The Unschool Space: Recent Episodes
Esther Jones
Unschooling isn't just an educational choice, it's a life choice. For most parents, embracing unschooling requires some serious unravelling of old paradigms around parenting, learning and childhood, and that can be both challenging and exhilarating. Join me, Esther Jones, an unschooling mother-of-three, as I take a look at the many opportunities for reflection that naturally arise in an unschooling home. I explore my own day-to-day life and talk to other unschooling parents and professionals who share their thoughts and experiences. From self-care, neurodiversity and mindfulness, to how to live consensually and trust our children, this podcast is here to help parents navigate the everyday challenges so they're free to create a healthy, nourishing and enriching space for themselves and their family. You can find out more about my own personal journey into unschooling at www.aplaceonahill.com or get in touch with me at: theunschoolspace@gmail.com.
My guest today is Olivia Roff who lives in Sussex with her husband and two children, who are 10 and 5, and both neurodivergent. Olivia had wanted to try home educating some years ago, but wasn’t able to. She talks about how it feels to finally jump into it, the joy of seeing her daughter start to flourish again, and the realisation that she has always been an unschooling parent. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
Connect with Olivia
https://www.instagram.com/mystical_birthing
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DJvVngxfs/?mibextid=wwXIfr
https://linktr.ee/oliviaroff
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
My guest in this episode is May Ling Thomas. May Ling lives in London with her husband and two daughters, who are 13 and 10, and who have always been unschooled. May Ling came across the idea of unschooling when her oldest was still a baby, and it felt a natural fit with how she and her husband wanted to raise their children. We talk about what this all looks like and, of course, all the unlearning we have to do. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with May Ling:
https://www.maylingthomas.com/
May Ling co-organises the Freedom to Learn forum, which will take place August 13th-17th in the Peak District, UK. See the links below for more information and to book your ticket.
Tickets: https://dandelion.events/e/c27is
Website https://www.freedomtolearn.uk/
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
Today I am joined by Naomi Fisher, a child psychologist and parent of two unschooled teenagers. So, we are talking about the teenage years and how hard it can be particularly for those young people who have left the school system after some stress and difficult experiences. Naomi tells us about her soon-to-be-published book, The Teenager's Guide to Taking Control of Your Education: Learning Beyond School. And we talk about what parents can do to help their teenagers reconnect with themselves and their interests and feel more empowered in their learning and their lives beyond school.
Join Naomi's online book launch on Saturday July 18th!
https://naomifisher.co.uk/
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode I am joined by Meghan Suniga-Davies. Meghan has three unschooled children who are now all teens and young adults and she also has extensive experience working with young people in self-directed learning spaces. We talk about her family’s journey to unschooling and her particular deschooling journey. And we talk about what it means to live in partnership with our young people and prioritise our relationship, particularly when they are feeling challenged by something. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
About Meghan
Meghan is a born and raised Austinite partnered with adult and teen unschoolers, a long time youth rights advocate, community builder and facilitator of alternative programming to conventional school. She has worked with youth for over 15 years and is passionate about youth liberation, promoting autonomy, self-directed education and anti-oppression through collaborative exploration of the city.
She supports adults moving away from control and toward partnership in both education and relationships. She believes empowering youth in collaborative decision-making within the community paves the way for a future where the personhood of all youth are not reduced to "adults in training" but recognized as fully capable of contributing meaningfully to society.
She has been involved with the unschooling community for more than a decade. The Alliance for Self-Directed Education and Mosaic are organizations she’s been a part of where she brings energy and momentum around making SDE more accessible to people around the world!
atxflyingsquad.com
itsjusmeghan.com
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode, I am chatting with Megan Arevalo, who lives in Michigan with her husband and two children, who are three and eight. After initially homeschooling, Megan came to unschooling after her daughter’s burnout, when she realised she needed to focus entirely on connection and wellbeing. Megan talks about the subsequent autism diagnoses and her own path from feeling like she had to hold everything together to understanding her own neurodivergence. And we talk about what it looks like to embrace connection over control, let go of perfectionism, and keep learning from our children. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Megan:
https://megantarevalo.substack.com/
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode, I am chatting with Carey Kirkella who lives with her husband and eight-year-old son in New York City. They came to unschooling after her son had many struggles at pre-K then in Kindergarten. Though on the outside he seemed to be doing fine, Carey saw how he was becoming more anxious and stressed and had increasing sensory issues.
Carey shares how her son is doing now and how their lives look, along with all the challenges that come with accompanying a child as they recover from burnout, and how that impacts her too. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
Connect with Carey
instagram.com
www.careykirkella.com
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
Today’s episode is a little different as I am chatting with Victor and Eitan, who are 16 and 15 and attend Alcove Learning, a self-directed learning space in LA. They both came to Alcove after many years in public school, and after some mental health struggles. It was really such a joy to talk with them about what it has meant to them to have choice and agency over what they do in their days, and to be part of a supportive community that places wellbeing above all else. They really have so many wonderful and thoughtful insights to share. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
https://www.alcovelearning.org/
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode I am chatting with Munira Adenwalla, who is an occupational therapist and lives in London with her 14-year-old son. Munira realised when her son was young that school would not be a good fit for him. We talk about how our school conditioning runs deep and the worries that can come when we step away from it. And Munira tells us what unschooling looks like for her son, and how in hindsight she can see how his particular path has unfolded as he has followed his interests. We also talk about why unschooling allows neurodivergent children far more space to understand themselves and to forge a path that feels right for them.
Connect with Munira
FB page: https://www.facebook.com/ot4kidswithmunira
Parents' FB Group: www.facebook.com/groups/helpingkidswrite
Website: https://www.ot4kids.co.uk
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
This episode, I am with Zahra Lightway and Patricia Sprenger of Light Way Learning. Both came to alternative education through feeling disilusioned with the education system, Zahra as a teacher whose son had found the system difficult, and Patricia as a parent whose children were struggling at school. We talk about learning looks when it doesn’t look like school, the power of just observing our children, and the amazing things that can happen when they have agency over their own learning. And, they explain why they started Lightway Learning, to help parents with their transition to learning beyond school. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Zahra Lightway, M.Ed, BACo-founder of Light Way Learning and creator of Famli & Light Way Home Educator Academy. I understand what it's like to watch children lose their spark in traditional schooling. I witnessed it for over a decade as a classroom teacher. That heartbreak led me to spend four years researching how children actually learn best, drawing from 150+ years of alternative education research and real experience with hundreds of families. I created the Light Way Home Educator Academy to give parents what I wished I'd had: a clear, proven framework that honors how children naturally learn while giving families the structure and support they need to feel confident: a course, coaching, community and AI tool to make learning visible, all in one place. My approach weaves together holistic educational principles, emotional intelligence, and collaborative decision-making tools, all designed to help parents create a learning life that feels joyful and sustainable rather than stressful and overwhelming. You can find out more about our first course,The Foundations Journey, here and/or do our free introductory training here.
Patricia Sprenger home educated her two children from ages 10 and 11 through high school, blending her 30-year background as a movement specialist with an academic approach rooted in nervous-system balance, emotional regulation, and organic, interest-driven learning. Drawing on her expertise in the language of the body, she developed a holistic educational model that was intentional yet free-spirited, honoring every curiosity with equal value. Now in their early twenties, her children are thriving—one in his first year of law school at UCincinnati, and the other completing her final year in plant science at Cornell University before pursuing a PhD. Patricia currently serves as a co-founder and academic advisor for Homeschool Directive, a globally recognized accredited home-education program that empowers families to personalize learning and confidently translate student interests into rigorous coursework that is respected by both universities and employers.
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode, I am talking with Sue Patterson, who lives in Austin Texas. Sue is an unschooling coach, author, and the founder and voice behind Unschooling Mom2Mom. Sue has three adult children, who are now in their thirties, and who were all unschooled. Sue tells of how she came to unschooling when her children were young, after seeing how they were failing to thrive in traditional school. We talk about her deschooling process and how important it is to change the stories in our heads, and to focus on the here and now and the connection with our children. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Sue
Unschooling Mom2Mom: http://www.UnschoolingMom2Mom.com
Creating Confidence Daily App: https://www.unschoolingmom2mom.com/creating-confidence-daily
Unschooling Membership Community: https://www.unschoolingmom2mom.com/creating-confidence-membership
Strewing Calendar: https://www.unschoolingmom2mom.com/strewing-calendars
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode I’m chatting with Jenny Mainwaring who lives near Oxford in the UK. Jenny took her oldest son out of school while still in primary school and suffering from burnout. Jenny describes the slow process of helping him feel safe again and how they have seen him come back to his interests and the things he naturally wants to explore. In fact, Jenny’s son who is now 12 encouraged Jenny to share their story so other children can know that things do get better. A little later, Jenny also took her younger son out of school and we talk about how they try to work together to meet everyone’s needs, what socialising looks like, and the importance of safe adults.
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
To mark the podcast's 100 conversations, this episode is a little different. I am in conversation with Melissa Crockett-Joyoue who runs the Weave online community and is also an unschooling mother. She and I co-founded The Unschooling Summit with last year and we are currently working on this year’s event. It is free, online and takes place on March 20th-22nd, with recordings available. You can sign up for reminders at www.theunschoolingsummit.org.
We just wanted to talk a bit about the summit, and how our experiences, and all the podcast conversations have helped to shape this offering. And we go off on a couple of tangents too. I hope you enjoy the conversation and hope to see you at the summit!
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
My guest this episode is Cassie Emmott from East Sussex in the UK. Cassie lives with her husband and four children, who are all neurodivergent, and two of her children have additional needs.
We talk about how unschooling looks in Cassie’s family and how she and her husband manage everyone’s different needs and interests. We talk about the deep learning that she sees happening in its own time, and the importance of those moments of deep connection with our children that naturally arise in the day. And we talk about how important it is that we are able to stay resourced in order to be able to stay present and keep our own nervous systems regulated.
Connect with Cassie on Instagram
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode, I am talking with Stephanie McDowell. Stephanie lives in the US with her husband and five-year old daughter and is a former high-school teacher. Burnt out from her teaching career, she and her husband chose to homeschool their daughter, but Stephanie found the structure and school-focused ways of the homeschooling community an uncomfortable mismatch. She realised that she needed to focus first on herself and began to unpick some trauma from her childhood and her relationship with food. Stephanie shares how a large part of the healing work came from realising that there is no one way to live, as she had been told as a child and how this helps her to live in a more authentic way with her daughter.
Stephanie's website: https://www.mamabearyourself.com/
Weave online community: https://weave-community.mn.co/
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
In this episode I am chatting with Linda Velwest, who lives in New Jersey and has three adult son, now aged 26, 28 and 31, who were all unschooled for many years. It’s always lovely to talk with parents of adult unschoolers, and Linda reflects on their journey, the very different paths each child took and the many things that she and her family all took from the experience.
Linda also recently published a fiction book called City Rescue Pets: Second Chances for Love and Hope featuring an unschooling family, and inspired by her own family’s fostering adventures. You can find the link to that in the notes. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
Today I am chatting with Ash Winton. Ash has lived in Queensland, Australia for the last 12 years, but is originally from Alaska, and is of the indigenous Tlingit people. She and her husband, who run a trail building company, have a four and half year old son, who they unschool and plan to continue doing so. Among lots of things, we talk about what natural learning looks like, how social norms can often be in direct opposition to our intuition, and the importance in all this of being in touch with our own nervous systems, and what it means to be our true selves. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
I’m delighted to be chatting today with Maddy, who is a doctor and lives in Somerset with her husband and son who is 13 and daughter who is 14. Maddy’s daughter left school two years ago after beginning secondary school and not coping at all. Maddy talks about what burnout looked like for her daughter and how her daughter was able to slowly reconnect with the things she loved and is now thriving. And Maddy talks about letting go of the “shoulds” of school and learning has been life changing for her too. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here. Thank you!The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child
You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.beyondschool
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
I’m really happy to be talking today with Holly from South Wales, who I first spoke to two years ago. We talk in depth about Holly’s experiences of accompanying her children through burnout and emotional distress. We talk about how unschooling can offer us the time and space to do this in a far more compassionate way than our society preaches, and how as adults we are often programmed to just keep rushing and pushing through. Holly shares how her own recent experiences also offered her a deeper understanding of her children. And, we talk about the importance of community and support to help us through the challenging times.
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.unschooling
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
I’m delighted to welcome back Claire Gillespie, who was a guest on the podcast almost two years ago. Claire lives in the UK with her husband and two sons, who are 15 and 17, and who left the school system around six years ago. Claire now works as a coach and also runs a creative business called The Cardboard Shed. Today we talk about why it takes so much courage to leave mainstream school, even when it isn’t working, and how taking that step caused such a huge shift in her own life. We also talk about the importance of nurturing our relationships and looking after ourselves, and of seeing all the things that can flourish when we give them the space.
Connect with Claire on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherjones.unschooling
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace
Today I’m with Mariam Carter who lives in Southern California with her husband and two sons, who are 12 and 9. Their oldest son is autistic and the family’s jouney to unschooling journey began during the pandemic. Mariam describes the shift she had to make from equating life success with academic achievement, what it means to trust the journey when your child learns differently, and how her job as a mental health therapist is such a parallel journey. And we talk about what it means to create a place of safety where our children can explore their autonomy and agency. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Makeba Garraway. Originally from the UK, Makeba moved to Silicon Valley with her husband and two children who are now 12 and 9, seven years ago. They came to unschooling after realising that mainstream school did not feel like a good fit for their eldest and not finding any alternative either. Makeba worked as a doctor in the UK and we talk about that shift to no longer working, and what it meant to take a new look at an education system that she had outwardly thrived in. And amongst lots of other things, we talk about autonomy and our children’s hygiene, how a deep dive into gaming came to its natural end, and how we handle the heartbreak in the world in our conversations with our children.
Connect with Makeba on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest in this episode is Nicola Leyland. Nicola has two children who are now 19 and 17. Her journey to unschooling began when her son was just eight years old and had an accident that resulted in a brain injury. Nicola talks about her experience of seeing everything fall apart, and her son’s traumatic return to school, and the consequences of following what others said she should do rather than what she felt was right. And she shares the journey of taking her children out of school and slowly building something new that’s based on choice and agency. We talk about the freedom that Nicola has also found as she has unpicked the social conditioning she grew up with, and her rediscovered creativity that she now channels into making short films about her family’s experience.
Connect with Nicola
https://www.youtube.com/@WildlyCompassionate
nicola@wildlycompassionate.com
https://www.instagram.com/wildlycompassionate_
https://www.facebook.com/wildlycompassionate
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest this episode is Ivana Petersen, who is from Croatia and her husband is from Denmark. They have three children who are 13, 10 and 7. They took their eldest two children out of school six years ago, feeling burnt out by the stress and lack of connection of modern life. Ivana describes the healing journey that took place as they searched for a more authentic and aligned way to live. From there it became a natural progression to unschooling and then finally to worldschooling. The family has been travelling now for several years, and Ivana explains how that lifestyle looks and how it has been a healing experience for them all. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Ivana:
Worldschooling blog: www.ivanapetersen.dk
Instagram: ivanapetersen.dk and barefeet.around.the.world
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today I am chatting with Esther Grimes, who lives in Australia with her husband, and three sons, who are 1, 4 and 8. Although Esther and her husband were already looking at less conventional ways to live as a family, they hadn’t questioned school. It wasn’t until it became very clear that their oldest son couldn’t cope with school that they started to figure out another way. We talk about their journey to unschooling, how hard it can be to step away from the well trodden path and how life looks for the family now. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Irene Genelin from Minnesota. Irene and her husband used to have an organic fruit farm, but sold that a few years ago to travel almost full time with their daughter, who is now 10. We talk about how they came to that decision, how they organise their travels and what community looks like on the road. As well as what learning looks like for their daughter and the kinds of things that come up that still require some unravelling.
Here's a link to the episode of Irene's podcast that she mentions.
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
In this episode I am chatting with Lizz Mears from Dorset in the UK. Lizz has two children, who are 21 and 13. After many difficult school years that took their toll on her older child’s mental health and on her own, Lizz chose to take her younger child out of school when she was unable to cope with the move to secondary. Amongst lots of other things, we talk about how they transitioned from a more curriculum style learning to unschooling, and the challenges that come with letting go of how we think learning should look. We talk about why our children’s mental health has to be the most important part in all of this, the courage it can take to walk away from a system that doesn’t work for you and why that can be healing for everyone.
Connect with Lizz:
https://linktr.ee/Lizzmears
https://www.ndparentrevolution.com
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Ruth Macallan, who I also chatted with in episode 54. Ruth is originally from the UK but she and her family live for most of the year in Zambia where her husband runs an NGO. Today, amongst other things, we talk about boredom and how to help our children navigate those tricky moments, and we talk about the huge value in just slowing down and enjoying the present moment. And, Ruth tells us about their unschooling life in Zambia. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Ruth on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest this episode is Erin Cummings. Erin grew up in Ottawa and now lives with her husband who is of the indigenous Métis community and their three young sons, in the boreal forest in Treaty 3 Territory of Northwest Ontario. Here they live on a 200-acre piece of land where they farm, own livestock and are building their family home. Erin talks about their choice of living an intentionally simple life which centres on their relationships with each other and with the land, and of her experiences as a school teacher. And we chat about how important our own happiness and fulfilment is as parents, and why embracing our own interest is a wonderful model for our children and a far more satisfying way to live. I hope you enjoy the conversation!
See here for more information about the Métis Nation
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Today, I am with Dana Huraimi. Dana is Palestinian and grew up in Kuwait and Jordan. She now lives in Dubai with her husband and two sons who are almost 10 and 13. Today we talk about Dana’s deschooling journey, how she is letting go of her conditioning around education, learning and what success looks like. We talk about how she sees natural learning unfold in such different ways in her two children, and why compliance is not what we need to be cultivating for a better world. And we talk about the challenges of choosing this way of life in a culture which is heavily school-centred. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Follow Dana on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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This episode I am with Fiona Sim who is from Scotland. Fiona lives with her husband who is from Lithuania, and their two daughters who are 3 and 6. This is their first official year of home education since their older daughter would have started school last September. We talk about how easy it is to overplan the days, and how good it can feel to let go of the busyness and just embrace the gift of time. And we talk about that other big learning edge of working out when we should step in and when we should hold back. And, Fiona shares how profoundly this way of life has changed her.
Connect with Fiona on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_fionasim/
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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Today I’m with Leila from Melbourne, Australia. Leila has three children who are now 9, 7 and 4, and their journey to unschooling began when they decided not to continue with school for her eldest child after the Covid lockdown. Leila describes how her interest in conscious parenting and centering the relationship with her children helped her move away from trying to force the learning and to see instead how the natural learning unfolded. We talk about how hard it is to get beyond our own conditioning and all the triggers that come up, and we talk about Leila’s own experience of education and how her PhD in Anthrolopology has allowed her to see learning in a wider context.
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This episode, I’m chatting with Cyrielle who is originally from France but now lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and their eight year old daughter (this conversation takes place while they are on a long road trip through the US). Cyrielle used to be a teacher and realised early on that she wanted something different for her child. Amongst other things we talk today about neurodivergence, friendships and community and in particular how important it is that as the parent we explore what makes us thrive too.
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And today I am with Nora McDonald. Nora is originally from the UK but now lives in Costa Rica with her husband and two children who are 10 and 7. They felt that school just wasn’t going to be a good fit for their eldest child, and so originally began home educating in Cambridge in the UK. Nora talks about her move toward unschooling and how her family’s relationship with technology was the catalyst for that. We talk about what it looks like when your child doesn’t particularly like groups and organised activities and how freeing it is to drop expectations and to keep coming back to connecting with and getting curious about our child. And, Nora shares how enormously impactful this has been on her own life. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
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In this episode I'm chatting with Essie Richards from Cornwall in the UK. Essie’s family came to unschooling nine years ago after realising that school was not a place where their childre, who were three and six could thrive. Later, Essie began an Agile Learning Centre for 10 to 15-year olds. Today we talk about the deconditioning we need to go through as parents in order to give our children real agency and how that can work can be deeply healing, what it means to be neurodivergent and unschooling, and all the practices that can help us along the way. Essie also tells us about what life looks like in an Agile Learning Centre. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Essie
https://www.instagram.com/unschoolingcircle/
https://www.instagram.com/essiejrichards/
https://www.essierichardscoach.com
https://www.lunaragilelearningcentre.org
https://discocircle.mn.co
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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I am very happy to be chatting in this episode with Shannon Stolz from Texas. Shannon has four children who are now all in their 20s. Shannon describes how in their early years, as their dad wasn’t yet onboard with unschooling, they would have some days that were more traditional school at home, and others that were self-directed. Shannon could see how different these experiences were for all of them, and finally, when her oldest daughter was 13, they just embraced unschooling. Among lots of things, we talk about navigating this with a skeptical partner, the importance of relationship, and about all the golden threads that weave through our children’s lives. And how sometimes we only notice them when we look back.
Connect with Shannon on Instagram
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INTRO
I'm chatting in this episode with Pat Farenga from Massachusetts. Pat is the father of three now adult unschooled daughters, and he worked with the late John Holt—the New York Educator who coined the term unschooling and wrote several books about learning. Pat worked with him on his magazine Growing Without Schooling and continued the magazine for many years after John Holt passed. We chat about his experiences with John Holt, how unschooling looked back in the '70s and '80s and how things have and haven’t changed in the last 50 years.
Connect with Pat at https://www.johnholtgws.com/who-was-john-holt
Pat mentions the following educators and authors in this episode:
John Holt, author of How Children Fail, How Children Learn, Learning All The Time, Teach Your Own, Instead of Education
Ivan Illich, author of Deschooling Society
John Taylor Gatto, author of Dumbing Us Down, Weapons of Mass InstructionSugata Mitra, TedX talk School in the Cloud
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In this episode, I'm chatting with Rose from Oxfordshire in the UK. Rose lives with her husband and her six-year-old son who is Autistic PDA. They chose not to send him to school, realising that it was just not an environment that could work for him. Rose talks about how life unfolds for them at home and what socialising and learning look like, the value of being able to go at their own rhythms, and the huge importance of placing connection at the centre of everything. And, Rose describes how she supports Leo when things feel particularly challenging for him.
Follow Rose on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unschoolingwithpda/
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My guest today is Coralie who lives in Cambridgeshire with her partner and two children who are 9 and 5. Coralie’s own experiences of school made her realise that life and learning need to feel meaningful and driven by our own unique passions and interests not by external requirements. That, coupled with her son’s diagnosis of Autism and PDA, led her family first to a Steiner school and then to unschooling. Coralie describes what unschooling looks like for her family, how they work together as a family to try to meet everyone’s needs, and what community looks like for them. And just to let you know that Coralie’s family dog is with us for the first ten minutes and giving his two cents in case you are wondering what the sound is. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Coralie on Instagram
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My guest today is April Scully. April is a former teacher, who is originally from Toronto but now lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children who are 6 and 9. We talk about how doing well at school doesn’t necessarily help us know who we are or what we want to do, and what it is to have the time and space to explore our passions. And we chat about what that means for us and the impact that unschooling has on our own lives, from taking better care of ourselves to following our own interests.
Connect with April (@modern.homeschoolers)
Instagram
Facebook
https://modernhomeschoolers.com
In this episode, April mentions:
Life Without School podcast
Blog post in Zen Habits
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Today I’m chatting with Helen Stuart of Rochdale in the UK. Helen lives with her husband and between them have six children. Although the older five children had challenges at school, it wasn’t until their 7-year-old daughter who is Autistic PDA was born, that they considered taking a different path. We talk about how essential it is for children to feel safe and regulated in order to engage freely with life, what learning looks like when we take a low-demand approach to life, and why co-regulation and modelling are so important.
Connect with Helen on Instagram
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My guest today is Alice Bramhill, a psychotherapist from Nottingham in the UK, who lives with her husband and two sons who are ten and 13. They went to mainstream school until six years ago, then after trying a Steiner school for six months, finally left the school system altogether. We talk today about how unravelling our own stories is an essential part in all of this. And, about how, if we want our children to be free to live into their whole selves, then we have to allow them to have agency, which means learning to trust them and to trust ourselves. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Alice on Instagram
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Today, I’m chatting with Nicole Vito who lives in California with her husband and 6-year-old daughter. Nicole describes how she began to question how we rush children when her daughter was just two, realising that everything that needed to happen did happen when her daughter was ready and allowed to go at her own pace. In her professional work as a psychologist, Nicole was also noticing how many of her clients who suffered from depression or anxiety seemed to have lost their connection to themselves, with them often pinpointing to a time in their childhood. We talk about how unschooling can help our children stay authentic to themselves and often lead us back ourselves too. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Nicole
http://drnicolevitoclinicalpsychologist.com/
https://www.drnicolevitoclinicalpsychologist.com
Instagram @selfdirectedmama
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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My guest today is Lizzie, who lives with her husband and three children, aged 8, 9 and 12 in Hampshire in the UK. Lizzie’s family came to unschooling three years ago when their youngest son, who is diagnosed Autistic PDA was in burnout after a very difficult time at school. Now, both her sons are unschooled, whilst their daughter has chosen to stay at school. Among lots of things, we talk about how difficult and liberating it is to challenge our old conditioning and all the shoulds that we have in our heads and Lizzie shares how this way of life was key to her son’s recovery from burnout. She also tells us what community and learning look like in her family and what it means to always be looking for the joy in everyday life.
Connect with Lizzie on Instagram www.instagram.com/lizziepb1
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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Today I'm chatting with Melissa Crockett-Joyoue from New Zealand. Melissa was on the podcast about two years ago, so it’s great to catch up with her again. Melissa and her partner have two neurodivergent children, who are now 6 and 9 and they came to unschooling after their son had an extremely challenging time at school. We talk particularly about the challenges of learning beyond school when that is never how you expected life to look, the importance of being able to regulate our own nervous systems, particularly when we have a PDA child or one who struggles to self regulate, and how essential it is to have a supportive community. And we also talk about Weave, the wonderful online community that Melissa runs for unschooling parents of neurodivergent children.
Weave community link
Weave Instagram
Connect with Melissa on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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My guest today is Francine Wise. Francine lives in Kent in the UK with her husband and two daughters, who are 8 and 6. They chose this route when their eldest daughter was four years old and school just didn’t feel right. Francine tells us about how she imagined home education and learning would look and the process she went through of trying out lots of different things from Waldorf to Charlotte Mason, and all the frustration that came with that. Eventually she came to the realisation that this was really about living in a way that felt authentic and letting go of expectations, rather than piling on more. how deep our own conditioning goes, some of the ways we can become more aware of how it, and as Francine says, learn to keep shifting our lens and accepting that this is always a journey back to ourselves.
Connect with Francine
Instagram: @wise_girls_at_home
You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
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I’m chatting today with Stacey Yates Sellar, a Conscious Parenting Coach and author of Conscious Parenting Your ADHD Child. Stacey and her husband have two boys, who are 13 and 10. Until four years ago, they lived and worked in California, but had many misgivings about the highly competitive schooling system. Eventually they decided to sell their house and travel, and have been worldschooling ever since, and are now in Scotland. Among many other things, we talk about how to let go of our social conditioning and our expectations, embrace our children for who they are and embrace our own imperfect selves.
Connect with Stacey
https://www.happierbytheminute.com
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
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Today, my guest is Melissa Miles McCarter, who lives in Missouri with her husband and her 8-year-old daughter Willakate. Melissa worked as a college professor and chose not to put her daughter in school, realising that it wasn’t a system she would thrive in. She talks about what her own deschooling looked like and how she partners with her daughter to help facilitate her interests. And Melissa describes how her daughter’s passion for acting led her to explore script writing and then to producing a film, which they’re working on right now. We also talk about what boundaries are and why we should probably all be looking out for the default no, whilst also understanding what rest and balance looks like.
Connect with Melissa
https://linktr.ee/lissahoop
Details about the film
http://thehauntedbelldownschool.com
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
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My guest today is Linsey, who lives in the UK with her partner and three children who are 10, 6 and 1 and a half. Her family’s journey to unschooling started when they decided to take their eldest son out of school after two years extremely difficult years. Linsey soon realised that a schooled approach wouldn’t work at home either, so began to lean in to what her son needed and how he was really learning.
Amongst lots of other things, we talk about the deschooling journey and how powerful it is when we start to unpick social expectations of ourselves and of our children, and to start unraveling all our old stories.
Connect with Linsey on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/unschoolingstanley/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
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Today I’m chatting with Claire Windmill who lives in Devon in the UK with her husband and two children, who are seven and nine. Claire was a social worker and early years teacher and is now a parenting mentor and coach. She shares how her family came to unschooling after taking some time out to travel and they realised how much happier and less stressed their children were out of school. We talk about the impact that messages around fitting in and what’s right and what’s wrong can have on children, and what it can look like when children are free to learn and explore. And, of course, we talk about how it all feels for the parent and the difficult work of finding our own balance in all of this, and the huge value of rest and self compassion.
Connect with Claire:
on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairewindmill/
website: https://clairewindmill.com/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
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Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Robyn Tamlin-Lea. Robyn is South African but now lives in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, with her husband and two children who are seven and three and a half. Robyn took her daughter out of school when she saw that already at a very early age, there was a strong narrative around academic expectations and her daughter not doing well enough. We talk about how when we sit back and observe, there is so much learning happening all the time, and how beyond the academic learning, living in this way with our children allows us to value so many other things, such as rest, learning about our own rhythms, and recognising and meeting our own needs.
Connect with Robyn on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
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This episode, I’m chatting with Danii Oliver, who lives in Texas with her husband and two children who are almost 6 and 11. Danii shares her story of leaving New York City behind in search of something new for and her and family, and to live a more gentle and connected life, which they now do on their permaculture farm in Texas. We talk about the deschooling process and how, even though Danii was clear from the start that they would unschool, it still took her a lot of work to unravel the deep conditioning she had from her Caribbean childhood and her own school experiences. There’s so much in this episode, but I think the main message is that we have to trust and let go in order to really see our children and allow them to be who they are. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
You can follow Danii here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidofamilyranch
Website: http://www.unschooldiscoveries.com/
Danii's book. Unschool Discoveries is available on her website
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
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In this episode. I’m delighted to chat with Heidi Steel who was first on the podcast in 2021. Heidi is a former teacher and has four children who are 16, 15, 12 and 9 and who have never been to school. Heidi shares what unschooling looks like for her family and we talk about the enormous value of play in children’s learning and development. And, amongst other things we also discuss how valuing our children’s voices and opinions over compliance is essential for them as they get older, and how living in this consensual way with our children can be far more joyful for everyone. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Heidi
Website: https://liveplaylearn.org
Instagram: @liveplaylearn1
Podcast: unschooling conversations
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Once in a while it felt like it could be helpful to take a moment to answer some of the most common questions that I get. Of course, every family is completely different, so if any of these questions or worries are relevant to you, you might want to take my thoughts as a hopefully useful starting point for your own reflections.
Let me know if this is helpful for you and if you’ve any particular questions you’d like to hear discussed in the future. You can drop me a line at contact@esther-jones.com
So, today, I am going to dive into four questions that come up a lot
- What if my children don’t want to do anything?
- What about exams or if they want to go back to school?
- What if my partner isn’t on board?
- What can I do if I'm feeling tired or lonely?
In this episode, I mention Peter Gray. You can find his blog on Psycology Today here and the link to his research about grown unschoolers here.
You can also find The Unschool Space episode in which Peter Gray was a guest here.
And, the episodes of The Unschool Space in which I talk with fathers are:
10 Unschooling teens, the importance of mental health, and a father's perspective, with Anthony Eldridge-Rogers
#17 The right environment and lots of trust - two essential ingredients for unschooling with autism/PDA, with Simon Crummay
52 Intentional deschooling and lining up with our values, with Daniel Moeller in Pennsylvania
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
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Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Adrienne Miller who lives in Vancouver with her husband and three children who are 10, 7 and 4. Adrienne was a teacher, and realised when her oldest child turned school age that it wasn’t a choice they wanted for him. After growing up in a strict, religious home, Adrienne also shares her journey of unravelling her deep conditioning, and the freedom it has given her and her family. And we chat about natural learning, trusting our children and lots more. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Connect with Adrienne on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
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Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
In this episode, I’m chatting with Julie Walter from Ontario, Canada. Julie has three children who are 9, 11 and 13 and have never been to school. As a former teacher, Julie talks about how impacted she was by the differences between the resistant nature of learning in a classroom and the kind of natural learning she was seeing unfolding happily at home.
We talk about what it means to accompany our children in this journey, and why our relationships with our children are at the heart of this. And, we talk about how we can stay trusting during the inevitable ebbs and flows and quiet moments, and how deep our own deschooling journeys often need to go.
You can connect with Julie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/familyyields/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
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Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Missy Willis from Charlotte, North Carolina. Missy is a former teacher who lives with her husband and two children, who are now 21 and 16. They chose to unschool when their eldest child reached school age as it felt like a better fit for their family. Missy’s experience in the classroom as a teacher had also made her question a model in which adult coercion was understood to be essential in learning.
We talk about the fear many parents have in the beginning and how important it is to hear other people's stories. We also talk about how we can support our children with compassion and curiosity and let go of the need to control outcomes. And, Missy shares how she sees how this way of living has allowed her children to become practised at touching in with their own values and knowing what’s important to them.
Connect with Missy
Instagram - @letemgobarefoot
Website - https://letemgobarefoot.com/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
In this episode, I'm chatting with Lucy Aitkenread. Lucy is originally from the UK, but 10 years ago, set off travelling with her partner Tim, and their two young daughters. They settled in New Zealand, which is where they live now. Their daughters are now 10 and 13 and haven’t been to school. So, today we talk about the culture of school and what a huge impact it has on our lives, even as adults. And how, it often takes our children to take us back to the roots of many limiting beliefs we have about ourselves, which is why the deschooling process can run so deep. Lucy tells us about their lives in New Zealand, how she has found and created a rich community around them, and how our very different children really open us up to so many possibilities.
Connect with Lucy:
Instagram
Facebook
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
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Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, my guest is Ruth Macallan. Originally from Edinburgh, Ruth now lives for most of the year in Zambia with her husband and her two children, who are 2 and 5. We talk about what Ruth’s child-led days look like, what it means to allow a child the freedom to go at their own pace, and how living in rural Zambia has helped Ruth to learn how to slow down and to appreciate the beauty in the moment. And, we also chat about the importance of creating community, travelling with children, and of course, taking good care of ourselves.
Connect with Ruth on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
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Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Claire Gillespie from Hertfordshire in the UK. Claire lives with her husband and two sons, who are 15 and 13, and they’ve been unschooling for four years, after their oldest son asked to leave school. Amongst other things, we talk about the fascinating learning journeys children embark on when they’re in charge, how different we all are from each other and the inevitable ebb and flow of the days. And Claire shares how this way of living has impacted her and the choices she makes in her own life.
Connect with Claire on Instagram
Visit her website
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today I’m chatting with Daniel Moeller from Pennsylvania. Daniel is a former teacher and has a 10-year old son, called Kai who has been unschooling for four years. Daniel came across unschooling whilst struggling himself to reconcile many parts of the school system, and in particular the power over dynamic that he was expected to conform to as a teacher. Today we talk about how our own beliefs and responses are often rooted in our own experience of this dynamic as children, and how, to unpack it all and to reconnect with our deeper values, we need to have a lens of openness and curiosity, as well as being intentional about our actions and choices. You can hear more from Daniel and Kai on their podcast, Unschooling with Kai.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/daniel.t.moeller/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
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Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Donna, from East Sussex in the UK. Donna has two daughters, who are 13 and 11. Her eldest daughter had always struggled with school, and it wasn’t until Covid that Donna realised just how deep the school stress was embedded in the whole family. Eventually feeling that there was no alternative but to try something different, she took her daughter out of school. Today Donna talks about how easy it is to get blinkered and stuck in that space of stress and deficit. And, about how liberating it has been for both of them to shift into a new place of possibility, trust and curiosity.
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
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Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, I’m chatting with Dr Emma Svanberg. Emma is a clinical psychologist, author of Parenting For Humans and mother of two children. As well as exploring unschooling with her family, Emma helps other parents on their own parenting journeys. We talk about how the deeply held narratives we all have about ourselves often don’t serve us as parents, and can keep us reactive and disconnected. And, how our children offer us an incredible opportunity to unravel these stories and to find the courage it can take to fully embrace and support them. We also talk about neurodivergence in an unschooling home, ways to regulate our nervous systems, and learning to embrace the unknown.
Website: www.dremmasvanberg.com
Book: Parenting for humans
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mumologist/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Hayley from Derbyshire in the UK. Hayley has four children, who are now 25, 22, 18 and 10, and her journey to unschooling started 14 years ago when her eldest child was 11. We talk about how unschooling is so much more than education. It’s about the importance of relationships, and of living in a way that feels coherent to us, and about incorporating joy into our lives. And Hayley tells us about the very different journeys that each of her children are making through life.
Find Hayley on Instagram at @takingakinderpath
Follow Hayley's blog: https://takingakinderpath.com/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
In this episode, I’m chatting with Holly from South Wales. Holly has three children, aged 9, 7, 5 and began unschooling three years ago, when her eldest started to struggle at school. Holly worked as a teacher, and shares her experience of transitioning from a schooled way of thinking about learning to unschooling.
We chat about how this way of life allows for different rhythms, choice and autonomy. And, how if when we move away from ticking boxes for our children, we also free ourselves from ticking boxes, allowing us to live our lives in a more aligned and liberated way.
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Fran Liberatore. Fran is Italian but lives with her family between Bangkok, Maine and Sicily. Her children are now aged 10 and 12 and If you’d like to hear more from Fran you can also hear her in episode 12 of the podcast a couple of years ago. Today we talk about how Fran and her family have found community in the different cultures they move between. We also talk about neurodivergence and how the perspective can be in an unschooling home, consent-based parenting, being our children’s advocates, and the hard work of deschooling that goes into all of this.
Connect with Fran on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bigmothering/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, I’m chatting with Chelsea, who lives in LA with her husband and two sons, who are 10 and 6. Chelsea had never planned to unschool, and in fact her older son was very happy at a project-based school in his earlier years. She tells us about why they made this choice and what it has meant for her family. We talk in particular about how the parent’s deschooling journey often means becoming aware of all the power dynamics at play, not only in relation with our children, but in many other facets of our lives and in the society around us. And, Chelsea shares what the deschooling process has looked like for her so far.
You can find Chelsea at https://www.instagram.com/the.matcha.mama
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Rhonda Ziman. Rhonda lives in East Sussex with her husband, 14-year-old stepdaughter and 11-year-old daughter. I’ve known Rhonda and her daughter Martha since last year, when her daughter finally left school after struggling to attend for a long time. Today, Rhonda talks about that time and how difficult it was. And she talks about how, without the pressure of school, she has seen Martha relax and engage once more with the things she enjoys doing. We also talk about how hard it can be for the parent to embrace a different kind of learning. And in fact, just as Rhonda has also relaxed into their new life at home, she is now having to get used to the idea of school again as Martha wants to give it another go. So, perhaps the main topic here is learning to hold our children in their unpredictable journeys.
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today I'm chatting with Angela Harders who lives in Maryland with her two children, who are now 9 and 4. Angela was a public high school teacher for 12 years. And although she took her daughter out of school four years ago when her daughter was five, she continued to work as a public school teacher for three more years, until it felt too at odds with how she was seeing learning naturally take place at home.
Angela has published a book about this, called Tales of a Toxic Teacher. Today, among many other things we talk about how coercion takes the joy out of learning, allowing our children the space to just be, without needing them to be always productive, and how Angela has created a life she believes in as an unschooling single mother.
Instagram and TikTok: @peacefulworldschooler
Podcast: Peaceful Worldschooler
https://paxministries.com/pax-academy
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
In this episode, I'm chatting with Lorna Norton. Lorna has a 5-year-old son and, together with her husband, founded a learning community called Kith Homestead in North Yorkshire. Lorna came to alternative education through her studies of psychology and education and then her many years of working with children. We talk about her own deschooling process that was required in order to be able to create a space in which children can have real autonomy, and how she sees children thrive within a natural and loving environment in which they can truly direct their time and activities. We also talk about the challenges of starting a community, the sheer hard work it takes, and the importance of being kind to yourself and to finding likeminded souls to support you.
https://www.kithhomestead.com
Follow Kith Homestead on Instagram
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest this episode is Naomi Fisher, who I am delighted to have back for a second conversation (see #5 for our previous chat). Naomi is a clinical psychologist, mother of two children who are at a self-directed learning centre, and author of the book Changing our Minds, which is about the importance of choice, autonomy and self-direction in education.
Naomi has a new book coming out in June entitled A Different Way to Learn, which looks at how neurodivergent children learn in self-directed environments. Today, among many other things, we talk about how children naturally learn and develop, and why our education system undermines these natural processes. And how a competitive environment focused on content and exams quashes our children’s innate curiosity and motivation. Naomi also shares her thoughts on how parents can best accompany a child who has come out of mainstream school after a difficult time.
Find out more about Naomi's work at: https://www.naomifisher.co.uk/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today I'm joined by Sari Gonzàlez and Becka Koritz wholive in Puerto Escondido in Mexico. Becka moved to Mexico from Sweden and Sari from the US, both leaving lives that felt stressed and disconnected. They now run Explora ALC, an agile learning centre.
Both Sari and Becka have neurodivergent sons but began their deschooling journeys long before having children, in their search for more fulfilling and joyful lives. We talk about how deschooling is a shedding of all the layers of programming we’ve internalised through our lives, and a reconnection with ourselves beyond fear and trauma. And, they talk about the kind of environment they’ve created in which children’s voices can be genuinely heard and valued.
You can find Sari and Becka's work, including their blog, courses, and Radical Learning Talks podcast at www.radical-learning.org
Or connect with them on Instagram: @radical_learning
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today I’m chatting with Caroline Frances from Ontario. Caroline lives with her husband and two sons who are 7 and 10, and they are just in the second month of their unschooling journey. They had tried different school environments, but found that, in particular for their eldest son, who is diagnosed Autistic with a PDA profile, they needed to find another way to live. Today, among lots of other things, we talk about what a huge job it is to hold space for our children, and how intertwined that is with our own learning and our own alignment. And Caroline shares the things that she is already noticing arising from the space, all the curiosity and the independent learning that’s taking place.
You can connect with Caroline on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/iamcarofrances/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Sarah Rose. Sarah lives in Maine with her husband and her 11-year old daughter. Her family’s journey to unschooling stemmed from their daughter’s illness, which resulted in her leaving school and embarking on a long healing journey at home. We talk today about providing a judgment-free space in which our children feel seen and supported, and the deep inner work we need to undertake in order to do this. We also chat about how uncomfortable a child with their own voice can make people feel, and Sarah shares how she has embraced her daughter’s natural activism and self-advocacy.
You can connect with Sarah on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/magic.of.unschooling/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
I’m so delighted to be talking today with Peter Gray, author and research professor at Boston College. Many of you will have read his wonderful book, Free to Learn, or his regular writing for Psychology Today about children, play and learning.
Among many things, we talk today about his experience of self-directed education through his son, what self-directed children are doing that makes their learning so different from what happens in schools, what he learned through his research into unschooled children, and his inspiring vision for learning in the future.
You can find Peter Gray's writing at: Peter Gray Ph.D. | Psychology Today
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Lou Westall, who lives in Brighton, in the UK, (though she was travelling in South Africa when we recorded this episode). Lou and her husband have two daughters, who are 6 and 8. They had never considered home education until their eldest daughter began school, and things just didn’t feel quite, particularly regarding the early approach to academic subjects. After deregistering her from school, they spent a while finding their feet, first trying some school at home, then finally reaching an unschooling way of life. We talk today about the importance of community, how living in partnership with our children is a far more joyful approach to life, and how learning naturally occurs. We also talk about the inevitable challenges and triggers that are likely to come up in anyone’s journey.
Connect with Lou on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discovering.wonder/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, I’m chatting with Ashley Short. who lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and two sons, who are 6 and 9. Ashley is a former teacher, and her family came to unschooling during the pandemic, when her son, who had always found the school environment difficult, refused to engage in any school-like work.
Among other things, we talk about prioritising relationships above everything, living a slower, more intentional life, and how we can meet everyone’s needs, including of course, our own. I hope you enjoy the conversation.You can connect with Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleyasmama/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest this episode is Amanda Diekman. Amanda lives in North Carolina with her husband and three sons, who are 6, 8 and 10. Amanda’s journey to unschooling started with her 8 year-old who is autistic, PDA and the reality that school was a difficult and traumatic experience for him. Her 10 year old son, who is also autistic later chose also to leave school. We talk about how we can meet the needs of a PDA child, and how essential it is that we leave behind any mainstream ideas about parenting and education that are unlikely to serve us.
Amanda talks us through how adopting low demand parenting has helped both her and her son heal, and about how unschooling looks very different according to each child.
You can find out more about Amanda's work at https://www.amandadiekman.net
Connect with Amanda on Instagram: @lowdemandamanda
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today’s conversation is with Emma Hosfeld from Illinois. Emma lives with her husband and three children, who are 7, 5 and 4. Emma traces the roots of her journey to unschooling back to when she was pregnant and the sense of disempowerment she felt within the medical system, and the choices she then made for a more empowered birth experience.
She describes how unschooling has affected many areas of her life, and how it has given her the confidence to create a lifestyle that feels authentic to her, from leaving her 9-5 job to building a thriving community around her. Among many things, we talk about how children naturally learn, how to tend their needs and our own, and the huge importance of community.
You can connect with Emma on Instagram: @emma_hosfeld
Emma also publishes her writing at: growwiththem.substack.com
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, I am beyond thrilled to be chatting with Pam Laricchia. Pam lives in Ontario, Canada and has three adult children, who are now 30, 28 and 25, and I came across her website about unschooling, which is called Living Joyfully, early on in my own journey, when I was still a little shaky. I found her so incredibly warm and reassuring. So, it was such a huge delight to be able to invite her to The Unschool Space and to have this wonderful conversation with her.
Pam has written extensively about unschooling, both on her blog, and also in several published books. She also runs a podcast called Exploring Unschooling, and has just begun a new podcast called Living Joyfully. Today, we really talk about what it means to live joyfully and about how the way we live in relationship with others is at the heart of all of this.
You can find Pam's work at https://livingjoyfully.ca
Connect with Pam on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/pamlaricchia/
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, I’m chatting with Lainie Liberti. Lainie is originally from California, but, in 2008, decided to go travelling with her 9-year-old son for a year. She closed the business she had been running for some years and took her son out of school. He is 24 now and they never went back. They’ve travelled extensively, given a Ted talk together on worldschooling, and they now both live in Mexico.
Lainie has recently published a book about partnership parenting with teenagers, and she and her son run twice-yearly retreats for teenagers. Today, Lainie shares her experiences of travelling with her son, her realisations around learning and education, and how, as parents, we have the obligation to dig deep into our own conditioning in order to allow our children to be free to be their authentic selves. And, of course, Lainie shares some of her insights around parenting teenagers.
Find out more about Lainie's work here: https://projectworldschool.com
TedX talk by Lainie and her son, Miro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH-kQJ10WWo
Contact Lainie on Instagram: @ilainie
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Marni Kammersel from Boulder, Colorado. Marni lives with her husband and three children, who are 13, 10 and 6. She tells us about her family’s recent transition from an eclectic homeschool style to full-on unschooling, a move inspired by her oldest entering his teens, and her youngest having a huge need for autonomy. We talk about how nuanced some of this shift can be, and how so much of it is more about our intention than what we actually do. She also talks about how dropping time limits on screen use was a major part of this shift, and her observations on how that is playing out with her children.
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today I’m chatting with Erin Rosemond in Ontario, Canada. Erin has four children, who are now aged between 17 and 23. Erin came to unschooling when her oldest child reached school age, after connecting with home educating parents and realising that school would be a bad fit for her son.
Today we talk about what unschooling looks like as our children get older. How highly individualised it is to each child and their particular interests, and how their own motivation moves them naturally forward on their path. We also talk about our changing roles as parents and what it means to look after ourselves whilst accompanying our children on their journeys.
You can follow Erin on Instagram at @_everlearning_
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
Today, I’m chatting with Katy, who lives in Connecticut with her husband, her five year old son and her two year old daughter. Katy and her family have just started out on their unschooling journey. As a teacher for many years, Katy had frequently felt uneasy about many aspects of mainstream education, but felt she had no other option for her children. When her son began preschool she realised how bad a fit for him school would be and that they had to look at alternatives.
We talk today about how deeply conditioned we are by our time at school, how the school lens can negatively affect how we see and interact with our children, and how unschooling our children can lead us to rediscovering ourselves and living in a more connected way.
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Emily Ghassempour. Emily has a son and a daughter, who are 8 and nearly 6, and they left mainstream school just six months ago. School had become a source of extreme stress for the whole family. Daily meltdowns and anxiety finally culminated in the children refusing to go to school and in the family’s decision that they had to try something else. The children now go to the self-directed East Kent Sudbury School three days a week. Emily describes the changes she’s seen as they have relaxed into living and learning naturally, and how she feels as though she has finally got her children back. We talk about deschooling, healing from school trauma, and how liberating it is for everyone to step off the treadmill.
You can find Emily on Instagram at @home_ed_with_em_
You can find my blog, workshop and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com
Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace
My guest today is Ann Hansen from Oregon. Ann has two sons, who are now 19 and 20. They went to an alternative school for a couple of years but decided to try out unschooling and were immediately hooked.
Besides teaching yoga, Ann now works as a coach with other families who choose not to take the mainstream route. Today Ann reflects on what she learned during those unschooling years and how having the freedom to choose their paths has given her sons the tools to navigate life according to their own needs and desires.
We also talk about what we need to support ourselves on this journey.
You can connect with Ann on Instagram @innerparentcoaching or at https://www.innerparentcoaching.com/
This week I’m chatting with Melissa Crockett-Joyoue from New Zealand. Melissa lives with her wife Doria and their two children, Tumana, who is 7 and Hine who is 4. Their journey to unschooling began about a year ago because their son, who is diagnosed dyslexic and gifted found school extremely difficult and stressful. Both Melissa and Doria have also had life-threatening health issues which have impacted the children and led to severe separation anxiety. We talk about Melissa’s deschooling experiences, how unschooling is helping her family to heal from their recent trauma and upheaval, and how learning about our children helps us to discover ourselves.
You can find Melissa and her children on Instagram:
@mama.on.the.legogram
@tumanalegomaster
@hinecreates
My guest today is Iris Chen, author of the wonderful book, Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent. Iris and her husband have two boys, who are 12 and 14, and in the book Iris charts her journey from strict, perfectionist mother to advocate of peaceful parenting and unschooling.
Iris is Chinese American, as is her husband, so her book addresses the cultural conditioning that she had to shed in order to parent in a way that felt truly coherent to her. Among other things, we talk about how we can go about untangling all our own conditioning, how to hold ourselves with compassion as we do the work, and the healing that naturally arises from the work. I hope you enjoy the conversation,
You can find out more about Iris' work at https://untigering.com
Iris' book is available on Amazon.
A few people have asked me to talk about my journey so, in this episode, my good friend Nicola Corcoran is taking over as host, and is interviewing me : ) Nicola has two children, who are 19 and 16, and she and I often enjoy long conversations pondering our experiences as mothers, and as people in the world, so it's a delight to have this conversation with her today.
We talk about how my family came to unschooling and all the unraveling I've had to do of my own beliefs around children and education. We also talk about the things we need in order to sustain and nurture ourselves as we hold space for our children to be and grow.
If you’d like to hear more about Nicola’s story you can hear her in Episode #2 of The Unschool Space. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Today, I’m chatting with Jane Evans from New Zealand. Jane has three adult children, who are now 23, 21 and 18. We talk about how important it is to trust our children and the choices they make, and how learning can just take so many forms. And, we reflect on how vastly different each person’s path will be if it comes from their own deep knowing. As always we dip into the topic of tending ourselves too, and the importance of investing time in our own happiness, not just to strengthen our capacities, but also because whether we like it or not, we are always an example for our children.
Jane has recently written a book about her family’s unschooling journey, called Natural Learning. The Unschooling Life, and we also talk about what motivated her to share her family’s story.
You can connect with Jane on Instagram
You can find Natural Learning. The Unschooling Life on Amazon.com
My guest today is Eliza Fricker. Eliza has a 14-year old daughter who is autistic, PDA, and who struggled hugely with school. Eliza spent many years attempting to navigate the education system and advocate for her daughter, but after much frustration and despair, finally decided that leaving mainstream education was the only option. Eliza has published a book called Missing the Mark, in which, through her illustrations, she shows her process of trying to navigate a confusing, system which often fails to embrace neurodivergent children for who they are, focusing instead on the fixing of the child. She has also published The Family Experience of PDA, and a four-part podcast on her family's experiences, and now works to help families who are in a similar position.
Today, Eliza shares how life has looked since her daughter left school, and how they embarked on the slow process of healing. Among other things, we chat about the enormous importance of being in the right environment, and how our own deschooling is key to accepting our children just as they are. And, we dream a little about how effective, inclusive learning environments could actually look. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
If you'd like to find out more about Eliza or connect with her, you can find her at https://missingthemark.blog/
My guest today is Arielle Nobile. Arielle is an artist, musician and filmmaker who lives with her husband and 11-year-old daughter. They moved recently from Illinois to Argentina, where her husband, who is also an artist, is from.
Arielle and her family came to unschooling mid-pandemic after a number of years struggling with the school system, and in particular with their daughter being bullied. They made several school changes, and even moved from Colorado to Arielle's native Illinois in search of a better environment. Finally, after witnessing their daughter's stress on returning to school after lockdown they made the choice to deregister her.
Among other things, we talk today about how life flows differently when external expectations are removed, finding space for ourselves in our relationships with our children, and how it all always comes back to trust. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
Arielle's podcast: https://www.belongingintheusa.com/podcast
In this episode, I chat with Bria Bloom, from Portland, Oregon. Bria lives with her husband and her 11-year-old stepson, who attends a self-directed education project. I've known Bria for some time through her work as Community Manager for The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE), but only recently found out that she was unschooled herself.
Today, we talk about her experience as an unschooler who went on to university, and how her upbringing has influenced the choices she has made in her life and her parenting. Bria and her husband are expecting a baby this summer, so we also talk about how unschooling starts at birth. From letting go of expectations, creating boundaries for ourselves, asking for help, and trusting the process, we see the same threads weaving their way through childbirth, the baby and toddler years, through to being parents of teenagers. And we talk about the evolution that Bria has seen in unschooling in the US through her work at the Alliance. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
You can follow Bria on Twitter: @BriaBlooms
Find out more about the ASDE here: https://www.self-directed.org
My guest in this episode is Sarah Plazas, who lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and two children, who are three and five. When her son, Arlo, was three, Sarah and her husband realised that he wasn't coping with the demands and stimulation of preschool. They made the choice to change the way they were living, with both parents moving to part-time work in order to make it possible to have Arlo at home along with his baby sister.
Today, we talk about what it means to really respect children as whole beings, and how it actually looks to allow them autonomy over many aspects of their day. And, we discuss what that means for our own lives and how we can bring our full selves to the relationship, ensuring that gentle parenting doesn't also mean sacrificing our own needs and desires.
My guest in this episode is Renee Tougas, who lives in Montreal, Canada with her husband and three adult children (22, 21 and 19). Renee discovered self-directed learning when her children were small and, whilst she had initially imagined that homeschooling would be all about academics, she soon realised that things just naturally unfolded in the right environment. Her children are now young adults and intentionally living at home whilst each pursuing a different path in higher education.
Today, we chat about the need to let go of expectations or attachment to particular outcomes in order to allow our children to be who they want to be, particularly as they move into the teenage years. We explore what it means to live in a collaborative way with our children and how to feel into our role as parents, giving suggestions and guidance, whilst respecting their autonomy. And, we talk about why at the heart of all of this lies the importance of tending the relationship, above all else.
Today, I’m talking with Simon Crummay. Simon lives in East Sussex in the UK with his partner Wendy, and their son Luca, who is 13. Luca is diagnosed autistic with demand avoidance and went to school on and off for some years. After almost two years out of school, during which Simon and Wendy adopted an unschooling approach to learning, Luca now attends a self-directed learning centre in the afternoons. We talk about the impact of a child’s environment on their mental health, how learning can look for a child with PDA and why trust really is the cornerstone to all of this.
My guest in this episode is Naomi Clarke. Naomi lives in East London and has two sons who are 11 and 6. Naomi is the co-director of Gamechangers, a self directed learning and democratic community which her eldest son also attends.
Naomi has been home educating since her eldest child was 5, and embraced unschooling after he was seriously ill in hospital. In her words, she decided to "choose happiness". Today, among many other things, Naomi talks about how she has experienced unschooling as a black family, with the added pressure she felt on opting out of mainstream education, and the lack of other non-white mothers and families in the UK who have taken that path. Naomi's younger son is autistic and we also talk about neurodiversity and why unschooling allows for the embracing of the whole child. And, how unschooling is challenging for low-income families.
And, of course, we talk about the many unexpected things that we learn about ourselves on the journey. You can connect with Naomi on Instagram at @intersectionalmotherhood.
Today I’m talking with Nadia Joshua. Nadia lives in Barry Island in Wales and has two daughters, who are six and nine. Until her daughter left school, three years ago, Nadia was working as a social worker. She took her daughter out of school when she was six years old and had just started year one, as she had rapidly become unhappy and self-critical. Nadia knew there had to be a different way, and could see that her daughter needed more agency over her own life. She discovered unschooling through the works of Pam Laricchia. Today, among other things, we talk about adjusting to an unschooling lifestyle, uncovering our limiting beliefs, being authentic with our children and making sure we have what we need to hold space for them.
My guest today is Marta Obiols. Marta is originally from Spain, but has lived in the US for 21 years. She now lives with her husband and three children in Atlanta, Georgia. Marta was a teacher when her children were small, but became interested in unschooling after taking her children out of school and coming across the works of John Holt. She quickly let go of being 'the dictator in the living room' and fully embraced unschooling.
Marta's eldest son recently turned 18, and Marta was inspired to write a book about her family's experiences, entitled 18: An unschooling experience. Today, among other things, we talk about facilitating the different needs of our children, trusting our children even when society around us says otherwise, and finding the unschooler in ourselves.
You can follow Marta on Instagram at @unschoolingstory18 and on Twitter at @Unschooling1.
18: An unschooling experience is available at major online book retailers.
Today I’m joined by Sarada de Villeneuve. Sarada lives in Brighton, UK, with her husband and three children, who are 14, 11 and 8 . They began unschooling seven years ago, when their eldest son was seven and having a difficult time at school. Sarada had already felt some conflict around sending her children to nursery at a young age, and found her way to unschooling after seeing home educating families in her local park.
Sarada describes the daily practise that unschooling is. The deep work of getting beyond our own triggers and old parenting assumptions and engaging with our children in an authentic, respectful way. We talk today about social expectations, building community, and learning to respect our children’s voices. Sarada also speaks to how unschooling can help us heal our relationships with our children, affected by early experiences of separation, school or our own less-informed parenting. You can find Sarada on Instagram at @discovering.wonder.
My guest in this episode is Fran Liberatore. Fran has two children, aged 7 and 9, and has just moved to an island in Maine after spending three years in Dubai. Fran first came across unschooling some years ago when she discovered John Holt, and her intention had been to to home educate her children. For different reasons, it took until the pandemic for her to finally take the leap.
We talk today about how she and her children have adjusted to life without school, the importance of being able to set and maintain our own boundaries (both us and our children), and how we can rethink the power imbalances in traditional parenting. Fran also shares how unschooling has made her reflect on the choices she has made in life.
You can follow Fran on Instagram and Facebook, and visit her blog https://livingwithoutschool.com
Today I’m delighted to be joined by Laura Smith. Laura and I have been in touch online for a few years, but this the first time we've spoken. Laura lives in the south of France with her partner and her son, Rowan, who is nearly six. For her family, unschooling was really a natural progression that felt coherent with the way they were living and parenting. We talk about the need to often just surrender to the moment and how hard that can be, and how we deal with our triggers. We also discuss how doing things differently can sometimes feel isolating, and how finding community can be difficult, particularly when living abroad.
My guest in this episode is Anthony Eldridge-Rogers. Anthony has three teenage children with his wife Lehla (my podcast guest in episode #8) and, together, they wrote a book recounting their family's experiences, called Jump Fall Fly. Anthony works with people with behavioural health challenges and is a specialist recovery and wellness coach.
Today, we talk about his daughters’ transition from self-directed learning at home to a college environment and the importance of our children’s mental health. He also shares his experiences as a father and some valuable insights into the particular challenges fathers can face when a family chooses the alternative education route.
You can find out more about Anthony on his website https://www.jumpfallfly.com.
In this episode, I chat with Lianne Campbell, a dancer, performer, well-being coach, and mother to 12-year-old Anoushka. Lianne came to unschooling when seeing that her young daughter had no desire to be in school. She hadn't considered home education as she assumed that would mean her doing the teaching and she had left school herself with few qualifications. When someone mentioned unschooling to her, she realised that it was the natural path for them and a continuation of how she had been parenting her daughter all along. She decided to trust her daughter and her own intuition and took her daughter out of school. She created community through a regular meet-up with other unschooling families nearby and never looked back. Her daughter's love of horses has helped her fulfil one of her own childhood dreams, and the family now owns two horses and learn natural horsemanship.
Lianne's positive outlook on life, and her belief in keeping things authentic and joyful are truly inspiring. Today, among many other things, we talk about how unschooling is a journey of unraveling our own deep conditioning, the importance of trusting our children, and how essential it is to take care of ourselves. You can find Lianne on Instagram at @ahandpickedlife Or visit her platform: www.ahandpickedlife.com.
In this episode, I’m joined by Lehla Eldridge. Lehla is an illustrator and a performer. She and her husband Anthony have three children, twin daughters, who are nearly 18, and their son who is 15. They’ve been unschooling for many years, and their desire to try something different took them to Italy for four years, and then back to the UK. Lehla and her husband wrote about their experiences in their book Jump Fall Fly, which they published four years ago. An updated edition will be coming out soon.
I was really delighted to finally chat with Lehla. I came across her blog about living an unschooling life in Italy when I was doing a similar thing in Spain, and so much of her experiences resonated with me. Today, among other things, we talk about the long process of letting go, undoing our own scripts, rediscovering our passions and unschooling with teenagers. You can find out more about Lehla on her website https://www.jumpfallfly.com and on Instagram at @unschooling_the_kids
My guest in this episode is Paige Hall. Paige has three children, who are nine, seven and four, and she came to unschooling during the pandemic. Without the expectations of school and with the focus entirely on her connection with her children, she found that everyone was happier and more confident, and learning to exercise their own autonomy. So, from there she has embraced a new way of living, and has spent this year learning and really working at picking apart the old paradigms. I absolutely loved talking with Paige, and hearing how radically her family is being transformed. And, more than anything, about how her children have responded to being trusted and embraced wholly for who they are. I hope you enjoy the conversation.
In this episode I am joined by Heidi Steel. Heidi has four children and lives in West Sussex in the UK. Before having children, Heidi used to work as an early years primary school teacher. Her experience in the education system was part of her and her husband’s choice not to send their children to school. Heidi runs a Facebook group called Live Play Learn, where she supports unschooling families. Heidi also works with unschooling families, one on one, and runs the podcast Unschooling Conversations.
Among other things, we talk about how learning happens without a curriculum, living in connection with our children, and why finding our own selves in the process is perhaps an inevitable part of deschooling.
My guest this episode is Naomi Fisher. Naomi is a clinical psychologist and mother of two. Her children were unschooled for six years and now attend a self-directed learning centre. Naomi has just published a wonderful book about self-directed learning, entitled Changing our Minds, which explores the theory and research behind autonomous learning, alongside lots of real-life examples. In this episode, we talk about why autonomy is so important to learning, why school can be particularly tough for our neurodivergent children and how these children can truly thrive in an unschooling environment.
Today, I’m joined by writer and mother-of-two, Sophie Lovett. Sophie has two sons, aged eight and three, and found her way to unschooling as a natural progression of attachment-style parenting. Sophie was formerly a teacher, but found it hard to reconcile how she wanted her children to live with the demands of mainstream schooling. Like so many of us, she has found the journey into unschooling to also be a journey into her own learning and into the ways that her own experiences of education continued to manifest in her life long into adulthood. For Sophie, this has in particular meant unpicking the power imbalances that are so prevalent in our society, and understanding how they serve to disempower us. Since having children, she has rekindled her passion for writing, and she is currently writing a book about how we raise children. You can find out more about Sophie on her blog www.raisingrevolutionaries.co.uk
In this episode of The Unschool Space, I'm delighted to be talking to my friend Sophie Larcher. We met when we both lived in Barcelona, and I remember being so excited to finally come across another unschooling family. Sophie is French and is a costume designer. She, her partner Claudio, who is an artist and teacher, and their two children, Rita and Sacha, have just moved to London.
Sophie's journey into unschooling began when they took their daughter out of school after just three weeks. From there, she has never really looked back. In this episode we chat about living an authentic life with our children, all the things we discover about ourselves along the way, and how we can stay grounded in the midst of it all. Like most unschooling parents, Sophie has found the journey to be one of intense learning and discovery for herself.
Today I'm joined by Nicola Corcoran, whose journey into life without school began as a search for wellness and happiness. Nicola was diagnosed with cancer 11 years ago, when her children were just three and six. She left her job as an illustrator and took time to focus on her healing. The following year, after her son became seriously ill, she and her husband decided to take both children out of school and find a new way to live as a family. They moved from the city to a small town in pursuit of a less stressful, more joyful life. Nicola has found her healing process often reflected in her parenting choices. Not only in the need to cherish every moment of life, but also in how important it is that each of us has autonomy to make the choices and decisions that are right for us. Whilst she been nurturing trust in herself, she has also nurtured it in her children.
Nicola shares the wellness knowledge she has cultivated over 11 years of learning through workshops for young people and wellness packages. If you'd like to know more about Nicola or connect with her, you can find her at:
https://www.facebook.com/Nourish-and-Grow-2009320902518392/
https://www.instagram.com/nourish_and.grow/
Artist and single mother, Jenny Arran, joins me to chat about the process of our own deschooling. We talk about cultivating trust in our children, the ways they direct their own learning, and what we need to do in order to support ourselves on this sometimes challenging journey. As an artist, Jenny brings a wonderfully observant eye to her own process, and shares how being in nature and making time for reflection help keep her nourished.