Ex-Homeschoolers Club
Welcome to the Club! This is the place we discuss the Good, Bad, & Ugly of Growing Up a Homeschooler. Every episode, you'll hear from me and my homeschool friends as we share stories from growing up with our parents as teachers.
Episodes
This week on the pod, I sit down with long-time friend Hannah to unpack her deeply personal journey through homeschooling, neurodivergence, and self-discovery. Growing up in a chaotic Christian homeschool environment with six siblings, Hannah reflects on what worked, what didn’t, and how a lack of structure and support shaped her sense of self-worth. She opens up about entering adulthood feeling unprepared, navigating community col...
This week I sit down with Ashley Peek, a current homeschool parent, content creator, and founder of the Secular Homeschool Revolution. Ashley shares her journey from navigating a broken public school system to creating a thriving secular progressive homeschool community in Texas. She opens up about her daughter’s challenge getting the IEP services she needed, the struggle to find inclusive co-ops, and how she built a space that cel...
This week I'm reconnecting with longtime friend Stephanie to unpack her full-circle journey through homeschooling, early marriage, motherhood, and now parenting kids in public school. Stephanie shares candid reflections on growing up in an unstructured homeschool environment, her surprising enrollment into El Camino, and the decision to homeschool her own children—before realizing public school was the right fit. We explore the ten...
Hey everyone—it’s Jacob Gooden, and I’m back with an update on the Ex-Homeschoolers Club! In this solo episode, I open up about why the show has been quiet for the past month, what’s been happening behind the scenes, and how I’ve been dealing with burnout, anxiety, and social media overload. I share the changes I’ve made to prioritize my mental health, including stepping back from social platforms, cutting down on caffeine, and mak...
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In this solo episode of the Ex-Homeschoolers Club, I, Jacob Gooden, turn the mic on myself to share my full homeschooling journey. From starting in second grade to navigating private Christian homeschool co-ops in Southern California, I unpack the curriculum choices, the socialization opportunities, the challenges, and the lessons I carried into college and adu...
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In this episode of The Ex-Homeschoolers Club, I sit down with Julius, one of 12 siblings, to unpack what it was like growing up in a massive homeschool family led by a pastor dad. From the chaos of daily life in a household of 14 to navigating the isolating years of COVID, Julius shares candidly about academic chall...
In this episode of the Ex-Homeschoolers Club, we’re wrapping up our four-part series on Joshua Harris’s controversial book I Kissed Dating Goodbye. In this final installment, I dissect Part Four, “Now What?”, where Harris outlines his vision for marriage, intimacy, and what he calls “principled romance.” I share personal stories of feeling pressured to marry young, highlight the contradictions in Harris’s teachings on intimacy, and...
This week on the podcast, we’re throwing a birthday party! It's the one-year anniversary of the Ex-Homeschoolers Club, and to celebrate, I brought back my very first guest and longtime friend Cari Frantz for a fun and nostalgic conversation. We dive deep into the media, books, movies, and music we weren’t allowed to consume growing up as Christian homeschoolers—and the surprising ways we found our way to them as adults. From Harry ...
This week I'm diving into Part 3 of I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris—a section packed with so-called "practical tools" for keeping Christian teens pure. Spoiler: it's just more purity culture with a fresh coat of patriarchal paint.
In this episode, I unpack chapters 8 through 11, covering Harris’s infamous four-step plan for building godly relationships. We look at what it means to “start with a clean slate,” why he thinks y...
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This week on the Ex-Homeschoolers Club, I had an absolutely joyful conversation with artist, teacher, and former homeschooler Noah Fontana. From the moment we hit record, it felt like two longtime friends reconnecting. We dove deep into Noah's unique homeschool upbringing, how his love of comic books and creativity shaped his early education, and how homes...
This week on The Ex-Homeschoolers Club, I'm diving into Part 2 of I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris, tackling the chapters that aim to define "true Christian love" and promote the gift of singleness.
As a former homeschooler who grew up immersed in purity culture, I bring my personal experience and critical reflection to the table. We unpack the book's problematic teachings around sex, self-love, gender rol...
Hey, it’s Jacob Gooden, and this week on the Ex-Homeschoolers Club, I’m joined by the thoughtful and artistic Marsh—the youngest guest to date and a recent escapee from the world of homeschooling. We dive into their story of growing up homeschooled in rural Oklahoma, using the ACE (Accelerated Christian Education) curriculum, and being raised by their grandmother in a deeply religious environment. Marsh opens up about the challenge...
I read "I Kissed Dating Goodbye" by Joshua Harris—so you don’t have to. This is Part 1 of a multi-episode series where I unpack the book’s harmful messages, its connection to purity culture, and its deep roots in the Christian homeschooling world. From courtship myths to repressed sexuality and emotional confusion, I explore how this 1997 “dating manual” shaped a generation—and how Harris himself eventually walked it all ...
This week, I sit down with Charlie Monroe, a licensed therapist and former youth pastor, to explore the complexities of growing up homeschooled in a large, religious family. Charlie shares his K-12 rural homeschool experience, the emotional toll of isolation, and the transition into college and career. We discuss the impact of evangelicalism, rigorous religious curricula, and emotional enmeshment in homeschool families. As a therap...
This conversation dives into the highs, lows, and hard truths of RB's journey through homeschooling, patriarchal systems, and his path to healing. We discuss his early education in Pennsylvania, the move to Kansas, and the gendered disparities in educational investment he witnessed as the oldest of five siblings. RB opens up about the unintended privileges he received, his culture shock entering college and the workforce, and h...
Join the Newsletter for the latest Ex-Homeschooler News: https://exhsclub.beehiiv.com/subscribeIf you’re an ex-homeschooler with a story to tell—this episode is your invitation to share it. Today I’m breaking down everything you need to know about becoming a guest on the show. Whether your homeschooling experience was amazing, traumatic, or somewhere in between, your voice matters here. In this episode, I walk you through the kind ...
Join the Newsletter for the latest Ex-Homeschooler News: https://exhsclub.beehiiv.com/subscribe
In this powerful follow-up episode of The Ex-Homeschoolers Club, Alyssa Gaona is back for a raw, insightful conversation about her personal experiences with autism and neurodivergence. While her first appearance focused on the wild realities of growing up homeschooled, this episode takes a deeper dive into how her undiagnosed autism s...
On today's show I'm joined by Mia Brooks, a longtime family friend. We dive into Mia's unique homeschool upbringing as the youngest of several siblings, her early leap into community college at age 14, and her reflective journey as a neurodivergent adult. From a less structured homeschool experience to discovering her ADHD as an adult, Mia shares candidly about burnout, creativity, and finding her voice through music.
If you're a f...
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In this episode of, I sit down with comedian Jeremy Alder to unpack his wild and winding journey from fundamentalist Christian homeschooling in rural Texas to releasing his debut stand-up comedy album, Almost a Grown Man. Jeremy shares what it was like to be one of the only homeschoolers in South Texas during the 1980s, his early curriculum of B...
Join the Newsletter for the latest Ex-Homeschooler News: https://exhsclub.beehiiv.com/subscribe
In this episode of The Ex-Homeschoolers Club, I'm reflecting on a decade of being homeschooled and dive into three specific areas I would approach differently if I had the chance to go back. While I appreciate much of what my parents did, this episode explores critical reflections on my understanding of government, religious curriculu...
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