Fare of the Free Child

This week, Akilah talks about how Jamaican cultural icon and folklorist, Dr. Louise "Miss Lou" Bennett-Coverley influences her unschooling approach to parenting. She also discusses how discipline can be deschooled to embrace a whole-person, decolonized approach to making life changes. An announcement for an Atlanta open house is also in the mix, plus plenty more. Come sit with us. Suppor...

We're talking parenting patois, patronage, unschooling progress, in-person meetups, and plenty more today. This is a mash-up episode, where I'm sharing a little bit of a lot. Enjoy! Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we can keep this thang going strong. Thank you! The Raising Free People Practice Card Deck https://schoolishne...

In episode 45, I answer a question from someone who attended my unschooling webinar today. She asked about the process of going from homeschooling to unschooling, and I expound on a response from a longtime unschooler inside the webinar. Plus, I give an overview of unschooling, so don't miss those details. Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to...

When Maleka Diggs moved to an affluent Philadelphia neighborhood so that she and her husband could get their daughters into the best school, she was shocked to face racism from the school's principal. Soon after, she set out to create the sort of academic and community-centered environment she wanted for her daughters, instead of trying to fit them into the school's culture. Eclectic Lea...

Do unschoolers study? Is there a curriculum in unschooling? In this episode, Marley, a 13-year-old unschooler who happens to be my daughter discusses her current curriculum. She is deeply immersed in dance/performance, writing/research, and game design. Find out how structure develops naturally, how we address personality conflicts, and of course, we offer laughter and good vibes all up and throug...

In this episode, Tennessee-based edupreneur, Sonia LeBlanc, brings us personal insights along with solid statistics about the southern United State’s school classifications and exemptions. She talks about how to Start a School in Nashville, Tennessee, specifically a Sudbury Valley School (a democracy-focused Self-Directed Education center) in Nashville. We learn how in Maryland, for example, peopl...

In this episode, I talk with my sister-friend, Veronica, a retired servicewoman who now calls Atlanta home. “A majority of young adults, like me, spend their late teens and early 20’s grooming themselves into who they desire to be and stripping away the collected ways of everyone else. What I’ve heard it most referred to as is the time that most children rebel against their parents but it’s far fr...

Yolonda Jones: creative spirit. writer. professional photog.professional natural hair stylist. professional singer. professional black girl as Dr. Yaba Blay would say. Yolonda’s crown rises high like her ambitions and her intentions. She and her partner, her husband, Will, are raising 4 free people, two daughters and twin sons, while simultaneously raising themselves as creatives, as business owne...

In this episode, Los Angeles-based natural learning advocate, Genesis Ripley, talks about the myriad of ways the liberated parenting journey has changed her for the better. She shares some of the ways it helps to grow her and heal her relationships. The reality for Genesis is that this approach to parenting and living is helping her to better understand herself and the people she spend time. I can...

13-year-old unschooler, Marley Richards, talks about her experiences with facing fears, navigating new territories, and making new friends across South Africa. Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we can keep this thang going strong. Thank you! The Raising Free People Practice Card Deck https://schoolishness.com/market/rfp-a-practice-dec...

This episode, Akilah's special guest is Kris Richards, her husband. Listen in as they talk about their experience at Re-Imagined Learning Center run by two young, Self-Directed Education advocates, CheVanni and Sebastian David. They'll also answer a patron's question about how the manage to live the digital nomad lifestyle. Great conversation with lots of takeaways to feel through....

In episode 36, Atlanta-based military veteran and entrepreneur, Veronica Ashley, talks about being an unschooling adult. Veronica spent a few days with Marley and Sage (my daughters), and saw quite a few parallels between her own journey to a greater leadership role in her own life. In learning more about herself, freeing her mind from much of the training and trauma that cost her so much, Veronic...

Here’s the story about how a Nuyorican woman who worked atNew York University as a social justice coach for educators is now living a life that evolved from a great career nestled inside academia into now unschooling her two Afro-Latinx sons, Judah and Keanu, along with her Trinidadian husband, Shane. Unschooling, as you’ve heard me say since the very first episode of Fare of the Free Child, is a...

In this episode, we connect with an African-American living in Africa. Kaylan’s story is very much about about directing her own path, going against the norm to  design a liberatory practice that for her meant exploring life outside of corporate America and the standard American dream. She runs a blog titled African-American in Africa, which is where I first learned about Kaylan. She is now marrie...

Atlanta and DC-based travel industry professional and Self-Directed Education loving Mama, Kenya Scott joins us once again. Her son has been benefiting from SDE as a learner over at Heartwood ALC, and in this episode, we chop it up about socio-economic misconceptions, respectability politics, some pretty important shifts in perspective, and so much more. It’s always a pleasure to vibe with Kenya;...

My initial motivation for inviting Tia Cunningham to the show was that she is an unschooler based in Charlotte NC who connected locally with another unschooler from the show, Yanira Castro from episode 5 titled SDE Communities. They posted a picture on Facebook of their newly formed unschooling group for Black and Brown folks, and they were connected with some other folks, shout out to Zuli who hi...

In this episode, we come real plain with it. I’m happy to offer up this dialogue where one return guest and one new one are brave enough and human enough to nurture safe space with me. Anthony Galloway was on episode 19. He is one of the founders of Heartwood Agile Learning Center in Clarkston, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He’s a graduate of Morehouse College, a believer in nurturing learning, an...

New Patron, Amy Carpenter asks: How can white unschooling families best support and make space for Black unschooling families without being intrusive? She is a white unschooler who has been in communities where she wanted to do more for people of color in Self-Directed Education, but wasn't sure how to go about doing that. I address that issue with responses and recommendations. Support the s...

25-year-old wife and mama, Moya Kelly, and I have this beautiful intergenerational conversation around mothering and deschooling ourselves, and giving our children room to guide us. Part I is about self-mothering, mostly, and part 2 goes into the focus on education and what real learning can look like for a younger child (her son, Jordan is 2), including the ways that daycare or preschool can hind...

On this episode, Atlanta-based wellness entrepreneur, Chante’ Smith, talks about how she and her partner facilitate multiple learning paths within their household. Their children, Chloe (11), S'vaan (9), and Sekou (4) are teaching the adults in their home exactly what they need to thrive. We also talk about early diagnosis of Asperger’s, learning to trust ourselves and children, and practicin...

Black parents know the confidence and strong sense of autonomy that we work toward as we raise our children can be difficult to impart when our race puts our children at risk. On this episode, I hold space for the parents and community members who grapple with the conflicting feelings of trying to raising free people while feeling afraid for the safety of our children. With the obvious disregard f...

In this episode, I'm pushing you a bit. Maybe more than a bit. The invitation here is one of accountability and self-inquiry, something I think is vital for us to move from talking to changing. For sure, dialogue is a powerful and perhaps a necessary catalyst for change and movement. But we can't stop there. So as you listen and you feel moved and motivated by what you hear from the folk...

In this episode, Atlanta based Edupreneur, Dr. Scott Speed, and I speak on systems thinking, why there is no such thing as a “good public school,” shifting our focus from institutions to individuals and communities, social constructs, global indoctrination, capitalism as a barrier to seeking change, reclaiming intuition, eradicating white supremacy, and actively moving toward change. Support the s...

Lane Santa Cruz: E udeve-opata, revolutionary m/othering jotx, deschooler, bicis. In this episode, we're taking a deep dive into the idea of bodily autonomy and the skewed ideas we pass on to children. in other words, the ways we participate in the oppression of our own people; our children, our partners, all of it. This episode is really gonna give you some opportunities to feel through oppr...

Moji Katu, a birthworker/doula and new unschooling parent, talks about decolonizing the mind, mothering ourselves, and reaching back, Sankofa-style, to access the old wisdom and honor the old traditions that have served women for centuries. Her initiative, Wise African Women, will begin in her come country of Benin, and will be shared via social media, in efforts to reconnect women of color to wel...