The Ladies Fixing the World

The Conrad Family
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Three Moms, One Podcast: Conversations on Unschooling and ParentingIn Season 2 & 3 of The Ladies Fixing the World, Cecilie Conrad is joined by renowned unschooling pioneers Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to redefine what learning can truly look like. Together, they explore the philosophy and practicalities of unschooling—where curiosity, trust, and relationships replace rigid curricula—and how this approach transforms both families and personal growth.

  1. APR 14

    S3E12 | Letting go. Of control. Of perfection. Even of unschooling? (or of the identity of being an unschooling mom)

    Letting go runs through every stage of unschooling — from releasing control over what children learn, to accepting that family life changes shape without warning. The last run with all your daughters, the last night in a house you raised your children in, the last time a child needs you to put their shoes on. These moments pass without announcement. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis use this final episode of season three to talk about what they've let go of and what still holds. Sandra describes her adult children's lives after unschooling and the shift from being central to being a resource. Sue reflects on whether to continue her unschooling blog or let it go, and on the difference between lazy letting go and wise letting go. Cecilie talks about her family's current transition as three of her children enter formal study. Together they discuss letting go of fixed ideas about identity, letting go of the need for others to follow the same path, and the value of making decisions from a good place rather than a desperate one. The conversation closes with gratitude, new friendships, and no regrets. 🗓️ Recorded December 7, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    1h 43m

  2. APR 14

    S3E11 | Unschooling - How much time does it take and what does it cost?

    The two most common practical questions about unschooling are how much it costs and how much time it takes. Neither has a simple answer. One parent usually stops earning a full income. Some expenses disappear — uniforms, rain gear, processed food, school fees — while others appear: music lessons, sports equipment, a computer for a gamer. The budget shifts with the seasons. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis talk about what it actually looks like to manage money and time as unschooling families. They share stories of tight months, handmade Christmas gifts, charity shop finds, and the creativity that comes when resources are limited. They discuss why withholding from children to "teach the value of money" often backfires, how generosity is learned through experiencing it, and why spending unequally on different children based on their actual needs is fairer than splitting everything evenly. On the question of time, they push back on the idea that unschooling is something parents must endure — and describe it instead as the richest use of the years they have with their children. 🗓️ Recorded November 30, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    1h 24m

  3. APR 14

    S3E10 | Unschooling and Learning Without Reading

    Reading dominates how most people think about learning. Schools treat it as the first skill and the primary method. But children learn language, movement, culture, and complex ideas long before they read a word — and many things can never be learned from a book at all. Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad, and Sue Elvis talk about what children and adults learn without reading: music by ear, cooking by doing, sports by playing, trades by apprenticeship. They discuss how Holly, who didn't read until 11, outperformed her peers in a speech because she had no script to fall back on. They look at how YouTube, audiobooks, and conversation have expanded what's possible without reading — and why pushing children to read before they're ready can limit rather than expand their learning. The conversation also touches on Shakespeare as something better heard than read, the difference between memorizing words and real reading, and why book worship deserves the same questioning unschoolers bring to everything else. 🗓️ Recorded November 11, 2025. 📍  Tarragona, Spain 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    2 hr

  4. APR 14

    S3E9 | The Efficiency of Unschooling

    Schools spend enormous amounts of time on repetition, testing, classroom management, and re-teaching material year after year. Unschooling skips all of that. When a child learns something because they wanted to know it, it stays. There is no surface learning, no forgotten curriculum — just real knowledge built from curiosity and experience. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis look at why unschooling turns out to be remarkably efficient, even though no one chooses it for that reason. They discuss how children build their own scaffolding of knowledge, why school textbooks often teach in ways that confuse rather than clarify, and how unschooled teenagers arrive at formal education — when they choose it — already understanding the concepts and only needing the notation. The conversation also touches on the differences in homeschooling laws across countries and how to work within those systems without abandoning unschooling principles. 🗓️ Recorded September 23, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skensved, Denmark 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    1h 57m

  5. APR 14

    S3E8 | Unschooling and the Benefits for Parents

    Unschooling is often framed as a choice made for the children, but the changes run deeper than that. Over time, parents find themselves questioning inherited habits, rethinking authority, and arriving at a different relationship with their own values and daily choices. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis talk about what it actually looks like when parents let go of the management mindset — the chore lists, the tick-box parenting, the idea that control equals care. They discuss how unschooling reshapes the couple's relationship, how personality traits show up across generations, and how following a child's interests opens doors parents would never have walked through on their own. The conversation covers the fear at the beginning, the patience required, and the slow process of becoming a different kind of parent — not by studying, but by doing it. 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com 🗓️ Recorded September 18, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skendsved, Denmark Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    1h 38m
  6. S3E7 | Unschooling: Obsessions, Interests, and Letting Them Be - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis

    JAN 25

    S3E7 | Unschooling: Obsessions, Interests, and Letting Them Be - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis

    Intensity, repetition, and long stretches of focus are common in unschooling families. Interests may look narrow, obsessive, or unbalanced when viewed through school-based expectations—patterns that can trigger parental fear. Worries about outcomes, careers, balance, and future security shape how adults interpret a child’s focus, sometimes turning support into pressure or ownership. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis describe a picture of unschooling where interests are allowed to exist without being justified or managed. Obsessions are treated as part of living rather than signals of success or failure, and parental work centers less on directing paths and more on trust, time, and relationship. 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com  https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com  https://cecilieconrad.com 🗓️ Recorded September 4, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skensved, Denmark Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    1h 50m
  7. S3E6 | A Typical Unschooling Day? - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis

    JAN 24

    S3E6 | A Typical Unschooling Day? - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis

    How does a typical day look in an unschooling family’s life? - This is one of the first questions people ask about unschooling. It often carries an unspoken hope for reassurance, structure, or a picture that makes the choice feel understandable. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis approach the question from different lives and contexts, letting it stay open rather than pinning it down. Their perspectives point toward patterns, values, and rhythms instead of schedules. What emerges is a sense of how unschooling days are shaped less by plans and appearances and more by time, attention, and relationships lived over many changing seasons. 🔗 Links from Sue Elvis to this episode The Changing Seasons of the Unschooling YearWhy Unschoolers Do What They DoWhat Do Unschoolers Do Each Day?Typical Unschooling Days🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com🗓️ Recorded September 2, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skensved, Denmark Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    2h 3m
  8. S3E5 | Unschooling and Learning Languages - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis

    JAN 20

    S3E5 | Unschooling and Learning Languages - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis

    Language keeps showing up in unschooling conversations: Parents ask about reading, writing, spelling, confidence, exposure, and whether children will “miss something” without lessons or requirements. Language can become the place where worries about competence, comparison, and readiness collect, especially for parents who did not enjoy language themselves. Underlying the whole conversation is a familiar unschooling question: What happens when language is learned through living, culture, play, and shared meaning instead of study and control? 🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites https://sandradodd.com https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com https://cecilieconrad.com🗓️ Recorded August 26, 2025. 📍  Åmarksgård, Lille Skensved, Denmark Send a message Support the show In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

    2h 2m
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Three Moms, One Podcast: Conversations on Unschooling and ParentingIn Season 2 & 3 of The Ladies Fixing the World, Cecilie Conrad is joined by renowned unschooling pioneers Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to redefine what learning can truly look like. Together, they explore the philosophy and practicalities of unschooling—where curiosity, trust, and relationships replace rigid curricula—and how this approach transforms both families and personal growth.

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