Episodes

Joss Goulden, who lives in Western Australia and is mom to two kids, joins me to talk about her family’s unschooling journey. We talk about how she was inspired by her son’s brief time in kindergarten to make the choice to try unschooling, what her deschooling process looked like, and how she sees learning happening naturally as her children pursue what interests them. Joss shares how unschooling has created strong family relationships and how trust plays such a big role in their lives: both lea...

Betsey Tufano, an unschooling mother of two living in Barcelona, Spain, joins me this week! Betsey shares many details about her unschooling journey and about the importance of the internal work that she did along the way. We also discuss how her relationship with her partner has changed and deepened through their choice to unschool, the role of technology in their unschooling lives, some of the challenges they’ve faced, and lots more! Questions for Betsey Can you share with us a bit about you ...

This week marks the five year anniversary of the Exploring Unschooling podcast! To celebrate, I decided to dig into the podcast’s rich treasure trove of unschooling stories and highlight a handful of the many beautiful nuggets of wisdom that guests have shared over these five years. It’s been such a treat to revisit episodes as I gathered and organized this lovely collection, and I ended up with four distinct sections: Parenting Seeing Learning in Action Making Our World Bigger, and The Qu...

Anna Brown joins me again this week! This month in the Living Joyfully Network our theme is Seeing the Magic. As we move into the re-invigorating energy of new year, we are turning our attention to connecting with our children and finding the joy in our everyday lives with them. Anna and I talk about ways to connect with our kids, what finding joy looks like in practice, and how joy relates to our self-care practices. Our conversations in the Network have been beautiful this month, as members s...

This week, I’m joined by Ali Walker, an unschooling mom and primatologist living in New Zealand. I have gotten to know Ali on the Living Joyfully Network, where she has shared some incredible insights about parenting and unschooling through her lens as a primate researcher focusing on the mother/infant bond. Ali details some of the realizations she has made during her own journey as a mother, including the need to be present and available for Very Important Sitting, the importance of interdepend...

Marta Venturini joins me this week! Marta lives with her husband and daughter in Portugal. We dive deep into her unschooling journey, which began when her daughter was an infant, and discuss her deschooling process and how it continued to evolve as she grew as a parent. Marta also shares how much she values the online unschooling community and the wealth of resources she was able to learn from along the way. Questions for Marta Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is ever...

Holly Clark joins me this week, mom to two always unschooled children living on the Sunshine Coast in Australia. Holly shared so many amazing snippets of their lives which all tied into the idea of choice—the choices we make as parents, the choices our children make, and our choice to support their choices! We also talked about fear about technology, when children want to quit an activity, and much more! Questions for Holly Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybod...

Daniela Bramwell joins me this week, an unschooling mom living in Ecuador. Daniela’s journey is fascinating! As a child, she was a student at an alternative free school, but, as an adult, found herself wondering if there was a better way to approach learning. She dove deep into learning about educational philosophies, including pursuing her PhD in the field. And then, as a mother, she found unschooling. We talked about her varied experiences in education, what she’s figured out along the way, an...

Anna Brown joins me this week to talk about navigating family gatherings, the theme this month on the Living Joyfully Network. With the holiday season ramping up, it’s a great time to explore how we choose to engage in larger family celebrations, but the ideas are definitely be applicable throughout the year, from birthday parties to weddings to family reunions. Anna and I talk about making choices about how our gatherings will look over time, the fun work of preparing for events, and the joyfu...

Eva Witsel joins me this week, an unschooling mom and homeschooling activist in the Netherlands. Eva’s journey to unschooling is such an interesting one, as is her varied experience supporting the Dutch homeschooling community and affecting legislation there. We talked a lot about technology, following our passionate interests, supporting children as they become teenagers, and lots more! Questions for Eva Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interested in rig...

Lucia Silva joins me this week to talk about unschooling as a lifestyle and her journey so far! We talked about how her understanding of unschooling has grown over the past few years and how what she’s learned has benefited all of her relationships. We also dove into the idea of expectations and how conversations with our families become so much more fun and interesting when we drop the agenda. Lucia shared some amazing a-ha moments she experienced while having conversations with her children, a...

Donna Anderson joins me this week to talk about her family’s unschooling journey. We dive deep into her family’s interests, some of which are individual and many of which they share as a family. We also explore the idea of an unschooling nest, talk about some of the challenges of deschooling, and how maintaining strong family relationships really makes such a difference when times are hard. Questions for Donna: Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interested ...

Anna Brown joins me for another Unschooling in Context episode! This time, we explore unschooling in the context of consent. I think consent lies at the heart of unschooling and I’m excited to share my conversation with Anna about what that means and how it informs the ways our families move through the world. It has also been our theme in the Living Joyfully Network this month, so we have been steeping in these ideas! Discussion Points First, let’s get everyone situated. Let’s talk about what ...

This week, I’ve put together a compilation episode! This time, it’s a collection of responses to the question, “What is your favourite thing about the flow of your unschooling days?” If you’re newer to unschooling, these can be a great reminder of where you’re heading. And if you’re more experienced, they can be a great reminder of why you chose unschooling for your family. Either way, I suspect you’ll find them super inspiring, helping you take a deep breath and release whatever is preoccupyin...

Kelsi Stembel joins me this week! Kelsi has two teen daughters and is a former teacher turned farmer and entrepreneur. It was a joy to hear about how both her girls have developed and learned at their own pace, honoring their unique styles, and how unschooling has been such an amazing gift for their family. Kelsi’s journey from teaching middle school to becoming a full time farmer and unschooling parent is a beautiful story! Questions for Kelsi Can you share with us a bit about you and your fam...

Michelle Morcate joins me this week to talk about their unschooling journey and how unschooling is such a natural fit when considering neurodiversity because it’s all about facilitating our children as individuals, how they learn, and how they want to move through the world. Michelle’s excitement as an ally and advocate is contagious and we have a wonderful, flowing conversation about it all. Questions for Michelle Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interes...

Cate and Jenna Phillips join me to share some of their wonderful unschooling stories! With six children, it was inspiring to hear about how their journey has unfolded as they prioritize relationships, follow their passions, and work together to support each other. Questions for Cate and Jenna Can you share a bit about you and your family? How did you discover unschooling and what your move to unschooling look like? Connecting more deeply with their kids and supporting their interests can feel...

Anna Brown joins me again this week! This month in the Living Joyfully Network our theme is Not Back to School. It has been a rich month of checking in with ourselves, quieting the outside noise, and focusing on our kids and the joy around us. Anna and I talk about the “back to school” messages that pepper this time of the year. How they can sometimes knock us off-kilter and have us questioning our choice to not send our kids to school, and how we can use that discomfort as a jumping off point t...

Sarah Peshek joins me this week! Sarah is an unschooling mom of three and she shares the details of her journey and her parenting shifts from control to connection. Her insights and experiences are so helpful in really pulling out why this lifestyle is so amazing! How unschooling encourages us to recenter around the person and parent we want to be, with deep, meaningful connections with our children and a deeper understanding of ourselves. Questions for Sarah Can you share with us a bit about y...

Nadia Joshua joins me this week to talk about her family’s move to unschooling and her personal deschooling journey. It was delightful to learn more about her family and how they navigated moving to one income, explored the need to go and do, learned to honour both her daughters and their individual personalities, and lots more! Questions for Nadia Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everyone into right now? When we connected, you mentioned that when school wasn’t wo...

Erika Davis-Pitre joins me again this week! I rebroadcast her episode, Unschooling and Diversity, earlier this year and she graciously offered to return and answer listener questions that arose from that episode. The result is this amazing episode with so many actionable steps and layers to peel back for all of us on this unschooling journey as we explore the roles we can play to address systemic racism and biases. Questions for Erika QUESTION 1. Hi Erika! Thank you so much for what you shared ...

Anna Brown joins me this week to dive into the topic, Kids Are Capable. It’s a foundational principle of unschooling, and seems simple enough, but it’s about so much more than meets the eye! Questions for Anna Choice is a great lens through which to start looking at the idea that ‘kids are capable.’ Paying attention to the choices our children are making helps us become more aware of who our children are—the things they like and dislike, their strengths and challenges, their personality style, ...

This week I’m joined by unschooling dad, Roop Bhadury. Roop’s wife Susan joined me earlier this year in episode 220. It was such a treat to get to hear about their family from Roop’s perspective but more than that we had an amazing conversation about the philosophies of unschooling and entrepreneurship, life, relationships, we covered it all. Questions for Roop Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? When we connected, you shared some topics you’d be interested in touching on an...

This week, I have a lovely conversation with Jessica Kane. 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 also dive into her deschooling journey and challenges, what has surprised her most so far, and lots more. Questions for Jessica Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? Wha...