Off-Trail Learning

Catherine Gobron, co-director of Lighthouse Holyoke (lighthouseholyoke.org), a self-directed learning center for teenagers in western Massachusetts, talks about serving an economically and racially diverse community that’s hungry for educational alternatives. Catherine describes her time working at North Star (which served as a model for Lighthouse), her decision to start her own center, and the “bridge” approach that Lighthouse takes to facilitating self-directed learning by beginning with more structure.

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Nathen Lester, a long-time advisor at Not Back to School Camp and soon-to-be-licensed Couples and Family Therapist, discusses the challenges that people face when given large amounts of freedom at a young age. How do unschoolers and other liberated young people deal with perceived gaps in their knowledge? How do they motivate themselves? How do they tackle the unspoken obligation to “be amazing”? And what mental health concerns are unique to this group? Join us for a fascinating conversation about the ups and downs of total freedom.

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Love the podcast? Help it exist with a per-episode contribution: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests by emailing [email protected].

Mikala Streeter, founder and principal of The LIFE School (thelifeschool.co) in Atlanta, Georgia, talks about her ambitious new progressive school and the challenges of exposing teenagers to new areas of knowledge while also promoting interest-led learning. We focus on math specifically as an area that teenagers resist when taught directly, but they become receptive to when related to their interests. For anyone wondering how to balance self-directed learning, educator-facilitated learning, and college prep, The LIFE School provides an inspiring model.

23-year-old Kevin Snavely (skyping in from Bangkok) talks with Blake about being raised unschooled in Alaska, going back to public high school, the question of college, and traveling the world.

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Love the podcast? Help it exist with a per-episode contribution: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests by emailing [email protected].

15-year-old Caitlyn Scheel talks with Blake about being bored in middle school, wanting to homeschool, and the summer she spent convincing her parents to let her do it.

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Love the podcast? Show it by contributing as little as $1 per episode: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].

29-year-old grown unschooler Sean Ritchey talks about his discussion to skip college in favor of starting his own design/build company. We discuss the challenges of building community and exposing yourself to new areas of knowledge, working to learn, and what a young person needs to successfully skip college.

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Love the podcast? Show it by contributing as little as $1 per episode: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].

18-year-old Milla Von Tauber talks with Blake about explaining yourself as a teenage unschooler, missing high school rites of passage, defining your own version of success, and fitting into the so-called “normal world.”

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Love the podcast? Show it by contributing as little as $1 per episode: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].

Xander Macswan, a 19-year-old grown unschooler, talks about growing up with unrestricted video game access. When do games hurt us, and when do they serve us? Are parents right to restrict gaming time? How does someone who looks like a gaming “addict” on the outside transform, without coercion, into someone with a wide variety of interests and skills beyond gaming? Do violent games make us more violent? We dive into all these subjects with someone with deep first-hand experience.

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Love the podcast? Show it by contributing as little as $1 per episode: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].

Nikiah Childs grew up in elementary school, unschooled for 6 years, went back to a performance arts charter school, and then left school again to unschool her senior year.

Now 23 and graduating from college, Nikiah and I discuss:

- the motivations behind her transitions

- pursuing her passion for dance

- her fear of having fallen behind in math due to unschooling

- the pros and cons of high school

- how adults treat unschoolers versus high schoolers

- the surprising awesomeness of community college

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Love the podcast? Show it by contributing as little as $1 per episode: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].

22-year-old Steve Krouse, co-founder of The Coding Space in New York City (thecodingspace.com), talks about his decision to leave his Computer Science major at the University of Pennsylvania to enter the world of tech and startups. We discuss why this path worked for Steve, whether it works for other young people, the role of privilege in quitting school, and practical advice for convincing parents to support your decision.

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Want to help more young adults choose self-directed learning? Support this podcast with a $1-$2 automatic donation per episode: www.offtraillearning.com/support

Provide feedback or suggest new topics/guests anytime by emailing [email protected].