The Unschooling Life

Clips from interviews with Sandra Dodd that didn’t get put elsewhere.

Extra bits and pieces that didn't get included anywhere else.

Unschooling can repair damage done by traditional parenting and schooling approaches.

While my kids were in school, we could easily go several days without laughing together. When we were unschooling, hardly an hour would go by without at least a giggle.

How does unschooling affect sibling dynamics? 

Where did it come from? And where is it going?

Sometimes people worry that, if children don’t follow a set curriculum, they will have gaps in their education, or that they will be behind.   Is this a valid concern?

What do unschoolers do when they encounter hard times?

For many people, unschooling as a single parent would be way too hard. But today we hear from some “solo mums” who are unschooling successfully, with joy, learning, abundance and partnership. Katie O’Connor is the director of the Talking Stick Learning Center. Danielle Owens is on the board of DrMomma.org and Saving our Sons. Brie Jontry teaches online classes for West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Tanya Marinelli runs Wellness and Empowerment Camps for Kids.    Lainie Liberti facilitates World School Retreats for unschooling teens.

When relatives don’t support unschooling… what then?

What about dads?

Quitting and learning; learning and quitting.

How do unschoolers handle sex education? 

The flexibility of an unschooling lifestyle makes it possible for some families to travel and learn all over the world. It's hard not to be jealous of them, but maybe they can inspire us to realize the world is an amazing place and wherever we go we can have a learning adventure. And maybe we can discover traveling is more within our reach that it may seem.

Gever Tulley is the founder of Tinkering School and author of the book 50 Fangerous Things You Should Let Your Kid do.  This is an extended recording of Gever talking about Tinkering, his original TED talk, his book, and the value of parents and children doing dangerous things together.

Today we hear about danger and safety from Ben Hewitt, Sandra Dodd, Renee Cabatic, Gever Tulley and Lenore Skenazy.

Can unschooling make the world a better place?

One of the hidden benefits to unschooling is that it can help parents learn, heal and grow.

Sometimes people say “Unschooling isn’t working for my child” or they say, "We tried unschooling but it didn’t work."   This is the topic for today: When, why or how does unschooling fail?  

How do unschoolers find community?

Ama Mazama is a professor of African American studies at Temple University, a homeschooling mom, and author of the recently published a book African Americans and Homeschooling: Motivations, Challenges, and Opportunities. Today we will hear why she believes homeschooling is the best educational option for African American children.  I asked Ama about her decision to educate her own children at home, and why she felt the local public schools were not a viable option for her family.  We also talked about Ms Mazama's survey of African American homeschoolers, and about how schools perpetuate the oppressive status quo. Finally, Ama offers words of encouragement to families considering this option. Welcome to The Unschooling Life Podcast.   .

"I strew their path with interesting things."

Nothstar Teens Princeton Learning Cooperative Bucks Learning Cooperative    

What's it like to be an unschooling teen?

Saying Yes to your child can foster a rich and joyful environment for learning.  

Principles and priorities (rather than rules) create the framework by which unschooling can work

Unschooling and money... money and unschooling.

History is stories.

Learning geography can be an adventure!

Science is EVERYWHERE!

Learning to write without pain and suffering.

Learning to read without school and without coercion.

Learning math without school and without coercion.

Can unschooling work for a child with learning problems? What about gifted children? Or children with health issues?   Today we hear from....   Ami Fountain - an Awesomism Ambassador, an austism advocate, and an unschooling mother of two boys.   Nina Haley - a yoga teacher, paddleboarder and mother of three.   Sandra Dodd - "teacher" and "minister" of unschooling.   Brie Jontry - unschooling wise woman in the middle of a move from Alaska to Pennsylvania.

If a child doesn’t go to school, won’t she or he miss out on this thing called socialization? 

A typically atypical unschooling day.

Everyone knows that kids HAVE to have bedtimes, right? I mean … come on. Right?     Welcome to the unschooling life podcast… and to a world where the things that "everyone knows" are often under suspicion.

How to help your child have The Best Day Ever, over and over and over again.

Welcome to mess!     For as long as I can remember – maybe since I was four years old, I liked things to be tidy. So I had a lot of personal growth to do, to get to a point where I could be okay with mess...   and to where I saw my kids preferences as at least equal to my own... and I could put my relationship with them above my compulsion to have things be tidy all the time. I wish I learned sooner but at least I learned it before it was too late.

Can even meal times be time of joy and harmony - and learning?   Unschoolers say, absolutely YES!

How do unschooling parents create a peaceful environment that is conducive to learning?

Unschoolers don’t segment life into categories, don’t follow a prescribed curriculum and don’t see quote “academic” learning as different or better than all kinds of learning.   People who still have a school mindset worry that this means unschooled children are not learning the important things.

Parents worry a child might be too “bored” or “lazy” to unschool. Is this possible? My conclusion is - not only are boredom and laziness not reasons or proof that unschooling doesn’t work  - they can be great opportunities to learn new things, to have more bonding experiences, giving a chance for parents to pay closer attention to their child and find out more that is going on deep inside.  

When they first hear about unschooling, many people ask “is that legal?” Every country is different, and in the US, every state is different.  But usually the answer is yes.

Many people worry that unlimited screens will harm their child. But natural learning occurs best when children follow their interests and are trusted to direct their own play and learning... EVEN when they’re interested in something on a screen.

What do families gain from an unschooling lifestyle that goes beyond providing a natural learning environment? I asked Sandra Dodd to talk about the differences between unschooling and other education alternatives. Today she touches on the parent-child bond, the parents’ learning, honoring human instincts, respecting the rhythm of a child’s whole life and making a relationship investment that lasts a lifetime. In short: unschooling is more than an educational alternative. It is a lifestyle that promotes a child’s wellbeing 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Children who are free to play learn to regulate emotions, overcome narcissism, be empathetic and creative, think abstractly, discover and develop their passions.

Peter Gray is a developmental psychologist and research professor who has written many things including a blog for Psychology Today magazine called "Freedom to Learn." His latest book is also called Free to Learn, and in it Mr. Gray writes about how all people are born to be self-directed learners.

Lots of people- not just unschoolers - have been questioning more and more whether a college degree is really worth the skyrocketing costs.  I guess most would agree that sometimes it is, and sometimes it isn’t. Unschoolers are well situated to do other interesting, educational, strategically savvy things, rather than going to college.  They have years of experience seeking out good opportunities, being self-motivated resourceful and creative, and finding alternative ways of learning the things they want to know.   In today’s podcast we hear a little more about some of these alternatives.

Question: If children don’t go to school or follow a set curriculum for elementary or high school, how can they get into college or earn a college degree?   Answer: Lots of ways!