Pam Laricchia's Blog, page 10
June 8, 2022
EU116 Flashback: Growing Up Unschooling with Summer Jean
Back in 2018, I spoke to Summer Jean about her experience growing up unschooling. We talked about how her mom came to unschooling, how they dealt with disapproval from extended family members, how her interest in glass art came about, and some of the common questions she gets when people learn she didn’t go to school.
It’s always so interesting to hear stories from the perspective of grown unschoolers and to see just how unique each person’s journey is!
Questions for Summer
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
What did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
What inspired you to learn more about unschooling and did it change the way you saw your childhood?
I understand that you guys experienced quite a bit of pressure and disapproval from extended family growing up. How did you deal with that? Any tips you’d like to share?
How did you discover your passion for glass art and how did that unfold?
When people find out you that you grew up unschooled, I imagine they are full of questions. What are some of the most common questions you get?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Pam’s blog post, The Nature of Time (an excerpt from her book, The Unschooling Journey: A Field Guide)
Summer’s unschooling Facebook page, This Beautiful Living Freedom
Summer’s personal Facebook, and her business, Mermaid Art Glass, on Facebook, and Instagram
Episode transcript
Have a question about unschooling?
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is Navigating Conflict and we’re looking through the lenses of curiosity and connection. If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
Connect with Pam
June 1, 2022
EU328: Exploring Unschooling Q&A
Anna Brown and Erika Ellis join me again this week to dive into listener questions! We talk about navigating sibling and friend relationships, the idea of self-regulation when it comes to technology, and the journey of finding community and connection for ourselves and our children.
As always, our Q&A conversations aren’t focused on giving anyone the “right” answer, because there isn’t a universal “right” answer for any given situation that will work for everyone. Instead, our focus is on exploring different aspects of the situation and playing with the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves to better understand what’s up. We’re sharing food for thought through the lens of unschooling.
Click here to submit your question for a future Q&A episode
Question summaries
Our first question is from Alison. There are shifts going on with her daughters’ relationship with each other and with their mutual friends. She wants to stand up for her younger daughter when she is being excluded and wants to help them without being pushy.
Our second question is from Belinda in Canada. Her six-year-old son wants to use the iPad more than she feels comfortable with. She believes he can’t self-regulate and wants to protect him from spending too much time on the iPad, while also wishing she didn’t feel that way.
Our final question is from Amelia in Utah. Her five-year-old daughter’s friends are all starting school and so, she’s looking for ideas about finding support and connections with other unschooling families.
Things mentioned in the episode
Submit your own question for a future Q&A episode
Brainstorm by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.
Connect with Courage by Roya Dedeaux
EU264: Unschooling Stories with Julia Triman
Free to Learn: Five Ideas for a Joyful Unschooling Life by Pam Laricchia
Episode transcript
Video
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is Navigating Conflict and we’re looking through the lenses of curiosity and connection. If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
Connect with Pam
May 25, 2022
EU084 Flashback: Enjoy Parenting with Scott Noelle
This week on the podcast, I’m sharing a conversation I had with Scott Noelle, unschooling dad of two, back in 2017. Scott is an author and a life coach dedicated to supporting parents who want to move away from control-based parenting methods. He founded The Daily Groove, an email newsletter and website where he shared practical parenting insights for many years. We talked about his parenting framework, PATH, the value of nonverbal communication, ways we can hold presence with negative feelings, and how fear can slip into control.
Whether you’re revisiting our conversation or it’s your first time listening, I’m sure you’ll make some new connections that deepen your understanding of unschooling!
Questions for Scott
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
What did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
You have a wonderful website, dailygroove.com, where people can sign up to receive daily emails from you. I signed up when I was early on in my unschooling journey, and I really appreciated your nuggets of parenting insight as I was in the midst of challenging so much of the conventional parenting wisdom I’d absorbed. You call it PATH Parenting, and I love that not only is it an acronym, it’s also a reminder that the journey—the path—is the destination. Can you share an overview of what PATH parenting is?
We talk quite a bit in unschooling circles about communicating openly with our children and how it facilitates connection and trust in our relationships, but some children aren’t big verbal communicators. It’s not that they aren’t giving us messages, just that not a lot of them are verbal. If we find ourselves in that situation, what are some other ways we can communicate and connect with our child?
You have a great article on your website about holding presence with negative feelings, such as frustration or fear. Can you share what you mean and how we can develop that skill?
As our children get older, we can sometimes find ourselves uncomfortable with some of their choices. We start feeling fearful and protective, and that can so easily slip into control because that’s the go to response in our culture: forbid the activity and explain the consequences we’ll impose on them if they disobey. That approach can really damage the relationship though, can’t it? What might we do instead?
You’re also a founding member of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education, which advocates both unschooling and alternative schools that support self-directed education. I love that the ADSE is trying to normalize self-directed education as a whole. Could you give us an update on the work that the Alliance is doing?
Links to Things Mentioned in the Show
Jean Liedloff’s book, The Continuum Concept
John Holt’s book, How Children Fail
The movie, Office Space
One of Scott’s daily grooves: The Power of Silence
E. Richard Sorenson’s essay, Preconquest Consciousness
Another daily groove: Ending the Blame Game
Scott’s website, DailyGroove.com
Scott’s new site, Harmony Cafe
And the Alliance for Self-Directed Education
Episode transcript
Have a question about unschooling?
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is The Richness of Communication and we’re exploring it through the lenses of trust and compassion.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
Connect with Pam
May 18, 2022
EU125 Flashback: Challenges on the Unschooling Journey
This week, we are revisiting the first compilation episode I ever created for the podcast! I gathered clips from fourteen different episodes where I asked some version of this question: “What has been one of the more challenging aspects for you on your unschooling journey?”
It is so interesting to hear a wide variety of different responses to the same question. Considering our challenges and peeling back all of those layers can be so valuable. I hope you find this compilation inspiring as you reflect on your own experiences.
Audio snippets taken from these episodes
EU009: Ten Questions with Amy Childs
EU018: Ten Questions with Jennifer McGrail
EU022: Ten Questions with Lainie Liberti
EU027: Ten Questions with Teresa Graham Brett
EU036: Deschooling with Lauren Seaver
EU041: Unschooling Dads & Board Games with Jamie Maltman
EU079: Unschooling Dads with Dan Cadzow
EU088: Deschooling – A Year Later, with Jennie Gomes
EU089: Ten Questions with Jan Hunt
EU101: Deschooling with Heather Lake
EU102: The Value of Relationships with Rachel Rainbolt
EU105: Unschooling Dads with Nick Hess
EU106: Unschooling Connections with Kelly Callahan
EU111: Ten Questions with Jan Fortune
Episode transcript
Have a question about unschooling?
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is The Richness of Communication and we’re exploring it through the lenses of trust and compassion.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
Connect with Pam
May 11, 2022
EU238 Flashback: Deschooling with Jessica Kane
This week, I’m sharing a lovely conversation I had with Jessica Kane in 2020. Jessica and her husband live in Ireland and have three children. Her oldest attended school through high school, her middle son left school in grade 4, and her youngest son has never been to school. This gives her such a unique perspective to share!
We talked about deschooling and some of the challenges she faced, what she has learned about relationships and communication with her husband, and what has surprised her about her family’s unschooling life. I really enjoyed the details that Jessica shared about her journey and her personal growth and I think her story is such a beautiful example of the value of deschooling!
Questions for Jessica
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everyone into right now?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
What has been one of the more challenging aspects of deschooling so far? And can you share a bit about your journey through it?
What has surprised you most about your journey so far?
There are pretty big age gaps between your three children, which puts you in distinctly different seasons with each of them, all at the same time. I’d love to hear more about that!
What is your favorite thing about the flow of your unschooling days right now?
Things mentioned in the episode
Check out the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit! It’s an online workshop that focuses on the deep, personal work needed to peel away the layers of conventional ideas about learning and parenting that can get in the way of cultivating a thriving unschooling spirit in your family. In other words, our own deschooling journey!
Jessica’s vegan food blog, The Diamond Cookbook
You can find Jessica on Instagram
Transcript
Video
Watch the YouTube video
Have a question about unschooling?
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is The Richness of Communication and we’re exploring it through the lenses of trust and compassion.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons! Your generous support allows me to spend time creating episodes each week, and to keep the podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
May 4, 2022
EU037 Flashback: Ten Questions with Carol Black
In 2016, I asked Carol Black ten questions about her unschooling journey. Her two daughters were then 22 and 26. We talked about her documentary, Schooling the World, as well as her popular essay, A Thousand Rivers. Carol approaches unschooling and parenting from a cultural lens, through which she’s made many valuable connections and insights. She shared some of the major differences between traditional cultural views of children and the modern, school-centric view, as well as her thoughts about the future and what we can learn from other cultures.
It was such an enlightening conversation!
Ten Questions for Carol
1. Can you share with us a bit about you and your family, and how you came to unschooling?
2. What are your children up to right now? Looking back, can you see a thread of interests and activities that has brought them to this point?
3. I love the bigger picture lens through which you see and talk about unschooling—through the essays on your website and through your film, Schooling the World. What brought you to explore how children learn across different cultures and incorporate that into your view of unschooling?
4. I’ve seen your wonderful essay, A Thousand Rivers: What the modern world has forgotten about children and learning, being shared in unschooling circles for years. In it you make the point that people today don’t know what children are actually like—they only know what children are like in schools. Your classic quote is, “Collecting data on human learning based on children’s behavior in school is like collecting data on killer whales based on their behavior at Sea World.”
Controlling a child’s learning—content, pace, and style—has such a profound effect on how they see themselves, as both learners and people, doesn’t it?
5. Another great observation you share about unschooling children is that they want their learning to be their own. Can you talk about some of the ways we can interfere with that?
6. You published a new essay on your website earlier this year, On the Wildness of Children: The revolution will not take place in a classroom. In it, you note that compulsory schooling is basically a social experiment originally conceived in the late 1800s to adapt children to the new industrial age—to train them in the skills needed for this new era of manufacturing. Yet in only about seven generations, school has become an integral part of childhood, this background forgotten.
With unschooling, we choose to leave this experiment behind and look at how children are naturally wired to learn. We soon come to see that learning isn’t really a special activity at all, but a natural by-product of being alive in the world, and spending much of their days in, what researcher Suzanne Gaskins calls, a state of “open attention.” Can you describe what that looks like?
7. Now I’d like to shift and talk about your documentary, Schooling the World. Here’s something you wrote by way of introduction: “The film Schooling the World asks us to re-examine some of our deepest assumptions about knowledge, learning, ignorance, poverty, success, and wealth. The purpose of the film is not to provide all the answers, but to ask a question, to open a conversation. Our hope is that you will be able to use the film with your friends, colleagues, students, or organization to begin conversations that will be deep, challenging, and inspiring.” I love that your goal was to spark conversations. So, let’s do that.
First, let’s talk about the culture of schooling. What are some of the differences between the culture of schooling, which basically defines modern childhood, and the culture of childhood in a traditional society?
8. In conversations about traditional cultures, it is regularly suggested that those who appreciate their ways are romanticizing traditional cultures, downplaying problems like infant mortality and infectious diseases. What the film brings out so clearly is that maybe we are romanticizing our own culture and our version of education when we export it overseas. We’ve seen through experience that the school structure also brings with it consequences like lasting damage to children’s creativity, and branding so many children as failures. We also often fail to consider the depth, breadth and complexity of the knowledge systems that we are displacing.
I love the point Wade Davis makes at the end of the film: “These peoples, these cultures, are not failed attempts at being us—they are unique answers to the fundamental question, ‘What does it mean to be human and alive?’ Their answers have allowed them to live sustainably on the planet for generations.”
How might we move beyond romanticizing either side of this cultural confrontation and have deeper conversations about how we connect and engage with other cultures around the world?
9. Can you share a bit about what the filming experience was like? Your daughters came along, yes?
10. Looking back now, what, for you, has been the most valuable outcome from choosing unschooling?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Carol’s essay: A Thousand Rivers: What the modern world has forgotten about children and learning
Carol’s essay: On the Wildness of Children: The revolution will not take place in a classroom
Carol’s documentary: Schooling the World (You can watch it free at this link. If it’s no longer free, I think it’s worth the purchase to watch!)
Schooling the World Facebook page
Episode Transcript
Have a question about unschooling?
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is The Richness of Communication and we’re exploring it through the lenses of trust and compassion.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
April 27, 2022
EU327: Exploring Unschooling Q&A
Anna Brown and Erika Ellis join me again this week to dive into listener questions! We talk about navigating a dyslexia/dysgraphia diagnosis, sharing unschooling information and parenting ideas with grandparent caregivers, and the mental overwhelm that can occur at the beginning of the deschooling journey.
As always, our Q&A conversations aren’t focused on giving anyone the “right” answer, because there isn’t a universal “right” answer for any given situation that will work for everyone. Instead, our focus is on exploring different aspects of the situation and playing with the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves to better understand what’s up. We’re sharing food for thought through the lens of unschooling.
Click here to submit your question for a future Q&A epi s ode
Question Summaries
Our first question is a quick one. The listener is wondering how to report to the state as an unschooler.
Our second question is concerning a dyslexia and dysgraphia diagnosis. The listener wonders how to approach the recommended tutoring plan if the child doesn’t have any interest.
Our third question comes from the parents of a one-year-old who is regularly cared for by both sets of grandparents. They wonder how they should approach sharing what they’ve learned about unschooling with the grandparents and what to do when their parenting approaches clash.
Our final question is from Brittany, who is brand-new to unschooling. She is feeling ungrounded with all of her swirling thoughts and wanting some “me time.”
Podcast Update
I mention this in my intro, but want to share it here too. I’m going to be changing up the podcast, at least for the next while.
I have some projects that I want to free up some time to work on. Things like producing and releasing audiobook editions of my books, and actually publishing the book I shared on the podcast a few months ago to celebrate reaching episode 300.
So, for now, the podcast is going on a bit of an hiatus. That doesn’t mean it’s ending though! There is such a rich library of incredible content that so many newer listeners haven’t yet had the chance to hear. And the podcast audience continues to grow. Over the last month there have been 7,689 unique listeners from 60 different countries. That’s wonderful!
So, I’m still going release an episode every week, but many will be curated from the archive. That said, sometimes there will be new episodes. Surprise! For example, you’ll still be able to submit questions for Q&A episodes and as we get new questions, Anna, Erika and I will record and release new Q&A episodes. Those are definitely listener favorites. I’ll probably put together and release some compilation episodes, inspired by questions I’m receiving. Maybe more unschooling in context episodes. And I do have some interviews scheduled over the next month that will also come out. But, for now, I’ll be creating and releasing them when they bubble up in the flow, versus having a strict ‘new episode every week’ schedule.
And I’m excited to be reviewing and curating amazing episodes from the library to share with you! As I’ve mentioned before, even if you heard the episode when it first came out, it can be so valuable to listen again. You’ve grown and changed since then, and with your now more experienced lens, I’m almost certain you’ll make new connections, deepening your understanding of unschooling and of yourself. And if you haven’t yet heard the episode, you’re in for a treat.
Things mentioned in the episode
Submit your own question for a future Q&A episode
blog post: “Learning to Write is About Communicating”
EU317: Unschooling in Context (Boundaries, Comfort Zones, and Capacity)
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
EU324: Open and Queerious with Ellie Winicour
blog posts: “What to Do Instead of School, Part 1” and “What to Do Instead of School, Part 2”
EU201: Unschooling and Self Care with Erika Ellis
Episode transcript
Video
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is Embracing Beginner’s Mind and we’re exploring it through the lenses of release and explore.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
March 9, 2022
EU320: Amy’s Unschooling Journey with Amy Hughes
Amy Hughes, unschooling mom of eight children, joins me on the podcast this week. Over the years, Amy’s family moved from school to homeschooling to Charlotte Mason and finally to unschooling. She shares the big a-ha that led her to unschooling as well as how unschooling works in her large family. We talk about Amy’s advice to other large families and what has helped her most to avoid overwhelm. She also shares her daughter’s experience with attending college after unschooling.
Amy’s joyful excitement shines through in this inspiring conversation!
Questions for Amy
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interested in right now?
What did your family’s move from regular homeschooling to unschooling look like?
With eight kids ranging from toddlers to teens, I feel like you’re experiencing different seasons of unschooling all at the same time! How does unschooling look different between toddlers, kids, and teens?
What’s your favorite piece of advice or experience to share about unschooling in large families?
One of the more common questions that comes up as people explore unschooling is, what about college? I’d love to hear about your experience with unschoolers choosing to go to college.
What has surprised you most about how unschooling has unfolded for your family?
Things mentioned in the episode
Simple Little Amy on Instagram
Unschoolers on Instagram
Transcript
Video
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is The Treasure of Time and we’re exploring it through the lenses of expectations and flow.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
March 2, 2022
EU319: Unschooling Stories with Missy Willis
Missy Willis, a longtime unschooling mom of two, joins me again on the podcast this week to share more about her unschooling journey. We talk about the way that unschooling leads us to question everything, from conventional parenting and education to productivity and success. And we dive deep into a few common misconceptions about peaceful parenting. Missy also shares several mantras that she has found valuable and grounding as a parent.
It was so much fun to catch up with Missy and to dig into some of the foundational concepts of unschooling and parenting!
Questions for Missy
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interested in right now?
When we connected for this call, you mentioned that one of the things you like about unschooling is how it not only leads people to question the education system, but eventually other systems as well. I’d love to hear about your experience with this.
As we dive into deeper deschooling, we come to question the conventional wisdom that surrounds parenting. I think there are a couple of misconceptions about this more peaceful approach to parenting that can get in our way at first. One is that peaceful parenting means our “goal” is to eliminate conflict. Another is that peaceful is akin to passive. But neither of those is true, is it?
I saw your recent post about mantras on Instagram and I was hoping you could share a few of your favorites and why you find them helpful.
What has surprised you most about how unschooling has unfolded for your family so far?
What is your favourite thing about your unschooling days right now?
Things mentioned in the episode
Missy’s first episode, EU155: Let ‘Em Go Barefoot with Missy Willis
TED Talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” with Sir Ken Robinson
Missy’s Instagram post about mantras
Let ‘Em Go Barefoot Facebook page, Instagram page, and website
Transcript
Video
Submit your question here for an upcoming Q&A episode!
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is The Treasure of Time and we’re exploring it through the lenses of expectations and flow.
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
February 23, 2022
EU318: Exploring Unschooling Q&A
Anna Brown and Erika Ellis join me again this week to dive into listener questions! We explore the idea of unschooling philosophy and strong belief, how gaming and unschooling might go together, and the idea of “self-directed” learning.
And, as always, our Q&A conversations aren’t focused on giving anyone the “right” answer, because there isn’t a universal “right” answer for any given situation that will work for everyone. Instead, our focus is on exploring different aspects of the situation and playing with the kinds of questions we might ask ourselves to better understand what’s up. We’re sharing food for thought through the lens of unschooling.
Click here to submit your question for a future Q&A epi s ode
Question Summaries
Our first question comes from California. The listener wonders about how unschoolers view high academic achievement and whether unschoolers pursue advanced degrees, such as medical degrees or MBAs. [starts at 3:56]
Our second question from Jenn is concerning the idea of learning basic academic skills. Her children spend most of their time gaming and are not interested in reading and writing. She wonders if gaming can be a valuable part of an unschooling lifestyle. [starts at 21:38]
Our final question is another unschooling philosophy question, this time about physical activity and movement. The listener wonders if we are doing more sedentary children a disservice by not insisting on movement activities. [starts at 34:39]
Things mentioned in the episode
Submit your own question for a future Q&A episode
College without High School: A Teenager’s Guide to Skipping High School and Going to College by Blake Boles
EU141: Growing Up Unschooling with Alec Traaseth
EU271: Our Unschooling Journey with the Beck Family
Connect with Courage: Practical ways to release fear and find joy in the places your children take you by Roya Dedeaux
Free to Learn and The Unschooling Journey books by Pam Laricchia
EU171: The Magic of Learning to Read Naturally
EU023: Learning to Read in Their Own Time with Anna Ohman
EU119: Gaming and Growing Up Unschooling with Xander MacSwan
EU182: Unschooling and Video Games
“I Can Read, You Know!” article by Pam Laricchia
Everything I Need to Know I Learned from Video Games article by Pam Laricchia
EU148: The Value of Relationships for Learning
Unschooling with Strong Beliefs blog post by Pam Laricchia
Episode transcript
Video
The Living Joyfully Network community
The Network is a wonderful online community for parents to connect and engage in candid conversations about living and learning through the lens of unschooling. Our shared goals are to embrace lifelong learning, develop strong and connected relationships with our children, and cultivate a thriving unschooling lifestyle in our families.
This month, our theme is Four Pillars of Unschooling, loosely based on my book, Free to Learn. We’re focusing on one pillar each week: redefining learning, following their interests, making choices, and “Why not yes?”
If you’re curious to learn more, click here!
Consider becoming a podcast patron
I deeply appreciate all my patrons. Your generous support helps pay for the hosting and transcription, as well as my time spent creating new episodes each week. It’s instrumental in keeping the growing podcast archive freely available to anyone who’s curious and wants to explore the fascinating world of unschooling. If you’d like to join my community of patrons and scoop up some great rewards along the way, check out the Exploring Unschooling page on Patreon.
