Stories of an Unschooling Family

This week, I'm telling some stories and chatting about how kids and adults learn: What is the best motivation for learning? Why do we persist using teaching methods that we know aren't working? Why do we waste our time? Would more people unschool if there was no such thing as homeschool registration? What bad habits have adults learnt that get in the way of learning? Do other people's words have a...

A note before you listen to this week's episode: Episode 107 is only a conversation starter. I'm sure my thoughts are incomplete... Sometimes we have to work at jobs that we’d rather not do because we have families to support. My husband Andy was in this situation for many years so I understand how it might not seem possible to resign from such a job to follow a dream. However, perhaps there’s sti...

  This week, I'm talking about changes both in my online and offline lives. I'm sharing: Some further thoughts on kids, screen time and Internet usage The future of my unschooling blog and podcast A few resources More about learning from life Some family news including the fur coat story   Show Notes   Blog Posts Is it Really Okay to Give Unschooling Kids Unlimited Access to Screens and the Intern...

    This week, I'm pondering: Real life: Is my offline life being affected by my online activities? Facebook: Do we need to be on social media? The Internet: Is it addictive? Why do many adults have trouble using it in a sensible way? Does the Internet fulfil needs we're not really aware of? Deep Work: Does the Internet affect our ability to concentrate and do valuable work? Our children: Do we wo...

  This week, I chat about some recent events in our lives and how I turned them into notes for my Evernote homeschool records book. Along the way, I share lots of news and discuss the questions: Should we give pocket money to our unschooling kids? Should we buy our kids what they need to further their passions? Should we expect our adult children to be part of our lives? What will I speak about wh...

I'm taking a short podcasting break while I work on my unschooling book. I hope you'll watch out for a new episode in a few weeks' time.   In the meantime, you might find some 'teasers' from my book on my blog  Stories of an Unschooling Family  . You'll find any news on my Stories of an Unschooling Family  Facebook page . And you might find me on Instagram at  sueelvis  and  storiesofanunschooling...

This week, I'm discussing the following questions: Is it okay to share our beliefs with our kids? Or should we try not to influence them but leave them to make up their own minds without any input from us? If we do want to pass on our beliefs and values, how should we do this? Normally, unschoolers don't make rules, but is it okay to make rules about issues that are of great importance to us?   I...

  This week, I'm talking about: Communication skills: Are we good communicators? Why is it important that we know how to communicate? What about our kids? How do they deal with people in the bigger world who fail to treat them with the respect and politeness they have come to expect? Adult peer pressure: Do we sometimes make decisions based on our friends' opinions rather than our families' needs?...

This is the (hopefully) un-muddled version! This week, I'm sharing my unschooling podcasting adventure. I talk about: My first episode and why I nearly deleted it Why we have to take risks The future of this podcast I also share: a few resources while talking about Gilbert and Sullivan my plans for Camp NaNoWriMo my new Instagram adventure and lots of other thoughts, ideas and stories! Please visi...

This week, I continue the unschool maths conversation:   Can we force kids to learn things they don't want to know about? What if we have to show evidence that our kids are learning maths for homeschool registration purposes? Why should we sometimes put ourselves in our kids' shoes? How can we become maths detectives? What is wrong with most maths games? Can we approach maths backwards?   I also s...

This week, I'm talking about: uncomfortable ideas, the ones we think we'll never consider how we sometimes deceive ourselves because we can't face the truth our unschool maths story   I discuss the questions: If our kids don't have formal maths notes to show, what can we put in our homeschool records books? Is it okay to strew maths like we would science or history? Is there a problem with some ma...

This week, I answer the following questions: Why did I feel like an unschooling imposter? Why is unschooling the perfect way of life even though life isn't perfect? Why should we stop and reassess what we're doing every now and then? What does Gemma-Rose's (13) day look like? What is Sophie (16) doing at the moment? I also talk about our weight loss adventure and my recent activity with my blog an...

This week, I share:   how I've been turning my 13-year-old daughter's unschooling learning experiences into homeschool records notes. some of the resources she has been using   Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family  for the show notes.  Also, I invite you to join me on my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook page . Thank you for listening. And if you enjoy my podcast, please c...

These are a few of the things I'm talking about this week: Siblings Acceptance Encouragement Labels Boys The joy of giving Essay writing   I tell lots of stories and share my new free ebook Unschool Reading.    Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family  for the show notes.  Also, I invite you to join me on my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook page . Thank you for listening. And...

This week, I share a few stories from a time when we used to ponder such things as: was Helen of Troy still beautiful after ten years of war? Was she still worth fighting over? are Elvis feet different from everyone else's? Why can't we walk in thongs (flip-flops, not underwear!) I also talk about: how we never used to unschool maths how we sometimes deceive ourselves because we're not ready to fa...

This week, I'm sharing our unschooling story. Years ago, we started as unschoolers. We then tried different methods of homeschooling before returning to unschooling: Behind That Cream Front Door Undercover Homeschoolers Doing Our Own Thing Time to Unschool Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family  for the show notes.  Also, I invite you to join me on my Stories of an Unschooling Famil...

This week, I talk about: Trust: It's easy to trust when things are going well but is that real trust? Being a support driver for young learner drivers: Do we sometimes have to be adventurous and do things we don't want to do? Children who don't seem to fit easily into the world: Should we watch out for ways to help each other? Praise: Is it good or bad? How do we encourage our kids to be humble ab...

This week, I discuss the following questions: How do our children learn right from wrong? Why is it so important that we are connected with our kids? Why am I reluctant to ask people to review my children's novels? Do parents have to be perfect or is there something more important than perfection? What is a family? Is my new podcast series idea a good one? Perhaps it's ridiculous! I tell lots of s...

This week, I answer the following questions: Is it important we know who we are? Am I a perfectionist? Is our self-image affected by other people's opinions and expectations? Why didn't I fulfil my early gold star potential? How can we help our kids become who they are meant to be? Why did my daughter Sophie laugh when I told her the results of an IQ test I took? What did our Authorised Person fro...

This week, I talk about: Adding joy to a powerless afternoon Why sometimes it's good to leave our cameras at home when we go out Social media again Deciding whether our work is good or not Allergic cats and daughters A delicious gluten-free, sugar-free and dairy-free chocolate tart How we sometimes need to put our families first and say no Our unique back-to-school supplies Buying what our kids ne...

This week, I'm talking about: What mothers have to do even when the weather is very hot The place of last resort Children that don't seem to fit into the world Earning coffee money A trap door accident Father and daughter time Gym buddies Video dance workouts Encouraging kids to exercise Forcing kids to do things A perfect subscription for all the family Christian running music My Australia Day ba...

This week, I answer the following questions: What is unschooling? Why is unschooling different from other methods of homeschooling? Could it not be a method at all? Should we make kids do things they don't want to do? Would that be good for them? Is there such a thing as providing a too happy life for our kids? Should we get them used to the fact that life in the bigger world won't always be happy...

This week, I'm talking about multipotentiality. In particular, I ask the following questions: Is it okay to have multiple interests, to pursue one thing, get bored and then move onto something else? When are we finished with a topic? When people move quickly between interests do they lack perseverance and  commitment? Should we encourage kids to focus on only one interest? Is this best for a futur...

This week, I share a story about the extraordinary ordinary things of life. I talk about: How we should live in the present moment And not spoil it by worrying about possible future suffering How each ordinary moment is made extraordinary by the power of love How our unschooling lives are far from ordinary I also share some big blog news.  You can find the show notes on my blog  Stories of an Unsc...

This week, I talk about: How we can look at both school and unschooling with romantic eyes Moving to a yurt or a farm or travelling around Australia in a campervan Our experience on a 100-acre fish farm What our kids need if they are to be world changers The latest blog and Elvis news You can find the show notes on my blog  Stories of an Unschooling Family . Join me in  The Not So Proper Unschoole...