Every podcast episode appearing on the HomeschoolingiRL podcast radio show.
We love episodes that are created in response to listener questions and feedback. On this episode of Homeschooling in Real Life, Fletch and Kendra respond to a listener who asked about the best way to respond to her skeptical and non-supportive spouse.
Answering in a way that provides both the practical and the hopeful, we think you'll be encouraged to seek God and listen for what He has in store for your family.
Read MoreRecently a listener wrote in and asked if we would expound upon the idea of giving our high schoolers more freedom in their senior year in order to help them launch better into adult life. We're talking about curfews and chores, girlfriends and youth events, and how we help our high school seniors learn to juggle all of the opportunities that lay before them.
Read MoreMoms don't generally want to lose control of their mouths, but sometimes the chaos of parenting and homeschooling can cause a mom to blow her top. And then what?
Join us as we get into the nitty gritty and share our own struggles with yelling, shaming a child, and other forms of parental frustration. What then? How can we learn to control our tongues and speak life to our kids?
Read MoreIn this second installment of our two-part series, Why the Rise in African American Homeschooling?, we welcome Belinda Bullard into the studio to talk about her experiences growing up black in America, watching her kids as they progressed through the public school system, and then ultimately bringing them home to homeschool them.
Belinda has written an inclusive curriculum that celebrates the African American heritage and aims to strengthen and empower the African American student and their family.
As with our part one interview with Dr. Ama Mazama, we want to encourage you to listen even if you're not an African American parent. We found our eyes opened to real issues of racism and culture, and hope that we and our listeners can begin to be a part of the solution to the reality of racism and inequality everywhere.
Read MoreSibling relationships can often make a home life feel like, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." How do you handle kids who constantly bicker, are competing for your time, and who can't stand to share the backseat of the family car?
Fletch and Kendra are talking sibling relationships and giving some practical advice for handling those tricky, sticky moments when brothers and sisters want to be anything but best friends.
Read MoreCome celebrate our past 50 episodes with us! We're taking a brief tour through the best of the Homeschooling in Real Life podcast. It's fun, deep, interesting, and will bring a smile to your face.
If you want your friends to know why you love the podcast, share this episode with them. You'll either get them hooked or scare them far, far away from the biggest homeschool whack jobs you know - Fletch and Kendra, of course!
Read MoreHow difficult is it to be transparent with your kids? Do you struggle to tell them the truth when they ask questions about your past, your mistakes, or your sin issues?
On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, we've invited marriage and family counselor Chris Oneth into the studio to talk about being parents who are open and honest with our kids. Chris gives sound Biblical wisdom and practical steps for talking to our kids in a gospel-centered way that opens the door to deeper relationships.
Read MoreFIrst there was a part one and now the (not long) awaited part two - top 10 lessons Fletch learned from TV dads. It's fun, it's short, and it's perhaps a little more inspiring than you anticipated.
Read MoreFor the past 44 episodes of Homeschooling in Real Life, we have been telling the stories of other homeschooling families and talking about shifting our hope to anything but the hope of the gospel, the real hope of Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished for us.
Now it's time to tell our story. In the summer of 2008, we found our 7-week-old baby in a coma, an event that led to a massive overhaul in our marriage, our parenting, and ultimately, our faith in Christ. That sickly baby boy was just the beginning; there would be harder trials and far more refining ahead.
If you are wondering why your own faith feels stagnant or the Christian life joyless, join us as we share what unlocked the self-made prison doors and caused us to lose our religion but find a deeper, more glorious faith in the power of the cross!
Read MoreTop 10 lessons from TV dads? What could we possibly glean from characters on television shows?
In this shorter "To Go" episode of HomeschoolingIRL, Fletch talks about attributes that made dads like Pa Ingalls, Ward Cleaver, and Mike Brady endearing and what we might learn from their relationships with their wives and children.
He's also on the floor of the Nashville Teach Them Diligently Convention interviewing folks about who their favorite TV dads are, too!
Read MoreIt's a lament we hear often: "I'm the homeschooling mom who makes sure we do all the stuff we have to do, and then dad gets home and the kids are all over him with joy because he gets to do the fun stuff."
And while we love that our kids are thrilled to see dad (or mom, if the situation is reversed), it can sometimes feel crummy to always be the "have to" parent.
Join us as we chat with Rachael and Davis Carman about being "have to" and "get to" parents. The Carmans know how sometimes there seems to be imbalance as they've homeschooled and raised 7 children in their home.
Read MoreWe did it again!
Taking your questions, we're answering with what we hope is helpful insight and humor, too, of course!
Tune in to hear these questions answered and more!
Read MoreRelationships. Is this the hardest part about having our kids at home all day long? Probably, because people aren't perfect and we're seeing our kids' - and our own - sin laid bare before us each and every day.
But relationships are the means by which God grows us in so many directions, too. As crazy and terrible and fabulous and infuriating and delightful as living in relationship can be, this is the reason homeschooling is a marvelous tool. It's in relationship with our kids that we can see our need for a savior and point each other to the only One who saves our souls.
Join us for a poignant discussion with author Karen Campbell.
Read MoreSometimes our most meaningful episodes are created because our listeners are asking tough questions. What if your child is the black sheep, the one the other homeschoolers won't play with, the one who never feels part of the group?
It's a tough topic, and one that requires an extra dose of the gospel and grace. How do we help our black-sheep homeschooled kids, and how do we love the black sheep homeschoolers in our own community?
Read MoreHooray for homeschooling! So many terrific days to spend with our kids, capturing the greatest moments and the best hours of their days. That's what we say in homeschooling circles, isn't it?
And for the most part, it's totally true. But there are moments - days - weeks? - when being with the kids from the minute they wake up until their heads hit their pillows feels like one long marathon race with an extra mile thrown in for good measure.
If you're that weary homeschooling parent who longs for a slow morning to sip your coffee and use the bathroom without a kid asking where the cereal is, if you're feeling frustrated with the lack of time to focus on a project for more than 3.7 seconds, if you're just needing a break from the kids, this episode is for you.
Read MoreWe live in an internet age and most of us have at least one portal to the World Wide Web in our homes. We can all agree that the 'net is a great tool in our homeschools, but how do we keep our kids from making the wrong turn as they navigate the web?
Join us as we talk with The Wired Homeschool podcaster John Wilkerson and discover ways to help our kids learn to use the Internet safely.
Read MoreCourtship or dating? It's a hot button issue for many homeschooling or conservative Christian families. On the one hand, we see promiscuity and casual relationships embitter lives; on the other hand, we see "uncourted" women remaining single well past the age they expected to be married and young men hiding real issues beneath the surface as they strive to impress a father rather than a daughter.
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Do you have kids who are dreaming of going to college? How do you know if they're really prepared?
We dropped our second son off at college a state away from where we live this summer. Eleven hours in the car meant that we had ample time to talk through whatever we felt hadn't been said, but it also meant there was as lot of time for reflection on the past 19 years of his life.
What are the most important things to impart? What are the big life questions that need to be broached before a kid is launched from our home and onto a college campus?
Read MoreThat's right, we're talking sex, again. There was such a buzz after our last sex talk that we knew we had to let it spill over into another episode.
This time we're talking with several parents who answer in response to what the young adults shared in episode 16. Fletch also interviews a high school health teacher about what she sees in her classroom. Is it indicative of what homeschoolers are exposed to, too?
Let's have the conversation!
Read MoreAsk Us Anything You Want means just that - anything. HIRLers from all over the nation contributed their questions to the mix and we're answering with our usual honesty and candor. Was anything off limits? You'll just have to listen to find out!
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