Pam Laricchia's Blog, page 25
May 1, 2019
EU174: Unschooling Teens at Camp with Laura Bowman
Laura Bowman is the founder of the East Tennessee Unschooled Summer Camp for teens and previous guests have said wonderful things about their camp experience. We dive into Laura’s unschooling journey, how the camp came to life in 2010, what a day at camp looks like, the idea behind the Mentor Groups, reluctant campers, and lots more.
Questions for Laura
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
You host the East Tennessee Unschooled Summer Camp for teens. In the last few months, Alec and Max have been on the podcast and both talked about how much they’ve enjoyed the experience. I’d love to hear the story behind how the camp came to be.
Daily meetings with their Mentor Group are one of the few things required of campers during the week—I imagine that’s because you’ve found them to be a valuable part of the camp experience. Can you share more about them? How do they help?
What does a day at camp look like?
What would your advice be for parents who may wish this kind of experience for their teen but find they seem to be reluctant?
What are you most looking forward to at camp this year?
Links to things mentioned in the show:
For more info, check out the East Tennessee Unschooled Summer Camp (for teens) on their website, Facebook page, Facebook group, and watch their compilation video from ETUSC 2018
For more info on the Autodidact Radical Gathering of Homeschoolers (ARGH), gathering for families visit their website and Facebook page
Check out my podcast conversations with Max VerNooy and Alec Traaseth
Learn more about the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit. Enrollment is closed right now, but you can sign up to be notified when it opens again in the fall.
Episode Transcript
April 24, 2019
EU173: Unschooling in Context with Anna Brown
Anna Brown joins me this week for a conversation with a twist: we’re not talking about the ins and outs of unschooling itself but about how it fits in the bigger picture. Hence the title of the episode, Unschooling in Context.
It’s a topic I’ve been wanting to do for a while, but I really needed to let a bunch of things percolate, like: the kinds of questions I get from people, how they relate to each other, the missing bits of information or connections behind the questions, the conversations I come across online about what unschooling is and how it fits in with other alternative education options etc. I needed time to for all that to bounce around in the back of my mind, making interesting connections, and eventually starting to come together into my version of the puzzle of defining unschooling.
Granted, after percolating for a few months, I needed to remind myself not to wait for “perfect!” My puzzle isn’t done. In fact, I’m sure I will continue to add to it for many years, as my understanding continues to grow. But, I think I got far enough along to participate in the conversation.
Discussion Points
1. One of the most fundamental and helpful shift for all parents to make is the realization that our children’s education is our CHOICE. Whether we make that paradigm shift before we have our own children or after they’ve started public school, when we understand that it’s our choice, our whole outlook changes, doesn’t it?
2. Let’s dive into some terminology, because often it’s helpful to choose different words to describe what we do depending on whether we’re inside or outside alternative education circles. For example, in social conversations with say, a neighbour or at the grocery store, when the school question came up, I very rarely used the word, “unschooling.” Did you?
3. Lately, the term “self-directed education” has been growing in use, as part of The Alliance for Self-Directed Education’s work. I’ve had some questions around this recently, and I put together a little Venn diagram visual, which I used on the episode image. One circle represents homeschooling and the other circle represents self-directed education. Where they overlap is unschooling. Unschooling is a style of homeschooling, in that it is home or family-based, rather than school-based. And it’s also a style of self-directed education, in that the child is free to choose what they want to do and learn, rather than having to follow a curriculum. Does that make sense?
4. In the last few years, the term “radical unschooling” has become more prevalent in conversations. What’s the difference between unschooling and radical unschooling?
5. “Child-led learning” is another term that sometimes gets used interchangeably with unschooling, but that can also lead to misunderstandings about how unschooling works, can’t it?
6. Over the years, I’ve often heard democratic schools, like those based on the Sudbury model, referred to as “unschooling schools.” There is commonality in that they both fit in the self-directed education circle, but they aren’t synonymous. They are two distinct learning environments and I think it’s helpful to understand the differences. What differences do you see?
Links to things mentioned in the show:
You can find The Alliance for Self-Directed Education here
Episode Transcript
April 17, 2019
EU172: Unschooling Travels with Heather Clark
Heather Clark joins me this week! I first met Heather a few years ago at an unschooling conference and I love the way she and her family have slowly but surely woven an interest in travel into their lives. We dive into her journey to unschooling, the story behind embracing travel, the value of embracing curiosity, the joy and power of embracing interests, and lots more.
Questions for Heather
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
You guys travel about half the year and are at your home base for the other half. I’d love to hear the story behind the choice to embrace travel! What do your unschooling days look like when you’re in a new place? Can you share a story from your recent travels?
Even if long-distance travels aren’t on a family’s horizon, I think bringing that exploration mindset into our every day lives can be really valuable. It’s about embracing our curiosity, isn’t it?
With unschooling, we talk about how beautifully learning flows from following our children’s interests, rather than trying to direct it through curricula. It makes sense intellectually, but in practice, parents can sometimes find themselves worrying that their child’s world seems to be getting smaller, especially if they have a passion or two that they love to focus on. Yet, in my experience, when we trust and embrace their interests, they can be a window to the whole wide world. Has that been your experience with Jamie?
What’s your favourite thing about your unschooling days right now?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Heather’s website: arightsizedlife.com
Episode transcript
April 10, 2019
EU171: The Magic of Learning to Read Naturally
It’s time for another compilation episode! This time I went with a topic rather than a particular question: the topic of learning to read naturally. Listen to ten different guests share their experiences around unschooling and learning to read. Hearing their stories in this new context—side by side—may well spark helpful new connections and insights for you.
I hope you enjoy it!
Audio Snippets Taken from These Episodes …
EU014: Ten Questions with Joyce Fetteroll
EU023: Learning to Read in Their Own Time with Anne Ohman
EU036: Deschooling with Lauren Seaver
EU075: Learning Reimagined with Zakiyya Ismail
EU077: Girls Unschooled with Jo Watt
EU105: Unschooling Dads with Nick Hess
EU109: Unschooling Stories with Sylvia Woodman
EU116: Growing Up Unschooling with Summer Jean
EU118: Everything’s Connected with Nikole Verde
EU162: Ten Questions with Alex Peace
Links to Things Mentioned in the Show
The doors to the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit close April 14!
Episode Transcript
April 3, 2019
EU170: Unschooling in Action with Kelli & Rhanna Lincoln
Kelli and Rhanna Lincoln, unschooling mom and daughter, join me this week on the podcast. I had so much fun chatting with them and hearing about their unschooling lives—from both their perspectives. We talk about their journey to unschooling, living and learning with four kids (or three siblings!), their family’s RV travels, their latest business adventure and lots more!
Questions for Kelli & Rhanna
Can you guys introduce yourselves and share a bit about you and your family?
Kelli, how did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
Rhanna, at some point you realized other kids were going to school and that your family was doing things differently. The conventional messages about needing school to learn are so pervasive. Was there a time when you were worried about that? How did you work through that?
With four children—or three siblings!—it can sometimes take time to figure out and weave everyone’s needs into our days. I’d love to hear what that process has generally looked like, from each of your perspectives.
I’ve heard you guys have had some RV adventures! How did that come about and do you have a story or two to share?
I’d love to hear some stories about how learning has unfolded in your unschooling lives. It looks different than school-based learning, doesn’t it? Though it doesn’t make it any less valuable.
I’d love to hear the story behind Miss Teaberry’s Baked Goods. I saw you just celebrated your first anniversary, congratulations! How has that evolved, and how does your working relationship flow?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Join Anne Ohman, Anna Brown, and I in the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit! With more than 40 years of unschooling experience combined, we have poured our souls into this project. Last day to enroll for the spring 2019 expedition is April 14th.
John Holt’s book, Escape from Childhood
Daniel Quinn’s book, If They Give You Lined Paper, Write Sideways
Their newest business adventure: Miss Teaberry’s Baked Goods
Episode Transcript
March 27, 2019
EU169: Deschooling with Alicia Gonzales-Lopez
Alicia Gonzales-Lopez joins me this week to talk about her deschooling journey. We dive into how she discovered unschooling, the emotional healing that’s happened for her, what she’s found challenging along the way, connecting with our kids, what has surprised her most, and lots more.
Questions for Alicia
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
For many parents, deschooling and shifting away from conventional parenting can bring up a lot of emotions as we revisit memories of our own childhood. It can be really hard but that emotional processing and healing is so important, isn’t it?
What was the most challenging area of deschooling for you? How did you work through it?
In unschooling circles, we often talk about connecting with our kids. What does that look like for you guys?
As I was deschooling, I discovered that my vision of being a parent and the kind of parent my kids actually needed me to be were different in many ways. In fact, what my kids needed from me as a parent was sometimes even different for each child. Has that been your experience as well? How do you figure out what they need from you?
What has surprised you most about your journey so far?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Check out the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit
Alicia’s Facebook group, Radical Unschooling en Español
You can find Alicia’s Spanish-language podcast, “Voces del Radical Unschooling” on iTunes and Facebook
My first book has been translated into Spanish, Libre para Aprender: Cinco Ideas para una Vida Unschooling Alegre, and a number of my articles have been translated as well
Alicia mention the book, Maternity, coming face to face with our own shadow by Laura Gutman
And also, Unconditional Parenting by Alfie Kohn
Episode Transcript
March 20, 2019
EU168: Embracing Unschooling with Joan Karp
Joan Karp, unschooling mom with three kids, joins me this week! We talk about her fascinating journey to unschooling, what she found challenging about deschooling, we dive deep into the teen years, what she most appreciates about having embraced unschooling, how her passion for sports weaves into their days, the new business they’ve recently started and tons more!
Questions for Joan
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
What was the most challenging area of deschooling for you? How did you work through it?
I’d love to talk about the teen years. It’s an amazing time, isn’t it? What’s been your favourite thing about your relationships with your teens? And how did you foster that?
It’s also really fun to support teens as they pursue their interests and passions. To witness their determination and to walk with them through the challenging times. What did that look like for you guys? And how did you approach those challenging times?
What do you most appreciate about having embraced unschooling?
I know you are very passionate about sports and I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about how you found that weaving in to your unschooling days?
I know you’ve started a new business recently. I’d love to hear what everyone’s up to and how your days and lives weave together at the moment.
Links to things mentioned in the show
You can find the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit here
Their business, MountNitaneeKombucha.com
Episode Transcript
March 13, 2019
EU167: Unschooling Dads with Ben Lovejoy
Ben Lovejoy, a long-time unschooling dad, joins me this week. I met Ben and his family at the first unschooling conference we ever attended. His boys are grown now and we have a lovely chat reflecting on his family’s journey, including the influence of his military background, the idea of rules versus principles, the value of parents having passions, the benefits of unschooling conferences for dads and lots more.
Questions for Ben
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What’s everybody up to?
How did you guys discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
How about your own journey to understanding the unschooling lifestyle? Coming from a military background, I imagine it was a big shift!
The dichotomy between rules and principles is something that is near and dear to your heart and I’d love to dive into that. How do rules get in the way of learning? And how does the shift to principles help open things up?
After spending a lot of time helping my kids pursue their passions, it eventually dawned on me that it was good for me to have interests and passions as well. It’s not just for kids. Has that been your experience as well?
What surprised you most about how unschooling unfolded in your lives?
Your wife, Kelly, hosted the wonderful Live and Learn unschooling conference for a number of years. I imagine you were involved behind the scenes, but you were also involved in supporting the dads. What were some of the benefits of attending an unschooling conference that you saw for dads over the years?
As an unschooling dad, what piece of advice would you like to share with dads who are considering or just starting out on this journey?
Episode Transcript
Coming Soon
March 6, 2019
EU166: Unschooling and the Teen Years with Sue Patterson: Part 2
This week is Part 2 of my wonderful conversation with Sue Patterson about unschooling and the teen years. In this episode we talk about the later teen years, transitioning into adulthood, is there preparation needed, should we be defining success for someone else, connection and how relationships evolve and change. So many wonderful moments talking about this dynamic stage of our unschooling journey!
Questions for Sue
Let’s dive into the later teen years and the transition into young adulthood. The societal expectations can be daunting—for both us and them. Let’s start with that practically ubiquitous question: What about college? And let’s ask it of ourselves first. Some parents who’ve chosen unschooling for their kids growing up do expect them to go to college. Though that can sometimes cause friction, can’t it? And is college the necessity it’s made out to be? How can we find our way through this question?
What if they decide they’d like to go to college? How can we help them with that? Can you share your experience?
Now let’s jump to the bigger picture and another common—and wonderful—question asked by unschooling parents of teens: how can we help and support them as they grow up and into the world? We dove into the college question, but there are so many other possibilities, like getting a job, travelling, transitioning to paid work in their passion field, and so on. And not only around choosing what to do, but exploring who they are as a person and young adult. Can you share how you supported your kids as they moved through these choices and transitions?
Is there anything you’d like to add to our conversation around unschooling and the teen years? Something we didn’t touch on?
Links to things mentioned in the show
The podcast episode I mentioned with Alec: EU141: Growing Up Unschooling with Alec Traaseth
And with Adrian: EU163: Growing Up Unschooling with Adrian Peace-Williams
Sue’s free ebook: Unschooling Your Teens
Sue’s book: Homeschooled Teens: 75 young people speak about their lives without school
Sue offers a private coaching group with weekly calls for only $20/month. You can check that out here : Group Coaching
And a Monthly Unschooling Guide at her Patreon: Patreon.com/UnschoolingMom2Mom
(at the $5 level)
Episode Transcript
February 27, 2019
EU165: Unschooling and the Teen Years with Sue Patterson: Part 1
Sue Patterson returns to talk about unschooling and the teen years. We are both rather passionate about the topic and our conversation ended up lasting almost two hours! I decided to split it into two, and it actually worked out quite well, with Part 1 covering the transition into the teen years, and Part 2 diving into the later teen years. So, this week we dive into the conventional messages that surround the early teen years, supporting our kids through the transition, leaving school for unschooling in the teen years, and approaching additional challenges.
Questions for Sue
To start, I think there are typically two periods during the teen years that unschooling parents can find challenging—even if we’ve been unschooling reasonably comfortably for years. The first one is the transition into the teen years. And I want to talk about this transition from both the parent’s and teen’s perspective, but let’s start with the parent’s perspective. This is our personal work to do. What are some of the conventional messages we can find bubbling up and how might we shift to see them through the lens of unschooling?
What if we find our child seems to be struggling some with the transition into the teen years? What might this time look like through their eyes? And how might we support them through that?
There are also some teens who choose to leave school and transition to unschooling—how might we help them?
Sometimes the questions I get about teens involve additional challenges, things like anxiety or rebelliousness. What are your thoughts around approaching those kinds of situations?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Sue’s free ebook: Unschooling Your Teens
Sue’s book: Homeschooled Teens: 75 young people speak about their lives without school
My review of Sue’s book is here
The podcast episode I mentioned with Noah: EU129: Starting Unschooling as a Teen with Noah Tetzner
The book, Attachment across the Lifecourse: A Brief Introduction, by David Howe
And my conversation with Emma diving into the book: EU061: Book Chat with Emma Marie Forde
Sue offers a private coaching group with weekly calls for only $20/month. You can check that out here : Group Coaching
And a Monthly Unschooling Guide at her Patreon: Patreon.com/UnschoolingMom2Mom
(at the $5 level)
Episode Transcript
