We are so happy to be back with a new episode of the Aware Parenting and Natural Learning podcast for the end of the year. We talk about the many gifts for our children and ourselves of choosing these ways of raising them, as we are both now at the end of the "schooling" process. The gifts include our children's self-connection, their freedom from the painful and enduring beliefs about ourselves that are set up in school through cultural conditioning, their freedom from coercion and control and the deep, mutual, unconditional love that is the defining feature of our relationships, throughout c ..read more

This episode title comes from a quote from Gabor Maté: "It is completely unnatural for kids to be separated from their parents for the whole day." In this episode, we talk about how The Disconnected Domination culture peddles the lie that babies and children need to be separated from their parents at an early age in order to become independent. We shared about how our own early experiences of separation before we were ready were traumatic, and how that opened our eyes to what we wanted and didn't want for our own children in terms of connection, attachment and separation. We talked about how t ..read more

In this episode of the Aware Parenting and Natural Learning Podcast, we talk about the history of schooling. Our conversation is based on an article of the same name written by Peter Gray, the Psychologist and research professor and author of "Freedom to Learn". In this article he describes the history of education from hunter gatherer times to the modern day. We discuss how schools are the product of history, rather than the product of science or research about learning. We describe the evolution and purpose of schools throughout human history and the cultural conditioning of schools - how sc ..read more

Welcome back to another episode of the Aware Parenting and Natural Learning podcast. In this episode we discuss number 9 of Aletha Solter’s Principles of Learning, which is as follows: Stress and trauma can interfere with the learning process by causing confusion, anxiety, grief, anger, and difficulty concentrating. The learning process is enhanced when children are allowed to release painful emotions through the natural healing mechanisms of play, laughter, and crying. In the episode, we talk about sources of stress and trauma in traditional school environments, the hyperarousal or dissociati ..read more

In this episode, we talk about meeting needs of both parents and children when practicing Aware Parenting and Natural Learning. We share about the effects of the culture on needs, and the creative ways we might need to utilise to support everyone in the family getting their needs met. We discuss the needs inventory from Nonviolent Communication (which you can find at www.cnvc.org) and how helpful it is in identifying needs, valuing needs and being willing for our needs to be met. We include the process that we can go through from not knowing that we have needs to reclaiming the beauty of our n ..read more

Welcome back to another episode of the Aware Parenting and Natural Learning podcast. In this episode we discuss number 9 of Aletha Solter’s Principles of Learning, about screens and learning. We start by inviting people to bring compassion to this tricky aspect of parenting and learning and to put down any judgement, shame or guilt about screens. We acknowledge how difficult it is to parent in our nuclear families without the support we are designed to need and how screens can often make parenting easier. We discuss the many beneficial ways that screens impact our lives and our children’s live ..read more

In this episode, we talk about how school trauma can affect our callings in the world, our work life and our ability to be who we were always meant to be and to contribute to the world. We discuss the amazing opportunity for healing old hurts and themes that we receive, when we become entrepreneurs and start sharing our voice, as younger parts of us come up repeatedly to be heard and healed. Marion shares her Marion Method processes for exploring and healing the themes from school, including powerlessness, coercion, self-doubt, harsh self-criticism, feeling unsafe or afraid, not being heard an ..read more

In this episode, we talk about the different choices we've made to be able to practice Aware Parenting and Natural Learning. All the way through, we acknowledge with gratitude all the ways we've received support and help, as well as the challenges that have come in the choices we've made. To learn more about Marion and her offerings, please visit www.marionrose.net and Joss at www.awareparenting.com.au and follow us on social media at Marion Rose and Aware Parenting with Joss ..read more

Welcome back to another episode of the Aware Parenting and Natural Learning podcast. In this episode we discuss school trauma again. We talk about some of the visible and some of the invisible traumas that children experience at school, as well as the impact of the accumulated mini and major traumas that are part of each school day. We discuss how children often need to go into a dissociation nervous system response at school and how this then makes it difficult for many of us to remember and really understand just how traumatic school was or to see the conditioning, denial or social acceptanc ..read more

In this episode, we are again inspired by Aletha Solter's Principles of Learning, this time, 'The best toys are ones that inspire children to imagine, build, create, and think.' We discuss toys, including those that are overwhelming for children, and we also talk about the power of play and the beauty of having plenty of opportunities to play with our children when we practice Natural Learning. To learn more about Marion and her offerings, please visit www.marionrose.net and Joss at www.awareparenting.com.au and follow us on social media at Marion Rose and Aware parenting with Joss. To read Al ..read more