Beyond The Schoolhouse: Discovering The Best of Public, Private, Homeschool & Alternative Education

Welcome back to Beyond The Schoolhouse!🏫 In today’s thought-provoking episode, Sarah McCubbin sits down with fellow blogger and Pocket Homeschool founder Melissa for an honest, heartfelt conversation about a topic many homeschoolers only discuss in hushed tones: educational homeschool neglect. Drawing from their personal journeys as homeschool parents and leaders, Sarah McCubbin and Melissa explo...

Welcome back to Beyond The Schoolhouse! Today, we dive into the nuts and bolts of launching and leading homeschool groups with Darrin Jones from HSLDA—a 30-year veteran advocate, lawyer, and homeschool parent. With the landscape of homeschooling changing rapidly, Darrin brings practical wisdom from decades of supporting groups across the country, from small playdate circles to robust resource cent...

Welcome to Beyond The Schoolhouse! In today’s episode, host Sarah McCubbin sits down with Justine Wilson, founder of Curious and Kind, a unique self-directed, nature-immersive learning program in Florida. Drawing from 17 years spent teaching and leading schools across the U.S. and abroad, Justine Wilson shares the personal journey that led her to break away from traditional education and create a...

What if education could do more than transfer information—what if it could help children discover who they were created to be? In this episode of Beyond The Schoolhouse, Lesley Russell introduces Revelate Learning, an approach rooted in seeing every subject through the lens of the Creator. Drawing from more than 20 years of homeschooling, a master’s degree in education, and experience launching mi...

Welcome back to Beyond The Schoolhouse! In today’s episode, we’re diving deep into one of the most pressing questions facing modern parents and educators: How do we truly prepare our teenagers for meaningful, fulfilling careers in a world full of choices and change? Our guest, Corey Kossack from Orchard, joins us to explore the innovative ways families and schools can move beyond the old “falling...

Learn how Karim Kuperhause creates effective educational resources for schools and ed tech companies. See his approach here. This episode of Beyond the Schoolhouse features an introduction to Kareem Cooperhouse, a professional with extensive experience bridging the gap between classroom needs and educational technology. We examine his specific methods for building tools designed to support teacher...

Thinking about homeschooling your child through high school? In this episode, Kym Kent shares practical advice and addresses common concerns for parents navigating the high school years at home. Why homeschooling through high school is not as daunting as it seems How to tap into resources, dual enrollment, and affordable learning opportunities The critical role of community and how to find or crea...

In this episode, Britton LaTulippe shares his innovative approach to education through Blue Manor Academy, emphasizing character, leadership, and the subjects of greatness. Discover how his model integrates traditional elite prep school principles into an online platform to cultivate future leaders. Keywords: education, leadership, character, prep school, online schooling, Blue Manor Academy, rais...

In this episode, Sarah sits down with her oldest son, Ian, who completed all 13 years of K–12 as a homeschooler. As a recent college graduate and now a software developer, Ian brings an honest perspective on the strengths, challenges, and surprises of homeschooling. Timestamps & Highlights Welcome and Introductions Meet Ian, a 23-year-old homeschool graduate, and get a brief overview of his ed...

In this episode, Join Sarah McCubbin as she talks with Christy Serra-Gandara, a former teacher turned homeschool parent, about the realities, challenges, and rewards of homeschooling after leaving classroom teaching. In this candid discussion, they dive into what really changes when a teacher chooses to educate her own children at home. Why Christy decided to leave classroom teaching and homeschoo...

In this episode, Sarah McCubbin sits down with Jean Lee, a leading voice in alternative education, to discuss the rise of learning pods, their structure, and how to start your own learning community. With over 100 students engaged in her Indianapolis-based pod, Jean Lee shares practical advice, her accidental journey into pod-creation, and how these innovative learning environments can support stu...

Curious about AI for homeschoolers? In this episode, Sarah McCubbin and Shiv Sharma of AstralTutor.com discuss the realities, benefits, and common concerns around AI-powered education. Initially, like many, I was skeptical about how artificial intelligence could genuinely help my children with math specifically. But after experiencing an AI tutor firsthand, my perspective completely shifted. My ki...

This conversation with Doreen Browning delves into the importance of policies for homeschool groups and the role of consultants in guiding and supporting these groups. It covers key policies, challenges, misconceptions, enforcement, development, facility policies, and the process of consulting with homeschool groups. Takeaways Importance of Policies Consulting for Homeschool Groups Chapters 00:00...

The conversation explores the challenges of raising children in an era of institutional failure and the importance of finding and defining one's tribe. It delves into the impact of institutional trust and failure, the credibility and influence of institutions, critical thinking, empowering independent thinking in children, owning consequences, finding and defining one's tribe, challenges in findin...

In this episode, Sarah McCubbin sits down with Linda McCarty from Music Duo Academy to discuss the transformative power of music education for homeschoolers. Together, they unpack why music shouldn’t be an afterthought, how it strengthens the brain, builds confidence and independence, and the reasons it’s never too early (or too late) to start. Linda McCarty shares her experience as an educator an...

Sarah and Simit unpack the handbook —the backbone of a healthy homeschool co-op. You’ll learn why making expectations clear (mission, schedule, volunteer roles, finances, dress code, discipline, attendance, registration, and more) actually reduces friction and preserves relationships. Sarah explains how to start small (park days, playgroups) before formalizing, when to consider becoming a nonprofi...

Discover the world of farm schools with Sarah McCubbin and guest Laura Fry, who runs a unique two-day-a-week drop-off program called Roots and Shoots Farm School on her family's homestead in Ohio. Learn how alternative education models like farm schools can offer hands-on, mixed-age learning experiences. What sets farm school apart from public, private, and traditional homeschool models Key benefi...

In this episode, Sarah and Simit unpack the SchoolMaking.com Starting Point form that helps families launch a homeschool co-op (or support group, social group, park day, micro-school—whatever fits your community). Sarah shares her journey from an elective, interest-based co-op to directing an academic co-op , and the practical steps any parent can take to build something sustainable. We cover: Why...

In this episode, Sarah talks with Michelle Mosey —Australian Navy veteran, longtime intelligence/cybersecurity professional, and leader at Hackers Jack —about how to keep kids safe online without fear or shame. We cover practical steps for preschool through high school, why education beats just “locking things down,” and what to do when something goes wrong. We cover: A simple framework for starti...

Episode 2: Why We Chose Private School—A Conversation with Co-Host Simit Patel In this episode of Beyond the Schoolhouse , I sit down with my co-host and business partner Simit Patel to share his story and perspective on education. Simit is a software engineer, a dad of three, and a deep thinker about how technology and peer groups shape the way kids learn. We cover: Why Simit and his wife chose p...

Episode 1: Meet Sarah McCubbin—Nine Kids, Seven School Models, One Mission Welcome to the very first episode of Beyond the Schoolhouse ! To kick things off, my co-host Simit Patel takes the interviewer’s chair so you can hear my story. I’m a mom of nine who has experienced almost every type of education—homeschooling, public school, private school, and even micro-schools. Over the years, we’ve mad...