Self-Schooled

What happens when we stop trying to fit our children into a particular path and start getting curious about who they really are?

In this episode of Self-Schooled, Heather sits down with Kym Kent, homeschooling mom of six, co-founder and director of eXtend Homeschool Tutorial, and author of Homeschooling to College and Career.

Kym shares how a simple idea grew into a thriving homeschool community, and how raising her own children while building that community helped her see the incredible possibilities that open up when kids have the freedom to discover their own interests, strengths, and identities.

From a son who discovered his passion for aviation during his senior year of high school to a daughter who became an opera singer, Kym's stories remind us that there's no single timeline for figuring out who we are or what we want to do.

Together, Heather and Kym explore the power of believing in children, the importance of finding environments where they can thrive, and why the most meaningful education begins with understanding the person in front of us.

• Become a student of your child. Why understanding how your child thinks, learns, and experiences the world matters more than following a particular educational philosophy.
• Finding your own path. How Kym's children discovered their passions in different ways and on different timelines.
• Identity is who you are, not what you do. Why children need space to discover themselves without being defined by grades, abilities, expectations, or future careers.
• The power of believing in kids. How encouragement, meaningful support, and experiences of success can change what children believe they're capable of.
• Having the courage to choose differently. Why parents and educators don't need to have everything figured out before taking the next step toward something that feels right.

Connect with Kym Kent

eXtend Homeschool Tutorial: https://extendhomeschool.com

Free ebook: Homeschooling to College and Career

https://fee.org/ebooks/homeschooling-to-college-and-career/

Instagram: @self.schooled

Self-Schooled: The education that actually matters: https://www.self-schooled.com

What happens when your child has so much to offer, but traditional education doesn't recognize their strengths?

In this episode of Self-Schooled, Heather talks with Joanne Burke-Sherman, founder and president of Dharma Dreams Vocational Center, a nonprofit in Hanover, Massachusetts, dedicated to helping young adults with moderate cognitive disabilities discover their strengths, build confidence, and gain independence through hands-on vocational training.

Joanne shares how her own son's struggles in school inspired her to create a different path—one that recognizes potential beyond grades and test scores and gives young adults opportunities to develop meaningful skills, confidence, and a sense of purpose.

Drawing on Joanne's background in business, technology, and holistic health, they explore what it means to support the whole person, recognize when an environment isn't working for a child, and create opportunities for young people to discover what they're capable of.

In this episode:

• Why grades and test scores don't tell the whole story about a child's strengths and abilities
• Recognizing when a child's struggles reflect a mismatch with their environment
• How meaningful challenges, hands-on experiences, and opportunities for success build confidence and competence
• Why emotional well-being, self-awareness, and independence matter alongside practical skills
• Rethinking what success looks like and creating more pathways for young people who learn differently

Resources & Links

• Dharma Dreams Vocational Center — Learn about Joanne's nonprofit and its hands-on vocational programs for young adults ages 18–26.
• Self-Schooled on Instagram — Follow along for more conversations, perspectives, and reflections on parenting and education.

A question to consider: What might change if we focused less on whether our kids fit the expectations around them and more on creating opportunities for them to discover what they're capable of?

Guest: Alyssa Blask-Campbell | Seed & Sew

What if understanding your child's behavior started with understanding their nervous system? And what if understanding your own was just as important?

In this episode of Self-Schooled, Heather sits down with Alyssa Blask-Campbell, founder of Seed & Sew and co-author of Tiny Humans, Big Emotions and Big Kids, Bigger Feelings, to explore how our nervous systems shape the way we experience the world, connect with others, and navigate everyday life.

We talk about why regulation looks different for every person, how to recognize what drains and recharges us, and what happens when the needs of different family members don't align. Because supporting our kids isn't about finding one strategy that works for everyone. It's about getting curious about what each of us actually needs.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Understanding our nine senses: How sensory processing influences our nervous systems, emotions, and behavior.
• Noticing our own regulation: Why small moments of checking in with our bodies can make a difference throughout the day.
• What drains us and what recharges us: How understanding our individual sensory needs can help us create more supportive daily rhythms.
• When family members have different needs: Why one child might need quiet and space while another needs movement, connection, and closeness—and how we can navigate those differences.
• Connection, needs, and unconditional love: What it means to support our children's needs while recognizing that parents have needs, too.

Explore Alyssa's work:

• Seed & Sew — Explore Alyssa's free Regulation Questionnaire to better understand your own sensory and connection needs, as well as your child's.
• Tiny Humans, Big Emotions — Alyssa Blask-Campbell and Lauren Elizabeth Stauble
• Big Kids, Bigger Feelings — Alyssa Blask-Campbell and Lauren Elizabeth Stauble
• Voices of Your Village — Alyssa's podcast

Keep exploring with Self-Schooled:

Self-Schooled Parent Toolkit — Free resources to help you reflect, explore, and go deeper in understanding your child and yourself.

A Question to Take With You

What are the little things throughout your day that drain your nervous system? And what helps you feel more like yourself?

Now think about your child. What might be different for them?

For the first nine episodes of Self-Schooled, I've been asking other people the questions. But for episode 10, I'm turning the microphone around and sharing a little more about myself.

After more than 25 years studying, teaching, and learning about children—and becoming a parent and founding my own school—I've questioned a lot of what I was taught about parenting and education.

In this episode, I'm sharing the four non-negotiables that shape how I see children, how I parent, and how I teach. And why I believe questioning what we've been told is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves and our kids.

In this episode:

• Why children's needs deserve to be understood and met, even when their behavior is challenging
• What it means to honor the whole child, including their identity, differences, and individuality
• Why I choose connection over control—and why that doesn't mean parenting without boundaries
• Why letting our kids see us make mistakes, apologize, and be human matters
• How science, personal experience, and intuition have shaped my evolving beliefs

You don't have to agree with my non-negotiables. In fact, I hope you'll question them.

Because the goal isn't to parent the way I do. It's to understand your own child, trust yourself, and find what works for your family.

I'd love to hear from you: What are your parenting non-negotiables? Come find me on Instagram and let's talk.

Connect with me:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/self.schooled/

Grab your free parent toolkit: https://self-schooled.com

Listen to more episodes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/self-schooled/id6801661674

What happens when we take learning out of the classroom and into the world?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Robin, educator and assistant director at Elements Academy, we're talking about what we're discovering as we spend more time exploring the world alongside our kids.

From apple orchards and wildlife sanctuaries to spontaneous games, unexpected friendships, and everyday problem-solving, we're seeing sides of children we might never have discovered otherwise.

And as both an educator and a parent, I've been reflecting on something that feels especially meaningful: our kids aren't just preparing for life someday. They're getting to live it right now.

In this episode, we explore:

• How real-world experiences create opportunities for curiosity, connection, and meaningful learning
• Why children sometimes surprise us when we see them in different environments
• How spontaneous play and everyday experiences reveal skills we didn't know were there
• What happens when we question the assumptions we've made about who our children are
• Why experiencing life alongside our kids matters just as much as preparing them for the future

Resources:

Elements Academy — Learn more about the nonprofit microschool where Robin and I work alongside children to explore a different way of learning and living.

A question to take with you:

What might you discover about your child if you experienced something new together?

Because childhood isn't just preparation for life. It's life.

In this episode…

I sit down with Robin Mackey, an educator at Elements Academy for the past seven years, to talk about what happens when we stop trying to fit children into a predetermined mold—and start paying closer attention to who they actually are.

We talk about Robin’s path to this work, what makes a truly child-led environment feel different, and how flexibility, strengths, intuition, and connection can change the way we understand kids.

And we get into something we’ve been noticing more and more at Elements: sometimes changing the environment reveals parts of a child we didn’t even know were there.

We talk about:

• Why working with kids has taught Robin to see the world from different perspectives
• What flexibility, strengths-based practice, and intuition look like in a child-led environment
• Why even deeply caring educators can feel limited by the systems they work within
• What we started noticing when we took kids out into the world more often
• How different environments can reveal new strengths, interests, struggles, and connections

This conversation eventually led us to a pretty big realization: maybe school doesn’t always need to be the center of learning. Maybe it can be the home base.

Resources + next steps

✨ Grab your free Self-Schooled Parent Toolkit: https://self-schooled.com

Learn more about Self-Schooled: https://self-schooled.com

In this episode of Self-Schooled, Heather talks with clinical psychologist and behavioral sleep medicine specialist Dr. Melisa Moore about what actually helps kids and teens sleep better—especially when anxiety, sensitivity, ADHD, autism, or a nervous system that just won’t settle down are part of the picture.

Rather than another list of rigid sleep rules, Melisa helps us understand what’s happening underneath sleep: circadian rhythms, sleep pressure, environment, routines, and the very real differences between children (and families). And yes—we talk about screens, bedtime stalling, nightmares, travel, middle-of-the-night wakeups, and what to do when your kid insists they’re just not tired. Pasted text(1) Pasted text(1)

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why sleep changes during adolescence—and why neurodivergent kids and teens may experience sleep differently Pasted text(1)
• Sleep pressure and circadian rhythm, and why an earlier bedtime isn’t always the answer Pasted text(1)
• Screens, bedtime routines, anxiety, sensory needs, and finding what actually works for your child
• Nightmares, travel, schedule disruptions, and middle-of-the-night wakeups Pasted text(1)
• Why consistency matters without requiring perfection—and why there is always reason to hope that sleep can improve Pasted text(1)

About Dr. Melisa Moore

Dr. Melisa Moore, PhD, DBSM is a clinical psychologist board certified in behavioral sleep medicine, with more than 20 years of experience helping families improve their sleep. She maintains a private practice in the Los Angeles area and works virtually with families across the United States.

Dr. Moore regularly speaks about children’s sleep at hospitals, universities, schools, and parent organizations around the world. She is the author of The Good Sleep Guide for Neurodivergent Kids, a compassionate, evidence-based guide to helping neurodivergent children and teens get their best sleep.

Links + Resources

✨ Self-Schooled Parent Toolkit: https://self-schooled.com
🌙 Learn more about Dr. Melisa Moore: www.drmelisamoore.com

How do we support a highly sensitive child without trying to change who they are — or protecting them from every uncomfortable experience?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Amy Lajiness, LCSW, PMH-C, we focus on highly sensitive children: what sensitivity can look like, how overwhelm affects them, and how parents can help them grow without pushing them past what their nervous systems can handle.

In this episode, we talk about:

• What high sensitivity can look like in children
• Why sensitivity is a temperament trait, not something to “fix”
• How overstimulation can affect highly sensitive kids
• The difference between support and overprotection
• How to know when to gently push and when to pause
• Helping sensitive kids build resilience while honoring who they are

Learn more about Amy:
https://www.highlysensitiveparenthood.com/

Get the free Self-Schooled Parent Toolkit:
https://self-schooled.com/

If parenting sometimes leaves you feeling touched out, overwhelmed, foggy, irritable, or desperate for a quiet room, high sensitivity might be part of the picture.

In this episode, Heather talks with Amy Lajiness, LCSW, PMH-C, therapist, coach, and founder of Highly Sensitive Parenthood, about what it means to parent as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP).

Amy shares how becoming a parent can amplify sensitivity — including both the beautiful parts, like deep empathy and attunement, and the harder parts, like sensory overload, decision paralysis, guilt, and overwhelm.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why many people don’t fully recognize their high sensitivity until becoming parents
• How overstimulation can show up as rage, panic attacks, brain fog, fatigue, withdrawal, or shutdown
• Why the toddler and preschool years can be especially intense for highly sensitive parents
• The guilt that can come with needing space from your children — and why needing regulation doesn’t mean you’re doing parenting wrong
• Why support doesn’t have to be reserved for a crisis, and how learning to trust what your body is telling you can be an important first step

Go Deeper

Learn more about Amy and Highly Sensitive Parenthood:
https://www.highlysensitiveparenthood.com/

Learn more about Highly Sensitive People and Dr. Elaine Aron’s work:
https://hsperson.com/

Explore Highly Sensitive Refuge:
https://highlysensitiverefuge.com/

Download the free Self-Schooled Parent Toolkit:
https://self-schooled.com/

A quick note: This episode includes discussion of postpartum depression, panic attacks, postpartum psychosis, overwhelm, and other mental health challenges related to parenting.

If you’re struggling during pregnancy, postpartum, or parenthood, Postpartum Support International offers support, resources, and help finding providers: postpartum.net

For immediate crisis support in the U.S., call or text 988.

What if, instead of trying to stop a behavior, we got curious about what was underneath it?

In this episode, Heather talks with Nikki Magliaro, LMHC, co-founder of Puzzle Pieces and a DIR/Floortime Expert Training Leader, about understanding the whole child — their development, sensory needs, individual differences, relationships, and the reasons behind their behavior.

Nikki introduces the DIR/Floortime approach and shares a beautifully simple idea she calls “best humaning”: approaching our children — and ourselves — with curiosity, connection, and the most generous interpretation of behavior we can find.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why the same behavior can mean something completely different for every child
• What DIR/Floortime is and how it supports neurodivergent children
• Looking beyond behavior to understand what a child may actually need
• Why relationships and connection are central to learning and development
• How parents can become more confident understanding their own child
• Giving our kids — and ourselves — the most generous interpretation possible

Learn more about Puzzle Pieces, their services, and their free virtual parent seminars: https://puzzlepiecesmass.com

You can also register for upcoming parent workshops through Puzzle Pieces. The seminars are virtual, open to the community, and recordings are available to registered participants.

Want to take what you’re hearing and bring it into your real life?

Download the Self-Schooled Parent Toolkit — a curious parent’s guide to understanding your child and trusting yourself. https://www.self-schooled.com