Making Everyday Magic: The Podcast

Do homeschoolers need calculus to get into college? It's a question I've been thinking about as we plan our first year of homeschool high school. In this episode, I'm sharing why we're considering skipping calculus for my ninth grader, who is currently most interested in performing arts and other creative fields. I'm weighing the potential benefits of advanced math for college admissions against h...

AI is changing the educational marketplace, and homeschool families need to know what questions to ask before trusting the materials they're using. In this episode of Making Everyday Magic, I'm sharing my thoughts on AI-generated homeschool curriculum, the difference between using AI as a tool and relying on it to provide accurate information, and why I think human expertise and fact-checking stil...

We're eight weeks into our homeschool year, and it's time to take an honest look at how things are going. In this episode of Making Everyday Magic, I'm sharing our first-quarter homeschool update for 2026–2027. We're in our 10th year of homeschooling, with one child starting high school and the other finishing elementary school, and we're figuring out what works for two kids at very different stag...

Why did we start homeschooling—and why are we still doing it ten years later? In this episode, I'm talking honestly about our reasons for homeschooling, how those reasons have evolved as my children have grown, and why I think every homeschool parent should revisit their "why" from time to time. Our original reason was pretty straightforward: my oldest was ahead academically, and we wanted to give...

We started our 2026–2027 homeschool year later than ever before, even with one child beginning high school. And while I was nervous about falling behind our usual schedule, we had an opportunity to bring four generations of our family together in Estes Park, Colorado, that I didn't want to miss. In this episode, I'm sharing why we delayed our homeschool start, what we experienced on our trip, and...

Is Houston actually a good place to homeschool—especially if you're a secular homeschooler? I've spent all 10 years of my homeschooling journey in and around Houston, Texas, and in this episode I'm making the case for a city that I think is seriously underrated for homeschooling. Houston is huge, diverse, relatively affordable for a major city, and packed with museums, universities, science, arts,...

Why do people get so upset when you make a decision that has absolutely nothing to do with them? After 10 years of homeschooling, I've had plenty of experience with unsolicited opinions, uncomfortable conversations, and people who seem personally offended by choices I've made for my own family. In this episode, I'm exploring why other people's reactions are often more about their own experiences,...

After ten years of homeschooling, I've had plenty of time to think about what happens when something becomes such a huge part of your life that it starts to feel like your identity. Homeschooling is deeply woven into our family. I love it. It works for us. I'm passionate about it. And I talk about it here all the time. But homeschool isn't who I am. It's something I do. And I think that's an impor...

After 10 years of homeschooling, I'm increasingly convinced that we need a better way to talk about education. Homeschool can be wonderful. It can also have serious problems. Public school can serve children beautifully. It can also fail them. The same is true of private schools, charter schools, Montessori schools, and pretty much every other educational model we could name. So why do we keep try...

How do you homeschool multiple children when they're in completely different grades? In this episode, I'm sharing exactly how we make our 9th-grade and 5th-grade homeschool work after 10 years of homeschooling. My kids are four grade levels apart, so they obviously don't do everything together. Math and language arts stay individual, while we combine subjects like history, science, art history, ge...

What happens when you don't homeschool and your idea of homeschooling comes mostly from the loudest and most extreme examples? I understand the skepticism. After 10 years of homeschooling, I've seen things in the homeschool world that concern me too—including educational neglect and rejection of science. But that's not the whole story. In this episode, I'm talking about what our secular homeschool...

I've been homeschooling for 10 years, and I don't love homeschooling every day. I know that's probably not what you're supposed to say when you have built an entire life around homeschooling—but it's true. In this episode, I'm talking honestly about the hard homeschool days: the pressure, the stress, the lack of sleep, the cost, the mess, the expectations, and those days when you simply do not wan...

We're entering our 10th year of homeschooling, and with a 9th grader and a 5th grader, I'm starting to think about what life looks like when my kids need me less. Not because I'm done being a mom. Because I'm still a person, too. In this episode, I'm talking about learning new things, being a beginner, and figuring out what comes next. And apparently, that currently means learning the art of wig m...

There is one phrase I come back to over and over again in homeschooling, parenting, relationships, business, and honestly... life: What you tolerate, you endorse. And I know that might feel a little uncomfortable. Because sometimes the things causing chaos in our homeschool, our homes, and our relationships aren't things we actively chose. They're things we let slide. One more late bedtime. One mo...

I don't want my kids to have a normal childhood. After 10 years of homeschooling, I'm realizing that I'm not trying to recreate the childhood I had—or the childhood society tells us our kids are supposed to have. I'm trying to build a family life that gives my girls room to learn, explore, play, ask questions, and become the people they're meant to be. In this episode, I talk about what "normal" m...

What happens when you stop trying to recreate traditional high school at home and start building an educational experience around the actual learner? In this episode, I'm talking about our first year of homeschooling high school and how we're creating a custom, magnet-style experience for our daughter. She's pursuing performing arts, but we're not choosing between passion and academics. We're buil...

What did you think homeschooling would look like before you actually started? Because I can tell you... mine did not look like this. In this episode, I'm talking about the space between our ideal homeschool and our real homeschool —and why I think that space is where so much homeschool guilt lives. We see the curriculum, the classes, the field trips, the beautiful homeschool rooms, the art project...

I recently got a hateful comment about my homeschooling, my parenting, my personality, and apparently my nose ring. And honestly? I thought it was hilarious. In this episode, I'm talking about how I handle internet trolls, homeschool criticism, and the people who become strangely confident experts on your entire life after seeing a tiny piece of it online. But this conversation is about more than...

After a decade of homeschooling, I have learned that sustainability doesn't come from doing more. It comes from building systems. In this episode, I'm sharing the practical systems that help our family manage homeschooling, chores, meals, laundry, planning, and everyday life. We talk about why systems work better than rigid schedules, how we divide responsibilities as a family, and the small routi...

After ten years homeschooling two children, I'm sharing the lessons that have actually lasted. From learning styles and curriculum to consistency, socialization, college, freedom, and protecting your relationship with your children, these are the ideas I wish someone had told me when we first started homeschooling. Whether you're brand new or years into your homeschool journey, I hope this convers...

I'm not an economist, financial advisor, or market expert. I'm just a mom who's paying attention. In this episode, I share the real-world changes I've been noticing that make me wonder whether we're entering a different economic season. From empty tourist destinations and lower theme park crowds to unsold summer camps, changing travel deals, car inventories, rising prices, and shifts in family spe...

As we head into our 10th year of homeschooling—and our very first year of high school—I'm reminding myself of something I seem to forget every single year: I always try to plan a homeschool that doesn't actually fit real life. In this episode, I'm sharing why "less is more" has become one of the most important principles in our homeschool. We'll talk about curriculum overload, homeschool guilt, de...

When we started homeschooling, I knew there would be moments where I had to learn alongside my kids. High school French is one of those moments. In this episode, I'm sharing how we're creating a complete foreign language plan for our homeschool—even though I am not fluent in French. We'll talk about: letting kids have ownership over educational choices building homeschool high school credits combi...

Homeschool parents spend a lot of time looking for solutions. A new curriculum. A better schedule. A different planner. Another resource. And sometimes those things are exactly what we need. But after nearly 10 years of secular homeschooling, I have started to recognize another important piece of the puzzle: the environment where learning happens. In this episode, I share an honest reflection abou...

Choosing homeschool curriculum is often the exciting part. But what happens after you buy it? In this episode, I share how I'm planning world history for my upcoming ninth grader and fifth grader, why I almost always adapt curriculum, and how I approach creating a homeschool plan that works in our actual everyday life. After almost ten years of homeschooling, I have learned that the best curriculu...