The Joy and Love of Living an Unschooling Way of Life
Last Friday, my girls and I had a wonderful morning filming Imogen’s latest music video on the banks of a local river. On our way home, we couldn’t help expressing our gratitude for the life we lead. While other people are going to school and work, we’re off on our unschooling adventures. Sometimes joy washes over us. Aren’t we so very fortunate to live this way of life?
Occasionally I hear of unschooling teenagers who want to go to school. “Why would they want to do that?” ask my girls in horror. Swap unschooling for schooling? We just don’t understand. Recently, we pondered this topic and came up with some ideas, and I captured our thoughts in a couple of videos. Of course, we’re not unschooling teenagers who want to go to school. Our thoughts might not be correct. But we’re hoping they’re interesting.
I also talk about the topic of kids wanting to go to school in this week’s podcast. As I began speaking, I thought this would be the main theme of the episode. But when I got to the end, I realised that it was the joy and love of living an unschooling way of life that was at the heart of everything I said.
In this week’s episode, I answer the following questions:
What was it like recording Imogen’s latest music video with an unexpected audience?
If we are experiencing dark and difficult times, is there hope? Will joy return to our days?
Isn’t it wonderful watching kids working with confidence and skill?
Why would an unschooling teenager choose to go to school?
I also talk about
the joy of living an unschooling way of life
our recent videos
zombies and running
a few resources
the joy of living in the moment
how I’m going to cope when time moves on and I’m no longer living life as it is today
how we all need a feeling of belonging
Show Notes
Zombies, Books and Movies
Only a few have survived the zombie epidemic. You are a Runner en-route to one of humanity’s last remaining outposts. They need your help to gather supplies, rescue survivors, and defend their home.
And you have another mission — one they don’t know about…
William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher
Join us, good gentles, for a merry reimagining of Star Wars: Episode 1 as only Shakespeare could have written it. The entire saga starts here, with a thrilling tale featuring a disguised queen, a young hero, and two fearless knights facing a hidden, vengeful enemy.
’Tis a true Shakespearean drama, filled with sword fights, soliloquies, and doomed romance . . . all in glorious iambic pentameter and coupled with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations. Hold on to your midi-chlorians: The play’s the thing, wherein you’ll catch the rise of Anakin!
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: 3 Book Series
We haven’t read these books, but if you have, we’d love to hear your opinion.
“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.” So begins Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a bold reimagining of Jane Austen’s classic novel. As our story opens, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the dead are returning to life. Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she’s soon distracted by the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. What ensues is a delightful comedy of manners with plenty of civilized sparring between the two young lovers—and even more violent sparring on the bloodsoaked battlefield. Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights, cannibalism, and thousands of rotting corpses, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is an audacious retelling of English literature’s most enduring novel.
Pide and Prejudice and Zombies: Movie
We’re a bit horrified by the thought of Jane Austen being associated with Zombies. Is the movie as bad as we imagine?
Youtube Channels and Videos
She’d be thrilled if you subscribed!
Imogen’s Hallelujah video
My Youtube Channel
You could subscribe to my channel too!
My Making Hallelujah: An Unschooling Interview video
Videos about self-directed learning and why kids might choose to go to school:
Podcast Music: 60’s Quiz Show by Podington Bear, (CC BY-NC 3.0)
Images: I took these photos on our recent music video shoot. We filmed Imogen singing Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah.
You can find more episodes of my Stories of an Unschooling Family podcast on
and here on my blog.
Please feel welcome to comment on this week’s podcast. You could share what you enjoy most about living an unschooling way of life, or give your opinion about Jane Austen and Zombies, or you could just stop by to say hello!