Join 50+ unschooling experts and connect with parents from around world to explore a different way to live, learn and thrive with your child!
March 21st - 23rd, 2025
Watch the video below to learn how this FREE event will bring you expert insights, thoughtful and engaging discussions, plus connections with a global community of unschooling parents.
The unschooling journey can be both rewarding and challenging
There's so much to love about unschooling
- Seeing your child's natural curiosity come alive or reawaken.
- Building a deeper connection as you work in partnership with your child.
- Letting go of all the “shoulds” and embracing your child just as they are.
- Watching your child grow in self-knowledge and confidence.
- Having the freedom to honour yours and your child’s natural rhythms.
- Rediscovering your own passions and love of learning.
But it can be hard to put into practice
- Worrying that your child isn't doing enough.
- Worrying that you aren't doing enough.
- Struggling to build a supportive community for you and your child.
- Getting anxious about the future and of failing your child.
- Feeling tired and depleted by the lack of support.
- Feeling an immense pressure to get it all right.
- Getting triggered by old expectations around learning and parenting.
Welcome to The Unschooling Summit, a space to explore how you and your child can live, learn and thrive.
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Connect with a community of likeminded parents from around the world.
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Be inspired by world-class speakers and seasoned unschooling parents.
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Discover strategies to overcome common unschooling challenges and reinvigorate your approach.
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Explore how unschooling can be a powerful tool for social change and personal growth.
The lineup
We've gathered an incredible lineup of internationally renowned speakers along with experienced unschooling parents. They’ll be sharing their knowledge and insights with you through prerecorded interviews, live roundtable sessions and live workshops.
Day 1: Our Children
What they need to live, learn and thrive
We’ll start off on day one with speakers delving into what learning is, how it happens, and what our children need to thrive.
Meet the speakers
Pam Laricchia
Why a strong relationship is always the foundation for learning
Amanda Diekman
Learning through screens: From fear to confidence and connection
Dr Naomi Fisher
How to help your teen recover from burnout
Lainie Liberti
Embracing partnership parenting with your self-directed teen
Domari Dickinson
Supporting your unschooler's choice to explore mainstream schooling
Sari Gonzalez & Becka Koritz
How unschooling empowers young people: Rights, consent and autonomy
Erich Leidums
The magic of risky play and why it's beneficial for our children
Elspeth Hetrick
Why co-regulation is essential for neurodivergent unschooling joy
Roundtables - join our panellists live
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Accompanying self-directed teens
How does unschooling change as our children get older and start to think about their futures?
With Anthony Eldridge-Rogers, Lehla Eldridge, Marta Obiols and Meghan Suniga-Davies -
What do consent and autonomy look like in action?
What does it mean to respect our children's autonomy and to live in a consensual way with them?
With Fran Liberatore, Becka Koritz, Jae Williams & Pam Laricchia -
Unschooling our neurodivergent children
Many families find that unschooling is a great fit for their neurodivergent child.
With Heidi Steel, Iris Wong, Stacey Yates Sellar & Makeba Garraway
Day 2: Ourselves
Tending to ourselves as we navigate this journey
Unschooling is as much about our own growth as it is about our children's. On day 2, expert speakers will discuss how we can navigate this unconventional path and find joy in the journey.
Meet the speakers
Kristy Forbes
Honouring our intuition as parents and carers
Jae Williams
How unschooling changed how I view everything
Dr Emma Svanberg
The courage to step away: How to feel confident in walking away from systems that don't work for you
Lehla & Anthony Eldridge-Rogers
Insights and strategies for a strong and supportive partnership
Heidi Steel
Living outside the box: Unapologetically unstandardised
Meghan Suniga-Davies
Unschooling, isolation and when our children seem uninterested in everything!
Esther Jones
How to turn the challenges into opportunities for growth and connection
Melissa Crockett-Joyoue
Discovering your own neurodivergence as you unschool your neurodivergent child
Roundtables - join our panellists live
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How to deschool ourselves as we unschool
The biggest stumbling block to happy unschooling is the parent. It can be extremely challenging to let go of our old ways and beliefs. We'll be talking about tools and strategies that can help you move forward.
With Daniel Moeller, Dana Huraimi, Nicole Vito, Ieishah Clelland and Danii Oliver -
Experiences of single-parent unschooling
Unschooling can feel like a big commitment, and even more so if you're flying solo. We'll talk about what this can look like for single parents and how our panellists make it work for their families.
With Elspeth Hetrick, Aja Rutledge, Holly Burnett and Dipalle Parmar -
The importance of taking care of ourselves
How we are really matters! The more resourced we are, the better we feel and the better we can accompany our children. We'll be talking about ways we can keep our own cups filled and build our own capacity.
With Daisy Remington, Laura Luet, Ashley Short, Kristy Forbes and Allison Davies
Live Workshop with ASDE
Launching a Self-Directed Education space
With: Alex Khost, Cassidy Younghans and Tomis Parker
This will be a conversation with organizers of the Alliance for Self-Directed Education on the ups and downs of starting a self-directed centre or program.
You’ll hear from them on youth rights, difficulty with parents and money woes! Their unique experiences will guide them on a conversation with the workshop attendees.
Alex Khost
Tomis Parker
Cassidy Younghans
Day 3: Community & Beyond
Unschooling and the wider world.
Unschooling doesn't exist in a vacuum. Finally, on day 3, our speakers will address deeper themes that affect us all, such as decolonising education & ourselves, connecting with the wider community, and leveraging unschooling as a tool for social change.
Meet the speakers
Peter Gray
What has caused the rise in anxiety among US kids? (It's not smartphones or social media)
Iris Chen
From Tiger Mom to Unschooler: Decolonizing education through self-directed learning
Chemay Morales-James
The importance of healing in community from colonial education and living
Leslie W. Bray
Intentional living: The core of an unschooled life
Zakiyya Ismail
Why intersectional unschooling
Lucy AitkenRead
Rewilding our livelihood, why unschooling parents make amazing entrepreneurs
Bria Bloom
From unschooled to unschooling advocate
Pat Farenga
Keeping the legacy of John Holt alive
Roundtables - join our panellists live
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How to create the community we need
It's easy to feel isolated when you take a different path. Our panel will talk about what community looks like for their families and how they went about building it.
With Supriya Narang, Emma Hosfeld, Sari Gonzalez, Chévanni Davids and Chemay Morales-James -
Working in harmony with our partners
It's no small feat for both parents to get on the same page and to work together. Different approaches and perspectives can create a lot of frustration. Our panellists will discuss how that looked in their home and the things that work for them.
With Erich Leidum, Leslie W. Bray, Bria Bloom and Alice Bramhill -
Reflections from parents of adult unschoolers
How do our unschoolers move out into the world? Our panelists will tell us how this looked in their homes and share the lessons they've learned.
With Erin Rosemond, Jane Evans, Leslie W. Bray and Anna Brown
Decolonising Unschooling Workshop
A live interactive workshop facilitated by unschooling parents & liberation minded disruptors Ieishah and Meghan.
Discussing the importance of having a decolonisation practice while unschooling, divesting from oppressive systems and how they are inextricably linked to unschooling.
Generously sponsored by the ASDE - Alliance for Self Directed Education
Ieishah Clelland
Meghan Suniga-Davies
You don’t need to wait til the 21st to dive in!
Join the summit Facebook community · Collect your swag bag of freebies · Submit a roundtable question · Win prizes
Meet Your Hosts
Hi and Kia ora! We, Esther Jones and Melissa Crockett-Joyoue, are delighted to bring you The Unschooling Summit.
Esther is a UK-based mindfulness teacher, deschooling coach and mother of three unschooled children. Esther has written extensively about her own deschooling experience on her blog, A Place on a Hill, and she hosts the bi-weekly podcast, The Unschool Space, in which she explores unschooling with other unschooling parents. She works with parents who want to unravel the beliefs and conditioning that hold them back with their children. Her book, The Parent’s Handbook to Unschooling Yourself, will be published in August, 2025.
Melissa lives in Aotearoa (New Zealand), is Māori, AuDHD and the mama of two unschooled neurodivergent children. Her experience with understanding and meeting their needs deepened her commitment to helping others on a similar path. Melissa is the founder of Weave ND, an online membership community dedicated to neurodivergent unschooling families. She is especially passionate about working with neurodivergent parents and Indigenous families on their unschooling journeys.
Sponsored by
What to expect at The Unschooling Summit
When and Where
The Unschooling Summit will run from 21st-23rd March 2025 (UK time) with seven to eight recorded interviews with speakers and three live roundtables to choose from each day. The live roundtables and additional live workshops will also be recorded and posted up for replay ASAP after each live event. This summit is entirely virtual, so you’ll be able to attend from anywhere in the world with internet access.
Expert Sessions
Listen to our 22 experienced speakers interviewed by Esther or Melissa, and attend the nine live roundtables (three per day to choose from), two live workshops or catch the replays. Your free ticket includes 48-hour access (to accommodate international time zones) to each presentation during the three days of the summit. An Unschooling Bonus Pack purchase gives you 12 months access to all recordings and more. See below for details.
Private Summit Community
Connect with parents from around the world in our private Facebook group for all our attendees. Sign up now to get your free ticket and you'll also get an invite to join our Facebook Community which will be open until the end of the summit.
It's a space for you to make connections with other unschooling parents and join in the lively discussions we will have happening there.
Chances to Win
Show up and participate in the community for chances to win prizes throughout the summit!
We’ll be giving out an Unschooling Bonus Pack each day (or a refund if you already upgraded) plus books and workshops by our wonderful speakers and panellists
Prize draws
Everyone who signs up to attend the summit can enter a prize draw for a free annual membership with Weave ND community (a supportive online community for the parents of neurodivergent unschoolers), and a deschooling package with with Esther Jones.
* One year's membership to the Weave ND online community $315 USD
* A place on Esther’s Mindful Deschooling Course, 2 x one-on-one sessions, and a copy of The parent's handbook to unschooling yourself $415 USD
Want to keep the inspiration going? Upgrade to the Unschooling Bonus Pack
After registering, you’ll have the chance to upgrade to the UNSCHOOLING BONUS PACK which includes 12 months access to the recordings after the summit wraps up, premium bonuses, and more! You’ll get all the details, including the Early Bird pricing (which lasts until the summit opens) after grabbing your free ticket!
Have Questions? We've got Answers
How do I know whether this summit is right for me?
When is this event happening?
What if I’m not able to attend live?
How long will I have access to the presentations?
Are the presentations live?
Will all the speakers get my email address?
Are your videos captioned or transcribed?
I still have questions!
Unschooling is a transformative journey for both you and your child. The Unschooling Summit is your gateway to a global community, expert insights, and engaging discussions.
Join us for this incredible three-day virtual event and ignite your unschooling journey!
