PODCAST · kids
Mended Teacups
by Molly and Helen
Two UK home ed mums sharing some of their experiences.
Episodes
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Where does the whiteboard go?
Are you in need of a restoring tonic when it comes to your home education? If so, then chapter 4 of “Another Way to Learn?” written by the lovely Sian is the one for you right now. With a career as a secondary school teacher behind her, Sian is now a home educating mum of three delightful girls....
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Socially Speaking
What do you reckon are the top ten most asked home ed questions? It would be interesting to do a poll. However, queries around the socialisation of our children must be right up there at the top. In the third chapter of "Another Way to Learn?", Juliet English dives straight into this topic. A...
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The Teen Years
I wonder what springs to your mind when someone mentions teens? And then home education and teens in the same sentence. Maybe it’s lengthy conversations as you discuss life, values, ideas, current affairs and faith around the dinner table, accompanied by good food, music and candle light. Maybe...
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The Early Years
Over the next few months we’re going to be taking a gentle amble through “Another Way to Learn?” We’ll introduce you to each chapter and it’s author and reflect on our own home educating experiences around the topic. This week we’ll introduce the lovely Jessica Girard, who writes beautifully on…
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Autumn and thoughts for new home edders
Welcome! Whether you’re a faithful listener or completely new to Mended Teacups Home Ed Podcast, we’re so glad you’re here and allocating a few minutes of your precious time to join us. Our hope is that as you listen in you’ll be encouraged to continue, day by day, in the profound work that you...
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Making the most of the summer season
In the last of this season’s podcasts, we reminisce slightly on days gone by, but mostly look towards the summer and how we can most cherish our days. We also share a little more about Another Way to Learn? our new book for home educators, which will be hitting the book shelves in September....
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When it feels like it's not working
We once took a family ramble up a relatively small mountain. The weather was fine, the banter good humoured and the snacks plentiful. The view from the top was out of all proportion to the height we had climbed so the effort we put in was well worth it. However, there were parts which were hard…
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Hopes and Surprises
Have you come across the Miss Read books? I’ve been a fan of hers for years, and her semi autobiographical novels chronicling the daily happenings in a small, rural, two teacher school during the 1950’s shaped my own vision for our “home school”. In “Village Diary” she writes, I, for one, am…
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Science in Home Education
We’re recording in person again! It’s so much more fun chatting whilst sitting on the same sofa rather than in separate houses. So, we hope our enthusiasm for a subject which can cause consternation comes across today. Make yourself a cuppa and join us as we talk through how we’ve explored…
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Starting our days well
A belated happy New Year to you all! We’ve been hibernating for most of January, but are just beginning to peek our noses out into the podcast world again. Helen and I planned to record this episode via zoom, and then, just as we were winding up some history reading, we heard a knock at the door....
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Christmas 2021
Advent has flown by; a daily mix of the reality of our present, broken world, gloriously interrupted by generous rays of light reminding us that we are indeed living in the tension of the now and the not yet. We’ve had some fabulous outings, enjoyed meeting up with friends, thrown ourselves into...
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Advent Thoughts - December 2021
Advent is upon us! This month of December can be like a helter-skelter, landing us in a exhausted, yet hopefully happy heap on the eve of Christmas. It is usually filled with delicious foods, much loved traditions, twinkly lights, and sparkly-eyed children. It can also be somewhat fraught with...
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Home ed on the hard days
I’d love the fruits of what we pour into our children to metaphorically look like an abundant harvest! But it is hard work. As it happens, we’d both had hard days the week we recorded this. I’m sure we’re not the only ones! We hope we can encourage you as we share some of our home ed experiences...
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Outings and Activities
How has this first half of the autumn term been? Gentle walks through golden woods, blackberry picking under warm blue skies, hot chocolate and read alouds? We’ve had some wonderful moments like that, but also a lot of busyness and struggles to settle into the first “normal” term for a long…
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Starting the new school year
We got together in real life, to record the first podcast of this new season…season 5! Do join us as we look forward to the year ahead and share some of the ways we plan for and celebrate a new term. We’d love to know any special rituals you have. As always let us know via this site, or on...
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Ending Well
Do you have any special traditions to mark the end of term? Or to mark specific days in your home ed year? Whatever your rhythms are, celebrations are the order of the day here. We’d love you to join us for this last episode of the academic year as we share how we celebrate our families’...
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Supporting Each Other
Today we’re looking at how we get support for ourselves, as home educating parents. We’re aware that the rise in families deciding to home educate has coincided with a time of isolation for us all. This is not how it usually is, and for those of us who have been treading this path a while we have...
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Who was ... John Holt?
Join us for an episode in our occasional series on the great and the good of the home ed world... Those that have gone before us, who have challenged conventional thinking and whose influence still lives on. John Holt was an American educator, writing such classics as “How Children Fail” and “How...
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Easter Traditions
I think we could all do with an infusion of joy and hope at the moment. Easter provides the perfect opportunity for this. For those with a Christian faith it is the highlight of the liturgical year, literally the crux of our faith. But for everyone, it is a festival associated with hope and new...
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Building a family legacy
Have you ever thought of the difference between an inheritance and a legacy? While an inheritance is material in nature and may diminish over time, a legacy is a rich handing down of qualities and values which have been cultivated and reflected in a person’s life, and continue to influence...
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Teaching English to the young learner
Teaching a child to read can seem daunting; some take to it like a duck to water, most fly when the time is right, but for a few it is an uphill struggle. One of the joys of home ed is that we can follow our child’s lead. Pour yourself a cup of tea and join us as we share some practical, fun tips...
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English Part 1
I wonder if the thought of teaching English to your child fills you with delight or with dread? Do you have language-loving children who are vociferous readers and copious writers? Or would your child far rather be outside, playing with Lego, doing just about anything else but reading a book? Is...
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Christmas
As we look ahead to an unusual Christmas, Molly and Helen discuss some of their family traditions and think about how and whether to review the year that's past. Check out our blog - www.mendedteacups.wordpress.com - for more information and links to the books and movies we reference.
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Advent
This year Christmas will be different. But that doesn’t necessarily mean it will not be as good. While there are many things we will miss, especially all those fun parties and spending time with family and friends, can we redeem Christmas 2020? Join us as we share our joint love of the season of...
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Life With Little Ones
Life with small children has its own set of demands and wonders. As mums of older children, it’s easy for us to look back on those days with rose-tinted glasses, but if we prod a bit deeper we can remember the exhaustion, the sleepless nights, the sheer physical demands of a baby’s complete...
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November Lockdown
We will no doubt all feel differently towards this second, winter lockdown. For some, it might be a welcome respite, a time with a slower pace in an often hectic life; for others it may hold huge anxiety with concerns over finances / increased pressure at work / family tensions. For many of us…
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Geography
Geography is such a fun subject to share with our children. As we often say, our aim isn’t to teach our kids everything they need to know before they leave home, but rather to inspire a love of learning, nurture their natural curiosity and enable them to become self motivated learners. Our world…
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Dyslexia
Two of Molly’s children are dyslexic, so they have had plenty of opportunities to explore all the complexities wrapped up in this particular learning challenge. It does present some big hurdles but also can be seen as a gift, a way of seeing the world which is unique. Grab yourself a cuppa and...
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Friendships
With the covid pandemic, lockdown and now schools restarting the issue of friendships seems to be particularly pertinent. Good friendships don’t just happen, and as home educators we need to be intentional about helping our children develop and maintain good friends. Come and join us as we go…
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Easing back into a new school year
Easing back into a term time rhythm after the glorious freedom of long summer holidays can be hard any year, but this time around it may be especially tricky... Or you may be longing for some sort of structure and so are raring to go! Come and join us, maybe with a cup of tea at hand, as we chat...
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Summer Holidays Part 2
In our last episode before we take a few weeks’ break, we share some book and blog recommendations which might help re-inspire us in our parenting and home ed journey over the summer. Check our blog for all the links mentioned: mendedteacups.wordpress.com
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Thinking about the summer
I love the long summer holidays, and they are usually heralded by various annual events such as sports day, a home ed camping trip, end of term celebrations and bar-b-q’s. All these mark the end of our academic year. They feel like mini rites of passage, allowing us to move from one season to the...
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Wriggly Children
“My child won’t sit still... how can I teach him/her?” is a question that has been put to us, and one which I’m sure many of us identify with. This is a subject close to my heart (Molly) as we have been particularly blessed with some high energy, wriggly children. So, do join us as we discuss…
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Nature Study
Ah yes. The great outdoors. What a beautiful and inspirational place it can be. Many home educators love to incorporate Nature Study into their family learning, but perhaps you find it a bit daunting to launch into. In this episode, Molly and Helen have a chat about how they've encouraged their...
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Does My Child Have To Go Back To School?
We hope that despite, or even because of, all the challenges of this time, it will have been a season when family relationships have deepened. When that which is important will have come to the surface, some good memories will have been made and some fun been had by all. As schools gradually…
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Will my house ever be tidy again?
For those of us for whom home education is our normal lifestyle, the challenge of having children, books, craft activities, science projects, outdoor gear, sports equipment, laundry, dirty dishes, and toys all competing for the same space can be quite overwhelming. Is it possible to create order...
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When the going seems tough
As we caught up before we set about recording, we began by acknowledging that we both feel weary and heavy-hearted. Day to day life in this new reality can be draining, and the recent uprisings in the States bring deep-rooted injustices to the surface, which we too need to face. So join us as we...
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Learn Free Conference
In this time of Covid and lockdown, it’s been interesting to see the change in some of the ways in which we communicate. At one end of the spectrum, local communities are coming together and friendships are being formed amongst neighbours. At the other end, those from across the country - and…
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Rapid Deschooling
Home educators have coined the term “de-schooling” to describe the change in philosophy and approach to learning which needs to happen if a child is transferring their place of education from school to home. This doesn’t mean that one is wrong and one is right, but that they are different. There...
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The Joy of Reading Aloud
A fun few minutes in which we both share our enthusiasm for reading aloud to our kids. We could have gone on for much longer, but we didn’t! Come and join our conversation and then continue it at home.
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When all your children need you at the same time
This is a great question, and whether we home ed or not, we all know that head spinning feeling of questions and needs being expressed from all sides! We are no experts, but we offer some of our thoughts from our years of home ed to this common dilemma. And a question from me ... why is it…
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Lessons from Lockdown
We’re all learning new things, from how to do our supermarket shop and how to make bread without yeast, through to how to deal with the much larger threats which face us. Here are a few of our lockdown lessons, some light-hearted and some deeper. We’d love to hear from you... Let us know what...
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Everyone else is coping why aren't I?
I’m sure we’re not the only ones struggling to cope with all that is unfolding around us. Today we have some advice from an experienced counsellor and some practical suggestions to help us as we walk through this strange season. Listen in and be encouraged!
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Time Together
As we reflected on these past few weeks in lockdown, we both realised that despite, or maybe because of, spending the entire time together with our families, we’ve spent less quality time with each other. We’ve had to contend with shock, uncertainty, deep health and financial concerns and the...
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Meaningful Days
At a time when each day rolls into the next with very little difference, we can easily feel overwhelmed and lacking in purpose. In this episode we suggest a few ways in which we can establish a gentle rhythm to our days and weeks and thus add meaning to this home season.
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How can we celebrate?
With the worry and uncertainty facing us in these strange times of lockdown and global pandemic, how can we still celebrate? This episode is being published just before Easter - how can we enjoy this time and make it different when we can't go anywhere and it's tricky to get special meal...
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Will they be behind when this is over?
The second of our mini schools shutdown podcast series. A much asked question at the moment is whether our children will have fallen behind their expected levels of attainment when schools start back. Join us as we address this with a perspective that sees opportunity in this time. Whether you…
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Home Ed In A Pandemic
We are all living through extraordinary times; times of fear and anxiety, times of loss and sickness, times of financial disaster and daily uncertainty. On top of all of this, schools have closed indefinitely in the UK and elsewhere, and home education has been thrust upon already overloaded...
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Online Learning
A lovely friend joins us to share her experience of the various ways her children have made use of courses via the internet. Subjects range from Middle Ages Literature to “fun” maths. Come and learn along with us about another way to enable our kids to fly high... Apology: We keep talking about...
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History in Home Ed
What comes to mind when history is mentioned? Dusty old text books? Memorising dates for exams? Confusing over who won what battle and why it mattered anyway? Teaching our own children history - and learning alongside them - is such a fun and rewarding experience. Come and catch some of our...
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Mended Teacups have?
Mended Teacups currently has 70 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Mended Teacups about?
Two UK home ed mums sharing some of their experiences.
How often does Mended Teacups release new episodes?
Mended Teacups has 70 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Mended Teacups?
You can listen to Mended Teacups on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Mended Teacups?
Mended Teacups is created and hosted by Molly and Helen.
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