Replay: Reclaiming a Wild + Free Childhood with Ainsley Arment
Release Date: 01/07/2025
On the High School Years: The Beginning of the End
Homeschooling Outside the Box
If you’re just at the beginning of the high school years, it may feel like the end is still far off but I warn you, the ball sure does start rolling quickly once it starts. The end is nigh, my friend. You’ve been working yourself out of a job and when you make it to the high school years, and you should begin to feel that change. It sounds somber to call it “the end,” but remember it’s just the end of a chapter and not the whole book. You’re still your teen’s parent, after all ;). As I said in , the high school years are a different animal in many ways, the lens often focused on...
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Replay: The Value of Teaching Through Stories with Jim Weiss
Homeschooling Outside the Box
I am not doing interviews right now, but I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. Enjoy! Stories have been a part of human history from the very beginning and have been used as a powerful teaching tool throughout the centuries. Teaching through stories is a wonderful way to approach lessons in your homeschool, as well. Jim Weiss is a household name among many homeschoolers. He made his mark by doing this very thing – teaching through stories. His seamless delivery and enchanting ability to tell a great tale allows him to weave important character development and historical...
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Replay: Seeing Autism in a New Light with Bryn Hogan, Executive Director of the Autism Treatment Center of America®
Homeschooling Outside the Box
While I am not able to do interviews right now, I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Bryn Hogan. Are you ready to see autism in a new light? So often the conversation about autism is surrounded by a list of limitations. And let's face it, living the daily grind as a parent of a child on the spectrum sometimes really highlights those limitations. Join us today as Bryn Hogan, Executive Director of the Autism Treatment Center of America® talks about how the program came to be and what makes it is so radically different (in...
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Replay: Homeschooling High School with Melissa McMahan
Homeschooling Outside the Box
While I am not able to do interviews right now, I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Melissa McMahan. Homeschooling High School…what is it about this phrase that makes even the most confident homeschool mama shake in her boots a little? The expectations seem to go through the roof. The pressure from the elusive yet always present critics “out there” seems to double. And the group of moms who’ve gone ahead of you who have the credibility to cheer you on seems to thin out drastically the longer you homeschool....
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On the School Years: The K-8 Episode
Homeschooling Outside the Box
This is the crux of it all. When you are homeschooling kids in the K-8 range, you are in the sweet spot, my friend. are largely spent cleaning up messes and putting out fires (hopefully only theoretically ones, but you never know), and trying to get a handle on how to run a home with littles running underfoot. You’re building (whether you realize it or not) and coming up with routines to create a (mostly) well run home. While I would argue that Kindergarten is really part of the early years and doesn’t need to be lumped with the school years, I understand that’s a pretty counter...
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Replay: Why Effective Communication Matters with Andrew Pudewa, Director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing
Homeschooling Outside the Box
While I am not able to do interviews right now, I want to bring you some great talks from past seasons. Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Andrew Pudewa. Are you raising effective communicators? Andrew Pudewa is a well-known name in the homeschool world and for good reason. His ideas on effective communication and the arts of language - listening, speaking, reading, and writing - have helped to shape our homeschool over the years. I'm excited to share with you today some practical and thought-provoking ideas on how to help your child - no matter what his...
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On Rhythms & Routines: The "How to Run Your Day" Episode
Homeschooling Outside the Box
Isn’t this the best month of the year to talk about this? It seems like January is the time we all want to finally get our lives together and give a valiant effort to do so. Despite our best efforts, though, somehow the new of the year wears off over the months and by the time the weather warms, life is in its lovely, unavoidable spiral once more. So why bother? Follow me on Follow me on
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Replay: Reclaiming a Wild + Free Childhood with Ainsley Arment
Homeschooling Outside the Box
In case you missed it... Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Ainsley Arment. Childhood is a unique growing time for our children; educators, parents, and experts have known this for years and yet childhood often gets swept under the rug at the expense of rigorous academics and a schedule full of structured activities. Children are, for the first time in history, busy. Schedules have largely replaced curiosity. Organized programs have taken priority over free play. And if we're really honest, I think us mamas can admit...it's just too much. What would happen if we embraced a...
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On Principles 11-15: The Curriculum Episode
Homeschooling Outside the Box
This is it, guys. The final episode of the series. We made it. It’s a big one, too — five principles jammed into one article but they all have to do with wonderful, wonderful curriculum. Read and subscribe on . Connect with me on .
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On Christmas Cheer: December Everything
Homeschooling Outside the Box
Ah, Christmas. The lights. The music. The traditions. The bustle. The gatherings. The Reason for the season. Starting this month, I’ll be gifting my paid subscribers with a bundle of rhythms to help celebrate the season from month to month. They’re called “Everything” guides. If you’ve been around for a while, these are the classic everything guides reimagined and much improved ;). In the spirit of Christmas, I’ll be giving access to everyone this month only. I hope this resource blesses you and — if you’re not already — that you’ll consider coming along next month as a...
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Join me for the replay of a fantastic interview with Ainsley Arment.
Childhood is a unique growing time for our children; educators, parents, and experts have known this for years and yet childhood often gets swept under the rug at the expense of rigorous academics and a schedule full of structured activities. Children are, for the first time in history, busy. Schedules have largely replaced curiosity. Organized programs have taken priority over free play. And if we're really honest, I think us mamas can admit...it's just too much. What would happen if we embraced a more "wild and free" approach to childhood in our homeschools? What type of atmosphere might we be able to create for our families?
The Wild + Free movement had its humble beginnings about six years ago when Ainsley Arment started an Instagram account to gather and inspire other moms in quest of this "wild and free" type of childhood for their children. What began as a few moms sharing experiences and tips on the internet has grown into an online and in-person community of over 177,000 mamas strong. Wild & Free is not a method; it transcends - and therefore welcomes - many homeschool philosophies and makes room for all mamas to educate their children in a way that works best for their family.
Join us today as Ainsley and I explore the benefits of living Wild + Free in your homeschool.
In this episode you’ll hear:
- Ainsley's journey to becoming a Wild + Free homeschooler
- What a Wild + Free education looks like
- Why childhood matters & how we can preserve it
- Ainsley's favorite parts of homeschooling, as well as the most challenging
- What we're reading right now
- How to balance it all...or not ;)
- How to be a Wild + Free mama
Show Notes