Béa Mantovani is an unschooling mom with two children. I’ve known Béa online in unschooling circles for quite a few years—she’s even translated some of my blog posts into French. We have a really interesting conversation as we dive into the twists and turns of their unschooling lives, including how she found unschooling, her biggest deschooling challenge, navigating learning to read, how technology weaves into their days, the ups and downs of extended travel, being trilingual and exploring languages with children, and much more!
Questions for Béa
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
What did you find to be the most challenging area of deschooling in that first year or so?
One of the common questions people have as they learn about unschooling is, “But how will they learn how to read?” I’d love to hear your perspective on the process of children learning to read—both philosophically, and how it’s playing out in your unschooling lives.
Another area that a lot of people find challenging is technology. Computers, the internet, cell phones, and other electronic devices are new to our culture and change can be scary. I’d love to hear about your experience around this topic.
We’re friends online and I see you that you guys travel pretty often. And, I know that you’re at least bilingual because you’ve translated some of my blog posts into French. I definitely wanted to ask you about both these topics! But then, when we were in touch before the call, you mentioned how those topics go together. Now, I’m extra curious. I can imagine a few ways they might be connected, but I’d love to hear how travel and languages weave into your unschooling lives. What are the joys and the challenges?
What’s your favourite thing about your unschooling lifestyle right now?
Links to things mentioned in the show
Sandra Dodd’s website
Sai Paint Tool, a computer drawing tool
Béa’s family blog, One Moment at a Time
Béa’s French unschooling translations blog, Apprendre en liberté
And she’s on Facebook
Episode Transcript
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