The Unschool Space

Today, I’m chatting with Lainie Liberti. Lainie is originally from California, but, in 2008, decided to go travelling with her 9-year-old son for a year. She closed the business she had been running for some years and took her son out of school. He is 24 now and they never went back. They’ve travelled extensively, given a Ted talk together on worldschooling, and they now both live in Mexico. Lainie has recently published a book about partnership parenting with teenagers, and she and her son run twice-yearly retreats for teenagers. Today, Lainie shares her experiences of travelling with her son, her realisations around learning and education, and how, as parents, we have the obligation to dig deep into our own conditioning in order to allow our children to be  free to be their authentic selves. And, of course, Lainie shares some of her insights around parenting teenagers. Find out more about Lainie's work here: https://projectworldschool.comTedX talk by Lainie and her son, Miro:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH-kQJ10WWoContact Lainie on Instagram: @ilainieYou can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

My guest today is Marni Kammersel from Boulder, Colorado. Marni lives with her husband and three children, who are 13, 10 and 6. She tells us about her family’s recent transition from an eclectic homeschool style to full-on unschooling, a move inspired by her oldest entering his teens, and her youngest having a huge need for autonomy. We talk about how nuanced some of this shift can be, and how so much of it is more about our intention than what we actually do. She also talks about how dropping time limits on screen use was a major part of this shift, and her observations on how that is playing out with her children. You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

Today I’m chatting with Erin Rosemond in Ontario, Canada. Erin has four children, who are now aged between 17 and 23. Erin came to unschooling when her oldest child reached school age, after connecting with home educating parents and realising that school would be a bad fit for her son. Today we talk about what unschooling looks like as our children get older. How highly individualised it is to each child and their particular interests, and how their own motivation moves them naturally forward on their path. We also talk about our changing roles as parents and what it means to look after ourselves whilst accompanying our children on their journeys.You can follow Erin on Instagram at @_everlearning_You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

Today, I’m chatting with Katy, who lives in Connecticut with her husband, her five year old son and her two year old daughter. Katy and her family have just started out on their unschooling journey. As a teacher for many years, Katy had frequently felt uneasy about many aspects of mainstream education, but felt she had no other option for her children. When her son began preschool she realised how bad a fit for him school would be and that they had to look at alternatives.   We talk today about how deeply conditioned we are by our time at school, how the school lens can negatively affect how we see and interact with our children, and how unschooling our children can lead us to rediscovering ourselves and living in a more connected way.You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

My guest today is Emily Ghassempour. Emily has a son and a daughter, who are 8 and nearly 6, and they left mainstream school just six months ago. School had become a source of extreme stress for the whole family. Daily meltdowns and anxiety finally culminated in the children refusing to go to school and in the family’s decision that they had to try something else. The children now go to the self-directed East Kent Sudbury School three days a week. Emily describes the changes she’s seen as they have relaxed into living and learning naturally, and how she feels as though she has finally got her children back. We talk about deschooling, healing from school trauma, and how liberating it is for everyone to step off the treadmill. You can find Emily on Instagram at @home_ed_with_em_You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

My guest today is Ann Hansen from Oregon. Ann has two sons, who are now 19 and 20. They went to an alternative school for a couple of years but decided to try out unschooling and were immediately hooked. Besides teaching yoga, Ann now works as a coach with other families who choose not to take the mainstream route. Today Ann reflects on what she learned during those unschooling years and how having the freedom to choose their paths has given her sons the tools to navigate life according to their own needs and desires. We also talk about what we need to support ourselves on this journey.You can connect with Ann on Instagram @innerparentcoaching or at https://www.innerparentcoaching.com/You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

This week I’m chatting with Melissa Crockett-Joyoue from New Zealand. Melissa lives with her wife Doria and their two children, who are 7 and 4. Their journey to unschooling began about a year ago because their son, who is diagnosed dyslexic and gifted found school extremely difficult and stressful. Both Melissa and Doria have also had life-threatening health issues which have impacted the children and led to severe separation anxiety. We talk about Melissa’s deschooling experiences, how unschooling is helping her family to heal from their recent trauma and upheaval, and how learning about our children helps us to discover ourselves. You can find Melissa on Instagram:@mama.weaves@weave_NDYou can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

My guest today is Iris Chen, author of the wonderful book, Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent. Iris and her husband have two boys, who are 12 and 14, and in the book Iris charts her journey from strict, perfectionist mother to advocate of peaceful parenting and unschooling. Iris is Chinese American, as is her husband, so her book addresses the cultural conditioning that she had to shed in order to parent in a way that felt truly coherent to her. Among other things, we talk about how we can go about untangling all our own conditioning, how to hold ourselves with compassion as we do the work, and the healing that naturally arises from the work. I hope you enjoy the conversation,You can find out more about Iris' work at https://untigering.comIris' book is available on Amazon. You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

A few people have asked me to talk about my journey so, in this episode, my good friend Nicola Corcoran is taking over as host, and is interviewing me : ) Nicola has two children, who are 19 and 16, and she and I often enjoy long conversations pondering our experiences as mothers, and as people in the world, so it's a delight to have this conversation with her today.We talk about how my family came to unschooling and all the unraveling I've had to do of my own beliefs around children and education. We also talk about the things we need in order to sustain and nurture ourselves as we hold space for our children to be and grow. If you’d like to hear more about Nicola’s story you can hear her in Episode #2 of The Unschool Space. I hope you enjoy the conversation.You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

Today, I’m chatting with Jane Evans from New Zealand. Jane has three adult children, who are now 23, 21 and 18. We talk about how important it is to trust our children and the choices they make, and how learning can just take so many forms. And, we reflect on how vastly different each person’s path will be if it comes from their own deep knowing. As always we dip into the topic of tending ourselves too, and the importance of investing time in our own happiness, not just to strengthen our capacities, but also because whether we like it or not, we are always an example for our children. Jane has recently written a book about her family’s unschooling journey, called Natural Learning. The Unschooling Life, and we also talk about what motivated her to share her family’s story. You can connect with Jane on Instagram  You can find Natural Learning. The Unschooling Life on Amazon.comYou can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace