Anna Dusseau | 30th July 2020 “Mum, can we play that game again?” I raise one eyebrow from behind my coffee cup. This means: “Which one?” From behind her back, my daughter now reveals the dreaded plastic dolls who – though originally identifiable as merchandise models of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger and ChoContinue reading “The Power to Write Your Own Narrative: Imaginative Play and Well-being”
Author Archives: NotTheSchoolRun
Why Morning Movies Make Total Sense
Anna Dusseau | 22nd July 2020 “He won’t get far on hot air and fantasy.” The Adventures of Baron Munchausen A few weeks ago, things kicked off in the house over the road, as I knew they would. After many months of cursing lockdown and lamenting school closures, finally the announcement came that some schoolsContinue reading “Why Morning Movies Make Total Sense”
On Being Yourself
Anna Dusseau | 15th July 2020 “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.” Oscar Wilde The year is 2016 and I’m sat on a riverbank overlooking the Thames. There is a boat race that takes place here and it’s fun to watch. We try to avoid the crowds; going upriver as far as possible untilContinue reading “On Being Yourself”
“Miss, What’s the Point?”
Anna Dusseau | 8th July 2020 “You might say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” John Lennon, Imagine It is autumn. The late afternoon light lies low across the room, where windows are jacked open and the blinds do nothing to cut the glare. I’m not convinced Year Ten can even seeContinue reading ““Miss, What’s the Point?””
Homeschool Therapy: Working on Ourselves
Anna Dusseau | 1st July 2020 “As can happen when you stop doing something, you wonder why you ever did it.” Tobias Jones, School’s Out, The Guardian, April 2020 For most homeschooling families, Mondays are no longer a downer. Sorry, Garfield! This morning, like every morning, begins for us with pop music and marmalade, spreadContinue reading “Homeschool Therapy: Working on Ourselves”
On Language and Imaginative Play
Anna Dusseau | 26th June 2020 A short, ‘thinky’ one today. Why can’t I play in French? Is it the language itself that isn’t so playful? Is it that creativity and imagination are linked in some way to childhood and the memory of our mother tongue? Tant pis. We are a French-speaking family; English isContinue reading “On Language and Imaginative Play”
On Autonomy and Being an Asshole
Anna Dusseau | 24th June 2020 It’s 7pm and my daughter is still swooping round the house on her classic roller skates. We live in a bungalow, so you can imagine the speed. Oh, and she’s got a copy of Zoey and Sassafras held about an inch from her face, eyes darting across the pageContinue reading “On Autonomy and Being an Asshole”
On Disney and Diversity
Anna Dusseau | 22nd June 2020 My kids have recently fallen in love with the Descendents movies, and let me start by saying that it’s a pretty cool franchise. Oh sure, you’re gonna want to puke in your mouth every time you hear these guys break into song, but honestly? You know we would allContinue reading “On Disney and Diversity”
Mask and Mirror: Why Instagram Ain’t Your Friend
Anna Dusseau | 11th June 2020 Let me begin by saying that I know, deep down, that I’m a technophobe. The fact that I can almost instantly follow that up with the fact that I’m also more than a dash antisocial, makes me wonder just what kind of tech-free, people-free Eden I’d be wandering inContinue reading “Mask and Mirror: Why Instagram Ain’t Your Friend”
School But Not As You Know It: The Sudbury Model
Anna Dusseau | 10th June 2020 I first read about the Sudbury School model in Peter Gray’s Free to Learn, which devotes an entire chapter to ‘lessons to be learned’ from this quite radical vision of education. Gray sent his own son to the Sudbury Valley School for the latter part of his education havingContinue reading “School But Not As You Know It: The Sudbury Model”