adult unschoolers

76: Another Typical Unschooling Day

This week, I talk about our unschooling days:
Is there such a thing as a typical unschooling day?
Do our days change over time?
Is it time to share a new typical day?
Along the way, I chat about things related to our days:
How can we share our beliefs (Catholic or otherwise) with our kids?
Do I force my kids to say family prayers and go to church?
Does the Church force me to attend Mass?
Do my girls exercise because I make them?
Do I ever follow my girls' good example?
Can we strew verbally?
Do sibling relationships change over time?
Does position in the family affect relationships?
You can find me on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family, 
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, please do. I'd love you to join us! 
Thank you for listening! If you enjoy my podcast, perhaps you can share the link to help spread the word about unschooling!
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 

75: Unschooling Siblings Working Together

Today, my 21-year-old daughter Imogen joins me to talk about siblings, writing, and music.
Is it possible for siblings to teach siblings?
What special challenges are involved?
What benefits are there to siblings sharing their talents?
Can siblings work together on a single project? Is it possible to make everyone feel part of the team?
Imogen talks about the piano and singing lessons she gives to her younger sisters. 
We chat about her last music video which features her three younger sisters who all sang as well as helped make the video.
We talk about writing and the upcoming Camp NaNowriMo event. Is it too late to join in? Do you need a novel plan before signing up?
Imogen tells us about the Writing Circle Meetings she, Sophie and Gemma-Rose have each week. 
And how she'd like to turn these meetings into a formal online course to help and inspire other young writers.
You can find me on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family, 
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, please do. I'd love to have you on my team! 
You can find Imogen on Youtube and Facebook, and on her blog Gossiping with Dragons.
Thank you for listening! If you enjoy my podcast, perhaps you can share the link to help spread the word about unschooling!
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 

74: Is Play Important for Both Adults and Kids?

This week, I discuss the following questions:
Should we condemn people, including children, who are having a bad day? Or can we help them?
Do adults need to play?
What about teenagers? 
What happens if we don't play?
Is it okay for kids to spend all day playing?
Do kids need time to play without a parent's involvement?
What are the benefits of play?
What are the best toys?
Should we let kids play games that involve risk?
Are our kids in danger of losing their childhoods?
Why am I very glad I let my kids play?
Should parents be daring and adventurous?
How can we increase our enjoyment when playing with our kids?
I also talk about Facebook.
You can find me on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family, 
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, please do. I'd love to have you on my team!  
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 

73: Helping a Child Discover Her Talents

This week, my 21-year-old daughter, Imogen, joins me. We explore a lot of questions including:
Do children's talents need the right environment in order to be discovered? 
How can parents create that environment? 
How can we support a child's talents?
Should we be worried if a teenager doesn't know what she wants to do as a future career?
Do we put too many pressures on teenagers?
How can we help children who seem to have no interests?
What if children don't want to do anything but watch TV?
What if they don't want to do anything but play?
Is play valuable? How has it helped Imogen as a musician and writer?
Do parents feel pressured to offer their kids impressive learning experiences? Do they feel pressured to show others that their kids are doing impressive things? Are we all too competitive?
How did we cope with multi-aged kids, including babies and toddlers, while homeschooling?
You can find me on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family, 
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, please do. I'd love to have you on my team! 
You can find Imogen on Youtube and Facebook.  
 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 

72: Choosing Not to Worry About What Other People Might Think

This week,
I talk about:
ageing, appearance and associated insecurities
video making
Facebook
Livestreaming
resources which might spark off some new learning experiences if life is a bit quiet
I also ponder a few unschooling questions such as:
 
Are some kids so resourceful they have no need of basic skills?
You can find me on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family, 
Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest. 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, please do. I'd love to have you on my team! 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 

69: Ideas, Passions, and Earning an Income

This week, I talk about:
ideas
passions
Gemma-Rose's latest passion for writing
how passions lead to ideas
how an idea may lead to an income
how we decide if an idea is worth pursuing
unschoolers and entrepreneurship
what kind of jobs my kids would like to have
my son Callum's recent visit home
parenting adult children 
Australian history resources
my new unschooling blog
my newsletter
You can find me on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
If you'd like to sign up for my newsletter, please do. I'd love to have you on my team!  If you feel my podcast is helpful, please consider sharing my link and writing an iTunes review. Let's spread the word about unschooling! And please feel welcome to comment, or you can email me if you'd like to chat or just say hello.
 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)

66: The Fear of Failing

This week, I discuss the following questions:
Are we reluctant to try new things because we fear we might fail? 
Why do we fear failure when we know we learn from our mistakes?
How can we encourage our kids to give new things a go?
How do we react when they do make mistakes?
And are some people afraid to try unschooling?
I also share some stories and a few resources.
 
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
If you have time, please consider writing an iTunes review of my podcast. I'd appreciate it very much!
And if you share my link, we can spread the word about unschooling!
 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 

64: The Joy and Love of Living an Unschooling Way of Life

This week, I answer these questions: 
What was it like recording Imogen's latest music video with an unexpected audience?
If we are experiencing dark and difficult times, is there hope? Will joy return to our days?
Isn't it wonderful watching kids working with confidence and skill?
Why would an unschooling teenager choose to go to school? (We ponder, but maybe we don't have all the answers because we're not unschooling teenagers who want to go to school!)
I also talk about
the joy of living an unschooling way of life
our recent videos
zombies and running
a few resources
the joy of living in the moment
how I'm going to cope when time moves on and I'm no longer living life as it is today
how we all need a feeling of belonging
You can find the show notes on my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family
 
Please take a look at Imogen's latest music video, Hallelujah- Leonard Cohen
 
Podcast music:  60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening, and Happy Easter!
 
 

62: Young Adult Unschoolers, Dreams, Love and Marriage

My young adult daughter Imogen joins me for this episode.
 
We talk about:
 
 
Do parents need to continue trusting their young adult children while they are pursuing their dreams?
Imogen tells us about her dream of becoming a successful online musician.
She shares her thoughts on a classical musical education. Is she glad she worked her way through the exam system?
Imogen describes how she and her sisters record the music, and then film and put together their music videos.
What is the best way to learn? Do we need to ignore the possibility of criticism and get out there and learn on the go?
Imogen shares her thoughts on marriage, love, and children, and how these relate to her own career dreams.
Is it important for children to see mothers using their talents?
Was Jane Austen a modern woman ahead of her time?
We talk about Imogen's latest music video, a frightening moment with a huge kangaroo, and how a team of kids can do fantastic things.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
You can find the show notes on my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family. You can find my children's novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
 
 

61: Maths, Chores, and Thanking Our Kids

 
This week, I discuss the following questions:
 
Why do little kids love doing chores but older ones don't?
Should we thank our kids more often?
Should we avoid talking to people about their grief? Perhaps it's better not to upset them?
What's wrong with a lot of real life maths resources (in my opinion!)?
 
I also share some maths and geography resources including games, videos, podcasts and websites.
 
 
 
You can find the show notes on my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family.
You can find my children's novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon.
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)