HIHTK: 005 Pam Laricchia – Exploring Unschooling
Summary: <br> <br> <br> <br> Exploring Unschooling with Pam Laricchia<br> Pam shares her personal journey of how her family came into unschooling and why they chose to unschool after years of trying to get school to work.<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> Other ways to enjoy this Podcast<br> <br> <br> <a title="Listen on iTunes" href="https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/honey-im-homeschooling-the-kids/id1272423047" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> <a title="Listen on Google Play" href="https://play.google.com/music/listen?t=Honey!_I%27m_Homeschooling_The_Kids&pcampaignid=MKT-na-all-co-pr-mu-pod-16&u=0&view=/ps/I2zvkou6ephyzybp2fc6f2ea3lm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> <a title="Listen on Stitcher" href="http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=147912&refid=stpr" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a><br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> In this episode we talked about many parts of the home learning unschooling journey:<br> The importance of the Deschooling process<br> Getting comfortable with “not knowing”<br> EXPECTATIONS <br> The lifelong learning process for both parents and children<br> Is unschooling for everyone?<br> Making mistakes<br> University and unschooling<br> The Key to Unschooling: Building Trust<br> <br> Pam tells how she built trust with her children and how that is the key to <a href="https://imhomeschooling.com/episode-001-jim-sheils-how-one-entrepreneur-is-overturning-the-traditional-education-model/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unschooling</a>. Finding the connection in simple unexpected times with your kids and giving the space to be with them is important. Those conversations are the key in <a href="https://imhomeschooling.com/episode-003-judy-arnall-homeschool-advice-from-an-expert/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unschooling</a>. Taking the time to relax and process things. Creating the room to ask. These times show your children that they are important and what they have to say is important to you. It helps to understand each other better and they also come to see that we are not doing it with an ulterior motive, like throwing in a school lesson or getting our way for something. Instead, we sincerely have their best interests at heart. It is that openness, laughter and conversation that builds that trust. <br> Definition of Deschooling<br> Pam has an in-depth explanation of Deschooling: The process of releasing all conventional ideas about learning. Asking why certain things are important. It widens to how we live and engage with life. How we learn things, the content to what we learn and when we learn it. To be able to take the time to question all these assumptions that we have grown up with that we think are true: From how we learn things right up to the content of things that we (and school) think kids should learn. Why is that curriculum timeline any better than allowing them to encounter it on their own? Then if they don’t encounter it is it still something of value? Why is school curriculum laid out in a 12-year time frame, instead of learning it in our life-long time frame when we need it or when it becomes important to us? <br> When they left school Pam felt she was the one that had to go through a longer deschooling process. Giving herself that space and just paying attention for a year gave her time to see the bigger picture. <br> The Important Deschooling Process in Unschooling<br> The deschooling process is important because as parents we have triggers on learning. The discomfort we feel is usually about us. The triggers we have when we worry about our kids and if or what they are learning are our own personal issues, not theirs. <br> When you step back and give them time, you can begin to see how their learning is connecting, how their growth is happening. For Pam, that time started happening after a year of deschooling. <br>
