Tami Stroud is an unschooling mom of six kids, ages four to thirteen. We have a great chat about her family’s move to unschooling, their journey to becoming a nomadic, sometimes expat, family, the threads that weave through the ideas of hard work, grit, entitlement, and rewards and punishment, and last, but not least, she shares some wonderful tips for unschooling with a large family.
Quote of the Week
“When you think about rewards and punishment in light of entitlement, that goes back to, you condition people to only want to do a thing if they are getting some sort of benefit. You create this reward economy that you are paying for the behaviour or the goodness you want, rather than people just being good to be good and to freely give themselves.” ~ Tami Stroud
Questions for Tami
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family, and how you discovered unschooling?
What did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
You and your husband have chosen a more nomadic lifestyle for your family. What inspired that and can you share a bit about where you guys have lived so far?
You have a great four-part series on your blog about hard work, digging into the question, “Do people do hard things even when they are not forced to do them?” I really enjoyed the connection you made between the conventional method for encouraging hard work, namely rewards for a “job well done,” and the development of a sense of entitlement. Can you explain that connection?
With the diverging interests of six children, I’d love to hear a bit about what your unschooling days look like.
What tips would you share for larger families starting to move to unschooling?
Links to Things Mentioned in the Show
Tami mentioned the Home Educators of Riyadh Facebook group
Alfie Kohn’s book, Punished by Rewards
Alison Gopnik’s books: The Philosophical Baby, The Scientist in the Crib and The Gardener and the Carpenter
Pam’s blog post, “I’m so proud of you!”
Tami’s blog, StarryEyedPragmatist.com, and Facebook page
Episode Transcript
Thank you, thank you, thank you for this Podcast. My husband and I have 6 kids and have always homeschooled. We started with a “school at home” approach, but have transitioned to unschooling over the past 4 years. I have listened and read so much about unschooling, but get overwhelmed easily with so many people and have almost given up and gone back to more “school at home” But this podcast came at the perfect time. I love the idea of Managing the environment rather then managing ALL the kids. Such great wisdom. We also have minimal dishes and clothes. It is a Large family game changer. Thanks again. I really have enjoyed your podcast so much. I listen to them over and over again,
So glad about the timing, Amanda! And that’s such a wonderful mind shift, isn’t it? 🙂