Home School Q & A with - me! Greta Eskridge

I am so excited to welcome my friend Anjuli Paschall to my show! Anjuli is a real life friend of mine and this episode reflects that. We laugh and cry together easily, share stories, and if we had cups of tea or coffee in our hands, it would feel like you had joined us as we hung out together in a coffee shop.  

One of the things I appreciate so much about Anjulu is that she doesnt try to fix everything with some cliché sentiment. Instead she listens intently and asks how I feel, thus inviting me to take my feelings to God instead of pushing them away. She is also not afraid to be vulnerable and through that she invites me into intimacy with her again and again. She is the kind of friend you want on the other end of the phone, text or across the table. 

Anjuli is a fellow author. She and I have walked through writing 3 books together! Her latestes book is called Feela Collection of Liturgies Offering Hope for Every Complicated Emotion. This book is like having a conversation with Anjuli. Youll feel seen, heard, and loved as you go through the book. It is a beautiful book and unlike anything I have ever seen. Our conversation will give you a glimpse of the book and all it has to offer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 

Where to find Anjuli: 

Get Anjulis newest book, Feel, here 

Find Anjuli on Instagram here 

Find Anjulis website here 

Finds Anjuli on Substack here 

Get Every Moment Holy book here 

Some of my favorite quotes from this episode: 

It takes time to look at your feelings, all of them, as an invitation to look at what your heart is trying to tell you. AP 

Feelings are an invitation to wholeness, growth and intimacy. AP 

The relationships that are the nearest and dearest to our are the ones where we can be vulnerable and share our true feelings. AP 

God can hold it all. GE 

God wants to be with us where we are. AP 

He wants to heal us not to fix usnot just be better, do better, feel better. AP 

God cares about what we feel, but He cares more that we become--whole, loving children of God who reflect His son. AP 

We can hold both the good and the hard at the same time and they dont cancel each other out! GE 

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love. Washington Irving 

God made us feelers and we dont have to be afraid of the feelings that He put in us. GE 

I am so excited to share the final episode of my Back to Home School series with you today. (Dont worry, though, there will be other home school episodes in the future. Theyll just be intermingled with other topics.) In this episode I am diving into some of the home schooling questions you asked me on Instagram. I couldnt answer them all, but I covered quite a few. And I promise to come back and answer more some time soon! 

Here are links to some of the things I mentioned in this episode.  

I hope you find them helpful! 

Want to have me speak at your event, conference, church, for your home school group, womens retreat or in some other capacity, get more information about booking me  here 

Find my Home School 101 Story Series on Instagram here 

Find all the home school articles on my blog here 

I talk about home schooling in high school and in college in episode 24. Listen to it here 

Learn more about high school transcripts here 

Learn more about Hamborg Academy of Art, in person and online art classes from one of our favorite art teachers here 

Learn more about home schooling and dyslexia in episode 25. Listen here 

Find Wild and Free bundles here 

Sign up for legal protection with a membership with Home School Legal Defense Association here 

Find Beautiful Feet Books curriculum guides here (theyre my absolute favorite!) 

Find Ambleside Online booklists here 

Read my book Adventuring Together to get fun back to school traditions (and lots of other ones as well) Get your copy here 

Give your kids a back to school copy of 100 Days of Adventure and dream up a bunch of fun adventures you can do together in the coming year. Get your copy here 

Read my blog post, The Early Years, here 

Thank you so much for listening and being a part of my show! I appreciate each one of you. 

Keep chasing joy! 

Greta 

What a treat to have one of my earliest home school mentors on the podcast today. This is a powerful episode where we hear how Carole met God and how He led her to home schooling, which she initially thought was absolute insanity! Carole and I talk about the early days of home schooling when it wasnt legal or illegal and so different than it is now. 

Hear how Caroles son JJ has joined her in sharing the message of home schooling. What a dream that is! She shares books galore too. My favorite kind of episode! 

Carole Joy Seid is a joy indeed and you are going to love the encouragement and wisdom she brings from speaking on home schooling for 30 + years. 

Here are the resources Carole recommends in this episode: 

Read and learn about home schoolings pioneers: 

John Holt 

Dr. Raymond Moore 

Susan Schaeffer Macaulay 

Read their books: 

How Children Learn by John Holt 

Better Late Than Early by Dr. Raymond Moore 

For the Childrens Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay 

For the Familys Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay 

Here are the other books Carole recommends in this episode: 

The Common RuleHabits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction 

Theology of the Body for Beginners 

The Least of These My Brothers  

Father Arsenypriest, prisoner and spiritual father 

Little Britches series 

Where to find Carole: 

Her website here 

Her seminars here 

Her podcast here 

Her Instagram account here 

Some favorite quotes from todays episode: 

God doesnt waste a thing. GE 

Home schooling was the farthest thing from my mind. CJS 

Home schooling is a huge liberty, and we dont want to take it for granted. CJS 

Its so thrilling to see the next generation of home schoolers carrying out the way of living that is so rich and blessed. CJS 

Sharing the message of home schooling has been the joy of my life. CJS 

The very first home school conference I ever attended was with Carole Joy Seid and it was absolutely transformational. GE 

You can home school with a bible, a library card and a math book. CJS 

High school and college is where your childs theology makes up its mind. CJS 

If youre tired, do something fresh and give yourself a grace package. Because that is what God gives to us. CJS 

Your goal is to get shining eyes! CJS 

The gift of home schooling for me has been all about freedom. The freedom to pursue education in the way that works best for our family, the way that works best for each kid and the way that works best for me as a teacher. GE 

Be the expert on your child. CJS 

Never stop reading out loud to your children. CJS 

The gospel needs to permeate everything you do. CJS 

Dont forget to subscribe to this podcast. And Id be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating and a short review of the podcast. 

Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. 

Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  

I love you guys! 

Greta 

This is the third episode in my Back to Home School series and it is a great one! In this episode I got to talk all things home schooling with my friend, and fellow Christian Parenting podcast host, Monica Swanson.  

Monica is a mom to four boys and lives on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. Monica home schooled all her boys, 3 of which have graduated, and is still home schooling her last one. She recently wrote a book called Becoming Home Schoolers, sharing the story of their home schooling journey, along with tons of other helpful ideas, information and inspiration. Monica and I had the best time talking together. Youre going to love our conversation and all the stories we tell. Youll feel like youre just hanging out with 2 of your friends. Come join the fun! 

Places to find Monica: 

Her website her 

Her podcast here 

Her Instagram account here 

Her books here, here, here and here! 

Here are some of my favorite quotes from this episode: 

Home school kids have more time to pursue their passions. Monica Swanson 

Home schoolers are prepared for the real world. Monica Swanson 

The number one reason we chose to home school is because I wanted learning about God, praying together, and reading the Bible together to be a part of their school experience because that is the most important thing youll ever learn. Greta Eskridge  

There is no such thing as a neutral education. Monica Swanson 

Home schoolers are critical thinkers, theyre learners, theyre readers, and they know how to figure things out. Not every home schooler, of course. But a lot of them! Greta Eskridge 

Its so tempting to have a whole curriculum for your 3 year old but if you just live life with your 3 year old and have him be a part of it, what youre creating is a lifelong learner because youre showing them that learning is happening all the time. Greta Eskridge 

Sometimes we forget how important it is to enjoy our kids. We get so caught up in what we feel like we have to do that we forget to enjoy our time with them or to enjoy them. Greta Eskridge 

The best is yet to come! The late teen and young adult years are so fun and it is the best reward. Monica Swanson 

It is painful joy to watch our kids fly. Were excited for them and we have joy for them but there is pain there because things are changing. Greta Eskridge 

The home school lifestyle is not just a way to educate your kids but a way to get to know them and be involved in their lives. Monica Swanson 

What a treat to introduce you to my friend, a person who has poured encouragement and support and wisdom into me, Carrie De Francisco.   Carrie is a mom to 2 homeschool graduates, she is a treasured voice in the home school community through her podcast, her books, her speaking engagements and her amazing videos on Instagram. She also provides encouragement for the moms of differently abled learners and especially for moms of dyslexic learners. The bottom line is Carrie will encourage you today, wherever you are on your home school journey. 

This episode is full of a lot of helpful and practical tips for families that are home schooling dyslexic learners.  

Here they are: 

*Have your child teach someone else something, or explain something they love 

*Spend way more time on your childs gifts and talents than on the things theyre struggling with! 

*Use the dyslexic font for your computer 

*Use speech to text because it is not cheating! 

*Have your child read aloud the paragraph they wrote using speech to text and then help them edit as they read it aloud 

*Use Grammarly its your writing tutor! 

*Use audio books (Audible, Hoopla, Libby are 3 great ones!) 

*This article breaks down a bunch of audio book options. Read it here. 

*Math U See is Carries favorite math curriculum 

*Use colored markers, drawings or symbols to help them differentiate the words theyre learning and/or memorizing. 

Places to find Carrie: 

Her website here 

Her podcast here 

Her books here here and here 

Her Instagram account here 

Some favorite quotes from todays episode: 

*Homeschool kids dont just turn out OK. They can really flourish, even if its hard in the middle. GE 

*Just because its hard doesnt mean were doing something wrong, or that our home schooling wasnt working, or that our kids are never going to learn. It just means its different. CF 

*If your kid has dyslexia or dysgraphia or dyscalculia they are gifted. They are gifted in so many ways. They have so many gifts they are going to be better than OK! CF 

*The Lord created our kids to be learning machines and we just need to trust the process. CF 

*God is going to use this. We dont know how and we dont know when, but we can trust Him. GE 

*Listening to books is reading books. GE 

*According to a study from Harvard, the number one thing that helped kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia be successful was to have at least 1 person in their life who is their cheerleader. At least one person who was their encourager. CF 

*As their moms, we know they are super smart and super intelligent, they just dont know it yet and its our job to show them. CF 

*For all the things that technology brings that can be problematic, there are also wonderful parts of technology that helps people with things like dyslexia. It can give them an opportunity for success. GE 

*Spend way more time on your childs gifts and talents than on the things theyre struggling with! CF 

*Our culture likes to celebrate success right now, not the long, slow, version of success that some kids achieve. GE 

*Tell your kids over and over, I love that about you CF