The Homeschool Advantage Podcast

When Did We Stop Calling Them Up? What if the problems we see in high school… don’t begin in high school? In this first episode of a three-part series, Bex Buzzie explores a difficult but necessary question: When did we stop calling young adolescents up into responsibility? We spend so much time talking about homelessness, crime, disengagement, and generational anxiety — but we rarely ask where th...

Episode Title: It’s Not What Students Know — It’s How They Use It The Newton Protocol Link Students are memorizing more than ever — and understanding less. In this episode of The Homeschool Advantage podcast, educator and instructional leader Bex Buzzie confronts a growing and uncomfortable reality in modern education: many students can perform academically without truly being able to read, compre...

It’s been two years since the last episode of The Homeschool Advantage, and a lot has changed. In this season-opening episode, I reintroduce myself and reflect on how my understanding of education has evolved after returning to the classroom and pursuing a Master’s in Educational Leadership. I share why I still believe in homeschooling, while also recognizing that learning doesn’t belong to one mo...

Intro  Crissi Allen Founder and Executive Director of HEART Academy Christian Microschool in San Jose, California, and a Certified Holistic Health Coach. She finds it great joy helping parents capture the hearts of their children, helping parents find their children's God-given passions early in life, creating a heartfelt community, and partnering and empowering with hundreds of families.    She h...

Intro  Norma Jean Maxwell, Founder of Time to Shine Teach & Coaching is an Orton Gillingham trained Reading, Spelling & Writing Specialist.  With over 20 years teaching experience, both within and outside the public school system, Norma Jean truly loves teaching children, particularly those with learning differences.  She is passionate about providing support for parents and educators in n...

Intro  Michael Strong Founder and Chief Visionary of The Socratic Experience, is one of the most experienced designers of innovative school programs in the United States. He is also the author of The Habit Of Thought: From Socratic Seminars To Socratic Practice and the Lead Author of Be The Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World's Problems.    Students from M...

Intro  Josie Balkowski is the Founder of Online Scribblers, an online writing program for students in Grades 3-12 of all skill levels. Josie is a blogger and writer who strives to bring writing education to the forefront of every student's learning and to engage their creativity to create proficient communicators of the future.    Since 2012, Josie has been teaching writing both in person to homes...

Intro  Yvette Boucher CEO of Lil Learners Luv Learning, a certified kindergarten teacher for 20 years, and an experienced online teacher. She loves to teach little learners. Her passion is teaching children to read. Nothing excites Yvette more than to see a student's face light up as they start to read. Her teaching style includes music and movement along with a hands-on approach while incorporati...

Intro  Derek and Amy Weichel CEOs and Founders of Faithful Parent they were both personally blessed with Christian Education from elementary through high school. Faithful Parent helps you have a clear parenting plan on your Christian family journey, and find the time and guidance to develop one.  They help parents to be more intentional about looking at all the options that are available to their...

Intro  Jennifer Mercer, M.Ed Co-Founder of Learning Journeys Forum and she has been working with youth since she was 16 years old. She has spent the past 30 years developing and growing her skills in many different ways; as a classroom teacher, special education teacher, lead teacher, college instructor, tutor, Girl Scout leader, mentor, and group facilitator. Jennifer homeschooled her two daughte...

Intro  Colleen Kelley Ph. D Founder of Kids' Chemical Solutions received her B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Richmond, and her Ph. D in Organometallic Chemistry from the Pennsylvania State University. Her teaching duties have spanned from graduate level courses all the way to elementary school courses. She is the author of "The M.C. Detective Agency: Chemical Solutions Required", a fun co...

Intro  Brooke DeHority Founder of The Brooke Review, an education leader and literacy enthusiast with over a decade of experience working in New York City public schools. Her expert approach to improving early reading achievement through aligned cross-curricular instructional design and project-based learning yields exceptional results for students.     Top three takeaways  You can choose the path...

Intro  Dana Argueta is the Puentes Administrator at the Spanish Institute of Honduras, an educator with a background in elementary education and linguistic acquisition. She serves as the administrator of the homeschool program and also handles missionary care and student services at Spanish Institute of Honduras. She has been in Honduras since 2018, and understands the difficulties and joys that c...

Intro  Michael Staton CEO and Co-Founder of Colearn.  Colearn has redesigned the school experience around families for an era of remote and hybrid work. They are bridging the best of unconventional education approaches and great schools to create an entirely new learning experience that prioritizes families.     Top three takeaways  How Colearn is focused on future ready, innovation, creative, and...

Intro  Debbie Annett Founder and Creator of Spanish For You! A unique theme-based curriculum for elementary and middle school-aged children. She is an Illinois state-certified teacher who has enjoyed teaching the Spanish language to kids of all ages for 23 years. She has a Bachelor's degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois and a Master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Northern...

Intro  Leah Ballard CEO and Founder of B3 Homeschool Support, a certified teacher in the state of Florida. She has a BA from the University of Central Florida in Secondary Education with a Biology focus. Her certifications are in Biology, General Science, and Math.     Top three takeaways  No one knows our children better or is more qualified to love them than we are.  Florida law requires all hom...

Intro  Patty Marler Media Relations of Homeschool Today. Patty Marler is a veteran homeschooler with over two decades of homeschool experience from preschool through high school. Patty is passionate about helping people navigate the various options, tailor educational methods and resources, and identify supports to build a solid home education program, because no two homeschools are exactly alike,...

Intro  Connie Chapman CEO and Founder of Your Art Class. She was born in Mobile, Alabama, and moved with her family to New Orleans where she finished high school and college, got married, and had two children. She has a bachelor's degree in Elementary education with a minor in art. She has taken art classes at Tulane, attended many art workshops, taught art, and was an art director for two compani...

Intro  Neta Shani CEO and Founder of My E-motions. She is a pediatric acupuncturist and sensory balancing practitioner specializing in sensory and emotional processing challenges. Over the years she has acquired an extensive knowledge on these subjects and kept adding more tools to help her better address each child’s specific needs. Her goals were not only to improve each patient’s overall being...

Intro   Melissa Muir is a homeschooling mom of 4 and works with teachers via coaching and products as she loves teaching online and helping people get started & thrive as online teachers so that they can be present at home. (Yes, even while homeschooling!)     Top three takeaways   Homeschooling doesn’t mean the end of a career. Working in online education can bring a new dimension as we conti...

Intro  Calli Veludos CEO And Founder of The Ark Education, their goal is to bring together educators and the wider community and to empower people with an educational need by providing a space where they are able to access educators and educational services with ease. Calli and her original team had over 75 years of experience in education, spanning from ECE to secondary and learning support, and...

Intro  Heather Cassil CEO and Founder of Kids Sonder Agriculture-Unboxed, a former 4-H Youth Development Educator/Agent who has lots of information and ideas in her head, love creating educational content and educating kids and she is passionate about learning and teaching about agriculture and the environment. Her mission is to inspire and empower kids to learn about agriculture, food and the env...

Intro  Alexis Rosin, the Founder and CEO of Guided Light Services LLC, Their goal at Guided Light Services is to help families achieve their fullest potential. They provide compassionate, individualized, one-on-one, and family coaching sessions for children and adults who have been diagnosed with ASD. Their faith-based approach guides their clients to overcome obstacles on the path to achieving al...

Intro  Ness Blackbird CEO and Founder of the Blackbird Code, realized that there were no good systems out there for learning coding at home and that was his inspiration for creating Blackbird Code.  Blackbird Code Inc.  is an educational technology company based in Portland, Oregon that gives every student the friendliest experience as they learn to code.   Ness's sole desire is to give the world...

Intro  KeriAnne N. Jelinek CEO of Sloth Dreams Books & Publishing Company specializes in providing engaging and informative social studies books for young learners in preschool and early elementary grades. Their books are tailored to meet the needs of educators and homeschool educators who are looking to teach their students about history, geography, culture, and other important social studies...