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Your library card might be one of the most useful tools in your homeschool and you may be using only a fraction of what it offers. In this episode, Ashley talks about using libraries for books, audiobooks, documentaries, research, programming, homeschool meetups, study spaces, and more. She also shares why she has seven library cards and how homeschoolers can look beyond their local library for digital resources. We talk about:  Libby, Hoopla & Kanopy  Audiobooks and digital collections  Library research databases  documentaries to ask better questions  Library programs, study spaces & community resources  Digital library cards beyond your local system  Building unit studies from library resources  Finding perspectives missing from traditional narratives  Using public resources instead of buying everything  Keeping homeschooling connected to the larger community Your homeschool library challenge Get your library card, explore your library's digital resources, and ask your librarian: "What does your library offer that most people don't know about?" Then see what you find. Resources 🌐 Secular Homeschool Revolution secularhomeschoolrevolution.com   Thanks for listening, sharing, and supporting independent homeschool conversations.

When educational systems fail Black children, who absorbs the cost? Ashley connects her daughter’s unmet service needs and her family’s financial and relational sacrifices to her mother-in-law’s experience desegregating San Antonio schools. This episode explores homeschooling as protection, the unequal access to educational alternatives, and why individual escape is not the same as collective liberation. Read the New York Times Magazine article that inspired this episode: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution Follow on Instagram and TikTok: @secularhomeschoolrevolution Website: https://www.secularhomeschoolrevolution.com

Co-op Q&A: Building an Inclusive Homeschool Community Is starting a homeschool co-op hard? How do you attract diverse families, navigate conflict, and keep your community sustainable? In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley answers the questions you dm'd her about building a secular, diverse, and inclusive homeschool co-op. We're talking parent-led classes, leadership, nonprofit status, community responsibility, and why creating an accountable space matters more than simply calling it a safe space. Connect & Support: Instagram: @secularhomeschoolrevolution   TikTok: @secularhomeschoolrevolution  Buy Me a Coffee    #SecularHomeschool #HomeschoolCoop #InclusiveHomeschooling #HomeschoolCommunity #ProgressiveHomeschooling #HomeschoolPodcast

What does a secular, parent-led homeschool co-op actually look like? In this episode, Ashley shares how For the Culture Homeschool Co-op serves about 40 families through parent-taught classes, mixed-age clubs, community traditions, and a shared commitment to inclusive education, honest history, and evidence-based science. She also talks about FTC’s shift toward community-led leadership, her Fairness Lab, and why the homeschool community has to be something we contribute to not just consume. Follow: @secularhomeschoolrevolution on Instagram & TikTok Support the podcast: buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution Like, follow, subscribe, and share with another homeschool family.

How do you know if your child is actually learning? Ashley shares how completing an online homeschool curriculum failed to reveal major writing gaps—and what she learned from it. Discover four practical questions to evaluate homeschool progress, recognize learning gaps, assess curriculum effectiveness, and decide when to adjust or seek support.   If you would like to support the podcast, visit buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution. Follow @secularhomeschoolrevolution www.secularhomeschoolrevolution.com #SecularHomeschool #HomeschoolTips #HomeschoolCurriculum #NewHomeschoolers #HomeschoolHelp #ProgressiveHomeschool

Podcast Show Notes: How to Create an Affirming Homeschool Environment What does it actually mean to create an affirming homeschool environment? In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, I’m sharing simple, intentional ways to make your homeschool a space where your kids feel seen, supported, and involved in their own education. We’re talking about why I put my kids’ pictures on their homeschool binders, how a feelings wheel can build emotional literacy, why affirmation menus are more useful than generic positive statements, and how a “How I Learn Best” page can help kids understand their own needs and become stronger self-advocates. I also dig into why representation matters in homeschool curriculum and how creating a family learning agreement can help establish a homeschool culture built around curiosity, respect, mistakes, growth, and belonging. In this episode: Creating an affirming homeschool environment Helping kids understand how they learn best Building self-advocacy and independence Using feelings wheels for emotional literacy Creating meaningful affirmation menus Personalizing homeschool binders Using mirrors and windows in your curriculum Creating a family learning agreement Supporting different learning needs without lowering expectations Teaching kids that struggle does not define their ability An affirming homeschool isn't about having the perfect homeschool room. It's about creating a learning environment that tells your child: You belong here. Your needs matter. Your identity matters. Your voice matters. And you can learn how to advocate for yourself. Follow @secularhomeschoolrevolution on Instagram and TikTok for more secular homeschool resources, curriculum discussions, and behind-the-scenes homeschool life. Support the podcast on Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution   SEO Keywords secular homeschooling, affirming homeschool environment, progressive homeschooling, homeschool binder ideas, homeschool organization, homeschool affirmations, emotional literacy for kids, feelings wheel for kids, homeschool social emotional learning, homeschool self advocacy, inclusive homeschool curriculum, homeschool learning styles, how kids learn, homeschool routines, diverse homeschool curriculum, secular homeschool podcast

Our 2026–27 Homeschool Curriculum & Activities What are we actually using for homeschool this year? In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, I’m sharing the curriculum, enrichment, sports, and outside programs we chose for my 14-, 10-, and 5-year-old and, more importantly, why we chose them. We talk about outsourcing high school classes, choosing curriculum that fits each child, letting kids try new activities, keeping kindergarten simple, and building a homeschool that includes academics, art, music, sports, community, and real-life experiences. I’ll also be sharing my kids’ weekly schedules on Instagram so you can see how we fit everything in without doing every subject every day. Resources Mentioned Hearth & Story — Language Arts Mint & Bloom — U.S. History Math with Confidence IXL — Math practice Real Science Odyssey: Evolution Logic of English Foundations B Glitter Bomb Art Simply Piano Girls Inc. Microschool classes Dual-credit Speech & Sociology Math tutoring Engineering Club Fencing Horseback riding Softball Swimming T-ball Homeschool co-op + field trips Follow me on Instagram and TikTok: @secularhomeschoolrevolution Support the podcast on Buy Me a Coffee: buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution If you enjoyed this episode, follow Secular Homeschool Revolution wherever you listen and share it with another homeschool family planning their year.

How young is too young to talk about race? In this episode, I answer a listener’s question about talking to a five-year-old about race and share what racial literacy looks like in my own home from melanin and identity to those unexpected “ouch moments.” We also talk about how these conversations should grow with our kids, from simple conversations about fairness and belonging in early childhood to systemic racism, history, media literacy, and critical thinking in middle and high school. Resources mentioned: Because of Melanin Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race M Is for Melanin: A Celebration of the Black Child Stamped (For Kids) Learning for Justice Facing History & Ourselves Zinn Education Project Teaching for Black Lives Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture EmbraceRace There is no single curriculum that can teach everything our children need to understand about racism. Racial literacy is something we build over time through history, literature, representation, current events, media literacy, family conversations, and real life. Follow Secular Homeschool Revolution Instagram: @secularhomeschoolrevolution TikTok: @secularhomeschoolrevolution ☕ Support the podcast: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution Keep asking hard questions, keep having the conversations, and keep homeschooling unapologetically.

How has your summer been going? In this episode, Ashley shares how her family’s supposedly slow summer turned into a full season of camps, friendships, learning, and new responsibilities. Her oldest daughter completed her first summer job as a camp assistant and began learning about investing through a financial-literacy course for teens. But after receiving several messages and reviews criticizing the podcast for being too “woke,” promoting equity, and talking too much about race, Ashley takes a moment to reintroduce herself and the purpose behind Secular Homeschool Revolution. Ashley is a Black woman, a secular homeschooler, and a mother who believes deeply in justice-centered education. She created this podcast to take up space in a homeschool community where Black, nonreligious, progressive, queer, disabled, neurodivergent, and multiracial families are often underrepresented. This podcast is not about making homeschooling comfortable for everyone. It is about creating honest conversations around education, identity, race, history, equity, inclusion, and the systems that affect our children. Ashley also reviews her family’s experience using Math with Confidence for kindergarten and fifth grade. She discusses why it has been one of her favorite math programs to facilitate, how it compares with Beast Academy and Singapore Math, and why a gentle approach does not mean a curriculum lacks rigor. In this episode Ashley discusses: Her family’s busy summer of camps, friends, and homeschooling Her oldest daughter’s first summer job Introducing teens to investing and financial literacy Why secular does not automatically mean progressive Taking up space as a Black, nonreligious homeschool mother Why race, equity, and justice belong in conversations about education Her Math with Confidence review for kindergarten and fifth grade The benefits of games, review, and short lessons Conceptual math through Beast Academy and ST Math Why the parent’s experience facilitating curriculum matters The difference between productive challenge and unnecessary struggle Helping children build a healthy relationship with math Connect with Secular Homeschool Revolution Visit SecularHomeschoolRevolution.com for more episodes, resources, and progressive secular homeschooling conversations. Support the podcast at Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution   Secular does not automatically mean progressive, but this podcast absolutely is.

Homeschool kids need more than curriculum, co-op, and activities — they need third spaces where they can belong outside of home and academics. In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley talks about why third spaces matter for homeschoolers, especially in a world that is not always kid-friendly. We discuss how libraries, parks, youth groups, art spaces, co-ops, sports teams, community centers, and cultural spaces can help kids build identity, independence, friendships, confidence, and real-life community skills. This episode also explores the challenges: access, cost, transportation, unsafe spaces, performative inclusivity, and overscheduling.   Listen, like, follow, and subscribe to Secular Homeschool Revolution — the podcast for secular progressive homeschoolers who are reimagining education unapologetically. Support the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley challenges the polished version of the Fourth of July and asks the question every secular progressive homeschool family should be asking: freedom for who? We break down why July 4th cannot be taught as a simple story of American freedom when Black people were still enslaved, Indigenous nations were being displaced, women were excluded from power, and so many communities were left outside the promise of liberty. This episode explores how to decolonize the Fourth of July in your homeschool, why Frederick Douglass’s speech “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” belongs in your lesson plans, and how current events remind us that freedom is still contested.   Resources mentioned: “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” by Frederick Douglass Zinn Education Project Teaching for Change National Museum of African American History and Culture If this episode helped you, share it with another secular progressive homeschooler, leave a review, and support the podcast through Buy Me a Coffee. Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/secularhschoolrevolution

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, host Ashley breaks down how anti-LGBTQ+ messaging shows up in homeschool spaces and how it is often packaged through softer language like “parental rights,” “protecting children,” “traditional values,” and “just biology.” This episode connects to the larger conversation about the SAHM-to-homeschool mom-to-trad wife pipeline and how conservative messaging can slowly enter homeschool communities through social media, parenting content, homemaking content, and fear-based education rhetoric. Ashley challenges progressive homeschoolers to look deeper at the language being used around LGBTQ+ people, queer families, trans kids, banned books, Pride, gender identity, and inclusive curriculum. Because homeschooling outside the public school system does not automatically create liberatory spaces. A homeschool can be secular and still be anti-LGBTQ+. A homeschool can be secular and still erase queer history. A homeschool can be secular and still teach children that some people deserve less dignity. This episode is a call for secular progressive homeschoolers to move beyond tolerance and into real affirmation. Because LGBTQ+ people are not inappropriate. Queer families are not political. Trans kids are not debate topics. And Pride belongs in our homeschool conversations, bookshelves, curriculum, and communities. Secular Homeschool Revolution is for progressive, secular homeschoolers who are reimagining education for their kids unapologetically.

I Made a Juneteenth Unit Study  In this mini episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley shares the heart behind her new Juneteenth Unit Study and why this resource is such a meaningful next step for the brand. Ashley talks about creating homeschool lessons informally for years, working with her husband to fine-tune the curriculum, and building a resource that helps families teach Juneteenth with truth, care, joy, and a decolonized lens. This episode also explains how to use the unit study, including the parent guide, student workbook, decolonized vocabulary, hands-on activities, and the importance of helping kids think like historians by asking questions, noticing missing voices, and thinking critically about history. This Juneteenth Unit Study is designed for secular progressive homeschool families who want more than a surface-level holiday lesson. It invites children to understand Juneteenth as a Black freedom story, a Texas story, a resistance story, and a celebration of Black joy. In this episode: Why Ashley created a Juneteenth Unit Study How the parent guide and student workbook work together Why decolonized vocabulary matters for adults and kids How to help kids think like historians Why Juneteenth should be taught with truth and joy How families can use the unit across one day, a few days, or a full week Why Opal Lee’s story matters in teaching Juneteenth Shop the Juneteenth Unit Study and other resources: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/secular-homeschool-revolution Watch/listen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi_mia6H3kA Thank you for supporting Secular Homeschool Revolution as we continue creating secular, truthful, culturally grounded resources for homeschool families. Like, follow, subscribe, and share this episode with a homeschool parent who wants to teach Juneteenth with truth, care, critical thinking, and joy.

In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley explains what Juneteenth is, why it matters to Black families, and how secular progressive homeschoolers can teach it with honesty and care. Juneteenth is not just a holiday or a craft day. It is a reminder of delayed freedom, the ugliness of American history, especially Texas history  and the power of Black survival, resistance, family, and joy. This episode also covers what allies should and should not do when teaching or honoring Juneteenth, including how to avoid performative lessons, center Black voices, and make Black history part of your homeschool all year long.   Lower Elementary Juneteenth Resource List Best for ages 4–8 / Pre-K–2nd grade Books Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper A gentle picture book that introduces Juneteenth through family memory, celebration, and history. All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson Beautiful for read-alouds. Best with adult support because the emotions are big. Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free by Alice Faye Duncan A strong introduction to Juneteenth and Ms. Opal Lee’s work to make it a federal holiday. NMAAHC includes this title in its Juneteenth reading list. The Juneteenth Story: Celebrating the End of Slavery in the United States by Alliah L. Agostini Good for explaining the timeline and how Juneteenth celebrations grew. Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle Short, poetic, and good for discussion. Activities Create a simple freedom timeline: slavery, Emancipation Proclamation, June 19, 1865, and Juneteenth today. Ask: What does freedom mean? Let kids draw or write their answer. Read a book, then cook or share a red food or drink while explaining that food can carry memory and culture. Attend a local Juneteenth event and talk before and after: Why are people gathering? What are they remembering? What are they celebrating? Parent/Educator Guides NMAAHC Kids Juneteenth Resource Guide Helpful for explaining Juneteenth to young children in honest but age-appropriate language. PBS Parents Juneteenth Book List Good for finding picture books that help families start conversations about Freedom Day. Upper Elementary Juneteenth Resource List Best for ages 9–12 / 3rd–5th grade Books The History of Juneteenth: A History Book for New Readers by Arlisha Norwood Good for kids ready for more historical context. The Juneteenth Story by Alliah L. Agostini Works well for upper elementary because it explains how Juneteenth began and spread. Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free by Alice Faye Duncan Still useful for this age group, especially when paired with a discussion about activism. The 1619 Project: Born on the Water by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson Not only about Juneteenth, but helpful for giving children a broader understanding of Black history before and beyond slavery. Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson Pair with Juneteenth to connect freedom, protest, and children’s role in justice movements. Lessons & Discussion Ideas Compare Juneteenth and the Fourth of July. Ask: Who was free in 1776? Who was not? Study Galveston, Texas on a map and talk about why Texas matters in the Juneteenth story. Introduce the difference between freedom on paper and freedom in real life. Ask: What happened after slavery ended? Why did freedom have to be enforced? Why is Juneteenth both a celebration and a reminder of injustice? How did Black communities preserve this holiday before the country recognized it? Strong Online Resources Zinn Education Project: Juneteenth: Teaching Outside the Textbook Best for justice-centered teaching and connecting history to resistance and today’s world. Learning for Justice: Teaching Juneteenth Good for framing Juneteenth around justice, history, and anti-bias education. New York Public Library Juneteenth Kids Resources Includes books, activities, and kid-friendly explanations of Juneteenth. NMAAHC Juneteenth Resources Best for historically grounded explanations and family learning.

What does it really mean to be educated in 2026? In this episode of Secular Homeschool Revolution, Ashley explores why education has to mean more than grades, test scores, memorization, and compliance. For progressive secular homeschoolers, being educated is not just about being “good at school.” It is about raising kids who can think critically, ask better questions, understand history honestly, navigate technology and AI ethically, build community, know themselves, and care about the world around them. Ashley breaks down why modern homeschooling allows families to move beyond traditional school measures and create an education rooted in curiosity, justice, cultural literacy, digital literacy, emotional intelligence, and real-world learning. This episode is for secular homeschool parents who are reimagining education beyond worksheets, standardized testing, and fear-based ideas of success. Like, follow, subscribe, and share this episode with another homeschool parent who is ready to define education beyond grades, tests, and compliance.