Hey! I'm Issy, aka Stark Raving Dad 👋

Six years ago, I started writing down my thoughts and feelings as we went through the process of removing our children from a public school system that was (and there's no other way to say it) failing them. Since that time, I've written over 150,000 words across Facebook and Instagram posts, email newsletters and podcast episodes. The Life Without School Podcast launched in late 2021, and the 23 episodes I've released so far have been downloaded almost half a million times.

Over the years, more than five million people have read and resonated with my thoughts and feelings.

I've tried many ways to extend myself beyond those words to serve the home education community. But my passion has always been - and will always be - to write for you. I often find myself frustrated by the pushes, pulls and fickle changes of social media. Algorithms and trends stand between my words and the people who tell me they are 'like a calming balm to the soul', and 'literally life-changing', and so that brings us to where we are here. A dedicated place for me to put ALL my posts and podcast episodes. A place I can write and share directly with you, with no one standing between us.

I'll be posting here multiple times every week, so bookmark this site if you want to check in regularly, but I'll also be sending a roundup email every week. That will contain a summary of everything I've posted and shared through that week without taking too much of your precious family time. As long as you've subscribed with your email, you'll get my work.

The content I'll be sharing:

  • The posts you'll already be well used to seeing in places like Facebook and Instagram (if the algorithm let you 🙈).
  • Regular anecdotes, thoughts and notes from my day-to-day experiences as an unschooling dad 👨🏼
  • Stories and photography from our family adventure around New Zealand (we're going full-time in March 2023!) 🏕️
  • Longer-form researched and referenced posts on big topics like technology and screens, developing drive in children, how we best learn, and entering higher education as a child who has lived a life without school 🧐
  • Monthly Life Without School podcast episodes 🎙️
  • A short fortnightly Q&A based on the questions you send me* 🙋
  • A fresh Zoom link every fortnight to join together as home educators from around the world, to ask questions and share our experiences in an understanding space (a small group of us have been doing this for the past six months or so, and it is SO encouraging).* 💻
  • On-demand Masterclasses with thought leaders in home education and childhood.* 👩‍🏫
  • On-demand Courses, by me, covering three important parts of developing the right kind of homeschool for you and your family.* 👨‍🏫

* Only available if you sign up to support my work

Most of the content I publish will be completely accessible and free for everyone. But if you want those extra layers - or you just want to show your appreciation for my work, for however long! - then please consider one of the support tiers :-)

Talk soon!
Issy / Stark Raving Dad 💛

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