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45: How Registered Homeschoolers Can Unschool

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 discuss what we can do if a child refuses to learn something that's required by the educational authorities
I offer a few positives (!) of homeschool registration
and also some examples of how I record unschool learning experiences
I use the words 'syllabus' and 'curriculum' interchangeably and wrongly, I'm sure! (I think you'll still get the idea.)
I also made a mistake about the required hours of schooling. My number was too low.
I can't go back and fix up my mistakes: I had to work quickly on a borrowed computer and unfortunately I've run out of time. Sorry!
If you are interested in homeschool registration resources, you'll find lots of relevant posts, videos and other podcasts on my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family. 
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 

44: Strengthening Family Bonds

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'm sorry about that. I hope you'll listen anyway!
I plan to share a few resources associated with this podcast on my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family. If you're interested, please watch out for the post!
60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 

43: On Holiday: History, Geography and Record Keeping

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 Sophie also joins me to chat about The Wedding! We tell the story of Elsa the Bride!I hope you'll join me for this week's episode. You will find the notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 

42: Mothers and Daughters-in-Law and Love

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?
I also share some resources appropriate to the theme of love!
 
You can find the podcast notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family. Please visit!Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 

41: Chores and Our Typical Unschooling Day

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 sometimes get fed up of being a good example? Do I sometimes fail?
And what resources do I share this week?
You can find the podcast notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family. Please visit!Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 
 

40: A Bit of Murder in Our Typical Unschooling Day

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 science and maths resources I discovered
Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family where I'll post some program notes.
 
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 
 

39: How I Made a 'Huge' Mistake and Was Forgiven

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 went wrong with a tiny section of the audio. Please keep listening. It only lasts for a few seconds!
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
The podcast notes can be found on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family.
 

38: Is Unschooling Just Living Life?

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 high school years?
Am I a proud mother?
Is it possible for siblings to successfully teach siblings?
And should we push children to develop and use their talents if they are not motivated to do this themselves?
I also share my latest resource discoveries!.You'll find the program notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family. I hope you'll listen to this week's episode! 
 
 

37: Books, Weddings and Lots of Passion!

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 great free resources that can be found online
how wonderful it is watching children involved with their passions
my daughter Charlotte’s university experience: how did she get on writing her very first essay?
Please visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family for the podcast notes, and to see Suzie Andres' new page! You can also find me on my Facebook Page.Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

36: Encouraging Kids to Write (and the Youngest Child in the Family)

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 child, despite our efforts, just doesn't want to write?
You'll find relevant blog posts and other program notes on my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family. And you'll also find me on my Facebook page of the same name!
 
Music: 60's Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)