“Out of Retirement” Update from Homeschooling in Real Life: Leaving Legalism

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Leaving Legalism - "Out of Retirement" Update from Homeschooling IRL“Out of Retirement” Update from Homeschooling in Real Life: Leaving Legalism

Hey there, HIRLers! We’ve missed you all so much that we decided to come back for one more episode. We’re celebrating the Ultimate Homeschool Network’s 5th anniversary and catching you up on good ol’ Homeschooling in Real Life stuff. It’s fun frivolity and all the fluff you’ve come to expect. Happy homeschooling!

Find more Homeschooling in Real Life episodes here


Discussing the topics that you might not find covered at your local homeschooling convention, veteran homeschooling parents and bloggers, Andy and Kendra Fletcher, use humor and honesty to pull the veil back on Christian homeschooling.

 “Andy and Kendra Fletcher bring a healthy dose of reality to the Christian homeschooling community. They share their personal successes and failures with humor and humility. I look forward to every episode” – John Wilkerson, The Wired Homeschool

These witty podcasters like to poke sticks at the conventional and with heaps of grace they will confront a few of the sacred cows that Christian homeschoolers like to worship. Their love for the Gospel will remind their listeners on every episode of the freedom that Christ pours out in generous amounts. Grace Wins!

“Love Love Kendra and Fletch! They are such a down-to-earth couple that love the Lord. Their podcast definitely reflects it’s name – Homeschooling in real life. Very Real! Very Encouraging! And Very Funny!” – Teriann, iTunes Review

Black Sheep Homeschoolers – HIRL Episode 35

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

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Sometimes our listeners ask tough questions of us, and then our most meaningful episodes are created.  On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, Fletch and Kendra respond to listener Cindy, who asked, “What if your child is the black sheep of the homeschool group, the one the kids won’t play with?”

It’s a tender topic, and one that requires an extra measure of grace and the gospel. How do we help our black sheep homeschooled kids, and maybe more importantly, how do we love the black sheep homeschoolers in our own community?

Black Sheep Homeschoolers Timeline

2:45 Introduction to the podcast
9:27 Studio Discussion Part 1 –
17:45 Answering the Reader’s Questiion
31:17 Studio Discussion Part 2
42:40 Q and A with K and A


Join Fletch (from theMangoTimes) and Kendra (from Preschoolers and Peace and KendraFletcher.com) for the HomeschoolingIRL podcast every week as they interview guests and talk through some of the goofiness they have experienced in nearly two decades of Homeschooling In Real Life.

 

Christ in the Chaos – HIRL Episode 34

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

HIRL-Episode-34Kimm Crandall was the perfect homeschooling mom: she had her curriculum chosen carefully, her children lined up quietly and obediently in the church pew, and her home-ground wheat bread delivered piping hot from her oven.

She was doing everything “right”. Still, God seemed angry with her, and she felt as if nothing she did would make Him happy with her. As she polished up the outside, she was dying slowly on the inside, bound up by her own good works and suffocating under the lack of grace within the homeschooling community she was a part of.

It’s an important and tender interview, peppered with humor and self-effacing realism. But the beautiful truth here is that Kimm boldly and bravely points us back to the Jesus, the only One who redeems every mess, every moment, and every bit of chaos.

Episode Timeline
3:50 Introduction to the podcast
15:06 Studio Discussion Part 1 – When homeschooling turns from blessing to burden
22:20 Interview with Kimm Crandall, Part 1 – From normalcy to chaos
34:38 Interview with Kimm Crandall, Part 2 – Finding Christ in the chaos
48:12 WrapUp.


Join Fletch (from theMangoTimes) and Kendra (from Preschoolers and Peace and KendraFletcher.com) for the HomeschoolingIRL podcast every week as they interview guests and talk through some of the goofiness they have experienced in nearly two decades of Homeschooling In Real Life.

Launching Your Kid to College – HIRL Episode 25

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

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Do you have a student whose dream is to head to college? How do you know if she’s ready? Have you imparted everything you wanted to teach him before he heads off to work on a degree, live on campus, and make all of his own choices?

Join Fletch and Kendra on this episode as they drive one of their sons 11 hours away from home to start college at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. They discuss academic preparedness (was homeschooling enough?),  as well as financial, spiritual, and cultural preparedness. Carol Topp, The Homeschool CPA, also joins them to talk about smart ways to launch your kid financially.

Let’s go back to college!

 

Join Fletch (from theMangoTimes) and Kendra (from Preschoolers and Peace) for the HomeschoolingIRL podcast every two weeks as they interview guests and talk through some of the goofiness they have experienced in nearly two decades of Homeschooling In Real Life.

 

Is Homeschooling the Hardest Thing You’ve Ever Done?

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

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If we’re being completely honest, most of us will say that homeschooling is the hardest thing we’ve ever done. There are exceptions, of course: a mom of an only child recently told me she thought homeschooling her son from kindergarten through 8th grade was pretty easy, and I just smiled, thankful that she was able to embrace mostly smooth days.

But for the majority of us, homeschooling can be a major buzzkill. I believe that’s why the most popular episode on HomeschoolingIRL is called Homeschooling is a Buzzkill. Over the years of homeschooling our own kids, writing for homeschoolers, and speaking to homeschoolers, I’ve listened to sweet moms cry at the end of my workshops and watched concerned dads wring their hands, hoping to help their wives and children through what seems to be stressful beyond their strength.

And that’s just it: homeschooling requires strength from us that we don’t often possess. It forces us to see our own frailties. It causes us to deal with the stuff that is under the surface, stuff that we can hide pretty well in public but not so much when a kid or two are pushing every button at home.

I’d love to have some pithy thing to say to you that will help you buck up, grin, and bear it all. But God doesn’t do that to us. God doesn’t tell us to pull ourselves up from our bootstraps and deal. God gently redirects us to the One who stands in our place, perfectly bearing our burdens and taking on all that threatens to crush us. In our weakness, He is strong. Remember?

In those moments that drive you to the closet to dissolve into a puddle of tears, remember the truth. The truth is this: God loves you, He knows the end of the story, and Jesus has paid it all on your behalf. When homeschooling is a buzzkill and you have lost all of your ability to even be nice to anyone in your home, God looks at the mess and the failure and the burden and He sees Jesus. In your place stands the King of Kings.

Don’t be afraid to admit that homeschooling is the hardest thing you’ve ever done. When we admit our weaknesses and drop the pride, our transparency brings freedom for us and safety for others struggling just as we are. Then don’t forget to place it all back on the One who paid it all. There are many ways to regroup and start over, but begin at the cross and tilt your chin toward the One who has all the answers.

~Kendra

HomeschoolingIRL Episode 4: Homeschooling Will Save Your Kids, Part One

A Production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Homeschooling Will Save Your KidsHomeschooling Will Save Your Kids?

Most of us won’t say outright that we think homeschooling will save your kids, but many of us pack this idea in the back of our minds: if we only do it right, our kids will turn out to be good, godly adults.

Is that true? Can we trust that homeschooling will save your kids?

On this episode, we share our own homeschool journey, where we think we got it right, where we know we got it wrong, and then we’ll bring some levity to the whole show by recommending some things we love and a new segment called “Q and A with K and A.”

 Join us for Homeschooling IRL Episode #4, where we peel back the layers of our own hearts and expose the areas where we may be relying on our own good works to deliver our kids to the finish line.

 

SHOW NOTES: EPISODE 4 – HOMESCHOOLING WILL SAVE YOUR CHILDREN, PART 1

HIRLers Treasure Chest:

Dollar Shave Club
Listerine Pocket Packs

Q&A With K&A:

Evernote

Join Fletch (from theMangoTimes) and Kendra (from Preschoolers and Peace) podcast every two weeks as they interview guests and talk through some of the goofiness they have experienced in nearly two decades of Homeschooling In Real Life.