Success, as much as failure, are adult ideas which we impose on children. – John Holt, from How Children Fail
Faith’s Food Story: Unschooling with Food
In my article about food, I mention that my daughter Faith is my best food story. So here it is: From the beginning, Faith has had issues around food. She always seemed worried that there wouldn’t be enough. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear this is because she’s an identical twin, and never […]
Small Bodies, Big Feelings: A Peaceful Parenting Perspective on Emotions
Last night, my daughter Katy was upset. Really, really upset. A while back, I would have said she’d had a huge “temper-tantrum” or “meltdown”. You know what that looks like, right? Katy was throwing and kicking things, lashing out physically at anybody who tried to get near her, screaming and crying. And this went on […]
Second Class Citizens: Rethinking How We Treat Our Children
Last night I walked into the middle of a conversation between two moms. The topic: the age old dinner-time struggle. One mom was lamenting about how tired she is of hearing that her kids don’t like what she has prepared. The other mom chimed in, saying that in her house, she simply says the kitchen […]
A Typical Day of Unschooling
When I was brand new to unschooling, I really wanted examples. I had researched the philosophy, but wanted to know what it looked like in action. I wished I could follow an unschooling family around for a week or so, and just watch. I thought it might be helpful to newcomers to read about a […]
Separation Anxiety: An Unschooler’s Perspective
Today I witnessed a heart-wrenching scene. Three year old Stella was being dropped off to a child-care class for the morning. Her mother was attending a week-long event for moms, and Stella had been placed in a small class with other preschool age children and several loving adults. The morning was packed with appealing activities led […]
Unschoolers: Judge Not
Ever been here? It’s 4:00 p.m. and I’ve dashed into the grocery store with four tired, hungry kids in tow because I used my last dipaer about 4 hours ago and I know I can’t get away with putting it off much longer. Nobody much wants to be there, and everyone is expressing this in his or her unique way. Thomas finds teasing […]
Voices in My Head: turning the tables on conventional parenting
I hear voices in my head. A lot of them. My parents, friends, parenting “experts”, former colleaugues, acquaintances from church, other parents…you name it, they’re talking to me. And they have an annoying habit of speaking up whether their opinions are welcome or not. Lately, I’ve gotten pretty fed up with it. So I’ve decided […]
Unschooling: saying yes when you’re tempted to say no
My six year old daughter Katy enjoys cooking with me. She’s a great little assistant; dumping in the flour, mixing in the sugar, cracking the occasional egg when she’s in a daring kind of mood. But today, Katy announced that she was relinquishing the role of assistant, and moving up in the world.
Food Freedom: Success Stories
When my husband and I first began exploring the idea of food freedom – allowing our kids to make their own choices with regard to food – it really helped me to hear about other people’s experiences. Early on, as our kids began to experience that freedom, they made some choices that caused us to […]