I was going to write about my thoughts on unschooling teens so far…as in, this is relatively new to me! Then I realised the answer need not be complicated.

If you are a parent with teenagers you’ll know that there are times they don’t communicate with you in the way they used to. There may be periods where they seem to have little direction or appear unmotivated, uninterested and unwilling.

Your once proactive and chatty child may suddenly declare they don’t enjoy doing the same things with you that used to bring you both so much joy and closeness. They may not want to do much with you at all.

Most parents, I’m guessing try to keep communication lines open even though it often feels like it’s just you working on it. You just keep appearing, annoyingly coaxing them into having one minute conversations or 20 second hugs. You keep inviting them, involving them and loving them.

And because you love them you do things for them you think they might like. You might acquire things or arrange things that present opportunities to them. You listen to what it is they’re interested in or passionate about and you attempt to facilitate them in their endeavours. You look for sparks of interest.

You encourage them and support them and celebrate their wins. You show compassion towards them when they find life challenging.

Whether or not you’re Unschooling or homeschooling is irrelevant. You would still be doing these things. Just keep listening, noticing, inviting, presenting and encouraging.

See if they would be interested in finding a new shared interest you could do together or maybe they could make a list of films or books you could watch or read together. Take them some places, walk or talk. Go for a drive or a pizza.

Be there.

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