MBFLP – Teaching Kids About Liberty and Government (Replay)

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MBFLP - Teaching Kids About Government and Liberty

On the eve of the mid-term elections, how do we talk about the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? How can we help keep the next generation from trading our hard-won freedom for supposed security or momentary gain? Do we appreciate the importance of even these small local races that clutter up the bottom of the ballot? Join us as we share some of the things we’ve done in our family!

Thank you to our sponsor, CTCMath.com

How to Raise Kids Who Love the Constitution (with KrisAnne Hall)

🧮 This episode is proudly sponsored by CTCMath — an online math program designed to help homeschool families build confidence and mastery, one lesson at a time.

Try CTCMath →

KrisAnne Hall on raising liberty-minded homeschoolers, the Constitution, and the truth about Common Core and school choice — a fan-favorite replay, refreshed for 2026.Liberty First: Raising Constitution-Loving Kids with KrisAnne Hall (Replay)

Show: Vintage Homeschool Moms
Host: Felice Gerwitz
Guest: KrisAnne Hall, JD — Constitutional attorney, author, and founder of Liberty First University
Network: Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network
Episode type: Encore / Replay (originally aired 2014 — refreshed for 2026)

Constitutional attorney KrisAnne Hall joins Felice Gerwitz to show homeschool moms how to raise liberty-minded kids, why she walked away from a paycheck to teach the Constitution, and what every parent should know about Common Core and school choice. A timeless replay, updated for 2026.

Episode summary

In this fan-favorite conversation, host Felice Gerwitz sits down with constitutional attorney and homeschool mom KrisAnne Hall. KrisAnne shares the powerful story of how she chose to keep teaching the Constitution even when it cost her a $60,000-a-year government job, and how God provided for her family every step of the way.

Together they talk about why liberty is a Judeo-Christian inheritance worth passing on, why most Americans can’t name the five freedoms in the First Amendment, and how parents — not the government — hold the real responsibility for raising the next generation. KrisAnne also answers listener questions about Common Core, charter and virtual schools, vouchers, and the best way for parents to get up to speed on the Constitution so they can teach it to their kids.

It’s encouraging, challenging, and packed with the kind of “I never thought about it that way” moments KrisAnne is known for.

🎧 Host’s Note — Updated for 2026

This episode first aired in 2014, when “Common Core” was the education debate at every co-op meeting and kitchen table. The heart of KrisAnne’s message — that liberty is a gift we steward for our children — hasn’t aged a day. But a few of the headlines have changed, so here’s a quick update so you’re listening with 2026 eyes:

Common Core has largely faded — but the framework lingers. Several states formally repealed and renamed the standards, and roughly two dozen have revised or rebranded them. Here in Florida, Governor DeSantis signed an executive order to eliminate Common Core and replaced it with the B.E.S.T. Standards (Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking), phased in beginning the 2021–22 school year, which notably weave civics and the U.S. Constitution through every grade. That said, education analysts point out that many “new” state standards still carry Common Core’s DNA — so KrisAnne’s underlying point about who controls curriculum (and who funds it) is as relevant as ever.

School choice exploded. When this aired, KrisAnne urged caution about vouchers and warned that “where government pays, they will dictate.” Since 2021, Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) have become the dominant model, and as of 2026 around 18–19 states offer universal eligibility. Florida now has universal school choice; Louisiana launched its LA GATOR program in 2025; and Texas’s $1 billion ESA program — the largest initial funding cap in history — launches for the 2026–27 school year. As you listen, it’s worth weighing KrisAnne’s “strings attached” caution against the new landscape and deciding where you land for your own family.

Where to find KrisAnne now. She is the founder and president of Liberty First University (online courses from about $20/month at libertyfirstsociety.com), still writes and teaches, and hosts The KrisAnne Hall Show. Her books referenced in this episode — Not a Living, Breathing Document, Bedtime Stories for Budding Patriots, and Essential Stories for Junior Patriots — are still available, along with newer titles like Sovereign Duty and Liberty First: The Path to Restoring America.

What you’ll learn

  • Why KrisAnne walked away from a $60,000 government job rather than stop teaching the Constitution — and how her family saw God provide
  • Why liberty is a Judeo-Christian inheritance, not a government grant
  • The five freedoms in the First Amendment (and why “when one falls, they all fall”)
  • Why she believes the government didn’t intrude into education — parents invited it
  • The difference between government, charter, and virtual schools — and her caution on vouchers
  • How busy, traveling, on-a-budget parents can still make homeschooling work
  • The best resources for parents to learn the Constitution well enough to teach it

Episode segments

(Approximate — adjust the timestamps to match your final audio file.)

  • [00:00] Welcome and introduction — how Felice met KrisAnne at a Fort Myers history fair
  • [03:00] “History always repeats because human nature never changes”
  • [06:00] KrisAnne’s homeschool partnership: teaching 265 times across 22 states
  • [10:00] The day she had to choose: keep her job or keep teaching the Constitution
  • [15:00] Esther, Mordecai, and stepping out in faith with no income
  • [19:00] Why government schools “cannot teach your child to love God” — and the prayer-in-school myth
  • [24:00] Why liberty? The Judeo-Christian foundation of freedom
  • [28:00] The five First Amendment freedoms — and why most can’t name them
  • [31:00] Break — American Government & Elections class (Media Angels)
  • [33:00] How to book KrisAnne to speak (it’s a ministry — no speaking fees)
  • [37:00] American exceptionalism and the immigrant’s true search for liberty
  • [42:00] Listener Q&A: Common Core and the government’s role in schools
  • [47:00] Listener Q&A: the best way to learn the Constitution yourself
  • [51:00] Listener Q&A: charter schools, virtual schools, and the truth about vouchers
  • [57:00] Final encouragement: homeschooling as a legacy, and a standing invitation to return

Memorable quotes

“The God that gave us life gave us liberty.” — KrisAnne paraphrasing Thomas Jefferson

“Every liberty that you have, you have to keep. And if you do not know what your liberties are, you don’t even know when they’re gone.”

“The government hasn’t intruded itself into our school system. We’ve invited it.”

“Liberty is not a gift that you purchase for yourself… We purchase liberty for our children.”

“Where government pays, they will dictate.” — KrisAnne on vouchers

Resources & links

KrisAnne Hall

  • Website: https://www.krisannehall.com
  • Liberty First University / Liberty First Society: https://libertyfirstsociety.com
  • Books: Not a Living, Breathing Document: Reclaiming Our Constitution, Bedtime Stories for Budding Patriots, Essential Stories for Junior Patriots, Sovereign Duty, Liberty First: The Path to Restoring America
  • DVD set: The Roots of Liberty: The Historic Foundations of the Bill of Rights

From Media Angels & the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network

Scripture referenced: 2 Timothy 1:7 · Matthew 6 · the Book of Esther

About the guest

KrisAnne Hall, JD, is a former state prosecutor and constitutional attorney who left her position rather than stop teaching the original intent of the Constitution. A disabled war veteran, attorney, wife of a pastor, and homeschool mom, she now travels the country teaching the history and application of the Constitution and serves as founder and president of Liberty First University. She is the author of multiple books on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and host of The KrisAnne Hall Show.

About the show

Vintage Homeschool Moms, hosted by author and publisher Felice Gerwitz, encourages, educates, and inspires moms with answers to their most pressing questions — from homeschooling and marriage to parenting and faith — because every moment counts. It’s a production of the Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Subscribe & connect

If this episode encouraged you, share it with a homeschool mom who needs to hear it, and leave a review — it helps other families find the show. Visit VintageHomeschoolMoms.com and MediaAngels.com for more.

Disclaimer: Guests share their own views and resources. Felice vets her guests but does not necessarily endorse every statement made by show hosts or guests across the network.

The Problem of Perfectionism – MBFLP 251


A reader asks, “What can you do about an over-conscientious child?”

C.S. Lewis observed that our sins are often forms of virtues which have gone astray. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)  We should be pursuing excellence–but it’s very easy to let that pursuit turn into self-righteousness, arrogance, and pride. And it can also drive a person to distraction, depression, and despair, as the reality settles in that we can’t truly reach perfection in our own strength.

So what should we do when we see one of our children … or ourselves … leaning on human effort and achievement instead of faith in Christ? When striving for excellence becomes an unforgiving and ungracious pursuit of the unattainable? When our obedience to God is based on appeasement rather than love?

But doesn’t the Bible speak about perfection?

Yes, it does. Jesus speaks of loving your enemies, a supremely unnatural thing to do, and says if you do this, “you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48) While it is true that God is pure and sinless, we aren’t and won’t be until heaven. Yet we can strive after this kind of perfection, which is not sinless but rather, balanced and mature, like James describes: “But let patience [as a result of the testing of your faith] have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:4)

The sort of perfectionism to beware of has several unhelpful fruits:

  1. Pride – if I think I’ve achieved it, or I think I’m capable
  2. Arrogance – if I look down on others who aren’t trying as hard as I am
  3. Inefficiency – putting too much time and effort into unimportant things
  4. Fear – if I’m not confident I’ll succeed, I don’t want to try
  5. Faithlessness – if I don’t realize how desperately I need Christ
  6. Guilt – if I don’t recognize my inability, any disappointment is my own fault

Really, it’s a form of legalism–hoping to earn God’s favor or dissuade His anger by our own diligence. (continued …)

Can we be over-conscientious? 

It’s good to be careful, watchful, observant. Our hearts are still drawn away from Christ and God’s law, so we need to be on guard against our own sinfulness. Our conscience can be helpful – Paul says in Romans that Gentiles who didn’t know the law of Moses sometimes did the right thing anyway,

when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them (Romans 2:14-15)

But our conscience can be mistaken or confused. Paul wrote the church in Corinth, “I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 4:4) And the apostle John wrote, “If our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.” (1 John 3:20)

Romans 14 deals with matters of personal conviction, and Paul says, “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” (verse 5) – but we do need to recognize that our conscience needs to be trained by the word of God. And we need to remember that each of us is on life-long road of growth–and we haven’t all reached the same level of maturity yet!

So how should we guide our children in this area?

  1. Our hope and our self-worth are not found in our report cards, our job descriptions, our paychecks, or our prizes — hope and identity come from our relationship to Jesus Christ
  2. Encourage your perfectionist children to try things they might avoid. Encourage your bookworm to learn tennis or dancing. Get your athlete piano lessons or tutoring in French. Help them realize that they can’t excel in everything – and they don’t have to!
  3. Be sure to praise the intangible things. Character doesn’t come with a scorecard, but God is much more concerned with the sort of person we are than the numbers we achieve on the tests.
  4. Help them gauge the real value of quality. If over-exactness makes you late on your homework, you still lose. Sometimes “good enough” is the right answer, and better than “good enough” may actually be a distraction–or worse.
  5. Finally, be sure they understand that By grace you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Instead, our obedience to God is not meant to earn His forgiveness or love–it’s our loving response to what He’s already done for us. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:8-10)

Church or Not Church – Make The Distinction! MBFLP 134

MBFLP 134 - Church or Not Church - H

 

The Bible is clear about how a church should be led and managed. What does that tell us about other institutions in our life, though? Is it appropriate to look for the same level of doctrinal agreement, Christian character, and other qualifications, when we consider events and organizations and movements which are not directly related to the church? This episode we explore a bit about the distinctions between CHURCH and NOT CHURCH – and recognizing that there is a difference between “not Christian” and “anti-Christian”, and that may make a difference in how we interact with the world outside our sanctuaries!

 

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MBFLP – Teaching Kids About Liberty and Government

MBFLP - Teaching Kids About Government and Liberty

On the eve of the mid-term elections, how do we talk about the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity? How can we help keep the next generation from trading our hard-won freedom for supposed security or momentary gain? Do we appreciate the importance of even these small local races that clutter up the bottom of the ballot? Join us as we share some of the things we’ve done in our family!

MBFLP – Christianity and Patriotism

XtyAndPatriotism

With the Independence Day holiday just on the horizon, do we have a Biblical understanding of our “dual citizenship” – where we enjoy a citizenship in the Kingdom of God, shared with all believers from all ages, but also an earthly citizenship in a particular time of history? Do we recognize the blessings of our earthly liberty and teach them to our children, but avoid the trap of creating a red-white-and-blue version of Christianity? Join us as we open these questions “live” from rural Pelahatchie, Mississippi!