The Call of the Wild + Free | Homeschool Mom BOOK CLUB

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Hi friends! Thanks for watching! If you're watching the replay, it would be so great if you would add your answers to the discussion questions by replying to the comments below for other viewers to join in on the discussion! Thanks!

[@stephanieblanco7055]

This review was so thorough, it convinced me to buy the book and anticipate the read ahead. The author has a wealth of knowledge to pass on.

[@DansonforJoy]

Loved this so much! You seem like a kindred spirit in so many ways, and I'm kind of disappointed that I only found your channel AFTER we moved away from the Seattle area. We could have potentially been "in real life" friends! ;) Even from a distance, though, I've found your content so encouraging and motivating. Thank you for being here on KZbin!

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Well, at least we can be friends in the virtual world! 😂 Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@shonatheartist6171]

I just found your channel yesterday & I have been diving in like it’s Netflix! This is my 2nd year of homeschooling my 3 out of 4 kids ages 12 (7th), 11 (6th) & 6 (1st) . My 14 year old is son is in PS (7th) . This year feels like it’s been all over the place. I am really wanting to enjoy homeschooling & I want to set my girls up for success. Lately their mood (not my 6 year old) has been so draining. I find they are complaining so much & I don’t want that to rub off on my 6 year old, who loooves learning! My older girls were in PS & my husband & I decided it’s best to homeschool. This year has been tough I must say. Thank you so much for sharing your heart. It’s very encouraging. I will look into this book as well.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Thank you so much! I'm so glad that you're enjoying the content! This book is a HUGE help in reframing our thinking about what homeschool can be, a much simpler, more beautiful journey. It definitely helped me learn to relax and enjoy the process more. It can surely take a while to find your groove and what is going to work for you. Hang in there! If you haven't already tried this, maybe ask your kids what they want to learn about and spend a little time "deschooling" and allowing them to reclaim their love of learning by allowing them to dig into their interests. A lot of times, that desire to learn gets pushed out over years of forced education in the school system. Check into deschooling and see if that helps! Blessings, mama!

[@TheHomeschoolSweetSpot]

Hahah girl after my own heart. I too do not like to follow rules and workbooks totally blergh to me! Even though I realise they have a place.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

So true! We do use them occasionally. Just not my fave! Haha

[@katemurphy4985]

I've been putting this book off for a year and my library had it so excited, I'm listen to you now washing dishes and can't wait to relax and read. Thanks for the video

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

❤️ Hope you love it!

[@kimberlywolter3740]

You are wonderful! One question I always find interesting is where do people’s spouses fall on homeschooling?

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Aww, thanks! For sure, not everyone has a supportive spouse, which makes it more challenging. I’m fortunate that my hubby is totally on board! ❤️

[@ReneesNest91]

My spouse works daily so he doesn't get to teach much, but sometimes he teaches in the afternoon if we need some extra support. He also looks at all our work and listens to me talk about what's happening, my goals, plans, and progress. ❤

[@jenniferoliver164]

Thank you for this just got book hope to read it soon ❤️😊

[@happycampers7889]

Lol, no one knows how to say pedagogy! 😂 I’ve heard it about 5 different ways. I have the same problem with dropping the chores and tasks to make time for play. I think it’s important to play WITH them sometimes too and I don’t do that often. I’m scheduling time to do that every Thursday afternoon this coming school year. Board games, tea parties, treasure hunts, and the dreaded science experiments 🧪😳

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Oh, science experiments. Why do the kids love them so? 😅

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

DISCUSSION QUESTION 4* How do you make time for nature in your homeschool? OR If you don't, what is one thing you can start doing now?

[@meganmartina8974]

We get outdoors as much as we can. We really savor summer and time at the lake and in the badlands because we live in ND and winters can have some really miserable days with not much to do 🥶

[@GinaRLacy]

It is expected that they spend several hours outside daily. I also plan many park trips and outside activities as possible. We nature journal periodically and even school outside in the mornings!

[@elizabethburton6397]

We love playing outside. We haven’t been super intentional about a nature study. We try to get outside as much as possible. We’ve gotta stock up on outdoor days during October through March/April because it can get absolutely brutal down in Texas during the hotter months.

[@tonyalee3268]

We are constantly outside as much as possible. Camping, hikes, kayaking when possible, and going to State Park events.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

@@elizabethburton6397 I believe it! It’s been crazy hot for us in here in WA this week! We moved to a hotter area last year and this is our first summer here. I’m thinking we may shift our yearly school calendar to be doing school during the hottest month of the summer since we won’t want to be outside much then anyway, and then take a long break when it cools back down a little. 🤔

[@patriciadimarco8378]

Love this book

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 8* What were some of your biggest takeaways from this book? How are you going to use some of these ideas to make changes?

[@patriciadimarco8378]

We are free to do what works best for our kids and our family

[@SummerMeyers]

I'm gonna be on a plane!! 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Urghhh. I loved this book so much. I wish I had it when we first started homeschooling--would have helped with that insecurity so much. Starting Becoming Mom strong. Have so much fun with book talk! 💕💕

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Oh bummer! Glad you enjoyed it though!! I’m the same, totally wish it was around when we first started too. Now I just recommend it when I talk to new homeschoolers!

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 6* Do you schedule time for play into your homeschool?

[@GinaRLacy]

I wouldn’t say that it is scheduled because we just go with the flow and school takes up about 3 hours of our day. I’d say, school is s heckled and the rest is all play!

[@elizabethburton6397]

Yes! Coming from the public school I saw first hand how important play is. We only got about 15 minutes of recess & when I gave them longer recess 45 minutes to an hour the rest of the day was 100times easier. So yes we schedule a lot of play. We actually start our day with play then a block of school, play a block of school. Our school takes all day because of all our playing in between.

[@tonyalee3268]

We don’t really do well with scheduling things. 😬 But make plenty of time for play. We even do “school” at the park some days. We sit in a pavilion to work on our schoolwork for different scenery. The we take a break by walking the track or on the playgrounds.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

@@elizabethburton6397 Love that! We are similar with time for play in between school work.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

@@tonyalee3268 Such a great idea!

[@paulamiller2848]

So.....I am very eclectic as well but my main focus is teaching the things of God. It's immersed in all we do. Is Ainsley a Christian and does she put this into her methodology??

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

I believe she’s a Christian but it is not imbedded in this book or the organization. They purposely make it to be inclusive of all faiths. That being said, nothing is contrary to scripture and it is a very encouraging book as a homeschool mom to to learn to embrace the freedoms that homeschooling allows us to relax, slow down, savor childhood and family relationships, and let kids pursue their own interests.

[@deborahwilson5149]

Oxford Dictation says (Ped-uh-god-gee). So excited about continuing these book clubs with you 💕

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Thanks! ☺️

[@lisachristinaconfirmed5067]

I’d love to join in on this book club! I just saw this. What is the one for September or October?

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

Bummer you missed it! 😔 It was just for June, July and August. You’re welcome to read the books and join in on the comments though! The other two are still definitely worth the read!

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 7* Have you asked your kids what they want to learn about? If not, why not? If so, have you found a way to incorporate that into your homeschool?

[@GinaRLacy]

Oh absolutely YES! I totally have worked it into our school. My oldest is very much into coding and I give him plenty of time to create his masterpieces while providing many resources for him to learn it. My youngest wants to be a zoologist so we dive in to all things animals.

[@cassandrablanscet6912]

Lol our homeschool is mostly rabbit holes inspired by the kids! But mine are still little so honestly we haven’t even started the ‘real’ stuff like history. If they ask about the human body for example, I basically figure out a way to make that into a unit study.

[@girl4granted]

Mine are 8 and 5 and I am struggling to keep up with all the questions. I still want to go deeper into topics and then they are already on the next question. We also live on a tiny island ( with no library) so delving deeper often means googling for child friendly videos that align with our Biblical world view and then they get bored. At one stage I had Epic on my phone and my son learned so much looking up things but then I saw some of the books and videos and removed it from the phone .

[@elizabethburton6397]

Yes, mine are still little my oldest is six so when they are interested in a topic we read about it in our afternoon basket time.

[@tonyalee3268]

The first year that motivated our science studies. This coming year he helped picked all of his monthly book basket and unit study themes and how we are going to do social studies differently.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 1* What drew you to homeschooling?

[@hannahc1072]

Wanting my kids home with me and being mindful of the small amount of time we have them as kids before they grow up! And a lot of other things I wont comment on here :)

[@TheBookCourt]

I felt so panicked when it was time to out my kid in kindergarten. It just felt wrong. Now I see why. And I love this concept! Please do more books!!

[@happycampers7889]

I wanted to be the biggest influence in my children’s lives. I wanted to know them, not just raise them.

[@meganmartina8974]

When schools closed in March of 2020 and distance learning commenced, I saw how badly my oldest was struggling and how much the curriculum wasn’t working for her. Not only that, how much the staff was allowing her to fall through the cracks. We pulled her out and never looked back. I wish we had started from the beginning.

[@GinaRLacy]

Well, I saw the terribly long days my kids had at school, the lack of breaks (10 minute recess), crazy standards for tests, so much homework (an hour a night for my 1st grader!!!), lack of Jesus, and the questionable content they are taught.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 2* Which objection are you struggling with?

[@GinaRLacy]

Socialization and college.

[@heidibarker2120]

It WAS the I can’t afford it. I left a comfortable career, but I prayed so much. I know this time is short, and honestly, without getting too transparent or vulnerable, I know that we can’t take this time with our babies for granted. God gave them to us to treasure and I knew they deserved more!

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

@@heidibarker2120 ❤️❤️❤️

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

@@GinaRLacy I think college was my biggest too until I realized how many colleges like kids to have strong extracurriculars and with homeschooling our kids have so much more time to focus on those things! Still that nagging voice pops up sometimes though… 😅

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 3* Which myth kept you from homeschooling sooner?

[@tonyalee3268]

Thinking that public school had the training and tools needed to help my child better than I could. When in fact we learned the hard way they knew very little about dyslexia and other learning disabilities locally.

[@heidibarker2120]

The socialization myth! I had bought into the BIG one that my kids would be ill prepared for normal social settings, they would not be weird and the parents would be too! I remember coming home from my first PSP meeting and calling my mom and telling her, “mom, they are all so normal, they dress like me and look like me, in fact I might have been the most boring looking person there.” She laughed and said she thought she raised me better than to judge people like that, especially prejudging. I love that she is my biggest supporter because she is a retired public school teacher.

[@MockingbirdHillFamilyFarm]

Nothing has kept me from starting. This will be our first year but I have do admit that I get waves of doubt often

[@patriciadimarco8378]

That they could do it better

[@carinthiamontana7069]

I thought I would not have the time and also that I needed time to myself.

[@TheEclecticHomeschooler]

*DISCUSSION QUESTION 4* Which method spoke to you most?

[@meganmartina8974]

The Charlotte Mason method. I feel like I’m a mixture though, but I definitely lean closest to the CM method and we’ve made it our own. I now consider us Wild+Free Charlotte Masoners 🤣

[@GinaRLacy]

I’m definitely a hodgepodge, but I would say a mix between unit study, Charlotte Mason and unschooling.

[@cassandrablanscet6912]

We’re still finding our groove honestly as we’re entering our 2nd year and still have toddlers underfoot. So we’re very eclectic with a big emphasis on gameschooling, nature study/life skills/unschooling and literature/reading. Lots of floor time and outside time growing food forests in both Florida and Michigan!

[@elizabethburton6397]

We are definitely eclectic as well.

[@tonyalee3268]

We started out CM style but as I have learned more and tried some different things, we are definitely eclectic.