Raising Wildlings

Send us Fan Mail It’s our 2021 End of Year Wrap Up! This episode is all about the year that was and what a year it was!  👉  Nicki shares Shocking stats and a summary of why we are doing what we are doing!  Some successes of this year Our 2022 goals  Her plea for help finding a new space to run our our business The good that get us out of bed in the morning How our vision is spreading through the...

Send us Fan Mail  In this episode, we’re talking with the founder of The Kindness Couch, Candice Fraser about  nurturing ourselves with holistic self-care and self-compassion so that our children can grow to do the same. Wondering what holistic self-care is and what that can look like in your full life? This is the episode for you. 👉  Candice Shares About the Kindness Couch What inspired her to s...

Send us Fan Mail Battle sounds fill the forest, swords clatter and arrows whizz through the air, groans and victorious shouts ring out. Huzzah! It’s not a medieval war you’re witnessing – but children playing with weapons. In today’s episode we talk about this controversial type of rough and tumble play. 👉  Nicki and Vicci Share The six types of Risky Play  What 'Rough and Tumble' play...

Send us Fan Mail We know that as a society we are living an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and children have never moved as little as they do today. That’s why people like Katy Bowman, author of Move your DNA and now her latest book Grow Wild, are so important in helping us to recognise why we need to move more. Katy joins us today from the US to chat to us about movement and to give us some sim...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re talking about the fears people have about starting a nature play business and why we must overcome them.  * This episode was created in the context of taking the leap to entrepreneurship, but the advice and lessons may resonate with anyone dealing with fear and insecurity in their life. 👉  Nicki shares Why educators make wonderful entrepreneurs  Some secret...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we chat about why society makes it so hard to navigate the legislation and why we need to push through it so that we can get more children outdoors and we chat about our own journey in embracing the red tape as an essential part in advocating for children. 👉  Nicki and Vicci discuss The benefits of nature play Risks and resilience Why outdoor learning is essentia...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re  talking about the 4 biggest mistakes we made when we were starting our Forest School business. And some of them were biiiiiig! 👉  Wildlings Founder’s Share The profound initial mistake Nicki made in her transition to a more positive and fulfilling career and life What took them so long!  How we can grow from our mistakes The importance of soft skills and i...

Send us Fan Mail A couple of months ago a Facebook post caught my eye, the title of a book called Raising Girls Who Like Themselves. This title, whilst so simple, really tugged at a core want that I have for my children. I grabbed a copy, read it within a day, and thought, I need to get the authors Kasey and Chris on the show so that we can help raise more girls who like themselves. 👉  Kasey and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting about wild schooling and unschooling, or wild unschooling looks like for our families as part of an exciting upcoming project.  👉  Nicki and Vicci Share About Wildschooling and Forest School How they do it! What and how their children are learning How they assess learning and “standardise education” if at all A typical day-in-the-life How they scho...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with the Kaponay family who have travelled to over 50 countries on 6 continents over 9 years and in doing so learned how to be at home with themselves, at home with their family and at home in the world. 👉  The Kaponay Family Shares The importance of learning together as a family How the freedom and empowerment of children in their family dynamic i...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with Melinda Bito, founder of Eco-Explorers in Melbourne about tips on creating a business around your family and dream life, the best and hardest parts of owning your own nature play business and how communities and nature can help mental health.  👉  Melinda Shares All about Eco-Explorers and what they offer  The profound experience that inspired...

Send us Fan Mail Narelle and Jen are two passionate educators who bought the fun and expertise of their own separate businesses, that have been running many years before Bush Kindy and Forest Schools became a thing in Australia, to create Birdwings Forest School located in the magical wilds of the Gold Coast Hinterland. In this episode they share their story and their keen observations of the bene...

Send us Fan Mail At Raising Wildlings, we have shared our homeschooling journeys along with countless others, but what does the research say about homeschooling in Australia. Well, homeschooling has more than doubled over the last several years. So what is it that is driving these trends, let’s find out in my discussion today with Dr. Rebecca English from QUT. 👉 Rebecca shares Her background and...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with conservationist, budding ecologist and snake catcher, Gemma Smith, about all things snakes. How to keep yourself and your children safe around snakes, what to do on the very chance you get bitten by a snake, the importance of snakes to our environment and for those who are scared of snakes, some tips on how to work on your fear and not pass it...

Send us Fan Mail Imagine a place where it is believed that kids are more capable than we know – so capable that they make rollercoasters and treehouses, from concept through to the full build, using real tools and the secret ingredient, time. What I am describing is the Tinkering School. Today I have the man behind the concept joining me all the way from the US, welcome Gever Tully.  👉  Gever sha...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re talking with Kelly Roberts about her Wild Business, Wild Kindy, based in Sydney, New South Wales. This is the first episode in a series where we’re going to focus on Wild Businesses around Australia and the globe. 👉  Kelly shares About her business and what she offers What her inspiration was to start her business Inspiring stories from her programs Her str...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with Mimsy Sadofsky from the democratic Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts about what a self-directed learning school looks like, what children do after attending such a school, how they learn to read in a democratic school and, of course, how the school is run by its children. 👉  Mimsy shares All about Sudbury Valley School The beautiful, mind...

Send us Fan Mail Screens are a part of all our lives, for many a little too much. So how do we create a healthy digital culture in our homes with our children? Today I talked to Cat Green, founder of Everyday Empowered, about why we need to be having a whole family approach to technology use in our homes.  👉  Cat Shares About Everyday Empowered Her inspiration to create the Screen Smart Families...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with Kerry McDonald, author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom, about different models of education around the world, the developmental bell curve of when children read, how Unschooling benefits teenagers and how the school system can harm children. 👉  Guest Details Kerry McDonald is an educati...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with Natalia Krysiak, founder of Cities for Play, about making play a priority in the design of our urban spaces and how to make the changes we want to see for our children.  👉  Natalie Shares About Cities For Play, including what she does there and her vision for the future Some shocking statistics linked to the built environment What children hav...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re chatting with Philip Mott, reluctant learner, turned elementary teacher, turned homeschooling father, about how his family uses curiosity as their curriculum. 👉  Philip shares His story and how he came to lead the life he lives now Why he homeschools his children How his family manages the financial aspect of homeschooling His perspective on curiosity as th...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we’re talking with one of the grandfather’s of Nature Play and Adventure Play, David Sobel, who gives us some great ideas on suggested outdoor activities for different developmental stages and also chats about some of his most recent research on the differences between children who attend indoor classrooms versus outdoor classrooms. 👉  David shares His story and...

Send us Fan Mail Maths, it’s a dirty word isn’t it? Especially if you take the learning outside. In today’s episode, we are talking to a homeschooling mum who has created a whole curriculum in maths and reading and it is as wild as it gets!  👉  Rachel shares The story behind Wild Math and Wild Reading How bringing the learning outside helps break down the barriers around the subject of maths Abou...

Send us Fan Mail What is the biggest risk to children in 2021? It could just be not allowing children to take any risks at all? In this episode we talk with Risk Play advocate, Tim Gill, all about risk and adventure play in childhood, child-friendly urban design and the tools we use to change the face of public policy in relation to play.  👉  Tim shares His story and why he wanted to share his id...

Send us Fan Mail Secret spaces and hidden places – there is something magical about them. Cubbies, forts, dens, tree houses whatever you want to call them, children are absolutely hardwired to design and create these havens that shelter them from the ever watchful and ever present eye of the adults. In this episode we talk all things cubby building and why we should be creating more opportunities...