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169: Unschooling Community Stories

This week, I'm sharing some unschool English and Maths stories from my Stories of an Unschooling Family Community:
Unschooling Jane Austen
Collecting Delicious Words
Real Life Toilet Roll Maths
I'm also sharing a Moment from My Day story
And I'm asking, "Is my unschooling community the perfect fit for you?" If you're not sure, listen to this episode for more details!
 
Show Notes
 
My Unschooling Books
Curious Unschoolers: Kindle
Curious Unschoolers: paperback
Radical Unschool Love: Kindle
Radical Unschool Love: paperback
My Amazon Author Page
 
Where You Can Find Me
Email Me: 
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Blog
Stories of an Unschooling Family
 
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoy my podcast, please consider sharing the link so that we can spread the word about unschooling. A quick review or rating would help too!
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family to leave a comment.  I hope to see you inside my unschooling community!
 

145: Taking the Unschooling Yeti for a Test Drive

This week, my teenager Sophie joins me to test drive my new Yeti mic! Hopefully, our conversation sounds good!
We talk about:
Sophie's vlogging plans
Encouraging children's ideas
How we shouldn't be afraid to try new things
The temptation to edit our pasts and rewrite our stories
The temptation to delete early blog posts to eliminate our unschooling mistakes
The problem of looking like we've never made any mistakes
How we can impact other people's lives in a positive way
Do I have an online persona?
How we can capture our life stories
How choosing the right gift can make a difference to the receiver's life
Planning our year instead of making New Year's Resolutions
Things I want to achieve in 2019
My unschooling book news
Things Sophie wants to achieve this year
 
Show Notes
 
Imogen Elvis
Youtube
Imogen Elvis
Imogen's novel
The Crystal Tree
 
Sophie Elvis
Instagram
thetechnomaid
tough.turtle
Youtube
Sophie Elvis
 
My Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
My Unschooling Newsletter
Subscribe
 
Philip Mott's Podcast
School's Out
 
Sallie Borrink's Blog Post
Should Bloggers Edit Their Past
 
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoy my podcast, please consider sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling. A quick review or rating would help too!
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family to leave a comment about anything I talked about in this episode. Or you could just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!
Perhaps you have a question or topic you'd like me to discuss in a future podcast episode. Please let me know so that I can add it to my planning notes for next year.

142: An Unschooler Talks About Life, Work and Dreams

This week, my teenage daughter Sophie (17) joins me to talk about:
How she balances her busy unschooling life with work
Why it's important to trust kids and not squash their ambitions
Why she is choosing not to go to university
Sophie's dream to be self-employed and how she plans to achieve it
How a lot of people react when they hear Sophie is working full time in a cafe
NaNoWriMo events and making friends
How we need to believe in our kids and cheer them on
 
Show Notes
Podcasts
Episode 133, A Balanced and Productive Unschool Life
Episode 139, Unschool Socialisation: Making Friends, Being Different
 
Instagram
Sophie Elvis
thetechnomaid
tough.turtle
 
Sue Elvis
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoy my podcast, please consider sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling. A quick review or rating would help too!
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family to leave a comment about anything we talked about in this episode. Perhaps you have a question for Sophie. Or you could just stop by and say hello. And join me on Instagram!

97: Unschooling Imposters and Difficult Times

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 and Youtube channel
 
 
Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
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 consider writing an iTunes review and sharing the link so we can spread the word about unschooling! 
 
Podcast music: Twombly by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0) 
 

87: The Catholic Radical Unschool Cheese and other stories

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?
Are we easily distracted? Have most of us lost the ability to concentrate and do deep work?
Do we need social media? What if we have something we want to share with the world?
Can series such as Downton Abbey lead to some wonderful learning experiences?
Are quiet times valuable and even essential?
What is The Catholic Radical Unschool Cheese?
Can unschooling kids work hard?
Is a parent's attitude important when it comes to chores and other mundane tasks?
What have my children been doing recently?
You can find the show notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
Please visit my new blog The Catholic Radical Unschool Cheese.
 
Podcast music: Twombly 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!

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)
 

59: Busy Days and Catch-Up Days

In this week's episode, I talk about our busy week and the need for occasional catch-up days . 
I also tell a few stories about:
 
my girls' recent music video shoot
how I made a few Youtube interview videos
what we did with our inside cats while our house was being fumigated to get rid of fleas
recording and editing audio for a local radio show
my unique way of finding Valentine's Day gifts for my husband
 
I also ponder the questions:
 
How do we prevent sibling rivalry?
If we seem to have all the answers, is that discouraging to others? Are seemingly 'perfect' families off-putting?
 
In my introduction, I did say I was going to speak about 'mean kids', but I forgot. Maybe I'll tell you that story next week!
I hope you enjoy my podcasts. If you do, perhaps you can spread the word about unschooling by sharing my link! Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family where you'll find the show notes.
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)
 
 

58: Responding to Unschooling and Other Critics

 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 natural learning experiences into the right educational language?
Do we need to be curious people?
How can we find lots of everyday learning to add to our records books?
When we've read all the Jane Austen novels, what can we read next?
I hope you'll listen to this week's episode! You could visit my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family.
And maybe you'd like to take a look at my children's novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)

57: What's Stopping You From Unschooling?

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: Who can we trust when we're looking for unschooling info online? 
I tell a few family stories while pondering joy.
And I share lots of resources
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family where you'll find the show notes.
 
You can find my children's novel The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon. (The Kindle version will be free from Fri 5th - Sun 7th February.)
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 
 

56: Fan Mail and Lots of Unschooling Thoughts

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 trying new things
why you should try unschooling
how we all have something valuable to offer
Facebook
plus other rambling thoughts
You can find the podcast notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
You can find my children's novel, The Angels of Abbey Creek on Amazon (and other places.)
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)