The Unschooling Journey: A Field Guide

You are the HERO of your story.

What story do you want to tell about being a parent? Do you want something different for your family? Are you ready to answer the call to unschooling?

When Pam’s three children left school back in 2002, she had no idea that one decision would lead her to question so much of the conventional wisdom around learning and parenting. Nor that she would find new answers that made so much more sense! Her children are now all adults, and she can confidently say the journey has been incredible and life-changing—but by no means easy.

Inspired by Joseph Campbell’s hero’s journey framework, The Unschooling Journey is a weave of myths, contemporary stories, and tales from Pam’s journey. It’s not a “how to” book—no two paths through the world unschooling have the same twists and turns—yet having a general sense of where you are on your journey can bring valuable insight as you navigate the challenges that will inevitably appear. She shares this book as a field guide to the stages and characters you are likely to encounter in some form on your unschooling journey.

Characters such as the heralds and guides who call us forward and help us choose our next step. The tricksters and monsters who are determined to confuse and scare us at every turn. And the gods and goddesses who shake us to the core and inspire our inner journey until, at last, we capture the holy grail of our quest: unschooling with confidence and grace.

In The Unschooling Journey, you’ll discover:

• The value of approaching your journey with insatiable curiosity
• How living and learning weave together to create a meaningful tapestry of lifelong learning and joy
• The hidden depths of self-awareness—for ourselves and our children—that come when we move away from control as a parenting tool
• The profound impact of judgement and shame, and how to find your way to kindness and compassion with your children
• That unschooling, like life, is a practice, and there is real magic in its messiness

The book also includes ten beautiful illustrations by Hema Bharadwaj—an unschooling parent herself—created specifically to visually reflect the inner journey we are taking as we embrace unschooling.

Together, let’s explore your unschooling journey.

NOTE: THE PRINT EDITION IS ALSO A JOURNAL. In the print edition, you’ll also find plenty of room to document your journey along the way. Hema’s illustrations are printed full page for you to colour as you contemplate your journey, there are journal pages for writing down your experiences and clarifying your thoughts, and even blank pages for doodling and sketching.

You can check out more of Hema’s incredible art at her website: hemabharadwaj.com.

Table of Contents | Reviews | Where to Buy | Goodreads

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

Introduction, The hero’s journey.

CHOOSING UNSCHOOLING

Stage One: The Call to Unschooling, You are the hero of your story.

Stage Two: Refusing the Call, It’s your choice.

Stage Three: Finding our Guides, The way through our fears is connecting with our children.

Stage Four: Crossing the Threshold to Unschooling, Matching wits with the threshold guardians.

Stage Five: Embracing Beginner’s Mind, Transitioning to a learning mindset.

DESCHOOLING

Stage Six: Challenging Our Beliefs About Learning, Nurturing the joy of learning.

Stage Seven: Shifting From Control to Connection, Moving away from parents versus children.

Stage Eight: Accepting the Value of All Experiences, Moving beyond judgement.

Stage Nine: Accepting Our Nature, Temptation is not failure.

Stage Ten: Accepting Others Where They Are, Seeing ourselves in others.

Stage Eleven: Cultivating Kindness and Compassion, Finding the magic in the mess.

Stage Twelve: Unschooling With Confidence and Grace, Unschooling is a practice.

LIVING UNSCHOOLING

Stage Thirteen: The Trek Back, When the ordinary world calls.

Stage Fourteen: Crossing the Return Threshold, Integrating our new-found perspective into everyday life.

Stage Fifteen: Being Ourselves in the World, Finding the beautiful in the mundane.

Stage Sixteen: The Flow of our Unschooling Lives, Living and learning and growing.

The Illustrated Journey

Author’s Note

Bibliography

About Pam Laricchia

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Reviews

“In The Unschooling Journey: A Field Guide, Pam Laricchia extends an invitation to frame our deschooling process as a hero’s journey. This deep and beautiful storying of the transition into unschooling pulls from literary hero monomyths to inspire new meaning for our own journeys off the mainstream path and into connection, trust, and adventure with our children.” ~ Rachel Rainbolt, M.A., Sage Parenting Coach and author of Sage Homeschooling

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Where to Buy

Buy the ebook directly from me

Immediate download of epub & and mobi files: PAYHIP

Buy from your favourite online retailers

Buy the ebook or print edition from your favourite online retailer: ONLINE RETAILERS

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