What's the difference between a mission statement and a vision? How do you make a homeschool plan that actually works for your family? Join us in this conversation all about setting a vision for your homeschool plans, routines, and rhythms. Follow along with the Homeschool Foundations Workbook here-> https://www.subscribepage.com/k1u1e Grab a Time Blocking Notepad here -> https://bit.ly/TrailTimeBlock Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool and @ohheymelissawhaley https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  https://www.instagram.com/ohheymelissawhaley/ Show notes and links available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

We hear a lot about learning styles in the world of education, but do we actually know what that means?  We are exploring multiple facets of  learning styles and going through three areas of this topic in part two of two on learning styles and how studying them can help you in both your homeschool and your family relationships as a whole. Understanding  these areas will also help you clarify your homeschool vision and make it more customized to your individual children.  Get your Time Blocking Notepad here -> https://bit.ly/TrailTimeBlock Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend.  Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool  https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

We hear a lot about learning styles in the world of education, but do we actually know what that means? We are exploring multiple facets of learning styles and going through three areas of this topic in part one of two on learning styles and how studying them can help you in both your homeschool and your family relationships as a whole. Understanding these areas will also help you clarify your homeschool vision and make it more customized to your individual children. Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

Today we are working through an important foundational step to a successful homeschool journey, creating a family mission statement. A family mission statement is a guiding document to help you make decisions in your family and homeschool journey. This is the first exercise included in our Homeschool Foundations Workbook that you can download for free here.  Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

We are addressing a very common question in the homeschooling world, "How many hours should we do school?" There probably isn't a new homeschool family that haven't asked this question, but you may not know that this is a controversial question.  If you look in any homeschool group you will get a myriad of answers. We are giving you our perspective on the topic and how we analyze school time.  If you haven't already listened to our episode called "Why leave public school?" That gives you more background on what the dey looks like in a public or traditional school classroom.  Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  Show notes and links available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

In this episode, we are reviewing the 6 most popular homeschool styles: Traditional, Classical, Charlotte Mason, Unit Study, Unschool, and Eclectic. Our goal for walking through these styles is to expose you to them and help you begin to find your own homeschool style. What we have discovered is that most families will start with one style and may end up in a totally different style as they move through their own homeschool journey. We talk specifically about the evolution of our own homeschool style over the last five years of homeschooling. Quotes from this Episode: “I think one thing I appreciate about the classical model is they don't underestimate the capability of small children, that small children can learn a lot. And they can memorize things, and not in a militant, forceful way, but they do try to make it enjoyable.” “I know a lot of people use Charlotte Mason inspired stuff when they're teaching multiple grade levels. So like for us, you know, we've got sixth grade, first-grade, pre K, and then a couple of tagalongs. And so trying to engage that age span, yeah, it's not always easy.” “What I like about unit studies is typically, you give your kids some agency in deciding what they want to learn. So you don't necessarily say All right, we're doing a unit on this. You go 'Okay, guys, what are you curious about? What do you want to learn about’ Let's dive into that and then pick a unit.” “I'm not going to claim to even be close to an expert on unschooling because let's be real, we don't unschool We are not hardcore unschoolers at all, but the main focus of unschooling is child-led learning, so completely child-directed, they pick what they want to learn about, and they pick how they want to learn.” “Honestly, the first few years of homeschooling is going to be an experiment, you are not going to start homeschooling and go, this is the exact style, this is what's gonna work best for us. I mean, you can think that you can go ahead and put those rose-colored glasses on, But then reality is going to hit and somebody's going to hate whatever you picked.” “Utilize the free tools at your disposal. You know, there are free samples of curriculum, all that kind of thing to help you kind of hone in on your style. Or you may end up being eclectic like us now, what does it mean to be eclectic, it means that you use a mix of all or some or all of the different styles that we've already talked about.” “What you do with your older kids, you may not do with your younger kids because it doesn’t work for them or fit their personalities.” Mentioned in this episode: Homeschool On Style Quiz Well Trained Mind Unschooling Gather Round Unit Study Curriculum Simply Charlotte Mason Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/ Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

RJ and Melissa discuss various homeschool routines and schedules. We dive into our own family's routines and how they have evolved throughout our 5 years of homeschooling so far. Melissa mentions block scheduling and how we are using suggestions from various sources to help manage our home better.  Quotes from this episode: We don't want you to think that we're telling you this is how you should do your day, we're just saying this is one option. And you can look at other people and how they structure their day to see if that's a better option for you. - Melissa The whole point of homeschool is the fact that we tailor education to the child.  It's what works for you, your family, your kid, your situation, your life. - RJ That's the whole point of being a trailblazer here. Right. We are trailblazers. So we're discovering our own paths. So we're sharing our path with you. So in hopes that it will help guide you to find your own path. - Melissa There was not a lot of structure to our day for a very long time. Yes, we were in a season of life where we were in survival mode… We were just trying to tread water. You know, I did not have the mental, or emotional, capacity to say “we do school from this time to this time, and then you're done.” - Melissa So this year, I have been implementing daily routines and not necessarily a set schedule. So I'm attempting to follow more of what's called block scheduling. - Melissa We've got five kids. Four of them are morning people. And one of them is a night owl. So that's fun. - Melissa We are intentional and purposeful about what we turn on. They don't have control over what they get to watch. We control what they get to watch. And we're intentionally turning on educational content for them if they're having screens before the afternoon. So basically, there's no screens for the kids. all morning long, we finish our formal school time. And then they still have to kind of kill time between lunch and then we allow them to have their screens at 3:30. We believe that play is learning. Yes, play is education. And it's so important. And kids need to be outside. ______________________________ Mentioned in this Episode: Jordan Page, funcheaporfree.com Gather Round Homeschool Curriculum Blippi Show Education.com Teaching Textbooks Math Curriculum Amazon Echo Device The Adventure Agents Enjoy this episode? Please leave a review and share it with a friend. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

What's the deal with public school and why should we leave it? If you are feeling overwhelmed with deciding if a traditional public (or private) school is the best choice for your kids then take a listen to this episode.  RJ gives us a little history of why public school operates the way it does and how it hasn't really changed format in over 100 years. Melissa then talks about the concept of deschooling and how it works.  Quotes from this episode: “Education in the United States, as an institution, as a public institution, was kind of predicated on the idea that what we're trying to do is create people to fill roles in factories, because they've created schedules that used bows to determine what was happening next.” RJ “We educate seven days a week, we don't do school seven days a week.” RJ “Deschooling, basically, it's really like the idea is you're deprogramming yourself from having to fit into the traditional school mindset and model, and allowing yourself space and time to find your own learning styles, find your own homeschool style, figure out what's going to work within your own schedule, what your kids are interested in what they want to learn, not what the state is mandating they learn at a certain grade at a certain age, you know, it's screw the standards.” Melissa “There's a reason that we chose to move away from that model, and into homeschool, and everyone's homeschool is gonna look different. “ Melissa Full Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

In this episode, we share more details of our personal journey to homeschool from how we were schooled growing up to how we found ourselves homeschooling our own kids.  Are you enjoying our show? Please make sure to rate and leave a review. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/  Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com

Welcome to Trailblazing Homeschool! We have a new name and a new host joining the podcast.  We are the Whaley’s, married college sweethearts with 5 crazy kids. We have been homeschooling since 2016. RJ has been in the field of education for 15 years with a Master’s in education. Melissa is a homeschool mom and serial entrepreneur. Together we encourage and equip homeschool families to discover their own path to education. In this episode, we are introducin ourselves and explaining what to expect on the podcast. Make sure to follow us on Instagram @trailblazinghomeschool   https://www.instagram.com/trailblazinghomeschool/ Full Transcript and Show notes available at www.trailblazinghomeschool.com