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Free Homeschool Podcasts For my birthday back in November, my amazing husband bought me a purple ipod nano. That little machine is in use all the time. I'm always listening to something, usually audio books. So recently when some fellow homeschoolers shared that I could listen to various homeschool speakers podcasts for free over at Homeschool.com. I was really excited by this because down here in Tasmania I've not had the opportunity to attend any homeschool conventions (something I'd love to do), & I also missed out on the online conference being offered by The Old Schoolhouse.
So today, while I attended to an entire basket of mending (seriously, do your kids wear out all their pjs and pants at one time or is it just mine?), making the guys a massive Black Forest cake (hey, when they're sick they can get away with ridiculous requests like this!), stirring up a pot of Leek & Potato soup, and vacuuming the house I enjoyed listening to 3 different speakers.
While what I listened to wasn't new to me, it was good to hear again. Interestingly enough, ideas and thoughts I've been tossing around for a while were mentioned in these podcasts and I liked that. It was like a virtual pat on the back (is that weird?) I have a few more flagged to listen to later this week, and I'm quite intrigued to hear the interview with Christopher Paolini. Interestingly enough his name was tossed around a lot in the podcasts I chose as Eragon had been a best seller at that time.
The podcasts I listened to today were:
How to Avoid Homeschool Burnout with Christine Field - there was nothing wrong with this one, and I'm not actually feeling burnout right now, but I was looking for something exciting and uplifting. This one didn't fit that bill. It was a good reminder though that we can't always do it all and there's nothing wrong with backing off when we need. Like when your kids and your husband are sick and you've got to hold the fort up alone...
When Homeschooling Gets Tough with Diana Johnson -- I enjoyed this one as well. There was quite a few profound statements she made that really made my day. I especially enjoyed her statement that many people think just because one chooses to homeschool we're raising mini geniuses or prodigies. This isn't the case in the majority of the circumstances. I also like how she pointed out while there are those out there who do excel in particular areas they most likely lack in another. It wasn't meant as a slant against either, but as a point that we need to accept our kids right where they are.
Ways To Make Your Homeschooling More Fun with Gail DeGiulio -- I think the topic of this particular podcast was super misleading without meaning to. Gail happens to own, operate, and run a game store that sells some AMAZINGLY cool games. In fact, we'd love to get our hands on a few of them.. Anyway, this was more about weekly family evenings/nights and remembering that everyone needs a chance to let their hair down and be totally crazy. It was well worth the listen, but I just think it should be called something different.


Posted by Kendra at Saturday, May 15, 2010
Labels: freebies, homeschooling, Kendra, podcasts

