Having worked in and around early childhood education for
the last 15 years, Dan only recently stumbled upon the concept of unschooling.
He found the practice and theory of unschooling to agree with all of the
current research on early education he encountered in his master’s program.
With the full backing of his family, Dan started unschooling his son. He
found confirmation in everything he suspected was wrong with public school and
everything that was right with self-directed education. Early on, Dan’s son Kai
came up with the idea to start a podcast. They made the idea a reality and
“Unschooling with Kai” was born. Each episode centers on one of Kai’s interests
(e.g. wild cats, Delta Force, tardigrades, etc.). Together, Dan and Kai
research each topic and present the fascinating things they learn in audio
format. “Unschooling with Kai” is now in season four and shows no sign of
slowing.
With unschooling comes great connection and family unity, and this was something that led Dan into the wide-ranging, and very related area of respectful parenting and his own Coaching for parents. Throw in a barrel of deschooling, a handful of mindfulness, a dash of cynicism, and a whole lot of reading, and well that pretty much sums up his current self. While not wrapped up in the intellectual world of unschooling, Dan enjoys being active, reading, playing drums, skateboarding, enjoying nature, and spending time with his family.