In my last post I listed some of the audiobooks C(9), J(8) and I listen to together. Today I’ll share some of the books we’ve been listening to individually, plus some non-fiction audiobooks we’ve enjoyed together. I also go off on a little tangent about reading and empathy. And I consider the impact of audiobooks … Continue reading Audiobooks for All Our Family
With the whole world suddenly homeschooling thanks to Covid-19, a few people have asked me to to share my experiences from our family’s 10 years’ homeschooling. My aim is to offer you fun learning activities you can do with kids of most ages. And I’ll throw in a few tips for how to stay sane … Continue reading How to Homeschool – A Few Ideas From Our 10 Years’ Experience
This post is about what my quirky, energetic, 11-year-old son is learning this homeschool year. Jasper loves maths, science, audiobooks, Lego and video games. He prefers learning at home, ideally while cuddling our pets, and he keeps us all entertained with his off-the-wall humour. Jasper’s goals If Jasper were in public school here in the UK, … Continue reading Homeschooling Grade 6 – What We’re Learning This year
Who are your heroes – the everyday folk or world-famous icons – that you admire most? How we can learn from our heroes What is it about these people that you especially respect? Do they have anything in common? You don’t have to admire every single thing about your heroes – it might be just one or … Continue reading A Video About Our Unschooling Day
Have you ever wondered why there are so few blogs about homeschooling older children? I used to. Then my kids became tweens. We’re still unschoolers, but the hands-on activities that used to make up our day are gradually being replaced by independent projects, reading and outside classes. And photos of tweens reading, watching YouTube or even quietly … Continue reading What’s it like Homeschooling an 11 and 12 Year Old?
I sit on the floor, surrounded by half-packed suitcases. It’s 4pm on a rainy Sunday afternoon, and outside the sky is darkening as the sun sets. In three days I will be climbing into our Ford Galaxy with my 11-year-old and my 10-year-old, and driving to the other side of Europe. The next five weeks stretch ahead … Continue reading A Homeschooling month in Spain – Part 2
When you homeschool, you have the flexibility to learn what you want, when you want – and where you want. So if you want to take off on a big adventure in the middle of a school term, you can. That’s exactly what we did this winter. I began planning our 5-week-trip to southern Europe a year ago. I wanted to … Continue reading A homeschooling month in Spain part 1 – Roadtrip to Andalucia
Then My rucksack was heavy on my back as I knocked tentatively on the door of the Cappucinas hostel in Granada, Spain. I’d spoken with the proprietress on the telephone a few days earlier but my Spanish – self-taught from a BBC book over the preceding few months – wasn’t strong enough for me to be … Continue reading Planning a Spanish Adventure
How do we teach our kids to write like their – and our – favourite authors? We can start by playing with some of the literary techniques successful writers use. One example is the opening hook. C(10) and I learned about opening hooks a few years ago from The Arrow (a Brave Writer language arts program for 8 … Continue reading Fun with Literary Devices – Opening Hooks
We’ve been homeschooling in very relaxed way this year. Surprisingly, I’ve probably put in more homeschooling “hours” than ever – unschooling is more parent-intensive than I’d anticipated. But both the children and I are thriving. I’ve started dozens of blog posts about what we’ve been doing, so I thought I’d better get around to finishing … Continue reading Unschooling Writing
