Building Joy~The Power of Play & Partnership  Shannon Loucks considers herself a fierce defender of childhoods. Ever since her first job, she has sought out opportunities to be in the presence of children as they explore the world around them. From babysitter, to camp counselor, to a Degree in Education, to finally landing as a full time witness of fun to two boys who have become her greatest teachers. Each of these opportunities led Shannon to believe in the power of play and partnership as a way to bring about more joy with a by-product of love into the lives of those who hold the biggest spaces in our hearts. Shannon joined me on this episode to talk about raising self directed people (she's a mom to grown unschoolers), play and partnership in parenting and the ways that we can build joy into childhood.  In This Episode Fear and worry seem to be our constant companions as parents. Especially for those of us homeschoolers that feel that also carry the extra responsobility of educating our children without school. But before she came on my show, I had recently read Shannon's book, Love More~ 50+ way to build joy into childhood. It's a beautiful yet simple read that shows how it doesn't have to be fear and worry but love, fun and joyful by the simple everyday things we can do with our kids.  So in this episode, I wanted to find out more from Shannon about what this looked like in her family's life and how they were able to stay connected through the years.  We talked about: Why homeschooling or unschooling does not guarantee you'll get the perfect relationship with your child How To Stay Connected To Our Kids What it means to partner instead of have "power over" The fear of unschooling- permissive parenting and the difference between permissive parenting vs present parenting Reflections from her kids as young adults that grew up in a self directed learning home~ what would the change, keep and their transitions to college Their Family Mission Statement and how they build it Her book, Love More~ 50 + Ways To Build Joy Into Childhood Resources Shannon's website~ https://breakingdaylight.org/ Shannon's Book Love More~ 50 + Ways To Build Joy Into Childhood Life Is Good Unschooling Conference Sir Ken Robinson Ted Talk~ Do Schools Kill Creativity?  If you would like to hear from parents with grown unschoolers, listen to my interview with Pam Laricchia ~ Exploring Unschooling Check out our Third How To Be An Awesome Homeschooler Summit, March 24th 2023~ Purpose, Persist & Play Thank you Sponsors! Our podcast sponsors allow us to continue to offer information, insight and encouragement to you for free!  Thank you to our sponsor, Storitopia. STORITOPIA is a podcast app created for kids. It's a space where parents, kids and caregivers can discover the best kids' podcasts.  STORITOPIA is an incredible tool to help educate and entertain your curious kids. Discover wonderfully whimisical stories, uncover shocking science facts and learn the history of everything from Hypatia to hot dogs!   Discover starts as soon as you download the STORITOPIA app. Find it in the apple app store or at storitopia.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.