Homeschool Better Together

I am joined on the podcast today by Lauren Stengele, a non-native Spanish speaker who is passionate about raising bilingual kids. Lauren is teaching her kids Spanish in order to reclaim her own Mexican heritage and she is using Morning Time to make this a reality in her homeschool.   In this episode of the podcast Lauren and I chat about how she incorporates two languages intro her school day, wha...

On today's episode of the podcast I am chatting with a good friend and author of the Morning Time plans at pambarnhill.com . Jessica Lawton is a bibliophile and owner of a library of over 3000 books. She is also great a choosing just the right books to use in Morning Time.   On today's podcast Jessica and I chat about how to choose the best books about a topic, which books she thinks are...

Today's episode of the Your Morning Basket podcast has not one, but two great interviews. First up on the show is my good friend Fr. Doug Martin who is here to talk about the spiritual observation of Lent and how all Christians can practice this in their families. As we were preparing that interview we were approached by author Asheritah Ciuciu, an evangelical author who has her own Lenten de...

Today on the podcast I am joined by Alisha Gratehouse and her daughter Olivia from Masterpiece Society . As fans of art, Alisha and Olivia have started a new art appreciation podcast that takes a fun and "cheeky" look at artists and their work. In fact, it is quickly becoming a favorite of the teens and tweens in my house. In this episode of the show discover what is unique about the Mas...

Cindy Rollins, mom of nine and “Mama of Morning Time” (so-named by me!), is back on the podcast this week to chat about Stratford Caldecott’s  Beauty in the Word  — specifically the portion on grammar, or what Caldecott calls “remembering.” Join us as we chat about anamnesis, what it is and how it is alike and different what we already associate with memory. Listen for:   The idea of anchoring or...

Today on the podcast I am joined by Amy Sloan from humilityanddoxology.com and mom of five kids ages 4 to 14. For about the past five years Amy has made memory work a central part of her homeschool day. In this episode Amy and I discuss how to be consistent with memory work, how you find great pieces to memorize, and practical ways you can make this happen in your home. We also chat about the deba...

What happens to your morning time as your kids get older? Does it change or do we stop requiring them to attend? Can your teen outgrow Morning Time? These are the questions that Cindy West from Our Journey Westward joins me to answer today. In this episode of the podcast we talk about how the tone of Morning Time changes as your kids get older, how to get their buy in with what you are doing, and...

Today we welcome Christopher and Christine Perrin to the podcast to chat about prayer in your homeschool, Morning Time, and personal time. It is a fascinating conversation. Join us as we discuss: How prayer can be both personal discipline and corporate practice. What are the best ways to teach and model the practice of prayer? Tips for modeling something when we are just learning it ourselves. Dif...

Today we are joined on the podcast by Heather Woodie of  Blog She Wrote,  mom of four young adults. Heather has been practicing  Morning Time  in her family for a number of years, and has seen a shift in the practice as she has graduated two kids and is now left home with two more teens to go. In this episode of the podcast we chat about: how Heather's  Morning Time  changed has changed over...

She's back! One of my favorite guests ever is back again on the Your Morning Basket podcast. Last fall when we had Angelina Stanford on the show to talk to us about why fairy tales are important reading for your kids, you let us know how much you loved the episode and Angelina's enthusiasm for the topic. Today she is no less enthusiastic as we dive into what exactly myth is (surprised me), Justin...

The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis is a series of essays on the state of education and truth in the 21st Century. A slim volume, yet dense with ideas, it is a worthy read for any parent dedicated to the education of their child in Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Today we have special guest Dr. Jason Jewell with us to help us unpack and understand Lewis's work and begin to learn how it applies to...

Heather Bunting is passionate about helping families learn to sing -- even if mom doesn't think she can carry a tune at all. Through her free YouTube channel, Children of the Open Air, Heather helps make solfege lessons, hymns, and folks songs accessible for homeschool families everywhere. In this episode of the podcast, Heather talks about the skill of learning to sing, how we can incorporat...

If you ever need to take Morning Time on the road then this episode is for you. Dawn Garrett joins me to chat about why and how we can pack up our Morning Times and take them with us -- getting homeschooling done even when we can't be at home. If you are out of the house a day or more each week then this episode is for you.

Have you ever wanted another mom to come along beside you and show you exactly what Morning Time looks like? Maybe, you think, I could just stop by her home and be a fly on the wall and unpack the mysteries of this Morning Time thing? Heather Tully has done just that with other moms in her community and she has been doing it for years. On this episode of the podcast Heather joins me to talk about...

Andrew Peterson knows a thing or two about a good story and creativity. He is on the show today to talk about sharing both with your kids, his work with the Rabbit Room as a place for children's authors to support one another and grow, and a little something he calls the redeemed imagination. It's a fascinating conversation with topics as diverse as C.S. Lewis, Gerard Manley Hopkins, and...

Mom's are natural teachers for a language -- after all moms teach their kids language all the time. Foreign language can work the same way as a first language -- simply start with words and phrases you use everyday and build on one or two at a time. Soon you will know more words in a new language than you ever imagined. Adelaide Olguin is on the show today to tell us about how this natural la...

Welcome to a brand new season of the Your Morning Basket Podcast. We are kicking off the year with an important but fun conversation with the creator of We Choose Virtues, Heather McMillian. I love Heather's enthusiasm for helping teach kids about virtues. Drawing on her years of experience as a teacher and children's pastor, Heather has created a system that opens a dialogue in families...

Becky McIntosh can see the beauty and joy in math. She says it comes from practice -- that she makes a special point to look for the beauty of mathematics everyone. Lucky for us, she is on a mission to help other homeschool moms find the same joy in math as well. She is here today on the podcast with an inspiring look at how we can use literature to connect our kids to cool, interesting mathematic...

Sarita Holzmann was a reluctant homeschooler but soon came to love it. With a heart for missionaries serving overseas and the people they serve, Sarita has always had an eye towards bringing geography to life using literature. On this episode of the podcast she joins us to discuss why geography is important and why literature is the best way to experience that. Get your notebooks handy -- there is...

Andrea Kirk Assaf homeschools on three continents as her family splits their time between Michigan and Rome as well as spending part of the year visiting her husband's family in Lebanon. Today she joins Pam on this episode of the podcast to talk about Calendar School, her Morning Time variation that includes elements of the Church year and the seasonal cycles. Andrea has a unique take on Morn...

Sarah Mackenzie is on a mission -- a mission to help every family know that the importance of reading aloud goes beyond building bigger test scores and better vocabularies. The importance of reading aloud goes to the very heart of the relationships in your home. Join Pam and Sarah on the podcast as they chat why this is even more relevant to our culture today than it was 20 years ago, practical ti...

This week Dawn Garrett and I are on the show with a very special announcement! Better Together is a new book all about Morning Time and it is hitting the bookstores today. Dawn and I dish about the book, other Morning Time resources, and how Morning Time is a great fit for every kind of homeschooler. Check it out!

It's a question we get asked often and it is a good one: How do I do Morning Time when I have just one child? How do I keep it from looking like the rest of my school day? Today Tina Roman, mom of one, is here on the show to talk to us about what Morning Time looks like in her home. Hint: It's not as quiet as you might think it would be. Enjoy!

In addition to your more traditional Morning Time we are hearing from moms more and more about Morning Time variations that they are using to enhance their homeschools. Today on the podcast Mystie Winckler is back talking about her Elementary Lessons. These are a separate, mini-co-op style session her family does with another family a couple of times each week. But it also looks suspiciously like...

We are kicking off the new season of the Your Morning Basket podcast with a conversation about story. And there is no one better equipped to talk to us about a good story and the impact it can have on our kids than master-story teller S.D. Smith.   Author of the enthralling Green Ember series of books, Sam is here today to chat with us about what makes a good story and how these tales shape our ki...