The OpenEd Podcast

Liz Powell spent nearly two decades in public education, nine of them as a public school principal. She left when her own daughter reached school age. She looked at her own kindergarten team, "all talented, lovely, amazing people," and could not find a classroom for her. In this episode, she explains the differences between homeschool and public school. Read the full show notes: https://...

Tanner Bowman taught computer science in a public high school for ten years, deleting one classroom rule per year until attendance in his class was optional. He now runs Optio, an accredited K-12 program built on one move: start with what the kid already cares about, and let the subject arrive as a requirement of the goal. A sixteen-year-old who hated online algebra was doing mathematical analysis...

Rebecca Stromsdorfer never wanted to homeschool. She toured the charters and the private schools in her county looking for any other option, but she couldn't find a classroom she'd put her daughter in. This episode is a full walkthrough of how she started homeschooling and what she learned along the way. GUEST Rebecca Stromsdorfer - homeschool mom of five (22 years), founder of My Homescho...

Sam Griffin spent two years wanting to homeschool and not starting, because she did not think she was qualified. Five years later, she teaches four kids from kindergarten through ninth grade. She is a homeschool mom of four and a homeschool coach who works with parents who are curious about homeschooling but have no idea where to start. Read the full show notes: https://opened.co/blog/homeschool-s...

Jeremy Cioara never planned to homeschool - or to become an entrepreneur. Twenty years and seven kids later, the longtime tech trainer has a simple method for raising kids who actually love to work: bring them along. In this episode, he tells Ela Bass how a haircut turned into buying his daughter a cookie shop, and what 20 years of hiring taught him about degrees versus doing. FIND JEREMY LinkedIn...

Val Morse was homeschooled until high school, and now she homeschools her own two daughters - two completely different learners. In this conversation, Val breaks down what to do when your kid hates learning, why being interested is a skill you can build rather than a personality trait, and what it means to let go of the outcome. Follow Val on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valariespnw/ Read...

What's it actually like to be homeschooled? Finley is 10 years old, in fourth grade, one of nine kids, and a Lego robotics competitor - and he is the youngest student ever interviewed on the OpenEd Podcast. He walks through his real homeschool day and answers the question of socialization for himself. Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/day-in-the-life-of-a-homeschooler

Faye Casell spent two decades as a special educator before reading struggles got personal with her own son during lockdown. In this episode, she explains why one in five kids is dyslexic, why only one in five of those ever gets help, and how schools spent decades teaching an entire generation to read by guessing instead of decoding. Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/signs-your-homesc...

A former teacher who graduated with $50,000 in student loans made sure her two daughters never would. Both finished college about a week before high school graduation - debt-free - using dual enrollment. Shelley Branine, author of "Finish College in High School," breaks down the exact playbook: what the program is called in your state, where to start, how to guarantee your credits transf...

ToriAnn Perkey homeschooled four kids from 2004 through graduation - all are now in college. She is the Executive Director at the Independent Education Program in Utah, where she teaches English, writing, and ACT prep to more than 160 homeschool students ages 12-18. She homeschooled her four children and spent years mentoring new homeschool moms. FIND TORIANN Website: https://ieprogram.org/ YouTub...

Becky Wilmoth never wanted to homeschool. A new baby, a private school bill she couldn't afford, and a nine-year gap between her kids pushed her into it. Becky is a consultant at Nonprofit Ed Solutions, where she helps education entrepreneurs start co-ops, hybrid schools, and microschools as 501(c)(3) nonprofits. She is also a named Ambassador for the National Hybrid Schools Project. FIND BECK...

Angela Rigby has homeschooled her six children for 13 years - and never tried to recreate school at home. In this conversation she shares the method behind it: get the bookwork done in a few focused morning hours, then hand the kids their afternoons. Two of her sons earned associate's degrees before finishing high school. A daughter is writing her first novel. And her 19-year-old taught himsel...

Niven Singh works 8-to-5 in tech marketing. Her husband works full time. They also homeschool their daughter — and have been for two years. This episode is about the system she built and how she manages work and homeschool. About Niven SinghLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nivensingh

She spent nine years as a substitute teacher in the same school she graduated from. When she got pregnant with her first child, she started seeing the system differently. By the time COVID hit, she and her husband decided to homeschool — just for that one year, just to take it one step at a time. Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/homeschool-burnout Connect with Amy:→ Instagram: https...

Joey Mascio, teen life coach and creator of Sidekick to Hero, makes the case that there are three specific rules - named after Yoda, Dumbledore, and Haymitch - that keep parents in the mentor role and out of the villain seat. He was a 2026 Eddy Award finalist in two categories: Innovator of the Year and Open Education Resource of the Year. Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/the-mentor...

She wrote her first novel at 11. Two years later, it's published on Amazon, she's writing four more books, recording original music, free diving to 20 meters, and leading writing workshops for other kids. At 13, Sage Sedivec won the 2026 Eddy Award for Inspiring Student of the Year. Ela Bass sits down with Sage and her mom, Elizabeth — a former classroom teacher who moved her whole family...

Homeschooling high school looks impossible until you talk to families who've actually done it. Helen Robson and ToriAnn Perkey cover everything parents actually want to know — unaccredited transcripts and college admissions, trade school paths, how to talk to a teenager who has completely checked out, and why 18 is not the deadline you think it is. If you're homeschooling through high scho...

Kenneth Grover spent two decades as a public school principal proving that the rules governing American education - grade levels, bell schedules, age-based pacing - aren't always laws. They were habits. This conversation covers how a real mastery-based public high school actually ran, day by day, and what it took to build one from the inside. Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/wha...

Sandy Zamalis spent years as a homeschool mom offering consequences to a son she thought was being defiant. She was wrong. Sandy is a Board Certified Cognitive Specialist and an owner of LearningRx - and she didn't learn what was actually going on until after her kids had finished school. This conversation covers the single most useful reframe for any homeschool parent: the difference between...

Jon England spent 14 years inside the public school system - seven as a teacher, seven as a principal. He climbed the ladder because he wanted to change things. In this episode with host Ela Bass, Jon introduces a reframe that changes how you see the entire microschool movement: microschools aren't just custom education for students. They're the first real answer for teachers who want to b...

Lydia Hampton spent five years as a public school teacher before she built something most educators never consider. Research shows direct instruction works for about 9% of kids. The other 91% need something different - and Lydia decided to build a place for all of them. The Learning Lab is a 16,000 sq ft space in Wichita, Kansas where seven completely different education models operate under one r...

Bria Bloom was unschooled from birth - no classrooms, no curriculum, no requirements. Now she works at the Alliance for Self-Directed Education (the organization Peter Gray co-founded), and she's raising her own kids the same way. In this conversation with host Ela Bass, Bria breaks down the relationship-first framework behind self-directed education, why denying your kid a math workbook can b...

Is your child spirited, neurodivergent, or both? Family therapist Dr. Laura Froyen breaks down the one question to stop asking your kids - and what to say instead. Plus: the whitewater rafting analogy that reframes "difficult" behavior, and why even an expert took five years to solve one family problem. Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/spirited-child-what-questions-parenti...

Gretchen Roe laughed at her friend for homeschooling. A year later, she was doing it herself. Twenty-seven years and six kids later, she's one of the most experienced voices in the homeschool world - and her biggest warning isn't about curriculum. It's about what happens when parents overload the academics and forget the life skills that actually prepare kids for the world. Read the fu...

Your kid doesn't need to love math. They need to stop being taught wrong. Jason Roberts coached a 4th-grade math team at a public school. By 7th grade, those kids were doing calculus - 6 years ahead of schedule. His teaching philosophy comes down to one question: how did you teach your kid to tie their shoes? Jason Roberts and Justin Skycak (Math Academy) break down why lectures fail, how spac...