Episode two is with my friend Lauren. She lives in Colorado and has three kiddos, 8, almost 6, and 2. Honestly, she’s the reason I ended up finding a larger homeschool community because she welcomed me into one. And not only did she welcome me in, but she kept.on.me (in a very kind, loyal way) when I was having commitment issues lol.
All that to say, she has taught me a great deal about what it means to be in community, and as the extrovert to my introvert, she continues to pull me out of my shell when I’d rather hole up and hide which is…often. (Like, what, we’re going dancing now Lauren? Just tell me what to wear! 🤣)
In this episode, we dive into everything from a Montessori inspired education, to the realities of homeschooling multiple children with a toddler along for the ride, learning alongside your children, cyclical wisdom, labels and the pressure to categorize what we’re doing, and more.
I should also say, I ended up writing her yesterday because in listening back to this before posting, I was like wait - but why homeschooling? Why not a Montessori school?
And she was like, “It’s so funny you ask that because I was thinking after we recorded - I really only told half of how I came to homeschooling!”
So for those of you who might be wondering the same thing, Lauren said that the public Montessori schools in Colorado were actually part of the motivator in moving, and they did enroll their eldest in public Montessori kindergarten the year she was turning 5. But then, in her words, “We got the acceptance and we were just looking at this day, like…she’s gonna be gone from 7:30-4 by the time we get home. And we just didn’t want to do that. So a big piece of it was the time - having time to spend together. We didn’t end up accepting, and then we didn’t start officially homeschooling until the following year.”
As someone who is very interested in identity, I loved the back and forth about 2/3 of the way in about what it is that we “do” and the expectation to have a specific kind of answer; to categorize ourselves in some way, even in something that is counter-culture. As Lauren said, “We homeschool, and that means so much.” It can feel impossible to distill down, and really…the beauty of it is the wild expanse of it all.
To me, this is part of the unlearning. Letting it stay big and open and all encompassing, and resisting the urge - and pressure - to put it, ourselves, and our children in a box.
Resources from Lauren >
Child of the Redwoods - the Montessori curriculum she follows
Books:
The Secret of Childhood by Maria Montessori
The Absorbent Mind by Maria Montessori
The Deep Well of Time by Michael J. Dorer
*The Power of Showing Up by Daniel Siegel
*Hold on to your Kids by Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Maté
*These last two are not Montessori specific, but also inspired Lauren to homeschool. Also, note: for all the books linked through bookshop.org, I (Eva) do earn a little kickback as an affiliate if you decide to shop through those links.
Lauren has also been inspired by Nicole Kavanaugh - this is her website/blog and podcast - Shelf Help).
And finally - quick shout out to my friend Laura who made me think about cyclical wisdom in relation to homeschooling (which I hadn’t, before.) She does a lot with this in relation to business (like scheduling/avoiding certain activities on certain days of your cycle) and though I haven’t implemented rhythm in quite this way, I am becoming more aware of my patterns (they really are so dang predictable) and how they impact my capacity. Also cool to think about, in raising a daughter. For a free guide to some of this info, click here (that also links you to her website).
And for my visual peeps, know this episode is also available to watch on YouTube.
