As part of our interview series on the Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Methods , I recently had the opportunity to speak to Heather Woodie of Blog She Wrote . Heather homeschooled her children using the unit study method for ten years. Sometimes she usel purchased unit studies, while at other times she (or her children!) wrote their own studies. She mentors other homeschool moms with her participation in the Five in a Row forums and through her blog, where she is a helpful voice with resources and ...
Aug 13, 2019•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode from the archives is from our Ultimate Guide to Homeschool Methods and it was a delight to record three years ago. I loved chatting with my old friend, Sue Elvis who blogs at https://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/ and has a new book out called Curious Unschoolers . Sue unschools her large family where they focus on doing their own projects, relationships, and trusting the child. For more information and the show notes visit https://pambarnhill.com/unschooling....
Aug 06, 2019•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast There is nothing more fun than a road trip full of adventure and learning. And no group knows how to make the most of a learning adventure better than homeschoolers. Today I am joined by Trish Corlew of Homeschool Road Trips and Hip Homeschool Moms to chat about Trish's best tips for learning on the go as well as more information about the Homeschool Road Trips opportunities. We chat about how travel can be an important part of your curriculum, the biggest benefits of traveling with family, and ...
Jul 30, 2019•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Homeschooling through high school can feel intimidating. I am a teacher by trade, and I am constantly second guessing myself and checking to be sure that I have not left my children with a gaping hole in their education. We tell our kids that they can do anything they want, but am I stealing part of that future from them if I don’t aptly prepare them to meet it? Listen or read more at https://thesparrowshome.com/homeschooling-high-school-2-things-you-might-be-missing/...
Jul 23, 2019•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast What happens to your morning time as your kids get older? Does it change or do we stop requiring them to attend? Can your teen outgrow Morning Time? These are the questions that Cindy West from Our Journey Westward joins me to answer today. In this episode of the podcast we talk about how the tone of Morning Time changes as your kids get older, how to get their buy in with what you are doing, and what a Morning Time with older kids can look like. Enjoy! Find out more at pambarnhill.com/hs168...
Jul 16, 2019•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast The giddiness of families making educational choices for next year has begun! It is exciting to head to the NC Thrive! Conference and see all the bright shiny new choices. It’s like Christmas to flip through a catalog or browse an online market full of books and perfect curriculum choices. But with so many good options out there, how do we know what is best for our family? Do you ever get stymied by indecision? Do you come in like Franck in Father of the Bride and say, “Let’s change everything”?...
Jul 09, 2019•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast There is nothing that can more joyfully throw a homeschool year off balance than pregnancy and a new baby. Moms have so much to do already and now throw morning sickness, extreme fatigue, and a new born into the mix and homeschooling gets even harder. Joining me today is mom of many Amy Roberts who knows a thing or two about homeschooling while pregnant and with a newborn. Amy gives us her best tips for planning a year that you know will be challenged by all these big changes. She is pulling out...
Jul 02, 2019•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Let’s start with a misconception about year-round homeschooling. It is typically NOT homeschooling all the time. Just because we are year-round homeschoolers that doesn’t mean we are doing more school than your average students. Traditional American school schedules begin in late August, take a couple of weeks off in December, and continue through the end of May with about twelve weeks off in the summer. Homeschoolers who school year round simply shorten that summer break; often cutting it in ha...
Jun 25, 2019•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast Planning for one or two homeschool kids is challenging enough, but planning for school with six or more? Now that is a Herculean feat. But never fear, we have some mamas on the show today who have been doing that for a number of years. Lynna Sutherland (mom of 8) and Heather Tully (mom of 10) join me today to discuss the ins and outs of big family homeschool planning -- what's different than regular planning, where to combine, and how to meet the needs of all.the.kids. Enjoy!
Jun 18, 2019•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast It's happened so many times you can replay the scenario in your head. One of your children runs in from another room screaming. He's got a complaint against a sibling and he wants justice. How do you respond? What do you say when faced with the accusations of one sibling against another? Eventually, you'll need to get them both involved in the conversation, but here are three things you can do before you add another person to the conversation. Listen or read more at https://hswotrainingwheels.co...
Jun 11, 2019•12 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you ever wondered how your personality type might impact your approach to homeschool planning? On today's episode of the podcast we have a fascinating glimpse at how your Meyers-Briggs functions can have an affect on how you plan, what you plan, and how you work a plan. Homeschool personality guru, homeschool grad, and homeschool mom Mystie Winckler joins me for this very revealing conversation.
Jun 04, 2019•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast "And what grade are you in, honey?" the little old lady asked my daughter in an impromptu conversation by the produce section. She found my then eight-year-old girl sorting through apples looking for just the right one and thought it odd that a child her age would be at the grocery store in the middle of a Thursday. It was, I suppose. Listen or read more at https://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2017/03/without-grade-levels.html...
May 28, 2019•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast It is no secret that I am an introvert and introverts have a special place in my heart. There is nothing wrong with extroverts, but getting the world to understand the need for a little quiet and time alone and not take it personally is hard. It doesn’t mean one is shy (I’m totally not.) or awkward (debatable). But it does fly in the face of our very social world at times — especially when you are a mother and even more so when you are a homeschooling mother. We have chosen to be with our kids a...
May 21, 2019•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast We live in a society where being busy is considered normal. If you aren’t running to piano practice, baseball games, school awards ceremonies and every other possible extra-curricular activity every week, you aren’t doing enough for your kids. Every mom feels the invisible pressure to preform and possible out-preform their neighbor. Listen or read more at https://thezooicallhome.com/extra-curricular-activities/
May 14, 2019•10 min•Transcript available on Metacast We are so excited to announce the release of the brand new Plan Your Year with this special conversation about homeschool planning. Dawn Garrett joins me today as we chat what's new about the book, what homeschool planning looks like for different people, common misconceptions about planning and being "boxed in" by a plan, and so much more. This conversation digs deep into how freeing (yes! I said that) planning can be. Don't miss it!
May 07, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast If you're reading this, you are probably in the midst of teaching one of your little ones to read OR you have that endeavor looming ahead of you in the near future... amiright? The singular biggest fear of every single homeschool mom I've ever spoken to is failing to teach her child to read well... and especially failing to teach them "on time". Listen or read more at https://www.lifeabundantlyblog.com/lifeabundantlyblog/2018/6/20/when-you-child-cant-read-by-age-6...
Apr 30, 2019•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Sonya Shafer is the encouraging voice and curriculum writer behind Simply Charlotte Mason. Along with her friend Karen and their families, Sonya has been teaching about Charlotte's methods for years, helping families to bring them into the 21st century. A popular speaker on CM topics, I was excited to get to sit down in this episode and talk to Sonya more about homeschooling in general -- how her family started this journey, Sonya's journey into homeschooling her special needs daughter, and even...
Apr 23, 2019•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Can I tell you something that's hard to admit? I've spent a lot of time in the past year being a miserable homeschool mom. Countless hours of training have gone into perfecting my craft. I'm excellent at complaining about parenting struggles, whining through hard days, and generally being difficult to be around. After our most challenging homeschooling year yet, I have it down. Here's how you can be a miserable homeschool mom too! Listen or read more at https://www.adriennebolton.com/blog/2017/0...
Apr 16, 2019•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Cindy Rollins, mom of nine and "Mama of Morning Time" (so-named by me!), is back on the podcast this week to chat about Stratford Caldecott's Beauty in the Word -- specifically the portion on grammar, or what Caldecott calls "remembering." Join us as we chat about anamnesis, what it is and how it is alike and different what we already associate with memory. Listen for: The idea of anchoring or tethering our children to a cultural heritage. What are some Morning Time elements that help to convey ...
Apr 09, 2019•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Is your husband against homeschooling? I know what you’re going through. Wanting to homeschool, but not being able to. I’ve been where you are and can help. Dear Mom, I see you. Wanting to homeschool, but your spouse is against it. I see you. Counting down the days until Christmas break. Yearning to have your kids home with you each day. Listen or read more at https://www.findingjoyinthejourney.net/spouse-is-against-homeschooling/...
Apr 02, 2019•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we have another installment in our veteran's series on the Homeschool Solutions show. Ann Karako, mom of five, joins us to talk about her experiences homeschooling high school with five kids, graduating four of them, and living to teach others that they can do it too. On today's show we chat: What Ann's kids have to say about their homeschool experience. The things Ann worried about when she first started homeschooling and what she would tell her younger self. Ann's biggest homeschooling m...
Mar 26, 2019•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Your little one knows many letter sounds and it’s time for the magic of putting them together and reading their first words. Use these top 10 tips for teaching short vowel sounds to start your child’s reading adventure! Listen or read more at https://pk1homeschoolfun.com/tips-for-teaching-the-short-vowel-sounds-to-beginning-readers/
Mar 19, 2019•15 min•Transcript available on Metacast On today's episode of the podcast we are joined by Jamie Erickson from The Unlikely Homeschool to talk about how she uses Morning Time as a forum to teach her kids manners. In the show we get a glimpse into Jamie's Morning Time including: What makes Morning Time a good setting for teaching manners. What kinds of topics have she covers in her Morning Time manners lessons. What are some of Jamie's favorite resources for teaching manners in Morning Time. What fruit she has seen from her efforts to ...
Mar 12, 2019•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s the question that haunts many homeschooling parents – how do I know that I’m doing it right? I’m responsible for the education of my children and there’s no-one and nothing to tell me WHAT to do and WHEN to do it and HOW to do it and argh! It’s enough to cause a meltdown. To extend the question, without strict curriculum, and standards, and lots of other children to compare to and rank with, how on earth do we homeschoolers know that we’re doing a good job? How do we know this is all going ...
Mar 05, 2019•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today I am joined by Homeschool Solutions Community Manager and fellow convention fan Dawn Garrett to talk all about the homeschool convention. Dawn and I are both long-time attendees of Great Homeschool Conventions and are looking forward to meeting many of you there this year. In this episode Dawn and I dish: Why go to a homeschool convention at all. Our favorite panel or talk from a convention and how to decide which speakers to see. How to avoid “overload” and work the vendor hall like a pro...
Feb 26, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you seen the video where someone is trying to line up a litter of cute, cuddly kittens? If you haven’t, let me spoil it for you: it doesn’t work very well! As you can imagine, it’s a full thirty seconds of constant redirection, repositioning, and mayhem. To everyone watching, it’s hilarious, but to the poor person trying to herd those kittens, it was exhausting. This image hits close to home for homeschool moms of multiples. Some days, homeschooling multiple children is very much like herdi...
Feb 19, 2019•13 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today on the show I am joined by homeschool veteran and writing guru Julie Bogart. Part of our veteran's series, Julie has graduated five kids and now helps homeschool families the world over not only with writing skills through her Bravewriter program but also with how to homeschool bravely through her Homeschool Alliance and her new book The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life. In this conversation we chat about Julie's fond memories of homeschooling, what s...
Feb 12, 2019•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast I’ve noticed that my attitudes get passed along to my children with pretty much zero effort on my part. When I am happy, things mostly flow along happily. When I worry, their worry amps up. When I am frantic, so are they. When I am calm … well, there’s always an exception to prove the rule. Listen or read more at https://pambarnhill.com/how-to-homeschool-with-confidence/
Feb 05, 2019•11 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today we welcome Christopher and Christine Perrin to the podcast to chat about prayer in your homeschool, Morning Time, and personal time. It is a fascinating conversation. Join us as we discuss: How prayer can be both a personal discipline and a corporate practice What are the best ways to teach and model practice of prayer. Tips for modeling something when we are just learning it ourselves.D Different types of prayer and the value of each. Tips for praying the Scriptures. And recommendations o...
Jan 29, 2019•1 hr 16 min•Transcript available on Metacast We've all been there. You're tired. The kids are bickering. Again. If only they would just stop fighting. If only they could just quit all the arguing. If you had a magic word, you'd say it, right? (Hey, magic words might be better than the other kids of words you're tempted to say when the children are fighting!) Listen or read more at https://hswotrainingwheels.com/children-stop-fighting/
Jan 22, 2019•7 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
