As I lie here in bed with my laptop on my knees, I am not feeling great, it’s nearly 10am and yes I am still in bed. I feel inclined to pretend I am up, awake, having done a run and meditation, had breakfast, got dressed but none of that would be true. I am here in my jammies and the thought of walking down the corridor to the bathroom and doing my teeth right now seems a bit of an epic. I question what if I had to go
How do kids learn things that connect with their souls and set their imagination on fire?How do the fireflies of inspiration spark their spirits? Can I help keep those iridescent lights of creativity shining?I ask myself these questions...they are big questions.I know that for me putting the kids in a schooling environment stopped being an option when I saw them shrinking and the sparkle diminishing from their eyes.I also know that this may not be easy to read, especially if in your heart you feel through my words that there is
How we show up is so important for our children and we are shaping who they are to become. I was struck by this thought the other day. I am raising children that will most likely go on to have children and I am modelling for them how to be as a parent. We as parents have a choice as to how we show up and we can change script for future generations. If you stop and think about it that is an amazing thought! I was brought up in
‘Please put your shoes on’ were the words that came out of my mouth, we were about to walk to the beach. My son in his pyjama trousers, bare footed, free spirited. There are days when I just want him to put his shoes on, it is simple. But the shoe less days are there to teach me something. ‘Mum, I was born without shoes, shoes were invented after feet were, I don’t want to wear them’ In Spain or Italy, not wearing shoes socially is a thing. In South
Perhaps it is time to jump? Whilst sending our children to school I had a nagging feeling that I wasn’t telling the truth, to them or to myself. Do I have to go to school? Conditioned me; Yes Real Me; (No) Do I have to wear this uniform? CM; Yes RM; (No) Why Do I have to learn this stuff if it doesn’t interest me? CM; You Just do RM; Actually you don’t… I had this feeling that I was lying, that I was dumbing myself and my kids down
Simply put, if you talk to them with respect, they flourish. I don’t want to go for a long walk. Yes but you have to. Why. Because I said so. If you said that to me you might piss me off. Finish everything that is on your plate. That also might irritate me. Just do as I say. At that point, I would grab my coat and I probably would not come back and visit you. This is the way a lot of children get talked to and I get
This is what I would I have told my worried self about reading and my children about three years ago. One of children was diagnosed with Irlen’s syndrome and so I was very stressed about whether she would be able to read or not. As time went by she did. But here is a letter that I would have liked to have read as worrying served nothing for me. Dear Lehla, Please stop it, stop worrying about the children’s ability to read. Have more faith in them. You have been
There are some mornings where I wake up with another large family of five in our kitchen. Behind the bright sparky face of our son’s Minecraft buddy, I see this family waking up. They are in South Africa and we are in Italy. Slippers, pyjamas and all. I see breakfast being had and I can hear the teaspoons stirring in cups and I wonder if they drink tea or coffee…This feels a bit like community, even though it is bizarrely though a screen. I listen to the way my son
How do you define unschooling? A: It means not going to school! Un-schooling. That’s what it means. J: It’s just really really fun and I love it. O: Unschooling is where you can choose what you want to do. You can choose how you want to learn. So if there is a project you want to do; you can choose it. That’s what I really like about it. What is something that you enjoy getting to do now that you couldn’t do before unschooling? A: I don’t think I could
This is a story about when our children were younger and learning out of the box. 'Step away from the desks, grab your ideas children and fly beyond what you ever imagined could be possible.' By the fluke of the universe, the way magic works and sheer luck, if is there such a thing... we have landed a wonderful ‘Workaway’ person who is a script writer and a film maker. This week the kids decided to work on projects. One of our daughters ran with one of the ideas and has decided to