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Summer Jean and I have a wonderful conversation about her experience growing up unschooling. We chat about how her mom came to unschooling, dealing with disapproval from extended family members, how her passion for glass art has unfolded, some of the common questions she gets when people learn she didn’t go to school and lots more.
Quote of the Week
“It’s human instinct to evolve. I mean, how did we get to where we are? It wasn’t from someone forcing us to learn something we didn’t care about. It was from us being curious and interested and wanting to get better at something.” ~ Summer Jean
Questions for Summer
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
What did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
What inspired you to learn more about unschooling and did it change the way you saw your childhood?
I understand that you guys experienced quite a bit of pressure and disapproval from extended family growing up. How did you deal with that? Any tips you’d like to share?
How did you discover your passion for glass art and how did that unfold?
When people find out you that you grew up unschooled, I imagine they are full of questions. What are some of the most common questions you get?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Pam’s new blog post, The Nature of Time (an excerpt from her book, The Unschooling Journey: A Field Guide)
Summer’s personal Facebook, and her business, Mermaid Art Glass, on Facebook, and Instagram
Episode Transcript
... an online resource for parents wanting to live joyfully with their children through unschooling. If you're passionate about exploring the world with your children, this site is for you. I'm Pam Laricchia, the author and owner of this site. Thanks for inviting me along on your unschooling journey!
Eve Hoyt says
March 23, 2018 at 8:38 amThank you so much for this interview. It was really inspiring, and just what I needed to hear.
Pam Laricchia says
March 23, 2018 at 8:40 amI’m so glad, Eve! 🙂
Summer Jean says
March 25, 2018 at 11:16 pmThank you! I’m so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
Shonda Bradford says
March 23, 2018 at 11:17 amI thoroughly enjoyed this interview with Summer. It’s so helpful to hear the perspective of grown unschoolers especially as a parent of a 5 year old. It’s a reminder about the impact of what we say, do and feel. Thank you!
Pam Laricchia says
March 23, 2018 at 11:18 amSo glad you enjoyed it, Shonda, and that’s a great point! 😀
Summer Jean says
March 25, 2018 at 11:18 pmThank you! I’m so happy I can provide some insight into how children are affected by this style of parenting.
Yo says
March 25, 2018 at 7:07 pmLoved, loved, loved this interview! So much resonated. It’s a good one to pass on to others who question the nature of unschooling.
Summer Jean says
March 25, 2018 at 11:20 pmThank you!
Pam Laricchia says
March 26, 2018 at 5:10 amThanks, Yo!
Sarah says
March 27, 2018 at 9:07 pmThis was such an inspiration to me. We have homeschooled/unschooled up until this year where we had to succumb to public school out of necessity. But I decided on friday we couldn’t do it anymore and formally pulled the kids out of public school. This has completely reinforced my decision, I can’t thank you enough!!!!
Rose Elly says
April 3, 2018 at 7:22 amWow! Thank you both. Cleyre and Ruti are 11 and 9 and I struggle with fear. They have never been to school. I want to give them the world and feel like I need to schedule stuff for them and then I remember to stop and then I forget again. It is a continuous struggle within me. Listening to discussions like this really helps me stop.
Rach says
June 6, 2018 at 1:42 amWow what a wonderful person Summer is – thank you so much to you both for sharing. It was a delight to listen to your story Summer – very inspiring and encouraging on our journey of unschooling and trusting our children to learn what they need to and what is their passions