The Homeschool Solutions Show

Talking to your children and allowing them to talk to you is one of the most important and powerful things you can do as a parent. It can be too easy to assume that we know what's going on in the heart and mind of our child or that we understand why they have misbehaved etc. The truth is you won't truly know until you give them the opportunity to talk or until you ask the right questions. You have to listen and study it out in your mind. You have to pray over what you've heard and what you're observing. Then, and only then will the true answers present themselves. About Sean Sean Allen is the founder of The Well Ordered Homeschool, husband to his beautiful bride Caroline and a proud father of eight. He has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and is passionate about creating materials to assist parents in the incredibly challenging, yet surpassingly beautiful, work of schooling and training their children at home. Resources  Find a Great Homeschool Convention near you! Connect Sean Allen | Instagram | Facebook | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

In this personal and insightful episode Jessica shares what she's learned about how to make homeschooling sustainable for the mom, including specific self-care ideas and tips for moms in all stages. About Jessica Jessica is a wife, homeschool mom of three, author, and blogger. She lives in sunny North Carolina on a big family farm with chickens, goats, cousins, and lots of mud. Resources  Jessica's Weekly Review Favorite Things Connect Jessica Smartt | Instagram | Facebook | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

Family devotions are an incredibly important part of the lifeblood of your home. Do without them and your home suffers in obvious and not so obvious ways (and the not so obvious ways are the scariest). This episode discusses a few practical considerations that will help you to get started with devotions in your home or will help you be more consistent than you may be now. About Sean Sean Allen is the founder of The Well Ordered Homeschool, husband to his beautiful bride Caroline and a proud father of eight. He has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and is passionate about creating materials to assist parents in the incredibly challenging, yet surpassingly beautiful, work of schooling and training their children at home. Resources  Find a Great Homeschool Convention near you! Connect Sean Allen | Instagram | Facebook | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

Is it imaginable that freedom of speech and freedom of religion could be suppressed where we live at some time in our future? History would indicate so. How do we prepare ourselves and our families for such a contingency? What curriculum might best prepare us for persecution, even martyrdom? How do we cultivate necessary virtues without sparking burdensome fears? Listen in as Janice Campbell and Andrew Pudewa explore this challenging subject. About Brian Brian Wasko's background is in English education. He taught high school English for many years in public and private Christian schools. In 2001, he founded WriteAtHome, an online service offering tutorial writing courses to homeschoolers. He also teaches online literature courses through Wasko Lit, where he can share with young people his love for the great books of Western Civilization. He has been a popular homeschool convention speaker since the early 2000s, entertaining and educating audiences as both keynote and convention speaker at dozens of conferences across the country.  Brian and his family live in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He and his wife, Melanie, homeschooled their four daughters from kindergarten to college. About Janice Janice Campbell, a lifelong reader and writer, loves to introduce students to great books and beautiful writing. She holds an English degree from Mary Baldwin College, and is the graduated homeschool mom of four sons. You'll find more about reading, writing, planning, and education from a Charlotte Mason/Classical perspective at her websites, EverydayEducation.com, Excellence-in-Literature.com, and DoingWhatMatters.com. Resources  Brian Wasko's writing classes and other resources Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien Poetry by Hilaire Belloc Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me by Karen Swallow Prior Evaluate Writing the Easy Way by Janice Campbell Miss Thistlebottom's Hobgoblins: The Careful Writer's Guide to the Taboos, Bugbears, and Outmoded Rules of English Usage by Theodone M. Bernstein Connect Brian Wasko of Write at Home | Website | Facebook | YouTube  Janice Campbell | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

It's sad to say but family singing is very nearly a lost art. We just don't sing anymore and it shows. Waltz into your local congregation and listen to the quality of the singing - it can be painful. But this could quickly be turned around if we sang more in our homes and just as importantly it instills in your children a joy and a sense of togetherness that cannot be replicated by any other pastime. About Sean Sean Allen is the founder of The Well Ordered Homeschool, husband to his beautiful bride Caroline and a proud father of eight. He has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and is passionate about creating materials to assist parents in the incredibly challenging, yet surpassingly beautiful, work of schooling and training their children at home. Resources  Find a Great Homeschool Convention near you! Connect Sean Allen | Instagram | Facebook | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

It feels like there is so much opposition to homeschooling. Though today there is a far greater degree of acceptance, plenty of voices remain which not only question but blatantly oppose our efforts to raise our children at home. That said, the greatest opposition probably comes in our own self doubts and even resistance to what homeschooling requires of us. And what does it require? Just about everything. But if we learn to yield to the requirements, to the sacrifice, we learn the secret - giving is receiving, losing is reclaiming. Death is life.  About Sean Sean Allen is the founder of The Well Ordered Homeschool, husband to his beautiful bride Caroline and a proud father of eight. He has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and is passionate about creating materials to assist parents in the incredibly challenging, yet surpassingly beautiful, work of schooling and training their children at home. Resources  The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner - Undated Edition Find a Great Homeschool Convention near you! Connect Sean Allen | Instagram | Facebook | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

It feels like there is so much opposition to homeschooling. Though today there is a far greater degree of acceptance, plenty of voices remain which not only question but blatantly oppose our efforts to raise our children at home. That said, the greatest opposition probably comes in our own self doubts and even resistance to what homeschooling requires of us. And what does it require? Just about everything. But if we learn to yield to the requirements, to the sacrifice, we learn the secret - giving is receiving, losing is reclaiming. Death is life.  About Sean Sean Allen is the founder of The Well Ordered Homeschool, husband to his beautiful bride Caroline and a proud father of eight. He has a bachelor of fine arts in graphic design and is passionate about creating materials to assist parents in the incredibly challenging, yet surpassingly beautiful, work of schooling and training their children at home. Resources  The Well Ordered Homeschool Planner - Undated Edition Find a Great Homeschool Convention near you! Connect Sean Allen | Instagram | Facebook | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

In this engaging conversation, Jessica Smartt, a homeschooling mother of three and author, shares her family's unique approach to daily schedules, breaking them into 15-minute increments. She highlights the benefits of granular planning that unveiled logistical issues while emphasizing that these schedules offer flexibility rather than rigid rules. Explore how she balances her children's diverse needs, from high school to third grade, and her strategies for integrating chores with academics. Jessica's insights provide practical encouragement for families navigating the homeschooling journey.

In this episode, we dive into a powerful conversation with Cindy LaJoy of Blue Collar Homeschool about creating meaningful educational paths for kids who aren't headed toward the traditional college track. Cindy shares how to help children discover their strengths, explore careers and trades, and build skills that get overlooked in traditional schooling. From certificate programs to apprenticeships, she shows how learning can be tailored without being "less than." We also discuss the importance of relationship at the heart of homeschooling and celebrating every kind of excellence. This episode is full of practical ideas and encouragement for parents seeking alternatives to the college-only path. About Cindy An unexpected homeschooler, after a dozen years Cindy is entering her final year of homeschooling with her youngest of five kids. Her children, now young adults, were all adopted from orphanages in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and presented her with the unique challenge of educating learners with numerous learning disabilities, no English, and giftedness in the mix as well! Three years ago Cindy founded the Facebook group and website "Blue Collar Homeschool" to help others find the support and encouragement she couldn't find for her own family. College is not the only path to a successful future, and Cindy's kids are proving that as they operate their own pizzeria and tech businesses. Her online group has grown to a membership of almost 9000 and is a haven where families with kids who are not college-bound can post questions to find resources for everything from business start-ups to barn building to creative arts pursuits...and not be bashed for having children whose gifts may be discovered outside the academic arena. Blue Collar Homeschool is helping many discover "A different kind of homeschooling excellence! About Janice Janice Campbell, a lifelong reader and writer, loves to introduce students to great books and beautiful writing. She holds an English degree from Mary Baldwin College, and is the graduated homeschool mom of four sons. You'll find more about reading, writing, planning, and education from a Charlotte Mason/Classical perspective at her websites, EverydayEducation.com, Excellence-in-Literature.com, and DoingWhatMatters.com. Resources  Penn Foster Career School  Stratford Career Institute ITPRO.TV Online tech training for numerous certifications Lynda.com for a wide variety of training in everything from graphic design, programming, photography, social media marketing, general marketing, small business, accounting, videography and more EdX Coursera Amazon Web Services Scoop School Mike Rowe Books Cindy would share with every child: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch  Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder Connect Cindy LaJoy | Website | Facebook Group | Email Janice Campbell | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Thank you to our sponsors! Medi-Share: an affordable Christian alternative to traditional health insurance Tuttle Twins: children's books to help you teach your kids how the world really works Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.

In this episode, Janice Campbell sits down with Professor Carol Reynolds to explore the powerful role music and the arts play in a child's education. Together, they unpack how music isn't just a "nice extra," but an essential part of helping kids connect with history, science, and even math. Carol shares how rhythm, sound, and story all work together to shape not only knowledge, but also confidence and joy in learning. If you've ever wondered how to integrate music and literature more fully into your homeschool, or you're looking for encouragement that it's not too late to begin, this conversation will inspire you. By the end, you'll be reminded that education is about more than checking boxes—it's about nurturing the soul through beauty, rhythm, and story. About Carol Professor Carol Reynolds is a much sought-after public speaker for arts venues, homeschool conferences, and general audiences. She combines insights on music history, arts, and culture with her passion for arts education to create programs and curricula, inspires concert audiences, and lead art tours. Never dull or superficial, Carol brings to her audiences a unique blend of humor, substance, and skilled piano performance to make the arts more accessible and meaningful to audiences of all ages. Carol has led art tours to Russia, Poland, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, San Francisco, and Broadway on behalf of several arts organizations and has recently teamed with Smithsonian Journeys for cruises to the Holy Land, Mediterranean, Caribbean, Baltic Sea, Indian Ocean, and across the Atlantic. Her enthusiasm and boundless energy give tour participants an unforgettable experience. For more than 20 years, Carol was Associate Professor of Music History at the Meadows School of the Arts, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. She now makes her home in North Carolina with her husband, Hank, and her daughter and grandchildren. Hank and Carol maintain a second residence in Weimar, Germany — the home of Goethe, Schiller, Bach, and Liszt, and the focal point of much of Europe's artistic heritage. About Janice Janice Campbell, a lifelong reader and writer, loves to introduce students to great books and beautiful writing. She holds an English degree from Mary Baldwin College, and is the graduated homeschool mom of four sons. You'll find more about reading, writing, planning, and education from a Charlotte Mason/Classical perspective at her websites, EverydayEducation.com, Excellence-in-Literature.com, and DoingWhatMatters.com. Resources  Saul by George Frideric Handel The Creation by Joseph Haydn https://www.professorcarol.com/2011/08/20/the-biggest-page-turn-in-music/ Peter and the Wolf by Sergei Prokofiev The role of music in a Hitchcock movie soundtrack Hurrah and Hallelujah: 100 Songs for Children Excellence in Literature curriculum (Grades 8-12) Connect Carol Reynolds | Website | Facebook | Instagram  Janice Campbell | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | Website Homeschooling.mom | Instagram | Website Subscribe to our YouTube channel | YouTube Have you joined us at one of the Great Homeschool Conventions?  We hope to see you there! For more encouragement on your homeschooling journey, visit the Homeschooling.mom site, and tune in to our sister podcast The Charlotte Mason Show. View full show notes on the blog.