My guest this episode is Erin Cummings. Erin grew up in Ottawa and now lives with her husband who is of the indigenous Métis community and their three young sons, in the boreal forest in Treaty 3 Territory of Northwest Ontario. Here they live on a 200-acre piece of land where they farm, own livestock and are building their family home. Erin talks about their choice of living an intentionally simple life which centres on their relationships with each other and with the land, and of her experiences as a school teacher. And we chat about how important our own happiness and fulfilment is as parents, and why embracing our own interest is a wonderful model for our children and a far more satisfying way to live. I hope you enjoy the conversation!

See here for more information about the Métis Nation

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

Today, I am with Dana Huraimi. Dana is Palestinian and grew up in Kuwait and Jordan. She now lives in Dubai with her husband and two sons who are almost 10 and 13. Today we talk about Dana’s deschooling journey, how she is letting go of her conditioning around education, learning and what success looks like. We talk about how she sees natural learning unfold in such different ways in her two children, and why compliance is not what we need to be cultivating for a better world. And we talk about the challenges of choosing this way of life in a culture which is heavily school-centred. I hope you enjoy the conversation. 

Follow Dana on Instagram 

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

This episode I am with Fiona Sim who is from Scotland. Fiona lives with her husband who is from Lithuania, and their two daughters who are 3 and 6. This is their first official year of home education since their older daughter would have started school last September. We talk about how easy it is to overplan the days, and how good it can feel to let go of the busyness and just embrace the gift of time. And we talk about that other big learning edge of working out when we should step in and when we should hold back. And, Fiona shares how profoundly this way of life has changed her.

Connect with Fiona on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_fionasim/

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

Today I’m with Leila from Melbourne, Australia. Leila has three children who are now 9, 7 and 4, and their journey to unschooling began when they decided not to continue with school for her eldest child after the Covid lockdown. Leila describes how her interest in conscious parenting and centering the relationship with her children helped her move away from trying to force the learning and to see instead how the natural learning unfolded. We talk about how hard it is to get beyond our own conditioning and all the triggers that come up, and we talk about Leila’s own experience of education and how her PhD in Anthrolopology has allowed her to see learning in a wider context.

Connect with Leila on Instagram

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

This episode, I’m chatting with Cyrielle who is originally from France but now lives in Ontario, Canada with her husband and their eight year old daughter (this conversation takes place while they are on a long road trip through the US). Cyrielle used to be a teacher and realised early on that she wanted something different for her child. Amongst other things we talk today about neurodivergence, friendships and community and in particular how important it is that as the parent we explore what makes us thrive too. 

Follow Cyrielle on Instagram

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

And today I am with Nora McDonald. Nora is originally from the UK but now lives in Costa Rica with her husband and two children who are 10 and 7. They felt that school just wasn’t going to be a good fit for their eldest child, and so originally began home educating in Cambridge in the UK. Nora talks about her move toward unschooling and how her family’s relationship with technology was the catalyst for that. We talk about what it looks like when your child doesn’t particularly like groups and organised activities and how freeing it is to drop expectations and to keep coming back to connecting with and getting curious about our child. And, Nora shares how enormously impactful this has been on her own life. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

In this episode I'm chatting with Essie Richards from Cornwall in the UK. Essie’s family came to unschooling nine years ago after realising that school was not a place where their childre, who were three and six could thrive. Later, Essie began an Agile Learning Centre for 10 to 15-year olds. Today we talk about the deconditioning we need to go through as parents in order to give our children real agency and how that can work can be deeply healing, what it means to be neurodivergent and unschooling, and all the practices that can help us along the way. Essie also tells us about what life looks like in an Agile Learning Centre. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Connect with Essie

https://www.instagram.com/unschoolingcircle/

https://www.instagram.com/essiejrichards/

https://www.essierichardscoach.com

https://www.lunaragilelearningcentre.org

https://discocircle.mn.co 

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

I am very happy to be chatting in this episode with Shannon Stolz from Texas. Shannon has four children who are now all in their 20s. Shannon describes how in their early years, as their dad wasn’t yet onboard with unschooling, they would have some days that were more traditional school at home, and others that were self-directed. Shannon could see how different these experiences were for all of them, and finally, when her oldest daughter was 13, they just embraced unschooling. Among lots of things, we talk about navigating this with a skeptical partner, the importance of relationship, and about all the golden threads that weave through our children’s lives. And how sometimes we only notice them when we look back. 

Connect with Shannon on Instagram

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

INTRO

I'm chatting in this episode with Pat Farenga from Massachusetts. Pat is the father of three now adult unschooled daughters, and he worked with the late John Holt—the New York Educator who coined the term unschooling and wrote several books about learning. Pat worked with him on his magazine Growing Without Schooling and continued the magazine for many years after John Holt passed. We chat about his experiences with John Holt, how unschooling looked back in the '70s and '80s and how things have and haven’t changed in the last 50 years.

Connect with Pat at https://www.johnholtgws.com/who-was-john-holt

Pat mentions the following educators and authors in this episode:
John Holt, author of How Children Fail, How Children Learn, Learning All The Time, Teach Your Own, Instead of Education
Ivan Illich, author of Deschooling Society
John Taylor Gatto, author of Dumbing Us Down, Weapons of Mass Instruction
Sugata Mitra, TedX talk School in the Cloud

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace

In this episode, I'm chatting with Rose from Oxfordshire in the UK. Rose lives with her husband and her six-year-old son who is Autistic PDA. They chose not to send him to school, realising that it was just not an environment that could work for him. Rose talks about how life unfolds for them at home and what socialising and learning look like, the value of being able to go at their own rhythms, and the huge importance of placing connection at the centre of everything. And, Rose describes how she supports Leo when things feel particularly challenging for him. 

Follow Rose on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unschoolingwithpda/

You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:
www.esther-jones.com

Or, connect with me on
Instagram: @_esther.jones
Facebook:@theunschoolspace