There are a lot of homeschool podcasts out there!
I know. You know. We all know.
So when I tell you I launched one anyway – from inside a clothes closet with a microphone and approximately zero regrets – you’re probably wondering why. Fair question!
Here’s my honest answer: because I kept looking for the podcast I wanted to listen to, and it didn’t exist. And I’m stubborn enough to just make it myself.
That’s the origin story of the Homeschool with Joy Podcast. No dramatic calling. No business pivot. Just a homeschool mom with a love of books, lots of ideas about how to make homeschooling less boring and more fun, and a serious Celestial Seasonings tea addiction deciding that the gap needed filling.
What You’re NOT Going to Find Here
Let me be direct about what this podcast isn’t, because I think that matters just as much as what it is.
It’s not a product pitch with a conversation wrapper. You know the kind – twenty minutes of “authentic sharing” that leads inevitably to a curriculum you can buy for three easy payments. That’s not what this is.
So many podcasts are just shells trying to sell you something and I’m not going to waste my time listening to – or creating! – such a podcast.
It’s not a guilt-delivery system disguised as encouragement. There’s a whole genre of homeschool content that makes you feel like you’re failing before you’ve even hit play. Hard pass.
I don’t want to hear about all the ways I should have been doing something and have been failing this whole time, just because I’m not homeschooling Your Way.
It’s not chit-chat. Nothing against chit-chat – but I respect your time too much to fill twenty minutes with the conversational equivalent of styrofoam peanuts. INTJs like myself don’t do that – or listen to that.
And, it’s definitely not a one-size-fits-all approach telling you that your homeschool needs to look like someone else’s. (More on that in a minute.)
What the Homeschool with Joy Podcast Actually Is
Every week, you’ll get practical, low-prep ideas you can actually use – the kind that don’t require a crafting budget or a Pinterest-perfect home.
You’ll find free curricula, clean movie lists, book recommendations, ideas to try on for size, and resources that don’t cost a fortune. Because homeschooling already costs enough, and the best learning often costs nothing at all.
For instance, my 700+ page literature curriculum for high school students – that has been called “phenomenal” by the one, the only Cathy Duffy – is available totally free.
You’ll get encouragement from someone who has been in the trenches. I’ve been homeschooling long enough to have made most of the mistakes already. You’re welcome to learn from them.
And you’ll get a perspective that isn’t trying to sell you a lifestyle. Your homeschool doesn’t need to look like mine. Or your co-op friend’s. Or the one with the beautiful Instagram feed and the color-coded bookshelves. (Though I won’t pretend I don’t have organized bookshelves based on my own brain’s organization – I absolutely do, it’s a whole project I did – but they aren’t color-coded!)
Why Your Homeschool Doesn’t Need to Look Like Anyone Else’s
This is the part I care about most.
One of the most corrosive things in the homeschool world is comparison. Not the friendly, oh-that’s-a-great-idea kind. The spiral kind. The kind where you spend forty-five minutes on someone’s blog feeling increasingly inadequate about your perfectly good homeschool.
Every family is different. Every kid is different. The best homeschool for your child is the one that fits your child – not the one that photographs well or wins curriculum awards or gets approving nods from the co-op moms.
You are enough. Your instincts are worth trusting. And you deserve resources that help you build your vision, not someone else’s.
And, while we don’t want to copy-cat one another’s homeschool planets, we do need community! We need inspiration! We need to get ideas! We need to know the pitfalls that others have made along the way so that we can avoid them.
That’s what this podcast is trying to be. A weekly pocket full of joy – practical, encouraging, and actually useful.
Listen Now
Episode 1 is live on Spotify and at Homeschool with Joy. It’s the one where I explain all of this in my own voice, from my closet recording studio to hopefully muffle out kid-noises in the background, with genuine enthusiasm and zero scripted cheerfulness. I try to keep every episode at 5 minutes or less.
Come listen and let me know what you think!
