Youth partnership
The Unschool Files Youth Partnership Directory is a community resource for homeschooling, unschooling and self-directed families. We are committed to providing access to affordable mentorship programs that fit every budget and personality type.
1 session
$25
4 SESSION BUNDLE (use anytime)
$75 / $45 / Pay What You Can
Sessions can range from 15 minutes to an hour plus. However, initial meetings may run a bit longer as you get to know your mentor through conversation, shared interests, and goal setting.
Payment plans, sliding scale, and scholarship are available upon request. Every mentor manages their own session fees and offers their own options for payment plans. PWYC price will be agreed upon on an individual basis by request.
Meet the MENTORs
Our Partners are all highly experienced adult professionals who offer a range of support from academic tutoring and artist support to goal setting and future planning. Browse our mentor directory below and make sure you watch their introduction videos to get a feel for what their personalities are like! Click their link to book a free interest call.
Lane Clark
Lane Clark is a writer, unschooling parent, imperfectionist, executive consultant, and lake lover. A founder and facilitator of Project Knot Work, a self-directed, project-based learning community for students 10+ and the Board President for The Northwoods Learning Hub, a self-directed life long learning coop. Lane brings the experience of her over-acheiving and perfectionist youth and her anti-excellence imperfectionist adulthood to the way she supports her family and directs her own growth.
When not at her desk, find Lane traveling, running with the music turned all the way up, exploring in the woods with her two unschooled children, or reading with a cup of hot coffee.
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13 years of self-led and autonomy-focused parenting
A lifetime of over-achiever and perfectionist behaviors and beliefs continually being unwound through self-reflection, community support, and life-long learning.
Founder and facilitator of Project Knot Work, a project-based learning community for kids 10+ who live life outside of school
Founding member and Board President of The Northwoods Learning Hub, a self-directed family learning cooperative.
The perspective of 12 years in school, 4 years in university, 2 years of graduate school… and two decades unlearning the extrinsic motivation of those systems.
10 years of entrepreneurial experience
8 years of high-level consulting with adult over-achievers looking to support themselves to live life differently
Podcast Conversation about deschooling our unschooling with Meghan
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-active listening that is both affirming and challenging
-body doubling to support setting and reaching goals,
-problem-solving support for those looking to make (and/or struggling to arrive at) decisions,
-empathetic understanding of the challenges of being kind to ourselves,
-an outside perspective on the ways perfectionism holds us back
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Video, voice, and text available through a variety of platforms.
Lou Hollis
Meet Luvenia Marie Wilkeson, aka Lou Hollis, a creative force with over 25 years of experience in modeling, acting, and the arts. As a widowed dedicated mama, youth advocate and entrepreneur, Lou not only rocks her own career but also helps guide her children in showbiz. With a spirit-led approach, Lou coaches and mentors through programs, whether nonprofit or for-profit.
She loves nature, travel, fashion and music! Walking is like a whole adventure for me, it’s healthy and it’s quite therapeutic! She’s a good mama with a hood playlist! And, she absolutely loves supporting young humans to tap into their super power and design a life they love.
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Lou, with her extensive background in modeling and acting, is now a producer and shares her journey in the Grief, Growth & Goals Podcast with Lou Hollis.
As a SDE Learner herself, she gets the ups and downs. Through DALC (Dreamers Agile Learning Collective), she empowers learners, creatives, talent, teens, and families to discover their unique skills, talents and value. Whether through private mentorship, vibrant homeschool/SDE community DALC, or her podcast and social media platforms, Lou provides invaluable support, courses, and training.
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On the InspireTrail, the route to DREAMIN Big and Thriving with LouLou's IgniteU DreamCruise mentorship, she walks beside you, providing
check-ins, she’s your cheerleader, helping set goals, encouraging DREAMIN Big, guiding career exploration, teasing out your interests of study and fostering a discovery zone. She supports you on your SDE journey in education, embracing your uniqueness, and thriving as you take charge of your own learning.
Team up with Lou's IgniteU DreamCruise: Sailing into Your Unique Future for a fun, exciting, adventurous and courageous journey of self-discovery, whether you’re exploring the entertainment world, life itself or embracing homeschooling and self-directed education.
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Zoom, Voice Memo and Text Message support.
After we meet for a 1 one 1 get to know you session, we can discuss the kind of support you are looking for and how often.
The Unschool Files platform has a pricing structure but we can discuss options within that.
CASSidy younghans
Cassidy is an English teacher turned Self-Directed Education Advocate, Wild Roots Learning Community Co-Creator, and mentor/facilitator. She is passionate about supporting liberation of young people and loves spending time learning new things alongside them. She loves supporting kids & teens in exploring new interests and trying new things on their terms. She loves hand lettering, drawing, photography, singing, playing guitar / ukulele, reading, traveling, and learning. She enjoys reading and creating zines as well as writing articles and poetry. Most of all, she loves building community with others so they can collaborate, learn, and create together.
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Bachelor's degree in Education (specializing in 4-8th grade)
5+ years of experience working 1 on 1 with learners following their own interests while capturing their learning in ways that traditional systems would understand, from facilitator observation & documentation to creation of portfolios and narrative transcripts
12 years of experience creating engaging learning opportunities for young people in various settings both online and in person
Current Occupations:
Co-Creator of Wild Roots Learning Community, a self-directed learning community in Denton, Texas for learners 4-18
Director of Education and Exhibits at Explorium Children's Museum
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nterest Based Learning Sessions
1 on 1 and Small Group Social & Collaborative Learning Sessions
Narrative Transcript Creation Support
Writing Support and Feedback
Music Jam Time
Networking & Social Support
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Zoom, Voice message, text, and open to in person within an hour drive
After we meet for a 1-on-1 get to know you session, we can discuss the kind of support you are looking for and how often.
Bria Bloom
As a grown unschooler, mentor and facilitator she loves working with, imagining with, supporting, playing, and laughing with young people.Bria enjoys Cooking (especially plant-based), Dance, Dungeons & Dragons (as a player and a dungeon master) Writing, Martial Arts, Restorative Justice, Self-Directed Education, movements for abolition & reimagining, building & supporting communities, reading fiction, hanging out with friends!
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Bria offers body doubling, goal-setting & check-ins, processing & brainstorming ideas and creative projects, writing feedback and support, ideas for resources and pursuing interests, and support in talking to skeptical parents/caregivers/friends about this unschooling thing and why it’s a very legitimate and wonderful path
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after we meet for a 1 one 1 get to know you session, we can discuss the kind of support you are looking for and how often. The Unschool Files platform has a pricing structure but we can discuss options within that.
Mel compo
Mel (they/he) has worked with youths since they were a teenage babysitter. Now, they’re technically a grownup; from 2016-2023 they worked at Agile Learning Center in NYC, an independent school for self-directed learners. There, they supported kids doing things they love: painting, drawing, bouldering, writing, reading, watching cool videos, organizing RPGs, making music, rescuing pigeons, playing games, teaching grammar rules, talking and listening, counseling college admissions, geeking out, facilitating video calls, & taking trains, buses, and ferries to all ends of NYC.
Originally from Brooklyn, they live in Bishop, CA (land of the Nuumu, Newe, and Timbisha peoples).
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Besides their 15+ years of experience as a facilitator, playworker, mentor, teacher, tutor, camp counselor, babysitter, and classroom assistant (plus a lifetime of being a big sibling!), they have a degree in Individualized Study from NYU’s Gallatin School. There, they studied poetry, democratic classrooms, and the history, philosophy, and politics of education in the US. They think young people are rad, and they love facilitating (i.e. making things easier), especially with tweens and teens.
Listen to them talk more about their experience on the Unschool Files!
Read their work at Tipping Points and on their blog.
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Anything they mention in their bio: Dungeons & Dragons player and GM support; writing skills and reading recs; “academic” counseling; brainstorming and goal setting; listening to you talk about your interests.
I’m especially excited to support anything art-related (including portfolio curation, body doubling art time [talking or no talking], art history stuff, craft ideas, working with pencil, charcoal, pen, crochet, knit, watercolor, acrylic, oil and gouache, oil and chalk pastels, and paper crafts).
All said, I’m open to supporting in lots of different ways! Reach out to me and we can talk about what kind of support you need & what I can offer.
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Zoom (up to 1hr) or Voice Memo support.
After we meet for a 1-on-1 get to know you session, we can discuss the kind of support you are looking for and how often.
The Unschool Files platform has a pricing structure and we can discuss options within that.
Dan Moeller
Dan Moeller is a teacher-turned-unschooling father, a parenting coach, and self-directed education advisor and mentor. He advocates consent, youth empowerment, and autonomy. He has an affinity for children, creativity, and organic play having spent much of his life as a teacher and around families.
Dan has a broad array of his own interests, some of which include: drums, guitar, Japanese, non-digital art, writing and editing, culture, parkour and gymnastics, skateboarding, wall climbing, cooking and food, movies, books, and graphic novels, board and video games, humor, photography and film, music, nature and animals, and mathematics. Don’t see something here? Just ask!
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M.S. in Education
B.A. in Cultural Anthropology
15 years working with children and families in progressive environments
4+ years as consent-based, self-directed learning parent
Read his writing and listen to him on the Unschool Space podcast!
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For older children and teens:
-Presence, inspiration, ideas, and direction in terms of resources and possible interests
-Perspective, creative partnership, and feedback when requested
-Serves as a friend and even an accountability partner.
He invites input and feedback from parents along the way!
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Video, voice, and text available through a variety of platforms.
Fran Liberatore
Fran is a mother, writer and educator. She lives in partnership with her two self-directed young people, between two continents. She runs a book club for their co-op, other small virtual cohorts of young people, volunteers as an editor for ASDE, and writes quite a lot for her Substack, as well as podcasting about consent.
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MA in History
MA in Journalism
Working towards a Masters in Education, with a focus on democratic, consent-based education and children’s rights
Worked in production for the BBC pre-kids, and as a Montessori Guide for several years.
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I’m hoping to support young people with essay writing, research skills, and other general writing.
I’m also happy to be a general sounding board and supportive partner.
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Video, voice, and text available through a variety of platforms.
ALEXANDER KHOST
Alex is a youth rights activist, meaning he spends a lot of time advocating for the voices of young people. He likes spending time with young people because they hold the least amount of inhibition in being genuinely present with others in a meaningful way. He is also a web developer, an oil painter, a poet, a snowboarder, a husband, and a father to four children, the oldest with a beard, the youngest in diapers. He lives part time in Cluj-Napoca, Romania and part time in Brooklyn, NY, USA. Oh, and he bullshitted his way through twenty-two years of school!
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“I have lived on three continents in five countries and both coasts of the USA
I have played Dungeons and Dragons for over forty years
I have worked with young people for thirty years, having started a school, a junkyard for kids, multiple summer camps, and most recently a project that helps young people take ownership of public space in urban environments (Flying Squads)
I have a degree in painting but have never taken a painting class in my life (I can explain the great reason why)
My own kids would probably add that I know a song for any topic…?”
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There’s not much I wouldn’t try to help with, in that, I like to just jump right in without knowing anything more than the person I am working with. With that said, here are some offerings I have experience doing:
Frontend web development
Painting, printmaking, visual arts
Art History
How to negotiate with one’s parents to get more autonomy
Roleplaying games and game design
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Zoom, Discord and text support