Exploring Unschooling

By Pam LaricchiaSociety & Culture Education Philosophy Parenting Kids & Family How To

Exploring Unschooling episodes

February 25, 2016 EU008: Q&A Round Table
Anne Ohman and Anna Brown, both veteran unschooling parents, join me to answer listener questions. Click here to submit your own question for the Q&A Round Table episodes! Quote of the Week “We live in a world awash with information, but we seem to face a growing scarcity of wisdom. And what’s worse, we confuse the […]
57 min
February 18, 2016 EU007: Diving into Parenting with Anna Brown
Anna Brown is a long-time unschooling mom to two lovely daughters, ages 16 and 18. I met her online years ago through the Shine with Unschooling email list and have loved connecting with her more deeply over the years. She gave a talk a couple of years ago at an unschooling conference that I loved and […]
57 min
February 11, 2016 EU006: Unschooling Dads with Skyler Collins
Skyler is an unschooling dad of three children and is the editor of Unschooling Dads: Twenty-two Testimonials on Their Unconventional Approach to Education. It’s not often that we get to hear about unschooling from the dad’s perspective, and I love that you took the time and effort to pull this book together. I really enjoyed […]
47 min
February 04, 2016 EU005: Ten Questions with Sandra Dodd
Sandra is a long-time unschooling mom of three—Kirby, Marty, and Holly—who are now adults. She’s also the creator of the awesome unschooling resource, sandradodd.com. In today’s episode, I ask her ten questions about her unschooling experience. Quote of the Week “If your child is more important than your vision of your child, life becomes easier.” […]
1 hr 23 min
January 28, 2016 EU004: Q&A Round Table
Anne Ohman and Anna Brown, both veteran unschooling parents, join me to answer listener questions. Click here to submit your own question for the Q&A episodes! Quote of the Week “I’m talking about living a life that is driven more strongly by curiosity than by fear.” ~ Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear […]
42 min
January 24, 2016 EU003: Unschooling Teens with Sue Patterson
Sue Patterson is a long-time unschooling mom of three grown children. She recently released a book, Homeschooled Teens, where she shares her own insights from unschooling three teens plus what she discovered when she sent out a survey about being homeschooled through adolescence and 75 teens and young adults replied in detail. In this episode, Sue shares […]
56 min
January 13, 2016 EU002: Ten Questions with Pam Sorooshian
Pam Sorooshian is a long-time unschooling mom of three, now adult, children, who continues to stay actively involved in the unschooling community. She’s also a college professor of economics and statistics.
In today’s episode, I ask her ten questions about her unschooling experience.
Quote of the Week
“Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.
Ten Questions for Pam
1. Jumping back a few years, how did you first hear about unschooling and what spurred you to begin exploring unschooling with your family?
2. Let’s talk a bit about what learning looks like with unschooling. When one of your children was actively pursuing an interest, what are some of the things you did to support their exploration? And how did you weave together pursuing the interests of all three children?
3. One of the wonderful things about unschooling is the time we spend together. We get to know each other very well, strengthening our family’s connections and relationships, and part of that process, especially with siblings, is figuring out ways to move through moments when they are frustrated and angry with each other. When your children were younger, how did you help them move through conflicts?
4. I understand that your husband was a bit wary of unschooling for a few years, as was mine. How did you approach that?
5. One of the topics that regularly trips up newcomers to unschooling is TV watching. I’ve always loved your clear explanation of how restricting TV actually causes children to become more strongly attracted to it, the opposite of what the parent is trying to accomplish. Can you take us through that?
6. As an economics and statistics professor, you are pretty comfortable with math, but it’s an area that can be challenging for some people to figure out as they explore unschooling, especially since school has mostly boiled math down to worksheets. I have two questions for you about math. The first is, can you talk about how you see learning math through unschooling?
7. The second question is, can you suggest, especially for parents who are feeling a bit math phobic, some activities can they do with their children?
8. You’ve been actively involved with Homeschool Association of California’s annual conference for many years. What are some the benefits of going to a conference that you’ve seen for newer unschooling families?
9. All three of your daughters chose to go to college, and you see lots of schooled kids in your college classes. Have you seen any advantages in college from growing up unschooling?
10. Looking back now, what, for you, has been the most valuable outcome from choosing unschooling?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Pam’s blog: learninghappens.wordpress.com
Pam’s classic piece: “Economics of Restricting TV Watching of Children“
Read more about Pam’s daughters’ college experience: sandradodd.com/college
You can find Pam participating in discussions in these Facebook groups: Radical Unschooling Info and Unschooling Mom2Mom.
And you can find more info about the HSC Conference here: www.hscconference.com
Episode transcript
Read the transcript here
1 hr 36 min
January 11, 2016EU001: What is Unschooling?
In this introductory episode, I share my vision for the podcast, an overview of my unschooling journey, and my evolving definition of unschooling.
Quote of the Week
“It is a miracle that curiosity survives a formal education.” ~ Albert Einstein
Episode Highlights
The Exploring Unschooling podcast will have new episodes weekly, and my goal is for us to explore unschooling together, through in-depth interviews with veteran unschooling parents, conversations that dig into a wide range of unschooling topics with experienced guests, and monthly Q&A episodes to answer your questions.
My school background and finding unschooling almost 14 years ago.
What my children are up to now.
How my definition of unschooling has changed over the years.
How unschooling doesn’t look like school at all.
If you’d like to submit a question for an upcoming Q&A episode, just go to livingjoyfully.ca/podcast.
Ines Rahn has generously translated this episode into German here.
18 min

About Exploring Unschooling

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Explore unschooling with Pam Laricchia, Anna Brown, and Erika Ellis. Helping parents bring lifelong learning and strong, connected relationships to life in their ordinary days.