Lauren Seaver is an unschooling mom to 9-year-old River. She first considered the possibility of homeschooling way back when she was in college to become a teacher. Life took some turns, but a year (and three months!) ago, the opportunity to try out unschooling arose and they haven’t looked back. I met Lauren at the Childhood Redefined Unschooling Summit in New York earlier this year, and I really enjoyed chatting with her about her deschooling experience so far!

Quote of the Week

“I think my biggest concern was that our unschooling life didn’t match the picture of what unschooling looked like in my mind. I had these unschooling fantasies about what my own personal unschooling path would have looked like if I were unschooled as a child. Letting go of expectations was so huge for me to be able to really relish what was actually happening in our unschooling lives.” ~ Lauren Seaver

Questions for Lauren

Can you share with us a bit about you and your family and how you first came across the idea of unschooling?

What was the biggest concern that drove your choice to move to unschooling this last year?

What were some of your fears or uncertainties as you began unschooling?

What has your move to unschooling looked like? Pretty smooth? A few bumps? Have you talked to River specifically about it? Or have you found the changes to be more internal to you, with you choosing to change how you respond to River and the expectations you have of him?

Can you tell us a bit about how your definition of learning has changed since discovering unschooling?

Did you find a difference between understanding the principles of unschooling intellectually and living them day to day?

What changes have you seen in River since leaving school?

What’s been the hardest part of your unschooling journey so far?

What has surprised you most about your journey so far?

Links to Things Mentioned in the Show

Consensual Living yahoo group

Shine with Unschooling yahoo group

Always Learning yahoo group

Lauren’s personal Facebook page

Episode Transcript

Read the transcript here