Stories of an Unschooling Family

 In this week's podcast, I discuss the following questions:   Do I have all the unschooling answers? How do we respond to unschooling critics? Are labels important? Can you call yourself an unschooler if you require maths but let the child choose the method? When should we start strewing resources before our children? Should we wait until they develop a particular interest? How do we translate nat...

This week, I have lots to share. I seem to have regained my enthusiasm. (Thank you for last week's kind and encouraging comments!)   In this episode: I share some of our unschooling story. Why did we start as unschoolers but then go in a different direction? How did we make our way back to unschooling? I talk about obstacles that might be stopping people from unschooling I discuss the question: Wh...

In this week's episode, I went from thought to thought, covering lots of ground in a short time. I spoke off the top of my head. (Perhaps I should have made some notes!) Anyway, I hope you'll listen to ep 56. These are a few of the things I talked about:   my fan mail tiredness discouragement and encouragement talking to kids trusting and respecting kids chores how we need to have patience when tr...

In this week's episode, I talk about how all our kids are amazing.    I also discuss the following questions:   Should we praise our children? Should we share their achievements with others? Do the words 'planning' and 'organisation' have a place in unschooling? (I'm not talking about record keeping!)   I also tell a few stories.    There's the one about a very excited dog and a kangaroo.  I have...

This week, I talk about our past week. Are we 'finishing up' as Christmas approaches? I tell you about my older at-home daughters and their university experiences,as well as their plans for the Christmas break. I also discuss the following questions: Why do attachment parenting and unschooling sometimes suffer from a negative image? Will attachment parenting result in demanding children who rule t...

This week I talk about:   Preparing our house for the bushfire season Why it's good to ask for forgiveness even if you're not sure it's all your fault How to strew suggestions and what to do when they are rejected How to use Evernote to share the responsibility of record keeping with children who are working on their own How we can thank and encourage people who help us And, of course, I tell you...

In this week's episode, I talk about:   Why I'm not strewing at the moment Real life Christmas maths Encouraging children's ideas even when they don't seem practical Whether it's a parent's duty to make sure her child learns what she thinks is essential for future success What unschooling has done for me How my own learning has had an impact on my children Why my blog has a limited life Getting ol...

This week, I talk about a fabulous topic: Christmas... I share ideas for gifts, home-made and to buy, that are inexpensive and don't add to the pile of 'stuff' we all have I talk about some of our Advent traditions which bind our family together I also tell you a little bit about my son Thomas' birthday and a grief idea I am excited about  Please visit my blog,  Stories of an Unschooling Family  f...

This week, I couldn't think of anything to talk about. I felt uninspired. My Facebook friends came to my aid and suggested I talk about uninspiring times.  What do we do when we feel flat? Do our children sometimes feel this way? Are quiet times normal and should we trust our kids will soon be back on track, excited by learning once more? And what about those times when the world appears black and...

  This week,  I talk about the value of documentaries and lifestyle TV programs and share some of the ones we found on Youtube I describe how I translate these videos into notes for our homeschool records book After I realised I had no maths notes, I hunted for some real life maths experiences to record. What did I find? While I'm chatting, I share lots of resources! You can find the podcast notes...

This week, my 14-year-old daughter Sophie joins me to talk about being different. She answers the following questions in her usual lively way: In what ways are you different? Do you like being different? Is there an advantage to being different? Even though you don't fit in with the crowd, do you still have a need to belong? I also talk about how tricky it can be recommending resources.  What if s...

This week I answer the following questions: What mistake have I been making when strewing for my youngest daughter Gemma-Rose? What do we do when a child seems not to want our help? What criteria do we use when deciding if unschooling is successful? When did I go splat and embarrass myself? What does 'cowboy up' mean? What Pinterest board did someone pin my blog post ' Bite-Sized Pieces of Unschoo...

In this week's episode, I... explain why my legs are aching. (I'm sharing my daughter Sophie's latest passion!) ask a question about exercise which I hope you'll answer chat about social media share a few resources and tell you where you can find lots more You can find the notes on my blog,  Stories of an Unschooling Family .   My book:  The Angels of Abbey Creek   Music : 60's Quiz Show  by  Podi...

In this week's episode,  I talk about how we unschool even though our children are legally required to follow the school syllabus. I describe a method for recording unschooling in an impressive way I share how I translate natural learning into the necessary educational language for registration purposes and how I work out what the official documents such as the school syllabus actually mean I disc...

In this week's episode, I share some ideas for strengthening family bonds I tell a few stories about our recent holiday to the Blue Mountains I describe some of the interesting places we visited and share a little bit of (hopefully accurate!) Australian history I reveal how silly the Elvises are and talk about why silly is good The audio quality is a bit poor in places due to computer problems. I'...

In this week's podcast, I talk about:  how we can be tourists in our own town how we can make the most of our away-from-home holidays how we can visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone  how we can travel the world without leaving home  how I record all our rich holiday experiences in my homeschool records book  how I found lots of interesting history, geography and science resources   My daughter Sophi...

By the time you listen to this podcast, my son Callum will be married and I'll have a new daughter-in-law. In this week’s episode, I talk about mothers and daughters-in-law and love. I answer the following questions: Why is it so important we tell people in words we love and accept them? What have I learned from being a daughter-in-law? How am I going to be a good mother-in-law? What is real love?...

In this week's podcast, I talk again about typical unschooling days.    I answer the following questions: Are our unschooling days really as ordinary as I made them sound in last week's episode? Do all unschoolers have similar typical days? How can we get kids to help with the chores? Can we encourage kids to do more than their fair share? Can they become generous without counting the cost? Do I s...

This week I talk about:   My first year as a podcaster: Why did I nearly delete my very first episode? And why is it important I don't worry about the opinions of others? A typical unschooling day: Do our days have rhythm? Or are they wildly unpredictable? Two tips for joyful unschooling: (I offer them, but you are free to reject them!) What we should do if our children reject our strewing Some sc...

In this week's episode: I tell you about a 'huge' mistake I made And how that mistake turned into a story about forgiveness, love and joyful unschooling I also share some updates  for some earlier stories And lots of interesting resources! I made a couple of small mistakes while making this episode: (I've made a lot of mistakes recently!) I turned Mary Anne Cotton into Anne Cotton. And something w...

In this week's episode, I discuss the following questions: Is unschooling just living life? Or is there more to unschooling than that? What if life is too quiet or too busy or there's a crisis? Has unschooling changed as my children have grown older? Did Charlotte (17) give herself a good education? Was she prepared for tertiary learning?  Or should I have supervised the last year or so of her hig...

This week I talk about:   our preparations for my son Callum’s wedding my new favourite website that I will still love when I’m a yummy granny! the perfect wedding present I’ve chosen how my family helped me produce a new edition of my children’s novel how unschooling children love to share ideas, talents and their help the new blog page I’ve created for unschooling author Suzie Andres   some grea...

Some of the things I talk about this week include: Do youngest children have a privileged position in the family? Or do they have things harder than people might imagine? Did my eldest child suffer because she had an inexperienced mother? Can youngest children have an advantage when it comes to learning? How can we encourage children to write? What about spelling? And handwriting? And what if a ch...

I haven't been checking the stats for this podcast so I don't know if anyone is still listening. Does it matter if I'm talking to myself? In this week's podcast, I talk about blogging, podcasting and popularity.   I also talk about the following: is there such a thing as a typical unschooling day? how about a typical unschooling week? the uneven nature of learning and how this affects homeschool r...

This week's episode is a bits and pieces podcast. I tell some stories about what's been happening in our family, ponder some thoughts and share a few resources. More specifically, I discuss:       something exciting that happened last Friday whether or not we can prepare our children for an unknown future why we are glad we have an active dog how writing about Jane Fonda led to a new passion for S...