Unschooling Conversations

Kelly Humphrey joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about the role of play beyond the Early Years.

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We discuss:

· How children play and learn beyond the age of five.

· Defining true play 3:00

-Deep immersion, intrinsically motivated, freely chosen, free flowing.

· Why play is so important for children beyond the age of five 6:40

· How we know they are learning as they play 16:30

· Our role as adults in unschooling 25:00

· The importance of relationship 28:00

· Fostering and nurturing children’s play when they have been in mainstream schooling 34:30

-deschooling, challenges of re-engaging with their own intuition, the role of boredom, children who like structure.

· How play changes as children get older 40:00

· What do we do when our children choose to play all day? 43:00

· Challenges of life’s requirements around children’s choices 45:20

· Prioritising mental health 46:00How do we join in our children’s play 49:00

Guardian article calling for a summer of play

GUEST MEDIA LINKS:

Play wild. Love learning. Be free Podcast

LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS:

Website Liveplaylearn.org

Facebook Live. Play. Learn

YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON:

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Peter Gray joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about the role of play in our children’s natural learning journey.

We discuss:

· Learning through real play, natural human development, and the adult’s role in providing a rich environment.

· Peter shares with us his own interest and personal journey into Self Directed Education 2:46

· The outcomes of young people who are self directed in their education, including unschoolers 9:10

· Defining true play 16:27

· What play looks like beyond the age of five and how it changes and develops as our children get older 29:44

· How will our children learn all the things that they need to learn 34:00

· The adult’s role in facilitating our children’s education, opportunities and conditions that allow the child to play in the way that they need and want to 44:43

· Courage, knowledge, confidence and faith in unschooling 48:20

· The benefits of self directed education 51:08

GUEST MEDIA LINKS:

Research Professor, Department of Psychology, Boston College. My book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life, is available in 18 languages. My four new collections of essays can be purchased now at Tipping Points Press. See also my Psychology Today blog and follow me on Facebook

LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS:

Website Liveplaylearn.org

Facebook Live. Play. Learn

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Adele Jarret-kerr joins Heidi Steel in the 6th episode of Unschooling Conversations, to talk about Anti-Racism work in Unschooling Families.

Our discussion includes:

· Unschooling as a powerful tool for decolonisation work.

· The opportunity that we have to interact with the real world.

· Embracing diversity of opinion and thought.

· Making active choices for social justice.

· How we “teach” our children anti-racism.

· Our role to educate ourselves, model acceptance of others, and lead critical thinking conversations.

· Being aware of our own privilege, addressing our own triggers, and discovering our own heritage.

· Being proactive and explicit in creating an environment that re-centres people of colour and disrupts a white centric perspective.

· Decolonising our parenting, trusting our children, and nurturing our relationships.

GUEST MEDIA LINKS:

Revillaging podcast

Instagram @revillaging

LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS:

Website Liveplaylearn.org

Facebook Live. Play. Learn

YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON:

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Harry Thompson – PDA Extraordinaire joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about Unschooling Neurodivergent children. Harry introduces himself in his own unique style and goes on to give us an insight into what it is that our neurodiverse children truly need from us as their parents.

This episode is jam packed full of goodies.

We discuss:

· How unschooling broadens children’s educational experience.

· Operating from a place of safety and exploring special interests allows effortless learning.

· Our innate desire to learn and the life-long process of learning.

· Curiosity as the key to learning and empowering individuals to find their own paths.

· Unschooling goals and our children developing their own sources of meaning.

· Focussing on the present and the needs of our children, right now.

· What is our child’s motivation?

· How we connect with our children and create a relationship based on partnership and connection.

· Entering the “Goldilocks zone”

· Trusting the process

· And much more!

GUEST MEDIA LINKS:

https://www.harryjackthompson.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUOrWY2lW8NL4vfYslkGgLg?fbclid=IwAR1-E7JsB7-OY6GYFRrDlnwW-4HqfxojsvHD2Ny8WOYEHq5nr01eB_wdv50

https://www.amazon.com/PDA-Paradox-Little-Known-Autism-Spectrum/dp/1785926756/ref=sr_1_3/134-6167570-0630140?ie=UTF8&qid=1546254215&sr=8-3&keywords=Harry+Thompson

How do I get my child to… (blog post)

How do I get my child to…(YouTube)

LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS:

Website Liveplaylearn.org

Facebook Live. Play. Learn

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Rachel Evans, unschooling parent and advocate from Connect and Respect, joins Heidi Steel this episode, to talk about Deschooling.

We discuss:

· The importance of deschooling, what it is and why we do it.

· The practicalities of deschooling.

· What deschooling looks like for parents, questioning schooled thinking, deconstructing our ideas of learning, and educating ourselves.

· Rebuilding our parent:child relationships, connection and trust through quality time and fun together.

· What deschooling looks like for our children: experimenting with their new freedom, binging on previously restricted activities, responding to restlessness, boredom, lack of motivation, and disengagement.

· How we can trust the process, support our children as they find their own paths, and support our children’s individual journeys.

· The legacy of school based trauma, its ongoing effect on our children’s lives and how it impacts deschooling.

· The rewards of deschooling and healing from school based trauma.

CONNECT WITH RACHEL EVANS HERE:

Facebook Connect and Respect

Connectandrespect.co.uk

JOIN HEIDI STEEL HERE:

Liveplaylearn.org

Facebook Live. Play. Learn

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Iris Chen joins Heidi Steel this month, in a trans-Atlantic episode, to discuss her new book, Untigering.

You can listen to us talk about:

· The impact of our parenting and relationships with our children on our unschooling journeys.

· Prioritising relationships, partnering our children, and fostering a relational paradigm instead of a hierarchical one.

· How we focus on connection, love, enjoyment, belonging, personal significance, meeting needs, and building trust.

· Playing alongside our children.

· Navigating the personal challenges of parenting.

· Embracing incompetence and nurturing our own growth mindset.

· Living in alignment with who we are and who our children are.

· Navigating intergenerational rifts caused by differences in parenting styles.

· How our parenting influences wider society: individual worth, racism, and meritocracy.

· How parenting and unschooling are intertwined.

GUEST MEDIA LINKS:

untigering.com

Untigering book

LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS:

You can read a full book review here: http://liveplaylearn.org/2020/12/30/untigering-by-iris-chen/

Website Liveplaylearn.org

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This months episode introduces us to Naomi Fisher's recently published book Changing our Minds: How Children Can Take Control of Their Own Learning. 

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ORDER NAOMI'S BOOK: https://www.littlebrown.co.uk/titles/naomi-fisher/changing-our-minds/9781472145505/ and other retailers.   

Naomi Fisher and I get together in this months podcast to talk about her book 'Changing Our Minds.'  

 * We discuss how psychology supports the process of Self Directed Education. 

* The role of intrinsic motivation, meaningful learning, and autonomy. 

* Natural development from discovery to mastery learning. 

* The development of transferable skills. 

* Personal awareness, diversity in learning styles and preferences. 

* The hidden curriculum of schools  

You can read a full book review here:

http://liveplaylearn.org/2021/02/06/changing-our-minds-by-naomi-fisher/

Join Heidi Steel from Live.Play.Learn and Alice Khimasia as we discuss Unschooling Teenagers. An episode that predominantly looks at exams,  how unschooled children are equipped to self study,  the options that are open to them if and when they choose to pursue exams, the array of possibilities that are currently available to our teenagers as they look to use their interests, skills and talents in the wider world. Alice can be found at Organic Education and her Tedx talk on unschooling is here https://youtu.be/GFg-4Ez_AKU