Stories of an Unschooling Family

This week, I'm sharing some old stories and some new ones, as well as some news. I talk about: When my kids were younger by sharing a snow story and a homeschooling camp story. How my ideas about how kids learn have changed. How Gemma-Rose (15) has been enriching her own life. Our family passion for musicals. How our kids can come alive when they are involved with their passions and using their ta...

This week, I'm discussing the following questions: Do things sometimes seem like they'll never change? Is 'grinned' a fabulous word? Do we notice and worry about things that relate to ourselves that others don't notice? Do our fears for our kids get in the way of encouraging them to do the things they enjoy? Can our fears deprive our kids of joy? Is failing really a big deal? What's my latest unsc...

This week, I'm sharing 3 stories about my young adult son Callum (who likes to grin!): How I Removed an Engine from a Car Engines, Muscles and Spending Time with Dad My Fridge Adventure I talk about building strong relationships with our kids by: Taking an interest in their passions. Spending time with them. Being daring and adventurous parents who like to have fun. As well, I talk about: Self-dir...

This week, I'm sharing and discussing the story, Another Way of Looking at Our Kids' Learning.  I talk about my teenager's morning: What Gemma-Rose did How I could record that learning in terms of school subjects And how I could think about her learning in another way I also talk about the importance of play for both children and adults. And I share a couple of podcast reviews that I was thrilled...

This week, I'm sharing some of the stories from my recently published unschooling book, Radical Unschool Love : Radical Unschool Love The Next Instalment of the Unschooling Story Not as Wild as it Sounds Unconditional Love An Active Approach to Radical Unschooling How Radical Unschooling Might Not Look Radical What if We Have Differing Beliefs and Opinions? I also have some odds and ends of news t...

My author daughter Imogen joins me for a bumper episode about unschool writing. In episode 148, we talked about how unschooling children learn to write. This week, we continue the unschool writing discussion by answering a couple of listener questions and then sharing some ideas and resources for anyone, young child to adult, who wants to improve their writing skills. We also talk about: The Globa...

This week, I've taken my mic into my closet! Sitting amongst my clothes, I'm sharing: Why I'm in my wardrobe. My new book idea. How I was interviewed for the Global Homeschooling Summit. My Susan Skeleton story. A homeschool registration story from my book Curious Unschoolers. The birthday urn story. And the huge ornate mirror story. Of course, along the way, I'm also sharing some unschooling idea...

This week, I'm sharing the first 3 parts of my newly published book Curious Unschoolers. I hope these stories will give you an idea of what my book is all about. Perhaps after listening to them, you'd like to read the whole book! 6:27 Curious Unschoolers 7:06 Part 1: An Introduction 7:10 Something Important 10:33 The Friend Who Comes to Tea 13:08 Just in Case We’re Not Already Friends 14:53 A Book...

This week, I'm chatting about unschooling and bedtimes. What if our kids want to stay up late? Can kids get up early if they have to? Do we sometimes want our kids to go to bed early because it suits us? What if we are criticised because of the way we parent our kids? I share lots of stories including one about entertaining unexpected guests in my pyjamas while feeding a baby. Also, I share My lat...

This week, I'm sharing details of my daughter Gemma-Rose's homeschool registration visit. I discuss the following questions: Can registered homeschoolers unschool? How do we write homeschool plans when we don't know what our unschooling kids will be interested in? How can we fulfil homeschooling registration requirements without forcing kids to learn things they're not interested in?  Is forced le...

This week, my daughter Imogen and I are chatting about unschool writing. How do unschoolers learn to write? We share my writing unrules which are based on my observations of my children who all love writing. We talk about: Imogen's writing story: how she learnt to write, her university degree, how she is turning her passion for writing into YA novels How free play is the foundation for creative wr...

My daughters Imogen and Sophie join me to talk about unschooling teenagers: What do teenagers need? Should parents introduce more structured learning during the high school years? Or do teenagers need to be free to continue to explore their passions? What should we do if a teenager doesn't appear to have any particular passions? What about university? Do parents keep teenagers safe by keeping a ti...

This week my daughters Imogen and Sophie join me to talk about: Imogen’s novel ‘The Crystal Tree’ and its sequel ‘The Shattering Song’ YA or Young Adult novels Imogen’s book review videos How parents hold the key to a child’s happiness How some parents push their kids to fulfil their own dreams The YA novel ‘A Thousand Perfect Notes’ Imogen’s opinion of my first unschooling book ‘Curious Unschoole...

This week, my teenager Sophie joins me to test drive my new Yeti mic! Hopefully, our conversation sounds good! We talk about: Sophie's vlogging plans Encouraging children's ideas How we shouldn't be afraid to try new things The temptation to edit our pasts and rewrite our stories The temptation to delete early blog posts to eliminate our unschooling mistakes The problem of looking like we've never...

This week, I'm answering some questions about reading out loud: What is our reading out loud process? Should we have a time (for reading) built into the flow (of our day)? What if this time crowds out other projects our children are working on individually? How do we choose books?   I talk about Why I never enjoyed listening to books being read aloud as a child How I used to regard reading out lou...

This week, I'm sharing some news about my unschooling book. I'm also sharing two stories, one about respecting children, and the other about perfect Christmas presents and love. And I'm discussing the following questions: Is it the right of every child to be respected? How do we show respect to children? Do we sometimes do things for our kids only because we want them to do things for us? Is it ok...

This week, my teenage daughter Sophie (17) joins me to talk about: How she balances her busy unschooling life with work Why it's important to trust kids and not squash their ambitions Why she is choosing not to go to university Sophie's dream to be self-employed and how she plans to achieve it How a lot of people react when they hear Sophie is working full time in a cafe NaNoWriMo events and makin...

This week, I'm answering the question: "Have your kids ever been between interests?" I talk about: Exciting times when kids are gripped by a passion Quiet times when they appear to be drifting along How we can help our kids during quiet times by trusting and strewing Some strewing ideas   Show Notes Blog Posts When Excitement for Learning Appears to Disappear Regaining Her Enthusiasm for Learning...

This week, I'm talking about things that are sometimes difficult: Letting kids do what they want even if there is a risk of failure Taking risks so that we continue to learn Not pushing kids to use their talents Balancing the role of school teacher with that of unschooling father Talking to reluctant spouses about a desire to unschool Listening and building up trust Writing a 50,000-word novel Los...

This week, I'm talking about unschooling and friends. Is it sometimes difficult for unschoolers to find kindred spirit friends because we're different? What if our kids don't have many friends? If someone doesn't want to be our friend, is there something wrong with us? How do you become a cool kid? Should we pretend to be someone we're not so that we'll be accepted and have friends? Or is it bette...

This week, I'm discussing the question: Is unschooling a method of homeschooling? Or is there more to unschooling than that? Could it be a way of life? I'm sharing and discussing a story, Why Unschooling Isn't Just Another Method of Homeschooling I'm also talking about the issue of unlimited screen time again criticism and the power of love how can we encourage kids to become the people they are m...

This week, I'm returning to the topic of radical unschooling. I'm sharing a story about junk food and poor hygiene and then discussing the following questions: Is it okay if our kids make choices that are detrimental to their health and happiness? Should we stand back and let kids make their own minds up about everything? Or is it okay to guide them? Do all parents influence their children in some...

This week, I'm chatting about unlimited screen time. Is this a simple issue? If we let our unschooled kids have unlimited access to screens and trust them, will they learn to self-regulate their usage without any problems? Or is there more to discuss than that? I'm sharing my story, Is It Really Okay to Let Unschooling Kids Have Unlimited Access to Screens and the Internet? And I'm discussing the...

This week, I'm talking about how unschooling can be approached in a gradual way. I'm sharing a story: A Gradual Approach to Unschooling . And discussing the following questions: Is a gradual approach the best way for many families to begin unschooling? Is mutual trust between parent and child essential? Is it really okay if our kids spend all day in front of screens? Why do some kids have trouble...

This week, I'm sharing my story Funny How Things Change.  It's about school term time and holidays. It's also a typical day story. I'm also discussing the questions: How did our attitude towards holidays change when we became unschoolers? Do unschoolers need holidays? If we want our kids to respond to our strewing invitations, do we need to respond to theirs? Do we have to be prepared to give our...