Emma Marie Forde is unschooling mom to two girls, Lily and Rosa. She’s also the founder of the website, rethinkingparenting.co.uk. Before having children, Emma was a clinical psychologist, a career that informed her choice to stay home with her own children and which eventually led her and her husband John to choose unschooling for their family.

This week, Emma and I have a great chat about Scott Barry Kaufman’s book, Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, looking at the ideas through the lens of unschooling.

Quote of the Week

“A nurturing family environment is a necessity to help the child flourish, just as a fish needs water to swim and survive.” ~ Scott Barry Kaufman

Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, by Scott Barry Kaufman

The book is a fascinating journey into the science of intelligence, interwoven with stories of Scott’s personal experience with being labeled as learning disabled in school. By the end of the book, he brings it all together with his Theory of Personal Intelligence, which goes well beyond the traditional metrics of IQ and standardized testing, defining intelligence as “the dynamic interplay of engagement and abilities in pursuit of personal goals.” And it’s great to see that he means personal goals, not grades in disguise.

As he dives into interests and passions, engagement, mindset, learning, self-regulation, motivation, creativity, and the importance of a nurturing family environment, we find strong connections with what unschooling parents have discovered through living and learning with our children.

I really enjoyed the book—and our conversation!

Links to Things Mentioned in the Show

Emma’s earlier episode, EU031: Ten Questions with Emma Marie Forde

The book: Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined, by Scott Barry Kaufman

Scott Barry Kaufman’s website

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s book: Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life

Diving into passions and special interest areas: Joseph’s video games and Lissy’s Harry Potter

Peter Gray and Gina Riley’s grown unschoolers research

Pamela Slim’s book: Body of Work: Finding the Thread That Ties Your Story Together

Emma’s website: Rethinking Parenting

Emma’s post: ‘Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined’ by Scott Barry Kaufman – Book Review

Episode Transcript

Read the transcript here