I’m a huge fan of Ted Talks. When I first started with the idea that we were going to homeschool our chilies, I came across a Ted Talk by Sir Ken Robinson titled “Do Schools Kill Creativity”. In this dynamic and funny talk, he absolutely spoke to my heart. Two of my children were coming out of a less than ideal traditional public-school experience and I was a beat down, stressed out, mom that was running out of confidence that I was even a remotely “ok” mom.
In the first few minutes of his talk, he says “All kids have tremendous talent and we squander them.” This particular line struck me like a ton of bricks. My children’s talents were in fact being squandered by a system that did not support their individualism. This talk was the beginning of my foundation to give my children a shot at a true education, not an education that was measured in standardized tests and benchmarks.
Sir Ken Robinson – Do Schools Kill Creativity?
Shortly after watching Sir Ken Robinson’s talk, the cutest lil’ dude, Logan LaPlante showed up in my Facebook feed. At the time of his talk he was just a tender 13 years old. The passion he showed in his journey of “hack” schooling was contagious. After watching I ran upstairs to our home office and practically forced my hubby to watch it. I wanted that freedom and passion for our kids.
Logan LaPlante - Hachschooling Makes Me Happy
And a year later at the age of 14 he followed up with this talk at the 2014 Innovation Arizona Summit. He had grown up so much in just that short amount of time. I was blown away by his outlook on the world.
On another fairly intense day in the early stages of our unschooling journey, after a defeating blow from a family member essentially telling me that I was going to totally FUBAR our kids and there would be no chance for them to have a successful adulthood, the universe gently reassured me that we were on the right path. Callie Vandewiele an unschooled kid who now is a PhD Latin American Studies gave what just might be the most influential talk I have seen personally. She showed me that freedom to explore your world will naturally lead you to learning. Her talk solidified my foundation to have the courage to move beyond my fears and give the power of freedom to my children.
Callie Vandewiele - Learning Through Unschool
And lastly just a few weeks ago I found this sweet talk by Lua Martin, a veteran unschooling mom. Her soft voice of reassurance was inspirational to me on a more maternal spiritual level. Her commitment to her children and their individual needs gave me the shot in the arm I needed to keep up the good fight for my kids in this unorthodox educational model.
Lua Martin - Skipping School
This is very interesting. I’ve never heard of unschooling before so I’m intrigued to learn more.
Interesting. I've never actually heard any of these or known much about the idea of "unschooling". Definitely interested in learning more!