Stories of an Unschooling Family

In this week’s podcast, I discuss the topic of starting unschooling. Is moving to unschooling a big step for children? How can we encourage children to get excited about their own learning? What if a child just wants to sit in front of the television or computer? Do adults and children have different ideas about what kind of learning is valuable? And what about trust? I also ponder the future of t...

This week my daughter Imogen joins me to talk about computers. Some of the questions we discuss include:     Should children be allowed to use the computer? What kind of opportunities for learning do computers offer? Can Facebook be valuable? Should children’s time on the computer be restricted? How do we encourage a child to balance her computer time with other activities? Should we respect a chi...

My 17-year-old daughter, Charlotte has just started her first Open University unit. In this week's episode, I talk about her transition from unschooling to university. In particular, I discuss the following questions: Can homeschooling children earn a 'score' or qualification, equivalent to the HSC, the school leavers' certificate? How can unschooling children get into university? Are unschoolers ...

So what's Wild Inside? It's an off-shoot of my Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast. I'm recording it with Imogen, my adult unschooler, and we're going to be discussing all our wild thoughts. We hope you'll listen!   This week we explore creativity: Why are some people more creative than others? Can you be an artist and not be creative? Can everything be approached creatively? What about maths...

This week, I tried something new because I've been having trouble turning the ideas in my head into the right spoken or written words. In this podcast, I use some old words. I tell a story (from my blog) in which ... I talk about the label 'unschoolers' I ask the question: are labels useful? I describe what I used to think the word 'unschooling' meant And I share what I now think unschooling is al...

In this episode, my 20-year-old daughter, Imogen, and I talk about what she wants to do when she finishes her university degree in a few months' time. What are Imogen's dreams for the future, and is it possible for her to follow them? Should I encourage her in these dreams? Or should I point her in the direction of safe and secure employment? We all have talents. Are we obliged to use them? What m...

    This week I report back on our recent homeschool registration visit.       Is it possible for unschoolers to register as homeschoolers and not compromise their way of life? e.g. How can we fulfill strict requirements such as the need to follow the school syllabus? Is there a gentle way of changing people's misinformed opinions about unschooling? Is it necessary to find a way of showcasing our...

This week I discuss the following questions: What kind of records will I be presenting for next week's homeschool registration visit? I have to make a plan for the next period of registration. How can I do that when we are unschoolers who don't work to a plan? What do I think is wrong with testing? Is it possible to make kids learn what they don't want to know? What if kids refuse to learn what th...

This week I try out my new home studio audio equipment, while... I share a few thoughts on blogging and what the future holds for my Stories of an Unschooling Family blog I ponder trust: Do people in general have a problem trusting? Do we like to be in control? Can we control all aspects of our lives? Is it wrong to trust too much? I speak a little about homeschool registration: It's time to re-re...

Usually I speak and write about my four youngest daughters. But not this week. In this episode, I share some boy stories. I have two adult sons who have provided me with lots of interesting moments over the years! These are a few of the questions I explore... What if a son is 'different'? Should we make our children conform and  be like everyone else? Is it normal for boys to be energy packed and...

In this week's podcast, I tell you the story of why and how we moved from traditionally taught maths to unschool maths. I share some of my own thoughts on unschool maths, before interviewing my daughter Sophie (13). Sophie used to hate maths. She told me she wasn't any good at it. Now she absolutely loves it. I challenge anyone to listen to her speaking and not catch her enthusiasm for maths! Prog...

Sometimes events in our lives make us stop and reassess what we're doing. Something happened this week which caused me to do a bit of unschooling reassessment. I've been thinking... Is there a better way of bringing up children? Can we trust too much? Is there such a thing as loving too much? Am I ready to jump off the unschooling ship? I share my thoughts in this week's podcast.   Please feel wel...

Am I a perfect mother and unschooler? This week I discuss this question, and also: If it is necessary for us to be good examples for our unschooling children, must we be perfect? Or is there something far more important than perfection? Why is unconditional love so powerful? Do some bloggers appear to be perfect? Are there times when we should be open and honest, even if it means revealing our mis...

This week I talk about apologies, and the importance of good titles. I also answer these questions...   Have I written any blog posts which have misled readers? Have any readers found themselves reading my rather radical ideas by mistake? Why is my family glad we run up and down hills regularly? Why are the Jenolan Caves so spectacular? How many times can I say the word 'spectacular' in one podcas...

This week, I interview my daughters Imogen (20) and Charlotte (17), and ask them for their opinions on keeping children safe from the dangers of the world. We talk about inappropriate books, computer usage, movies, emails etc. while discussing the following points:   Is the world a dangerous place for young people? Is spying on a child justified? Does policing children's activities really keep the...

This week, I ponder these questions...   What happens when we remain open to new experiences? Do I have any good tips for anyone who has resolved to get fit? What has running got to do with encouraging children to write? Are there advantages to reading many books, on the same subject, by different authors? Can I recommend some interesting novels to read? What do I mean by the words 'multi-directio...

  This week's podcast is all about interesting resources I discovered in 2014. Along the way, you'll find out the answers to these questions... How do I discuss at least 17 resources in only 30 minutes? Do I talk very fast? How many free trial accounts can I sign up for? How many times can I say, “I Googled it”, in one podcast? Has anyone ever become a successive pianist/composer without ever havi...

This week my youngest daughter, Gemma-Rose joins me for my Christmas edition. We talk about:   A magical Santa Christmas A magical Christmas without Santa Advent and Christmas traditions Why the Three Wise Men set out to find Jesus before He is even born Why St Nicholas isn't very reliable Why we are rotten parents Why midnight Mass isn't at midnight The worst Christmas job that I no longer have t...

This podcast is a few days late or a couple of days early, depending on how you look at it. It's also not the same podcast I originally recorded. This week I reveal what happened to the first one and I also talk about... Beginnings: How do we capture an audience's attention? Books, especially Australian ones Free music which can be used for podcasting, video making and any other purpose My new Zoo...

Is it okay to talk about the weather or should that topic be avoided if you want to have an interesting conversation? Is it important for our children to have good conversational skills? How do they get such skills?  Bushfire fighters are heroes but can school teachers be heroes too? Should we all know how to do CPR, just in case? And what about our children? Should they learn too? Do the youngest...

I start this week's podcast with a belated introduction of me and my family. Maybe I should have done this in episode 1. Oh well, better late than never!   I talk about our visit to a professional audio studio and mull over ideas to improve my podcasts.    And finally I chat about adventures. Is it necessary for unschooling families to travel? Or can we find adventures at home?   I should add that...

Last weekend we celebrated the birth and death days of our son Thomas. In this week's podcast I share some of Thomas' story. I ponder the question: How does a family homeschool during a crisis like a death in the family?  Christmas is approaching. Anyone grieving might find this joyful season very difficult. But is Christmas actually a season for the broken-hearted? On a lighter note, I revisit a...

In this week's podcast, I chat about teenagers with my own teenage daughters, Imogen (19), Charlotte (17) and Sophie (13). Many parents expect life to get difficult once their children turn 13. But will it? Are teenagers really trouble or are they unfairly labelled?    We talk about the pressures teenagers face. Do parents unwittingly magnify these pressures? Are rules necessary to keep teenagers...

If children are given the freedom to do whatever they want, will they choose to do nothing at all? My teenage daughters, Imogen (19) and Sophie (13) join me for today's podcast, to discuss this question. During our conversation we talk about whether it is actually possible to do nothing at all, and how parents and children sometimes differ in their opinion about what is a valuable way of spending...

Is unschooling a lazy way of life? Do mothers choose to unschool because they can’t be bothered putting together a proper homeschool program for their children’s education? Perhaps unschooling mothers don’t actually do much in a day. My daughter Imogen and I discuss these questions in today’s podcast.     Along the way, we also talk about how we can encourage a love of learning, strewing, tirednes...