25/09/2026
And we did it! 😍 The European Homeschooling Conference – Education Unbound has come to an end 🤩🌞🌺, hosted in the beautiful surroundings of Ars Viva in Slovenia.
The impressions are still very fresh, but looking back, I feel that despite a few small challenges along the way, everything came together beautifully.
At the beginning of this year, when I was thinking about whom we could invite as the keynote speaker, one name immediately came to mind: André Stern.
Now that I have met him, I know why. ☺️
I had known his name for many years – interestingly, through the Austrian paediatrician my children had at the time ☺️😅 – and I knew something of his life story through the documentary Alphabet. But I had never explored his work in depth.
So I wrote to him.
And André immediately said yes.
Juuupiiiii! 😁
Some time later, I discovered that his new book "And I Never Went to School" would be published in Slovenian in September, just before our conference, by the Slovenian publishing house Primus. I contacted them, and we arranged for the book to be available at the conference at a special price.
André arrived at Ars Viva on Tuesday afternoon. While the other participants and members of the Homeschooling Europe team were visiting the beautiful Križna Cave, I had the privilege of spending some time alone with him – and I used the opportunity to interview him.
Now comes the next task: turning the recording into a written article. 😊 If anyone is interested in publishing the interview in their own magazine, website, platform or other media, please contact me. I trust that the article – and with it André's message – will find its way to the people who need to hear it.
A journalist from the Slovenian magazine 'Jana' will also be writing about André and the conference.
André Stern has a truly inspiring energy. And I cannot help thinking that growing up without attending school played an important part in preserving it.
Can you imagine if all children had the freedom to discover the world, follow their curiosity and develop in this way?
And can you imagine the kind of society those children might create?
André shared many important messages during the conference. I will reveal just one here – for the others, you will have to read his books or hear him speak in person. 😁
“Science is on our side.”
By “our”, of course, I mean those of us who recognise that children have an innate capacity to learn – through curiosity, relationships, play, exploration, meaningful activity and engagement with the real world, rather than only through externally imposed curricula and pressure.
Yes. Science is on our side. 😊😍
The challenge now is for educational policy and professional practice to catch up with what research into learning, development and the brain is showing us. And we also need more parents who are willing to actively advocate for learning environments that genuinely support children's development.
Actively, enthusiastically – as André would say – and persistently.
In my own concept of Nature-Aligned Learning (Sonaravno učenje), I have been bringing together this body of knowledge with insights I have gained through many years of accompanying my own children's learning outside conventional schooling.
There was another subject at the conference that deserves special mention: children's rights.
Alenka Nemanič and Klavdija Hočevar Kastelic brought their knowledge and perspectives to this important discussion, masterfully moderated by Monica O'Connor.
And of course, that was far from everything. We explored many other questions and ideas during these days – perhaps I will write about some of them in separate posts, otherwise this one will become a book. 😁
Most of all, thank you to everyone who came and helped create this gathering simply by being there. ❤️ You were wonderful.
A special thank you to Tadej Rifel for taking such good care of the children, and to Matija Mazi for helping our international guests experience some of the beauty of Slovenia's nature and cultural heritage as well.
And it was wonderful to see the children in action. 😀😊
My two boys are already dreaming about next year's conference 🫣 – that's how much they enjoyed it.
Thank you to everyone who came from near and far, shared their experiences, asked questions, listened, talked, laughed, explored and helped create these days together. ❤️
Education can be different.
And perhaps the most important thing we can do is keep creating spaces where we can actually experience what that difference feels like.
Mateja de Laat, Slovenia
