TPP 146: Self-Directed Learning Advocate Blake Boles on Unschooling
episode
Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
33 min
2 speakers
5 chapters
transcribed 4 hours ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I call this the folk psychology of unschooling. The principle is that when the kid really wants to learn something and they have their own chosen reason to learn it, then they will do it rather quickly. And that's the power of self directed learning.
Welcome to Tilt Parenting, a podcast featuring interviews and conversations aimed at inspiring, informing, and supporting parents raising differently wired kids. My name is Debbie Reaver, and I'm the host of this show, and I am really excited to share this conversation with you. My guest is Blake Bowles, the self-directed learning advocate behind Unschool Adventures and the author of several books on unschooling, including The Art of Self-Directed Learning, Better Than College, and College Without High School, as well as the host of the Off-Trail Learning Podcast. Now, You may be listening to this and thinking, I am not homeschooling my child or unschooling is just not my thing. But I'm gonna encourage you to listen to what Blake has to say, because regardless of your child's educational circumstances, there is wisdom to be gleaned from Blake's philosophy on self-directed learning and helping our kids grow up into intrinsically motivated humans who understand themselves and are driven to seek out the information and resources they need to achieve their goals.
I also love that Blake's approach beautifully challenges those traditional timelines that our differently wired kids often don't meet anyway. So have a listen and let me know what you think. I'm curious to hear how this interview lands with you. Lastly, if you enjoy this podcast and would like to support its production and support all the work that Tilt Parenting is doing, please consider joining my Patreon campaign and supporting the show with a small monthly contribution. The money that comes in through Patreon goes directly toward covering the production costs for this show and for Tilt Parenting. Thank you so much for considering. And if you want to learn more or sign up, just go to patreon.com slash childparenting or look for a link on any of the show notes pages.
Thank you so much. And now here is my conversation with Blake. Hey Blake, welcome to the podcast.
Thanks for having me.
And I just uh just so listeners know that I'm recording this uh in the evening in New Jersey and I'm talking to Blake who is in New Zealand right now. So the audio quality sounds great and I just have to give a nod to Skype and Modern Technology.
I will also give a nod to uh communication technology. Thank you very much.
Yes, thank you. So before we get started, I always like to just give guests an opportunity to introduce themselves, a little bit about, you know, your personal why. Uh and I'm sure this work is very personal for you. So can you tell us a little bit about what you do and and why you do it?
been working with teens who don't go to regular school for most of my adult career and I I didn't get into this as a young person myself. I went to public school in California.
What is unschooling and how does it differ from traditional homeschooling?
I went to university because I thought I wanted to be an astrophysicist and very quickly I was mugged by reality. And instead got into alternative education and designed my own degree to study education full time because that just seemed a lot more interesting and relevant and important. And I started working at a summer camp after university called Not Back to School Camp, which is the preeminent summer camp for teenage unschoolers in the US. And that's where I got to really meet a lot of these kids face to face. And it was so inspiring to meet them and to to experience what it's like to work with teenagers in this more, I guess, authentic setting. And that inspired me to to write books about them and for them and to start a company called Unschool Adventures.
Through which I've taken teenage unschoolers on long term international trips. For the past ten years. And that's how I've been making my money. And uh th that's the short story, Debbie.
I just love how you designed a life for yourself that is, you know
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–3:10
2
What is unschooling and how does it differ from traditional homeschooling?
3:10–15:59
3
What are the most common myths about unschooled children?
15:59–21:08
4
How does intrinsic motivation drive self‑directed learning?
21:08–28:14
5
What does the transition from a traditional school to unschooling look like?
28:14–33:45
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Full-Tilt Parenting: Strategies, Insights, and Connection for Parents Raising Neurodivergent Children
TPP 266a: A Conversation with Poet and Advocate LeDerick Horne
TPP 522: A Whole Child Approach to ADHD with Phil Boucher, M.D.
TPP 091a: A Conversation With Steve Silberman About His Book “Neurotribes”
TPP 521: A Conversation with Dr. Peter Gray About Restoring Childhood
TPP 253a: Advocate and Author Jonathan Mooney on Why Normal Sucks
TPP 520: Dr. Özgür Bolat on Why Rewards Backfire and the Real Science of Motivating Kids