The Homeschool How To

What if the problems in public school weren't accidents? What if low literacy rates, changing math standards, social emotional learning, and ideological curriculum were all part of a plan that started over a hundred years ago?

This week Cheryl sits down with Nicki Truesdell — a second generation homeschooler who has been in the homeschool world since 1983 and has been homeschooling her own five kids since the year 2000. Nicki i...

What does it actually look like to homeschool five kids across wildly different ages — while running a business, managing a rambunctious toddler, and doing it all on one income?

This week I'm joined by Amanda, a homeschool mom of five from St. Augustine, Florida. Amanda started homeschooling when her family left Germany in 2020 — one week before the world shut down. What felt like a leap of faith turned out to be the ...

Elyse Scheeler spent years inside the public school system as a speech language pathologist. She had a classroom full of kids making real, measurable progress. The district shut it down — not because anything was wrong, but because her program made their compliance numbers look bad.

That's when she knew she had to leave.

In this episode Elyse pulls back the curtain on what school staff see every single day bu...

What happens when someone who hated being homeschooled grows up and chooses to homeschool his own children anyway?

In this deeply honest conversation, Logan Hufford shares what homeschooling looked like growing up in a large family in the 90s, why he resented parts of it for years, and what he’s doing differently with his own kids today.

We also talk about something many parents are afraid to discuss openly: what children are being e...

What happens when life completely falls apart — and you still have to show up for your kids? This week Cheryl sits down with Barbara, a former special education teacher turned homeschool mom of four, who opens up about one of the hardest questions in homeschooling: what do you do when you're grieving?

After years of fighting the school system for resources her students deserved, Barbara knew she didn't want that for her ow...

What happens when a single mom in the Foreign Service gets the double whammy — "your child might have dyslexia" AND profound hearing loss? She figures it out. Katharyn Havens joins Cheryl from outside Nairobi, Kenya, where she's running a multi-age homeschool pod, teaching kids AI ethics, and building her own AI co-pilot for homeschool parents.

In this episode:

• How cochlear implant surgery changed everything — and ...

Most parents ask, “Can I homeschool if I still need to work?”

Laresia and her family didn’t just ask that question—they built a life that answers it.

In this episode, we talk about what happens when you choose homeschooling before you even become a parent, and how that decision shaped everything—from family connection to raising a child who is already thinking like an entrepreneur.

Their 9-year-old son isn’t just learning at home…

Last week, we heard why teachers are leaving the system. This week, meet one who did — and what she built instead.

Jen Delle Fave spent 8 years as a public school English teacher in upstate New York before walking away to raise her kids, homeschool, and build a real estate portfolio — without ever going to a bank. Now living in Florida with her husband and two kids (11 and 13), Jen runs multiple businesses, travels constantly, and f...

What happens when a former public school teacher decides she won’t send her own kids to school?

In this episode of the Homeschool How To Podcast, Cheryl sits down with Ashley Martinez—a former teacher turned homeschooling mom of two—who shares what she saw inside the classroom, why she chose a different path, and how her family makes homeschooling and working actually work.

This conversation goes beyond curriculum and schedules. Ashl...

In this episode, we step outside the traditional conversation around education and take a deeper look at something bigger—how we’re raising our kids in today’s world.

Cheryl sits down with Doug Evans, founder of The Sprouting Company, to talk about self-sufficiency, food, environment, and why more families are questioning the systems we’ve always relied on—from school to the food we eat.

They explore:

•  Why play-based learning may ...

What if the biggest problem with education isn’t your child… but the school system itself?

In this episode of the Homeschool How To Podcast, Cheryl sits down with Dr. Peter Gray, author of Free to Learn, to talk about what schools get fundamentally wrong about how children actually learn.

They discuss the hidden history of schooling, why shame and obedience are still built into the system, how kids learn to read and do math when they...

What if the problem isn’t your child—but the environment they’re expected to learn in?

In this episode, Cheryl talks with Corianda “Corey,” a homeschooling mom of six living in Spain, about raising neurodivergent kids and what happened when traditional school stopped working for her family. With three sons on the autism spectrum and experiences with ADHD, Corey began questioning whether the system was actually designed to help child...

In this episode of The Homeschool HowTo Podcast, Cheryl sits down with Stephany Rios — a homeschooling mom of five — to talk about building a business from home, navigating dyslexia, and learning to let go of school timelines.

Stephany shares:
 • The preschool bus moment that made homeschooling non-negotiable
 • Running a jewelry business while homeschooling
 • What to do when curriculum isn’t working
 • Discovering ...

What if the biggest education question isn’t “public vs. private”… but who is shaping your child’s worldview?

This week on The Homeschool How To Podcast, I’m joined by documentary filmmaker Spencer Taylor, creator of The Death of Recess (streaming on Angel Studios). Spencer shares what sparked the film—when his school eliminated recess—and how that change connected to a bigger story: the erosion of childhood, creativity, and parenta...

What happens when you stop measuring “success” by convenience—and start building your family life around your deepest values?

In this episode of The Homeschool How To Podcast, Cheryl sits down with homeschool dad Todd Marchand, founder of Be Whole Do Good, to talk about what it really looks like to raise kids with resilience, emotional tools, and a strong sense of identity—without turning your home into a lecture hall.

Todd shares ho...

Cheryl sits down with Katie Vieira — a former 4th grade teacher turned homeschool mom — to talk about what surprised her most when she stepped outside the traditional school system. They unpack how early academic pressure has changed, why many kids feel burnout younger than ever, and how standardized testing and school accountability can shape what happens in the classroom (and the stress teachers carry).

They also dive into the rea...

What does homeschooling look like after the kids are grown — and what advice actually holds up over 25 years? This week, I bring back a favorite episode of mine to help remind me what's really important while taking this homeschooling journey. 

In this episode of The Homeschool How To Podcast, I talk with Rosemary, a New Jersey mom of four who homeschooled all the way through high school and is now on the other side: kids launc...

I’m re-releasing this episode because it’s still one of my all-time favorites—and honestly, one of the conversations that stayed with me long after we hit stop on the recording. 

In this episode, I’m joined by Kiri Jorgensen, a former public school teacher in rural Montana and mom of four. Kiri shares what she saw changing inside the school system—from Common Core and high-stakes testing to increasing bureaucracy—and why her family ...

A former public school teacher never planned to homeschool — until COVID forced a hard reset. In this episode, Cheryl talks with Janae Daniels from the School to Homeschool Podcast about the moment everything changed: the “magical” 2020 shutdown, the surprising nudge to homeschool, and the first day that completely fell apart… until a piano tuner accidentally delivered the best real-life science lesson her kids had ever experienced...