The Ladies Fixing the World
Three Moms, One Podcast: Conversations on Unschooling and Parenting
In Season 2 & 3 of The Ladies Fixing the World, Cecilie Conrad is joined by renowned unschooling pioneers Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to redefine what learning can truly look like. Together, they explore the philosophy and practicalities of unschooling—where curiosity, trust, and relationships replace rigid curricula—and how this approach transforms both families and personal growth.
Episodes
36 episodes
S3E12 | Letting go. Of control. Of perfection. Even of unschooling? (or of the identity of being an unschooling mom)
Letting go runs through every stage of unschooling — from releasing control over what children learn, to accepting that family life changes shape without warning. The last run with all your daughters, the last night in a house you raised your c...
S3E11 | Unschooling - How much time does it take and what does it cost?
The two most common practical questions about unschooling are how much it costs and how much time it takes. Neither has a simple answer. One parent usually stops earning a full income. Some expenses disappear — uniforms, rain gear, processed fo...
S3E10 | Unschooling and Learning Without Reading
Reading dominates how most people think about learning. Schools treat it as the first skill and the primary method. But children learn language, movement, culture, and complex ideas long before they read a word — and many things can never be le...
S3E9 | The Efficiency of Unschooling
Schools spend enormous amounts of time on repetition, testing, classroom management, and re-teaching material year after year. Unschooling skips all of that. When a child learns something because they wanted to know it, it stays. There is no su...
S3E8 | Unschooling and the Benefits for Parents
Unschooling is often framed as a choice made for the children, but the changes run deeper than that. Over time, parents find themselves questioning inherited habits, rethinking authority, and arriving at a different relationship with their own ...
S3E7 | Unschooling: Obsessions, Interests, and Letting Them Be - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
Intensity, repetition, and long stretches of focus are common in unschooling families. Interests may look narrow, obsessive, or unbalanced when viewed through school-based expectations—patterns that can trigger parental fear. Worries about outc...
S3E6 | A Typical Unschooling Day? - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
How does a typical day look in an unschooling family’s life? - This is one of the first questions people ask about unschooling. It often carries an unspoken hope for reassurance, structure, or a picture that makes the choice feel understandable...
S3E5 | Unschooling and Learning Languages - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
Language keeps showing up in unschooling conversations: Parents ask about reading, writing, spelling, confidence, exposure, and whether children will “miss something” without lessons or requirements.Language can become the place where wo...
S3E4 | Unschooling and Food - with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
Food keeps showing up in parenting and unschooling conversations: Parents ask about sugar, rules, nutrition, fairness, parties, allergies, ethics, and what happens when children want something different from what the family values.Food c...
S3E3: How Unschoolers Can Deal with Questions and Sceptics| with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
How do you handle skeptical questions about unschooling without freezing, defending, or preaching? Cecilie, Sandra, and Sue share real-life stories and gentle scripts for staying kind, grounded, and clear when people don’t understand unschoolin...
S3E2: Unschooling - Coping with the Unexpected | with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
How do unschooling families handle life when plans fall apart? Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad, and Sue Elvis share real experiences—from illness, grief, and moving house to everyday disruptions like broken toilets and power cuts. They demonstrate ...
S3E1: Resources for Unschoolers | with Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad and Sue Elvis
What counts as a resource when you don’t follow a school curriculum?Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis discuss how unschooling families use communities, libraries, museums, clubs, work, online connections, and family ga...
S2E12 | Unschooling Isn’t Freedom Gone Wild: Why Choices Matter More Than Ideals
In this episode, Cecilie, Sandra, and Sue unpack the popular—but often misleading—idea of freedom in unschooling. What does it really mean to live freely, and what’s the cost when freedom becomes the goal instead of a tool?They discuss h...
S2E11 | Unschooling, Attachment, and the Art of Letting Go: Building Trust Instead of Rules
What happens when unschooling parents trade control for genuine connection? In this deep and honest conversation, Cecilie Conrad (Denmark), Sandra Dodd (USA), and Sue Elvis (Australia) tackle the big questions of attachment, freedom, and how tr...
S2E10 | Is It Working? Wrestling with Doubt in Unschooling
Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis discuss doubt and fear in unschooling—where they come from, how they spread, and how to move through them without defaulting to school-based thinking. They explore the pressure of responsibility, the i...
S2E9 | Unschooling: How Do We Know They’re Learning?
What if we abandoned the question "How do we know they're learning?" and trusted that they are? In this conversation, Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis look closely at the fears that drive many unschooling parents to seek proof of lear...
S2E8 | The Math Myth: How Do Unschooled Kids Learn Math?
In this episode, we explore one of the most persistent questions in unschooling: What about math? Cecilie, Sandra, and Sue examine the widespread belief that children can’t learn math without formal instruction — and explain why that...
S2E7 | Unschooling is Carried by Conversations
Dinner tables, car rides, bedtime chats, café corners—this episode dives into the real places where unschooling lives and grows. Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis examine how conversations—often unscheduled, informal, and unplanned—bec...
S2E6 | The Role of Repetition in Learning, Unschooling, and Shaping Identity
What’s the value of doing the same thing more than once? In this episode of Ladies Fixing the World, Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis unfold repetition—how it shows up in our lives, why it matters, and what it reve...
S2E5 | Sandra Dodd, Sue Elvis & Cecilie Conrad on Learning to Read & Trusting Unschooling
Sandra Dodd, Sue Elvis, and Cecilie Conrad come together to discuss their personal journeys into unschooling, focusing on natural learning, curiosity, and redefining educational expectations.Sandra shares her transition from a public-sch...
S2E4 | Unschooling: Trusting the Process and Letting Go of Control
Traditional education is built on judgment—constantly measuring children’s progress against rigid standards. Unschooling offers a different path, one that values curiosity over evaluation. In this episode, Cecilie Conrad, Sue Elvis
S2E3 | Unschooling and Connections: How Learning Is All About Creating a Web of Understanding
How do children learn math without lessons, textbooks, or worksheets?Sandra Dodd, Sue Elvis, and Cecilie Conrad talk about the ways kids pick up mathematical thinking—through games, shared meals, money management, and real-world p...
S2E2 | Unschooling: Trust, Autonomy, and the Realities of Learning
What is unschooling? What is it not? And why defining it is so difficult? Sandra Dodd, Sue Elvis and Cecilie Conrad explore how unschooling is not just about rejecting school but fundamentally shifting how families approach learning, trust, and...
S2E1 | Unschooling: A Lifestyle of Curiosity, Flexibility, and Trust with Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis
What if education wasn’t confined to classrooms but instead flourished naturally through life’s experiences?In this episode of Ladies Fixing the World, renowned unschooling pioneers Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis join Cecilie ...
S1E12 | Embracing Change & Welcoming New Voices
In this final episode of the first season of "Da Ladies", Cecilie joins Luna, Sara, and Carla as they wrap up their journey. The group reflects on embracing change, honoring priorities, and staying true to their unschooling principles. From nav...
