Virtual Kitchen Table

When you reflect upon History as a school subject, what comes to mind? For many of us, it’s a memory of taking in facts in order to produce something that demonstrates we’ve learned the presented information. But what if history is much more interesting than that. What if it’s woven into family life in curious and meaningful ways? What if it naturally includes critical thinking? Developing empathy...

In Part 2, we continue to think through some very common questions that homeschool parents receive and consider them from different angles. We take into account questions situations that just call for a short answer versus ones for which there is more time and interest in fuller detail. We also look at the distinction between answering questions of people in our lives who are interested in or conc...

In this conversation, we think through some very common questions that homeschool parents receive and consider them from different angles. We take into account questions in situations that just call for a short answer versus ones for which there is more time and interest in fuller detail. We also look at the distinction between answering questions of people in our lives who are interested in or co...

On our 60th episode, we are finally talking about Learning to Read! This can be a loaded topic with some proponents of self-directed education and unschooling taking the stand that reading will happen in its own time, versus reading research that strongly suggests otherwise, citing the complexities with learning to read requiring explicit instruction. When our experience doesn’t match the advice o...

We finally wrapped up Hayley’s What is Unschooling? blog post series in this conversation. Sue Elvis of Stories of an Unschooling Family joined us again as we had a second look at the Myths and Misconceptions related to unschooling. While we do continue “busting myths,” ultimately we burrow deep into the beauty of living and learning curiously and respectfully with our children because, as we came...

We discussed Part 3 of Hayley’s What is Unschooling? series.  Sue Elvis from Stories of an Unschooling Family joined us to tap back into this next part of the topic. This time we discussed Myths and Misconceptions about unschooling. We were keen to do this because we know how misunderstood unschooling often is, even by people embarking upon it. We found ourselves out of time with some of Hayley’s...

We welcomed Sue Elvis of Stories of an Unschooling Family to discuss Part Two of Hayley’s What is Unschooling?  series. It was another rich opportunity to dig deeply into the nuts and bolts of the practical side of unschooling, with concrete examples and shared experiences. We hope you’ll have a listen and learn something new. Resources: What is Unschooling, Part 2: What Does Unschooling Like? Tak...

Do you ever wonder what unschooling is really about? Or maybe you have a sense of it yourself but wonder how to describe it if asked? This ended up being a very full and nuanced conversation based on the first part of  Hayley’s blog post series  by the same name. What a joy to speak with  Sue Elvis  from  Stories of an Unschooling Family  and reflect about the framework of unschooling in detail ba...

Resources: Episode 54: Parents Can’t Teach Their Children Everything and That’s Okay  Episode 16: Lists or Not: How Do We and Those We Love Keep Organized?

This isn’t a criticism of the abilities of home educating parents, but instead reassurance for all parents that there is no need to take all of the things on. Children being taught everything ahead of time isn’t how deep and meaningful learning usually happens. At the same time, it’s not a conversation about “hands-off” parenting — far from it! Instead it’s a reminder of the roles that our presenc...

We happily welcomed Pam Laricchia, Anna Brown and Erika Ellis from  www.livingjoyfully.ca  to discuss the topic of Stories. Pam, Anna and Erika have spoken in depth about the nuances and choices within the stories we tell both ourselves and others.  In this conversation we explore what it is about looking at things through the lens of stories, and the flexibility within those stories, that is so p...

We read a Substack article by Esther Jones, Unschooling and the Magic of Teaching and were inspired to peel back the role that teaching might play within self-directed learning and a number of aspects that are related. It turned out to be a very interesting topic and we’d love you to have a listen! Resources:   Unschooling and the Magic of Learning – Esther Jones Substack Unschooling – What’s in a...

It was really an honour to speak with Linsey Briggs of  @unschoolingstanley  about a topic she shares so generously about. Her insights were both beautiful and practical. It’s always amazing to see the different angles and experiences each person has and so this was another full conversation. In listening back through our discussion, I was reminded of how closely it fit with what Hayley has always...

Oof. This is hard.  This episode is one in which we give the sad news that our wonderful Hayley has passed on.  We also attempt to honour her as best we can by discussing her post, My Journey to Taking a Kinder Path. We’re not sure we’ve ever known someone whose blog name is so perfectly reflective of who they are.  Hayley has endured cancer and cancer treatment for the past year and a half and di...

Resources:   7 Reasons to Talk to Yourself Out Loud | Psychology Today Canada  On Chores, Learning Respect and Such … Is There a Gentler Way? – Ever Learning Homeschooling High School and Socialization: Not all Teen Community has to be Homeschool Community  – Ever Learning  Basil and Honey Newsletter, The weaving together of our stories – by Anna Hewitt 

Based on a core section of Hayley’s blog post, Taking a Kinder Path to the Festivities: For You, Your Children and the Planet, we discuss kind and collaborative approaches we can take to the holiday season  With two holiday season discussions behind us, we weren’t sure how much there was left to talk about. It turns out that was no problem!  We had some in-depth conversation about planning WITH ou...

Anne from Eclectic Kids ,  Bird Bound  and  @obytheby  and April Scully from  Modern Homeschoolers  join for a conversation about the many faces of whole life learning. The conversation is as vibrant, messy, wonderful and meaningful as whole life learning itself is. We talk not only about the “academic” side of learning but also about including children in real life experiences  — even hard or unc...

We Discuss:   Kindergarten in the past in comparison to now (each sharing memories of our own start of school) Sharing stories of our child’s start to the school years  The awareness of making a mistake being unacceptable and when/how that begins The longing to belong and not be rejected as a subconscious survival mechanism  The normalization of separation of young children from their families  Th...

We say “yes” there is! Missy Willis from  Let ‘em Go Barefoot  and I connected this summer to have a conversation based on one of Missy’s Substack essays, Make the High School Diploma mean something again. In this conversation, we dive into thoughts about the high school, diploma itself, and changes over the years, discuss post- secondary education such as colleges, universities and the trades, an...

We talk about beginning the “school year,” either as a new homeschool family or a continuing family from the perspective of both connection and practical ideas. It can be an exciting time of year, but it can also be daunting! Even a new age of stage our child has reached can make this time of year full of feelings and concerns. We base the bulk of the conversation on Hayley’s blog post,  New to Ho...

We dive into a deep exploration of different perspectives about nature study and outdoor time and where those things are both similar and different. We discuss what this looks like at different ages, including the teenage years, and also bring the temperature down a bit as far as parental pressure to “get kids outside” and/or doing formal nature study. We’d love you to join us for a listen! Resour...

Does homeschooling have to cost a lot of money?  We tap into this topic with Anne from @obytheby and Eclectic Kids and come to the conclusion that living richly and abundantly is indeed possible without expensive classes, outings and materials. We agree that sometimes we might choose those things but that as we slow down, observe and integrate other things into our days, they don’t seem as necessa...

Sometimes we all feel we’ve missed the mark with our kids and it’s not a great feeling. What might be helpful during those times? In this conversation, we return to follow up on the discussion from Episode #40: Feel Like a Rubbish Parent? Nine Things to Remember When You Feel Like a Rubbish Parent and weave in some action steps as well as explore many related thoughts. We invite you to join us! Bo...

We came back to chat about creativity and creative practice again with Cyrielle from  Unschooling and Thriving , and Kendel from  spark.to.flame.homelearning  joined in and added her perspective. We shared insights about our children’s creativity and our own, and ways we consider and support them and ourselves, both practically and thoughtfully.  This was a really interesting conversation with a l...

“Do you feel like a rubbish parent? Scared of letting your children down? Convinced you’re not good enough …?” We dug into Hayley’s blog post of the same name and discussed those moments or maybe seasons when we feel utterly lost as a parent, and also the ones where we just aren’t quite sure. We talk about changes in parenting trends and the evolving role and expectations of parenthood, share chal...