The Unschool Space

Esther Jones
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The Unschool Space

Unschooling isn't just about education, it's a life choice! For most parents, embracing unschooling requires some serious unravelling of old paradigms around parenting, learning and childhood, and that can be both challenging and exhilarating. Join me, Esther Jones, a mindful parenting coach and unschooling mother-of-three, as I take a look at the many opportunities for reflection that naturally arise in an unschooling home. Each episode, I chat with other parents about their family’s  experiences. From self-care, neurodiversity and mindfulness, to how to live consensually and trust our children, this podcast is here to help parents navigate the everyday challenges so they're free to create a healthy, nourishing and enriching space for themselves and their family. Thanks for listening!Join my mailing for regular offerings and updates at: www.esther-jones.comor get in touch with me at: contact@esther-jones.com.Instagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

  1. #79 The freedom of embracing our children and ourselves for who we are. With Nora McDonald in Costa Rica

    11 MAR

    #79 The freedom of embracing our children and ourselves for who we are. With Nora McDonald in Costa Rica

    And today I am with Nora McDonald. Nora is originally from the UK but now lives in Costa Rica with her husband and two children who are 10 and 7. They felt that school just wasn’t going to be a good fit for their eldest child, and so originally began home educating in Cambridge in the UK. Nora talks about her move toward unschooling and how her family’s relationship with technology was the catalyst for that. We talk about what it looks like when your child doesn’t particularly like groups and...

    51 min
  2. #78 When unschooling is a healing journey, with Essie Richards in Cornwall, UK

    19 FEB

    #78 When unschooling is a healing journey, with Essie Richards in Cornwall, UK

    In this episode I'm chatting with Essie Richards from Cornwall in the UK. Essie’s family came to unschooling nine years ago after realising that school was not a place where their childre, who were three and six could thrive. Later, Essie began an Agile Learning Centre for 10 to 15-year olds. Today we talk about the deconditioning we need to go through as parents in order to give our children real agency and how that can work can be deeply healing, what it means to be neurodivergent and unsch...

    54 min
  3. #77 Following the golden threads, with Shannon Stoltz in Houston, Texas

    4 FEB

    #77 Following the golden threads, with Shannon Stoltz in Houston, Texas

    I am very happy to be chatting in this episode with Shannon Stolz from Texas. Shannon has four children who are now all in their 20s. Shannon describes how in their early years, as their dad wasn’t yet onboard with unschooling, they would have some days that were more traditional school at home, and others that were self-directed. Shannon could see how different these experiences were for all of them, and finally, when her oldest daughter was 13, they just embraced unschooling. Among lots of ...

    51 min
  4. #76 Life and learning alongside John Holt, with Pat Farenga in Massachusetts, US

    21 JAN

    #76 Life and learning alongside John Holt, with Pat Farenga in Massachusetts, US

    INTRO I'm chatting in this episode with Pat Farenga from Massachusetts. Pat is the father of three now adult unschooled daughters, and he worked with the late John Holt—the New York Educator who coined the term unschooling and wrote several books about learning. Pat worked with him on his magazine Growing Without Schooling and continued the magazine for many years after John Holt passed. We chat about his experiences with John Holt, how unschooling looked back in the '70s and '80s and how thi...

    47 min
  5. #75 Following our own rhythms—unschooling with PDA, with Rose from Oxfordshire, UK

    7 JAN

    #75 Following our own rhythms—unschooling with PDA, with Rose from Oxfordshire, UK

    In this episode, I'm chatting with Rose from Oxfordshire in the UK. Rose lives with her husband and her six-year-old son who is Autistic PDA. They chose not to send him to school, realising that it was just not an environment that could work for him. Rose talks about how life unfolds for them at home and what socialising and learning look like, the value of being able to go at their own rhythms, and the huge importance of placing connection at the centre of everything. And, Rose describes how...

    57 min
  6. #74 Connection, understanding and creating our own paths, with Coralie Steadman in Cambridgeshire, UK

    10/12/2024

    #74 Connection, understanding and creating our own paths, with Coralie Steadman in Cambridgeshire, UK

    My guest today is Coralie who lives in Cambridgeshire with her partner and two children who are 9 and 5. Coralie’s own experiences of school made her realise that life and learning need to feel meaningful and driven by our own unique passions and interests not by external requirements. That, coupled with her son’s diagnosis of Autism and PDA, led her family first to a Steiner school and then to unschooling. Coralie describes what unschooling looks like for her family, how they work together a...

    50 min
  7. #73 Allowing our children to be who they are, with April Scully in South Carolina

    26/11/2024

    #73 Allowing our children to be who they are, with April Scully in South Carolina

    My guest today is April Scully. April is a former teacher, who is originally from Toronto but now lives in South Carolina with her husband and two children who are 6 and 9. We talk about how doing well at school doesn’t necessarily help us know who we are or what we want to do, and what it is to have the time and space to explore our passions. And we chat about what that means for us and the impact that unschooling has on our own lives, from taking better care of ourselves to following our ow...

    51 min

  8. 13/11/2024

    #72 Unschooling and PDA—connection, patience and safety, with Helen Stuart, Rochdale, UK

    Today I’m chatting with Helen Stuart of Rochdale in the UK. Helen lives with her husband and between them have six children. Although the older five children had challenges at school, it wasn’t until their 7-year-old daughter who is Autistic PDA was born, that they considered taking a different path. We talk about how essential it is for children to feel safe and regulated in order to engage freely with life, what learning looks like when we take a low-demand approach to life, and why co-regu...

    45 min
See All (79)

    About

    Unschooling isn't just about education, it's a life choice! For most parents, embracing unschooling requires some serious unravelling of old paradigms around parenting, learning and childhood, and that can be both challenging and exhilarating. Join me, Esther Jones, a mindful parenting coach and unschooling mother-of-three, as I take a look at the many opportunities for reflection that naturally arise in an unschooling home. Each episode, I chat with other parents about their family’s  experiences. From self-care, neurodiversity and mindfulness, to how to live consensually and trust our children, this podcast is here to help parents navigate the everyday challenges so they're free to create a healthy, nourishing and enriching space for themselves and their family. Thanks for listening!Join my mailing for regular offerings and updates at: www.esther-jones.comor get in touch with me at: contact@esther-jones.com.Instagram: @_esther.jonesFacebook:@theunschoolspace

    Information

    • Creator
      Esther Jones
    • Years Active
      2021 - 2025
    • Episodes
      79
    • Rating
      Explicit
    • Copyright
      © 2025 The Unschool Space
    • Show Website
      The Unschool Space

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