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A Positive Outlook Isn’t Turning a Blind Eye
Last week I talked about finding joy, that deeper sense of self that no longer seems quite so susceptible to the whims of life and luck. Yet, as I mentioned, it’s not that life no longer has...
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The World of Siblings and Unschooling
I received multiple questions about supporting siblings with differing needs and interests and sibling relationships, so I thought I’d address them together. A couple of them also have extenuating...
View Article“Learn to Say No Or You’ll Spoil Your Child”
“to impair, damage, or harm the character or nature of (someone) by unwise treatment, excessive indulgence, etc.: to spoil a child by pampering him.” ~ dictionary.com A “spoiled” child is one that...
View Article“If You’re Bored, I’ll Give You Something To Do”
I imagine most of us heard some version of this growing up. It was a kind of threat—that “something to do” was something your parent was sure you wouldn’t want to do, a household chore like tidying up...
View Article“You Have to Limit Screen Time”
Before we dive in, let’s take a moment to look at the phrase “screen time.” It lumps together devices that involve a visual interface: TVs, video games, computers, cell phones, e-readers, tablets etc....
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“Video Games Are Making Children Violent”
The public outcry against violence in the media isn’t new. It started with violence in movies and TV, and in the last twenty-odd years has grown to include video games. Yet not everyone is swayed....
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My Definition of Success
I write a lot about the benefits of unschooling that I’ve seen over the years for my children, so I thought it would be fun this month to switch it up and think about the benefits of unschooling for...
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Am I Feeling Open and Connected?
I like to check in with myself once in a while to ask if I’m living the principles that have meaning for me. For our unschooling lifestyle. Let’s do that together this month. Am I feeling open and...
View ArticleWays to Build Trust in Unschooling
Unschooling as a way of learning and living is unconventional. In general, conventional society trusts the school system as an effective process for learning, where trust is a reasonably confident...
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Ways to Build Trust in Each Other
In my experience, a trusting relationship with my children is the backbone of our unschooling lives. And that trust goes both ways: my trust in them, and their trust in me. It is so important because...
View ArticleCan You Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?
A few months ago I was in conversation with someone and we ended up at the old saying, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” Us adults being the “old dogs,” of course. It was someone I enjoy...
View ArticleThe Search for Meaningful Work
meaningful, purposeful, substantial, essential, significant, worthwhile, relevant, important, consequential, valid As we’ve looked at this month, coming to unschooling as adults is a fascinating...
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Seeing the Learning in All Their Activities
Coming to unschooling, how do we begin to see the learning in everyday moments? It’s there, but when we’re used to seeing learning through the filter of conventional school, it can be hard to spot at...
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The Road of Trials: The Heart of Deschooling
Once having traversed the threshold, the hero moves in a dream landscape of curiously fluid, ambiguous forms, where he must survive a succession of trials. (p. 81, The Hero with a Thousand Faces,...
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The Meeting with the Goddess: Seeing the Value in All Experiences
At this point in our journey we’ve navigated the road of trials, though I’d like to point out that, in my experience, our trials are never completely “done.” There will be more challenges in the...
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Woman as the Temptress: Accepting Our Nature
The whole sense of the ubiquitous myth of the hero’s passage is that it shall serve as a general pattern for men and women, wherever they may stand along the scale. (p. 101, Joseph Campbell, The Hero...
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Atonement with the Father: Accepting Others Where They Are
With this stage we have reached the midpoint of our journey, so let’s get right to it! Lurking, Lissy Elle Now we’re confronting “the ogre aspect of the father.” (p. 105, Joseph Campbell, The Hero with...
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The Ultimate Boon: Unschooling with Confidence and Grace
Princess Alyssabeth’s Belated Birthday, Lissy Elle We made it! We have achieved the goal of our quest, the ultimate boon: we are unschooling. Our relationships with our children are strong and...
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EU035: Redefining Success with Jo Isaac
Jo Isaac is a zoologist turned science writer and unschooling mom to Kai. She, ten-year-old Kai, and her husband Brett, live and learn in Melbourne, Australia. Her path of learning and unschooling has...
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EU037: Ten Questions with Carol Black
Carol Black unschooled her two daughters, now 22 and 26. Years ago she was in a teacher education program, but when she read John Holt’s How Children Fail the light bulb went off and she dropped out....
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