Mistakes, a Teenager's Love of Learning, and Loose Change!

“Would anyone like to chat with me while I make my second podcast?” I asked my family.

“I will,” volunteered Sophie, my 13 year old daughter.

“Perhaps this time my voice will sound more natural,” I said, “because I’ll be having a real conversation with someone I can see.”

Soon I was setting up my computer in the quiet of my bedroom. I had a list of conversation topics. I also had a new external microphone.

Soon I was saying, “Hi! I’m Sue Elvis from the blog, Stories of an Unschooling Family.” I got through the difficult first couple of minutes. The words started flowing. Sophie and I began to enjoy ourselves. Twenty minutes later, I clicked the ‘stop’ button. We’d done it. A perfect podcast!

I pressed the ‘playback’ button and we sat back to listen.

“Oh no!” Something had gone wrong. I’d made a mistake with the mic. The recording wasn’t perfect after all. Should we start again? Yes? No? I couldn’t make up my mind.This morning, I decided to record everything a second time. “At least we’re learning a lot by making mistakes,” I said, trying to make myself feel better. Fortunately, Sophie agreed.

Some time later, my second podcast was finished for the second time. Am I happy with it? I think this podcast flows more smoothly than my first one. Yes, I think it’s much better.

So what did Sophie and I talk about? We chatted about our shared love of learning and all the interests we have in common. I mulled over how important it is for mothers to be a good example of learning. And how mothers usually end up learning from their children.  We discussed Sophie’s least favourite question related to learning. And we talked about perfection and why it isn’t necessary.

Along the way other topics entered our conversation such as cat bites, our huge puppy Nora, online art classes, loose change, DSLR cameras and mistakes. Does any of that sound interesting? I hope so because I‘d love you to listen and then give me some feedback, (good or bad but please be kind!)

Like last time, I will add some program notes about all the things we mentioned in the podcast, because they might be helpful. Posting program notes also makes me feel like a real podcaster!

So have you got something to do while you listen? Would you like to grab a cup of coffee? Ready? It’s now time for…

Mistakes, a Teenager’s Love of Learning, and Loose Change!