Alanis Morissette uses "attachment parenting" to bring up her brood.
The ‘You Oughta Know’ hitmaker has Ever Imre, nine, Onyx Solace, four, and Winter Mercy, 13 months, with her spouse Souleye – whose real name is Mario Treadway – and says she’s been raising her children by using a parenting technique known as "attachment parenting", in which physical touch is key.
She explained: "For me, attachment parenting is, on a very basic level, eye contact, skin-on-skin, responsivity, gentleness.
"The word ‘attunement’ is [important] in parenting but also in marriage and best friendship and professional relationships … If we’re not attuned to each other and we’re missing each other like ships passing, there’s not a chance for that deep connection that will be the hotbed for their whole life."
Alanis, 46, also says she’s been "unschooling" her children, which involves teaching them outside of the "conventional schooling".
The singer and her husband have identified "eight inclusion criteria" which use to evaluate whether their children are interested in a particular area of learning.
Alanis added: "What I do with my kids is I watch their eyes. So if I’m invested in them looking at this candle that I’m holding but their eyes are looking over there at the dappling through the tree, I’m gonna put that candle down … they [couldn’t] care less about my little agenda."
The ‘Head Over Feet’ singer insists she still "respects" conventional schooling as both her parents were teachers, and says she would be happy to send her children to school if they wanted to go.
During an appearance on Katie Lowes’ podcast, ‘Katie’s Crib’, she explained: "When Ever says to me sometimes, ‘Mom, what if I want to get my doctorate?’ or whatever, I just say, ‘Yeah, whenever you want to go to school, you’re gonna go to school. And if you want to just keep learning outside of that context, then you will.’
"I think, because of my direct experience with ongoing education, it has me see unschooling as certainly daunting but in a really cool way, like, ‘Wow, this is a huge thing to take on.’
"If Ever wakes up in the middle of the night and asks me a question, I’m not gonna blow him off, because this is the time he’s gonna learn about that dinosaur."