writing

192: The Stories of Our Lives

In episode 192 of my Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast, I talked about:
Homework for Life
Generating writing ideas
Creating second brains
Homeschool records, including strewing and planning notebooks and family journals
Social media and other online distractions
Also:
I shared Matthew Dicks’ book, Storyworthy and Tiago Forte’s book,  Building a Second Brain.
I told two stories of my life, one about a kangaroo and the other about trees topped with a bright green fuzz of new leaves.
I read my blog post, The Writing Game: No Shortage of Writing Ideas.
And I discussed the note-taking apps, Apple Notes, Evernote and Notion.
Please visit my blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family to read the associated post that includes a list of resources.

188: It's Not for Me!

This week, Imogen and I are discussing:
The value of casual work and lower profile jobs
How our kids can surprise us
Jobs and passions
Why we need to promote our work
How to answer critics and critique other people’s work
The importance of helping each other
Jane Austen, Sanditon and Bridgerton
Ageing
And other things!
 
Show Notes
 
Things we mention in this episode
This is Marketing: book by Seth Godin
The Illustrated Man: book by Ray Bradbury
Sanditon: miniseries adapted from Jane Austen's novel by Andrew Davies 
Sanditon: unfinished Jane Austen novel
Pride and Prejudice: 1995 miniseries adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's novel
Bridgerton: miniseries
Bridgerton: book by Julia Quinn
 
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
Unschooling Community
My Stories of an Unschooling Family community
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Blogs
Stories of an Unschooling Family
Where the Carol Birds Sing
Instagram
sue_elvis
 
Where You Can Find Imogen
Blog
Write.Rewrite.Read
Instagram
write.rewrite.read
Youtube
Imogen Elvis
Books
The Crystal Tree
The Shattering Song
Frost Hands
 
Thank you for listening to this episode!
 
 

187: The Problem With High Expectations and Control

This week, Imogen and I are talking about:
High expectations and control. Do they result in unhappy children? Do controlled kids look for distractions? Does limiting screen time result in an increased attraction for devices?
A novel that Imogen reviewed: Dear Hero
Inspiration and different ways of telling a story
How we can work together, share our skills, and help each other
The Catholic Homeschool Conference (I'm a speaker!)
News of two soon-to-be-produced unschooling podcasts
 
Show Notes
Things we mentioned in this episode:
 
Indistractible by Nir Eyal
Masterchef Australia 2021
Show Your Work by Austin Kleon
Dear Hero by Hope Bolinger and Alyssa Roat
Illuminae Files Book Series by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
The Catholic Homeschool Conference
 
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
Unschooling Community
My Stories of an Unschooling Family community
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Blogs
Stories of an Unschooling Family
Where the Carol Birds Sing
Instagram
sue_elvis
 
Where You Can Find Imogen
Blog
Write.Rewrite.Read
Instagram
write.rewrite.read
Youtube
Imogen Elvis
Books
The Crystal Tree
The Shattering Song
Frost Hands
 
Thank you for listening to this episode!
 
 

186: Criticism, Reviews, and Paying it Forward

This week, Imogen and I have a lively conversation about:
The highs and lows that affect our parenting, homeschooling and creative lives
Criticism: why do we let other people's opinions affect what we do? Whose opinions should we listen to? Why we shouldn't let criticism stop us from using our talents
Reviews: why we don't ask for many reviews
Writing about things we have never experienced
Paying it Forward: is free online stuff really free? 
We're also discussing some books and movies.
And we're telling stories about:
how to remove a dead tree
cockroaches
how I might have made a difference to the lives of the world's dogs
and many other things
 
Show Notes
Things we mention in this episode:
 
Tamworth
Botanic gardens and Marsupial Park
Country Music Festival
 
Gunnedah
Silo Art: Dorothea MacKellar and her poem, My Country
Water Tower Art: The Long Tan Battle of the Vietnam War
Silo Art at Barraba
 
Book
Show Your Work: Ten Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon
 
Tin Tin comics and Netflix shows
 
Movies and Series
The Greatest Showman
Les Mis
Oklahoma
Hamilton
The Crown
The Chosen
 
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
Unschooling Community
My Stories of an Unschooling Family community
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Blogs
Stories of an Unschooling Family
Where the Carol Birds Sing
Instagram
sue_elvis
 
Where You Can Find Imogen
Blog
Write.Rewrite.Read
Instagram
write.rewrite.read
Youtube
Imogen Elvis
Books
The Crystal Tree
The Shattering Song
Frost Hands
 
Thank you for listening to this episode!
 
 

180: Unschool, Martian, and Risque Stories

My daughter Imogen and I are discussing play, writing, books, Martians, and exercise. This episode is jam-packed full of stories, unschooling thoughts and resources.
Episode Contents
0:00-01:56 Intro
01:56-07:53 Excitement 
07:53-10:51 Writing
10:51-18:08 Music
18:08-30:15 Kids’ Play
30:15-42:10 Adults’ Play
42:10-59:18 A Space Phase
59:18-01:03:31 A Novel and Priest Holes
01:03:31-01:07:11 Exercise
01:07:11-01:13:51 A Risqué Story
01:13:51-01:17:01 Listener Questions 
01:17:01-01:21:38 End Stuff
 
Show Notes 
 
Writing
NaNoWriMo
 
Music
Musescore
Garageband
 
Play
Blog Post: Doing What Kids Ought to Do
 
A Space Phase
The War of the Worlds book by H.G. Wells
Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds
The Martian book
The Martian movie
Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets
 
Exercise
Leslie Sansone's Walk at Home
 
Books
The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton
Imogen's new novel : Frost 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
My Stories of an Unschooling Family community
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Blogs
Stories of an Unschooling Family
Where the Carol Birds Sing
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
Where You Can Find Imogen
Blog
Write.Rewrite.Read
Instagram
write.rewrite.read
Youtube
Imogen Elvis
 
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!
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family or Instagram to leave a comment. Perhaps you have a question for Imogen? We'd love to hear some feedback about our conversation!
 

179: Unschooling, Plot Holes and Twonk

My daughter Imogen and I are sharing some unschooling thoughts while we talk about what we’ve been working on, what we’ve been reading and watching, and what’s making us feel excited.
0:00 Intro
00:58 Introducing Imogen
01:47 Returning to Podcasting
05:50 Frost Hands and Writing
14:34 Writing Novels and Unschooling Books
21:57 The Inconvenience of Losing Our Videographer 
32:14 Excited About Exercise
41:59 Escaping into a Novel
48:55 Rereading Retold Fairy Tales
53:52 Masterchef and Kids’ Happiness
01:01:29 The Masked Singer and Twonk
01:08:50 End Things
 
Show Notes
 
Imogen's new novel
Frost Hands
 
Podcasts about NaNoWriMo
Episode 153: More Unschool Writing Ideas and Resources
Episode 140: Difficult Things
 
Imogen's Music Youtube Channel
Imogen Elvis
 
Websites
Skillshare
Walk at Home
 
Books
The Lake House by Kate Morton
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
 
Blog Post
Why We Need to Support Our Kids' Choices
 
Video
My 2020 Global Homeschooling Summit interview video
 
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
My Stories of an Unschooling Family community
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Blogs
Stories of an Unschooling Family
Where the Carol Birds Sing
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
Where You Can Find Imogen
Blog
Write.Rewrite.Read
Instagram
write.rewrite.read
 
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!
 
Please feel welcome to visit my blog Stories of an Unschooling Family to leave a comment!
 

171: The Problem With Being Too Nice

This week, I'm talking about the problem with being too nice.
Is it okay to be honest about how we're feeling?
Should we avoid comparing ourselves with other people?
I'm also talking about the A-Z blogging challenge.
And I'm sharing one of my old challenge stories, the Y story: You Come to Visit
 
Show Notes
 
Blog Post
The Problem With Being Too Nice
 
Writing Challenge
The A-Z Blogging Challenge
 
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
My Stories of an Unschooling Family community
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!
 
 

167: Grammar and Punctuation and Other Unschool Writing Stories

 
This week,
I'm sharing some feedback about episode 166.
I'm telling four unschool writing stories: 
What About Grammar and Punctuation?
Learning About Punctuation the Lewis Carroll Way
Wanting to Know How to Spell
The Writing Game: No Shortage of Writing Ideas
I'm also discussing each story.
I have some resources to share.
And I'm talking about podcast chapters.
 
Show Notes
My Unschooling Books
Curious Unschoolers: Kindle
Curious Unschoolers: paperback
Radical Unschool Love: Kindle
Radical Unschool Love: paperback
My Amazon Author Page
 
Imogen's novels
The Crystal Tree
The Shattering Song
 
Blog Posts
What About Grammar and Punctuation?
Learning About Punctuation the Lewis Carroll Way
Wanting to Learn How to Spell
The Writing Game: No Shortage of Writing Ideas
 
Podcasts
Our Writing Unrules for Unschoolers
More Unschool Writing Ideas and Resources
 
Resources
Grammarly
Capitalize My Title
 
Where You Can Find Me
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
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 you will consider leaving some feedback that I can share with listeners in next week's episode!  
 

153: More Unschool Writing Ideas and Resources

My author daughter Imogen joins me for a bumper episode about unschool writing.
In episode 148, we talked about how unschooling children learn to write. This week, we continue the unschool writing discussion by answering a couple of listener questions and then sharing some ideas and resources for anyone, young child to adult, who wants to improve their writing skills.
We also talk about:
The Global Homeschooling Summit and give a taste of Imogen and Sophie's interview.
My soon-to-be-published unschooling book Radical Unschool Love.
My daughter Charlotte's new design project: her Red Bubble shops.
 
Show Notes
 
Go Teen Writers
Go Teen Writers blog
Go Teen Writers book: How to Turn Your First Draft into a Published Book
Go Teen Writers Facebook Group
 
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo
Camp NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program
 
Blogging
Blogger
Wordpress
 
Books
Plot and Structure: Techniques and Exercise for Crafting a Plot That Grips Readers from Start to Finish by James Scott Bell
Revision and Self-Editing (Write Great Fiction) by James Scott Bell
 
Bird by Bird: Some Instruction on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
 
Podcasts
Episode 148: Our Writing Unrules for Unschoolers
Writing Excuses
 
Charlotte Elvis
Charlotte's Redbubble Shop
The Stories of an Unschooling Family Red Bubble Shop
Instagram: charlotte.elvis
 
Imogen Elvis
Website
Write.Rewrite.Read
Youtube
Imogen Elvis
Write. Rewrite. Read
Imogen's novel
The Crystal Tree
Instagram
Write. Rewrite. Read
 
Sue Elvis
My Unschooling Books
Curious Unschoolers: Kindle
Curious Unschoolers: paperback
Radical Unschool Love: Kindle
Radical Unschool Love: paperback
Youtube
Sue Elvis
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
The Global Homeschooling Summit
 
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 about this episode. Or you could just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!
 

148: Our Writing Unrules for Unschoolers

This week, my daughter Imogen and I are chatting about unschool writing. How do unschoolers learn to write? We share my writing unrules which are based on my observations of my children who all love writing.
We talk about:
Imogen's writing story: how she learnt to write, her university degree, how she is turning her passion for writing into YA novels
How free play is the foundation for creative writing
How drawing is a form of writing
How we learn by following someone else's example
How motivation for writing must come from within a child
Books and reading
How English workbooks are unnecessary
The progress of my unschooling books
And lots more!
 
Show Notes
 
Imogen Elvis
Website
Write.Rewrite.Read
Youtube
Write. Rewrite. Read
Imogen's novel
The Crystal Tree
Instagram
Write. Rewrite. Read
 
Podcasts
Homeschool Solutions with Pam Barnhill
Episode 150 of the Exploring Unschooling podcast with Pam Laricchia.
 
Books and Authors Mentioned
Jackie French
Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak
Rick Riordan
Alice in Wonderful by Lewis Carrol
 
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!