The Luminous Mind Podcast | A show about you becoming your best self through unconventional thinking

Are you a Martha who feels guilty for not being a Mary? People who are doers, often feel guilty that we aren't sitting to enjoy life more. However during our conversation with Katie Reid, we chat about how the world needs all types of people. We talk about how to be a more successful being a creative person and finishing projects. 

Katie M. Reid is a published author, of Made Like Martha, national speaker, and co-host of The Martha & Mary Show podcast. She has a Master's Degree in Secondary Education.

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This podcast is with Mark Kumar who is a lifestyle entrepreneur. He tells us about his journey through self-directed learning and how he has taught himself the skills of entrepreneurship with several different businesses. He gives us tips on learning how to teach your passion to create a business that services others and lights the fire of illuminated learning.

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This episode is sponsored by Teton Hammocks - "Hang with the Best"

In this episode, we chat with Mark Beaumont, who is a professional educator that is passionate about self directed learning. We talk about the need for parents to "unlearn" what they think education may look like to provide more student autonomy and a personalized learning experience for their children. Mark provides his own personal journey towards self-directed learning as a parent AND educator, as well as a plethora of resources to help parents begin their own unschooling experience. 

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This podcast is with a past firestarter, Amber Lia. We talk about her new book, Marriage Triggers: Exchanging Spouses' Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses, which she co-authored with her husband, Guy.

We talk about some common problems that couples have within marriage and how we can change our mindsets to fix them. We also how to foster better communication in marriage.

A former high school English teacher, Amber is a work-at-home mom of four little boys ranging from 3 to 13. She is the best-selling co-author of Triggers: Exchanging Parents’ Angry Reactions for Gentle Biblical Responses and Parenting Scripts: When What You’re Saying Isn’t Working, say Something New. She and her husband Guy own Storehouse Media Group, a faith-friendly and family-friendly TV and Film production company in Los Angeles, CA. Their book, Marriage Triggers, was released in January of 2020. When she’s not building sand castles with her boys on the beach, or searching for Nerf darts all over her house, you can find Amber writing to encourage families on her blog at motherofknights.com

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This episode with educator, Cassidy Younghans, couldn't come at a better time! We discuss options for schooling for family and how to recreate a unique learning environment for each student. We also discuss options for teachers that give them more autonomy and joy within the profession. With COVID-19, this is a perfect time to be RETHINKING education!

Cassidy Younghans is a certified educator who taught 7th grade English in a public school for 5 years before shifting her path towards Self-Directed Education. She interned at multiple alternative educational spaces, including North Star (with 23 years of history) and Houston Sudbury School in 2018-2019 before founding EPIC Life Learning Community in September 2019. EPIC Life Learning Community serves ages 4-18 in Carrollton, TX.

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In this episode, we meet self-directed learner, Zoe Greenhouse, and learn how has came to self-directed education and how she manages her time and education. 

As a worldschooler, Zoe Greenhouse called everywhere from Guatemala to France home until sixth grade, when she decided she wanted to be normal. She spent the next five years at school, but in tenth grade finally realized traditional education wasn’t for her. Since then, she’s been planning adventures, doing self-directed projects, and encouraging others to think outside the box.

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This is part 2 of our conversation with Emily where we focus on teaching children about staying safe from sexual predators had what to do when our children encounter pornography.

This podcast has sensitive information about sex education, pornography, and alternative sexual experiences. It is not recommended for children.

We chat with Emily Gaudreau, host of How To Raise A Maverick podcast about helping to teach children safety skills to keep them from being a victim of sexual abuse. We also discuss online safety as well as parenting skills for better communication with kids on sensitive topics. 

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This podcast has sensitive information about sex education, pornography, and alternative sexual experiences. It is not recommended for children.

We chat with Emily Gaudreau, host of How To Raise A Maverick podcast about helping to teach children safety skills to keep them from being a victim of sexual abuse. We also discuss online safety as well as parenting skills for better communication with kids on sensitive topics. 

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This podcast is with founder, Rob Huge, of Greenfields Academy in Chicago, which is an Acton Academy school that focuses on creating students who are world-changers. The "Griffins" at Greenfields have the freedom and flexible to create their own educational path towards being more intentional in learning and life.

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Podcast timestamps:

Rob Huge’s personal story

Travel and how that impacts our learning

12:57 - What is the purpose of school?

13:21 - School has become childcare

13:58 - Our job as parents, isn’t to make good students but to help them become good people

14:28 - Once you come out of school, the 2 most important skills

14:51 - Young people living lives of quiet desperation

15:19 - If you want to fix school really quickly

15:30 - Difference between pedagogy and andagogy 

16:30 - Covid19 exposes schools as child care 

17:37 - Philosophy of Greenville Academy

20:25 - How “Griffins” spend their time

21:41 - Dr Robert Shanks works

24:15 - Higher education

25:48 - Compulsion in education

27:33 - Comparing school and a job

28:00 - Bullying in school

29:12 - Social Emotional Learning

30:26 - One right answer

30:45 - Diversity in private school

32:35 - Cost of Greenville’s academy vs. Traditional government schools

33:03 - Rob Huge’s paradigm change - multi-age learning

36:03 - Adult relationships with younger children, parenting with this style of education

44:30 - The meaning of the term “Griffen”

47:00 - Teaching without knowing all the answers

50:55 - Leading people to their life’s mission, back off of scheduling

58:00 - Preparing children for the future

1:01 - Habits for better learning

1:02:28 - Long -term for goals

This podcast is with a former public school educator, Matt Beaudreau, the founder of Acton Academy Placer's multiple California locations. He talks about his journey towards moving through the traditional systems, that teaches us how "to play the game" well, to now the school he founded, which encouraging hundreds of young heroes to find their calling. He is a multiple-time TEDx speaker, as well as a keynote speaker and consultant to Fortune 500 companies around the world.

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ABOUT Acton Academy Placer... Having worked in education for several years, our founder, Matt Beaudreau, witnessed firsthand the disparity in today’s standardized education. When he and his wife Heather began their family, they had to have a real conversation about how they wanted to approach their children’s learning. Standardized education simply didn't uphold the same priorities that they held as family.

Then they discovered Acton Academy. Acton was anything and everything that they were hoping to find.

Students learn how to set their own goals and achieve, harboring the freedom of thought and a genuine excitement for learning. They focus on learning about themselves and what will actually prepare them for the real world. Success is not determined by grades, rather, the effort and hard work they are putting towards their personal goals and the growth that is taking place.

It was the perfect solution not only for them but also for a community that they knew needed it so badly. By fall of 2017, Acton Academy Placer was born.

We’ve moved from location to location, starting with an out-of-the-ordinary 64 founding students and now finding our home in the heart of downtown Roseville with a student body of 130 young heroes.

The amount of community involvement both inside and outside of Acton Placer has been truly humbling with entrepreneurs visiting our students to tell their stories, Acton parents offering their services to the school, and our very own heroes creating ideas for the growth of the school.

So much has happened within the short amount of time that we have existed, and we can’t wait to see what the next years hold.