Ela was out last week on a hard-earned vacation, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to toot her horn a bit and plug the latest developments on the OpenEd Podcast.
The recent guests have been incredible and our archive has grown into a full-fledged open education encyclopedia – covering everything from…
We sorted all 100+ episodes into 13 YouTube playlists so you can browse by what’s most relevant to your family in your season of life.
You should also follow Ela on Instagram (@ela.learns) for highlights, recaps, and previews of new episodes.
@ela.learns out loud.
The latest episode has a little of something for everybody. Rebecca Stromsdorfer (My Homeschool Village) has spent the last 22 years personalizing her 5 kids’ education.
Was it easy? No way!
Was it worth it? Listen on…
But first, I also wanted to share a list of our community’s 12 favorite education podcasts – covering everything from 2-hour learning methods, to nature-based approaches (1000 Hours Outside) to neurodivergent education (Raising Lifelong Learners).
And yes, we also included a shameless plug for the OpenEd Podcast, but that’s just the tip of the pod-berg.
Between planning lessons, answering endless questions, and tackling that mountain of laundry, finding time for educational research can feel impossible. These shows turn your carpool, dinner prep and laundry hour into “professional development.”
We know we can’t serve every niche – help us expand our list by sharing your favorites on Facebook.
Now on to this week’s episode.
How hard is homeschooling, really?!?
Rebecca Stromsdorfer never planned to homeschool. She and her husband toured the charters and the private schools in their area, looking for something that worked.
What stopped them from enrolling their first child had nothing to do with test scores or waitlists. It was a kindergarten classroom tour that displayed a room of kids who could recite facts but looked (in her words) to be dying inside.
This sounds harsh, until you hear the story of how Rebecca set out with the best of intentions only to recreate the exact same conditions she observed in the classroom in her own home. (Picture six workbooks at the kitchen table, a child in tears, and a mother who went to her own room and cried too.)
“I took you out of a box at school so that I could put you into another box,” Rebecca reflects on that period.
“And that’s where I failed.”
But out of that failure, Rebecca built a framework to prevent families from having to learn the hard way – which she shares through her platform My Homeschool Village.
In this episode:
The first thing she tells a parent to do after taking a kid out of the classroom (and why it has nothing to do with school)
Why she hates the word “deschooling,” and what she uses instead
What it sounds like when a kid starts trusting again
Enjoy! And send us your guest suggestions – we read every reply.
– Charlie
