homeschooling

84: Are We Living a Second Best Kind of Unschooling Life?

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 Unschoolers Facebook Group,
and my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page.
You can find my new videos on my Youtube channel, Sue Elvis.
My new children's novel, 'The Angels of Gum Tree Road', is now on Amazon, Kindle, and Lulu. 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening. And if you enjoy my podcast, please consider writing an iTunes review and sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling! 

83: How to Start a Great Art Conversation

I'm trying something new this week: a shorter single topic episode.  In ep 83, I talk about:
My ideas for future podcast episodes
How to strew paintings
How paintings can lead to all kinds of great conversations
Ferrets and how ours came to a crunchy end!
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
Join me in The Not So Proper Unschoolers Facebook Group,
and my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page.
You can find my new videos on my Youtube channel, Sue Elvis.
My new children's novel, 'The Angels of Gum Tree Road', is now on Amazon, Kindle, and Lulu. 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening. And if you enjoy my podcast, please consider writing an iTunes review and sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling! 

82: How NOT to Be Your Child's Worst Nightmare

This week, I discuss the following questions:
How can we become best friends with our spouses?
Can we be friends with our children?
Or can we be a parent or a friend but not both?
What should we do if our kids get into trouble?
What if we put effort into our relationships and we don't get the response we're hoping for?
Is unschooling just as much about a parent as it is about a child?
I also talk more about being daring and adventurous parents.
 
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
Join me in The Not So Proper Unschoolers Facebook Group,
and my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page.
You can find my new videos on my Youtube channel, Sue Elvis.
My new children's novel, The Angels of Gum Tree Road, is now on Amazon, Kindle, and Lulu. 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening. And if you enjoy my podcast, please consider writing an iTunes review and sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling! 

81: Are You a Daring and Adventurous Parent?

This week, I talk about:
strengthening bonds between spouses
finding a balance between family life and work
how a parent's fears can hold back a child
how we need to be adventurous and daring parents
being silly as a family
some of the stories in my children's novel, 'The Angels of Gum Tree Road'
guest posting. Would you like to write an article for my blog?
essay writing. Do our kids need to practise essay writing just in case they want to go to university?
my new videos on my Youtube channel
and lots of other things!
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
Join me in The Not So Proper Unschoolers Facebook Group,
and my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page.
You can find my new videos on my Youtube channel, Sue Elvis.
My new children's novel, The Angels of Gum Tree Road, is now on Kindle and Lulu. Soon it will be available on Amazon too.
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening. And if you enjoy my podcast, please consider writing an iTunes review and sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling! 

80: Radical Unschooling

This week, I discuss these questions:
Is radical unschooling about allowing kids to do whatever they like?
But if we stand back and give our kids that kind of freedom, will life become chaotic and unproductive?
Could radical unschooling require an active rather than a passive response from parents?
And how did our family become radical unschoolers?
I also share some family news, some local history, and a few resources. 
 
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
Join me in The Not So Proper Unschoolers Facebook Group,
and my Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page.
My new children's novel, The Angels of Gum Tree Road, is now on Kindle.
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening. And if you enjoy my podcast, please share the link so we can spread the word about unschooling! 

79: Learning from Life, Record Keeping, and Strewing

This week, amongst other things, I discuss the following questions:
 
Does working together strengthen family bonds? What about doing hard things together?
Is it okay to support our young adult children as they pursue their dreams?
How can we turn real life into homeschool records notes?
Do we sometimes overlook opportunities for making notes? And do we miss opportunities for strewing?
I had some technical problems with this episode. I apologise for the poor audio quality. Hopefully, I will sort everything out before I record the next episode!
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
The Not So Proper Unschoolers Facebook Group
My Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page
Imogen Elvis' Youtube Channel
Imogen Elvis' Facebook Page
The Angels of Gum Tree Road
 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening!
 

78: Go Out There and Make a Difference!

This week, I answer the following questions:
Where have I been for the past few weeks? What have I been doing? Where am I going?
Am I making a difference? Are you? Should we encourage our kids to go out there and make a difference?
Will kids learn something if they have a need?
What new Evernote feature am I excited about?
And lots more!
 
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
The Not So Proper Unschoolers Facebook Group
My Stories of an Unschooling Family Facebook Page
Imogen Elvis' Youtube Channel
Imogen Elvis' Facebook Page
 
Podcast music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
Thank you for listening!
 
 
 

77: Reassessing

This week, I'm talking about my podcasts, blog, and videos. What are listeners/readers/viewers looking for? Is what I'm producing helpful? In an attempt to answer these questions, I ponder my ten most popular blog posts ever. Are the unschooling ideas and principles, contained within them, what people want to know about?  My top ten list includes posts about:
chores
getting kids to do 'school' work
parenting mistakes
'proper' unschooling
unschool record keeping
resources and strewing
unschooling misconceptions
I'm wondering: What about you? Do these topics interest you? Or do you listen to my podcast for a different reason? Perhaps you're not searching for information. Could it be you're just looking for friendship with a like-minded family?  I hope you'll listen to this week's episode and then stop by (if you have time) with some feedback. I'm taking a short break while my husband is home on holiday. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with another episode!
In the meantime, 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)

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)