"These are amazing schools and amazing teachers, but the overarching curriculum that is forced upon them gives them no space to breathe or be creative" Kickstarting season three of the Australian Homeschool Stories podcast, is the owner of Fearless Homeschool, Micarlé. She homeschools her two children (aged 10 & 7) on the Surfcoast of Victoria where they are surrounded by national park, the beach and immersed in nature. SUMMARY How Micarlé and her husband came to be living in Anglesea, her long standing connection to this small seaside town and wanting for her kids what both she and her husband had growing up in small country town communitiesMicarlé's education saw her throwing herself into everything and anything and milking school for the all extracurriculars on offer, in contrast to her husband's experience feeling disengaged from learning and not being reached by his teachersAs a service orientated person she was drawn to the teaching profession and taught in a range of secondary schools before taking the leap into home educating her own childrenWe discuss applied learning pathways for teens in high school, a space she worked in for many years under the VCAL/VCEVM program and how different schools have differing stigmas around these streamsAfter 15 years teaching in the secondary space, she began questioning whether the mainstream school system would even work for her own childrenMicarlé recalls how the pandemic gave their family a glimpse into what homeschooling could be like and how they transitioned over the lock down years from remote learning and remote teaching to fully fledged homeschoolersBusting the myth “You're a teacher, it makes sense for you to homeschool" - deschooling for any parent is hard but deschooling for teachers is even harderHomeschooling has given their daughter time and space to rebuild her confidence and self-worth and for that reason alone it has been the best decision they ever madeHow Micarlé came to be the owner of Fearless Homeschool and what to expect from the 8th Australian Homeschooling Summit, that runs from the 4th-15th March 2024The summit includes 30+ online workshops such as how to afford homeschooling, curriculum comparisons, sustainable living, feeling empowered in unschooling, as well as teen, graduate, neurodiversity and tech panels. You can find out all the details and get your ticket here INSPIRATION Carol Dweck  Dr Dan Siegel Brené Brown CONNECT @fearlesshomeschool Australian Homeschooling Summit website Fearless Homeschool website ~ Connect with us: Instagram - @australianhomeschoolstories Substack - Australian Homeschool Stories [email protected] This podcast is recorded on the lands of the Bunurong people of the Kulin nation. I pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge that sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, always will be aboriginal land. Original Music by Daniel Garrood @garroodcomposer Listen on Spotify here