Episode 75: Surviving the Holidays: Financial Strain

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Episode 75: Surviving the Holidays: Financial Strain

In this first of our series on surviving the holidays, we're talking all about the financial strain that occurs from November through January every year. When you're already struggling to make ends meet, how do you celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas without killing your budget and making life far more stressful than it has to be? 

Join us and financial planner Bill Kenoyer for Surviving the Holidays: Financial Strain.

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Episode 74: Homeschooling Gifted Kids

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Episode 74: Homeschooling Gifted Kids

Do you think your student might be gifted? Off the charts? An outlier? Join us and educator and homeschooling mom of exceptional kids, Colleen Kessler, for a conversation that will open your eyes to the world of homeschooling gifted kids. You'll be encouraged by her experience and equipped with her realistic and helpful suggestions. Don't miss it!

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Episode 73: Raising Adults

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Episode 73: Raising Adults

Raising kids is one thing, but raising adults? When is the appropriate time to give our kids a checking account? Credit cards? And what about social media and smartphones? We're dicussing all of these milestones and more as we once again sit down to talk parenting with one of our favorite couples, Hal and Melanie Young of Raising Real Men.

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Episode 72: Teens and Social Media

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Episode 72: Teens and Social Media

Prompted by a listener's email, this week's episode is all about teens, social media, guidelines, and freedom. How much social media involvement is too much? Which platforms should a teen be allowed to be on? And what age is appropriate for social media platforms in general?

We've asked the current teens in our home to join us for the conversation, and we're talking about what the rules are here, how much they are involved in social media, and how to use their time online as an asset rather than a trap.

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Episode 70: Let's Talk About Sexual Abuse

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Episode 70: Let's Talk About Sexual Abuse

Sometimes in our parenting, there are difficult topics and issues that need to be discussed with our kids, even if we'd love to protect their innocence until they're mature enough to handle the weight. 

The topic of sexual abuse is one such conversation. In this episode of Homeschooling in Real Life, authors Justin and Lindsey Holcomb join us to discuss the reality of sexual abuse, its prevelance in our society, and how we can equip even our youngest children to understand that they are precious people created by God and not to be taken advantage of those not out for their best interest.

It's important and necessary, and we hope you'll tune in to equip your entire family.

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Episode 69: Courtship in Crisis

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Episode 69: Courtship in Crisis

Is courtship better than dating? Are families who practice courtship instead of dating out of touch, or have they found a method of creating solid marriages?

Thomas Umstattd, Jr. joins us once again to discuss how courtship became a component of Christian homeschooling in it's early decades, why parents were compelled to try something other than our cultural dating norms, and how it, too, can fall short of its intended purpose. Whether you are in favor of courtship, dating, or a combination of the two, we think you'll enjoy this episode and conversation and hope it spurs on good things in your own home.

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Episode 66: What Josh Duggar Forgot

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Episode 66: What Josh Duggar Forgot

Because we're 99% sure 100% of our listeners know about the recent events surrounding the Duggar family and in particular, their oldest son Josh, we felt it was time we go there: straight to the issue that seems to topple so many in public ministry.

And yet, is it unique to those only in ministry? Only to those in the public eye? And what exactly did Josh Duggar forget? 

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Episode 65: Adoption and the Homeschooling Family, Part Two

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Episode 65: Adoption and the Homeschooling Family, Part Two

Join us for part two of Adoption and the Homeschooling Family, where we continue our interview with Jeremy and Michele White. In this episode, we discuss when adoption doesn't turn out the way parents might have dreamed it would. It's a touching conversation that we hope encourages and equips any family considering adoption.

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Episode 64: Adoption and the Homeschooling Family, Part One

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Episode 64: Adoption and the Homeschooling Family, Part One

Because several Homeschooling in Real Life listeners have asked us to address the topic of adoption, we are dedicating two episodes to discussing the ins and outs of adoption and its impact on the homeschooling family. While it would be really easy for us to produce a podcast explaining how to adopt and the benefits involved when a family adopts, we wanted to tackle all of the issues a family might be experiencing when choosing to adopt a child. 

In the first of this two-part series, we sit down with our good friends in real life, Jeremy and Michele White, for a serious discussion about adoption. The Whites tell us about the beginning of their adoption journey, what led them to adopt, and how adoption ultimately changed their family and their homeschooling. We hope this story is a blessing and an encouragement to everyone who listens.

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Episode 63: I Love Homeschooling But My Kids Don't

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Episode 63: I Love Homeschooling But My Kids Don't

So, you've decided that homeschooling is the best option for your kids this year, but the response from your kids has been less than positive. What do you do now?

Fletch and Kendra have had a similar situation with a child in their home, and on this episode of Homeschooling in Real Life, they discuss how they navigated their relationship with that child and how God taught them all a meaningful life lesson in the process.

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Episode 62: Can We Afford to Homeschool?

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Episode 62: Can We Afford to Homeschool?

Can you afford to homeschoool? What if your budget is already at its max, and you feel you're barely scraping by just to provide the basics for your family?

Join us and CPA Carol Topp for a lively and quick discussion of how to make homeschooling work on a small or non-existent budget, the realities and expenses of homeschooling older kids, and the need to examine our hearts when it comes to finances and what God is calling us to do.

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Episode 61: Organize Your Homeschool

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Episode 61: Organize Your Homeschool

It's almost time to start the school year! Even if you're listening to this episode after your homeschooling is well under way, we think you might learn some new tricks or discover something that can possibly help you organize what's happening in your home.

We're talking about apps and paper organization, plus some tips to gain a little peace right where you are.

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Episode 60: Depression and the Homeschooling Mom

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Episode 60: Depression and the Homeschooling Mom

Some subjects are difficult to talk about, especially if we're feeling pressure to show the world that everything is going well at home. For moms battling depression, the homeschool community can feel like an unsafe environment because that pressure to have everything all together seems even more acute.

Join us and Christian psychologist Dr. Melanie Wilson (a homeschooling mom of 6 herself) as we discuss the signs of depression, how to find help, and how to minister to the struggling mom.

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Episode 59: My Spouse Doesn't Want Me to Homeschool

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Episode 59: My Spouse Doesn't Want Me to Homeschool

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.

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Episode 58: How to Deal With Homeschool Burnout

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Episode 58: How to Deal With Homeschool Burnout

Although we've tackled the topic of homeschool burnout on a previous episode, this time we're talking more about the practical side of the issue by answering some common questions we've received: How do we avoid homeschool burnout in the first place? How can we deal with feeling exhausted and burned out when the school year has barely begun? What can we do to assure that we can be in this for the long haul?

We give ideas for helping a mom or dad to not feel as if she or he is shouldering all of the burden on her or his own, suggestions for ways to tweak and change the way things are being run at home, and doable breaks for the mom or dad who is parenting and homeschooling 24/7.

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Episode 57: Launching Your High Schooler Into Life

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Episode 57: Launching Your High Schooler Into Life

Recently 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.

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Episode 56: The Quiet Fight Between Women

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Episode 56: The Quiet Fight Between Women

"You know there are greater possibilities of friendship and Christian fellowship in your life. And yet — despite your best intentions — there is something in the way, something holding you back from your spiritual growth with your sisters in Christ. But what is it? A silence. A distance with no name. A weapon of the enemy fashioned to drive us apart and stop us from creating the fellowship we need for our growth in Christ.  Something so subtle you might never understand it alone, much less be able to overcome it." -The Quiet Fight Between Women

Join us and author Angie Tolpin as we explore reasons women have a difficult time connecting or feel as if there is an undercurrent of comparison and competition running through our relationships. We'll talk about how Jesus changes our communication and frees us to stand shoulder to shoulder with each other as we seek to bring glory to God.

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