What are the underpinnings of a young person’s transition to adulthood? What do healthy and satisfying adult lives look like? Using a discussion-based approach, we explored how adult allies (in families, SDE centers, youth groups, etc.) can support young people in their transition to adulthood while encouraging and respecting their autonomy and independence.

In this article, I emphasize the subjective or personal nature of learning per my recent PhD research.

The Vawisai model of SDE was recently ruled to close by a Board of Education lawsuit.

“I think I want to try out conventional school.” This sentence can be alarming for those of us who are committed to an SDE and unschooling path. But there are many reasons young people might be compelled to try out school. Listen to this panel for an honest discussion about how this has come up in their family, reasons why young people might want to try out school, what the conversation is like when talking about joining school, and ways to navigate the school system when your SDE kid is in it.

In this session, we talk about what education and learning can mean when we begin to see children as whole, complex, capable people. We discuss all the various ways young people learn and how reducing learning to something concrete and measurable strips it of the many ways it can happen and look like. We also talk about why it even matters to recognize learning, by discussing invisible learning as a way to push back on dominant narratives around children, education and learning.

A poem about unparenting

A workshop on the role storytelling can play in self-directed education and how we can support ourselves and others in creating and collaborating

After having led many discussions on screen time, Brooklyn brings a different angle to this year’s SDE weekend, with a focus on the quality and values pop culture and screens bring to our lives. The idea of youth accessing popular media can be scary. Moving past the conventional; discussion of managing your youths’ time on screens, Brooklyn will explore how opening up to popular media brings a deeper world view for the whole family. How dissolving value judgments brings trust to our relationships with our youth and how to build media literacy and online safety into your family culture.

Self-Directed Education, not progressive education, is the wave of the future.

In self-directed education, adults act as passion-driven role models, offering students silent invitations to explore diverse interests and showcasing alternative paths of learning and growth.

This is a collection of Flash Fiction (1,000 words or less) that was submitted to Tipping Points Magazine starting October 16, 2023.

Rosalia presented on the different aspects of body autonomy, boundaries, and consent. This foundational education is the basis for raising empowered children that understand their rights, but also the rights of others, and how this can create the robust and more effective transition to body safety education as the child develops.

How to recognize and process the thoughts and behaviors in educators, parents, and students that can compromise the integrity of your SDE practice

It is not uncommon for one parent to be all in (or mostly in!) on SDE, and for another to be skeptical or, sometimes, completely against it. This can be such a difficult situation, but one that many of us encounter. Listen to our panel discussion to hear the ways different families approach this and how it shows up for them.

This is a presentation and discussion exploring the practice of intuitive family travel; an exploration ethic that aims to honor our internal navigation systems and create rich, fulfilling experiences for the whole family. Based on our 2+ years as a nomadic, unschooling family, I will discuss how we included our children in itinerary building, how our changing environments and landscapes shaped what and how we learned, as well as how our Worldschooling stories and strategies reverberate in our lives. We are engaging in embodied, environment-dependent learning even as we haven’t left our current home in a year! In the interest of including children in discussions about them, there will perhaps be some input on the day from my young people, should spirit move them to do so.

A book review for the 2022 collection of essays from Ricci and Riley: Joys of Self-Determined Learning

In this Radical Deschooling Chat, we’ll share why we adults so often engage in (and create!) power struggles with young people. We’ll dive deep into triggering moments and the underlying fears that spark them, and how changing our perspective of what’s happening can help us both change our attitude and language in order to build connection with the young humans in our lives. Are you ready to combat the adult supremist in you? Regardless if you’re a facilitator, running an ALC or a parent, if you’re an adult supporting youth – this offering is for you!

How I came face-to-face with society’s (and my own) anti-teen biases

My observations and reflections on spontaneous self-directed learning, aka, play.

Are you new, or semi-new, to Self-Directed Education (SDE)? In this session we chatted about what SDE is, the underlying values and optimizing conditions for SDE to flourish, the many and varied ways SDE can look in practice, and answered any questions participants had about Self-Directed Education, and the Alliance. Watch this recording if you are looking to learn more about SDE and how it shows up in the world.