Thriving Beyond school: living, learning and thriving
This two-hour introductory workshop is ideal for anyone new to, or considering, learning beyond school. It will also be helpful to anyone who is finding parenting or home education challenging. We’ll be delving more deeply into all the themes presented in this workshop in the parenting group that will take place over the next term.
Beyond Schooling workshop is an invitation to explore how you can create a home environment that facilitates healthy relationships and autonomous learning, and that enables every person in the family to live a life that feels connected and authentic.
Rather than looking at ways to change your child, we’ll be talking about the ways in which you can shift the environment and your own mindset and habits. We’ll be untangling what it takes to move from a place that feels disempowering, exhausting, or full of doubt, to a place that feels empowered and joyful.
The three main themes of the workshop:
1) How you can create a safe, trusting space within which your child can thrive and learn.
2) How you can stay emotionally strong and empowered in order to hold that space.
3) How you are supported by the wider context of your life (community, family, friends).
Most of us hold deeply ingrained beliefs about children and learning, generally formed from when we were children ourselves. These beliefs can be the cause of resistance and conflict in the home and, although well-intentioned, can easily derail rather than help the child’s journey. As well as looking at how children learn, and why learning beyond school can be such an empowering experience for your child, we will also be talking about how you can start to unravel some of the beliefs that may be holding you and your child back. We will be incorporating some simple mindfulness techniques and strategies to help you respond to challenges that arise in a calm and empowered way, and some self-care practices you can incorporate into your daily life.
My HELM Session Leader
Esther Jones
Esther Jones has three children (aged 16, 14, and 10) and has spent the last 12 years of her life exploring self-directed education, parenting, and neurodiversity within the family. A long-time student of mindfulness, and an experienced Hypnobirthing practitioner, she brings her own lived experiences to her workshops, in which she invites parents to bring a new lens to their family’s journey. In her popular podcast, The Unschool Space, Esther interviews other parents about the joys and challenges of embracing life and learning beyond the constraints of school.