The Parent's Handbook to Unschooling Yourself: A Mindful Guide to Embracing a New Way of Living and Learning With Your Child

by Esther Jones

To unschool your child, you must first unschool yourself.

Many parents are aware that their child is unhappy at school, but they assume that if their child were to leave school, they would need to recreate school at home which can feel impossible. However, when the parent is willing to move beyond their own conditioning, learning beyond school can offer exactly what their child needs to grow into the full potential of who they are. 

Esther Jones gently encourages you to navigate this journey with curiosity and self-compassion and provides you with a clear path forward in your next step in accompanying your child in their learning. Extremely relevant for parents of a neurodivergent child, this book packed with practical suggestions and exercises, as well as stories from parents who have walked this path before, including Esther's own lived experiences.

Consisting of two parts this book will first guide you through how children learn and then offers you a four step solution to unlocking your freedom from traditional schooling, providing you with all the tools you need to understand what it means to unschool and help your child thrive in a home setting.

269 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 21, 2025

About the author

Esther Jones writes fantasy novels and short stories with her husband Frog Jones. She's loved writing since an early age, and her first memories include writing and illustrating a story about a village of talking rabbits. She thought it was genius at the time. She has now come to recognize this as her first episode with author-hubris at a precociously young age.

In her free time, Esther loves reading, fine dining, and drawing. She is by no means the most artistically talented person her family, though. Her brother, Nathan Reed, provided the cover art for Grace Under Fire. She also has an almost unhealthy love of cheeses.