Radical Learning Talks

Language and how we use it are important and can be one of the many ways we either move towards or away from individual and collective liberation. So many of us are questioning systems of oppression in our deschooling work, yet if we aren’t vigilant we can easily slip into old ways of thinking, speaking and behaving - especially when we are faced with language and ideas that rub up against our cur...

Kids are usually brought up to tell the truth, but the truth is adults lie all the time. So, why do we lie? What does it do to us and to our relationships? How does it make us feel? And when kids lie to us - what is that really about? And what can we do about it? In this episode of Radical Learning Talks we explore the phenomenon of lying!

"What's the magic word?"; "Say thank you/hello, "; "Sit up straight".... We have either heard these things, been told these things, or said them to others (most often our kids) and the question is who made up these invisible manner rules and why are they so important?! In this episode we look at manners and begin to deschool and unpack the layers of belief, fear,...

For us, the main role of unschooling parents is to support our kids to be who they are and explore their independence, autonomy and critical thinking. The question then is how do we as parents support our kids to navigate their own evolution while being faced with the pressures of societal norms? And, in our case, what can that look like for a neurodivergent teenager and their parents? In this epi...

This is a deep episode where we share personal stories around how we’re deschooling shame and guilt as it relates to pregnancy, birth, miscarriage & abortion. For us, it means looking at how we have responded to and internalized societal expectations on experiences that are both profound and personal. We also talk about what that’s done to our confidence and self-worth, and how we are working...

What happens when our partner or co-parent doesn't seem on board with unschooling? Or, they say they're on board, but they don't seem to undertand and/or engage in the deschooling process. And what does being “on board” even mean?  In this episode we share our experience and perspective about the traps we can find ourselves in when we feel we aren’t in flow with our partners in our uns...

"Is my kid really gonna just sit there and do nothing?" This is a question we hear a lot and have even thought about ourselves during our own deschooling process. It comes from moments of fear and lack of understanding of what is really going on for our kids. In this episode, we dive into what can actually happen for kids that are deschooling, what happens for adults and how we can suppo...

You’ve discovered unschooling and LOVE it! You take your kids out of school, they start deschooling/unschooling and... suddenly they tell you they want to go back to school?! Or, maybe your kid has never been to school and keeps asking you to start. Regardless of whatever situation you identify with, it might totally freak you out! And we get it. It's scary and annoying when our kids reject th...

In this episode, we hang out with Tomis Parker, one of the co-founders of the ALC model and of the ASDE, and dive deep into the diversity, struggles and evolution of the agile learning world.  Tomis is an unschooling dad and is passionate about sharing the ALC model and contributing to systemic & social change through building bridges to and through the work of SDE.  We also talk about our sha...

Meet Ophelia, an 18 year old Unschooler that shares their perspectives around unschooling and the ways parents can get so invested in unschooling that they forget the most important part: consent and needs of their kids. Who does unschooling really support, the parent or the kid and how can we move towards more connection and collaboration with our kids?

There is a really clear idea in society of what skills have more value than others for our growing young people, and usually on top you will find reading, writing and math. But what happens when your kid (or even you) aren’t big readers and what are the feelings and fears around that?! In this episode we scratch the surface of this multilayered theme around hierarchy of skills and what lurks benea...

Limits? Boundaries? What's the difference? What are they about? In this episode, we dive into the deep waters of needs, emotions and what boundaries are really about: self-discovery and understanding ourselves, and how to learn how to honor our needs and develop empathy with ourselves and with others.

Ahhhh our kids want to quit something! What do we do? If they dont push through they will never learn..  These are thoughts old versions of ourselves can relate to and we see so common in parenting. We often fall into wanting to "support" by pushing our kids - or let's be honest - manipulate them.  We think there are so many benefits to sticking to whatever it is they're doing, a...

Does unschooling really work? Well, in this episode of Radical Learning Talks we chat with Alex Khost a long time unschooling father , facilitator & youth right’s advocate who shares how it’s not only possible, it’s in fact a reality for many. He shares stories from his 20+ years of advocating for & supporting youth on how to be present & build trusting relationships with kids and how...

“But Sari & Becka, how do you deschool without kids?” We were recently asked this question and it’s also one that we have been trying to find the words to speak to as we offer deschooling intensive training for both parents & adults supporting youth! The answer... deschooling actually has nothing to do with kids or school, it has to do with the many layers of conditioning that we peel back...

Unschooling can sound really wonderful, and in theory so many of us are totally on board with the concept. But then we start practicing it with our kids, and suddenly it no longer feels that amazing. Doubts and fears pop up and we wobble and wonder if this is really for us. Maybe it doesn't work? Should we just throw in the towel, or are there other options? In this episode we talk about all o...

There is so much talk in unschooling/ deschooling circles around supporting younger kids, but we seldom hear about what unschooling with tweens/ teens does or can look like. What we tend to hear most is lots of fear or assumptions around supporting these youth… they are gonna be lazy, rebellious, lost, unsuccessful, etc. etc.  In this episode we bust these and more myths and talk about what h...

Do you ever wonder what it's like to build trust with kids, or intentional culture, or what the role of the facilitator is in breaking habits to fully support ourselves and young people to thrive?  In this episode we are joined by Anthony Galloway, a professional facilitator and self-directed education practitioner with over 10 years of experience in building intentional culture, community an...

Deschooling is all about challenging oxidized beliefs and it extends past what we think about learning & education, encompassing how we view and treat ourselves and others.  In this episode, we specifically chat about the judgements society holds around body image & aging and as a result, the limiting beliefs that we are personally struggling with in our own deschooling process. ...

There is no one size-fits all approach to unschooling. What works for one young person/ family may not for another and we definitely do  our young people a disservice if we have unrealistic expectations of them or try to force them to adapt to circumstances that they may not be ready for. This is especially true in supporting neurodivergent kids and in this episode we share some of our discov...

Let’s talk about a hard side of unschooling… sitting with discomfort! As we dig into our deschooling work of looking at and shedding limiting beliefs around relationship, learning & community there are many times when it seems like our world gets flipped upside down and we want to try to remedy and fix things, falling back to old patterns.  In this episode, we share our perspective about...

In our last episode of the year, we chat with Bria Bloom, a born and raised unschooler, youth rights advocate and Executive Director of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Bria shares her perspective on the different flavors of unschooling, the intersectionality of deschooling and about her experience in the SDE world.

The biggest wound school inflicts on us is that it disconnects us from our unique configuration of interests and passions - and our ability to read our inner compass. As unschooling parents it’s never too late to heal!  In this  episode we talk about this, and how instead of "just" being an unschooling parent, we can become unschoolers ourselves.

Whether you come to unschooling focused only on liberated learning, social justice, conscious parenting or from an intersectional lens, the pathway is layered and complex and usually leads us to deep questioning and transformation. In this episode we share about our entryways into unschooling and our evolution through the never ending process of deschooling.

Can we tell you how much we love this episode with the amazing and courageous Domari Dickinson - a recovering educator, unschooling mother of 4, badass parent coach and leading voice in the SDE movement.  Domari openly shares about her deschooling journey of going from an approval chasing, controlling, punishing mom to a conscious, peaceful and revolutionary parent. We talk about what trips u...