The Ladies Fixing the World

How do unschooling families handle life when plans fall apart? Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad, and Sue Elvis share real experiences—from illness, grief, and moving house to everyday disruptions like broken toilets and power cuts. They demonstrate how flexibility, trust, and connection transform uncertainty into learning, and how children raised without rigid schedules develop resilience, adaptability, and emotional strength through real-life experiences.

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

🗓️ Recorded June 26, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skensved, Denmark

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

What counts as a resource when you don’t follow a school curriculum?

Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis discuss how unschooling families use communities, libraries, museums, clubs, work, online connections, and family gatherings as resources, showing that learning extends far beyond books and classes.

🗓️ Recorded June 17, 2025. 📍 Åmarksgård, Denmark

 🔗 Links & Resources

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

In this episode, Cecilie, Sandra, and Sue unpack the popular—but often misleading—idea of freedom in unschooling. What does it really mean to live freely, and what’s the cost when freedom becomes the goal instead of a tool?

They discuss how some families rush into radical unschooling, letting go of all structure without understanding the role of guidance, responsibility, and deschooling. Sandra shares stories of families who confused “freedom” with letting go too fast—leaving children overwhelmed and relationships strained.

The conversation explores the difference between being free and making good choices. True unschooling isn’t about abandoning rules—it’s about creating rich lives where children learn through real decisions, not in the absence of boundaries but within thoughtful, responsive relationships.

They also address the legal and social realities unschoolers face, the dangers of turning unschooling into a competitive performance, and the importance of peaceful family dynamics. Unschooling can work—but only when parents are engaged, informed, and honest with themselves and their children.

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

🗓️ Recorded June 11, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skendsved, Denmark

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

What happens when unschooling parents trade control for genuine connection? In this deep and honest conversation, Cecilie Conrad (Denmark), Sandra Dodd (USA), and Sue Elvis (Australia) tackle the big questions of attachment, freedom, and how trust transforms the parent-child relationship.

Many parents fear that giving their children more freedom will mean losing influence over values and choices—or that it will lead to chaos. But as these three unschooling pioneers explore, true freedom isn't something we “give” our kids—it's something they already have. The real question: How do we nurture healthy attachment and remain an anchor, even as our children make their own decisions?

The episode weaves together practical wisdom and lived experience:

• Why attachment and trust—not rules—build resilient, independent humans
• Navigating teen risk-taking, boundaries, and “mistakes”
• How to be your child’s partner, not their adversary
• Dealing with fears about religion, lifestyle choices, and social influence
• Why trying to control values and behaviors can backfire
• The difference between “not influencing” and being a true guide
• How parent-child partnership grows empathy, patience, and wisdom for both generations

Cecilie, Sandra, and Sue also reflect on how unschooling changes the whole family, and why letting go of control doesn’t mean stepping back from guidance or care. They share stories about “swallowing camels,” cultural idioms, social skills, and the humbling lessons learned from listening to (and learning with) their own kids.

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

🗓️ Recorded May 1, 2025. 📍  Budapest, Hungary

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis discuss doubt and fear in unschooling—where they come from, how they spread, and how to move through them without defaulting to school-based thinking. They explore the pressure of responsibility, the impact of lingering fears, and why letting go of outcomes helps build trust in both learning and relationships.

They talk about how fear can be reinforced through casual conversation, especially when parents share worst-case scenarios or compare their children to school-based standards. The discussion includes the idea that much of what parents worry about is based on assumptions that haven’t been questioned, and how simply asking “Is it true?” can shift how we see our role.

There’s also a focus on how unschooling parents can become more confident, not by forcing results, but by staying present, observing real growth over time, and letting go of the need to control outcomes. The conversation points to a broader definition of success—one that includes emotional well-being, agency, and the ability to build a life that fits, rather than one that follows external benchmarks.´

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

🗓️ Recorded April 28, 2025. 📍  Budapest, Hungary

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

What if we abandoned the question "How do we know they're learning?" and trusted that they are? In this conversation, Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis look closely at the fears that drive many unschooling parents to seek proof of learning—and why those fears may come from old conditioning rather than real concerns.

They explore how learning in an unschooling context doesn’t always look like progress, mastery, or academic benchmarks. Instead, it often appears as play, conversation, curiosity, or even stillness. 

The episode also addresses the "big mix-up in the mind of the parent" who must navigate between their children's authentic learning experiences and the official education system's expectations, the pressure parents feel to produce results, the danger of clinging to school-based frameworks, and the importance of stepping back and observing life as the curriculum.

Sandra, Sue and Cecilies invite parents to shift their perspective away from questioning if their children are learning enough, toward cultivating environments rich in trust, conversation, and genuine curiosity.

🗓️ Recorded March 20, 2025. 📍 Barcelona, Spain

 🔗 Links & Resources

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

In this episode, we explore one of the most persistent questions in unschooling: What about math?
Cecilie, Sandra, and Sue examine the widespread belief that children can’t learn math without formal instruction — and explain why that belief doesn’t hold up.

Cecilie reflects on the early years of home education in her family, the pressure to “cover” math, and the quiet fear of doing too little. Sandra shares examples of how her children developed mathematical thinking through games, practical needs, and everyday problem-solving — without ever relying on school-based methods. Sue talks about letting go of structured lessons and learning to trust her children’s approach to math.

Together, they look at how math fits into unschooling — and what becomes possible when we stop trying to teach it and start noticing how it shows up in real life.

🗓️ Recorded February 27, 2025. 📍  Finhan, France

 🔗 Links & Resources 

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

Dinner tables, car rides, bedtime chats, café corners—this episode dives into the real places where unschooling lives and grows. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis examine how conversations—often unscheduled, informal, and unplanned—become the central structure of a learning life.

They discuss the Danish tradition of the daily family dinner, the rigid rituals of American mealtime culture, and the café catch-ups that shaped Sue’s large family. The conversation travels through memories, cultural habits, and practical insights into how families can hold space for curiosity, connection, and growth—without curriculum, tests, or set agendas.

From Barbie movies to Shakespeare, from family language to late-night moral debates, this episode makes a clear point: talking is the work. The learning isn’t beside the conversation—it’s inside it.

🗓️ Recorded February 20, 2025. 📍  Finhan, France

 🔗 Links & Resources 

• https://sandradodd.com/latenightlearning 
• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

What’s the value of doing the same thing more than once? 

In this episode of Ladies Fixing the World, Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis unfold repetition—how it shows up in our lives, why it matters, and what it reveals.

Together, they examine how children tend to gravitate toward watching the same films, reading the same stories, or playing the same games. Rather than dismissing these habits, they unpack the deeper role of repetition in building understanding, creating comfort, and developing personal interests.

They explore repetition in unschooling: how revisiting material or ideas becomes a natural part of learning when children are trusted to follow their own curiosity. The conversation weaves through stories of old VHS collections, gaming habits, repeated drawings, Shakespeare, and art museums, highlighting how adults also rely on rhythm, ritual, and recurrence.

The episode explores what it means to share stories across generations, how collections shape identity, and how repetition becomes a part of a family’s language. Whether it's a child rewatching Barbie movies or a parent replaying Beatles records, this is a conversation about attention, trust, and the rhythms we all rely on.

 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilies websites

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

 🔗 Links & Resources mentioned:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._D._Q._Bach
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22Weird_Al%22_Yankovic
• Vermeer's Hat: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermeer%27s_Hat 

🗓️ Recorded January 16, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Solrød, Denmark

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

Sandra Dodd, Sue Elvis, and Cecilie Conrad come together to discuss their personal journeys into unschooling, focusing on natural learning, curiosity, and redefining educational expectations.

Sandra shares her transition from a public-school teacher to embracing unschooling with her family, exploring how her upbringing influenced her parenting choices. Sue reflects on her experiences returning to unschooling after attempts to follow structured educational methods, and how her understanding evolved with each child. Cecilie offers insights from her journey, including learning experiences through family travel and navigating seasonal challenges.

Their conversation delves into how children naturally learn to read without formal instruction, highlighting personal examples of different ages and experiences. They examine the risks associated with pushing children to reach educational milestones prematurely, sharing stories related to reading and swimming. The discussion challenges traditional educational norms, questioning standardized testing, IQ assessments, and rigid developmental timelines.

Throughout the episode, they explore how parents can support their children's individual paths and curiosity without imposing external standards. Reflections on parenting, intelligence, and the continuous nature of learning throughout life underscore the conversation.

This episode provides practical experiences and observations for parents and educators interested in understanding and applying the principles of unschooling.

 🔗 Links & Resources:

• https://sandradodd.com 
• https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com 
• https://cecilieconrad.com

🗓️ Recorded January 9, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Solrød, Denmark

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.