The Stay-at-Homeschooling Mom Podcast Podcast Por Seton Home Study School arte de portada

The Stay-at-Homeschooling Mom Podcast

The Stay-at-Homeschooling Mom Podcast

De: Seton Home Study School
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Join Mary Ellen Barrett and Ginny Seuffert, two leading speakers and writers on the topic of Catholic education, as they discuss ways in which Catholic parents can find success in their homeschooling journey.Seton Home Study School
Episodios
  • Why NOW is the Time to Start Homeschooling
    Jul 9 2025

    Do you have buddies who are toying with the idea of home education but have not yet made the leap? If you do, this is the show to pass on to them. Mary Ellen and Ginny discuss it all today, as they discuss Why NOW is the time to start homeschooling.

    Show Notes:

    Public schools are a disaster.

    • NAEP Reading Assessment – ⅔ of students do not reach basic proficiency in ELA: ¾ in math.
    • Major universities have students taking remedial math courses.
    • The social environment in too many public schools can be toxic. Pronoun police, kindergarten drag shows, gay pride parades, and girls forced to undress in front of bio boys!
    • Often, schools ignore specific requests from parents to exempt their children from these programs. Even if your local school is not that bad, it will certainly not help pass on your Catholic faith to the children.
    • Catholic schools are few and far between and often beyond the means of many families.

    You can tailor your curriculum.

    • Is Junior a math whiz, even in primary years? You can do 3rd grade with 5th grade math! Does your daughter struggle to keep pace in her classroom? You can move her down a level. Or you can take longer to finish the school year. Or you can get a special curriculum to meet her needs. Virtually endless options for homeschooling
    • Maybe your in-laws are immigrants. You can add their native language to your school day.
    • Is your child a high-performing athlete or performer? You can schedule your school day around practices, competitions, rehearsals, and performances.
    • Does your family like to travel? Pack up the books, and away you go.

    It’s unnatural for kids to sit for long hours.

    It is not even a little unusual today. Little Johnny doesn’t sit still in class and has trouble paying attention. It must be Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and school officials will often recommend medicating him. BTW, school districts get more money for “handicapped” kids.

    Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder should be required reading for every family with kids. Based on a true story from a 19th-century NY state, little Almanzo is given a yoke for his 9th birthday, which he enthusiastically uses to train oxen. Before breakfast, he and his siblings care for the livestock; they collect eggs and haul water and firewood. Then, they have a long walk to their schoolhouse, where they are thrilled to sit down for a while. After the long walk home, they again care for livestock before even looking for an after-school snack.

    Compare that with today’s school kids. They eat breakfast; most don’t even make their beds. They wait for a bus less than a block from their homes, sit on a bus, sit in a classroom and a lunchroom, sit on a bus, and come home—too often to play video games.

    Homeschooled kids can be active for much of the day. They can do chores, take lots of breaks between classes, and rarely have to work after regular school hours. They live a much more natural life.

    Let your kid be a kid!

    Brick-and-mortar schools will always be there.

    We now know that most homeschooling parents can do a great job. Homeschoolers routinely outperform kids in brick-and-mortar schools by almost any measure.

    But things can happen – family illness, financial problems, sometimes we just can’t continue. Here’s the thing – the schools will still be there if you want to change your mind. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

    Homeschooling Resources

    Seton Home Study School

    Seton Testing Services

    Más Menos
    31 m
  • The 5 Worst Pieces of Homeschooling Advice
    Jun 25 2025

    Mary Ellen and Ginny began homeschooling before the age of influencers. They say that was an enormous blessing because there is a lot of bad advice out there.

    The good news is that, using their combined over 50 years of homeschool experience, they have this to share: "The 5 Worst Pieces of Homeschooling Advice."

    Program Notes:

    Let's jump into some bad homeschooling advice.

    1. If it's hard, you are doing it wrong. FALSE

    • The complete opposite is true.
    • It shames the mom into thinking she is doing something wrong.
    • You are educating young minds, and they are not inclined to hard work.
    • Homeschooling well, running a household, doing sports, etc., is hard work.

    Tip: Recognizing it is hard and treating it like a full-time job will make your life easier.

    2. Child-led learning will result in a complete education. FALSE

    • Probably not – an attractive book is helpful but not enough.
    • Math, grammar, writing skills, and foreign languages require effort and diligence.

    3. Grading your child's work will kill their love of learning. FALSE

    · Grades should never be a source of shame.

    • They show if students are learning the material.
    • Grades are a guide to adjust your methods or materials.

    4. Routine oppresses you and makes you less creative. FALSE

    • Children thrive when they know what to expect.
    • Routine lets creativity thrive - mundane tasks are done by rote - leaving the brain free to create.
    • Many famous writers and authors have structured routines they follow with success.

    5. If you feel burned out or frustrated, you should switch curriculum. FALSE

    · Being burnt out is not a good reason to switch your curriculum choices.

    · Try other things before throwing the baby out with the bath water.

    · Frequent switching of curriculum creates gaps in skills and knowledge.

    There are many ways to cope with burnout - We did a whole episode on burnout – See the link below.

    Homeschooling Resources

    Coping with Burnout - Scroll down to Episode 10 on 1/25/23

    Seton Home Study School

    Seton Testing Services

    Más Menos
    32 m
  • 5 Ways to Get the Kids to Pitch In Around the House
    Jun 11 2025

    Homeschooling can take a lot of time. Then, we have to cook meals, clean the house, and do laundry. Oh, and do the shopping and cart kids around to activities.

    It all can seem daunting, but Ginny and Mary Ellen share their proven solution: Take some of those chores off our plates and put them smack on the kids' plates.

    Program Notes:

    1. Start early - really early! As soon as they can walk.

    • When you change a diaper, have the baby put it in the trash.
    • When toddlers change their clothes, teach them to put dirty clothes in the hamper.
    • Finishing up play time, have them stow their toys in the toy box or bin.

    As they get older, but still preschool age:

    • Insist that they clear their cups and plates after meals.
    • They can put away clean silverware from the dishwasher.
    • Teach them to tidy up.
    • All of this is easier if you get an early start to the day.

    2. Teach them all the necessary life skills

    • Begin to teach them to do every household chore.
    • Primary-grade kids can load a dishwasher while their older siblings rinse the dishes.
    • They can empty it while you or older kids put away stuff in high cabinets.

    Other little guy chores

    • Dust furniture and run a vacuum.
    • Empty room trash.
    • Teach them how to do their laundry.

    As they get older

    • Teach them how to clean kitchens and baths
    • Teach them how to operate a lawn mower safely and shovel walks.
    • Teach them to follow a recipe and prepare meals.
    • Make sure after-prep cleanup is included in the lesson.
    • Before they leave for college, your children should be ready to run a household.

    3. Assign specific tasks and make them regular responsibilities.

    • Some parents use a "chore chart" route.
    • The advantage is different children can learn various tasks over some time.
    • The disadvantage is you have to remember to keep the chart updated

    4. Don't allow them to treat adults or siblings like unpaid help.

    • Do not allow your children to leave the table and dash off to play video games.
    • Or, for that matter, dash off to do schoolwork.
    • When dinner is finished, we all help clean up or get the little ones ready for bed.
    • Perhaps taking out the trash.

    5. Let them suffer the consequences of their actions or inactions.

    • Teach the kids to do their laundry – if they forget - that's their problem.
    • In the real adult world, no one else comes to clean, cook, or do laundry for you.
    • Our kids need to be given responsibility.
    • Too many are going to college without knowing how to fry an egg.

    Homeschooling Resources

    Seton Home Study School

    Seton Testing Services

    Más Menos
    30 m
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This is a lovely conversation style homeschool conversation podcast. Full of ideas and encouragement. I'm not Catholic but I am Christian and this doesn't dance around those beliefs and how we are set apart from the world and it's beliefs. I do wish the notes were included on audible. I listen while I do house work and other hands on activities so note taking is sparse. I had hoped there would be more about how to still get bookwork done while fitting on enrichment. it seems to take away time from our day.

Lovely conversation

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