Exploring Unschooling

Explore unschooling with Pam Laricchia, unschooling mom and author. Choosing to live and learn without school isn’t as intimidating as you might first imagine. Children really do love learning when it's driven by curiosity rather than curriculum, and the connected and trusting relationships that develop in unschooling families are priceless.

EU392: Unschooling Stumbling Blocks: Strong Beliefs

We are back with another episode in our Unschooling Stumbling Blocks series and this time, we’re talking about unschooling with strong beliefs. Sometimes our strong beliefs can be a stumbling block along our journey when we put the belief ahead of our relationships. When those moments come up in our families, it can help to […]

10-09
28:41

EU132 Flashback: Deschooling Two Cultures with Iris Chen

In this episode, we’re sharing a conversation that Pam had with Iris Chen in 2018. At the time, Iris was new to unschooling her two sons in China and was writing blog posts about her experience at her website, Untigering. Pam and Iris talked about why she and her husband decided to move to China, […]

09-25
58:04

EU391: Foundations: Boundaries, Comfort Zones, and Capacity

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing the next Foundations episode of the Living Joyfully Podcast with Pam and Anna, Boundaries, Comfort Zones, and Capacity. The idea of boundaries comes up pretty often in conventional circles, often through the lens of self-care, encouraging people to set boundaries with their kids, their partners, their parents, and so […]

09-11
34:49

EU390: When School Isn’t Working

We talk about changes you might notice in your child, about the choices that we have when it comes to living and learning, and about the value of community during that big transition away from mainstream schooling.

08-28
30:40

EU110FB: Unschooling Dads and Music with Alan Marshall

In this episode, we’re sharing a conversation that Pam had with unschooling dad Alan Marshall in 2018. At the time, Alan was a professional musician and a university music professor with three kids at home. Pam and Alan talked about his family’s journey to unschooling, his eldest’s transition to junior high, ways to approach music […]

08-14
57:53

EU389: Foundations: Consent and Consensual Living

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing the next Foundations episode of the Living Joyfully Podcast with Pam and Anna, Consent and Consensual Living. Consent is really the backbone of everything we talk about. Everyone, regardless of age, wants agency. When we can shift away from control, because we truly can’t control other people, we move […]

07-31
21:31

EU388: Bids for Connection

Join Pam, Anna, and Erika to talk about bids for connection. John and Julie Gottman from the Gottman Institute coined the term “bids for connection” to describe many moments through our days when people in our lives try to connect with us. In our conversation, we talked about what those bids can look like (sometimes […]

07-17
24:01

EU286 Flashback: Connect with Courage with Roya Dedeaux

This week, we share a conversation that Pam had with Roya Dedeaux in 2021, diving into her book, Connect with Courage. Roya is a grown unschooler, a marriage and family therapist, and an unschooling mom of three, so she has lots of experience to draw from as she considers how children learn and thrive. In […]

07-03
53:36

EU387: Foundations: Seeing Through Someone Else’s Eyes

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing the next Foundations episode of the Living Joyfully Podcast with Pam and Anna, Seeing Through Someone Else’s Eyes. “Seeing through someone else’s eyes” is a shift from the typical phrase, “walking in their shoes.” And it’s a valuable paradigm shift to consider when trying to learn more about the […]

06-19
19:44

EU386: Building Confidence

In this episode, Pam, Anna, and Erika talk about building confidence. We had an interesting month in the Living Joyfully Network recently where we dove deep into this topic and it was fascinating how many layers we found to uncover. In this episode, we talk about letting go of comparisons, cultivating trust in ourselves and […]

06-05
26:27

EU163 Flashback: Growing Up Unschooling with Adrian Peace-Williams

This week, we share a conversation that Pam had with Adrian Peace-Williams back in 2019. At the time, she was 24 years old and in college. Pam and Adrian talked about her childhood unschooling, her choice to go to high school, her years of traveling the world after high school, where she was at the […]

05-22
44:03

EU385: Foundations: People Are Different

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing the next Foundations episode of the Living Joyfully Podcast with Pam and Anna, People Are Different. It’s natural to assume that other people see the world in the same way we do, and that they experience and process things just like we do. But in reality, we are all […]

05-08
17:48

EU384: Unschooling Stumbling Blocks: The Stories We Tell Ourselves

We are back with another episode in our Unschooling Stumbling Blocks series and this time, we’re talking about the stories we tell ourselves. Stories is a topic that comes up a lot in conversations on the Living Joyfully Network. In fact, we had a monthly theme by that name! When we start to get curious […]

04-24
33:14

EU105 Flashback: Unschooling Dads with Nick Hess

In this week’s flashback episode, we’re sharing an interview that Pam had in 2018 with Nick Hess. At the time of the interview, Nick, also known online as The Unschool Dad, and his wife were unschooling their five children. They chatted about about his family’s move to unschooling, what it was about unschooling that resonated […]

04-10
39:05

EU383: Foundations: Connection

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing the next Foundations episode of the Living Joyfully Podcast with Pam and Anna, Connection. How connected we’re feeling to the people in our lives is a helpful barometer of our relationships. Feeling disconnected can be a sign that it’s time to more intentionally cultivate connecting moments. Anna shares one […]

03-27
17:29

EU382: Unschooling Stumbling Blocks: It’s Not the Unschooling

We are back with another episode in our Unschooling Stumbling Blocks series and this time, we’re talking about how it’s not the unschooling! It can be really common for newer unschoolers to blame unschooling for the things that come up in their family lives. Unschooling was a big new change in their lives, and so […]

03-13
27:33

EU036 Flashback: Deschooling with Lauren Seaver

In this week’s flashback episode, we’re sharing an interview that Pam had in 2016 with Lauren Seaver about deschooling. At the time of the interview, Lauren Seaver was an unschooling mom to 9-year-old River. She first considered the possibility of homeschooling way back when she was in college to become a teacher. Life took some […]

02-27
42:04

EU381: Foundations: Priorities

For this week’s episode, we’re sharing the first Foundations episode of the Living Joyfully Podcast with Pam and Anna, Priorities. We are handed a set of priorities by society and our culture, but when we really consider ourselves and our personal values, we can see how individual our priorities can be! When we choose priorities […]

02-13
18:55

EU380: Revitalizing Our Nest

In this episode, Pam, Anna, and Erika talk about revitalizing our nests. Our homes are such an important part of our unschooling lives. We can get open and curious and creatively find ways to make the spaces in our home fit the individual people in our family. After all, people are different! We share examples […]

01-30
30:13

EU379: Unschooling Stumbling Blocks: Personal Hygiene

We are back with another episode in our Unschooling Stumbling Blocks series and we’re talking about personal hygiene. Questions and concerns about hygiene come up regularly in parenting circles and, in unschooling communities, this topic can sometimes trigger fear. We wanted to dive into personal hygiene to address some of the most common areas that […]

01-16
27:53

Sarah Langner

this is absolutely one of my favourite episodes. I've been finding it very difficult lately to keep my mind focused on the long run because right now while our guys deschool all i can see are the things they aren't doing. for example they are immersed in their Nintendo switch and iPads because we have lifted all the limits. I'm a very outdoorsy person and right now my guys don't want anything to do with going outside. This episode has reminded me about being aware schoolish language, that my kids can follow their passions regardless of whether or not it makes me (or anyone else) uncomfortable and that learning really does happen in EVERYTHING! Thank you for your passion and sharing it with us. I'm still so new to unschooling and learning about it. I'm so grateful for people like you and Anna for putting time into sharing your experiences and insights. It truly makes a huge impact.

12-21 Reply

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