Karen Matthews joins me this week! Karen and her grown son, Tyler, own a furniture and wood craft business together. We talk about how their unschooling journey began and how following Tyler’s interests has not only been a rewarding path for him, but also for her. Karen shares some of the big a-ha moments she had and paradigm shifts she made through the years. We also talk about questioning our cultural views around productivity and expectations. Karen’s focus on following her son’s joy and cultivating his passions has led them to the connected relationship and wonderful life they enjoy now. It’s so inspiring!
QUESTIONS FOR KAREN
Can you share with us a bit about you and your family? What is everybody interested in right now?
How did you discover unschooling and what did your family’s move to unschooling look like?
One of the pieces of advice you received early on was to deeply value your child’s interests—no matter what. Can you share how that played out for you?
One of my most valuable unschooling paradigm shifts was around the importance of down time. Conventional society is apt to call this laziness, but it really isn’t, is it?
Tyler unschooled through the high school years. I’d love to hear more about what that looked like for you guys!
Looking back, what, for you, has been the most valuable outcome from choosing unschooling?
Karen was inspired by homeschooling speaker Cindy Gaddis, who was on the podcast in EU040: Paradigm Shifts with Cindy Gaddis
THINGS WE MENTION IN THIS EPISODE
We invite you to join us in the Living Joyfully Network, a warm and welcoming online community of like-hearted parents. It’s a non-judgmental space where you can steep in these unconventional ideas around parenting, relationships, and learning, and explore what they might look like day-to-day in your uniquely wonderful family. We offer a free month trial so you can see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to join us.
Sign up to our mailing list on Substack to receive our email newsletters as well as new articles about learning, parenting, and so much more!
Check out our website, livingjoyfully.ca for more information about exploring unschooling and navigating relationships.
Leave a Reply