Fare of the Free Child

Listen to clips from three upcoming Raising Free People Network podcast series, and then let's talk about trust issues in our relationships with children and ourselves. All of this is part of an ongoing movement toward normalized liberation for black people and for people of color the world over, who commit to forming community around raising free people. The series will be hosted by Daritcia...

This week I'm sharing my plans to expand the Fare of the Free Child unschooling podcast community! I'll be producing a set of short-run series (podcasts that have a small, set number of episodes), and co-facilitating some Self-Directed Education training, and you should be part of that mix. I'll tell you how to get involved in those projects, and you'll meet Anjel Berry, a moth...

Self-care in Black motherhood looks different than it would for other mothers. Charlotte-based yogi, Kelley Carboni-Woods, aka Peace Filled Mama, is an entrepreneur, hair stylist, and yoga teacher who believes in using yoga as a means of claiming freedom and healing from trauma. Kelley is clear that the freedom of her two sons depends, in part, on her ability to heal. Referencing the daily systemi...

Free SDE Tuition? Making Self-Directed Education more accessible? Yes! But don't let the word free fool you. There is a major investment and potentially huge payoff to this particular solution to making SDE more accessible. Atiba Nicholas and Dr. Scott Speed founded Grow, a self-directed community for families to partner with their children for life and learning opportunities. Based in East P...

Trudi Lebron is the first to tell you she's an excellent student. She is currently pursuing a Ph. D. and that level of commitment didn't start in adulthood. In fact it started in her humble beginnings as a high-school dropout who had two sons by the time she was 17.Trudi felt that the world had given up on her, but she was sure that her sons deserved a mother who was happy and fulfilled,...

Atlanta parents, educators, and caregivers gathered in Clarkston for the first Liberation and Education Summit on February 3 of this year. Unschoolers, homeschoolers, and various families and individuals in self-directed and alternative education convened to discuss the ways social justice is, and can be even more deliberately, part of our movement toward raising happy, conscious, well-quipped peo...

Wakanda--the country where a brilliant young girl runs the country's technology, a young, newly-made king decides that some aspects of his culture and tradition are ready for change, and gender equity is fully recognized; Wakanda is clearly the place to be! In this episode I'll share some of my favorite unschooling moments, and some of Atlanta's most excited Black Panther movie fans...

Yolanda V. Acree is the founder of Black Minimalists and believer in Black liberation. She is part of a growing group of People of Color who choose to live simply, and to own their freedom by breaking out of standard, oppressive ideas and lifestyles. Yolanda is a digital nomad currently living in Mexico, and growing her tribe of liberation-minded people. The Black minimalism movement welcomes all...

New Jersey-based entrepreneur, Kim Hester and her husband Jamal, decided that Self-Directed Education is the best way for them to give their daughter, SaHura, a shot at confident autonomy. They're new to unschooling, but not to deschooling, because they've been helping their community deschool their relationships with food and their bodies.  Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-...

In this episode, Ieishah Clelland talks to us about transience, self-mothering, and the importance of forgiving ourselves. We explore healing work that happens through parenting as well, and you'll hear how Ieishah's intuition-driven travels were more than merely wanderlust, and actually how she made room for her husband and their daughters to manifest in her life. Oh, and we give major...

Moji Yai—the Benin-born, Gainesville-based unschooling parent, doula, and budding herbalist—came up with her own title for this episode—Time, Progress, and White Supremacy—because those are at the center of her WHY around Self-Directed Education. She talks about how much the decision to prioritize deschooling offers her a sort of reclamation of self, time, and power, and there is so much goodness...

In this episode, Atlanta-based SDE facilitator and education entrepreneur, ANTHONY GALLOWAY II, speaks on moving past the mental aspect of self-care over to the literal practice. You'll also learn about two Atlanta events in support of Self-Directed Education, both of which Anthony is playing a major role in bringing to the city. Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family...

In this episode, Atlanta-based ZAHRA ALABANZA talks about how her bike and her passport give afford her the messy divinity of mothering and activism. It's the second track on the Deschooling Release Party Mixtape. 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 Pra...

Yolonda Coles Jones on deschooling and self-care through the practice of noticing. 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-deck/ Peek at the details of Personal Manifesto Path (will be available exclusiv...

As an unschooling adult (whether parent or facilitator) you are not just managing children, you are leading sometimes. And you are also following sometimes for sure. But, you are in a position of power by way of access to more resources, greater mobility, broader life context (which has its benefits in some instances). How will you lead? How will you lead you? What will that look like next year in...

Self-Directed Education as a means of dismantling white supremacy and raising free people--that's the work of two Latinx women living in West Seattle. Listen to their story and see how you can be part of creating a learning space where equity and education are inseparable parts of daily growth. Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure w...

This episode, I offer some tips for managing the types of family members who insist on you or your child explaining this homeschooling or self-directed education route. A few gentle reminders and a couple brilliant resources, that's what this episode is for. Plus, I talk about my NPR debut, and tell you how to join my webinar tribe. Enjoy! Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happ...

Earlier this year, someone asked me what I envisioned the world to look like if Self-Directed Education was a much more normal part of everyday life for all communities. This episode discusses three aspects of SDE in everyday life—funding, community, and confidence. In this episode, I talk about those aspects, including some of the people (Issa Rae and Auntie Oprah, for starters) who embody that,...

In this episode, I'm breaking bread with Atlanta-based wife, mother, and Sudbury School of Atlanta Board Chair, Patty Zavala. We talk about ways to build communication channels among people, so that we resort less to police intervention, and more toward humanized, liberatory ways of living in our communities. You'll hear why the Sudbury model is a great fit for her family, and why she mo...

One year later, Monique is back on the podcast telling us what's happening for her and Pharaoh as they tackle Sickle Cell, Hypertension, and other related illnesses. These roadblocks make life harder, but Monique still finds ways to practice liberated living. This is inspiring; come listen! Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to make sure we ca...

If you are a parent testing out Self-Directed Education (SDE) spaces, or you’re in one such space, but struggling with feelings that the facilitators should do MORE with your child—or that they should INTERVENE if your child isn’t doing ENOUGH of something constructive —this segment is for you! Also, if you’re a facilitator or volunteer in a natural learning space and you need some not-quite gentl...

Listen in as one Black, queer family learns how to unlearn their ideas about the purpose of schooling, and shift over to an educational and life path that encourages self-love, cultural awareness, and social justice. She and her wife, Summer, are raising both a conventional schooler and an unschooler (who is only 4). Their family is learning and unlearning, schooling and deschooling, and you get t...

Unschooling is really not about education. It’s about what Rastafarians like to call a LIVITY—a conscious way of approaching your day, your choices, your body, your relationships, your life—and of course, your approach to learning can’t NOT be affected by that. This conversation with edupreneur, Scott Speed, is gonna dive into the inner workings of starting a school, but we’re also gonna talk abou...

Speaking on resistance, patois, and Self-Directed Education at AERO Conference. Here's a bit of a recap from my first Alternative Education conference. Speakers like Dennis Littky, Peter Gray, Johnathon Kozol, and thought-leaders like Aaron Eden and German Doin really encouraged me to keep doing this work. Support the show Dig this show? Join our make-it-happen family at patreon.com/akilah to...

This is about the work of fitting in versus figuring out. Atlanta-based flight attendant, wife, and mother of three—Katrina Morrison—discusses the choice of following a path you already envisioned and a process/relationship you’ve already invested in, versus starting anew. She tells us about her family structure and why the shift from charter school to unschooling felt like a major challenge. Supp...