What does it really mean to be educated in 2026? In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley explores why education has to mean more than grades, test scores, memorization, and compliance.

For progressive secular homeschoolers, being educated is not just about being “good at school.” It is about raising kids who can think critically, ask better questions, understand history honestly, navigate technology and AI ethically, build community, know themselves, and care about the world around them.

Ashley breaks down why modern homeschooling allows families to move beyond traditional school measures and create an education rooted in curiosity, justice, cultural literacy, digital literacy, emotional intelligence, and real-world learning.

This episode is for secular homeschool parents who are reimagining education beyond worksheets, standardized testing, and fear-based ideas of success.

Like, follow, subscribe, and share this episode with another homeschool parent who is ready to define education beyond grades, tests, and compliance.

In this Pride Month special, host Ashley digs into the connection between queer liberation, racial justice, disability justice, immigration justice, and gender justice.

Because the first Pride was a riot. And the people who started it deserve to be named.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

♿ The connection between disability justice and queer liberation

🌍 Queer and trans immigrant experiences and why immigration justice and LGBTQ+ rights are the same fight for millions of people

BOOKS MENTIONED & RECOMMENDED:

Picture Books (Ages 3–8)

Middle Grade (Ages 8–12)

Young Adult (Ages 13+)

History & Nonfiction for Kids and Teens

For Parents & Educators

CURRICULUM & ORGANIZATIONS MENTIONED:

DOCUMENTARIES MENTIONED:

IF THIS EPISODE MOVED YOU, SHARE IT WITH: ✔ Secular homeschool parents looking for intersectional LGBTQ+ curriculum ✔ Progressive homeschool co-ops and learning pods ✔ Parents of LGBTQ+ kids building affirming home education ✔ Educators looking for queer and racial justice resources for kids ✔ Anyone done with the sanitized version of Pride

TAGS & KEYWORDS: secular homeschool, progressive homeschool, LGBTQ homeschool curriculum, intersectionality for kids, Pride Month education, queer liberation racial justice, Black queer history, trans liberation homeschool, Marsha P Johnson kids, teaching intersectionality, homeschool Pride Month, secular homeschool podcast, queer affirming homeschool, BIPOC LGBTQ books for kids, disability justice homeschool, immigration justice LGBTQ, gender justice homeschool, unschooling LGBTQ, homeschool for the culture, Ashley secular homeschool revolution

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As a homeschool parent and community leader, I'm bringing five hot takes that range from unschooling, all-in-one curriculum programs, indoctrination in secular spaces, who homeschooling is actually for, and the dark side of our community that we need to stop avoiding.  Let'ts get into the convo!

In This Episode

Connect With Us

🌐 Website: www.secularhomeschoolrevolution.com 📸 Instagram: @SecularhomeschoolRevolution 🎵 TikTok: @SecularhomeschoolRevolution

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If this episode made you think, made you uncomfortable, or made you feel seen  consider buying me a coffee. This show is a labor of love and every contribution keeps the mic on and the honest conversations coming.

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Enjoyed This Episode?

Please follow or subscribe wherever you are listening  it is the single most powerful way to help this show reach more BIPOC homeschool families who need these conversations. And if this episode resonated, share it. Drop it in your homeschool group chat. Send it to the family who needs to hear take number three. Our voices belong in this space and the only way we get louder is together.

Homeschooling has impacted me in ways I expected flexibility, freedom, and the ability to build an education around my kids’ interests and our values, but this episode is about the part I didn’t expect.

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, I’m sharing a personal reflection on how homeschooling has become an unexpected journey of inner child healing. What started as an educational choice has also become a deeply emotional process of witnessing my kids receive support, patience, and room to grow in ways that can feel healing to witness as a mom.

I talk about the moment that cracked this open for me: watching Cari’s week eight of horseback riding lessons after she set a goal for herself was incredible!  Watching her move through fear with support reminded me how powerful consistency, patience, and staying present can be.

What is mastery-based learning  and why does it matter for homeschoolers?

After referencing it in last week’s episode, Ashley realized not everyone may be familiar with what mastery-based learning actually means. In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, she breaks it down in a clear, practical, and supportive way.

Mastery-based learning shifts the focus from finishing the curriculum and chasing grades to building true understanding. Instead of asking, “Did we complete it?” this model asks, “Do you understand it?”

What mastery-based learning is (in simple terms)

Why grades don’t always equal comprehension

How mastery looks in real-life homeschool moments

The difference between memorization and deep learning

How to maintain accountability without recreating school at home

Why slowing down can actually increase rigor

If you’ve ever worried your child is “behind,” this episode will reframe that narrative and remind you that depth over speed is a radical, intentional choice.

Mastery isn’t about perfection.

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Presidents’ Day gets packaged as “celebrate great leaders,” but the way it’s commonly taught is basically nation-branding: hero worship, sanitized harm, and “respect power don’t question it.” In this mini episode, we flip the script with a decolonized, equity lens asking who benefited, who was harmed, and who resisted.

We also shout out the students walking out and organizing right now because that is civic education in real time. And yes, my kids are heading to a student-led “ICE Out” protest and I’m proud as hell.

Why Presidents’ Day is often propaganda (and how it shows up in “cute” school activities)

Myth-making vs critical history: admire power vs analyze power

How to do a quick Power Audit of any president (who benefited / who paid)

Why student walkouts are democracy with teeth (and why the “they don’t even know” crowd is projecting)

A simple way to teach civics that includes outcomes, not just names and dates. 

“Presidents’ Day isn’t neutral. It teaches kids to respect power not question it. We’re not doing that over here.”

If your kids are questioning, organizing, walking out, speaking up celebrate that. That’s the point. That’s the future acting like the future.

If this blog or the Secular Homeschool Revolution podcast supports your family:

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Do homeschoolers need grades? Can you homeschool without grades and still prepare for college?

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, we unpack whether grades are truly necessary or just part of a conditioning system built around ranking and compliance.

We cover:

How traditional grading systems shape behavior

Why mastery-based learning works in homeschool settings

What assessment without grades looks like

How to create narrative transcripts for college admissions

Whether colleges require homeschool GPAs

The myth of “everyone gets a trophy.”

If you’re questioning report cards, transcripts, or how to document rigor in a secular homeschool, this episode offers both a mindset shift and practical tools.

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Stay revolutionary.

Most of us learned Black history out of order and that wasn’t an accident.

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, host Ashley breaks down why the way Black history is taught in schools is incomplete, sanitized, and designed for comfort rather than truth. This conversation explores why Black History Month exists, who fought to have Black history taught in schools, and why schools resisted teaching it honestly.

More importantly, this episode explains why the order of Black history matters and why starting with Africa instead of slavery fundamentally changes how kids understand history, systems, resistance, and the world they live in today.

This episode is especially for:

secular homeschool families

progressive parents

educators questioning traditional curriculum

families looking for better ways to teach Black History Month

When Black History Month started and who created it

Why schools chose to teach Black history out of order

How starting Black history with slavery distorts the entire narrative

Why beginning with African civilizations matters

How to teach Black history without centering trauma

Age-appropriate ways to teach Black history (elementary, middle, and high school)

A week-by-week Black History Month breakdown for homeschool families

Black history curriculum and resource recommendations

Week 1: Africa  Black history before enslavement

Week 2: Enslavement as disruption and resistance

Week 3: Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and systemic backlash

Week 4: Black life, resistance, and culture today

This episode challenges families to move beyond “theme month” teaching and toward truth-centered, systems-aware, liberation-focused education.

Your African History – African history curriculum for families

Kamali Academy – Afrikan-centered education and liberation learning

EVERFI – 306: Black History (Free Curriculum)

Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH)

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This episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution is a direct call-in for white and progressive allies during this moment of ICE expansion and state violence. Drawing from Malcolm X’s The Ballot or the Bullet, Ashley challenges performative allyship, the centering of white discomfort, and the harm of “kind” white people who value politeness over action. From the misuse of Say Her Name to selective outrage and silence when it matters most, this episode makes one thing clear: allyship without risk is not solidarity. This is not a comfort episode; it’s a demand for courage.

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley explores why representation in homeschooling is not about checking boxes but about shaping identity, belonging, and alignment with power.

This episode challenges homeschool parents, especially secular and progressive ones, to stop focusing on good intentions and start examining outcomes.

Because homeschooling doesn’t exist outside of systems.

If you care about raising kids who know who they are, understand power, and don’t grow up defending systems that harm them, this conversation matters.

Listen intentionally. Teach honestly. Stay revolutionary.