Homeschooling is an extension of parenting, so the moment we are parents, we are also homeschoolers. We all teach our kids that the cow says, “moo” and the dog says, “woof.” It’s really not so different from teaching them the letter “b” says “buh” and the letter “d” says “duh.”

The high school years are the launching pad into adulthood. It’s the time for homeschoolers to get serious and create a solid strategy that will help them prepare to be the best possible candidate for their own unique next step. If you have followed the Cradle to Calling way of homeschooling with the end result in mind, then you have already helped your student discover their interests in elementary school. During the middle school years, you helped them develop an interest into a passion, and now, in the high school years, it’s time to create a powerful strategy for adulthood.

The primary work of the middle school years is all about helping our kids develop passion. In this episode, we will talk about what that entails and how to apply it to your homeschool days. We will also talk about the other goals of this season and offer some suggestions for boxes to check off in the middle school years, as well as the key truths that we can intentionally feed their preteen souls.

We’re all about homeschooling with the end result in mind, but we also realize that there are different end results (goals, if you will) at different stages and seasons in our kids’ young lives. In this episode we’re looking at the elementary years and talking specifically about the goals of these years.

Every one of our kids has a calling, but, of course, it’s not our calling on their lives; it’s a God-given calling. Still, we have an important part to play in their development and preparation for it, and as homeschoolers, we have unique and powerful opportunities to help prepare our kids well.

For many homeschool families, the thought of homeschooling through high school is unthinkable. Parents say, “I don’t know all those subjects, so how can I possibly teach my child?” So often in the homeschool community, we see gung ho parents in the elementary years, but as middle school approaches, many become tentative, and then by high school the numbers seem to dwindle

Any homeschool parent who has ever faced the challenge of trying to motivate an unmotivated student -- or worse, a distracted and dawdling homeschooled student -- knows the frustrations and doubts it can stir about ourselves, our child, and homeschooling in general.

Most homeschool parents sense that our nation is suffering an identity crisis. A great many of our citizens (especially young adults) are rejecting the free market capital system that helped to build our country in favor of socialism. According to today’s guest “54% of college-aged kids prefer socialism to free market capitalism without even really being able to define socialism.”

Every homeschool mom feels at times as if she’s in perpetual motion with constant demands swirling around her, but for moms with large families, who are homeschooling multiple aged children at once, the demands are multiplied. Our guest on today’s podcast actually did the math once. She said that she figured out if there are two siblings then you have one possible sibling combination, but if you have eight siblings (as she does in her family), then you have more than 60 possible combinations.

For so many homeschool families, math is a big stinkin’ thorn in their side. If that’s your story (it’s sure our story), then take a few minutes to eavesdrop on our chat with a dear friend of ours, who also happens to be the founder of a super popular online math program.

We don’t know about you, but if we’re being totally honest, we have never considered math from a Biblical perspective. Of course we know that God created all things, and clearly that includes math, but to think about from a decidedly Christian perspective was an entirely new concept to us. If you’re in the same boat, today’s guest is going to spark a whole new way of thinking!

Have you ever noticed how many homeschoolers cringe when you talk about math? For so many of us (yup -- this one has been a big struggle for our two families over the years), it’s the one subject that makes us feel inadequate. In fact, in our own families, math is the one subject that has brought our kids to tears.

To kick of the fall, we have been talking about nature study, and today’s podcast is wrapping up the series with a super fun, highly practical episode. We both fully believe in the value of nature study, but truth be told, it’s not the easiest thing for us to incorporate. For one, we’ve got a gaggle of kids between us with a pretty wide age range, and getting them all to move in one general direction outside is like herding cats.

We first became aware of the value of nature study in the homeschool experience through our own study of the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling. It was her belief that children should get outside and observe God’s creation every single day!

Earlier this year, we attended the Florida Home Educators Association annual homeschool convention. By the way, if you are anywhere near Florida on Memorial Day weekend (or if you’re in need of a great vacation spot), COME to the FPEA convention! It’s the largest in the nation, and you will be blown away! Our favorite class this year was a hands-on class that showed us how to make four awesome Busy Bags for our littlest people. We are both raising toddlers at the moment, and this class was so helpful. The facilitator for this class was an inspiring homeschool veteran, who has raised a gaggle of kids herself but has also spent 25 years as a Florida homeschool evaluator, working with many families. What we loved most about listening to her speak was how practical she was. Everything she offered was real, hands-on, and fun for kids!

“Everyone needs a mentor,” our good friend said. In this episode of From Cradle to Calling podcast, we are talking to a dear friend and homeschool veteran about how she uses the classics to mentor students.

We can not count how many times smart kids with great grades, even valedictorians, bomb the SAT or the ACT. Why is that?

In today’s podcast, Jean Burk, creator of the award-winning program College Prep Genius is talking to us about how to beat these standardized tests. They are tests of critical thinking, she says. “If you understand the strategies and shortcuts behind the test, you could skip pretty much 75% of the passage and get every answer right.”

What do you do when your homeschooler hits the end of first grade and can’t read, then the end of 2nd grade and still can’t read, then the end of third and fourth and fifth? What do you do when your 11 or 12 year old still can’t read? For many homeschool parents, a struggling reader makes them feel like failures. And the kids feel even worse.

One conversation with Andrew Pudewa is like attending a full convention of A-List speakers. You walk away from the conversation, refreshed, inspired, and challenged. We are deeply honored to have him as our very first guest on From Cradle to Calling podcast. In this episode, he is talking very practically about how to nurture competent communicators.

After six years of being on radio, the last three of which were syndicated in different parts of the country, we have finally stepped out of the last’s century of communication methods and into this one!