This morning, my photo appeared on the Homeschooling Global Summit website. There I am in the section, Homeschooling and Unschooling Leaders speaking at HGS 2020!
Last week, I was interviewed by Daniel Prince from the HGS. Of course, we spoke about unschooling and our kids. But one of the other things we touched on was the adventures we’re both having as unschooling parents. As I said, years ago, I set out on a search for the best way to educate and bring up my kids. At the beginning, it was all about them. I never expected to learn so much and have life changing experiences myself.
I’m living a life unimagined. So are my kids.
Daniel and his family have travelled the globe as worldschoolers. Although my family has stayed close to home, we’ve had some exciting adventures too. The latest one for me is being involved with the HGS for the second year in a row. Again, I’m speaking on the same platform as Sir Ken Robinson. How did that happen?
I am tempted to jump in quickly and say what I imagine some people are thinking: “Someone must have made a mistake. What have I got to offer?” But I won’t.
Too often we put ourselves down. Perhaps we lack confidence. We recognise that other people are valuable. They have talents and skills worth mentioning. But us? We aren’t important. Except we are. Each one of us has unique talents that are worth sharing. We can all use these talents to make a difference to other people’s lives.
Before my HGS interview, I thought about what I have to offer parents who want to know more about alternative ways of education. After 28 years, I’ve discovered a lot about unschooling. I’ve had plenty of time to try out ideas, make mistakes, ponder new ideas, observe and listen to my kids, and think deeper about the important things of life. I have a lot of unschooling experience and knowledge. I also have the skills to share that information in such places as my blog, books, podcast and community.
Of course, it wasn’t possible to share many of my unschooling thoughts in a short interview. (I could have talked about my favourite subject for hours.) But there was plenty of time for passion. That’s what I hope my words are full of.
After we’d finished recording the HGS interview, Daniel and I spent a few minutes chatting together before ending the Zoom meeting. We talked about our books. Daniel’s is called Choose Life: The Tools, Tricks and Hacks of Long-Term Family Travellers, Worldschoolers and Digital Nomads. Of course, my books are Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool Love. Daniel and I wrote our books because we were encouraged to do this. We were told, “Even if one person is helped by your books, it will be worth the effort of writing them.”
One person is very important. I’d do something just for one person. But, as I said to Daniel, “I want more than one person to hear about unschooling. I want to share what I’ve discovered with the world!” I guess that’s what I’ll be doing when the Homeschooling Global Summit begins on Monday June 29 2020.
I hope parents will get excited about the possibilities presented by the Summit. In particular, I hope they’ll want to find out more about unschooling. Where could unschooling lead their families? What adventures could they have? How close could they grow to each other? What talents might they develop as they follow their interests? What could they do that will make a difference?
Will parents and their children want to live lives unimagined?
Do you?
Things You Could Do
Visit Daniel’s blog, Princes Off The Grid and check out his book, Choose Life.
Register for the 2020 Homeschooling Global Summit. It’s an online event that runs from June 29 – July 8.
Watch our video interviews from HGS 2019
Check out my new pages for my books, Curious Unschoolers and Radical Unschool Love.
Subscribe to this blog.
Share this link so that more people hear about the Homeschooling Global Summit.
Stop by and say hello!
Are you surprised by where unschooling has led you and your family? Are you living a life unimagined?
Congratulations on being part of this speaking engagement!! You’re right that so often we are tempted to put ourselves down and think others are more valuable. But we are unique and valuable… we don’t only need validation from others to know this.
We’re a homeschooling family with a bent towards unschooling. Thanks for sharing your experiences and insights through this blog. Schooling outside the traditional schooling paradigm is living an unimaginable life!!
Esther,
Thank you! Oh yes, we are unique and valuable. It’s just a shame we don’t always realise this.
Thank you so much for stopping by. It’s good to meet you!
Same here! Nice to meet you too.
I agree with that you shared. We need to give ourselves more credit than we do! It would make a whole lot of difference in our attitudes and daily life.
Esther,
I’ve been thinking about how our attitude affects our kids. I have a blog post idea about that. I hope I can put my thoughts into words!
I enjoyed visiting your blog. Oh my, your photos are stunning! I left a comment, but I’m not sure it submitted properly. Just in case it disappeared, I just want to say I enjoyed reading your blog. Thank you for your recent encouraging comments!
Thank you so much for checking out my blog and for your kind comment about my pictures!!
I’m glad I found your blog too! We’re not an unschooling family but it’s an interesting educational approach that I would like to learn more about. I’ll keep reading!
Take care and have a great rest of this Sunday.