You are Invited....

2010-05-07T11:04:00.257+10:00

Click here to see photos of the conference!!
Please feel free to add your own conference photos to the Flickr page.

When - Friday, Sept 3rd - Tuesday, Sept. 7th, 2010
Where - Your Unschooling Conference Retreat will be at the beautiful Tallebudgerra Creek, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia! The venue is Tallebudgera Tourist Park.

*****All families who are staying off site, please check in at the tourist park office for directions to the event*****

Who is this retreat for?

Attachment parents who are interested in extending this philosophy into the older years
Families with children in school who are looking at other options of education
Homeschooling families who would like to explore natural learning/ unschooling/ whole life unschooling
Unschoolers wishing to extend this philosophy to other areas of their life
Any style of homeschoolers/families considering homeschooling who wish to network and hang out with other like-minded families

Accomodations - Tallebudgera Tourist Park offers camping/tenting spots/lodgings & villas. There is accommodation available for every taste and budget. When booking please let them know you are a part of the conference. 20/7/2010 - 10 villas have just become available due to another group booking being cancelled.

There is plenty of parking at Tallebudgera Tourist Park for day visitors.

Conference Day Visitors are welcome to use the pool & amenities.

Other accommodation options include:

Sea Mist Palms at Palm Beach, these are fully self contained apartments, located right next to the Tourist Park, if you let them know you are going to the Unschooling Conference you will receive a 10% discount.

Regency on the Beach at Palm Beach, please let them know you are going to the Unshooling Conference and you will receive a 20% discount, off their regular rates. 200m from the Tourist Park.

Koala Cove Holiday Apartments at Burleigh Heads, these are self contained 1 or 2 bedroom apartments. Please let them know you are going to the Unshooling Conference and you will receive a 20% discount, off their regular rates. Across the river from the Tourist Park, approximately 400m walk across the bridge.

Registrations -

$125 per adult
$75 per child over 3
Capped at $300 per family

Child 3 and under free

Grandparents free

Registrations close Fri 27th August

Saturday Night Bush-Dance Information

This Dance is inclusive of the registration and a Whole Family Event.
6-10pm at the Mudgeeraba Memorial Hall Railway St Mudgeeraba, (a 15 minute drive from the conference.)
Sausage Sizzle Dinner available for purchase.
Transport available for inter-state attendees without a vehicle, transport numbers need to be pre-booked.

Food Availability During the Conference

Food is not included in the registration.
There is a kiosk at the Tourist Park with basic snacks and grocery lines.
Cooked sausages, fresh fruit and other snacks will be available for purchase daily at the retreat area.
Raw food snacks from http://www.rawfoodcreations.com.au/ will also be available

Conference Schedule at a glance

Conference Schedule Topic Descriptions

Registrations are NOW AVAILABLE please email your interest to unschoolingretreat@gmail.com

We are honored to have Dayna Martin as our Keynote Speaker for this exciting event! Dayna is a well known Unschooling advocate from America.

She is author of the book,

"Radical Unschooling: A Revolution Has Begun"

Dayna is a passionate Radical Unschooling advocate who enjoys speaking about her unique and joyful family life and inspiring others on their path. She created a YouTube video series about Unschooling and Peaceful Parenting. She is presently involved with 2 documentaries about Unschooling and has been on The Dr. Phil Show and various other programs introducing viewers to Radical Unschooling philosophy. She has helped many families learn about Radical Unschooling by visiting their homes as the "Un-Nanny". She will be offering this service to a limited number of families while visiting Australia.

You can read more about these and other family adventures on her blog. http://www.thesparklingmartins.blogspot.com/
or visit her website at http://www.dayna-martin.com/

Joe Martin

Joe is a father of four and passionate Unschooling advocate. Joe has his own business in the US making wooden toys. He was a chef for 17 years before discovering a hidden talent for woodworking. He loves to support other Dads and encourage them to facilitate their children's interests in life. Joe also loves to make people laugh. He is happy to be taking part in the Unschooling Retreat!

Other Presenters:

Arun Pradhan - author of the Parenting Pit Blog -

"An Imperfect exploration of Unschooling, alternative parenting and mindful living."
Arun shares parenting and running a home business with his lover & partner Anne (who incidentally is smarter, better looking and generally a more interesting person). Arun once ran for parliament in Perth, walked over a frozen river in Amsterdam and sat on an ants' nest in Whyalla. He is extremely clueless, but his three children are helping him to let go, make potions, wear pink, dance wildly, laugh loudly and play with mud much more than he ever envisioned himself doing at the age of 38... and for that he is eternally grateful.

Anne O'Casey - along with her partner Arun Pradhan, are immersed in the journey of parenting and learning all the time about themselves, their children and the world at large. It has only recently dawned on Anne that she is highly sensitive and that at least two of her children are as well. This realisation is bringing a new level of awareness and compassion to herself and her family which is both exciting and overwhelming at times!
Anne will be speaking at the Conference about " Highly Sensitive Parents and Highly Sensitive Children - the benefits and the challenges of Radical Unschooling".

Bob Collier -
author of the Parental Intelligence Newsletter
http://www.parental-intelligence.com/

I was born and grew up in London, England, but now live in Canberra with my wife, Mary, who is from Belfast, Northern Ireland. We’ve been married since 1976 and have two wonderful children, Bronwyn and Patrick.

Bronnie was born in Sydney in 1985, but spent her childhood in rural England and then in London before our family re-emigrated to Australia in 1999. She’s currently living and working in Sydney, having graduated from university in Canberra in 2008 with a double degree in Arts and Law and a degree in Applied Science in Forensics. Pat was born in London in 1995, attended school in Canberra for two years and has been self-educated at home since 2003.

My wife has always been the career-oriented member of our partnership, and, about six or seven months after the birth of our daughter, she returned to the workforce and I became our daughter's full-time at-home parent. For most of my parenthood, “stay-at-home dad” has been my primary occupation – it was my full-time 24/7 occupation for many years – but now that my daughter is in her twenties and living away from home and my son is a teenager, I no longer refer to myself as a "stay-at-home dad" even though I'm still at home to adequately supervise my son's education.

I have occasionally described my son’s education as “an experiment in freeform digital media based learning at the speed of thought”. Some people might see it as “unschooling”.

Both my wife and I have always been non-mainstream parents.

Our children were delivered naturally with only a midwife present - our daughter at a birth centre, our son at home (on the very bed in which he was conceived, in fact). I was present at the birth of both of my children and our daughter, at the age of ten, was there at her brother's. Both Bronnie and Patrick were carried in a sling when they were babies. Mary breastfed both of them into their third year. They both shared their parents' bed, whenever they wanted to, until they decided otherwise. They’ve never had any limits placed on anything they want to do. They've never had a timeout or been grounded or been subject to a curfew or the removal of “privileges” (don't even know what that means). They've never been “disciplined” in any way, shape or form.

They've simply been allowed to live their lives.

As a result, most of the experiences I've had as a parent have been a dramatic contrast and infinitely more positive than those of my own childhood and are reflected in many of the things I like to share with others through my newsletter.

I started the Parental Intelligence Newsletter in August 2002 after completing a correspondence course in Home Publishing. When my son quit school at the age of seven in December that year, I intended to move on to other things but decided to continue to publish the newsletter for just a while longer as a vehicle for my then new found interest in what I usually refer to these days as “the psychiatric labels scam”. Since that time, my online involvements have taken on a life of their own.

Parental Intelligence has existed in a variety of formats over the years. In the beginning, it was a weekly email; it became a website in 2004, the newsletter became a monthly publication later the same year. Since May 2010, I’ve published the newsletter fortnightly.

The Parental Intelligence Newsletter is free to read, always has been, always will be. It’s useful to be a subscriber because I will send you an email each time I publish.

Please visit www.parental-intelligence.com for more information and to read the latest issue and my free e-book How I Parent.

Maureen Tully

Mother of 6 unschooled children now aged from 35 down to 17. Cameron Tully (35yo son) and Kate Tully (22 yo daughter) will also be attending conference and assisting with presentations.

The Tully family is a proud unschooling family. Our philosophy is pretty simple - we love life, learning and don't see why it can't be a normal, natural part of family life and fun into the bargain! Click Here to read Maureen Tully's full bio.

Maurice and Maureen have six children aged 35 down to 17 - all were unschooled and are their abiding delight - next to their unschooled 14 grandchildren so far!

Cameron Tully: oldest son of Maureen and Maurice, married to Kathleen, father of five under five! Cameron is the director of Tully, Tully & Associates working for the Australian Federal Police as a program manager and being 6'3'' helps! Cameron plays guitar for successful Canberra band name, of course, The Tullys. He is a keen motorbike rider and has driven his wife crazy having bought a motorbike every year of their marriage (seven this December!) to add to his 'several' others.
Kathleen Tully: (nee Shadwick) married to Cameron. A stay at home Mum of five under five. She takes pleasure in homeschooling her children. Kathleen is also a director of Tully, Tully & Associates. She works from home in helping to run the company, mortgage brokering and prepares the annual tax for the farm, band and every member of the Hillview Tully family and quilts in her (spare!) time. Kathleen works closely with Maureen and her sisters-in-law in developing the families' property portfolio.

Parents of: Connor Flynn Tully (18.12.03), Finn Peter Tully (21.4.05), twins: Blake Martin and Lawson Campbell Tully (6.2.07), and baby Cora Eadie Tully (24.10.08)

Jamie Tully, born 28/2/77. Married to top Australian vocalist Mechelle Tully, 15/02/78.
Parents of: Emma, 12, Campbell 9, Sean, 5, Tara 3 and baby on way.

Lawson and Anna Tully: self-taught, intuitive drummer, guitarist and now self-employed (mostly self-taught) cabinetmaker in Nashville TN, USA. Married a (mostly) home educated American girl. Went for a holiday 7 years ago and we're still waiting for them to come home .... Lawson?.... Laws?
Parents of Sophie, 8, Ivie, 3, and baby on the way.

Sarah and Scott Kennewell: Sarah is a stylist and she and Scott have invested in two properties so far. Irish dancing champion.
Parents of Scarlett (6 months)

Kate Tully, 22, history nut - particularly obsessed with the British Monarchy through the ages, with E1 probably her pick. Loves cattlework, dancing (Irish champion) , horseriding, fashion and the British Premier League - especially Liverpool. Would have liked to have been a more successful Boudicca.

Anna Tully, 17, humourist and photography enthusiast, loves music, reading, the internet and secretly thinks she's an Airbender.

Other Contributors:

Joanne Foster and James Hall (Meditation & Reiki)

Joanne and James live in South Australia with their two daughters Chayton 6 and Llogan 4. They also have an older daughter Chloe and two grandchildren. James is a registered nurse with alternative views on the integration of holistic therapies into the modern healthcare system. For the last 6 years, James has studied many aspects of spirituality, both from eastern and western philosophies. Joanne has a background in local government and teaching. Joanne opted out of the daily grind and gave up salaried work in order to embrace fully and wholeheartedly, the radical unschooling life they are both passionate about. Joanne currently facilitates Connection Parenting courses in her community. For James and Joanne, integrating yoga, meditation and spirituality into their family has been the key to a more connected, peaceful and fun life.

Hannah Andrews - Family Yoga
Yoga teacher, Spiritual teacher and Mother, Hannah completed her Yoga training in 2008 after 3 years of intense personal practise. Increased physical energy, mental clarity, alertness and increasing conscious awareness is fueling her passion to pass this valuable and life giving gift onto others.

Growing up through a dysfunctional family system, peers led her into a dark period of high risk drug taking as a teenager. Through a journey of intense personal transformation after hitting rock bottom in 2004, Yoga became the new high. With committed practise, the drugs naturally fell away. Inner transformation occurred as the body and mind were stretched to new limits. Whilst completing her training as a Yoga Teacher, she experienced a pregnancy coupled with Domestic Violence. Throughout all this, Yoga has been the lifesaver - with it's natural anti-depressant remedies, the physical strength building the emotional strength, and the peace that she feels when moving through the Asanas, she has found her heart in something she loves and is passionate about sharing this experience with others.

Pregnancy, childbirth and parenting has allowed her to expand her awareness to new heights. Practicing Aware Parenting with her daughter, Adaya, her journey has increased to a new heightened awareness which she brings into her Yoga classes through feeling and breath. Through Aware Parenting a new found passion into natural learning and experience of feeling with compassion, her aliveness to pass this knowledge on is increasing everyday. To experience, accept and claim all parts of ourselves, can see us returning to the wholeness for which we are in Truth.

Hannah teaches with authenticity, awareness and breath and trusts that the experience you have from her class will give you a new lease on life, even if only for a moment. Let the transformation begin.

Kaya Jongen - Dance & Outdoor Games for Children
I am a mum of Spiral (6 years) and Ochre (4 years). We are naturally learning together, I am learning so much from them about myself, relationship, communication, creativity, having fun, patience and the abundance of love. I love to dance, having done harmonic dance, belly dance and all sorts of improvised dance for fun. I love to dance with my children, it is a beautiful way to connect and express ourselves. I have also done a bit of facilitation of outdoor ecological awareness activities and also seasonal celebration circles with children and would love to combine all of that together, playing and connecting with children. Facilitating the creative dance workshop at the conference will be a learning experience for me to help me grow and learn and actively engage in activites that excite my spirit.

Mundy-Turner performance Sunday 5th September 4-6pm

Mundy-Turner started when Cath met Jay backstage at Victoria’s Port Fairy Folk Festival 1995 where they were both on the bill as performers. By the end of that year, the pair were not only married, but performing, touring, songwriting, & recording together.

Six full-length albums, multiple tours to festivals and music venues in six different countries and many songs later, Cath & Jay are enjoying their “best gig yet” – being parents to their beautiful son Joshua, born Nov 2006, and becoming an unschooling family!

Get up-close-and-personal with Mundy-Turner’s unique style of folk-pop music in a FREE Acoustic Concert (unplugged), Sunday 5 Sept, 4-6pm in the Rec Room.

Expect soaring harmony vocals, spine-tingling original songs, story-telling, singalongs, fiddle, guitar, piano, percussion & musical magic!

Cath & Jay’s albums will be on sale for $20.

This is not a children’s concert, but is a family-friendly gig. A focussed, listening space will be most appreciated.

To read more about Mundy-Turner and their work:

http://www.mundy-turner.com

http://www.myspace.com/mundyturner

http://freedomtrainchoir.weebly.com

Here are just some of the events and activities that we have planned for your Unschooling conference retreat.

Dad's discussion group

Grandparents discussion group
Saturday evening Disco
Mom's night out

Fathers Day celebration
Craft area
Sports area
Board games
Play-dough
Painting
Dress-up
Beach/sand toys
Music exploration
Face painting
Paper airplanesOrigami/paper folding
Clay modeling
Talent show/Sing-Along

Family Reiki
Family Yoga

Library with related books and magazines

Retreat attendees business stalls/displays

If you wish to host an activity to share your families current passions and interests, you will receive a 10% discount on registration cost!

Children's activities will be facilitated by an adult/teenager, however parents are responsible for their children at all times. Children's activities will be run in close proximity to all talks/discussions and children are most welcome at the talks/discussions.

This retreat is a wonderful opportunity for families who are new to homeschooling and those considering it to learn more about natural learning as an option.

It is also perfect for experienced homeschooling families who would like to know more about unschooling and natural learning.

This Unschooling Retreat is the first of it's kind in Australia and an incredible opportunity for those already living a Radical Unschooling lifestyle to spend time with other like minded families and enjoy a unique and memorable time together!

This is sure to be the Holiday of a lifetime and one that your family will never forget!

No matter where you are on your path, this is the retreat for your freedom-loving family!

Warmly,

Maree & Erica, your Unschooling Retreat Organizers

More about us...

Erica Perry is the mother of 3 boys and wife to Dale. Her passions include radical unschooling, consensual parenting, attachment parenting, natural childbirth, eating, cooking, camping, reading and knitting. Erica lives with her family in Ipswich, QLD and plans to set up an intentional community for unschoolers in the next 3 years.

Maree Riedel is a Radical Unschooling mum of 3 amazing boys and an incredible husband. She started this adventure more conventionally 6 years ago, but has been drawn to the limitless lifestyle that RU encompasses. She was introduced to the concept of Unschooling then Radical Unschooling about four years ago. This lifestyle very quickly merged with the life she was already living and has become who her family "Is". Her passion drives her to share RU philosophy with as many people as she can. Every day she reflects on the beauty of living life consensually with her children and husband. Other passions include organic gardening & permaculture, cooking the nourishing traditions way, natural childbirth, consensual parenting, natural fibre weaving, crocheting, triathlon training, and road-trips around Australia.

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Australian Unschooling Conference Retreat

You are Invited....

Who is this retreat for?