Off-Trail Learning
Blake Boles
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Interviews with innovative educators, self-directed young people, and others who think differently about learning, teaching, and schooling. Hosted by Blake Boles (blakeboles.com), author of "Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?" and founder of Unschool Adventures.
Episode results
Off-Trail Learning
Sep 11, 2022
Blake Boles on Adventure
Guest host Zen Zenith returns to interview Blake about his obsession with adventure. What exactly makes an adventure? How is adventure connected to self-directed learning? Is adventure just for privileged people? Why can’t Blake just settle down and lead a normal life? How do Unschool Adventures trips create a sense of adventure for both teens and trip leaders? Does adventure become harder as one grows older? Does Blake even have a retirement plan?! And what comes next?
Read Blake’s “Notes on Adventure” here: https://blakeboles.substack.com
Zen Zenith is a grown unschooler, musician, guitar teacher, podcaster, and Not Back to School Camp alumnus. Follow Zen on Twitter at @zenzenith.
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Off-Trail Learning
Jul 13, 2022
Liam Nilsen on Reading
Liam Nilsen (https://liam.media) is a designer and educator based in Åårhus, Denmark. He’s a former member of the LEGO Idea Studio, the founder of an Agile Learning Center, and a life-long unschooler who didn’t start reading until age 9 — at which point he fell in love with the written word.
Liam and I discuss our lives as readers, including the books that have changed our lives, how we discover new things to read, books vs. articles vs. newspapers vs. social media, old favorites that now embarrass us, writing inside books, and keeping books vs. giving them away. We also discuss the virtues of higher education and self-directed learning programs that promote reading (or not).
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Off-Trail Learning
Aug 15, 2022
Chris Balme on Finding the Magic in Middle School
Chris Balme (chrisbalme.com) is the founding head of school of The Millennium School and the author of Finding the Magic in Middle School. After briefly flirting with public school teaching, Chris ran an apprenticeship program for middle schoolers for a decade before creating The Millennium School in San Francisco, where he served for seven years.
We discuss Chris’ early infatuation with democratic free schools, how the Millennium School takes the developmental needs of middle schoolers seriously, the life-changing power of peer advisory groups, learning through quests, authentic audiences, and why he compromised on teaching math in a conventional fashion. Chris also describes how parents might think of themselves as excellent guides instead of their kids’ bosses or managers, 50 "Essential Experiences” for a meaningful adolescence, rites of passage, and what larger schools and programs can offer that home-based alternatives sometimes cannot.
Get a taste for Chris’ work by browsing the 50 Essential Experiences (https://www.argonaut.school/blog/50-essential-experiences) and signing up for his excellent email newsletter (https://chrisbalme.substack.com/).
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Off Trail
May 16, 2023
Who is Chuckles?
Welcome back to the Off Trail Podcast!
Today we sit down and chat, as well as chuckle, with the one and only Chuckles!
We begin the show by learning more about Chuckles evolution into the outdoors. Graduating college in 2016, hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2019, hiking the Continental Divide Trail in 2022, and we touch on the recurring name you will here the entire episode, the Appalachian Trail. A trail that was the inspiration of them all, and that has been a driving force for hiking, and will one day soon be the cumulation of years of adventure.
We chat living in Leadville, being a "ski-bum" in the winter time, and a background in the pharmaceutical industry. We dive deep into the feeling of being "suckered" back into normal life, and the feelings of wanting to hike, but not feeling ready to hike in the heart. We chat about the feeling many people who pursue hiking for long enough feel, of "having to do a hike" and Chuckles healthy outlook on realizing this and not doing a hike until she fully wants to, such as the Appalachian Trail.
We chat the 48/48 peaks of New Hampshire, the terrifying 25, and the Huntington Range. We chat the puzzle of math that most outdoor enthusiasts call life and Chuckles equation to find balance and happiness. We chat the hardest part of any hike, the portion after hiking. We chat about two desires being split and the two sides of seeking two vastly different things, a life in the outdoors, and a "regular" life. We dive deep into this topic and learn about the constant learning curve and listening to the heart as you always have to make the choice, and listen to the moment of what gives you the most joy.
We chat sitting at a computer and escapism. We discuss feeling content in regular life, having easier access to the mountains, and feeling at peace in the immediate. We learn about AT & T and Verizon map overlay systems on Gaia, and chat about Chuckles finding trails while she worked remotely "on call" to make sure she always had cell phone coverage.
We chat bridging two gaps of life, the weirdness in knowing there is a tangible end without it actually being "the end", and previously wanting time off trail to go faster and now wanting it to slow down. We all get thrown under a very large proverbial bus and brace for the bumpy ride as we discuss goal mentality.
We go into purism, connected footsteps, and chasing goals. We then take a step back from trail and talk relationships on the trail and off. We discuss the preconceived notion that relationships on trail are far harder than regular life, when in fact it is the complete opposite, for some. We chat shared goals, time apart, trail goals that divide, but pursuit of a shared life that brings togetherness.
We go into Chuckles origin story, and are very glad we did. It involves a trail angel's house, a privy, many bowls of beans, a masculine name, and a picture that still hangs on her wall to this day. One of the better origin stories we have heard in a long time!
We chat chuckling duals at dawn, the gift and privilege of getting to spend time outside, and wrap it all up with another shout out to the Appalachain Trail!
Thank you Chuckles, it was a joy to chat!
Learn more about Chuckles by clicking below:
Instagram: @adventuresofdotdot
To learn more about who we are click below:
Website: www.ElevenSkys.com
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TILT Parenting: Raising Differently Wired Kids
Dec 9, 2022
TPP 146a: Self-Directed Learning Advocate Blake Boles on Unschooling
My guest this week is Blake Boles, 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 reading this and thinking, I’m not homeschooling my child or “unschooling” isn’t my thing. But I’m going to 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 wha…
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