it's season 2 of The Unschool Files Podcast! this series of episodes is dedicated to Self-Directed Education and Community Care - each episode will feature conversations with facilitators, young people, parents, teachers turned SDE practitioners + youth rights advocates on how their centers, schools and co-ops are meeting the unique needs of their communities. we will hear conversations that cover everything from how they make decisions, handle conflict and provide a space for autonomous learning with a focus on community care, and everyone's needs being met. we will be stepping out of theory and into practice. the first episode of season 2 is unique, as it is broken in two parts. part 1 is an accessible reading of an article by Alexander Khost, Self- Directed Education is a Political Act, A look at the various current definitions of “freedom” in Self-Directed Education, their historic roots, and their correlation to political ideologies. published in Tipping Points Magazine in January of 2020Link to the article here: https://www.self-directed.org/tp/education-is-a-political-act/you can find meghan at theunschoolfiles.comBecome a Patron for as little as $1 patreon.com/theunschoolfiles to help support this work

in the 7th episode of the second season, Meghan is speaking with two people from the Seattle Flying Squad. A teen named Everest and facilitator Susan. Everest + Susan explain what flying squads are, how they communicate as a squad, what it’s like out in public during school hours and the ways adults always think they know better! it’s a good one, and you won’t want to miss it 🤌🏼

Head to https://www.flyingsquads.org to learn more and find a flying squad near you - if you don’t see one, start one!

to connect of partner with Meghan head to theunschoolfiles.com

• zines

• community

• youth mentorship

• youth travel

• patreon perks

In this episode, you're going to hear from Chemay Morales James - a multi talented organizer and space holder, unschool Mama and Founder of My Reflection Matters Village.

She tells us all about how they came to unschooling as a family and what led her to create MRM and the way it grew from a culturally responsive resource library to a Village!

https://my-reflection-matters.mn.co

Patreon.com/myreflectionmatters

theunschoolfiles.com

Patreon.com/theunschoolfiles

in episode 4 of the community care series, Meghan spoke with two people from Zena Democratic School (formerly Hudson Valley Sudbury School) and the conversation is a MASSIVE 2+ hour episode! they talk all about the Sudbury model as a staff member and student, you get a clear understanding of the model as it was first practiced in the original Sudbury Valley School and the ways the Zena has made shifts.  they discuss several topics deeply, really try to offer balance drop some f bombs and definitely have a lot of fun! they even tackle giving kids the vote! Its a good listen and worth the time, even if you have to break it up in chunks.

e-mail Charlie at [email protected] is you wanna have a juicy convo about anything he mentioned

find Zena Democratic School here

https://www.zenademocraticschool.org

information on and from the original Sudbury Valley School 

⁠https://sudburyvalley.org/theory⁠

article Charlie mentioned on Sudbury Schools and Neo Liberal Ideology

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1478210315610256

second article charlie mentioned from Tipping Points

https://www.self-directed.org/tp/the-first-prison/

Register to Vote in the US here

https://vote.gov

Exploring Children's Suffrage- Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Ageless Voting

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-14541-4

Check out the Children's Voting Colloquium

https://www.childrenvoting.org

Find all of Meghan's work on theunschoolfiles.com! please take a second to head over to Patreon.com/theunschoolfiles to partner with Meghan on all the work she does.

in episode 3 of the series on Community Care within SDE, meghan spoke with Cassidy Younghans. Cassidy speaks about her extensive time interning in various SDE spaces across models and her takeaways that have shaped Wild Roots Learning Community. they cover so many aspect of being in community and even start brainstorming and dreaming up ideas!

•Find Cassidy at Cassidyyounghans.com

•Help me get better recording equipment and fund more episodes by partnering with me at Patreon.com/theunschoolfiles

•Get your copy of Issue 5 of The Unschool Files Community Zine at theunschoolfiles.com/zine

in episode 2 of season 2, meghan shares a conversation she had with Alexander Khost after his reading of his article, (Self- Directed) Education is a Political Act for episode 1 - they discuss so much that the chat went well over an hour! tune in to hear a big discussion about, the way society sees children, youth rights, and some nuances that may have been missed around the way education of all flavors and types does infact shape a young persons political lens in our geopolitical world. we tie our conversation together with the ask that other adults see young people as colleagues. 

Email Alex at [email protected]

You can find Alex’s writing on, tipping points https://www.self-directed.org/tp/education-is-a-political-act/

Head to theunschoolfiles.com  to join meghan in community and find resources and other exciting things! 

partner with her over at patreon.com/theunschoolfiles to support the work they do!

in this conversation with Andria of The Humorous Homeschooler on Tik Tok, we talk about her journey from sex Ed school teacher to this unschoolish, reverse planning, tik tok bestie that she is!

she talks about attempting to use classroom management style tools to implement pandemic homeschooling for her young people. her self described “neuro spicy" family could not function in that way, but did need rhythm and routine. they also still need to do mandatory reporting - in comes the tool she shares of REVERSE PLANNING! so cool, and a great way to still partner with your young people to spend their days how they want and also find the ways that they are engaging with materials and play that you can later categorize into subjects to meet the state requirements.

-> Find Andria on Tik Tok and Instagram @thehumoroushomeschooler

• Head to theunschoolfiles.com

for zines, swag, the discord + teen travel

patreon.com/theunschoolfiles

• Find ROAM: a teen travel collective on Instagram @roam_teentravel

@theunschoolfiles.com

episode 38 of the podcast is all about teens! Meghan chats with Erin Jantz, a Southern California mama of 4 young people ages 9-18. this conversation covers connection, partnership, and the nuance of life without schooling as our young people emerge toward adulthood!

we even offer 6 huge tips for connecting with your teens!

if you’re a Spotify listener, you can now submit your questions for Erin and I and maybe we can come back together for a q&a!

find all the things i’m up to on my website

Www.theunschoolfiles.com

Support my work by becoming a patron

Www.patreon.com/theunschoolfiles

Find all the things on my website

Www.theunschoolfiles.com

Supprt my work by becoming a patron

Www.patreon.com/theunschoolfiles