My guest from a couple of weeks ago and I had so much fun together she decided to interview me for her Radio Show, Raising Playful Tots, and that’s what we’re getting this week! Melitsa Avila put me in the hotspot and asked some interesting questions to get a view of motherhood from the other side! I give some sage advice and encouragement for women just starting out on their motherhood journeys. I am proof that there is life at the other end of the tunnel. I had fun with my children intentional...
May 10, 2013•56 min
I am delighted to have my two young nephews from England on my show this week. Samuel and Nathaniel Baggarley came across the pond for the first time to attend the Wedding of the Year! They were bedazzled and entertained, dined not whined and spent an inordinate amount of time wet. They had a whirlwind five days cramming everything they could into their visit to take oodles of stories back home with them, from missing a plane to seeing the aftermath of a police car chase to the intricacies of a ...
May 03, 2013•56 min
Mike Donnelly is back with me this week and we are going to be talking about the impact the Romeike vs Holder hearing, at the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals this week, could have on American homeschoolers. Mike and his wife teach their seven children at home and he is a frequent speaker and writer on many home school related topics some of which have been aired with me on this show. Mike also serves as Staff Attorney and Director of International Relations for member affairs at the Home School Leg...
Apr 26, 2013•58 min
I discovered my guest this week through my faithful listener in California who thought putting the two of us together with our English accents would be a hoot! Melitsa Avila is a former teacher, mother of three boys and military wife who hosts a weekly show called Raising Playful Tots. She specialises in delivering Early Childhood play information straight from practitioners and experts into the hands of parents and carers to improve their under 5 play opportunities. Melitsa has been blogging si...
Apr 19, 2013•55 min
My guest this week is the daughter of a colleague of mine from the days when I worked in Corporate America, way before any self-respecting career woman would ever consider homeschooling!! Polly Wright started a ministry in 2010 called We Are Cherished which reaches out to women in the sex industry and provides the community they need when they are ready to leave. She is passionate for women to know their true worth and value and discover who they were created to be. Polly and her husband have be...
Apr 12, 2013•58 min
Jennifer Miller is back with me this week to talk about the open-ended tour of the world she and her family are embarked upon. They have been nomads for five years now and love every minute of it, well almost. Today she will be sharing her favourite spot in the world and her least favourite! Jennifer is passing on her legacy of an uncommon childhood to her offspring and seriously homeschooling while on the road! How does she do it? What does a vacation look like to a family of travellers? How do...
Apr 05, 2013•1 hr 1 min
My guest this week is Matt Rothacher who has been ministering as a full-time youth pastor in Arkansas for the past eleven years, and until 2011 was convinced that he would do that forever, but God had different plans. In November of 2011 He solidified the call Matt had been wrestling with since the previous summer. With God at his back Matt stepped out of the ministry world he knew so well and began plans to plant a church in the community of Vilonia, Arkansas. Matt has a passion for the Word an...
Mar 29, 2013•58 min
My guest this week, Kristin Deal, has just returned from Goa, India where she was involved in international work with trafficking. India and other South East Asian countries are probably where you and I both imagine most human trafficking to take place. However, Kristin is going to be telling us about what goes on in our own backyard, sometimes right underneath our noses. Kristin is a born and bred Texan from Fort Worth, right down the road from me in Dallas. She received her Masters in Social W...
Mar 22, 2013•58 min
I am welcoming back a British home educator who keeps us updated on what is going on in my fair country. Steve Richards is one of the directors of Northstar Worldwide which offers support and resources to homeschooling families all over the world. Steve is also a founding member of one of the home education groups in England called Home Service and he has spoken widely at conferences in the United Kingdom and overseas. Both he and his wife, Lyn, homeschooled their children. Today we are going to...
Mar 15, 2013•58 min
I am delighted that my dear on air friend, Gretchen Roe, is joining me again this week for another lively discussion about...well, you’ll have to tune in to find out! Gretchen is Community Liaison for the Calvert School, presents Webinars for international homeschool audiences, conducts workshops at conferences around America and has used the Calvert Curriculum herself for the last 19 years. Gretchen has six children and her favourite topic is about homeschooling not being purely school at home....
Mar 08, 2013•58 min
The name of my guest’s blog attracted me and I in turn caught her attention by complimenting her on her funny musings and inviting her to come and be down to earth and honest with me this week. Kate Hall is a stay-at-home, home-schooling mom with one husband, Steve, of 10 years, and three young children, all adopted from China (not the husband) and all born with cleft lip and palate (again, not the husband). When not answering bizarre questions and wiping poop off the walls Kate attends to her c...
Mar 01, 2013•1 hr
Norma Wilt was a public school teacher for seventeen years. As an individual she tried to change the system and came up against certain individuals who do not necessarily have the welfare of the nation’s children at heart. I am thrilled to welcome her as a guest on my show this week where we will talk about how to create an academic environment in schools and homeschools where our students do not feel inadequate and are inspired to learn. Norma has written, The System Redesigned, This Time for t...
Feb 22, 2013•58 min
My guest this week has a list of Performing Arts credits to his name. Steven David Horwich started early by winning an Emmy Award at the age of 17 for a piece he wrote, directed, and was featured in. As a writer he's written over 80 works for the stage, many of which have been produced throughout the U.S., Canada, London, and as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia. As a director he's directed over 200 evenings of theater, working with many top stars such as John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Anne Arch...
Feb 15, 2013•58 min
My guest this week describes herself as a reluctant homeschooler, which makes me laugh because the very nature of the beast surprises many of us in its nascent years yielding various emotions that have us rushing forward enthusiastically or being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the vast arena of home education. Suki Wessling overcame her reluctance and has been writing about homeschooling and gifted children, with an emphasis on serving the emotional and academic needs of unusual learners, ...
Feb 08, 2013•58 min
Finally I have a military homeschooling Mum as my guest this week. It has been three years and God’s timing is slow but perfect and not a little humourous. Aadel Bussinger answered my email with a “yes” after a mutual friend of ours recommended her to me. I scrolled down her “About” page and saw the top of a head of blue hair and wondered, “What’s my picture doing on this website?” Of course it wasn’t me! It was Aadel! I sent her a collage of me with my blue locks as a perfect introduction to my...
Feb 01, 2013•58 min
Stacie Zellmer is joining me today to talk about the importance of clean water in the world, something we take for granted and waste without thinking! Imagine spending several hours a day, every day, walking with a container to fetch the family’s water. Imagine drinking or cooking with this water that looks and tastes dirty. Imagine going without water, not being able to drink your 64 ounces a day, not being able to turn on a tap, let it run to heat up before stepping into your morning shower fo...
Jan 25, 2013•58 min
My daughter, Malia McNeny, is returning this week to talk to me about the dream job that is helping her to achieve her dream career! Malia has just returned from a year in England where she finished off her formal training in the performance arts and is now embarking on the competitive and financially unstable phase of her future. Her clever choice of a job that will help foot the bill ensures that she will never be too far away from a pay check or a good cup of Joe. Ever since she was young she...
Jan 18, 2013•59 min
My guest this week is Kim de Blecourt, author of, Until We All Come Home, published by Faith Words last November. Kim spent over 13 years in corporate human resources and was a corporate trainer. I discovered her on Twitter and have spent many hours delving into the world of adoption using her blog, Nourished Hearts, as my springboard. I have happened upon an enterprising and remarkable community of people whom Kim seeks to encourage and inspire through her sensitive writing. In the forefront of...
Jan 11, 2013•58 min
What does your twelfth grader need to know? It may be less than you think! Can you help your high schooler answer the questions, “Where are you trying to go and why?” While schooling at home how can less class mean more learning? Do you know the secret to making money? Listen in this week for the answers to these questions and more when Larry Farris joins me for an energising talk after the family, relaxing, chilling stress-free Christmas break! What better time than to look towards the future a...
Jan 04, 2013•58 min
This is the last show of 2012 and in it you will be treated to some different ideas about preparations for the New Year from more of my friends whom I’ve met during the past three years. There are thoughts about giving back, the fleetingness of time and living with presence, purpose and joy. You’ll hear meditations on letting go of perfection and enjoying family. There’s looking back with gratitude, remembering that life is what happens when making other plans and insights into the lighter side ...
Dec 28, 2012•59 min
Merry Christmas to you all! I invited a few of my friends from past shows to talk about what this holy season means to them and their comments ranged from mistletoe and eggnog, blessings and surprise announcements to our internal need to adore someone, the doctrine of the incarnation and shifting priorities. Join me this week and share a hot chocolate and truffle while we listen to the meaning of Christmas for a few people who have drawn close to us over the years.
Dec 21, 2012•1 hr
Joining me this week is a fellow blogger whom I met while popping over to a guest site one of my friends was writing for. Jules Rothacher has a heart for Jesus and she and her husband, with their young family, are missionaries currently serving in central Arkansas. You thought I was going to say Africa, didn‘t you? Jules writes about the fun adventures she, Matt (her hilarious hubs of almost 8 years), her children Magdalene, Isabella, and Benjamin are having with God in the lead. She is here wit...
Dec 14, 2012•54 min
Mike Donnelly, from the Home School Legal Defense Association, returns to my show this week after recently attending the Global Home Education Conference in Berlin. When he’s not keeping us updated with all things legal on the homeschooling front Mike serves as Staff Attorney and Director of International Relations for member affairs and is Adjunct Professor of Government at Patrick Henry College, in Virginia. Mike and his wife teach their seven children at home and he is a frequent speaker and ...
Dec 07, 2012•58 min
I am excited to welcome Cara Putman to my show today. I love speaking with graduated homeschoolers who bear witness to the fact that educating our children at home turns out well rounded, socially conscious individuals. Cara grew up as a homeschooled child when homeschoolers were misunderstood and oddities. She is an honors graduate of the University of Nebraska and George Mason University School of Law. Cara lives in Indiana with her husband and four children whom she also homeschools while bal...
Nov 30, 2012•58 min
I met this week’s guest on Twitter and was intrigued by her story and you’ll have to join me to hear it from her own lips. Jessica Bowman blogs on faith and parenting and everything in between. She also writes books, most notably, Parenting Wild Things, Embracing the Rumpus, sometimes gets paid for spending time on her computer and cooks amazing things with beans! Jessica has been married to her high school sweetheart for more than 12 years and together they have 4 children whom they've crossed ...
Nov 23, 2012•57 min
I am delighted to be talking to Walter Lemons this week, who was technical director of the Garland Performing Arts Centre which became our home away from homeschool many moons ago. Not many people made it passed us when it came to having an impact on our children’s lives, Walter did! He was instrumental in teaching them all the technical skills they would ever need to work backstage in every capacity. Once they had graduated from the Walter Lemons School of Technology they were ready to go...and...
Nov 16, 2012•57 min
I am welcoming Sherry Hayes to my show this week. Sherry is the inspiring Christian mother of 15 wonderful children and has been homeschooling for 24 years. She has seen the “graduation” of seven of her children from her home in colorful Colorado and she and her husband, David, are enjoying rearing the remaining eight still under their tutelage. She has been a compassionate promoter of redemptive home educating for almost a quarter of a century and has maintained the belief that it’s God’s venue...
Nov 09, 2012•58 min
Dawn Prochovnic is my guest this week and we are going to be exploring the benefits of signing with every member of our family! Dawn is an expert in ASL and her verbal descriptions on how to get our hands moving will have you hooked in no time. The beauty of watching an accomplished signer can only be described as poetry in motion and this is what captured her heart when she was a young teen. Dawn is the author of a series of sixteen picture books called Story Times with Signs and Rhymes which w...
Nov 02, 2012•55 min
I am thrilled to welcome back Diane Flynn Keith this week as my guest. She is an alternative education specialist whose written and spoken words empower families to get the help their children need for a meaningful education at home. Diane claims that when you listen to her speak you won’t hear what’s being presented in high school or by the local school district. As a mother of two sons she had to get creative. In her house volunteer work, flight lessons, and performing in music bands passed as...
Oct 26, 2012•58 min
I am going to be talking briefly with Sarita Holzmann, the co-founder and president of Sonlight Curriculum for more than 20 years. Sarita is going to be telling us about a brand new charity project she is offering through Sonlight called a "learning and giving adventure" which has the potential to seriously impact many across the world. You don't have to participate in the charitable endeavor to access all the free videos and materials available, all you have to do is go to the website and join ...
Oct 19, 2012•58 min
