This week, I’m sharing part two of the audiobook recording of my book, Free to Learn: Five Ideas for a Joyful Unschooling Life. This episode dives into the second and third ideas: that learning is everywhere and that choices are key to learning.

If you haven’t read it yet, this is an opportunity to learn more about the paradigm-changing ideas that I found to be truly fundamental on my unschooling journey.

And if you have read it, I think it’ll still be wonderful to revisit. You’re in a different place on your unschooling journey now. You’ve peeled back some layers and have fresh eyes and new experiences to bring to it. New things will likely jump out and connect for you; things that passed by unnoticed before.

In the section ‘Embracing Passions,’ I mention the connection maps I drew back in 2006 that showed me that even seemingly narrow passions can be a window to the world. They’re on my website if you’d like to check them out: Joseph’s passion for video games and Lissy’s passion for Harry Potter.

And have you had a peek at the cover? It’s a photo of my son Michael, taken by my daughter Lissy. Once I had decided on the book title and it was time to think about the cover, I went looking through our pictures for an image that I felt represented the ideas of “free” and “joyful” and this one jumped out immediately. I’m so grateful they both agreed to let me use it!

Free to Learn Description

Humans are born to learn. So why are we so determined to get in our children’s way?

Leaving the traditional education system behind is definitely unconventional and sometimes scary, but it enables us to preserve our children’s curiosity, creativity, and enthusiasm for learning. And that means more learning, not less.

With more than a dozen years of unschooling experience, Pam Laricchia explains the five paradigm-shifting ideas about learning and living that freed her family from the school system’s compulsory schedule and typical teaching methods. Her practical examples and stories may make all the difference in your life and the life of your child.

 In Free to Learn, you’ll discover: 

• Why you want to look for learning, not teaching
• How to see the learning that is happening everywhere, all the time
• How judgement and shame short circuit learning, and what to do instead
• How saying yes more encourages our children’s learning and cultivates their confidence
• How to give your children a voice in your family, and much, much more! 

Through its concise, easy-to-understand language, Free to Learn explores the depth and potential of unschooling and how it can strengthen your family’s learning and relationships.

Links to Purchase the Book

Free to Learn: Five Ideas for a Joyfully Unschooling Life

Libre d’apprendre: Cinq idées pour vivre le unschooling dans la joie (French, translated by Malika Kergoat and Édith Chabot-Laflamme)

Libre para Aprender: Cinco Ideas para una Vida Unschooling Alegre (Spanish, translated by Roberto Lujano)

Szabadon Tanulni: Öt elv az örömteli élethez a szabadtanulással (Hungarian, translated by Marczin Orsolya)

Livre para Aprender: Cinco Ideias para uma Vida Unschooling Feliz (Portuguese, translated by Cipriana Leme)