Just living and learning
For no particular reason, today felt like a perfect day. E headed out early for a drama workshop, D got up later and was busy with the things that are occupying his mind right now—coding, watching a Catalan satire programme, learning Korean, some business ideas—passing the time until his activities start up again next week.... Continue Reading →
My guest this episode is Naomi Fisher. Naomi is a clinical psychologist and mother of two. Her children were unschooled for six years and now attend a self-directed learning centre. Naomi has just published a wonderful book about self-directed learning, entitled Changing our Minds, which explores the theory and research behind autonomous learning, alongside lots of... Continue Reading →
My daughter was never a fan of busy playgrounds. For a couple of years, from when she was around three years old, she preferred the local dog park (we didn't have a dog). This was essentially a dusty enclosure with a couple of benches and a water fountain, in the centre of the Spanish town... Continue Reading →
I've recently begun to feel a deep sense of freedom. My life is much the same as it has been for the last year, with nothing shifting much beyond the changing seasons. I don't suddenly have extra time on my hands, I haven't cracked the key to passive income, and I am as weary of... Continue Reading →
I wonder at our role as parents right now. Without the usual activities going on, and with the additional emotional challenges that lockdown brings our young people, I think that now, more than ever before, our main task is holding the space - understanding when we just need to be present with what is, and... Continue Reading →
Not so long ago, in that little space between lockdowns, I was talking with two friends about the tension we sometimes feel when our children don't want to do things we think they'd enjoy. The context that day was simple. We'd planned to go for a hot chocolate and a walk with some of our... Continue Reading →
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A PLACE ON A HILL 