Stories of an Unschooling Family
Want to know more about unschooling? How about radical unschooling? (It’s not as scary or as wild as some people make out!) Join me as I share ideas, stories, homeschool record-keeping tips and resources for living an unschooling life of unconditional love.
Episodes
Friday Feb 01, 2019
146: Finding Unschooling in Unexpected Places and Other Things
Friday Feb 01, 2019
Friday Feb 01, 2019
This week my daughters Imogen and Sophie join me to talk about:
Imogen’s novel ‘The Crystal Tree’ and its sequel ‘The Shattering Song’
YA or Young Adult novels
Imogen’s book review videos
How parents hold the key to a child’s happiness
How some parents push their kids to fulfil their own dreams
The YA novel ‘A Thousand Perfect Notes’
Imogen’s opinion of my first unschooling book ‘Curious Unschoolers’
How we’re getting on with the formatting and publishing of my unschooling book
A progress report for my second unschooling book ‘A Radical Unschool Love’
How Sophie is teaching Imogen photography
The joy of sharing passions
Creativity and learning
How we all have bad days
How our family isn’t perfect
Sophie’s new job
Sophie’s transition from unschooling to structured learning
Sophie’s beta personal training clients
How it can be difficult for parents to accept help and advice from their children
How kids can outlearn their parents
Show Notes
A Novel
A Thousand Perfect Notes by CG Drews
Imogen Elvis
Youtube
Write. Rewrite. Read
Imogen's novel
The Crystal Tree
Instagram
Write. Rewrite. Read
Website
Write. Rewrite. Read
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 I talked about in this episode. Or you could just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!
Saturday Jan 05, 2019
145: Taking the Unschooling Yeti for a Test Drive
Saturday Jan 05, 2019
Saturday Jan 05, 2019
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.
Friday Dec 14, 2018
144: Reading Out Loud and a Generous Christmas
Friday Dec 14, 2018
Friday Dec 14, 2018
This week, I'm answering some questions about reading out loud:
What is our reading out loud process?
Should we have a time (for reading) built into the flow (of our day)?
What if this time crowds out other projects our children are working on individually?
How do we choose books?
I talk about
Why I never enjoyed listening to books being read aloud as a child
How I used to regard reading out loud as the dessert of my kids' education rather than the main course.
How we should move over and let our kids occupy the reader's chair
How we have to be patient while our kids are learning how to read out loud
My reading-out-loud experiment: What happened when I stopped correcting my daughter when she made reading-out-loud mistakes
I also return to the topic of Christmas presents:
Do presents belong only to the commercial side of Christmas or do they have spiritual significance?
Can we tell others to be generous?
Or do we only learn about generosity by experiencing it ourselves?
Show Notes
Blog Posts
Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents
The Reading Out Loud Experiment
A Main Course of Reading Out Loud
Listening
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. 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.
This is my last episode for 2018. I'm taking a break over Christmas. Please join me again in 2019! Happy Christmas!
Saturday Dec 08, 2018
143: Respecting Kids and Christmas Presents
Saturday Dec 08, 2018
Saturday Dec 08, 2018
This week, I'm sharing some news about my unschooling book.
I'm also sharing two stories, one about respecting children, and the other about perfect Christmas presents and love.
And I'm discussing the following questions:
Is it the right of every child to be respected?
How do we show respect to children?
Do we sometimes do things for our kids only because we want them to do things for us?
Is it okay to buy and enjoy giving Christmas presents?
Is it okay to look forward to receiving them?
Can choosing and giving presents be an act of love?
Show Notes
Blog Posts
My Perfect Christmas Present Secret
Making an Aussie Bush Christmas Tree
YouTube
Imogen Elvis
Imogen's Christmas Music Playlist
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. Perhaps you have a question or topic you'd like me to discuss. Or just stop by and say hello. And please join me on Instagram!
Friday Nov 30, 2018
142: An Unschooler Talks About Life, Work and Dreams
Friday Nov 30, 2018
Friday Nov 30, 2018
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!
Friday Nov 23, 2018
141: When a Child Is No Longer Gripped by a Passion
Friday Nov 23, 2018
Friday Nov 23, 2018
This week, I'm answering the question: "Have your kids ever been between interests?"
I talk about:
Exciting times when kids are gripped by a passion
Quiet times when they appear to be drifting along
How we can help our kids during quiet times by trusting and strewing
Some strewing ideas
Show Notes
Blog Posts
When Excitement for Learning Appears to Disappear
Regaining Her Enthusiasm for Learning
Preparing our Kids for an Unknown Future: Can We Do It?
What Happened When I Strewed a Painting on the Wall
Unschooling, Strewing, and Unplanning
My Unschool Unplanning Strewing Notebook
Podcasts
Episode 4: Exciting Times, Slow Times, and Unschool Holidays
Episode 83: How to Start a Great Art Conversation
Novel Writing
Camp NaNoWriMo
Coding Lessons
Codecademy
Youtube Exercise Channel
Fitness Blender
My Unschooling Newsletter
Subscribe
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. Perhaps you have a question or topic you'd like me to discuss. Or just stop by and say hello. And join me on Instagram!
Friday Nov 16, 2018
140: Difficult Things
Friday Nov 16, 2018
Friday Nov 16, 2018
This week, I'm talking about things that are sometimes difficult:
Letting kids do what they want even if there is a risk of failure
Taking risks so that we continue to learn
Not pushing kids to use their talents
Balancing the role of school teacher with that of unschooling father
Talking to reluctant spouses about a desire to unschool
Listening and building up trust
Writing a 50,000-word novel
Losing a child
Reaching out to those who are grieving
Show Notes
Pam Laricchia's Podcast
Exploring Unschooling
Episode 150 of the Exploring Unschooling Podcast: Stories of an Unschooling Family with Sue Elvis
Novel Writing
NaNoWriMo
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. Or just stop by and say hello. And join me on Instagram!
Friday Nov 02, 2018
139: Unschool Socialisation: Making Friends, Being Different
Friday Nov 02, 2018
Friday Nov 02, 2018
This week, I'm talking about unschooling and friends.
Is it sometimes difficult for unschoolers to find kindred spirit friends because we're different?
What if our kids don't have many friends?
If someone doesn't want to be our friend, is there something wrong with us?
How do you become a cool kid?
Should we pretend to be someone we're not so that we'll be accepted and have friends?
Or is it better to be ourselves?
Do we need lots of friends in order to learn good communication skills and how to get on with other people?
Or maybe some 'socialised' people who have no trouble talking don't actually have many communication skills?
Of course, some unschoolers may be part of big unschooling groups and have no trouble finding like-minded friends!
I'm also talking about
NaNoWriMo and friends
My unschooling book
How I stepped outside my comfort zone and had an exciting adventure!
Show Notes
Podcast
Episode 48: Do Unschoolers Mind Being Different
Novel Writing
NaNoWriMo
Video
Gemma-Rose (9) Talks about Novel Writing
Pam Laricchia's Podcast
Exploring Unschooling
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. Or just stop by and say hello. And join me on Instagram!
Saturday Oct 27, 2018
138: Is Unschooling More Than a Method of Homeschooling?
Saturday Oct 27, 2018
Saturday Oct 27, 2018
This week, I'm discussing the question: Is unschooling a method of homeschooling? Or is there more to unschooling than that? Could it be a way of life?
I'm sharing and discussing a story, Why Unschooling Isn't Just Another Method of Homeschooling
I'm also talking about
the issue of unlimited screen time again
criticism and the power of love
how can we encourage kids to become the people they are meant to be?
Show Notes
Blog Post
Why Unschooling Isn't Just Another Method of Homeschooling
Podcast
Episode 70: Trust, Respect and Love Unconditionally
Article
Unschooling 101 by Bridget Bentz Sider:
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. Or just stop by and say hello!
Friday Oct 19, 2018
137: Guiding Our Kids by Radically Unschooling
Friday Oct 19, 2018
Friday Oct 19, 2018
This week, I'm returning to the topic of radical unschooling.
I'm sharing a story about junk food and poor hygiene and then discussing the following questions:
Is it okay if our kids make choices that are detrimental to their health and happiness?
Should we stand back and let kids make their own minds up about everything?
Or is it okay to guide them?
Do all parents influence their children in some way?
How do we guide our kids without forcing our values, beliefs and practices on them?
What's the difference between unschooling and unparenting?
Why do I think everyone should radically unschool?
I also share
My bad haircut story
My Instagram news
An update about the unschooling book I'm writing
Show Notes
Blog post
Junk Food and Poor Hygiene: Is Radical Unschooling Wrong?
Podcast
Episode 109: Why You Should Consider Radical Unschooling
Books
The Crystal Tree by Imogen Elvis
Finish: Give Myself the Gift of Done by Jon Acuff
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. Or just stop by and say hello!