Virtual Kitchen Table

Following our Episode 32, Being Intentional for the Holidays – Finding a Fit for our Families, we continue the theme of deepening our understanding of what works for us, this time as a new year begins. We discuss our thoughts about resolutions and goals for parents and children alike, as well as share thoughts about the line parents walk between facilitating and encouraging kids as they journey in...

We return this season to the topic of Being Intentional about the Holidays and thinking about what will best fit our own individual crew, including ourselves. Keeping in mind our own rhythms and preferences alongside those of our family members, we remind ourselves that we have choice during this busy season and come up with some creative ideas for everyone to enjoy. We Discuss: Being mindful of o...

We returned to finish our conversation about Hayley’s blog post of the same name as this episode. We recommend listening to Part One first as it will give context to the conversation, but of course if jumping in here suits you, there is still lots to be gained. Thank you to Sue Elvis from Stories of an Unschooling Family for joining us again and bringing her thoughts and experience! Resources: Uns...

Resources: Unschooling, A Voyage of Discovery, Taking a Kinder Path Stories of an Unschooling Family On Chores, Learning Respect and Such … Is there a Gentler Way, Ever Learning Curious Unschoolers, Sue Elvis Radical Unschoolers, Sue Elvis The Unschool Challenge, Sue Elvis

Have you ever thought about what it looks like to learn science in an organic way? To really celebrate it and live a life where you and your kids are interacting with it through passion and practicality? To see it linked to or naturally occurring in so many other things in your days? We chat with April from @modern.homeschoolers and Anne from @obytheby in the latest episode, The Rich Experience of...

One of the things that’s been important to each of us at the Virtual Kitchen Table is community, both for the sake of all and also as a way to better support educational options for families. In one of our earliest episodes (linked in Resources/Show Notes) we talked about the benefit of rich and varied community as places to live and learn. Several episodes later, we discussed homeschool communiti...

Have you ever wondered whether your child is learning enough? Or maybe you suspect there’s more than meets the eye to what they’re taking in through outdoor play, online gaming, the stories they tell, the things they are making or any other number of things? We were so thrilled to have April Scully from @modern.homeschoolers and @heroineofyourstory and Kelly Edwards from the @90minuteschoolday joi...

Have you heard of strewing? Is it something you actively do? We really enjoyed having Kendel from @spark.to.flame.homelearning join us for a conversation about the more nuanced aspects of strewing. There was a lot more to discuss than we first imagined. We’d love if you’d have a listen! We Discuss: Keeping track of the things we’ve shared with our kids as a way of seeing the fullness of what’s hap...

The time of year leading up to the conventional school year can include mixed emotions. We’re surrounded by back to school focus, fellow home educators talking about their plans and maybe even wondering how we might get to our family’s own aspirations and ideas. Please pull up a chair and listen in as we talk about moving through the fear of missing out. We Discuss: How people are talking about pl...

Often when self-directed learning or home education in general is discussed, the focus is on skills that are considered academic or subject-oriented such as reading, writing, mathematics, science, history and others. However, a growing number of other things such as learning to swim, skate, learn an instrument and drive a car are now assumed to need formal, paid instruction as well. Sometimes this...

The middle-age years can be a challenging time but could they be full of promise and opportunity as well? We loved having  Missy Willis of Let ‘em Go Barefoot  and  Sue Elvis of Stories of an Unschooling Family  chat with us about midlife and what the possibilities are if we approach this life stage with an unschooling mindset. Please have a look at the Resources below to link directly to Missy’s...

Episode 23: Living Authentically, Confidently and Intentionally – a Conversation About How We Show Up in Our Lives, with Teresa Wiedrick    A few months ago, Teresa Wiedrick shared her experience of her coaching work with homeschool moms and supporting women to get “out of their own way” and it struck a chord. We were so happy to have her chat with us more specifically about living authentically,...

Have you ever thought about your identity as a homeschool parent? We discuss our identities as home educating mothers and the role that home ed plays in how others see us, how we see ourselves and even how our children might see us and themselves. We were so pleased to welcome Brittany Acciavatti to our conversation. You can find Brittany at @britt_acciavatti on Instagram. We Discuss: What it woul...

We had a really interesting conversation about the concept of ‘emotional labour,’ both in the context in which it’s being described in Emotional Labour by Rose Hackman and other writings and podcasts (see Resources), as well as our own concept and ideas about how we see it within family life. Please join us as we come to understand what the term means, how it plays out and the choices we make arou...

If you’ve been in the homeschooling world for long, you’ll likely have come across the word ‘deschooling’ and may understand it in the context of children having time and space to get in touch with their natural curiosity and learning. Soon enough, it becomes clear that more of the work in this area is actually for parents. We continue deschooling but this almost always plays out imperfectly. Miss...

Episode 19: Home Ed Labels and Jargon: Sorting Them Through   If we’ve been in the world of home education for some time, we are likely accustomed to a variety of terms that might not be familiar to others, but even then, we often interpret things differently. Join as we explore a variety of terms such as deschooling, unschooling, strewing, gameschooling, project-based learning and more and dig in...

Episode 18: What is Unschooling and How Does it Work?  We Discuss: The origin of the term “unschooling” as we understand it  Different paths to unschooling - our own experiences  The assumption of school as the default  Respectful/Attachment parenting as a pipeline to unschooling  Whether we use the term unschooling to describe what we’re doing  Whether home education culture has moved more toward...

Episode 17: Being Intentional about the Holidays - Ideas for Thoughtful Families We’re talking about holidays and gatherings in this episode, digging into what helps families make the most of their time together! As we head into a season that can be quite full for many, we share ideas about intention, choice, communication and building in rest and open time.  We were so happy to have Pam Laricchia...

What is the role of lists in our lives? How do we each make lists, or not? Is list-making essential to organization or are there other ways to plan and keep intentional about things? How are our personalities and learning styles and those of our children reflected in the way we each make sense of information and understanding ideas in our lives? Is there a societal bias toward certain styles of or...

Homeschool communities and groups – Do we need to join one? Should we start one? How do we consider changes to both communities and our family over time? We were so grateful to have Kendel from  @spark.to.flame.homelearning  on Instagram to share her insight and experience with facilitating a local home ed group with us as we discussed each of our own thoughts and experiences. We invite you to joi...

Conversation continued from Part One …  here Screen time is a big topic. The world has become increasingly digital and parents are trying to make caring and thoughtful decisions amidst many sources of advice, often contrary to one another. This is the first part of our conversation, thinking through and pondering our own experiences and we would love you to join us! We were thrilled to be joined a...

Our conversation … (listen to Part Two  here ) Screen time is a big topic. The world has become increasingly digital and parents are trying to make caring and thoughtful decisions amidst many sources of advice, often contrary to one another. This is the first part of our conversation, thinking through and pondering our own experiences and we would love you to join us! We were thrilled to be joined...

Our conversation continued … (listen to Part One  here ) Socialization and homeschooling is unarguably a common topic. It might be considered the proverbial thorn in a homeschool parent’s side. But what do we mean by socialization anyway? Maybe there are a few ways to examine it. We were so grateful to have Kiki from  @kikiandthewildlings  and  www.educatingwildlings.co.uk  join us and offer her p...

Our conversation … (listen to Part Two  here ) Socialization and homeschooling is unarguably a common topic. It might be considered the proverbial thorn in a homeschool parent’s side. But what do we mean by socialization anyway? Maybe there are a few ways to examine it.  We were so grateful to have Kiki from  @kikiandthewildlings  and  www.educatingwildlings.co.uk  join us and offer her perspectiv...

What is self-care anyway? In this episode we discuss the different things it means to different people, how we consider it during busy parenting seasons and, woven into the conversation, what does our children’s self-care look like? How do we support it? We were thrilled to have Alice Griffin of  Wandering Alice  join us again, as she has supported many people in their self-care journeys and bring...