Unschooling Children, a School Teacher Father, and Tea

“What does your husband think about you unschooling your children?” 

I have been asked this question quite a few times. I guess people are interested in the answer because my husband Andy is a school teacher, as well as an unschooling father.

“Would you like to chat with me about unschooling, being a school teacher and your involvement in our children’s lives?” I asked Andy. “Our conversation could be this week’s podcast.”

Andy was agreeable. I decided to ask our 19-year-old daughter Imogen to be part of my podcast too. Soon we were talking, and before we knew it, episode 7 of my podcast series had been recorded.

This is not a ‘what’s wrong with the school system’ conversation. We did discuss both school and unschooling, but as Andy is working in the public school system, and has responsibilities towards his school and his colleagues, there were some things we couldn’t talk about. Also Andy, like so many other school teachers, does a great job under circumstances much more difficult than my own, and I wasn’t about to pull him and his efforts to pieces.

Leaving the subject of school, Andy and Imogen shared their father-daughter story, as we talked about ways a father can be involved in his unschooling children’s lives.

And Andy also chatted about how he faced the challenge of redundancy and had to begin a new career, mid-life. I hope this story will encourage anyone who wonders if they should make their children learn as much as possible while homeschooling,  just in case they might need it sometime in the future.

Unschooling Children, a School Teacher Father and Tea.

Tea? Oops! I forgot to talk about the tea. Oh well, you’ll discover the significance of tea as you listen!