The Unschool Space

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

My guest today is Eliza Fricker. Eliza has a 14-year old daughter who is autistic, PDA, and who struggled hugely with school. Eliza spent many years attempting to navigate the education system and advocate for her daughter, but after much frustration and despair, finally decided that leaving mainstream education was the only option. Eliza has published a book called Missing the Mark, in which, through her illustrations, she shows her process of trying to navigate a confusing, system which often fails to embrace neurodivergent children for who they are, focusing instead on the fixing of the child. She has also published The Family Experience of PDA, and a four-part podcast on her family's experiences, and now works to help families who are in a similar position. Today, Eliza shares how life has looked since her daughter left school, and how they embarked on the slow process of healing. Among other things, we chat about the enormous importance of being in the right environment, and how our own deschooling is key to accepting our children just as they are. And, we dream a little about how effective, inclusive learning environments could actually look. I hope you enjoy the conversation. If you'd like to find out more about Eliza or connect with her, you can find her at https://missingthemark.blog/You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

My guest today is Arielle Nobile. Arielle is an artist, musician and filmmaker who lives with her husband and 11-year-old daughter. They moved recently from Illinois to Argentina, where her husband, who is also an artist, is from. Arielle and her family came to unschooling mid-pandemic after a number of years struggling with the school system, and in particular with their daughter being bullied. They made several school changes, and even moved from Colorado to Arielle's native Illinois in search of a better environment. Finally, after witnessing their daughter's stress on returning to school after lockdown they made the choice to deregister her. Among other things, we talk today about how life flows differently when external expectations are removed, finding space for ourselves in our relationships with our children, and how it all always comes back to trust. I hope you enjoy the conversation.Arielle's podcast: https://www.belongingintheusa.com/podcastYou can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

In this episode, I chat with Bria Bloom, from Portland, Oregon. Bria lives with her husband and her 11-year-old stepson, who attends a self-directed education project. I've known Bria for some time through her work as Community Manager for The Alliance for Self-Directed Education (ASDE), but only recently found out that she was unschooled herself.Today, we talk about her experience as an unschooler who went on to university, and how her upbringing has influenced the choices she has made in her life and her parenting. Bria and her husband are expecting a baby this summer, so we also talk about how unschooling starts at birth. From letting go of expectations, creating boundaries for ourselves, asking for help, and trusting the process, we see the same threads weaving their way through childbirth, the baby and toddler years, through to being parents of teenagers. And we talk about the evolution that Bria has seen in unschooling in the US through her work at the Alliance. I hope you enjoy the conversation.You can follow Bria on Twitter: @BriaBloomsFind out more about the ASDE here: https://www.self-directed.orgYou can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

My guest in this episode is Sarah Plazas,  who lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and two children, who are three and five. When her son, Arlo, was three, Sarah and her husband realised that he wasn't coping with the demands and stimulation of preschool. They made the choice to change the way they were living, with both parents moving to part-time work in order to make it possible to have Arlo at home along with his baby sister. Today, we talk about what it means to really respect children as whole beings, and how it actually looks to allow them autonomy over many aspects of their day. And, we discuss what that means for our own lives and how we can bring our full selves to the relationship, ensuring that gentle parenting doesn't also mean sacrificing our own needs and desires. You can find my blog, workshops and courses at:www.esther-jones.comOr, connect with me onInstagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace