Toolbox for Learning Podcast

Chores, just the word makes both kids and adults cringe. Why does it have to be such a challenge? And is it even worth the effort? 

In this podcast Chaz and Christie bring you beyond the chore list to discuss the root causes of chore challenges: 

• Failure to understand the main purpose of chores
• Improper training for chores
• Lack of ownership for the chores

As a veteran homeschool mom and a former homeschooler, Chaz and Christie have a unique perspective as ones who have been where you are, both as a teacher and as a homeschooled student. Taking from their own experiences Chaz and Christie give suggestions for making chore time a more pleasant and productive time.

We look forward to sharing this podcast with you and look forward to reading your comments.

Starting college can be frightening for anyone, but for homeschooler's and their parents, there are extra apprehensions that come up as they prepare for the college experience. In this podcast, Chaz and Christie discuss college from the perspective of a homeschooler, who is now a college graduate, and the mom who taught him. They give tips in how to adjust and get the most out of the college experience.

They will discuss:

• Getting involved in campus life
• The important classes to take your first semester
• How to relate to your professor
• Using the math and writing labs
• Keeping track of important dates 
• Watching bulletin boards and other announcements

We hope you find this podcast helpful as you prepare for your college adventure.

Dogs, cats, hamsters, just the names make many of us cringe. The mess, the chaos, the fighting over feeding, cleaning, and caring for them, for many of us it just doesn't seem worth it. 

But there are so many opportunities and lessons to be learned through our pets. The lasting memories of the joy and trials of pet ownership help cement the teaching moments as they come along. 

In this podcast, Chaz talks about the lifetime lessons he learned as a homeschooler with a menagerie of pets from chickens, cows, dogs, and cats to chameleons and salamanders. He tells the story of losing a dog he loved, but wished he had spent more time with, and how it motivated him to be the dog owner he is today. He also discusses how pet ownership teaches children how to relate to people with compassion, tenderness, and a sense of responsibility. 

His mom and homeschool teacher, Christie, shares even more opportunities for learning that arises from having a family pet. She includes a discussion of the school topics, and life skills that can be jump started through curiosity about your pets anatomy or behaviors. She also discusses ideas for training your child to be a responsible pet owner. 

Through their own personal experiences, Chaz and Christie take the time to not only encourage homeschoolers to add a beloved family pet to their household, but to use the relationship that develops to train your child in many areas of academic, lifestyle and relational areas. 

You couldn't wait for summer to begin, and now you can't wait for it to end. You are weary of the heat, and the kids constant fighting and whining. In this podcast, Chaz and Christie give homeschool parents ideas for combating the end of summer blues, and end the summer on a high note.

As a veteran homeschool mom and a former homeschooler, Chaz and Christie have a unique perspective as ones who have been where you are, both as a teacher and as a homeschooled student.

So join them while they discuss:

• Changing up what you are already doing.
• Playing along side your kids.
• Involving your children in your end of summer projects.
• Creating a pleasant atmosphere for your children when they are helping on a project.
• Relaxing while you plan for the coming year.
• Using summer to get a jump start on school for the next year.
• Don't pressure yourself into thinking everything you do has to evolve around it being summer.

We hope you enjoy what summer has to offer, and get the most from your break from school from start to finish. 

Can you homeschool and still enjoy a relaxing vacation at the same time? Definitely. In fact, homeschooling while on vacation can add to the fun and joy of vacationing.

In this podcast, Chaz and Christie will be sharing personal experiences adding educational opportunities in their vacations. Included in the discussion is how they managed to stay sane, entertained, and excited about their 3,542 mile drive during their move from Oklahoma to Alaska.

They will also discuss:

• Planning with your child prior to the trip (including how to keep to a budget)
• Teaching your child how to pack for themselves
• Looking for opportunities for learning along the way
• Ways to handle a long drive as a family
• Encouraging friends and family to teach your child a new skill or hobby when visiting
• Journalizing your trip
• Looking for opportunities for further learning once back home
• Teaching a love for learning and travel by example

Summer is the perfect time to try out unschooling. What better time of year to spark your child's interest than when flowers are blooming, tadpoles are growing, and rain and thunder fall from the sky. There are beaches and mountains to be explored and vacations to make learning one giant field trip. 

In this podcast, Chaz and Christie share their summer experiences unschooling while Chaz was growing up in Oklahoma and Alaska. They hope to encourage you in taking the opportunities to help your child find new interest and develop the love of learning by taking advantage of the summer months.

Do you wish you knew what it was like to be a child who is homeschooled? What about college, do you question what it will be like for your homeschooler? Joining the workforce, getting married, having children, contemplating homeschooling their own kids, all these are concerns we have as homeschool parents looking at our children's futures. 

In this podcast, we will be addressing each of those concerns from the perspective of an adult who was homeschooled from birth. Our host, Chaz, who was also homeschooled, will be interviewing Reuben, who will be sharing his experience growing up homeschooled and life as an adult. 

They will be discussing:

• Thoughts and opinions of homeschooling as a child
• Sports and homeschooling
• Starting college as a former homeschooler
• Entering the workplace
• Marriage and starting a family
• Adult perspective of homeschooling
• Suggestions for parents who are homeschooling 

We hope that you will be able to use their suggestions and experiences to add to your child's homeschool adventure.

Siblings, sometimes it feels like all they do is fight. You walk in the room and they are playing so sweetly together, and seconds later they are screaming and throwing things at one another. What is a parent to do?

In this podcast, Chaz and Christie share their advice on working through sibling tensions to become best friends for life. Chaz was the youngest of three with only 3 years and 3 weeks between him and his oldest brother. Christie grew up with a sister 10 years younger than herself. Both share advice on helping your children grow their sibling relationships from their differing life experiences. 

In this podcast they will discuss:

• Teaching your children the permanence of friendship in family
• Being best friends for life
• Using the technique of grounding your children from each other
• Using the outdoors as a tool for diffusing tensions
• How to guide your children as they "work things out" with each other

We hope this podcast gives you tools that will equip you for handling sibling tension when it comes, so that you can have children who are best friends for life.

You wake up in the morning already stressed about the day. Your homeschooling has had a bad week due to errands that had to be run. But it's not over yet, today is another day of appointments, shopping and of course a homeschool group get together. Sometimes it feels like you can never get to reading, writing, and arithmetic for all the other challenges in life. 

From personal experience, we can tell you there is a way to educate your homeschoolers on the run, and that is what today's podcast is all about. Chaz and Christie have been where you are and share many of their personal experiences of homeschooling on the run. 

Chaz shares some of the unique opportunities he had to learn growing up, due to his parents being busy in the community. And Christie shares some of the frustrations and concerns she felt as she tried to figure out how to give her children, including Chaz, a well rounded education while still maintaining their business.

In this podcast they go into detail about learning opportunities that abound in the:

• Grocery store
• Doctors office
• Bank

They also share the importance of being aware of the unique opportunities that your particular lifestyle brings for learning on the run, whether it is going to the pier for fresh fish, or doing a building project at home. Each of us can take advantage of those days packed with errands to homeschool on the run.

Hope you enjoy this podcast as much as we enjoyed making it.

Homeschooling teens is hard work, but it also comes with a lot of joy. In this podcast Chaz and Christie will be discussing techniques to add interest and accountability into your homeschooler's school day. Using the ideas of expectations, freedom and control, they will describe a classroom environment that allows for:

• Decision making
• Large project management
• Learning how to find and use resources
• Working towards adult goals
• Respect

Chaz, as an adult who was homeschooled, and Christie, as the mom who taught him, are in the unique position of being able to share ideas from not just the prospective of the parent, but also the teen. By listening we hope you will glean ideas for your homeschool teen.