university

147: A Big Chat About Unschooling Teenagers

My daughters Imogen and Sophie join me to talk about unschooling teenagers:
What do teenagers need?
Should parents introduce more structured learning during the high school years?
Or do teenagers need to be free to continue to explore their passions?
What should we do if a teenager doesn't appear to have any particular passions?
What about university?
Do parents keep teenagers safe by keeping a tight hold on them? Is this the responsible thing to do?
Or do we keep teenagers safe by giving them their freedom to discover who they are?
Should parents be friends with their teenagers?
Is it never too late to build close relationships with our teenagers?
Is it essential we do this?
These are just a few of the many questions we discuss during our big chat about unschooling teenagers!
 
Show Notes
 
Imogen Elvis
Website
Write.Rewrite.Read
Youtube
Write. Rewrite. Read
Imogen's novel
The Crystal Tree
 
Sophie Elvis
Instagram
thetechnomaid
tough.turtle
Youtube
Sophie Elvis
 
My Instagram
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. You could just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!

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!

131: Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case

This week, I'm sharing a story called Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case. And I'm discussing the main points in it.
Is it sensible to make all kids learn maths just in case they might need it?
What if kids need maths to go to university?
What if they decide they want to go to school?
 
Show Notes
 
Blog post
Making Unschooled Kids Learn Maths Just in Case
 
Videos
Are You a Curious Unschooler?
What Will You Strew Today?
 
Youtube channel
Sue Elvis
 
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. 
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 just stop by and say hello!

120: Unschooling and University: Learning from Our Own Experiences

This week, I'm sharing my husband Andy's and my university experiences, and what we learnt from them:
 
The Opportunity to Discover, the Freedom to Learn
My Dean's Medallist of a Husband
 
I discuss the following questions:
 
Can unschooled children study successfully at university?
What is the best motivation for successful learning?
Should unschooling teenagers be allowed to continue exploring their interests?
Or should we structure their education in the final years so that they are prepared for university?
Is it ever too late to follow our dreams?
Is it ever too late to learn new skills?
 
Something I didn't mention: If a child knows what she wants to do, making a plan in order to achieve that goal seems to be a sensible thing to do. My daughter Imogen made a plan for getting into university. And it was successful.
 
My Youtube Videos:
Imogen Talks About Unschooling
From Unschooling to University and Work (Part 1)
From Unschooling to University and Work (Part 2)
 
Unschooling and university is a big topic. I didn't cover all aspects of it in this podcast, but maybe I offered a few ideas we can discuss.
 
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!
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family to leave a comment on today's episode. Or just stop by to say hello!
 
Podcast music: Twombly by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)