August 7, 2018
My past year:
- Running two big Unschool Adventures trips: Southeast Asia 2017 and Spain 2018. Feeling like my heart’s not in it anymore. Not because of anyone or anything in particular, just because after 10 years of trip-leading—more than 24 total months of my life—my cup overfloweth. (Update: I recorded a podcast episode about this.)
- Developing a brand-new Unschool Adventures program: Individual Adventures, in which I help 17- to 20-year-olds design and embark on their first big solo international adventure.
- Writing articles about fascinating education & parenting books for The Alliance for Self-Directed Education. Favorite so far: The Nurture Assumption. (See homepage for all articles.)
- Creating videos about topics close to my heart: how to be a badass teen homeschooler, why you should stop wasting your time in high school, how unschoolers get into college, and why consent matters in education. (The videos were popular on Facebook but not YouTube, they were expensive to make, and the process exhausted me. Probably a one-time experiment.)
- Going on speaking tour at alternative schools and self-directed learning centers across the west coast U.S.A.
- Continuing to podcast as an excuse to interview really interesting people in the world of education. But that’s always been the point.
- Relaunching my private coaching service under a new banner, Indie Guidance Counselor. One of my services: Creating high-quality portfolios (like this one) for college-bound unschoolers.
- Redesigning the Not Back to School Camp website as well as my own website.
- Creating a paid online course, Launchpad, which a few people actually purchase each month.
My year ahead:
- Launching Independent Adventures this fall and building critical mass for an early 2019 program.
- Not running any Unschool Adventures trips with me as the trip leader. Working with previous trip leaders to develop adventures that can be lead without me. Helping my friends Dev and Marian run a Writing Retreat.
- Continuing my speaking tour across the midwest and east coast U.S.A. (see homepage for dates). New talk title: Yes, You Can Quit Traditional High School and Everything Will Be Okay.
- Editing the final edition of The Teenage Liberation Handbook. I’m helping Grace Llewellyn edit and publish the third and final edition of her timeless classic. What an honor!
- Not working at Not Back to School Camp in order to go on a long wilderness backpacking trip (the Sierra High Route). After 12 consecutive years, this is the first summer I’ve skipped NBTSC.
- More writing and podcasting.