Self Directed

Deborah MacNamara, author of "Nourished: Connection, Food, and Caring for Our Kids (And Everyone Else We Love)," emphasizes the importance of emotional and physical nourishment in child development. As a clinical counselor and educator, she is known for her work on emotional health and her previous book, "Rest, Play, Grow," which explores attachment-based developmental approaches influenced by Dr. Gordon Neufeld. Deborah is also on the faculty of the Neufeld Institute, helping families navigate parenting and child development.

Food is more than fuel—it's the foundation of family bonds and cultural heritage. In our conversation with Deborah, we explore how mealtime fosters meaningful relationships. Drawing from her expertise at the Neufeld Institute, she shares insights on transforming family meals into rituals of togetherness and love.

We discuss how shared meals nurture community, cooperation, and restfulness and the challenges families face in maintaining these traditions. We provide practical steps for integrating shared meals into busy schedules, emphasizing the importance of slowing down and making intentional family connections.

Listen as we delve into the cultural and relational significance of food. Deborah highlights food as a symbol of care and connection, examining how intentional food preparation and sharing reinforce family bonds and cultural traditions, making mealtime a cherished experience for all.

🗓️ Recorded June 12th, 2024. 📍 Friheden Stations Parking Lot, Denmark

▬ Episode Links ▬

https://macnamara.ca
https://www.facebook.com/drdeborahmacnamara
https://www.instagram.com/drdeborahmacnamara
https://twitter.com/DebMacNamara

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Podcast website: https://www.cecilieconrad.com/self-directed
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When you think of family vacations, you might envision crowded theme parks or beachside resorts. But what if the journey itself became a communal adventure? Joining us on the show is Nikolaj Astrup Madsen, one of the founders behind the fascinating Traveling Village concept. He unfolds the story of 20 families who traded the conventional holiday for a four-month exploration of Vietnam, Thailand, and Japan, not as mere tourists but as a village on the move. Nikolaj walks us through the labyrinth of planning an expedition, the intricate social tapestry of life on the road, and the unforgettable impact of deep cultural immersion while preserving a collective identity.

Twenty families traveled together for four months. Every family had its own place but a community living room. Kids learned through play and exploration, and their parents helped each other with co-living, communal meals, and the adventure of a lifetime.

As we unpack the post-travel musings, Nikolaj shares the bittersweet reality of returning to everyday life after such an intense group experience. The dialogue pivots to the subtle yet significant nuances of how a large group navigates interactions with locals and impacts children's social adaptability. The Traveling Village becomes more than a simple group trip—it's a transformative lifestyle that has etched a lasting influence on its members, igniting aspirations for future communal adventures. Through Nikolaj's captivating recount of this unique travel experiment, tune in to discover the life-altering potential of intentional community living.

🗓️ Recorded May 24th, 2024. 📍 At the Attwoods, Hagen, Germany

▬ Episode Links ▬

• https://travelingvillage.com
• https://instagram.com/nikolajastrup
• https://twitter.com/nikolaj_astrup
• https://www.facebook.com/nikolajastrupmadsen
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikolajastrupmadsen

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Join us as we dive into parenting conflicts and discover how embracing disagreements can strengthen family bonds. We share our insights on handling conflicts, especially within unschooling and conscious parenting.

We discuss Luna's journey toward a conflict-free home, proving that avoiding conflicts doesn't mean suppressing emotions. Sarah challenges the myth that attachment parenting leads to perfectly well-behaved children, revealing the real dynamics behind it.

We discuss traditional authoritative parenting versus collaborative approaches, showing how mutual respect and shared responsibility can turn conflicts into valuable discussions. From room disputes to shared spaces, we offer practical examples of reframing disagreements as conflicts of interest, preventing power struggles.

Together, we highlight the importance of empathy, communication, and understanding different perspectives and share creative strategies for managing conflicts, involving children in solution-finding processes, and embracing differing viewpoints.

Tune in to learn how to navigate disagreements with love, patience, and fairness and empower your family to grow stronger through the art of conflict resolution.

🗓️ Recorded May 20th, 2024. 📍 Luxembourg

 

▬ EPISODE LINKS ▬

Cecilie Conrad: 

• https://CecilieConrad.com
• https://www.facebook.com/Ceciliefelumbconrad
• https://www.instagram.com/ceciliefelumbconrad/

Luna Maj Vestergaard: 

• https://altomunschooling.dk/
• https://www.instagram.com/lunamajvestergaard/
• https://www.facebook.com/lunamajvestergaard

Carla Martinez: 

• https://planetaworldschool.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/ligronesenruta/
• https://www.facebook.com/ligronesenruta

Sara Beale: 

• https://www.renegademum.com/
• https://www.instagram.com/sarah_l_beale
• https://www.facebook.com/sar

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PODCAST INFO
Podcast website: http://theconrad.family/podcast
YouTube Full Episodes: https://www.youtube.com/theconradfamily365
Apple Podcasts: https://www.theconrad.family/apple
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Sue Elvis is an Australian author, blogger, and podcaster renowned for her work in the unschooling community. She runs the blog "Stories of an Unschooling Family," where she shares her experiences and insights about unschooling and radical parenting.

Join us as we welcome Sue Elvis back for her third visit and discuss the ins and outs of unschooling. We dive into this educational approach's everyday challenges and triumphs, from getting kids to brush their teeth to planning for college. This episode is a helpful guide for parents thinking about leaving conventional schooling behind, highlighting the importance of trusting their instincts and valuing personal freedom in raising children.

We also discuss balancing parental guidance with giving kids the freedom to choose. We examine how societal norms can influence our decisions about haircuts or education. Our conversation emphasizes supporting children’s autonomy while dealing with societal pressures. This episode isn't just about unschooling; it’s about the joys and rewards of parenting.

🗓️ Recorded May 3rd, 2024. 📍Belton, Missouri, United States

▬ Connect with Sue Elvis  ▬
Website: https://www.sueelvis.com
Unschooling Website: https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com
Books by Sue Elvis: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sue-Elvis/author/B00QTDRCBM
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily/
YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@SueElvis
Podcast: https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/my-podcasts/

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Podcast website: https://www.cecilieconrad.com/self-directed
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Jesper and Cecilie sit down again with Laura Grace Weldon — author of Free Range Learning — for a conversation that starts with toddlers and unschooling philosophy and ends up somewhere much harder to navigate: screens, dopamine, corporate algorithms, and what it actually means to raise a free-thinking child in a world designed to capture attention.

Laura brings a grounded perspective. She worked in child protective services, raised her own kids with a strong bias toward unstructured outdoor time and world play, and doesn't fit neatly into radical unschooling circles — partly because she always had limits around technology. The conversation doesn't pretend to resolve that tension. It sits in it.

They talk about why attachment parenting sometimes gets stuck at the toddler stage, the difference between ill-defined and well-defined play and why both matter, how corporate interest fills the gap when parents step back, and why the poisoned arrow is the hardest kind to spot. There's also a genuinely useful framework from Laura about body, breath, and mind that maps surprisingly well onto the parenting conversation.

No bottom line. No system to follow. Just three people thinking out loud about something none of them have fully figured out.

▬ Connect with Laura Grace Weldon  ▬
Website: https://lauragraceweldon.com/
Free Range Learning on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreeRangeLearningCommunity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.euphoria
X: https://twitter.com/earnestdrollery
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earnestdrollery/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/LauraGraceWeldon/
Bit of Earth Farm: https://bitofearthfarm.wordpress.com/

🗓️ Recorded April 26th, 2024. 📍Belton, Missouri, United States 

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Ashley Logsdon, founder of "Mama Says Namaste," is a family coach, podcaster, and blogger dedicated to helping families create intentional, meaningful connections. She provides practical advice on parenting, marriage, homeschooling, and work-life balance, emphasizing communication, personal growth, and aligning family life with core values.

Join us for an inspiring podcast episode where Ashley shares her journey, focusing on the intersection of parenting, relationships, and intentional living. 

We discuss balancing family roles, the art of unschooling, and the impact on partnership dynamics, offering insights for families making unconventional educational choices.

Listen in as we explore intentional habits for family harmony, the importance of adaptability, and the value of rest and play in fostering creativity and empathy. 

Tune in for wisdom on enhancing family life with purpose and love.

🗓️ Recorded April 18th, 2024. 📍Belton, Missouri, United States

▬ Connect with Ashley Logsdon ▬
Website - https://www.mamasaysnamaste.com/
YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/@AshleyLogsdonMamaSaysNamaste
Podcast - https://www.mamasaysnamaste.com/all-podcast-episodes/
Podcast - https://www.mamasaysnamaste.com/podcast-danish-way/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MamaSaysNamaste
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/MamaSaysNamaste

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Gregory B. Sadler has taught and designed Philosophy, Humanities, Religious Studies, Literature, and Critical Thinking courses for over 20 years. 

Jesper became interested in Greg's work when he searched for Self-Directed Learning and, by chance, found Greg's YouTube channel dedicated to self-directed learning in Philosophy.  

Greg Sadler brings a fresh perspective to our lively discussion on how ancient wisdom parallels modern self-help and the ever-evolving education journey. We peel back the layers of philosophy's public image, addressing stereotypes and the ironic complexities of communication within the field. Greg

Our conversation takes a turn through the less-traveled paths of self-education in philosophy, guiding those embarking on their intellectual quests. We debunk the solitary philosopher's myth, revealing the discipline's communal nature and its relevance to contemporary life. Whether you're a seasoned philosopher or a curious newcomer, Greg offers insights into navigating the works of Plato and Nietzsche and the approachability of online resources like his 'Half Hour Hegel' series, which offers companionship in the sometimes lonely pursuit of knowledge.

As we wrap up our philosophical exploration, literature's profound impact on us stands out. Together with Greg, we reflect on how our understanding of texts like 'The Great Gatsby' or Nietzsche's works evolves.

🗓️ Recorded April 16th, 2024. 📍Belton, Missouri, United States

▬ Connect with Gregory B. Sadler  ▬

ReasonIO - https://reasonio.wordpress.com/
YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/user/gbisadler
Sadler’s Lectures podcast - https://soundcloud.com/gregorybsadler
Facebook author page – https://www.facebook.com/drgbsadler
Twitter profile – https://twitter.com/philosopher70
Patreon site – https://www.patreon.com/sadler
Substack - https://gregorybsadler.substack.com/

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Laura Grace Weldon came to homeschooling the hard way. The daughter, granddaughter, and niece of public school teachers, she spent years trying to work within the system — until the day her son called from school to say he'd been shown a gun and didn't expect to survive the day. The school didn't call the police. The superintendent suggested her son would be safest at home. He never went back.

What followed was a years-long process of figuring out what learning actually looks like when you stop trying to replicate school at home. Laura's book Free Range Learning grew out of that journey — and out of the mistakes she made along the way, including the very human tendency to take over the moment a child shows interest in something.

The conversation covers the difference between free-range and incubator-raised chicks (it maps onto children more directly than you'd expect), the research on what happens when you show a toddler how a toy works versus handing it over and stepping back, how an inclusive homeschooling community tends to outlast exclusive ones, and why meaningful contribution to family life matters as much as any curriculum.

Laura also talks about what happened to her kids — the one who rebuilt Opal cars at 12 and ended up presenting at engineering conferences in Japan, the one who spent 16 years working with hawks and owls, the one who came to college without formal math education and became the person everyone went to for help understanding the principles.

▬ Connect with Laura Grace Weldon  ▬
Website: https://lauragraceweldon.com/
Free Range Learning on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreeRangeLearningCommunity
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laura.euphoria
X: https://twitter.com/earnestdrollery
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/earnestdrollery/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/LauraGraceWeldon/
Bit of Earth Farm: https://bitofearthfarm.wordpress.com/

🗓️ Recorded April 16th, 2024. 📍Belton, Missouri, United States 

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Discover the essence of unconditional love and its profound impact on parenting and education as we welcome back Sue Elvis for another heartening conversation.

This episode peels back the layers of what it truly means to love our children without conditions, exploring the intersection of this powerful emotion with the unschooling philosophy.

Sue delves into how respecting our children's individuality and passions is not just about meeting homeschooling legalities but about nurturing their well-being and learning experiences from a place of genuine support.

We reflect on the challenges and the sometimes stark contrast between our idyllic visions of family life and the messier realities.

 Unconditional love emerges as a transformative force in our discussion, not as a passive acceptance but as an active foundation of forgiveness and growth.

 We share personal stories and insights that unpack the nuances of expressing this love, even in the face of societal expectations and the unique trials parenting can bring.

This episode promises to leave you with a newfound appreciation for the superpower of compassion within your family dynamics.

We also discuss parenting teenagers, dispelling misconceptions, and embracing their unique perspectives on the family unit.

 We underscore the importance of positivity and patience, particularly through the turbulent teen years, and the profound gratitude that comes with the privilege of nurturing the next generation.

🗓️ Recorded April 11nd, 2024. 📍Belton, Missouri, United States

▬ Connect with Sue Elvis  ▬
Website: https://www.sueelvis.com
Unschooling Website: https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com
Books by Sue Elvis: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sue-Elvis/author/B00QTDRCBM
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily/
YouTube Channel:  https://www.youtube.com/@SueElvis
Podcast: https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/my-podcasts/

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Podcast website: https://www.cecilieconrad.com/self-directed
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
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Sue Elvis from StoriesOfAnUnschoolingFamily.com  shares her fascinating journey through unschooling her children. Sue shares how she strikes a balance between fostering her children's individual passions and engaging in collective family activities, creating a harmonious learning environment free from the constraints of traditional education.

Listen in as she describes the significance of being present, especially in the mornings, and how she integrates her interests in blogging and podcasting into the rich tapestry of her family's daily life.

In our heart-to-heart discussion, we contemplate the evolution of the parent-child relationship within the unschooling context, especially as children approach adulthood. Discover how unschooling can empower children to make discerning choices about social acceptance and conformity and the parental endeavor to earn our children's respect beyond our roles as their guardians.

We share our experiences of unschooling, the profound impact of community, and the enduring influence of parental love and support on the path of learning.

🗓️ Recorded April 2nd, 2024. 📍 The Lovetts, Fresno, California, United States

▬ Connect with Sue Elvis  ▬
Website: https://www.sueelvis.com
Unschooling Website: https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com
Books by Sue Elvis: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sue-Elvis/author/B00QTDRCBM
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories_ofan_unschoolingfamily/
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SueElvis
Podcast: https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/my-podcasts/

 

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Podcast website: https://www.cecilieconrad.com/self-directed
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theconrad.family
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