We are offering a community for families who are homeschooling with a natural learning flavour whilst practising Aware Parenting and who resonate with the core philosophy and practices, including understanding about control patterns, loving limits, and healing through laughter, play, crying and raging.

• WHO THIS IS FOR:
• We are offering the second year of this community for families who are homeschooling with a natural learning flavour whilst practising Aware Parenting and who resonate with the core philosophy and practices, including understanding about control patterns, loving limits, and healing through laughter, play, crying and raging. Whether you are new to homeschooling, thinking about homeschooling or have been doing it for a while or a long time, whether you were part of this community last year or are joining for the first time, this community is designed to support you on your natural learning and Aware Parenting adventures.
• This is open to parents of any-aged children and at all stages in their Aware Parenting and homeschooling journey.
• WE'D LOVE TO ASK YOU:
• Do you want support to deepen your trust in your child/ren's learning journey?
• Would you like to deepen your understanding and embodiment of Aware Parenting?
• Do you want support to apply Aware Parenting principles to your homeschooling/natural learning journey?
• Would you like to be part of a community of like-minded homeschooling families all over the world who are passionate about Aware Parenting and natural learning?
• Would you love support and care to explore and heal your hurts from your experiences at school so you can be free to support your child/ren on their own unique journey/s? Would you like support to explore the conditioning you received as a child in relation to school and learning and help to gently decondition yourself from the beliefs that no longer serve you?
• Do you want guidance to use attachment play to help your child/ren with learning?
• Would you like any guidance on offering and embodying loving limits with your child/ren?
• Would you like to be part of a group where you can come in and share any time when you are having a challenging day and need some extra support and empathy from a like-minded community who understand you?
• Would you love to have a safe space to share the moments when your Aware Parenting and learning life is flowing, connected, joyful and fulfilling, so that others can celebrate you and so that experiences can inspire others?
• If you have answered "Yes" to these questions, then we invite you to be part of this new community for 2023, which we intend/know/have witnessed will bring more ease and joy to your homeschooling adventures, and more connection, cooperation and love to your family.
• We would love to support you with your fears and worries about your child/ren’s learning so that you can deeply enjoy your lives together, and to celebrate with you in the trust and joy of this lifestyle.
• THE COMMUNITY:
• This is a deeply supportive, compassionate, empathic and trusting community for parents practising Aware Parenting and Natural Learning.
• Natural learning understands and respects that each child is on a unique journey, with unique hopes, dreams and interests.
• We would love to support you to help your children stay connected to their authentic selves, to make their own decisions, explore their own adventures and follow their own path.
• Learning happens best when children’s basic needs are met, particularly their needs for safety, love, choice, freedom, autonomy, free from punishments and rewards, where there is a focus on preventing stress and trauma and healing with play and laughter, tears and tantrums and with respectful, empathic listening.
• PRINCIPLES OF THE COMMUNITY:
• The community is based on the aspects and principles of Aware Parenting and the principles of learning by Aletha Solter, Ph.D.
• We invite you to read them:
• Three aspects of Aware Parenting: http://www.awareparenting.com/aspects.html
• Aware Parenting Principles: http://www.awareparenting.com/principles.html
• Principles of Learning: http://www.awareparenting.com/learning.htm
• This is a space for people who are fully on board with all parts of Aware Parenting so that there is a shared understanding and basis for the community.
• Perhaps you've read one or more of Aletha's books, have listened to lots of the podcasts, have had sessions with us, or have done one or more of Marion's online courses or workshops.
• In particular, we'd love for everyone in the community to be familiar with the three main principles of Aware Parenting:
• It's a style of attachment parenting which focuses on closeness and sensitive, attuned responding to our children.
• Parents aim to respond to their children in non-punitive ways and look for underlying needs and feelings rather than use punishments or rewards.
• All children have painful feelings that need to be expressed with our loving support, and that they develop control patterns to suppress, or to mildly dissociate from, the feelings that haven’t been expressed and heard.
• Parents can support their children to express and heal from stress and trauma through loving listening and attachment play.
• THE MENTORS:
• Marion Rose and Joss Goulden. Joss and Marion have (as of 2023), 38 years combined experience of Aware Parenting and Natural Learning. Marion is a Level 2 Aware Parenting Instructor and Joss Goulden is a Level 1 Aware Parenting Instructor.
• We have both 'homeschooled' our children from infancy through to their adult years and have learnt many lessons along the way.
• We deeply value being compassionate, approachable, warm, wise and loving. If you would like to find out more about us, we invite you to listen to our Aware Parenting and Natural Learning Podcast and the episode of the Aware Parenting Podcast where we discuss Natural Learning
• THE VALUES:
• This community is inclusive, supportive, collaborative, trusting, and provides deeply empathic and compassionate assistance to parents on this journey.
• THE STRUCTURE:
• Monthly themes/topics, with a monthly Facebook Live presentation and Q and A, a monthly Zoom call (which is recorded and available afterwards for those not there on the call), and an on-going moderated Facebook group.
• There will also be a quarterly community Zoom conversations.
• We will be sharing experiences and offering you support, empathy, reassurance and information.
• We will also invite you to connect with an empathy buddy or listening partner in the group.
• TOPICS:
• Although there are topics for each month, we welcome you posting in the Facebook group about whatever you want to - such as sharing about things that you are finding difficult, requesting empathy, or asking any questions on any topic.
• The following topics are the monthly themes for the Facebook lives and the Zoom calls.
• Please note: We are calling these months, but they are actually blocks of 28 days! So we will finish the 12 blocks in 11 months. These are in an order that flows from one to the next:
• Month 1: We will invite you to explore your vision for your family, this community and the world as a result of practicing Aware Parenting and Natural Learning for 2023 and beyond. We will be inviting you to also deepen your exploration of the three aspects of Aware Parenting and the 11 principles of learning. We'll also support anyone who wants to, to set up Listening partnerships/empathy buddies within the Community.
• Month 2: The purpose and history of schooling. The cultural history of schooling and the role of schools now in our culture. The role that schools play in colonisation.
• Months 3 and 4: Our conditioning in relation to learning, education, schooling and learning to trust our children. Our own de-conditioning process in relation to learning from the experiences in our family, culture and school. The process of de-schooling and exploring some of the myths around learning, socialisation and trust. Trusting our child’s timing, interests and processes in relation to learning to read, write and maths. Learning to value all forms of learning equally.
• Months 5, 6 and 7: Exploring, expressing and healing from our own school trauma. Sharing and getting support to explore our hurts from our school days in relation to friendships, struggles with learning, and anything else that was frightening, stressful or traumatic for us in our school years. Exploring trauma in relation to teachers, tests and exams, friendships and partners, puberty and sexuality, our relationship with our parents as a result of being at school, our disconnection from ourselves and the ways we assumed different personalities in order to fit in and survive at school, impact of comparison, grading and shame, "bullying", punishments, being highly sensitive, hyperarousal and dissociation at school, "mistakes", how we learnt to judge ourselves and compare ourselves and what we do, harsh internal dialogue that results from school. Listening lovingly to our feelings from school that show up during registration/moderator visits.
• Month 8: Supporting connected relationships in the family and community. Practising Aware Parenting and Natural Learning in a culture that doesn't understand, value or support these ways of being with our children. Lovingly exploring issues with partners, exes and extended families. Balancing being a parent, working and homeschooling. Responding to the fear and doubts and ‘shoulds'.
• Month 9: Trusting children with Aware Parenting and Natural Learning. Cultivating trust, including developing understanding that children learn from us and the culture around us. Exploring the ways we weren't trusted. How our culture encourages us not to trust ourselves or our children. Learning to trust our children in relation to eating, sleeping, screens and learning. We trust you and we are here to help you trust yourself and your child/ren.
• Month 10: Exploring control patterns to suppress feelings and how we can best respond to our children. Exploring and enquiring into control patterns that parents and children both use, such as screens, food, movement. Differentiating passions from control patterns. Balancing choice, agency and autonomy and control patterns.
• Month 11: Loving Limits. Being comfortable with expressing a no and learning to embody Loving Limits. Knowing when and how to offer a Loving Limit to our children and ourselves. Distinguishing Limits from Loving Limits.
• Month 12: Play, crying and raging - supporting our children to release and heal. Supporting our children and ourselves with crying, tantrums, the broken cookie phenomenon and attachment play.
• THE SIGNING UP PROCESS
• PAYMENT:
• The payment is for a year of being in the community, which officially starts on the 1st of Feb 2023. The live element will finish at the end of December, and in January the FB group will still be available for completing the process. The FB group will continue to be available, but the following year's community will commence in a new FB group.
• There are two payment options - either monthly or yearly, with a discount for the year (1 month free).
• The monthly payment is AUD$55
• The payment for the whole year (11 months) is AUD $605
• If you choose the monthly payment, you are still signing up for the year - so we ask that you check in with yourself to see if you are willing for that.
• We would also like to offer two places to people who are really willing to be part of the community but for whom the full price would be prohibitive. If you are interested, please message Marion or Joss on FB messenger.
• At the end of the 12 months, in January 2024, we will connect in as a community and invite you to join a new community for 2024.
• INCLUDES:
• A FB group for all the time, any time connection
• Fortnightly connection-points, consisting of two different things:
• A FB LIVE every four weeks on Saturday at 12.30 Sydney time focussing on the topic of the month. At the end of the FB live, there will be a Q and A on this topic, which you can share your questions for beforehand or ask us at the time. (1-1.5 hours). The first of these Facebook Lives will be on Saturday 4th February 2023.
• Then on the alternating fortnight, there will be two GROUP ZOOM CALLS (approx 1 - 1.5 hours)
• One Zoom call is on SATURDAY AT 12.30 Sydney time, particularly for people in Australian, New Zealand and US timezones and the other Zoom call is on Sunday at 8pm Sydney time, particularly for those of you in UK and Europe time zones. The first Zoom calls will be on 18th and 19th of February 2023.
• We will be providing reflections and prompts for the Zoom calls to support your healing, clarity and sharing.
• Please note that the community covers 12 topics, each lasting 4 weeks for the 11 month duration of the community.
• REPLAYS: The FB live replays will be available afterwards. The Zoom calls will not be recorded to create more safety for deep sharing.
• And, because we will be still using Natural Learning principles on a meta-level, the structure and content will be emergent, depending on what the community wants.
• Podcast episodes to support you with your decision:
• The Aware Parenting and Natural Learning Podcast: https://soundcloud.com/awp-and-nl-podcast?utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
• The Aware Parenting Podcast Episode 112 - Natural Learning with Joss Goulden: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-aware-parenting-podcast/id1455772681?i=1000579444624
• Aware Parenting and homeschooling conversation with Marion Rose: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/aware-parenting-and-homeschooling-conversation-6/id1344385341?i=1000518987357
• Aware Parenting and homeschooling conversation with Joss Goulden: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/aware-parenting-and-homeschooling-conversation-1-with/id1344385341?i=1000514237906