ESTHER JONES

My daughter was never a fan of busy playgrounds. For a couple of years, from when she was around three years old, she preferred the local...

I've recently begun to feel a deep sense of freedom. My life is much the same as it has been for the last year, with nothing shifting...

I wonder at our role as parents right now. Without the usual activities going on, and with the additional emotional challenges that...

I'm writing this post from the perspective of a parent of an autistic child with PDA. That isn't to say that my child's autism/PDA...

My daughter is painting a picture and is intensely focused. The picture is of a castle on a hill, with the sun setting in the background....

It's been a good few years since we last went back to school, but September energy is powerful. The idea that this is the month of new...

Some years ago, when my eldest son was still a toddler, I came across a book about learning at home. The author had interviewed many...

It’s 10pm on a Tuesday night and we're in the sitting room quietly doing maths by candlelight. We look like some austere homeschooling...

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...

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...

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...

There are many things about living without school that continue to fascinate me. Although, when I see these things in action, what...

What happens when an unschooler wants to go into higher education? How does a child who has spent years following their interests...

A few days ago, just before she went to bed, my daughter decided to write down her morning routine. She felt like her mornings would be...

Sometimes, it's easy to feel confident. Seeing a child curled up reading a book, looking up ingredients to do some baking, or just...

Well, life in semi-lockdown goes on, and we've had plenty of time to settle into new rhythms. Human beings are certainly adaptable...

I was at an event in a local primary school with D and C a few months ago. It was friendly and cheerful enough with lots of colourful...

I started this post about self compassion a while ago and, for some reason, never got round to finishing it. Now feels like a good time....

I hear a lot of doubt around whether unschooling can work for children with special needs. Perhaps it's because many of these children...

A friend asked me recently what I wish I had known when we began unschooling. It's an interesting question. There were lots of things...