ESTHER JONES

There's a lot of buzz right now around children learning without school, and the different terms used can be confusing. I see the word unschooling pop up in different contexts and sometimes feel a bit flat when I see what it is describing. Not because someone else is doing it 'wrong', but because when this word is harnessed for things beyond its original meaning, it loses its joy and magic. And unschooling is absolutely joyful and magical. The word was originally coined in th

Time outs, naughty steps and reward charts were never on my radar. None of that has ever made any sense to me. Even so, when my eldest son was younger I had to marvel at friends who did these things, and at how their children accepted them with minimal resistance. It was beyond my comprehension. The idea that my son would sit on a step until I told him not to? It wouldn't have just been wrong, it would also have been impossible. It would have made him angry, resentful and hur

We've spent a few days with money on our minds. Mostly because we've just moved house, so there are lots of tempting ways to spend too much. And, while I've been busy doing calculations in my head and on little bits of paper, I've noticed that the children are also thinking about money in different ways. Money is an intriguing subject and one that most of us have a few hang ups around. We all want to pass on healthy financial habits to our children but are likely to be far fr

There are many things about living without school that continue to fascinate me. Although, when I see these things in action, what fascinates me even more is how I could have ever understood things differently. When you see life and learning flow together naturally and uncoerced, you have to wonder why we make it all so hard. One of the things I love to observe is how different life feels when you stop compartmentalising time into 'learning/serious' and 'fun/enjoyment'. When