The Unschool Space

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The Unschool Space

Esther Jones

94 episodes

4 days ago

I’m really happy to be talking today with Holly from South Wales, who I first spoke to two years ago. We talk in depth about Holly’s experiences of accompanying her children through burnout and emotional distress. We talk about how unschooling can offer us the time and space to do this in a far more compassionate way than our society preaches, and how as adults we are often programmed to just keep rushing and pushing through. Holly shares how her own recent experiences also offered her a deep...

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I’m really happy to be talking today with Holly from South Wales, who I first spoke to two years ago. We talk in depth about Holly’s experiences of accompanying her children through burnout and emotional distress. We talk about how unschooling can offer us the time and space to do this in a far more compassionate way than our society preaches, and how as adults we are often programmed to just keep rushing and pushing through. Holly shares how her own recent experiences also offered her a deep...

Show more...

Episodes (20/94)

The Unschool Space

#94 Journeys from burnout to recovery, with Holly from South Wales

I’m really happy to be talking today with Holly from South Wales, who I first spoke to two years ago. We talk in depth about Holly’s experiences of accompanying her children through burnout and emotional distress. We talk about how unschooling can offer us the time and space to do this in a far more compassionate way than our society preaches, and how as adults we are often programmed to just keep rushing and pushing through. Holly shares how her own recent experiences also offered her a deep...

4 days ago

55 minutes

The Unschool Space

#93 The courage to step into the unknown, with Claire Gillespie in Hertfordshire, UK

I’m delighted to welcome back Claire Gillespie, who was a guest on the podcast almost two years ago. Claire lives in the UK with her husband two sons who are 15 and 17 and who left the school system around six years ago. Claire now works as a coach and also runs a creative business called The Cardboard Shed. Today we talk about why it takes so much courage to leave mainstream school, even when it isn’t working, and how taking that step caused such a huge shift in her own life. We also talk ab...

2 weeks ago

53 minutes

The Unschool Space

#92 Unschooling our autistic children–finding joy in the unknowing, with Mariam Carter in Southern California

Today I’m with Mariam Carter who lives in Southern California with her husband and two sons, who are 12 and 9. Their oldest son is autistic and the family’s jouney to unschooling journey began during the pandemic. Mariam describes the shift she had to make from equating life success with academic achievement, what it means to trust the journey when your child learns differently, and how her job as a mental health therapist is such a parallel journey. And we talk about what it means to crea...

1 month ago

47 minutes

The Unschool Space

#91 From London to Silicon Valley, with Makeba Garraway, US

My guest today is Makeba Garraway. Originally from the UK, Makeba moved to Silicon Valley with her husband and two children who are now 12 and 9, seven years ago. They came to unschooling after realising that mainstream school did not feel like a good fit for their eldest and not finding any alternative either. Makeba worked as a doctor in the UK and we talk about that shift to no longer working, and what it meant to take a new look at an education system that she had outwardly thrived in. An...

1 month ago

46 minutes

The Unschool Space

#90 From falling apart to building something new, with Nicola Leyland, UK

My guest in this episode is Nicola Leyland. Nicola has two children who are now 19 and 17. Her journey to unschooling began when her son was just eight years old and had an accident that resulted in a brain injury. Nicola talks about her experience of seeing everything fall apart, and her son’s traumatic return to school, and the consequences of following what others said she should do rather than what she felt was right. And she shares the journey of taking her children out of school and slo...

2 months ago

41 minutes

The Unschool Space

#89 Living in alignment: from school to unschool to worldschool, with Ivana Petersen in Denmark

My guest this episode is Ivana Petersen, who is from Croatia and her husband is from Denmark. They have three children who are 13, 10 and 7. They took their eldest two children out of school six years ago, feeling burnt out by the stress and lack of connection of modern life. Ivana describes the healing journey that took place as they searched for a more authentic and aligned way to live. From there it became a natural progression to unschooling and then finally to worldschooling. The family ...

2 months ago

43 minutes

The Unschool Space

#88 Finding trust in our own paths, with Esther Grimes in Australia

Today I am chatting with Esther Grimes, who lives in Australia with her husband, and three sons, who are 1, 4 and 8. Although Esther and her husband were already looking at less conventional ways to live as a family, they hadn’t questioned school. It wasn’t until it became very clear that their oldest son couldn’t cope with school that they started to figure out another way. We talk about their journey to unschooling, how hard it can be to step away from the well trodden path and how life loo...

3 months ago

43 minutes

The Unschool Space

#87 From organic fruit farming to worldschooling, with Irene Genelin in Minnesota, US

My guest today is Irene Genelin from Minnesota. Irene and her husband used to have an organic fruit farm, but sold that a few years ago to travel almost full time with their daughter, who is now 10. We talk about how they came to that decision, how they organise their travels and what community looks like on the road. As well as what learning looks like for their daughter and the kinds of things that come up that still require some unravelling. Here's a link to the episode of Irene's po...

3 months ago

43 minutes

The Unschool Space

#86 Putting our children's mental health and happiness first, with Lizz Mears in Dorset, UK

In this episode I am chatting with Lizz Mears from Dorset in the UK. Lizz has two children, who are 21 and 13. After many difficult school years that took their toll on her older child and on herself, Lizz chose to take her younger child out of school when she was unable to cope with the move to secondary. Amongst lots of other things, we talk about how they transitioned from a more curriculum style learning to unschooling, and the challenges that came with letting go of how we think le...

4 months ago

41 minutes

The Unschool Space

#85 Slowing it all right down, with Ruth Macallan in Zambia

My guest today is Ruth Macallan, who I also chatted with in episode 54. Ruth is originally from the UK but she and her family live for most of the year in Zambia where her husband runs an NGO. Today, amongst other things, we talk about boredom and how to help our children navigate those tricky moments, and we talk about the huge value in just slowing down and enjoying the present moment. And, Ruth tells us about their unschooling life in Zambia. I hope you enjoy the conversation. Connect wi...

4 months ago

46 minutes

The Unschool Space

#84 Intentional living and learning in the Canadian Boreal Forest, with Erin Cummings in Ontario

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 experie...

5 months ago

49 minutes

The Unschool Space

#83 Redefining success and learning to trust our children, with Dana Huraimi in Dubai

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 abo...

5 months ago

40 minutes

The Unschool Space

#82 Slowing down and watching life and learning unfold. With Fiona Sim in Scotland

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 w...

6 months ago

41 minutes

The Unschool Space

#81 Unravelling our old narratives, with Leila in Melbourne, Australia

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 con...

6 months ago

45 minutes

The Unschool Space

#80 Making unschooling work for the whole family, with Cyrielle in Ontario, Canada

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...

7 months ago

39 minutes

The Unschool Space

#79 The freedom of embracing our children and ourselves for who we are, with Nora McDonald in Costa Rica

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...

7 months ago

50 minutes

The Unschool Space

#78 When unschooling is a healing journey, with Essie Richards in Cornwall, UK

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 unsch...

8 months ago

53 minutes

The Unschool Space

#77 Following the golden threads, with Shannon Stoltz in Houston, Texas

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 ...

9 months ago

50 minutes

The Unschool Space

#76 Life and learning alongside John Holt, with Pat Farenga in Massachusetts, US

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 thi...

9 months ago

46 minutes

The Unschool Space

#75 Following our own rhythms—unschooling with PDA, with Rose from Oxfordshire, UK

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...

9 months ago

56 minutes