Episodes

What are the best tools for technology in your homeschool? Has the internet become any safer for your kids to surf? What precautions should you take to guard your kids from life online? On this episode of Homeschooling In Real Life, Fletch and Kendra sit down with John Wilkerson from The Wired Homeschool Podcast and Blog to talk about the internet in real life. John provides a current update and advice about how to use the internet and technology in your home. Fletch and Kendra share their own...

The answer to this question is obvious: we all know that homeschoolers can go to college! On this episode of Homeschooling In Real Life, Fletch and Kendra get real and challenge their listeners to join them in a difficult discussion about fear and trusting God as they contemplate sending their children onto higher education. Along the way, they sit down with two college admissions counselors and ask them to share the experiences they have had when homeschoolers apply to college. How are we doi...

On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, Fletch and Kendra tackle the topic of courtship and dating in the homeschool family. They interview Thomas Umstattd, Jr. to discuss his popular viral blog post: Why Courtship Is Fundamentally Flawed. Timeline for this episode: 13:45 – Thomas talks about his blogpost and why he wrote it. 26:38 – Fletch and Kendra pepper Thomas with questions his critics may ask. 34:12 – Find out if Fletch has always been bald. Learn how many guys Kendra has dated, and hear a...

Do you have a student whose dream is to head to college? How do you know if she’s ready? Have you imparted everything you wanted to teach him before he heads off to work on a degree, live on campus, and make all of his own choices? Join Fletch and Kendra on this episode as they drive one of their sons 11 hours away from home to start college at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. They discuss academic preparedness (was homeschooling enough?), as well as financial, spiritual, and cultural prepar...

Need some motivation? Encouragement? Tips? Join us for 5 Ways to Rock Your Homeschool! We originally titled this one “The Practical Episode”, and that is exactly what we’re talking about. Let’s go back to school with some tips that will hopefully bring you some freedom and joy this year! After 17 years of homeschooling, we’ve picked up a few ideas that have helped us as we’ve homeschooled our 8 children. We’ll share those ideas with you and encourage you as you kick off the school year. Let’s d...

Have you ever watched a TV sitcom where the characters live in a cool New York City apartment? Have you ever dreamed of walking down Park Avenue or strolling leisurely through Central Park? Has the thought ever crossed your mind about living and homeschooling in a big city? On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, Fletch and Kendra talk with Josh and Kristen Kill. They knew God was leading them to live and work in the Big Apple, but that meant moving their 4 small children into the thick of cosmopol...

Hard times! As much as we might like it to be, life is not all ponies, rainbows, and watercolor daisies. On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL we discuss the issue of homeschooling when life gets hard. Difficulties can look different in every family – marital stress, tragedies, health challenges, financial loss – and we’ll consider how each of these hardships can put unusual stress on a homeschooling family. What is our response? What should it be? Join us as we interview homeschooling mom and b...

It seems that we can’t stop talking about sex! This week’s episode is our response to Episode 16: How Do I Talk to My Kids About Sex?, where we heard from several young adults who shared how their parents failed or succeeded in teaching them about sex. This time we also respond to a few parents who wrote in to share their opinions on the subject. We return to the phone line with our friend, Barrett Johnson from I.N.F.O for Families and get more of his insight from his book, The Talks: A Parents...

HomeschoolingIRL is celebrating our 20th episode! We’ve interviewed, asked questions, listened, discussed, and laughed a lot along with you. Now it’s your turn — if you could ask Fletch and Kendra anything you want, what would you ask? Join us for Episode 20: Ask Us Anything You Want for questions our listeners sent in and answers that are thoughtful, interesting, and as always, funny and a little quirky, too. For complete show notes and links to what we discussed on this episode, go to our we...

It’s time for an episode that’s all about the men. On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, Fletch talks with three other homeschooling dads about what they wish their wives knew . They discuss the trap of micro-managing, the pressure to perform that their wives feel acutely, and what they really think about making curriculum choices and attending homeschool conventions. They also ask the ever-present question, What exactly does it mean to be the “Principal”? Be sure to join Fletch as he interview...

What are you doing to prepare your homeschool graduates for life in the real world? A listener called into the podcast and shared a story of how his son had his homeschooled eyes opened at his first job. World views, coarse language, sexual innuendo were all present in abundance. In a world full of opinions and beliefs that may stand in opposition to the sheltered world of homeschooling, how should we prepare our students to engage and relate? On this episode of Homeshooling in Real Life, Fletc...

You are going to want to grab your spouse for this episode! Fletch and Kendra dive right into the middle of the topic and discuss how the stress of homeschooling can leak into your marriage relationship. Throughout this episode you will hear live interviews conducted with couples on the floor of the Teach Them Diligently Conference in Nashville, TN. Be prepared for answers that you might not expect! Fletch and Kendra also spend time talking and laughing with TTD conference founders and directo...

Sex. The one topic that seems to leave us questioning our parenting, pushing a lot of us into an embarrassing presentation of the basics with our kids. We’ve discovered that so many of us don’t like the way our own parents talked to us about sex, or we feel like they gave us no boundaries at all, and now we’re just stymied. Most of us think, “I didn’t realize this was going to be so difficult.” Join us as we interview more than a dozen young adults about how the topic of sex education was hand...

On this episode of Homeschooling In Real Life, Fletch and Kendra discuss what it’s like when your homeschool student abandons your family’s faith and lifestyle. How can this happen in a Christian home where you have created a sheltered homeschool environment? Christian homeschooling is designed to protect our kids. Shouldn’t our children turn out perfect? To answer that question, we interview a young man who has done that very thing, but here is the best part: after being raised in a rigid env...

What happens when a family goes from relying on rules and rigidity to understanding what it means when Jesus tells us that the grandest commandment is love? Chris and Wendy Jeub are raising (or have raised) 16 children in a home that has seen both the letter of the law and the sweetness of grace and love, and they’re joining us to tell us how love in the family has absolutely changed theirs for the better. It’s an episode you won’t want to miss! Join Fletch (from theMangoTimes) and Kendra (fro...

Last fall, Barrett Johnson wrote a viral sensation entitled, How to Raise a Pagan Kid in a Christian Home. Writing from his heart on a topic he was keenly aware of in the church, he never expected the speedy response he received from parents in the broader Christian community, many of whom were replying with a hearty, “Amen!” and a social media engagement. On this week’s podcast, we sit down to talk with Barrett and his wife Jenifer, and we discuss exactly what they mean when they say, “We work...

Tune into this light and serious, fun and deep discussion about grace and raising kids with author Jessica Thompson. You won’t want to miss this episode! Great advice and practical suggestions are offered on this episode when we discuss: What do we do when a child seems unrepentant, or when we feel all of our buttons are being pushed, all at once? In a hilarious round of “Q&A with K&A” Fletch talks about how he would survive prison and Kendra discusses life in Downton Abbey. Tune in as we try ...

Put on your crazy wigs and plug your favorite electric guitar into your amp, because this show is all about rock and roll. On this episode, Fletch and Kendra interview Brian Tompkins, an old friend from their days in college (and fraternity brother of Fletch). Brian is a single father and one half of the Blue Eyed Maniacs rock band that he started with his daughter. When Brian found that his daughter Victoria was not putting in the practice required for her guitar lessons, he came up with the ...

On the last episode we talked about boys. This week it’s all about the girls! We love our girls and we love homeschooling them. On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, we’re talking all about girls. How does homeschooling girls differ than boys? Does college and career planning look the same? Should girls have a “fall back” plan, just in case everything doesn’t work out? If you can expect anything from Fletch and Kendra, it’s the desire to be very very real! Listen in to our discussion and then joi...

BOYS. Do you have them in your home? We do, too! On this episode of HomeschoolingIRL, we’re talking boys and boy stuff and the funny antics that come with raising boys and the difficult topics, too. You know us: we won’t skirt the trickier subjects. Hal and Melanie Young, authors of Raising Real Men, join us for today’s episode, too. Parents of 6 boys, Hal and Melanie get what makes boys tick and we had a super time chatting and laughing together. Let’s get in there and talk BOYS! Episode 9 S...

Live on location in Paris, France! One of our very favorite episodes to record, because in this show we record straight from the streets of Paris, France as we interview our former exchange student about life in the home of a large homeschooling family. Tune in as we talk about homeschooling with exchange students and discuss the benefits and potential challenges for families thinking about opening their home to international guests. Show Notes: La Favorite de Sam – the restaurant where we re...

Merry Christmas from Homeschooling In Real Life! On this very fun episode, Fletch and Kendra discuss the real life issues of holiday stress and how to avoid Christmas burnout. They also get into the Christmas spirit by handing out several gifts to their listeners. Gift #1 – A New Website We are so excited to introduce all the HIRLers to HomeschoolingIRL.com. This is a great opportunity for us to connect with our listeners and readers directly. We will continue to host the audio for our podcas...

Thinking about homeschooling? Have a friend who is? Are you thinking about homeschooling? On this episode of Homeschooling IRL, we’ll answer your burning questions about homeschooling, such as, “Will my kids have to raise their hands to ask to go to the bathroom?”, “What about the prom?”, and “Who gets to be the lunch lady?” Just kiddin’. We’ve polled moms and dads who are thinking about homeschooling and asked them what concerns them most. We didn’t prompt or suggest their comments, and you j...

Money. Sex. Popularity. Cars. Perfect bodies. Homeschooling. Wait. Homeschooling? When we look to something like money or sex to provide us with a sense of worth or value, if we’re hoping that our popularity will make us feel more loved, if we’re striving for sex appeal, and yes, even if we’re placing our hope in homeschooling, we have created idols for ourselves that enslave us and keep us from walking in freedom. Join us on this episode of Homeschooling IRL for a thought-provoking discussion...