Homeschool Unrefined

We’re sharing our 10 favorite books we’ve read this year--from picture books we read aloud to graphic novels our kids loved to the stories we couldn’t put down. These are the books that stood out fro…

Spring brings an impulse to slow down and simplify. Rather than look at it like it's a slump, we're reframing things: it's ok to change our pace! We talk about the value of taking a break, evaluate w…

Mealtimes can serve as both an anchor to our days... and a total headache. The unending-ness of meal making can leave us bored, overwhelmed, and out of ideas by the time dinner rolls around every nig…

When there’s joy, there’s learning! We're talking all about hobbies in our homeschool: the why, the how, and all the ways these seemingly trivial activities and interests can actually unlock deep lea…

We've been answering listener questions all season over on Patreon, and we wanted to share one of those exclusive episodes with you! Ashley asked the questions many of us are wrestling with right now…

This is a special pilot episode of a new project: Unrefined Education. The last year has given us an opportunity to change how we do school, so we want to take a look back at what we've learned from …

We’re just gonna say it: You don’t have to do school this year. In this episode, we’re talking about why it’s ok to skip academics and prioritize mental health and life learning. This is specific to …

It seems like we parents always want to know how everyone else is handling chores, yet chores are also (surprisingly) personal! We all have different standards, different capacity, and different fami…

We’re back with brand new episodes! This week, we’re sharing updates on how homeschool is going and what it looks like for each of us in this season of life. Maren shares her “Aha Moment” about inclu…

In our previous episode (149: What We Don’t Do), we talked about the different ways we set boundaries and take stuff off our plates. Well, we’re gonna take our own advice! We had planned to do one mo…

Homeschool parents do A LOT, but none of us do it all. We want to normalize not doing it all—and embrace the idea that homeschool and parenting will be more enjoyable and sustainable when we take thi…

We see these comments pop up in every homeschool Facebook group: "How do I get my kid to do their work?" "My kid is fighting with me about doing math." "Homeschool is hurting my relationships with my…

Two words: SCREEN TIME. We’re all sick of thinking about it, but we also can’t stop thinking about it. We don’t have the device dilemma figured out either, but we’re here to process with you all the …

Niurka Maldonado is a certified Conscious Parenting coach and the founder of Connected Kindred. Niurka shares about her experience as a homeschool family of color. While the homeschooling community i…

Ok, but how are you doing REALLY? You’re getting the unedited behind-the-scenes look at our homeschool lives—the academics and routines we’re doing (or not doing), the stuff that’s going well (and wh…

Raising confident kids can be inconvenient, uncomfortable, and challenging--but it's so worth it! And we can't talk about raising confident kids without talking about raising ourselves, too. This imp…

One of the secrets to a sustainable homeschool is YOU. Your strengths energize you, and what energizes you will energize your homeschool. Doing what you are good at and what you enjoy will make your …

Yolonda Coles Jones (@yolonda_j) joins us for an important conversation about prioritizing mental health and wellbeing for ourselves and our families as we homeschool. How can we best support the men…

We love the flexibility of loose planning. We can be more responsive to the many different needs in our families, the changing seasons, and our own needs for both structure and spontaneity. Listen in…

[Cue Ross Geller: PIVOT!] We’re looking back on the Summer of 2020—the pandemic challenges, the cultural complexities, the big changes in our own lives and in our communities—and breaking down what i…