Just living and learning
When a child leaves a traditional school environment to begin unschooling, the adjustment period is generally referred to as 'deschooling'. It's a time when, free from external expectations and pressure, they can rediscover their natural rhythms and who they are when no one expects them to be anything in particular. I keep coming across a... Continue Reading →
There is a lot of discussion right now about the power that local authorities in the UK have to ascertain whether children who are not educated in school are, in their opinion, receiving a "suitable education". Around the world, this is something that many unschooling families find themselves navigating—the pressure or legal requirement to show... Continue Reading →
An understandable fear people have about their children leaving formal education is that if they don't do well at school, they won't go far in life. Since school is really the only model that we all know well, and the model that the vast majority of us and our children pass through in order to... Continue Reading →
Thursday morning began gloriously. The weather was beautiful and, for the first time in a couple of weeks, there were no activities to drive anyone to. The day's plan amounted to baking bread then, after lunch, picking up Belle, the dog we walk, and heading with her to the beach for a swim. I got... Continue Reading →
I realised, when my oldest son was just a baby, that following his rhythm was infinitely easier than attempting to impose anything of my own. It felt right and it also felt just a bit lazy. Occasionally, I would try for something a little more orderly, influenced perhaps by all the people I knew whose... Continue Reading →
One of the most profound shifts I have experienced over these years has been in my understanding of neurodiversity. As with just about everything else, moving away from a mainstream perspective has allowed me to relax into living and observing life in a way that is both far more nuanced and far simpler at the... Continue Reading →
A PLACE ON A HILL 