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 children in, the last time a child needs you to put their shoes on. These moments pass without announcement.

Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis use this final episode of season three to talk about what they've let go of and what still holds. Sandra describes her adult children's lives after unschooling and the shift from being central to being a resource. Sue reflects on whether to continue her unschooling blog or let it go, and on the difference between lazy letting go and wise letting go. Cecilie talks about her family's current transition as three of her children enter formal study. Together they discuss letting go of fixed ideas about identity, letting go of the need for others to follow the same path, and the value of making decisions from a good place rather than a desperate one. The conversation closes with gratitude, new friendships, and no regrets.

🗓️ Recorded December 7, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites
https://sandradodd.com
https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com
https://cecilieconrad.com

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In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

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 food, school fees — while others appear: music lessons, sports equipment, a computer for a gamer. The budget shifts with the seasons.

Cecilie Conrad, Sandra Dodd, and Sue Elvis talk about what it actually looks like to manage money and time as unschooling families. They share stories of tight months, handmade Christmas gifts, charity shop finds, and the creativity that comes when resources are limited. They discuss why withholding from children to "teach the value of money" often backfires, how generosity is learned through experiencing it, and why spending unequally on different children based on their actual needs is fairer than splitting everything evenly. On the question of time, they push back on the idea that unschooling is something parents must endure — and describe it instead as the richest use of the years they have with their children.

🗓️ Recorded November 30, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites
https://sandradodd.com
https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com
https://cecilieconrad.com

Send a message

Support the show

In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.

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 learned from a book at all.

Sandra Dodd, Cecilie Conrad, and Sue Elvis talk about what children and adults learn without reading: music by ear, cooking by doing, sports by playing, trades by apprenticeship. They discuss how Holly, who didn't read until 11, outperformed her peers in a speech because she had no script to fall back on. They look at how YouTube, audiobooks, and conversation have expanded what's possible without reading — and why pushing children to read before they're ready can limit rather than expand their learning. The conversation also touches on Shakespeare as something better heard than read, the difference between memorizing words and real reading, and why book worship deserves the same questioning unschoolers bring to everything else.

🗓️ Recorded November 11, 2025. 📍 Tarragona, Spain

🔗 Sandra, Sue and Cecilie's websites
https://sandradodd.com
https://storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com
https://cecilieconrad.com

Send a message

Support the show

In season 3 of Ladies Fixing the World, host Cecilie Conrad is joined by longtime unschooling voices Sandra Dodd and Sue Elvis to explore unschooling as a lifestyle.