Can we teach our children freedom, courage and self-direction if we're not living those values ourselves? What happens when we realise our own lives no longer reflect what we're encouraging our children to embrace?

In this deeply personal episode, we share why we made the difficult decision to completely reinvent our Agile Learning Community—and what that experience taught us about integrity, burnout and the ongoing practice of deschooling ourselves.

As we questioned the way we were running Explora, we realised something important: it's not enough to talk about freedom, flexibility and self-directed living. We have to be willing to make courageous changes in our own lives too, even when they're uncomfortable and uncertain.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply trying to create a life that's more aligned with your values, this conversation is an invitation to stop asking, "Am I doing this right?" and start asking, "Am I living what I hope my children will learn from me?"

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• Can you teach freedom if you don't live it?
• How do you know when something is no longer aligned with your values?
• What does it really mean to walk the walk as a parent?
• How can burnout become an invitation to make a change?
• Why is modelling courage more powerful than talking about it?
• How do we create lives that reflect the values we want to pass on?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

Is deschooling really just about education—or does it change the way we see parenting, relationships and the world around us?

In this thought-provoking conversation, we sit down with educator and social liberation coach Chemay Morales-James to explore why deschooling is about so much more than leaving school behind.

Together, we discuss how questioning conventional education often leads us to question parenting, power, community, work and the many inherited beliefs that shape our lives. We also explore the role of community in supporting deep personal change, why healing and learning are inseparable, and what it means to create spaces where children and adults can experience greater freedom.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply beginning to question the systems you've inherited, this conversation is an invitation to keep asking courageous questions and to remember that deschooling is a lifelong journey rather than a destination.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• Why does deschooling change so much more than education?
• How are deschooling and decolonization connected?
• Why is community so important when we're questioning old beliefs?
• How can we raise children without recreating oppressive patterns?
• Why is deschooling a lifelong process?
• What does liberation look like in everyday family life?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

When nothing seems to work with your child, it's easy to believe the problem is their behaviour. But what if the biggest shift isn't changing your child—it's changing the way you see what's happening?

In this episode, we explore some of the most common signs that it's time to question the beliefs we've inherited about parenting, learning, relationships and community. From school resistance and constant conflict to comparison, control and the feeling that you're failing as a parent, we look at how these moments can become invitations to see things through a completely different lens.

Rather than offering quick fixes or new strategies to manage your child, we invite you to ask different questions. What if your child's behaviour is communicating something important? What if your expectations are creating unnecessary struggle? And what if one shift in perspective could transform not only your relationship with your child, but the way you experience family life?

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply looking for a more connected way to parent, this episode offers a compassionate starting point for questioning old assumptions and discovering new possibilities.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• Why does nothing seem to work with my child?
• What are the signs that I need to change my parenting approach?
• Why is my child resisting school or learning?
• How can I stop seeing behaviour as the problem?
• What's the difference between changing my child and changing my perspective?
• How can one shift in thinking transform family life?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

Am I messing up my child? It's one of the biggest fears parents carry—and one of the hardest questions to answer.

Whether your child is in school, homeschooling, home education or unschooling, none of us can know exactly how our choices will shape the future. Every parenting decision involves uncertainty, and every family is finding its own way.

In this episode, we challenge the idea that there is one "right" method for raising children. We explore why school is just as much an experiment as unschooling, why no expert can know your child better than you do, and how fear of getting it wrong often keeps us from trusting ourselves and responding to the child in front of us.

Rather than searching for guarantees, we invite you to embrace curiosity, connection and the courage to keep learning alongside your child. Because parenting has never been about following a perfect formula—it's about paying attention, staying flexible and being willing to grow together.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• Am I messing up my child?
• Is there a right way to parent?
• How do I know if I'm making the right decisions?
• Why is parenting full of uncertainty?
• How can I trust myself more as a parent?
• Why is relationship more important than following the "perfect" method?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

How do you raise a happy child? Is happiness something that comes after success—or could it be the foundation that everything else grows from?

In this inspiring conversation, we're joined by unschooling parent Lucy AitkenRead to explore why joy isn't just a nice bonus in family life—it can become a compass for the way we parent, learn and live together.

We talk about the lifelong process of deschooling, the pressure to find the "right" way to parent, school wounds, community, neurodiversity and the courage to trust ourselves instead of following someone else's rules. Lucy also shares why healing doesn't happen all at once, why there's no single way to unschool, and how reconnecting with our own creativity and joy can transform the way we show up for our children.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply longing for a more connected family life, this conversation is an invitation to let go of perfection and begin trusting what brings your family alive.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• How do you raise a happy child?
• Why is joy so important in parenting?
• What are school wounds, and how do they affect us as adults?
• Why is deschooling a lifelong journey?
• How can community support families on this path?
• What happens when we start trusting ourselves instead of following parenting formulas?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

Have you ever caught yourself turning an ordinary conversation into a lesson? It can happen so quickly that we don't even notice it—until our child has already tuned out.

In this episode, we explore those unexpected "teaching moments" that sneak into everyday life. Why do so many parents feel the urge to explain, correct or add one more piece of information, even when nobody asked for it? And what does that impulse reveal about the way we were taught to think about learning?

Through honest stories (including one very funny moment in a swimming pool), we unpack the fears behind our need to teach, the difference between sharing and instructing, and why trusting our children's natural learning process is often much harder than it sounds.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply trying to step out of old parenting patterns, this conversation invites you to pause before turning life into another lesson—and to discover what happens when curiosity replaces control.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• Why do parents turn everything into a lesson?
• Do children really need us to teach all the time?
• What's the difference between sharing information and instructing?
• How can I trust my child's natural learning process?
• What fears drive our need to teach?
• When should we step in, and when should we simply enjoy learning alongside our children?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

How do you raise children with freedom, trust and respect in a world that often values obedience, control and conformity? And how do you help them navigate those differences without asking them to become someone they're not?

As families begin homeschooling, home educating or unschooling, many discover that the biggest challenges don't happen at home. They happen when our values collide with a world that doesn't always understand them.

In this episode, we reflect on difficult experiences with other adults, family members and public spaces, and explore what they taught us about freedom, responsibility, cultural differences and respectful communication. We also discuss how to prepare our children to move confidently between different worlds without losing themselves in the process.

Whether you're navigating criticism from relatives, misunderstandings from strangers or simply wondering how to support your child in a world with very different expectations, this conversation offers thoughtful reflections on balancing freedom with responsibility and compassion.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• How do you raise free kids in an unfree world?
• How do you handle people who don't understand your parenting?
• How can children navigate different cultures and expectations?
• What's the balance between freedom and responsibility?
• How do we model respect without abandoning our values?
• How can we prepare our children for a world that won't always understand them?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

What do neurodivergent children really need to thrive? And how can we support them without trying to change who they are?

In this thoughtful conversation, we're joined by educator, author and Agile Learning Center founder Crystal Byrd Farmer to explore what it means to create environments where neurodivergent children can truly be themselves.

Together, we discuss autism, ADHD, sensory needs, communication differences, disability, inclusion and why understanding neurodiversity requires us to question many of the assumptions we've inherited about childhood, learning and behaviour. Crystal also shares why different children need different kinds of support, how autonomy and relationship can coexist with appropriate accommodations, and why deschooling ourselves is an essential part of creating more inclusive communities.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or parenting a child in school, this conversation offers practical insights into supporting neurodivergent children with greater understanding, curiosity and respect.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• What do neurodivergent children really need?
• How can parents better support autistic and ADHD children?
• Why isn't "treating everyone the same" always fair?
• What does true inclusion look like?
• How can we create environments where children feel safe to be themselves?
• Why is deschooling an important part of supporting neurodivergent kids?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

Do you ever feel like you're failing as a parent? Like no matter how much you read, learn or try, it never feels like enough?

Many parents carry an invisible pressure to get everything right—to stay calm, make the perfect decisions, never lose patience and somehow avoid making mistakes. But where do those expectations come from, and what are they costing us?

In this episode, we explore how perfectionism shows up in parenting, relationships and everyday life, and why it may be one of the biggest barriers to connection, self-trust and joy. We reflect on the ways school, culture and social expectations teach us to perform instead of simply being ourselves, and why learning to embrace mistakes can be one of the greatest gifts we give both ourselves and our children.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply trying to become a more present parent, this conversation invites you to replace perfection with self-compassion and curiosity.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• How do I let go of being the perfect parent?
• Why do I always feel like I'm failing?
• Where does parenting perfectionism come from?
• How can I stop comparing myself to other parents?
• What do my children learn when I make mistakes?
• Why is self-acceptance so important in parenting?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list

How do you raise an emotionally resilient child? Is it by protecting them from difficult feelings—or by helping them understand and move through those feelings with support?

Many parents instinctively want to protect their children from sadness, disappointment, frustration and anger. We try to fix the problem, distract them or make the feeling disappear. But what if those big emotions aren't something to fear?

In this episode, we explore why emotions are not the enemy, how they point us toward unmet needs, and why learning to name and understand our feelings can transform the way we parent. We also reflect on how our own childhood experiences shape the way we respond to our children's emotions, and why holding space is often far more powerful than trying to make everything okay.

Whether you're homeschooling, home educating, unschooling or simply trying to support your child through life's ups and downs, this conversation invites you to see emotions as a guide rather than a problem to solve.

Some of the questions and ideas we explore include:

• How do you raise an emotionally resilient child?
• Should I protect my child from difficult emotions?
• Why are big feelings important for healthy development?
• How can I help my child regulate their emotions?
• What do emotions tell us about our needs?
• How can I stay calm when my child's emotions activate me?

Wondering what keeps shaping your reactions when parenting gets hard? → Discover Your Parenting Archetype

Have a parenting, homeschooling, or unschooling question? Send it to us and we may answer it in an upcoming newsletter: → Dear Sari & Becka

→ Follow us on Instagram and come hang out with us between episodes.

→ Check out our website and explore more of our work, resources, and support.

Radical Learning Talks was named the #2 Democratic Education Podcast to Listen to in 2026 by FeedSpot. See the full list