The Life Without School Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Life Without School Podcast

Stark Raving Dad

Kids & Family

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/58d. Total Eps: 31

The Life Without School Podcast is your grounded, research-backed companion for homeschooling, unschooling, and raising your kids outside the system.

Hosted by Issy (aka Stark Raving Dad), a home educating dad of four, each episode offers clear, honest guidance to help you build a life that works - for your child, and for you.

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https://www.facebook.com/starkravingdad/
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCW4K1TBtSZ3EB6oeFJfuMTw
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When Our Unschooler Tried School

Episode 30

Thursday, January 15, 2026 • Duration 40:39

What actually happens when an unschooler decides they want to try school?

In this episode, I’m sharing the story of our 9-year-old daughter choosing to go to school. Before that day, she had never once stepped into a classroom. I talk about why we agreed to it. How we prepared. What the transition into a classroom was actually like. How she went socially. What happened academically. What sort of overall impact it had on her. And whether, in the end, it lasted.

If you’ve ever found yourself wondering whether school might be “worth a try”, or you have a child asking about it and no real sense of how that would play out, this episode will give you a grounded, objective, lived perspective from the inside.

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly research-backed episodes to help you design and live your best possible life outside school, sign up to my full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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Why home educating is the most important work there is

Episode 29

Tuesday, August 5, 2025 • Duration 25:50

I want to put something to you. If you’ve chosen to home educate your children - whatever form that takes, however structured or unstructured you are - there’s a good chance you’re not valuing yourself, or your role, nearly as much as you should.

And I say that with no judgement at all. Because I’ve done that too. As has my wife, Kate. In fact, she’s my inspiration for this episode, because as she’s worked hard on that internal messaging over the past couple of years she’s realised how little credit she’s given herself for what she’s taken on. And she would very much like to make sure that the same thing does not happen to you.

Because somehow, despite the enormity of what you’ve taken on, it doesn’t feel like a recognised role. A respected role. Not in the way the world treats work. There’s no title. Status. Career path. No salary. Just you, doing the job every day, while the people around you move through careers that are culturally validated.

Today I want to show you why I believe you’ve taken on a level of professional responsibility and weight that most people never will. I want to talk about why you probably don’t believe that right now, what affect that’s having on how you see yourself (and how you show up for your children), and how to step back and reframe your role. Your importance. Your value.

I believe that what you’re doing deserves to be recognised as a *career-level responsibility*. And I also believe that once you see it that way, it will change your life.

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Dear Grandparents

Episode 20

Thursday, March 31, 2022 • Duration 34:33

With so many families making the decision to leave the formal education system and take their own path through life, it also means there are a whole lot of grandparents out there going...

Hold on, what’s happening here?! We have a comprehensive, effective school system designed specifically to educate us in all the areas we’ll need to fully prepare for life. Why on earth would anyone walk away from that? And...what’s going to happen to my grandchildren now that they’ve had the opportunity to go through that system taken away?

It...just seems a bit crazy.

Grandparents, I hear you. So today, in this episode, I’m sitting down to have a chat with *you*.

p.s. if you enjoy this episode, I've written a guide on this topic called The Home Schooling Guide for Grandparents. There’s lot of the same material covered, but the process of reading and reflection is quite different to listening. Take a look :-)

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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We're Looking At Education All Wrong

Episode 19

Monday, February 14, 2022 • Duration 34:12

The definition of education is being taught, and the learning that results from it. A process that happens, for a child, in a classroom.

But if you read that a couple of times, does it sound interesting and inspiring? Does it really sound like it’s centered on our children, designed to help them become independent, life-long learners, who know how to get the best out of themselves?

I don’t think it does. So today, together, we’re going to give education a new definition. We’re going to take the entire concept, and everything that sits within it, and look at it all with fresh eyes.

You might find some of what we discover here surprising.

And I *know* you will find it enlightening.

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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The Big Home Education Questions Everyone Asks

Episode 18

Thursday, February 3, 2022 • Duration 31:48

Will your children be sheltered? How will you educate them properly if you're not a qualified teacher? How will they get a good job when they grow up?

Everyone who chooses a life without school will be asked these kinds of questions at some point. In this episode, we chat through the nine most common ones a home educating family will hear, with the goal of empowering you to confidently frame your own answers to them, in your own ways. I hope revisiting this episode from time to time will give you those little boosts of confidence you sometimes need, whenever you need them.

And - because I’ve been asked many times for an episode that speaks directly to your family and friends, to help them understand your thinking behind the questions they will want to ask you - I hope you’ll find this episode a good starting place to share with them. One that is the right balance of thoughtful, and thought-provoking.

Thank you for listening!

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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Monthly Q&A: Comparing Your Children To Others | Slow Life Seasons | Explaining Home Ed to Your Kids

Episode 17

Thursday, January 27, 2022 • Duration 28:06

We're back with another question and answer episode, where I take a few of your questions and talk my way through them. I really love working on this episode each month, because your questions always reflect the struggles, the worries, and the hopes and dreams, of so many of us. A big thank you to Amy, Jacqui and Kate for taking the time to send in their recordings so we can hear, directly, from this wonderful community.

In this episode we talk about:

How to avoid comparing our children to others - especially those who go to school.
How to navigate slower educational seasons of life when we don't feel we're doing enough.
How to explain home schooling and unschooling to our children, as we move away from the school system.

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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On Being Their Coach, Not Their Teacher

Episode 16

Thursday, January 20, 2022 • Duration 37:27

Today, I want to talk about why I believe it’s so important that we - as home educating parents - play the role of coach, and mentor, and guide to our children. I want to take you through the simple, but powerful, framework Kate and I have used to help our children discover, explore, and run with their passions. And I want to talk about some related things, like perseverance and failure.

I’m SO excited to have this conversation. I’ve been sent a lot of messages about this kind of thing over the years, from parents who truly want the best for their children but who haven’t quite been able to help them become the passionate, self-driven explorers they hoped they would.

So, I really hope this conversation speaks to the feelings, and the struggles, and the genuine care and hope that those messages are born from. And, that it gives you a good mix of inspiration, and reflection, and tangible action.

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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How To Make This Your Best Home Educating Year Yet

Episode 15

Thursday, January 13, 2022 • Duration 32:49

Happy New Year, everyone! The Life Without School Podcast is BACK.

For the very first episode of 2022, I’m taking you through seven things that will help set your family up for the best possible home educating year. These are all things that, through years of experience and reflection, I’ve found contribute the most to balance, personal growth, and fulfilment in our home.

From the importance of time, trust and personal space, to the management of screens, technology and other people’s expectations, there’s a lot in here for you to ponder on. For you, maybe, to take and apply to your own family life.

As you listen, can you let me know what you’re feeling most deeply? What hits home the most for your life, where you’re at right now?

I would love to hear from you as we set out on a fresh new year together :-)

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here: https://www.starkravingdadblog.com/support-my-work-while-i-support-you/

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The Gratitude Episode

Episode 14

Thursday, December 30, 2021 • Duration 05:15

The global home educating community has grown like crazy in 2021. More families are choosing a life without school than ever before, and it’s never been more important - as we go into the new year - to lift each other up, and encourage, and support, and inspire one another.

Which is why, in this very short but heartfelt episode, I want to say thank you to YOU. Because you have already spread the Life Without School Podcast further, and wider, than I ever imagined. You have made sure it has grown and become visible to those who need to see and hear it. And together, you and I will keep doing that as we go from 14 to 40 episodes…and then way beyond.

Thank you, truly, for being here with me. Let’s keep supporting this growing community together in 2022.

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De-schooling Your Way To Educational Freedom

Episode 13

Tuesday, December 14, 2021 • Duration 29:45

In this episode I want to help you build your de-schooling muscle. The process of taking everything you know about education, wiping your mental slate as clean as possible, and coming at the whole idea of how children learn as fresh as you can.

To do that, I want to take you through five commonly held beliefs about education and childhood. Through this conversation, you will grow progressively more aware of ideas you’ve probably held since you were a child. Ideas that have far less substance than you think. And you will grow progressively more empowered to take hold of your own children’s education in a way that works for you as a family. Whether that’s by shedding the beliefs we talk through today, or the many others we often find ourselves holding onto.

My hope is that the way we talk through these things helps you apply it to any other worries that ever trouble you. This list is far from exhaustive, and there are many angles you can and should examine your own beliefs from. Today, I'll give you the spark to go deeper.

Articles mentioned throughout the episode (also linked from the show notes below):

Literacy in the United States (Wikipedia)
How do the skills of U.S. adults compare to their international peers? (National Center for Education Statistics)
Testing Companies Mine for Gold (Rethinking Schools)
The Business of Standardised Testing (Huffington Post)
Do ACT and SAT scores really matter? New study says they shouldn’t (PBS News Hour)

For regular encouragement and support just like this, including weekly mini-episodes covering all sorts of helpful things, sign up to the full Life Without School Collection right here:

The Life Without School Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Life Without School Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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