MEET YOUR HOSTS OF THE HOMESCHOOL YOUR WAY PODCAST

In this back-and-forth conversation, DJ, DeeDee, and Ximena tell the stories of how they made the choice to homeschool and how they homeschool their own unique way.  QUOTABLES DeeDee: And you just can't let homeschool take over your whole life. Ximena: You can't? ------ Ximena: "I think it's funny that we all started off almost exactly the same in our journeys with homeschooling and then just completely went the opposite direction." TIMESTAMPS 09:31 DeeDee's story of choosing to homeschool when her oldest was in kindergarten. 11:14 Ximena's story of deciding to homeschool when her daughter was in 4th grade and had some developmental issues and was facing bullying. How Ximena grew in confidence to meet her daughter's needs. 13:33 DJ's story of being homeschooled herself as a middle schooler and then going back to public school as a high schooler. Bad experiences in high school made her and her husband want to homeschool. 21:22 DeeDee's transformation from a classical approach to a more eclectic and relaxed homeschool where she is free to explore things alongside her childre. 24:53 DJ's horrible experience with trying to replicate school at home that resulted in taking a year off from formal schooling. Instead, she and her (very young) children had fun and played games. Then she tried the classical approach which didn't work either. Finally she found a literature-based approach that allowed her kids to move about and still retain information. But she still uses worksheets! 32:14 Ximena's story of accepting that her kids don't always like the same things she does. She started with a classical model and moved more to a Charlotte Mason-style, and then settled on an eclectic, literature-based way of teaching.  34:48 The joy of seeing connections in everything you learn. SPECIAL SEGMENTS 02:40 Self-care Your Way As moms (parents), we are great at selflessly putting everyone else before ourselves. But if we're not taking care of ourselves, what good are we to anyone else?  Taking care of yourself is not a luxury only for people who have money or who have too much time on their hands. We all need to put aside our perfectionist and workaholic tendencies to self-care.  In this episode: buying a streaming device, sleeping in later in the morning, making your own shower a mini-spa. 18:04 What We’re Reading DJ: Being the Bridge by Latasha Morrison Ximena: The Hunger Games Thanks to show sponsor BookShark. Request a homeschool curriculum catalog or download samples at bookshark.com.