What if the years your child and teen spent playing, exploring, and following curiosity weren't wasted time — but exactly the preparation they needed?

Come sit down with Judy Arnall, internationally recognized child-development specialist, bestselling author of Unschooling to University, and mother of five self-directed learners. We talk about what children genuinely need to thrive, why chronic stress is shutting down learning in our kids, and how unschooling can be a legitimate, research-backed path all the way to post-secondary education.

• What children and teens actually need for healthy development and how that foundation prepares them for adult life
• The central problem with modern education
• What self-directed learning looks like in a real, everyday family
• The "three intentional years" concept: why university prep doesn't require 12 years of schooling
• The neuroscience of chronic stress and educational burnout and how play and felt safety reopen the capacity to learn
• What the research actually says about screens, gaming, and digital communities
• How to tell if your urge to "do something" is coming from genuine facilitation (or parent anxiety)
• Practical pathways into university and post-secondary for students without a traditional transcript
• Real hope for families of neurodivergent children recovering from burnout

Whether you're just starting to explore unschooling, deep in the deschooling process, or parenting a teenager who is done with traditional school ... this conversation will meet you right where you are.

• Judy Arnall's book: Unschooling to University
• Connect with Judy via her website
• Read Judy's non-punitive parenting blog
• Join the 90-Minute School Day DITL Community invite list

If this episode resonated with you, share it with a family who needs to hear it. And if you haven't yet ... please leave a review. It helps more families find this show.

What happens when school is not a match for a learner?

For many disabled and neurodivergent children and teens, traditional school environments create anxiety, shutdown, and loss of self-trust.

In this conversation, we sit down with Dr. Gina Riley, educational psychologist, Associate Professor of Special Education at Hunter College - School of Education (CUNY), researcher, and unschooling parent to unpack the first peer-reviewed study on unschooling students with disabilities.

We explore why families of autistic, ADHD, learning disabled, and neurodivergent children are moving away from traditional school and toward self-directed education

This episode covers:

• Why families leave school (and it’s rarely ideology)
• Unschooling as a healing environment
• Intrinsic motivation and self-determination
• Nervous system safety and learning
• How unschooling functions as built-in accommodation
• Caregiver fatigue and lack of respite
• The need for unschooling-informed doctors, therapists, and educators
• Why research matters for advocacy and legitimacy

Dr. Riley brings both academic research and lived experience as an unschooling parent to this conversation, offering insight for:

✔ Parents of disabled and neurodivergent children ✔ Pediatricians, therapists, psychologists, occupational therapists ✔ Educators and special education professionals ✔ Anyone rethinking what meaningful learning can look like

Unschooling is not the absence of education.

For some learners, it may be the least restrictive and most developmentally appropriate environment available.

Resources Mentioned

• Dr. Riley’s study: Unschooling Students with Disabilities
• Learn more about Dr. Riley
• Join Day in the Life Community
• Learn more about the 90-Minute School Day

Share This Episode

If this conversation gave you language you’ve been needing:

• Send it to the friend who needs to hear this.
• Send it to your co-parent.
• Send it to a concerned family member.
• Send it to your child’s care team.
• Send it to an educator who wants to understand.

Research and advocacy matter.

And conversations like this move us toward educational models that respect both learning and humanity.

How many friends does your child actually need?

• We’ve normalized early peer immersion.
• We worry about socialization.
• We measure childhood against birthday party invites and best-friend status.

But what if we’ve absorbed a story that deserves to be questioned?

In this conversation, I sit down with Missy Willis of Let ‘Em Go Barefoot to unpack:

• Peer orientation
• Attachment theory
• Mixed-age play vs. peer culture
• Playmates vs. real friendship
• And the question underneath the question: what do children actually need to thrive?

Influenced by the work of Gordon Neufeld, Gabor Maté, and Peter Gray, this is a paradigm-shifting look at friendship that challenges cultural norms around socialization.

If you’ve ever felt that quiet pressure, “Is my child social enough?” this episode will help you slow down and look again.

Connect + Resources

Missy Willis:

• https://letemgobarefoot.com/

Peer orientation + attachment:

• Hold On to Your Kids book by Neufeld and Maté
• Should We Rethink the Idea of Friendships for Our Kids? By Missy Willis

Mixed Age Play:

• The Special Value of Mixed-Age Play by Peter Gray

Laughter + connection blog:

• Laughter Sparks Learning in Homeschool by Kelly Edwards

Join the Day in the Life community:

• https://90minuteschoolday.com/day-in-the-life/