Unschooling Conversations

Screen Addiction: How to Support Your Teen's Healthy Relationship with Technology Tea and Guest Episodes are on 'Early Release' to LivePlayLearn Monthly members. You can find out more and join at https://ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn/tiers In this episode Dr Naomi Fisher and Heidi Steel discuss the complexities of Screen Addiction. So, pop the kettle on, grab a cup of tea, and listen in. We jump straight in with answering the question that we all need the answer to: How can we tell if our child is addicted to screens? But you won’t find any gaming shaming here. Listen to the whole conversation if you can, or jump to the part that peeks your interest: 1:00 The signs of screen addiction 9:00 Why do teenagers engage in online gaming with such ferocity? 11:00 Social Media and red flags of negative engagement. 15:00 What to expect and the process of lifting restrictions around screen use, including the myth of self regulation. 29:00 Four Signs that technology use is problematic 32:00 What happens when things go wrong?

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn Lainie Liberti joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about her journey into radical unschooling and her recent book Seen, Heard and Understood. As a result of the 2008 California economy crash, Liberti closed her Los Angeles based branding agency. Liberti and her then 9-year-old Miro decided to “be the change” instead of victims and chose a life of adventure. After, selling all of their possessions, Lainie and her son hit the road for what was to be a one year adventure in 2009. After thirteen years and almost 50 countries, the pair calls Guanajuato, Mexico their home. Lainie published the Amazon best-selling book Seen, Heard & Understood, Parenting and Partnering with Teens for Greater Mental Health in May, 2022. Lainie Liberti is the founder and creator of Transformative Mentoring for Teens that launched in early 2020 offering virtual 1:1 coaching for teens as well as a 12-week course designed to transform lives. Lainie is a certified life coach, specializing in transformational coaching. We discuss: · The cult of busy-ness · The importance of core values within our homes. · What partnership parenting means to us both and the AHA! moments that led us to find a more peaceful and connected way to be with our children. · The art of learning as a by-product of a vibrant, connected life. · The importance of continued support through the adolescent years. · What we as parents can do to continue living in respectful and collaborative families with our teens. · What makes the teen years so extraordinary and the benefits of consciously seeing, hearing and understanding your teens during this time. · And, of course, the all-important tips for parenting through the teen years. GUEST MEDIA LINKS: https://transformativementoringforteens.com/ and my personal facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilainie/ LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn Tamsyn Fortune-Wood joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about her experiences as an unschooled person. We discuss: · Making the decision to Home Educate her own children and ditching those school registration forms in the bin 3:00 · What are the most common questions that Tamsyn is asked when people find out that she was home educated 7:00 · A listener question is answered: What did learning look like for you, including how it changed as you grew up? 9:40 · The experience of structured work and taking exams after being autonomously educated 12:30 · Reflections on interests and life in the former years and any correlations between her life choices now 14:00 · A listener question is answered: How do you feel about the choices your parents made for you? 16:30 · Considering what life would have been like had school been part of childhood 18:00 · How we both respond to our children if/when they are curious about school 20:00 · What Tamsyn thinks she may do differently with her own children 30:00 · A listener question is answered: What are your relationships like between you and your siblings? 33:10 · How home education has influenced and formed a world view 35:00 · What parents really need to know about home education and unschooling 37:30 LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn Summer Jean Campbell joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about her experiences as an unschooled person We discuss: Introducing Summer Jean Campell and welcome to the podcast How Summer spends her days as a grown unschooler 2:00 Reflections on how life would have been different had Summer been in school 4:00 The value of exploring your own pursuits and in your own way 8:00 Seeing the development of skills and knowledge with hindsight 10:00 How to maintain connection and magic of learning 14:00 A personal insight into family relationships past and present 22:00 Discussing extended family dynamics including managing fear and pressure from outside immediate family 27:00 Deschooling ourselves and the journey of self discovery 35:00 The worthless idea of measuring children’s learning and quantifying knowledge 44:00 Tricky subjects of trust and freedom 47:00 How to unschool 55:00 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Summer Jean Campbell LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn Alice Khamisia joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about Creating Community We discuss: · How to begin finding the community that you need and the snowball effect 3:00 · The necessity of finding the right community for encouragement and support 10:00 · Dealing with discouragement, the reality of not having a ready made group given to us, and the effort required from us 12:00 · Our success stories and positive experiences of finding learning communities 13:00 · Genuine relationship building that is enriching 14:00 · Unexpected and unpredictable successes, regular connections and forging relationships 20:00 · Claiming spaces and utilising local hubs and venues 24:00 · The sub-culture that unschooling is and how to find other like-minded families 25:00 · Changing with the seasons of your child’s life and our proactive role 26:00 · Building community 30:00 · Sharing the weight of responsibility, our human need to be in a regular community, sharing time, expertise, knowledge and skills, as well as care for each other 41:00 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Organic Education LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn Rachel Evans joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about How our Children Learn without Curriculums We discuss: · Snapshot of our households 3:00 · What does learning look like? 8:10 · Move from discovery to mastery learning, unconscious and conscious learning · Web of learning and individual learning journeys 12:40 · Creating a rich and supportive environment 14:50 · Knowing our children well 15:30 · A reflective activity when it looks like our children have been only interested in one thing, forever 17:30 · How do our children learn new things without a curriculum to plan content? 18:00 · Supporting children’s learning, linear learning, and the web of learning connections 22:20 · Gaming as a gateway to learning 25:00 · How will children learn everything they need to know? · And, the four things that drive children’s learning 32:00 · Setting the tone for life learning and loving learning beyond the age of 18 46:00 · Intrinsic motivation and removing the judgement, and fear connected with continuously grading, measuring, and evaluating creative work and instead producing it for the passion of doing it 48:00 · Foundational beliefs about how children learn organically 52:00 · Real deep learning that stays for years and leads to further skills, knowledge, and understanding 55:00 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Connectandrespect.co.uk Facebook: Connect and Respect LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Angela Harders joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about Gentle Parenting, our journeys into unschooling, and the importance of community. Angela is a bilingual special education teacher near Washington DC, she has been teaching for over twelve years. She is a single mum to two children, Sophia aged 7, and Benjamin aged 3. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn We discuss: · What a typical unschooling day looks like in Angela’s household 4:00 · UK Guidelines for HE parents and the Local Authority 5:00 · Further info on responding to the LA for UK listeners 12:00 · How gentle parenting led Angela to unschooling 16:00 · How graphing quadratic equations led to Angela to question the education system. · Realising that the decisions that we make today don’t have to be forever 22:00 · The power of observing our children. · The joy of unschooling, sharing life together with our children, and having fun 23:20 · Angela’s top recommendations for those new to unschooling 26:20 · It’s okay to simply do more of the things that you love 30:30 · What caring for ourselves might look like 32:40 · How community support contributes to our self care especially as a single parent 35:00 · The myth of school socialisation 40:00 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Tales of a Toxic Teacher: Exposing the Cycles of Abuse within Our Schools Books Peaceful World Schoolers Podcast RESOURCE LINKS: John Taylor Gatto : Dumbing us down John Holt: How Children Learn Pam Laricchea’s Podcast: Exploring Unschooling The local Authority and Home Education Elective Home Education: Guidance for Parents EHE: Departmental Guidance for Local Authorities LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: Jyoti Imix joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about recording evidence, observing children, and research on Self-Directed Education in light of the Portsmouth Judicial Review. We discuss: · Children’s Rights and advocating for children as a minority group 2:30 · Heidi gives a detail outline of her background 7:30 · PCC Judicial Review 12:00 · What documenting learning could look like 12:50 · Paragraph 94: “As can readily be seen, in the present case the defendant did not reject the claimant's reports because they were not in a particular form. The defendant's concerns were substantive ones. Despite the length of the claimant's reports, they were wholly assertive in nature. They contained nothing by way of actual work produced by the children. To take the example of work on To Kill a Mockingbird, which featured in submissions at the hearing, there was no material showing the degree of comprehension of the appellant's daughter concerning the novel; merely a series of statements from the claimant.” 19:00 · Adulteration and observation change the behaviour of the observed 22:00 · Involving our young people in problem solving and being part of the solution 26:00 · Research and evidence base for self directed education 28:30 · Deschooling 38:50 · Feminist Theory 44:00 · What happens when we remove structure and direction from people’s lives? 48:30 · Anarchist theory and collaboration 52:20 · Fear responses and connecting with our own selves first instead of (over) reacting 57:00 · Focusing on our children and this moment before us in this space 1:00:30 LINKS: PCC Judicial Review Portsmouth Judicial Review decision explained by Fiona Nicholson from edyourself Portsmouth JR summary and read through Summerhill After Summerhill Ivan Illich Deschooling Society Sugata Mitra The hole in the wall Peter Gray Free to Learn 36:30 Gina Riley Unschooling: Exploring learning beyond the classroom 42:00 Suitable-Education website GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Jyotiofferings.com LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Tiersa McQueen joins Heidi Steel, in the first of a double bill, this month, to talk about Unschooling Ourselves. Tiersa is a parent to four unschooled children, living in Florida, and an active unschooling advocate on Twitter. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn We discuss: · How Tiersa came to unschooling 3:40 · How our teens transition to further education 6:50 · The challenging process of changing our mindset 8:00 · How children learn when they are free from school and imposed methods 10:00 · How children naturally utilise the tools of their generation 16:00 · An epic discussion on the laziness of unschoolers and their parents 17:10 · The invalid part that our relationship with our children has to play in unschooling 24:50 · Being open to going with the flow, trusting and respecting one another 25:50 · What the young people in the McQueen family are interested in and learning about 27:00 · How unschooling ourselves has impacted our own lives as well as our families 33:00 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Twitter: tiersaj LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Tiersa McQueen joins Heidi Steel, in the first of a double bill, this month, to talk about Partnering Our Children Tiersa is a parent to four unschooled children, living in Florida, and an active unschooling advocate on Twitter. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn We discuss: · Respectfully and consciously parenting our children 1:00 · Partnering our children and over coming our inadequacy at not knowing everything 5:30 · What knowledge do we need to be able to support our children? 10:00 · The benefits of tuning into ourselves 17:30 · The importance of respecting our children’s decisions especially when they say ‘no’ 30:00 · Unschooling goals and personal goals 39:30 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Twitter: tiersaj LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Krish Khimasia joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about Unschooling Maths. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON KO-FI: https://ko-fi.com/liveplaylearn Krish has been a secondary maths teacher for over twenty years, and with his wife, Alice, an unschooling parent to his four sons now aged 19, 18, 15 and 9. He now teaches at the Secret Garden, an alternative educational provision in the West Midlands. We discuss: · How children will learn the maths that they need for adulthood without explicitly being taught 6:45 · The essential role of play beyond the early years in building strong foundations for complex mathematical concepts 8:30 · What maths actually is, as opposed to what we have been taught that it is 9:30 · How maths is approached in unschooling families 12:20 · How and why play is vital to developing mathematical skills 15:00 · The role of board games, and other regular pastimes, in contributing to our children’s understanding of mathematics. 25:20 · Maths and computer games 32:00 · The concept of slow maths and the work of Jo Boaler 35:20 · How children make the transfer to studying for a GCSE in maths without previous tuition 37:25 · The concept of real life maths problems 42:50 · How useful really is trigonometry? 48:20 · The beauty of maths in nature 52:40 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: You can tune on to more unschooling thoughts from Krish and Alice at Organic Education LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Esther Jones from the podcast Unschool Space joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about Unschooling Ourselves and our own Self Care. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn We discuss: · The return to authenticity and natural living 2.10 · The importance of community 5.00 · Enabling our children to thrive6.20 · Unschooling being the best fit for our neurodivergent children 8.40 · Unschooling being the best way for children to learn about themselves 9.40 · The benefits for autistic PDA individuals 10.30 · What learning looks like, and how intrinsic motivation and discipline are innate tools 20.00 · How unschooling has impacted our lives as adults 23.36 · Trusting our children and cultivating an unschooling attitude 32.30 · Understanding our role 37.45 · The beauty and gift of parenting an autistic PDA individual 38.40 · Meeting everyone’s needs and living together 44.16 · The importance of our own self care 48.40 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: You can listen to Esther talk with a range of guests about unschooling on Unschool Space and read her blog at A Place on a Hill LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

“There is no perfect option but unschooling is as close to perfect as you’re going to get” Gina Riley joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about her academic book on Exploring Unschooling Beyond the Classroom. Gina Riley is an unschooling parent, educational psychologist, and Clinical Professor. She has worked alongside Peter Gray, and is known internationally for her research into Self Directed Learning and unschooling. Her unique perspective on learning as both academic and unschooling parent is invaluable to both communities as she truly understands the choices and the process of alternative education. This is a really exciting episode as Gina has a wealth of experience through her research and own unschooling lifestyle, that she shares with us so generously. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn We discuss: · An unschooler’s first day at school: the adjustment and transition 1:50 · Unschooling as a single mum, working and studying herself 3:50 · Gina’s personal path to unschooling 6:50 · Gina’s research into intrinsic motivation and how it relates to unschooling 8:50 · Defining unschooling 13:30 · What learning looks like outside of the classroom 14:35 · Talking about her grown unschooled son and reflecting on the elements of learning that were present in former years, now in adulthood 18:50 · The challenges, benefits, and negative experiences of grown unschoolers 30:30 · What are the best parts of unschooling? 35:40 · Recommended books and resources 39:40 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Unschooling: Exploring Learning Beyond the Classroom, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in July 2020. Grown unschoolers’: Evaluations of their unschooling experiences Peter Gray and Gina Riley LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Jenna Reich from Rogue Learner joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about our own path to unschooling. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn We discuss: · What drives teachers to unschool their own children 2:15 · Evaluating our life goals and values 5:30 · Taking back control over our own lives, freedom, flexibility and following our intuition 6:30 · The Path to unschool; where do we find out more? 8:15 · Tears and pain in home ed, finding an alternative, and consistently choosing joy 10:55 · One size does not fit all; The flexibility of unschooling and responding to our children’s individuality 11:35 · Jenna shares her globe trotting story 12:30 · What inspired us to unschool? 14:10 · Removing hierarchical thinking from our lives 19:40 · Meritocracy and defining “better” 23:30 · Enabling decision making skills in young people 31:40 · Where we started when beginning our journey into unschooling 39:45 · Changes we noticed in family dynamics and our individual children 51:44 · Unschooling ourselves and the impact on adult relationships 54:00 · The unschooling journey 1:04:45 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: Facebook Rogue Learner Podcast RESOURCES Peter Gray Free To Learn (book) Pam Laricchia Free To learn (book) John Holt How Children Learn (book) LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn Sarah Beale joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about Ditching the Rules We discuss: · Making connections, friends and building community 0:50 · Ditching the rules and defining a pancake 4:10 · Fear based decision making and childism 10:15 · Introducing ourselves and the podcast 15:30 · Parenting success 17:30 · At what point do we need a rule? 21:30 · Drawing on the wall and unpacking our programming 26:00 · What it means to partner our children 31:00 · Taking ‘no’ of the table and saying ‘yes’ instead 37:05 · How our children respond to non-arbitary rules and real-life situations aka going to grandma’s house 38:35 · Growing in our own freedom, questioning the rules and becoming ourselves 50:00 GUEST MEDIA LINKS: https://www.renegademum.com/ LIVEPLAYLEARN LINKS: Website Liveplaylearn.org Facebook Live. Play. Learn YouTube Live Play Learn

Kelly Humphrey joins Heidi Steel this month, to talk about the role of play beyond the Early Years. SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn 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: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn 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 YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn 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: https://www.patreon.com/liveplaylearn 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 YouTube Live Play Learn

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON PATREON: liveplaylearn 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 YouTube Live Play Learn