The Unschool Space

Today I am chatting with Iidala, a breathwork teacher and parenting guide who is originally from Estonia but now lives in Ireland with her husband and two sons. We talk about how her family moved from Estonia to Ireland in search of community, and why they decided to enrol their children in self-directed learning spaces. And, we talk about what it means to undo our own conditioning whilst accompanying our children. I hope you enjoy the conversation. 

Connect with Iidala

https://iidala.com/breathwork

https://www.instagram.com/iidala.breathwork.world

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

Today, I am with Alex O’Neill, who lives with her daughter and husband in Essex in the UK. Alex was a teacher and had considered home education for many years, and finally dived in a couple of years ago when her daughter decided that she didn’t want to continue with secondary school. Alex shares her long journey of exploration into learning and alternatives to school, and what she is learning at home as she accompanies her daughter.

Connect with Alex

https://www.limitlesscommunity.co.uk/
https://www.progressiveeducation.org/

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

In this episode, I am with Alex Kons. Alex is originally from Germany, but is currently living in Peru and has spent many years travelling the world with her now-13 year old son. Alex tells us why she chose initially not to send her son to school, and the isolation from friends and family that came with that decision. And she shares what life has looked like for her and her son and why she has never regretted taking the route that always felt most free and authentic for her. 

Connect with Alex

https://linktr.ee/wildlifeunschooling

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

In this episode, I am joined by Sharon and Heidi, two unschooling mothers from North Yorkshire. Both have neurodivergent children who eventually burned out at school. They describe how incredibly depleting it was to try get their children in to school each day and to advocate for the support they needed. We talk about how the transition was from school to home and the relief of stepping away from a system that isn’t working. And, we talk about why our capacity is so important and how we can keep tending to ourselves.

Connect with Sharon and Heidi (The Oxygen Mask)
Instagram
Facebook
Tiktok

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

Today I am chatting with Ruth Rinaldi, a former maths teacher now unschooling parent of two. We talk about what led Ruth not only to home educate her children but also to leave her career as a maths teacher and head of department, which she had worked so hard at. Ruth shares how the experience has looked for her and her family, and what it felt like to make such a huge change. We also talk about maths, of course, and the problems with how it is approached in schools. And Ruth gives us all some great tips for approaching maths without fear! I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Connect with Ruth
www.joyfulmathswithruth.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/joyfulmathswithruth/

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

My guest today is Olivia Roff who lives in Sussex with her husband and two children, who are 10 and 5, and both neurodivergent. Olivia had wanted to try home educating some years ago, but wasn’t able to. She talks about how it feels to finally jump into it, the joy of seeing her daughter start to flourish again, and the realisation that she has always been an unschooling parent. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Connect with Olivia
https://www.instagram.com/mystical_birthing
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DJvVngxfs/?mibextid=wwXIfr
https://linktr.ee/oliviaroff

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

My guest in this episode is May Ling Thomas. May Ling lives in London with her husband and two daughters, who are 13 and 10, and who have always been unschooled. May Ling came across the idea of unschooling when her oldest was still a baby, and it felt a natural fit with how she and her husband wanted to raise their children. We talk about what this all looks like and, of course, all the unlearning we have to do. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Connect with May Ling:

https://www.maylingthomas.com/

May Ling co-organises the Freedom to Learn forum, which will take place August 13th-17th in the Peak District, UK. See the links below for more information and to book your ticket. 

Tickets: https://dandelion.events/e/c27is

Website https://www.freedomtolearn.uk/

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

Today I am joined by Naomi Fisher, a child psychologist and parent of two unschooled teenagers. So, we are talking about the teenage years and how hard it can be particularly for those young people who have left the school system after some stress and difficult experiences. Naomi tells us about her soon-to-be-published book, The Teenager's Guide to Taking Control of Your Education: Learning Beyond School. And we talk about what parents can do to help their teenagers reconnect with themselves and their interests and feel more empowered in their learning and their lives beyond school.

Join Naomi's online book launch on Saturday July 18th!

https://naomifisher.co.uk/

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

In this episode I am joined by Meghan Suniga-Davies. Meghan has three unschooled children who are now all teens and young adults and she also has extensive experience working with young people in self-directed learning spaces. We talk about her family’s journey to unschooling and her particular deschooling journey. And we talk about what it means to live in partnership with our young people and prioritise our relationship, particularly when they are feeling challenged by something. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

About Meghan
Meghan is a born and raised Austinite partnered with adult and teen unschoolers, a long time youth rights advocate, community builder and facilitator of alternative programming to conventional school. She has worked with youth for over 15 years and is passionate about youth liberation, promoting autonomy, self-directed education and anti-oppression through collaborative exploration of the city. 

She supports  adults moving away from control and toward partnership in both education and relationships. She believes empowering youth in collaborative decision-making within the community paves the way for a future where the personhood of all youth are not reduced to "adults in training" but recognized as fully capable of contributing meaningfully to society. 

She has been involved with the unschooling community for more than a decade.  The Alliance for Self-Directed Education and  Mosaic  are organizations she’s been a part of where she brings energy and momentum around  making SDE more accessible to people around the world! 

atxflyingsquad.com 

itsjusmeghan.com

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace

In this episode, I am chatting with Megan Arevalo, who lives in Michigan with her husband and two children, who are three and eight. After initially homeschooling, Megan came to unschooling after her daughter’s burnout, when she realised she needed to focus entirely on connection and wellbeing. Megan talks about the subsequent autism diagnoses and her own path from feeling like she had to hold everything together to understanding her own neurodivergence. And we talk about what it looks like to embrace connection over control, let go of perfectionism, and keep learning from our children. I hope you enjoy the conversation. 

Connect with Megan:

https://megantarevalo.substack.com/

If you'd like to support the podcast and the sharing of these stories, you can do that here.   Thank you!

The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself. A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

You can sign up for weekly resources around unschooling and mindful parenting at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on

Substack: https://substack.com/@estherjones
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_esther.jones
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheUnschoolSpace