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The Sociable Homeschooler — Kids & Family
The Sociable Homeschooler

Have you ever wondered how people just like you manage to homeschool their children and apparently love every moment of it? Are you ready to give up the formative years of your children’s lives to a stranger? Do you think homeschoolers are weird? Does the word, homeschool, bring to mind Birkenstocks, jumpers, and hairy legs? Honestly half my family fit the hairy leg stereotype…so who cares? I’m here to help you let go of any pre-conceived notions you may have about home educators. Forget all the excuses ever made under the sun for not homeschooling and listen to my show which is a generous mix of my life as the oxymoron, Sociable Homeschooler, international guests from all walks of life and light hearted views and comments about education and basements. I will also bend your ear with excerpts from my soon to be published book, also entitled, The Sociable Homeschooler, which chronicles many good causes for why my blue eyed cowboy and I chose to go off the deep end hand in hand with God and have everyone talking about us behind our backs and in the end winning them over. Come and be won over on Toginet Radio Live on Fridays, if only to get a weekly taste of Britain.

Latest Episodes:

Safe Ways to Superwoman it in 2012: Ally Loprete, Sandy Fowler & Dr. Ann Dunnewold Dec 30, 2011

Show notes

For the last show of the year I have invited three of my friends to help us navigate the New Year and the twelve months it holds without setting too many goals. They will give us their top tips on choosing what to add or take away from our lives and urge us to be kind to ourselves. Ally is host of This Little Parent Stayed Home where she keeps her listeners uplifted and motivated each week on Fridays at 5pm CT. Sandy hosts Heartfilled Holidays a weekly Toginet show airing on Mondays at 1pm CT, about how we can make holidays and festivities an enhancement to our lives. Dr. Ann is a licensed psychologist, yoga teacher and meditation guide, as you can probably guess her ethos is all about mindfulness and slowing down which she blogs about weekly on her website. Bring a seasonal drink and come and unwind this Friday, before the festivities start. You’ll get some fantastic and doable ideas!

A Time to Reminisce: The McNeny Children Dec 23, 2011

Show notes

How much of your traditional holiday activities will show up in your children’s homes when they move on? This week I am talking to my four children about what they remember, the good and the not so good, about the busiest time of the year in the McNeny household. The shows, the concerts, the church services, the wreaths, the books, the tree, the cards, the food, the smells, the crèches and losing the baby Jesus! Come and have fun with me and my children as we reminisce about what the photographs showed as magical times versus what really went on behind the scenes! Bring a cuppa and prepare to laugh!

What Comes After Circus? Omar Abderrahman Dec 16, 2011

Show notes

Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages I bring you the greatest show on earth! My guest this week is Omar Abderrahman who will share a snippet of his extraordinary childhood with us. Omar’s non-traditional education will cast out all those doubts about deprivation and lost opportunities some parents feel when they’re having a bad homeschool day! He is a personal family friend who mentioned, one fine day when he heard we were considering homeschooling, that he was homeschooled! After running away from the circus Omar spent the next 30 years traveling on the road with some pretty impressive names in the music and entertainment industry. He formed his own production company in 1994 and manages and produces events, concert tours, corporate shows, TV and film. Join me on Friday to hear some spectacular, breath-taking and extravagant stories from Omar whose uncommon childhood and Calvert Education did absolutely nothing to cramp his style! This will be a show worth stopping for so grab a cuppa!

Who Needs Schools? Steve Richards Dec 09, 2011

Show notes

Northstar Worldwide offers support and resources to homeschooling families all over the world. I am happy to welcome one of their directors, Steve Richards, to my show this week. Steve is a founding member of a home education group in England called Home Service and he has spoken widely on the topic of home education in the United Kingdom and overseas. Both he and his wife, Lynn, homeschool their children and we are going to be talking about Education in general and in particular in England. Quoted as saying, “Home educators do not need schools, do not need trained teachers and they do not need the state,” Steve and I are ready to stir it up over a cup of tea on Friday. So come and listen in!

From Editing to Empowering: Laura Noueihed Dec 02, 2011

Show notes

How do you go from being the head editor of the New York Times' front page website, night edition, managing a team of editors and producers to being the principal facilitator of your homeschool, empowering a cluster of eager young minds? My guest this week, Laura Noueihed, is going to be answering this question for us when she opens a window onto her life of word mongering and child raising. Laura has her Master of Science in Journalism, with concentrations in print and new media, from Columbia University where she was a professor. When she’s not playing with words Laura loves water skiing and scuba diving, experimenting with traditional cooking of various cultures, and is equally happy absorbed in a good novel or browsing a screen full of programming code. Make yourselves a cuppa and join me this Friday as Laura and I chat about the diversion she took to pour her gifts and talents into the future generation.

Almost There: Callan Roe & Zoe Cottrell Bentley Nov 21, 2011

Show notes

My series on graduated homeschoolers is almost at a close and this week I thought I’d bring you two nearly graduated students who are on the cusp of moving up and away from their homeschools. Callan Roe is an exuberant 17 year old, horse lover with ambitions to pursue an international business degree. Ready to take the world by storm she is keen to tell you all about herself. Zoe Cottrell Bentley is a 15 year old scientist with ambitions. One of them is to work as an exogeologist for NASA. You’ll have to listen in to hear her others. She has her own web site and has conducted a few interviews herself. She is also the co-author of a YA novel entitled, Fractured Fate. Join us on Friday for a different view of the future through young and intelligent eyes.

Not College? So What?: Jonathan & Linnea Lewis Nov 18, 2011

Show notes

Jonathan & Linnea Lewis are my guests today. They are newly weds and on fire to talk about what happened to them after the work at the kitchen table was done. As a couple they have an unusual combination of experience in the area of higher education and the work force. Linnea used Accelerated Distance Learning to earn a BA in 18 months for a fraction of the normal cost. She then went on to study for and sit her paralegal certification exams, all from the comfort of her own home with the help of her trusty computer. She does freelance graphic design from a home office and for something completely different, she has also taught piano. Jonathan launched into entrepreneurial endeavors very quickly after finishing high school skipping all forms of higher education completely. He helped start Home School Enrichment Magazine, a national Christian homeschooling magazine in America, about to enter its 10th year of publication. They are a feisty couple who are prepared to discuss the diversity of options open to non college bound graduates. They are living proof that homeschoolers don't have to follow a specific path after high school just because everyone else is doing it. Their message in a nutshell? Carry on being different. Join us on Friday with an open mind and a warm heart and welcome this couple into your homes for an hour.

Positively Outstanding: Laura Ellis & Joshua Williams Nov 11, 2011

Show notes

Ever wonder how homeschoolers feel about their lot in life once they get to college or join the workforce? Laura Lee Ellis and Joshua Williams, both lifelong homeschoolers, will be talking to me this week about how home-educating families can prepare their students for college, adulthood and beyond. Laura will tell why she feels homeschooling uniquely prepared her for her earthly journey. In her blog, Life as a Rough Draft, she offers tips on how to take home education to the next level and thrive. Joshua will be talking to us from Italy where he is continuing his degree as a primary age teacher. Together they will be extolling the important roles their parents played in their lives and how they, as individuals, stand out from the crowd in a positive way. Pour yourselves some tea, dunk a few chocolate biscuits and listen on Friday to a lively and encouraging discussion with two outstanding lifelong homeschoolers.

Dancing and Horses: Jenni Hodgman Nov 04, 2011

Show notes

Highland dancing and horse riding were two of the subjects Jenni Hodgman took at her Australian homeschool and after graduation, instead of going to University, she took a gap year or three to discover the world and unravel her dream. She has danced with OzScot Australia in Edinburgh, Oman and Sydney. She and a friend backpacked through Europe. In Alberta, Canada, she was introduced to a top Western horse trainer, who offered her a job for the summer. Her family took a very unstructured approach to homeschooling which rubbed off on this young lady who, after several gap years decided to return to Australia to get educated. Today she is working in a pub and studying a Bachelor of Arts at Monash University. Jenni is following her homeschooled principles of studying what she enjoys. Join us this Friday and hear how she has taken her un-schooling experience and ridden and danced her way around the world! You’ll be captivated by this bright young woman.

Autonomous Hedders: Imran Shah Oct 28, 2011

Show notes

My guest this week is a Pakistani born British resident who, with his Scottish wife, homeschools their two children. During this hour we will find out how cultural dynamics have helped cement their family into a successfully homogenous unit. Imran Shah, a child protection social worker, public speaker and outspoken objector to the last labour Government’s attempts at further regulating home education in Britain, will be talking to me about the Hedders movement in the U.K. While his children were still young he researched child development, attachment and the history of education in Britain and turned to his wife one day with the suggestion that they never send their children to school and entrust them to strangers. Join us on Friday for an interesting look at autonomous education in my motherland and learn how all kinds of differences are overcome in the Shah household for the sake of the family.

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