Stories of an Unschooling Family

156: Building Strong Relationships with Our Kids

This week, I'm sharing 3 stories about my young adult son Callum (who likes to grin!):
How I Removed an Engine from a Car
Engines, Muscles and Spending Time with Dad
My Fridge Adventure
I talk about building strong relationships with our kids by:
Taking an interest in their passions.
Spending time with them.
Being daring and adventurous parents who like to have fun.
As well, I talk about:
Self-directed learning.
Being honest.
I also share a couple of reviews for my books Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool Love.
 
Show Notes
 
My Unschooling Books
Curious Unschoolers: Kindle
Curious Unschoolers: paperback
Radical Unschool Love: Kindle
Radical Unschool Love: paperback
 
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
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. (You could tell me how many times I said the word 'grin' in this episode!) And please join me on Instagram!
 

155: Another Way of Looking at Our Unschooled Kids' Learning

This week, I'm sharing and discussing the story, Another Way of Looking at Our Kids' Learning. 
I talk about my teenager's morning:
What Gemma-Rose did
How I could record that learning in terms of school subjects
And how I could think about her learning in another way
I also talk about the importance of play for both children and adults.
And I share a couple of podcast reviews that I was thrilled to receive. A big thank you to The Simple living Mom and Home Ed Fam!!
 
 
 
Show Notes
 
Blog Post
 Another Way of Looking at Our Kids' Learning
 
My Unschooling Books
Curious Unschoolers: Kindle
Curious Unschoolers: paperback
Radical Unschool Love: Kindle
Radical Unschool Love: paperback
 
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
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. You could just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!

154: Stories from Radical Unschool Love

This week, I'm sharing some of the stories from my recently published unschooling book, Radical Unschool Love:
Radical Unschool Love
The Next Instalment of the Unschooling Story
Not as Wild as it Sounds
Unconditional Love
An Active Approach to Radical Unschooling
How Radical Unschooling Might Not Look Radical
What if We Have Differing Beliefs and Opinions?
I also have some odds and ends of news to share!
 
Show Notes
 
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
 
Unschooling books by Suzie Andres
Homeschooling with Gentleness
A Little Way of Homeschooling
 
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!

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!
 

152: Stories from My Closet

This week, I've taken my mic into my closet!
Sitting amongst my clothes, I'm sharing:
Why I'm in my wardrobe.
My new book idea.
How I was interviewed for the Global Homeschooling Summit.
My Susan Skeleton story.
A homeschool registration story from my book Curious Unschoolers.
The birthday urn story.
And the huge ornate mirror story.
Of course, along the way, I'm also sharing some unschooling ideas!
 
Show Notes
 
My Unschooling Book
Curious Unschoolers
 
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
The Global Unschooling 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!

151: Stories from 'Curious Unschoolers'

This week, I'm sharing the first 3 parts of my newly published book Curious Unschoolers. I hope these stories will give you an idea of what my book is all about. Perhaps after listening to them, you'd like to read the whole book!
6:27 Curious Unschoolers
7:06 Part 1: An Introduction7:10 Something Important10:33 The Friend Who Comes to Tea13:08 Just in Case We’re Not Already Friends14:53 A Book of Stories
17:22 Part 2: An Introduction to Unschooling17:28 What is unschooling?20:48 Why Unschooling Isn’t a Method of Homeschooling32:01 Does Unschooling Work?
38:04 Part 3: What Unschooling Looks Like 38:10 What is Unschooling All About?48:12 Is Unschooling Just Living Life?54:08 The Curriculum of Life1:03:07 A Typical Unschooling Day
 
Show Notes
 
My Unschooling Book
Curious Unschoolers
 
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
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!

150: Unschooling Books and Bedtimes

This week, I'm chatting about unschooling and bedtimes.
What if our kids want to stay up late?
Can kids get up early if they have to?
Do we sometimes want our kids to go to bed early because it suits us?
What if we are criticised because of the way we parent our kids?
I share lots of stories including one about entertaining unexpected guests in my pyjamas while feeding a baby.
Also, I share
My latest unschooling book news
An excerpt from my book Curious Unschoolers.
Some family news.
And a few bits and pieces!
 
Show Notes
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 
Instagram
stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily
 
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 anything I talked about in this episode. You could just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!

149: My Unschooler's Homeschool Registration Visit

This week, I'm sharing details of my daughter Gemma-Rose's homeschool registration visit. I discuss the following questions:
Can registered homeschoolers unschool?
How do we write homeschool plans when we don't know what our unschooling kids will be interested in?
How can we fulfil homeschooling registration requirements without forcing kids to learn things they're not interested in? 
Is forced learning real learning?
I also talk about:
How we might be tempted to push our kids to use their talents or extend their interests.
How kids can surprise us. They're often not like us. They do things on their own timetables and not ours.
And I share my latest unschooling book news.
 
Show Notes
Podcasts
Episode 27: The Tricky Business of Registering an Unschooler as a Homeschooler
Episode 45: How Registered Homeschoolers Can Unschool
 
Blog Posts
My homeschool registration and record keeping posts
 
Youtube
Sue Elvis
 
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 I talked about in this episode. 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!
 

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!