Today I’m chatting with Claire Windmill who lives in Devon in the UK with her husband and two children, who are seven and nine. Claire was a social worker and early years teacher and is now a parenting mentor and coach. She shares how her family came to unschooling after taking some time out to travel and they realised how much happier and less stressed their children were out of school. We talk about the impact that messages around fitting in and what’s right and what’s wrong can have on children, and what it can look like when children are free to learn and explore. And, of course, we talk about how it all feels for the parent and the difficult work of finding our own balance in all of this, and the huge value of rest and self compassion.

Connect with Claire:
on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clairewindmill/
website: https://clairewindmill.com/

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

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

My guest today is Robyn Tamlin-Lea. Robyn is South African but now lives in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, with her husband and two children who are seven and three and a half. Robyn took her daughter out of school when she saw that already at a very early age, there was a strong narrative around academic expectations and her daughter not doing well enough. We talk about how when we sit back and observe, there is so much learning happening all the time, and how beyond the academic learning, living in this way with our children allows us to value so many other things, such as rest, learning about our own rhythms, and recognising and meeting our own needs.

Connect with Robyn on Instagram

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

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

This episode, I’m chatting with Danii Oliver, who lives in Texas with her husband and two children who are almost 6 and 11. Danii shares her story of leaving New York City behind in search of something new for and her and family, and to live a more gentle and connected life, which they now do on their permaculture farm in Texas. We talk about the deschooling process and how, even though Danii was clear from the start that they would unschool, it still took her a lot of work to unravel the deep conditioning she had from her Caribbean childhood and her own school experiences. There’s so much in this episode, but I think the main message is that we have to trust and let go in order to really see our children and allow them to be who they are. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

You can follow Danii here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kidofamilyranch
Website: http://www.unschooldiscoveries.com/

Danii's book. Unschool Discoveries is available on her website

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

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

In this episode. I’m delighted to chat with Heidi Steel who was first on the podcast in 2021. Heidi is a former teacher and has four children who are 16, 15, 12 and 9 and who have never been to school. Heidi shares what unschooling looks like for her family and we talk about the enormous value of play in children’s learning and development. And, amongst other things we also discuss how valuing our children’s voices and opinions over compliance is essential for them as they get older, and how living in this consensual way with our children can be far more joyful for everyone. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Connect with Heidi
Website: https://liveplaylearn.org
Instagram: @liveplaylearn1
Podcast: unschooling conversations

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

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

Once in a while it felt like it could be helpful to take a moment to answer some of the most common questions that I get. Of course, every family is completely different, so if any of these questions or worries are relevant to you, you might want to take my thoughts as a hopefully useful starting point for your own reflections.

Let me know if this is helpful for you and if you’ve any particular questions you’d like to hear discussed in the future. You can drop me a line at contact@esther-jones.com

So, today, I am going to dive into four questions that come up a lot

- What if my children don’t want to do anything?
- What about exams or if they want to go back to school?
- What if my partner isn’t on board?
- What can I do if I'm feeling tired or lonely?

In this episode, I mention Peter Gray. You can find his blog on Psycology Today here and the link to his research about grown unschoolers here.

You can also find The Unschool Space episode in which Peter Gray was a guest here.

And, the episodes of The Unschool Space in which I talk with fathers are:
#10 Unschooling teens, the importance of mental health, and a father's perspective, with Anthony Eldridge-Rogers
#17 The right environment and lots of trust - two essential ingredients for unschooling with autism/PDA, with Simon Crummay
#52 Intentional deschooling and lining up with our values, with Daniel Moeller in Pennsylvania

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

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

My guest today is Adrienne Miller who lives in Vancouver with her husband and three children who are 10, 7 and 4. Adrienne was a teacher, and realised when her oldest child turned school age that it wasn’t a choice they wanted for him. After growing up in a strict, religious home, Adrienne also shares her journey of unravelling her deep conditioning, and the freedom it has given her and her family. And we chat about natural learning, trusting our children and lots more. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

Connect with Adrienne on Instagram

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

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

In this episode, I’m chatting with Julie Walter from Ontario, Canada. Julie has three children who are 9, 11 and 13 and have never been to school. As a former teacher, Julie talks about how impacted she was by the differences between the resistant nature of learning in a classroom and the kind of natural learning she was seeing unfolding happily at home.

We talk about what it means to accompany our children in this journey, and why our relationships with our children are at the heart of this. And, we talk about how we can stay trusting during the inevitable ebbs and flows and quiet moments, and how deep our own deschooling journeys often need to go.

You can connect with Julie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/familyyields/

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

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

My guest today is Missy Willis from Charlotte, North Carolina. Missy is a former teacher who lives with her husband and two children, who are now 21 and 16. They chose to unschool when their eldest child reached school age as it felt like a better fit for their family. Missy’s experience in the classroom as a teacher had also made her question a model in which adult coercion was understood to be essential in learning.

We talk about the fear many parents have in the beginning and how important it is to hear other people's stories. We also talk about how we can support our children with compassion and curiosity and let go of the need to control outcomes. And, Missy shares how she sees how this way of living has allowed her children to become practised at touching in with their own values and knowing what’s important to them.

Connect with Missy
Instagram - @letemgobarefoot
Website - https://letemgobarefoot.com/

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

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