Archive for the 'newbies' Category

Advance review of The Unschooling Unmanual

Jan Hunt director of the Natural Child Project and her unschooled son Jason are coeditors of the soon to be released The Unschooling Unmanual. This compilation of eleven essays will be available in early Feb, 2008.
I managed to get my mitts on an advance digital copy of the book and have written an indepth review […]

Hey… Look at that Dog!

That is what I yelled out to my family as we drove down a street in Launceston, Tasmania and saw the creature pictured left. It seemed like all my family, even my 19 month old son, rolled their eyes as Anne politely pointed out, “It’s a llama.”
I still argue that the car was moving fast, […]

New Review of Pam Leo’s Connection Parenting

These days if someone is wanting to make changes to their parenting I recommend Pam Leo’s Connection Parenting. If someone is the partner of someone who wants to make change then I would recommend Alfie Kohn’s Unconditional Parenting.
Kohn’s book presents a strong case, with well referenced research and in that sense presents a compelling […]

DO NOT READ THIS POST!

So you’re reading it anyway right?
In fact more people will probably read this post because of that title. Me writing “Do NOT read this Post” is a limit that is unexplained, artificial and/ or you have no reason for believing… why wouldn’t you at best ignore it or more likely become even more curious by […]

So What is Unschooling Anyway?

When I started this site I wrote some Quick Definintions of a range a terms from unschooling to deschooling.
Since that time we have been living those terms more and more and as a result my children have been helping me understand them more. I am constantly learning new definitions, here are some that I learnt […]

Unauthorised Guide for Unschooling Mums dealing with (still developing) Unschooling Dads

I keep meeting and hearing of Mums who want to unschool & practice non coercive parenting but are having problems bringing their hubbys along for the ride. Originally I had planned to write a series of “letter to Dads”, in trying to communicate the great potential and benefits of these approaches.
I was half way through […]

English to ‘Behaviourish’, learning a new language

Its difficult for me not to regret how I used to respond to my daughters moments of anger when she was three. I was still in my “rules and boundaries” world view (it was before I started listening and learning from my daughter). So when M, my daughter was angry and yelling, the first thing […]

Article Summaries Now Available

This site has been going since November 2006 and has grown steadilly – including some very wise words from the likes of Alfie Kohn, Jan Hunt, Naomi Aldort, Paddy Wipfler, Jon Kabat-Zinn and many more. Their articles and a few of mine are summarised on our new Article Index here.
Hope you enjoy them… tell […]

Natural Learning in the fast lane…

M & I recently made a 2 hour drive both ways to & from Brisbane to see “the Fairies” live. M got dressed as a fairy especially.
Had a fantastic chat on the way back to Byron Bay. Started with M (who is 5yrs) asking why we could drive past the other cars and me explaining […]

choosing egroups…

I have found some egroups to be invaluable for advice, ideas, confidence and support. This is a quick description and my impressions of some of the unschooling and alternative parenting egroups out there…