The Sociable Homeschooler

I am welcoming to my show this week my friend and regular guest, Gretchen Roe. Since it’s that time of year we are going to be talking about the upcoming holidays and what life looks like for her now that she and her family (at least some of them) have moved. If you remember from our last conversation on April 18th, Good Friday, Gretchen was preparing for lots of changes in her life. She and her husband, Pat, and two of their six children, moved from Maryland, where they lived for 20 years, to Western North Carolina where Gretchen and Pat grew up. We will be hearing about the 3 acre farmstead they now live on, the upcoming acquisition of livestock, clearing land and having bonfires. We will also talk about education and the seamless transition from Calvert to public school for her two sons, aged 8 and 15. Gretchen says she no longer has a say so in their education but they are loving every minute with their new friends and teachers. Homeschooling may not last forever and Gretchen’s experience will encourage some of you who may find yourselves in a similar situation. Bring your coffee or tea and join us this Friday at noon for an uplifting look at life and the celebration of Thanksgiving.

This week I am thrilled to be welcoming back my very creative and artistic friend, Marcia Washburn.

Marcia holds a Master’s in Music Education and taught public school music for eight years prior to the birth of the oldest of her five sons, whom she and her husband homeschooled in rural Colorado for nineteen years. Marcia and I have talked in the past about the Shuar Indians of eastern Ecuador and her hands on electronic book, Beethoven Who? Written for any teacher who wants to teach music but may not be fully equipped to do so!

We’ve talked about encouragement for homeschooling Mums and Marcia certainly knows how to offer that in a warm and humourous way. Marcia is a columnist for two major home education magazines and speaks nationally and internationally about homeschooling and building a firm foundation for our children that won’t crumble under pressure.

Marcia has a series of e-books called Management for Moms and I have been promoting one of her e-books Managing the Holidays . You can buy it for just $0.99. and follow some of Marcia's insightful tips for turning your Harried Days into the Holy Days God intends them to be.

Today we are going to be talking about how to Spread out the Joy this holiday season and fully enjoy those festivals God gave us in order to grow and be refreshed.

As all of us know, Thanksgiving and Christmas are hardly times we busy Mums think of as restful holidays. Join us this Friday at 12 noon Central and find out how to turn your harried days back into Holy Days.

My guest this week is no stranger to my show. I have known Polly Wright since she was a young girl, 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 been married for 19 years and have beautiful twin daughters whom they have homeschooled since 2008.

Polly is the author of, Cherished: Shattered Innocence. Restored Hope chronicling her personal story that led her to the ministry she founded and to the life God had planned for her.

Today Polly is going to talk about difficult moments while she was homeschooling and how she came through them stronger and more in love with her creator than ever. Join us on Friday at 12 noon Central and find ways to un leash your love and be cherished.

While you're here you may be interested in buying Marcia Washburn's latest ebook, part of her Management for Moms series, scroll down to Managing the Holidays and buy it for just $0.99. and follow some of Marcia's insightful tips for turning your Harried Days into the Holy Days God intends them to be.

Rejoining me on my show this week is Daniele Evans who describes herself as a woman on a journey towards intentional and meaningful living. Daniele is a pastor’s wife and she and her husband, whom she describes as her best friend and confidant, homeschool their five children in central Pennsylvania. Their marriage is a biblically-centered one, their parenting is grace-based and their home is peace-filled or at least striving to be with God’s help. In true Christian style Daniele knows she is only human and likely to stumble and fall at times. She is the author of Honoring the Rhythm of Rest and writes regularly for Home Educating Family Magasine, The Curriculum Choice, Passionate Homemaking, The Better Mom and her own blog, Domestic Serenity. Daniele is going to provide us with some pointers to lift us up during challenging moments, inspire us to find God in the oftentimes not so perfect moments of our lives, to offer insights on ways to move through our journey and practice rest as a regular pattern in our days. Join us for a cup of tea and a rest in the Lord’s oasis, this Friday.

While you're here you may be interested in buying Marcia Washburn's latest ebook, part of her Management for Moms series, scroll down to Managing the Holidays and buy it for just $0.99.

With me on my show this week, where I believe homeschooling is a unique lifestyle, are frequent visitors Tom and Julie Meekins. This remarkable couple have a heart for parents raising children with challenges.

In walking the talk they decided to dedicate their professional lives to helping families navigate the scary world of parenting and this week they are going to be talking to me about how their marriage has fared during some of the more trying times of homeschooling. Tom and Julie have been married for 34 years, have four children and in a moment of certifiable insanity chose the homeschooling path and now have four young adults who are doing fabulously.

They both became certified in child development and health coaching and in March 2011 started a company called March Forth Family LLC to help other families needing someone who totally understood the struggles they were having. Their many blessings and powerful witness allows them to be able educate, equip, and empower parents to reach for the best FOR their children and IN their children while being supported in the process. Bring your tea and join us this Friday as we explore ways to find the silver lining always on the other side of every cloud.

I am delighted to have as my guests this week, Lori Lane whom I chatted with on August 1st about her company, Artios Academy, and her son John Michael Lane. Lori is a homeschool veteran of 20 years she and her husband John have four sons ranging in age from 16 to 29, the three eldest are homeschool graduates. Lori has spoken at Conventions, served on panels, directed and produced many children’s choirs and stage productions both in schools and community theatres. In the fall of 2000, she began the Artios Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts as an advanced level arts program for high school students. Lori lives in Colorado with her husband and youngest son, where she enjoys horseback riding, hiking, and skiing.

John is a 2004 graduate of Artios Conservatory and attended North Greenville University to study Theater… and Georgia State University to study Economics. He is currently the Director of Development for Artios and in addition to teaching several classes (Worldview, Government & Economics, and Film/Video) he is also the creator of the Artios Home Companion Series. He and his wife, who teaches and choreographs with the Academies, co-direct the Artios Outpost Summer Camps and Internship Program during the summers.

Laura Grace Weldon is a poet whose poems have been published, but not the ones she likes. In a collection called Tending.

She is an author, her new book, Free Range Learning: How Homeschooling Changes Everything, is full of the curative value of connecting more deeply with nature.

She is an artist, a messy one at that, a tincture and meal concoctor both skills demanding courage and a degree of risk from their recipients. She has deadlines but would rather hide in books or watch foreign films. Laura admits that complete self-reliance is happily not her goal and farm dwelling allows her to sing to bees, feed cows, preach about hope, acknowledge the holiness of all things and find peace, sometimes.

With her husband and four homeschooled children they raise plants, animals and occasionally Caine in their simple partnership with the natural world. Her socks have holes in them, the window molding is unfinished, there are muddy footprints by the door, but none of that matters, she and her family are together exploring ways to be themselves using ancient wisdom.

Come and meet this lovely lady again on Friday, bring a cuppa and prepare to laugh while we talk about what happens when life throws us a curve ball while homeschooling!

I am welcoming Sherry Hayes back to my show this week.

Sherry is the inspiring Christian mother of 15 wonderful children and has been homeschooling for 26 years. She has seen the “graduation” of several of her children from her home in colorful Colorado and she and her husband, David, are enjoying rearing the remaining few 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 for national and world revival.

In her spare time Sherry has been a proactive advocate for homeschooling, a key speaker for homeschool support groups, and a successful writer encouraging practical Biblical family living on her blog, Large Family Mothering.

She has written two books, Homeschool Sanity and McGuffey’s Primer Flashcards, Helps & Hints, to encourage and help to facilitate others who have decided to embark on the exhilarating journey.

This week we are going to be talking about how homeschoolers handle real life when it hits their families, be it marital struggles, our children finding themselves (also known to us as rebellion!), health setbacks, and unexpected additions to the family...in other words when things are just not going right in the homeschool...

Bring your tea and join me on Friday at 12 noon Central for a gentle discussion about how we can best handle the ups and downs of living while holding down a bustling homeschool.

Joining me this week is Nina Levin who is CEO of Mountcastle Company, an independent publishing company with offices in California and New York City.

Mountcastle was first established in 2000 as an educational publishing company, focused on exceptional products for teaching children to read. Beginning with the company’s first (and bestselling) book, The Reading Lesson, Mountcastle Company has been committed to publishing the most effective and original products for young children. Mountcastle Company is also the publisher for the bestselling series, the Verbal Math Lesson.

In 2012 the company got a new, fresh look and a new CEO, when Nina Levin took over the business. Nina has since added new amazing products to the catalog for homeschooling families and is passionate about bringing the best educational products to families across the country and around the world.

Use sociable2014 as coupon at checkout for 30% off.

Join me on Friday with your cup of tea and an alert mind to experience verbal math first hand when Nina and I enter into the world of mental arithmetic, at 12 noon Central.

My guest this week is Rea Berg who founded Beautiful Feet Books in 1984 to provide quality literature to the homeschooling market.

Rea holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from Simmons College and in 2006 earned a master’s degree in children’s literature at the Center for the Study of Children’s Literature in Boston, where she was named a Virginia Haviland Scholar.

Rea and her husband Russell have been part of the homeschooling community for twenty-five years particularly in the Charlotte Mason and Classical Approach. She speaks around the country on the joy of discovering history through literature and has written numerous guides on this topic, which have garnered acclaim in the home education community.

Through Beautiful Feet Books she and Russell have brought back into print many classic works of children's literature. Rea is a regular contributor to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine with articles focusing on Literature Based History studies, Charlotte Mason Education, and Children's Literature.

She also enjoys organic gardening, travel to historic sites (especially Paris!), dance and yoga. One of her favorite pastimes is discovering classic children's books in old bookshops.

Join us for a cup of tea and chat about the power of literature both in our lives and the lives of our children this Friday at 12 noon central.