes. Perhaps facilitating others stories and experiences would be a great way to share your years of experience and touch the lives of new unschoolers….. In any case, good luck.
Thank you so much for sharing your story! Would you like to write about your experiences with your unschooling teenager for my blog? You could do it anonymously. Perhaps you’d like to share any concerns or questions you have. Maybe we could begin some conversations, inviting everyone to share their stories and ideas. Connect people together so no one feels alone. I hope other parents in a similar situation to yours stop by. I’m so glad you left a comment. Thank you. I hope we stay in touch!
This sounds brilliant and what an awesome new direction, I’ve read your blogs for the past few years and they’re so insightful. We’re a family of 5 and relatively new to this journey, I navigate it mostly alone and my oldest is 6. I fell in love with unschoooling during 2020-21 and I love the freedom it gives us, and the deep dive into my own limits so that I can show up for my kids.
Thank you for all your sharing, it brings so much value.
Rohana,
It was a delight to receive your comment. Thank you! Your words make me smile. Perhaps this new idea will work!
Hearing a little bit of your story made me wonder if we could share such things as how we arrived at unschooling and what we love about it. What if I proposed a topic or question and invited readers to write something? If the responses are short, I could include them in a special section of a regular post. If they were long, they could have a post of their own. Would you be interested in helping me in that way? Contributions could be anonymous. I will have to add a contact button to my blog so everyone can email me directly rather than leave contributions as comments. I might do that later today.
I’m glad you find my blog valuable. Maybe working together we can make it better!
I absolutely love the idea of sharing and collaborating in some way. We all come to unschooling in different ways and the beauty of it is that it looks so different for each family. This has so much potential for conversation, it would be a great conversation.
Definitely interested. Thank you 💕
Rohana,
You have a blog! How did I miss that when I received your first comment? Anyway, I’m excited and looking forward to reading it. I found these words in one of your posts:
‘…you are loved, you are important, you are enough.’
Oh yes!
I’m so pleased we’re going to work together. Please contact me via my new contact button (in my top menu bar) with anything you’d like to share. It could be a paragraph or a whole post. I will appreciate your contributions very much!
Sue hello!
I’ve been following your blog for years – it’s one of the only things that lands in my inbox that I actually read!
And I so appreciate you because actually your stories helped my family so much in our early years!
I now support other families via s small mentorship group and write in my own blog! And I’d love to collaborate with you in some way!
My kids are 9, 11, 13, 15 and we also travel.
Sarah,
I’m so pleased to meet you and your family! And I’m glad you read my blog. Thank you!
I’m sure we could do great things together. Yes, let’s collaborate! I’d love to hear more about your mentorship group and any other things you’re involved with. Do you have any favourite topics you enjoy writing about? Perhaps you have a list of questions or concerns that are raised frequently by the families you mentor?
I tried following your link to your blog, but the page wouldn’t open. I wonder if that’s my problem or if there’s some other reason I can’t access your blog. I’ll try again later.
Let’s talk again soon. Thank you so much for responding to my cry for help!
We have 3 unschooled kids, 9, 7, and 3 years old. We’d love to share our experiences, but most would find them boring. We’re just a regular (lol) family trying to do what’s best for our family.
Maybe we label our family lives as boring because they’re familiar to us. Other people’s experiences seem exotic in comparison, don’t they? But we all lead such individual, unique lives influenced by our family members, the places we live, our interests and thoughts and ideas.
Following your link, I discovered you have a podcast and blog, and you shared you have three young children. I’d love to hear more about you and your family and the things that are important to you. I’m sure other people would enjoy hearing about your experiences too.
Thank you so much for stopping by. I’m glad you left a comment!
Hi Sue, I love your podcast and stories! I think this is such a fun idea! I’ve graduated 2 boys (primarily unschooling) and now I have a 10 year old daughter that I’m doing the same with. I have lots of stories! I will be starting a podcast soon and would love to have you on it. I would love to chat ❤️
Olivia,
I’m excited you have lots of unschooling stories! A podcast is a fabulous way to share ideas and experiences. Please let me know when you create your podcast. If you’d like to write something for my blog, please let me know. You could tell my readers about your podcast adventure as well as share some stories. Thank you so much for responding to my blog post!
That’s exciting that you’re including material from other people. I love your ideas on unschooling and your book and I’ve used some of your ideas, but I’ve never been able to completely unschool. I would say I’m eclectic, but I encourage and allow my children to follow their passions and interests as much as possible. I look forward to seeing your collaboration work
I just answered another wonderful comment from you on another of my blog posts, the one about pushing kids to aim high. In my reply, I linked to this post and asked if you’d like to collaborate with me, not realising you already know about my idea. I’m getting in a muddle. My mind has been all over the place recently because of personal concerns. Sorry!
I’m glad you like the idea of me including material from other people. I’d love to include something from you! Perhaps you could share your eclectic days or write about the reasons you don’t completely unschool. That would be very interesting.
Thank you so much for stopping by and for reading my book!
I just recently found your blog and wanted to say thank you for sharing your journey of unschooling with your daughters and the beauty of it all. I currently just pulled my 13 year old daughter out of public school and wanting to do the unschooling path. The rest of my kids are still in school so she’s the only one in our family right now starting this journey. I’ve dreamt of homeschooling, unschooling my kids for years and have read so many books, podcasts, facebook groups and more to learn more about unschooling and how everyone does it their own way and it’s so beautiful. However, here I am now and thought I’d be more excited but yet fears unexpected are bubbling up because my daughter doesn’t want to do anything really at all. I’ve tried to be so encouraging and give her space these first few weeks, just drumming up ideas of things she’s interested in,etc. and getting her book series she’s into,etc but I can tell she’s just down. She’s voiced she likes not having to go to school but missing a few friends who are obviously in the school she left. She’s not happy with me or my husband being only ones around all day and trying to encourage her to delve into interests or things to be in community with her friends outside of school. But she’s turning down pretty much everything. Any advice? She’s always been a homebody, especially since school drained the good energy out of her, however now I feel she’s got all this freedom and time and even with suggestions she just doesn’t know. I’m worried that I’ll have to give up the dream to unschool her and maybe my other kids because she’s been in public school so long its conditioned her so much. Thank you for your time and advice you have!
Lisa,
It’s hard settling into something new, isn’t it? We have big hopes and dreams, and when they aren’t fulfilled quickly, we start to be afraid and question what we’re doing. It sounds like you really want to unschool but are wondering if it will work with your family, especially your 13-year-old daughter.
Yes, an unschooling life is beautiful, but it’s not perfect. Life has its ups and downs regardless of the way we choose to live. We all have to face challenges. Also our kids’ needs change as they grow, and so we’re continually assessing and adapting what we’re doing. We work through some problems, finding solutions but, unfortunately, sometimes situations arise that can’t be resolved perfectly. Finding friends could be one of these. I think my youngest daughter would have liked more friends, but she didn’t want to go to school. I don’t think school was the answer anyway because I doubt she would have found kindred spirit friends there. Where we live presented a problem too because we live away from the city with less opportunities to meet up with like-minded people.
Maybe you’ve already thought about joining a homeschooling group in your area. We tried doing this. We never met any other unschoolers, but we enjoyed the meetings for a while. Does your daughter have any special interests that could connect her with others? Perhaps the scouts or a sporting or volunteer group? My children joined St John Ambulance. Could your daughter meet up with her school friends after school or at the weekends? Perhaps you know some adults who could mentor your daughter, sharing their friendship and skills.
Connecting with other teens who unschool might inspire your daughter in her own learning adventures. Could you look online for unschool teens groups? Or find some books you could read together? I listed some in my post, Could Unschooling Be Exactly What Teens Need to Do?
https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/could-unschooling-be-exactly-what-teens-need-to-do/
I think we’re all happier when our kids are busy and obviously productive. We worry if they look like they’re not achieving much. Maybe the problem is our expectations. We expect learning to look a certain way, and when it doesn’t match up to our ideas, we assume our kids aren’t learning anything. I wonder how your daughter is filling her days. You said she’s not interested in the things you find for her. Does she read, watch YouTube and movies, or play video games? Do you spend lots of time chatting together and enjoying each other’s company? Is your daughter learning important things that don’t involve facts and figures?
Sometimes it takes a while for kids to find their passions and get excited about learning. If we don’t pressure them, I’m sure they’ll eventually discover things that interest them. Do you have passions? Are you a curious person? Do you get excited about learning new things? A parent’s example can make a huge difference. I’m sure many kids think they have to learn because they’re school-aged. It’s what kids must do. They have no choice but to learn. But learning is for everyone, isn’t it? Learning is a natural thing to do. Life is full of learning!
I wonder if you have to fulfil any homeschool registration requirements. Do you have to provide evidence that your daughter is learning? If you do, you might feel anxious because you haven’t got much to write in your homeschool records book at the moment. Could you look at your daughter’s days with new eyes? Write down all the things she’s doing, including any conversations you have together. Then look for the learning. It might not look the same as formal learning, but it will be there.
I have a lot of posts on this blog about translating unschool learning into formal educational language. There are also some challenges on this topic in my book The Unschool Challenge. Have you seen my books? Maybe The Unschool Challenge will give you lots of ideas to get started with unschooling and understand how it works.
https://www.amazon.com/Unschool-Challenge-Stories-Unschooling-Family-ebook/dp/B0BW9WXSSB?ref_=ast_author_dp
Lisa, I hope some of the ideas I’ve shared helps you and your daughter. It’s been good to chat with you!
I have just happened upon your blog. We are a homeschooling family. I have 5 children from 16 down to 10. I would say we have unschooled or lifeschooled under the guise of eclectic homeschooling for years but now as of a few days ago we are interest led unschoolers. I don’t know what this will all look like but I’m willing to share our journey as it begins or as the case may be, continues. I will be checking out all you offer as we being this journey.
Janelle,
I’m excited you’d like to share your family’s journey as you transition to unschooling! Perhaps we can chat further via email. I’d love to get to know you and your family. Thank you so much for stopping by!
I think this idea is a great one! I’m not sure I have much to contribute, unless it’s to show how messy this journey can be. I suppose “determination” even when things seem to fall apart all around me is something I’m good at. It’s probably really just called stubbornness, or head-strong. But at the very least, even if I don’t have anything to contribute, I’m glad you’ve come up with this idea because an unschooling/blogging world without you in it would be a real loss. Yours is still the only blog I find truly helpful all around and the only email subscription I actually read.
I’ve been thinking very seriously about starting a blog for a while now, but I always get hung up on two things, how to actually set it up effectively and wondering if I actually have anything interesting enough to say that will draw people in.
I suppose I have one thought/suggestion as far as more things you could blog about when it comes to your own unschooling stories: I’ve loved all of your posts and books for years, but as a mom of three boys (and no girls) I’ve always wished you included more stories about your boys. 😊
Sarah,
I’m pleased you like my idea. I’d love you to be involved! I think it’s important to talk about the messiness of the journey. So many bloggers gloss over the challenges, preferring to portray perfect pictures of their lives. Yes, we should share the joy of our days because that’s inspiring, but we need the other side of the picture too. Real connection happens when we’re honest and talk about the times when we fall apart and have doubts or other problems. These are opportunities to relate to each other, to reduce the feelings of aloneness and offer encouragement.
You should start a blog! If you need any help setting one up, I’m happy to help. But, first, perhaps you could have a trial run on my blog by sharing your thoughts and stories here. You could write some boy stories! I have written quite a few posts about my sons, but they might be deep in my archive. My last four children (not counting Thomas) are girls so that’s why my blog looks very girl-orientated. Perhaps I could share some more boy thoughts if you give me some ideas about the kind of posts you’d like to read.
Let me know what you think about contributing to my blog!
My brain is a mess at the moment, but I will brainstorm some ideas I could share! You are right, that would probably be a great place to start!
As far as boy story ideas, I remember reading, in one of your books, about your son rebuilding an engine. I would love to hear more stories about that sort of thing! I’m curious how/where he started with his interest in mechanics? My oldest son (currently 11) is really big into EVERYTHING vehicle related. He wants to have a lawn car company, or a farm (because… big vehicles), or work in a mine (again, big vehicles), or construction (big vehicles) or be a mechanic. I don’t know where to even start! I thought this next year I could help him start a tiny lawn care business around our neighborhood, but I’m curious how to help him learn to work on vehicles. He wants RC cars he can take apart and work on but the specific kind he wants (the kind that can have the engine removed and replaced with a faster one) is WAY out of our price range! He also wants a four-wheeler, possibly a mini motorcycle, might want to drive monster trucks someday etc. haha, he has big dreams… don’t know where he gets that… just kidding, he totally gets it from me, but my big dreams were/are VERY different than his! 😂 now it looks like my youngest (currently 2) is going to have similar interested to the oldest. It’s adorable, but a lot of the time I feel like my middle son is the only one I know how to help/relate to (he is the writer/artist type, more like me). My husband is a social worker type, currently going to school to become a therapist and has never had any interest in vehicles either. 😬 I’m really at a loss of how to help my sons follow their passions!
Sarah,
I enjoyed reading about your son’s interests which are very similar to my son Callum’s!
Callum’s favourite cars are Holdens. He bought some older ones that were in poor condition and so were in his price range. Later, he got a couple of newer classics with powerful engines. They’ve now increased in value. Perhaps if your son can’t afford his preferred car, he could buy something else for now. Every vehicle offers many learning opportunities.
I’ve just written and published a post called ‘Helping a Child When Their Interests Are Different to Yours.’ I hope it’s helpful!
I love that this will be a blog full of unschooling stories!
I have been homeschooling for 10 years now, with 4 kiddos. I started very traditional homeschool with the workbooks and such, but quickly moved to a Charlotte Mason/LivingBooks education. That lasted a few years but with each year we did less and less “school” and I just realized this year we are very good at unschooling. I specifically sourced out Christian Unschoolers and your blog was the first I found.
Thanks for your Podcast and the encouragement 🙂
You encouraged me to start up/revive my freebie blog again to keep learning myself. I lost 3 years worth of posts and gave up, but maybe I’ll have some future stories to share.
Michelle,
I’m so glad you found my blog! It’s interesting that it’s appearing in the Google search results for the words ‘Christian unschooling’. When I first started blogging, I didn’t write much about the spiritual side of unschooling, but somewhere along the way, our faith started making an appearance in my stories. I guess I began making more and more connections between faith and this way of life.
Oh yes, you must revive your blog! We need more bloggers sharing their stories. So many bloggers disappeared when social media became popular. I understand that. I tried sharing unschooling thoughts and ideas on Instagram. It was easier than blogging. But not so satisfying. I’d love to visit your blog. Perhaps you could share the link?
I will soon publish the first guest contribution. I have a lovely introduction post from an unschooling family. I’m looking forward to sharing it and other people’s stories. If you’d like to share something too, that would be wonderful!
Thank you so much for stopping by!