The Greta Eskridge Podcast

*Don’t forget to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity. You can get your copy here! And would you consider leaving this podcast a rating and writing a quick little review? A sentence or two would be so great and helpful. You can leave one here. Both of these things would be so helpful to me in spreading the word about my mission to help families create connection in a disconnected world. Join me!  Today I am so excited to welcome homeschool grad and young author, the wonderful Millie Florence! This was my first time meeting Millie, but we share some friends and life experiences, so it felt like we were old friends right away. Millie has multiple middle grade novels out in the world, and her newest novel, Beyond Mulberry Glen comes out in January of 2025. I loved talking to Millie about this new book, about home schooling, about creativity, writing, publishing and more! I know you’ll love this conversation too. Enjoy!  Where to find Millie: Her website here Her newest book here Her Instagram here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Pre-order goodies here Brave Writer (a home school writing program) here Honey Butter (Millie’s first book) here Ingram Spark (self-publishing book distributor) here Waxwing Books (Millie’s publisher) here   Some favorite quotes from this episode: “Home school is customizable.” Millie Florence “My mom wanted our home school to be directed by the things we delighted in.” Millie Florence “There was never a time in my life when I didn’t want to be a writer.” Millie Florence “You’re never going to be ready. You just have to do it.” Sarah Mackensie “Look at what you have and use that to the best of your ability.” Millie Florence 

I am delighted to introduce you to today’s guest, my friend Alicia Hutchinson. Alicia and I have been online friends for a long time, and I have enjoyed learning from and have been inspired by her through those years. Alicia is a home schooling mom of 4, the founder of the Learning Well Community and the Learning Well Journal. She is not afraid to go deep and in fact, she’d much rather go deep than waste time with small talk. As a result, we dive deep right away in this podcast episode where we talk about a lot of things, but especially focus on home schooling in the high school years. I know you will enjoy this episode! Where to find Alicia: On her website here In her home school journal here On Instagram here and here Resources mentioned in this episode: Some favorite quotes from this episode: “Hard things are not bad things, and sometimes they’re the best things!” Alicia Hutchinson “The growth that happens from 14-18 is phenomenal and I would not miss that for the world.” Alicia Hutchinson “High school is like the frosting on the cake!” Alicia Hutchinson “There is a fear that comes with keeping kids home in high school but we don’t have to give into that.” Greta Eskridge “I can’t teach my kids physics, but I bet I can find someone who can!” Greta Eskridge “Everything you say yes to, you are saying no to something else.” Alicia Hutchinson

Don’t forget to pre-order my new book!  Get your copy of It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn—A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity clicking on the title of the book.  Today’s episode is extra fun because it is my first episode with a guest from outside the Untied States. Meet Dave Boden, my friend from England! Dave is also the husband of one of my dear friends, Leah Boden, who is also known as Modern Miss Mason. Dave and I thought it was great fun that he was a guest on my show before Leah was. We sure had a great time together in this episode. I especially loved talking to Dave about his heart for reaching the next generation for Christ. Whether you have teens in your life or will one day, this episode will remind you that teenagers and young adults are craving meaning and purpose in their lives and we can help them find that through Jesus. I know you’ll love this conversation.   Where to find Dave: On Substack here His website here On Instagram here His book Like or Follow here His book Parallel Faith here  Resources mentioned in this episode: Get a discount on bulk orders of Dave’s book Like or Follow from 10 of Those here  Some favorite quotes from this episode: “The heart of my family is all about the next generation. That is what we’re passionate about. We’re captivated by reaching the next generation.” Dave Boden “If we’re open to teens and we don’t think the worst of them, we’ll see they’re such incredible people. At that time of life, they’re so excited about the world and they have ideas and questions and they want to learn.” Greta Eskridge “Discover how Jesus can reframe your world with hope and purpose.” Dave Boden “A part of our call as Christians is to leave our Christian bubble, bridge the gap and go where people are.” Dave Boden “There are three questions every person has: who am I, what am I here for and where do I belong? Young people are asking these questions and searching for the answers.” Dave Boden “Jesus is a real person who answers the real questions in our lives, but the places young people are searching won’t necessarily lead them to this answer.” Dave Boden “Your kid might be pretty good at attending church. But the goal of Christianity is not to church people. The goal of Christianity is to help people become like Jesus.” Dave Boden “So for me the end result is how Christ like are my children becoming? And how can our children become Christ like if they don’t know Christ?” Dave Boden “Young people are looking for adventure. They’re looking for a sense of purpose. They are looking to right wrongs. And they’re longing for hope.” Dave Boden “Teen don’t want to just be told about their faith. They want to go out and do it!” Dave Boden “We’re meant to be inspired by Jesus and then go out and do inspiring things with Jesus! That message is incredible for teenagers! It helps them know they’re called to a great destiny.” Dave Boden “Let’s rebel against low expectations! Jesus has incredible expectations for all His disciples.” Dave Boden “Parents are so scared of the teen years. And I just tell them that it is an amazing time! Just like they were incredible humans when they were babies and toddlers and preschoolers, they’re incredible humans when they’re teenagers!” Greta Eskridge  “We should say to teens, “look at all you can do as a young person of faith!” Greta Eskridge  “As parents we need to support our kids as they make their faith their own. And a lot of times that looks like saying, “yes, you can have your friends over to sit around and talk about God. I’ll make snacks.” Greta Eskridge  The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

This is your reminder to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: a Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity, today!  I have been asked to write this book for years and now, I have! Your pre-orders are tremendously helpful in growing the reach this book will have. I need your help in getting this book into as many hands as I possibly can, so pre-order and share away! You can pre order It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here  In today’s episode, I get to talk with my friend Amber Johnston. Amber is a wife, a home-schooling mom to 4, a world traveler, author and speaker. She is also a world changer! One of the things that has most impressed me about Amber in my years of knowing her is the way she sees something that needs to be done and she does it. This is the way she changes the world. It is inspiring and hopeful. We talk about this and so much more in this episode. You are sure to enjoy it.  Where to find Amber: Find Amber’s website here Find Amber’s first book, A Place to Belong, here Find Amber’s second book, Soul School, here Find Amber on Instagram here  Where to find the books mentioned in today’s episode: Find Soul School here Find The Read Aloud Family here Find Honey for a Child’s Heart here Find Honey for a Woman’s Heart here Find Honey for a Teen’s Heart here Find Book Girl here Find Read for the Heart here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: “The freedom of home schooling is one of, if not the best parts of home schooling. Even as a kid, I recognized the beauty of the freedom of home schooling.” Greta Eskridge  “My husband originally suggested home school and I burst out laughing. It was literally the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard. Then I joined a home-schooling group and that changed everything for me becau was in constant community.” Amber Johnston “Those moms gently and consistently told me I was the best. They spoke truth into me and built me up and that made all the difference.” Amber Johnston “My kids were always visitors to someone else’s stories and that was something we had to radically change.” Amber Johnston “You know your kids and you know what makes their learning come alive. That’s a beautiful part of home schooling.” Greta Eskridge “If there is a book you want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” Toni Morrison “Don’t complain. Don’t talk about it. Be about it!” Amber Johnston “I am really proud to have that work not just for home school moms but into perpetuity and into society and to be able to say there was a point in time when these authors and illustrators were given their flowers and really focused on.” Amber Johnston  The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org

Reminder to pre-order my new book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: a Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity, right now and it will arrive at your door step March 4, 2025! You all have been asking for this book for years and I have been praying I could write it for years and now, I have. Please go ahead and pre-order it now as that is tremendously helpful in the reach this book will have. And then share the heck out of it, OK? I’ll need your help in getting this book into as many hands as I possibly can. You can pre order It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here  Today’s episode is part 2 of my conversation with Anna and Nathan Sutherland. Today I get to speak with Nathan and our conversation it going to enlighten and inspire you! Nathan and his wife Anna are the founders of Gospel Tech, an organization that exists to equip families to use tech in a God honoring way in a tech saturated world. Rather than painting all tech as bad, Anna and Nathan want to help families talk about tech, communicate the gospel and connect the hope in the gospel to the use of tech. It is a beautiful mission and they are doing it so well!  In an effort to get more of this message into the hands of more people, Nathan wrote the book, Gospel-Centered Tech: Raising Faithful Followers of Christ in a Digitally Distracted World. This book will enlighten and inspire you to push forward in using tch in the best way possible with your family—a way that honors God. Yes, you can honor God with your tech use! Nathan’s book and our conversation is honest and helpful and it is also hopeful. That is such an important element whenever we talk about tech use and screen time. It is not all doom and gloom! I know you are going to love this episode like I did.  Where to find Nathan: Find Nathan’s book here Learn more about Gospel Tech here Follow Gospel Tech on Instagram here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: “There are two kinds of tech: tool tech and drool tech. Tech that helps us build is on the tool side and tech that helps us consume is on the drool side.” Nathan Sutherland “Drool tch comes to the table with it’s own goals. It wants to take our time and our focus and our money. And until we understand that, we’re going to wonder why we keep fighting with our family. We’re never going to understand why it’s always Fortnite and never Microsoft Word.” Nathan Sutherland “We aren’t perfect in our tech use. But the goal isn’t to be perfect. The goal is to be humble enough to recognize we need a savior and that applies to our tech too.” Anna Sutherland “We need to know understanding what operant conditioning is so that we can have compassion for our kid when they’re stuck in the loop of social media or a video game.” Greta Eskridge “Technology isn’t fair. It’s designed to increase engagement and build habits. That is not an accident. They’re using a mind bending amount of data to give you things you didn’t even know you wanted. And to make you think you need things that you never wanted.” Nathan Sutherland “The definition of addiction is when you give up what you need to get what you want.” Nathan Sutherland “When we understand how tech works it gives us the opportunity to come to our kids with compassion and grace and understanding rather than the frustration we often resort to.” Greta Eskridge “Dumb phones are great!” Greta Eskridge  “Porn is bombastic now. I don’t know if the porn I saw in 7th grade even counts as porn anymore. I’m not 100% sure that we adults understand what kids are experiencing from their pocket device or their friend showed them on the bus.” Nathan Sutherland “It’s not about porn proofing. It’s about equipping them to make the best choices. It’s about not being afraid to bring it up with them. It’s about not being afraid to answer their questions. These are all things we can do to help our kids be resilient in this world that is saturated with porn.” Greta Eskridge  

I shared some big news at the start of this episode: my new book is available for pre-order! That’s right, you can go pre-order my next book, It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn: a Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Develop Sexual Integrity, right now and it will arrive at your door step March 4, 2025! I am just overjoyed to be sharing this book with parents and giving them the tools they need to talk to their kids about a subject that can feel daunting, uncomfortable, scary, painful or just too difficult. Or maybe a mix of all of those things. I am here to help! You all have been asking for this book for years and I have been praying I could write it for years and now, I have. Please go ahead and pre-order it now as that is tremendously helpful in the reach this book will have. And then share the heck out of it, OK? I’ll need your help in getting this book into as many homes as I possible can.  Pre Order It’s Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn here  And now, for the rest of today’s episode:  I get to speak with Anna Sutherland and our conversation it going to inspire and excite you! Anna and her husband Nathan are the founders of Gospel Tech, an organization that exists to equip families to use tech in a God honoring way in a tech saturated world. Rather than painting all tech as bad, Anna and Nathan want to help families talk about tech, communicate the gospel and connect the hope in the gospel to the use of tech. It is a beautiful mission and they are doing it so well!  In alignment with that mission, Anna just wrote a book called The Graceful Disconnect:  25 Days to a Quieter Heart in a Tech Saturated World. In this episode I get to talk with Anna and Nathan, but really focus on Anna’s book. Next week you’ll get to hear from Nathan and his book! Anna’s book is a challenge, but it is a doable challenge. And an inspiring one that most of us, if we’re honest, need to take part in. I can’t wait for you to learn more as you listen.  Where to find Anna: Find Anna’s book here Learn more about Gospel Tech here Follow Gospel Tech on Instagram here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *“Moms, this is why I am writing to you. As much as we’d like to turn a blind eye to that screen time number that pops up (our own and our children’s) we simply cannot. We are fools if we think the conditions of our hearts aren’t impacted by what we digitally consume.” Anna Sutherland *“Most conversations take at least seven minutes to really begin.” Sherry Turkle *“The car is a space where we default to isolation. What if, instead, it became a place for conversation and connection?” Anna Sutherland *“You can speak a common language because you share the time in the car instead of everyone doing their own thing.” Greta Eskridge  *“Even as a kid, I recognized there was a break in connection when people put their headphones on.” Greta Eskridge *“We’re playing the long game as parents. We want these kids to launch and to be successful adults. Our job is teach them how to do that. Life is a parenting opportunity.” Anna Sutherland *“Tech is the easy default because we don’t have to deal with our kids. But easy is not the goal.” Anna Sutherland *“My grandma was a stay-at-home mom and her ministry was cookies. That’s attainable. I can make cookies! And she prayed for us every day and it’s incredible to have that kind of prayer covering. She made a difference for the kingdom.” Anna Sutherland  Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast. And I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating and a short review of the podcast. Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  I love you guys! Greta  

What a fun and important episode this is. A few weeks ago I shared a photo on Instagram introducing our son William and his new girlfriend, Georgia. The response was full of joy and excitement for William and Georgia but also for our whole family, as this was something to celebrate. There were also a lot of questions from my Instagram followers. They wanted to know details like: how old are our kids when we let them start dating, how do set up healthy boundaries with dating, how did I feel about “losing my sons” (spoiler alert—I’m not losing them!) and so many more questions. So I decided to turn it all into a podcast episode and here we are! I can’t wait for you to listen and to get a glimpse at the beautiful and good way God can uses dating in our kids’ lives to bring them toward Him and toward pursing relationships that are honoring to Him and to one another.  The two books mentioned in this episode can be found here: Chasing Love: Sex, Love and Relationships in a Confused Culture by Sean McDowell Outdated: Find Love That Lasts When Dating Has Changed by Jonathan “JP” Pokluda  If you enjoy this episode, will you please consider sharing it on your socials? Or text it to a friend? Sharing my podcast is so helpful and I deeply appreciate it! And I also always appreciate podcast reviews. Have you left one on iTunes yet? I’d be wildly grateful if you leave one today. Thanks, team! Love, Greta 

This episode is a really special one. I am delighted to introduce you to today’s guest, John Fort. John is the director of Be Broken Ministries, which exists to help individuals and families move from sexual brokenness to wholeness in Christ.  John is also the author of several books, including Honest Talk—a New Perspective on Talking to Your Kids About Sex, which we talk about today. John vulnerably and courageously shares his story of sexual and pornography addiction and how God has redeemed his story to give him a purpose driven by hope and healing.  I loved talking with John!  He is full of wisdom, reassurance and, there’s that word again, hope. He encourages parents to be honest with their kids about their own sexual past and then shows us how to do it. I read his book cover to cover in a few days and I can’t encourage you enough to get your own copy. But start by listening to this episode and getting to know John better. You’ll be so glad you did!  Find John here: Be Broken Ministries Find John’s books here: Honest Talk—a new perspective on talking to your kids about sex Father-Son Accountability : Integrity Through Relationship  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *”I was a little afraid to get into this work but God kept shutting all the other doors. It was like He said, “I didn’t bring you out of this for nothing.” John Fort *”There is so much freedom in honesty.” Greta Eskridge  *”Look at what God did! He did it for me and He can do it for you.” Greta Eskridge *”If parents would be brave enough to tell their own story then their kids would be able to say, ‘oh you do understand!’ and then they could talk.” John Fort *”He realized at that moment that he was not too broken to be loved by his parents or by God. For the first time he felt a surge of hope that he had someone to talk to about sex and maybe his father could help him. That event , just hearing his father’s sexual story became the turning point for this young man to actively engage in his own journey to sexual wholeness.” John Fort *”My problem had nothing to do with sex. I was using pornography and other sexual things to deal with emotions I didn’t know what to do with.” John Fort *”The days I looked at pornography as a teenager were the days something bad happened and I didn’t know what to do with that.” John Fort *”If in our house we never talk about body parts, we never talk about anything, that gives the silent message that it’s not OK to talk about these things.” John Fort *”We surveyed a bunch of teenagers and asked why don’t you talk to your parents about sex. They had two answers: ‘I’m afraid my parents won’t understand my past’ or ‘I’ll get in trouble for what I say or even what I ask.’” John Fort *”Your story is simply a way to show them it is OK to talk about these things.” John Fort *”We can pretend its not happening or we can just talk about it.” Greta Eskridge  *”You don’t even know what your kids are dealing with until you ask. And the older they get the more often we have to ask them what they’re seeing and what they’re hearing.” John Fort *”People are looking for help for their addictions and hope for their broken hearts. They want living water. If we run away or become judgmental or uncomfortable any time we see sexual pain, we will miss the greatest opportunities to enter the pain of their sexual brokenness and share the love of Jesus Christ.” Julie Slattery *”Emotional resilience is connected to sexual wholeness.” Greta Eskridge  *“We think that telling our story is going to make our kids not respect us, but the opposite is true if we do it well.” John Fort  Thank you so much for listening and being a part of my show! I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a rating and review of the podcast if you haven’t already. I appreciate each one of you. Keep chasing joy! Greta The Greta Eskridge Podcast is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. For more information visit www.ChristianParenting.org 

I am so excited to welcome my friend Anjuli Paschall to my show! Anjuli is a real life friend of mine and this episode reflects that. We laugh and cry together easily, share stories, and if we had cups of tea or coffee in our hands, it would feel like you had joined us as we hung out together in a coffee shop.  One of the things I appreciate so much about Anjulu is that she doesn’t try to fix everything with some cliché sentiment. Instead she listens intently and asks how I feel, thus inviting me to take my feelings to God instead of pushing them away. She is also not afraid to be vulnerable and through that she invites me into intimacy with her again and again. She is the kind of friend you want on the other end of the phone, text or across the table. Anjuli is a fellow author. She and I have walked through writing 3 books together! Her latestes book is called Feel—a Collection of Liturgies Offering Hope for Every Complicated Emotion. This book is like having a conversation with Anjuli. You’ll feel seen, heard, and loved as you go through the book. It is a beautiful book and unlike anything I have ever seen. Our conversation will give you a glimpse of the book and all it has to offer. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  Where to find Anjuli: Get Anjuli’s newest book, Feel, here Find Anjuli on Instagram here Find Anjuli’s website here Finds Anjuli on Substack here Get Every Moment Holy book here  Some of my favorite quotes from this episode: “It takes time to look at your feelings, all of them, as an invitation to look at what your heart is trying to tell you.” AP “Feelings are an invitation to wholeness, growth and intimacy.” AP “The relationships that are the nearest and dearest to our are the ones where we can be vulnerable and share our true feelings.” AP “God can hold it all.” GE “God wants to be with us where we are.” AP “He wants to heal us not to fix us—not just be better, do better, feel better.” AP “God cares about what we feel, but He cares more that we become--whole, loving children of God who reflect His son.” AP “We can hold both the good and the hard at the same time and they don’t cancel each other out!” GE “There is a sacredness in tears. They are not a mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition and of unspeakable love.” Washington Irving “God made us feelers and we don’t have to be afraid of the feelings that He put in us.” GE   

I am so excited to share the final episode of my “Back to Home School” series with you today. (Don’t worry, though, there will be other home school episodes in the future. They’ll just be intermingled with other topics.) In this episode I am diving into some of the home schooling questions you asked me on Instagram. I couldn’t answer them all, but I covered quite a few. And I promise to come back and answer more some time soon!  Here are links to some of the things I mentioned in this episode.  I hope you find them helpful! Want to have me speak at your event, conference, church, for your home school group, womens’ retreat or in some other capacity, get more information about booking me  here Find my Home School 101 Story Series on Instagram here Find all the home school articles on my blog here I talk about home schooling in high school and in college in episode 24. Listen to it here Learn more about high school transcripts here Learn more about Hamborg Academy of Art, in person and online art classes from one of our favorite art teachers here Learn more about home schooling and dyslexia in episode 25. Listen here Find Wild and Free bundles here Sign up for legal protection with a membership with Home School Legal Defense Association here Find Beautiful Feet Books curriculum guides here (they’re my absolute favorite!) Find Ambleside Online booklists here Read my book Adventuring Together to get fun back to school traditions (and lots of other ones as well) Get your copy here Give your kids a back to school copy of 100 Days of Adventure and dream up a bunch of fun adventures you can do together in the coming year. Get your copy here Read my blog post, The Early Years, here  Thank you so much for listening and being a part of my show! I appreciate each one of you. Keep chasing joy! Greta  

What a treat to have one of my earliest home school mentors on the podcast today. This is a powerful episode where we hear how Carole met God and how He led her to home schooling, which she initially thought was absolute insanity! Carole and I talk about the early days of home schooling when it wasn’t legal or illegal and so different than it is now. Hear how Carole’s son JJ has joined her in sharing the message of home schooling. What a dream that is! She shares books galore too. My favorite kind of episode! Carole Joy Seid is a joy indeed and you are going to love the encouragement and wisdom she brings from speaking on home schooling for 30 + years.  Here are the resources Carole recommends in this episode: Read and learn about home schooling’s pioneers: John Holt Dr. Raymond Moore Susan Schaeffer Macaulay Read their books: How Children Learn by John Holt Better Late Than Early by Dr. Raymond Moore For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay For the Family’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay  Here are the other books Carole recommends in this episode: The Common Rule—Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction Theology of the Body for Beginners The Least of These My Brothers  Father Arseny—priest, prisoner and spiritual father Little Britches series  Where to find Carole: Her website here Her seminars here Her podcast here Her Instagram account here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: “God doesn’t waste a thing.” GE “Home schooling was the farthest thing from my mind.” CJS “Home schooling is a huge liberty, and we don’t want to take it for granted.” CJS “It’s so thrilling to see the next generation of home schoolers carrying out the way of living that is so rich and blessed.” CJS “Sharing the message of home schooling has been the joy of my life.” CJS “The very first home school conference I ever attended was with Carole Joy Seid and it was absolutely transformational.” GE “You can home school with a bible, a library card and a math book.” CJS “High school and college is where your child’s theology makes up its mind.” CJS “If you’re tired, do something fresh and give yourself a grace package. Because that is what God gives to us.” CJS “Your goal is to get shining eyes!” CJS “The gift of home schooling for me has been all about freedom. The freedom to pursue education in the way that works best for our family, the way that works best for each kid and the way that works best for me as a teacher.” GE “Be the expert on your child.” CJS “Never stop reading out loud to your children.” CJS “The gospel needs to permeate everything you do.” CJS  Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast. And I’d be so very grateful if you leave a 5 star rating and a short review of the podcast. Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  I love you guys! Greta 

This is the third episode in my “Back to Home School” series and it is a great one! In this episode I got to talk all things home schooling with my friend, and fellow Christian Parenting podcast host, Monica Swanson.  Monica is a mom to four boys and lives on the beautiful island of Oahu, Hawaii. Monica home schooled all her boys, 3 of which have graduated, and is still home schooling her last one. She recently wrote a book called Becoming Home Schoolers, sharing the story of their home schooling journey, along with tons of other helpful ideas, information and inspiration. Monica and I had the best time talking together. You’re going to love our conversation and all the stories we tell. You’ll feel like you’re just hanging out with 2 of your friends. Come join the fun!  Places to find Monica: Her website her Her podcast here Her Instagram account here Her books here, here, here and here!  Here are some of my favorite quotes from this episode: “Home school kids have more time to pursue their passions.” Monica Swanson  “Home schoolers are prepared for the real world.” Monica Swanson “The number one reason we chose to home school is because I wanted learning about God, praying together, and reading the Bible together to be a part of their school experience because that is the most important thing you’ll ever learn.” Greta Eskridge  “There is no such thing as a neutral education.” Monica Swanson “Home schoolers are critical thinkers, they’re learners, they’re readers, and they know how to figure things out. Not every home schooler, of course. But a lot of them!” Greta Eskridge “It’s so tempting to have a whole curriculum for your 3 year old but if you just live life with your 3 year old and have him be a part of it, what you’re creating is a lifelong learner because you’re showing them that learning is happening all the time.” Greta Eskridge “Sometimes we forget how important it is to enjoy our kids. We get so caught up in what we feel like we have to do that we forget to enjoy our time with them or to enjoy them.” Greta Eskridge “The best is yet to come! The late teen and young adult years are so fun and it is the best reward.” Monica Swanson “It is painful joy to watch our kids fly. We’re excited for them and we have joy for them but there is pain there because things are changing.” Greta Eskridge “The home school lifestyle is not just a way to educate your kids but a way to get to know them and be involved in their lives.” Monica Swanson  

What a treat to introduce you to my friend, a person who has poured encouragement and support and wisdom into me, Carrie De Francisco.   Carrie is a mom to 2 homeschool graduates, she is a treasured voice in the home school community through her podcast, her books, her speaking engagements and her amazing videos on Instagram. She also provides encouragement for the moms of differently abled learners and especially for moms of dyslexic learners. The bottom line is Carrie will encourage you today, wherever you are on your home school journey.  This episode is full of a lot of helpful and practical tips for families that are home schooling dyslexic learners.  Here they are: *Have your child teach someone else something, or explain something they love *Spend way more time on your child’s gifts and talents than on the things they’re struggling with! *Use the dyslexic font for your computer *Use speech to text because it is not cheating! *Have your child read aloud the paragraph they wrote using speech to text and then help them edit as they read it aloud *Use Grammarly –its your writing tutor! *Use audio books (Audible, Hoopla, Libby are 3 great ones!) *This article breaks down a bunch of audio book options. Read it here. *Math U See is Carrie’s favorite math curriculum *Use colored markers, drawings or symbols to help them differentiate the words they’re learning and/or memorizing.  Places to find Carrie: Her website here Her podcast here Her books here here and here Her Instagram account here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *“Homeschool kids don’t just turn out OK. They can really flourish, even if it’s hard in the middle.” GE *“Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean we’re doing something wrong, or that our home schooling wasn’t working, or that our kids are never going to learn. It just means it’s different. “ CF *“If your kid has dyslexia or dysgraphia or dyscalculia they are gifted. They are gifted in so many ways. They have so many gifts they are going to be better than OK!” CF *“The Lord created our kids to be learning machines and we just need to trust the process.” CF *“God is going to use this. We don’t know how and we don’t know when, but we can trust Him.” GE *“Listening to books is reading books.” GE *“According to a study from Harvard, the number one thing that helped kids with dyslexia and dysgraphia be successful was to have at least 1 person in their life who is their cheerleader. At least one person who was their encourager.” CF *“As their moms, we know they are super smart and super intelligent, they just don’t know it yet and it’s our job to show them.” CF *For all the things that technology brings that can be problematic, there are also wonderful parts of technology that helps people with things like dyslexia. It can give them an opportunity for success.” GE *“Spend way more time on your child’s gifts and talents than on the things they’re struggling with!” CF *“Our culture likes to celebrate success right now, not the long, slow, version of success that some kids achieve.” GE *“Tell your kids over and over, ‘I love that about you’” CF  

What a treat to spend the month of August talking all things home school in my new series Back to Home School. As a second-generation home schooler, I have loved home schooling for almost my whole life. Home schooling was an incredible gift to me as a student and now it is an incredible gift to me as a mom who is home schooling her kids. I share a little bit about my own home school journey in this episode and then jump into discussing the joys of home schooling in high school, as well as the early years. I hope you come away with the reminder that you are doing a good job wherever you’re at in your home-schooling journey. And I hope you’ll be inspired to cast a vision for homeschooling from kindergarten all the way through those beautiful high school years.  Here are some of the resources mentioned in this episode: Learn more about Home School Legal Defense Association here Home School High School: a Handbook for Christian Education by Carrie De Fransisco  Becoming Home Schoolers: Give Your Kids a Great Education, a Strong Family, and a Life They’ll Thank You For Later by Monica Swanson Learning Well community with Alicia Hutchinson Cloud 9 Adventure  James Eskridge’s first illustrated book with 1000 Hours Outside Include these life skills in high school—cooking, travel, finances, home repair, community service, household chores, child care, hospitality, event planning, navigating the doctor’s office, the DMV, filling out forms and paperwork…these are all things they should be learning and doing in high school. The Early Years a blog post by Greta Eskridge Home School 101 Instagram highlight by Greta Eskridge  Here are some favorite quotes from this episode: *”Being home schooled is one of the greatest gifts of my life.” GE *”Someday your kids will be the ones to say to you, ‘mom, dad, being homeschooled is one of the biggest blessing of my life.” GE *”There is no perfect educational system.” GE *”You are your kid’s first teacher.” GE *”You need to have a vision for your home school journey. You need to have a vision for where you want to end up.” GE “There are so many reasons to keep home schooling through high school. Some of my favorites are: freedom, flexibility, so much less social pressure, the ability to have solid biblical truth as part of their studies, and so much more time together in the last years they’re going to be home.” GE *One thing that holds parents back from wanting to home school their kid in high school is that they think their kids are going to miss out on what they see as really important things. But parents need to ask themselves, “is it important to my kid or is it important to me?’” GE *”Their high school experience is going to look different than yours because they are home schooled. But different doesn’t mean bad. It just means different.” GE *”You don’t need much to home school your kids. You can home school with a Bible, a math book and a library card”. Carole Joy Seid *”Home schooling is best when it is personalized to your family and all the ways you live and learn best.” GE “Find ways to inject joy into your home school.” GE 

In this episode I have the absolute pleasure of talking to Dr. Joy Skarka.  Joy is a leader in helping women find freedom and healing from sexual shame with her doctoral work, leading seminars and workshops with Authentic Intimacy, and now is the author of a new book on the topic, Her Freedom Journey—a guide out of porn and shame to authentic intimacy.  In her book, Joy bravely shares her own journey from addiction to freedom. She educates her readers on the way porn use fuels harm, addiction and shame. But she doesn’t leave us there. Instead, she offers so much help and hope to her readers who might be struggling with these issues themselves or want to help someone who is. This book is going to be such an incredible resource to many. It is going to change lives. This episode is full of so many practical tips, encouragement and hope. I am truly honored to introduce you to Dr. Joy today. And I am so proud to share this conversation with you.  Some helpful links from today’s episode: Get resources from Dr. Joy’s website here Follow Dr. Joy on Instagram here Get Dr. Joy’s book, Her Freedom Journey, here Get more resources on all kinds of sexual issues from Authentic Intimacy here Hopeful bible verse: “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode:  *“Look at all that God has done!” Dr. Joy Skarka *“Girls use porn too. And girls need to be protected from porn too.” Greta Eskridge *”If we don’t talk about it for women and they’re secretly struggling, there is just so much more shame and so many more problems down the line.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”Do you know what gave me the courage? Someone else went first. I heard a courageous woman share her story at a college student women’s event. Until that moment, I had never heard a woman admit she struggled with sexual sin. For the first time I realized I wasn’t alone and I wasn’t a total freak for being a woman who struggled with sexual sin.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”Really what I needed was healthier coping mechanisms.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”Not only is sexual sin addictive, but it is damaging to your brain. It reconstructs your neurological pathways and bonds you to the images because God created you for intimacy.” Dr. Joy Skarka *There is more to it than ‘just stop watching porn’. You have to heal your brain and your body too.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”You were not created for sex, but for intimacy.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”God created us with a longing to be loved and to have intimacy that can only be met through Him. So if we’re turning to these fake things that are trying to give us fake intimacy, we’re always going to come up short and continue to have a longing for more.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”By delighting in Him, you find something that doesn’t just numb the pain, but heals the pain. That’s what God does.” Greta Eskridge *”The good news is this: we worship a God who redeems and restores our broken sexuality. Not only does God restore the beauty from ashes, but He also restores and renews our brains. We can have hope that even if we have been negatively affected by porn, we can be healed!” Dr. Joy Skarka *”We worship a God who can restore anything and that’s our hope. God’s power and His healing and His miracles can restore and redeem anybody’s brains.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”The porn industry is purposely creating porn for women. They have a whole branded type of porn, they call it ‘romance porn’. They also have porn to draw in kids because they know if they capture them they’re going to stay with us and be our clients for decades.” Dr. Joy Skarka *”Satan wants us to stay in that place of shame. He wants us to feel afraid and to feel like we’re cancelled because of the mistakes of our past, the decisions we made, the things that happened to us, even the things that aren’t our fault. He wants us to hide in that shame. And he wants us to stay quiet. But God can use our story when we bring it into the light.” Greta Eskridge *”The enemy thrives in the darkness and he thrives in the shame. But if we bring it into the light, that’s where the healing happens.” Dr. Joy Skarka 

My guest today is my real life friend, the incredible Jennifer Pepito. Jen is a mom to 7 and a grandma to 1.  She is a homeschooler and has been homeschooling for 26 years! Jen is the creator and founder of The Peaceful Press, an author several books, including her newest one, Habits for a Sacred Home -–9 Practices from History to Anchor and Restore Modern Families. I love many things about Jen, but her approach to motherhood has always inspired me so much. She engages in motherhood with so much intentionality and care and that is really the focus of her new book. Jen also highlights the importance and power we are given in our roles as mothers. Her new book is incredibly empowering and inspiring. I loved hearing more about the women Jen highlighted in her book and learning from their stories and I know you will too!  Some links from today’s episode: Find Jennifer’s website The Peaceful Press here Follow Jennifer on Instagram here Get Jennifer’s book, Habits for a Sacred Home here Listen to Jennifer’s podcast here Find out about the homeschooling community Wild and Free here Find the book The Benedict Option here Find the book How the Irish Saved Civilization here Find the book For the Children’s Sake here Find Tish Oxenreider’s Rule of Life course here  Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *As mothers, we are teaching our children to value the natural world. We are teaching our children how to read and how to value living books. Appreciation of art, reading real books, picking up after themselves, having dinner around the table and looking at each other in the eye--these are all classical and practical arts, lost arts, that we are saving as mothers.” Jennifer Pepito *We as moms are saving our culture with normal, everyday practices we engage in with our families.” Jennifer Pepito *“There is power in seemingly simple acts like eating dinner at the table with our family every night.” Greta Eskridge *”So much of what we do as mothers can seem hard in the moment, but when we can recognize how powerful it is and what heroes we are for doing it, it can give us a new perspective and make us feel more empowered by what we’re doing.” Jennifer Pepito *”The real change starts at home and it starts with moms.” Chris McKenna *”We are stepping into the lives of our children and making generational impact.” Greta Eskridge  *”It’s so important for moms to have a vision of what they could be like.” Jennifer Pepito *”The fight to which we have been called is not an easy fight. We are touching the very center of the devil’s power and kingdom, and he hates us intensely and fights hard against us. We have no chance at all of winning in this fight unless we are disciplined soldiers, utterly out-and-out and uncompromising, and men and women of prayer.” Amy Carmichael *”If the devil can’t make you sin, he’ll make you busy.” Corrie ten Boom “I do not think anything worth having in the spiritual world is easily attained. There is no shortcut to holiness. But there can be a true, humble, loving choice of the soul, and that choice, becoming a habit, will lead it into peace.” Amy Carmichael 

My guest today is Sara Ernst. Sara is a nature lover, a singer, a musician, an artist, a poet and a writer. She is the whole package! She is a wife and mom too, and lives with her family in Virginia. A childhood experience with a tricky person, her love of music and wanting to help protect kids all unexpectedly led her to write a song and a book that teaches and equips young children to use their voice to protect themselves. Her book, her music and her work are fantastic and so helpful to many families. You are going to come away with so many practical, helpful tips for keeping your kids safe from tricky people. I am really glad to have Sara on the show today!  Some links from today’s show: Visit Sara’s website here Follow Sara on Instagram here Find Sara’s music here Find Sara’s book, Shout No! here Download the Shout No song and coloring sheet here Find Sara’s book, Poetry for the Wild and Curious Ones, here Find Greta’s book here  Some of my favorite quotes from today’s episode: *”Parents don’t want to talk to their kids about tricky people because they want to protect their kid’s innocence. But we have to tell our kids that tricky people exist so we can give them to tools to protect themselves from the tricky people.” Greta Eskridge  *”I wanted to write something gentle yet effective that would equip kids from an early age and would give the words to shout no and run away from tricky people.” Sara Ernst *”We can react to our experiences by simply moving on, or we can let them fester and turn to bitterness or shame or we can say, “I wish that wouldn’t have happened, but I’m going to do something positive with it now.” Greta Eskridge *”When we tell our kids not to cross the street without us we don’t go into graphic details about what can happen if they get hit by a car. We just tell them, “you could get hurt” because that is all they need to know. It is the same with giving our kids information about predators. We don’t give them scary information; we give them empowering information.” Greta Eskridge *”Music is sticky!” Sara Ernst *“Teach your kids that anyone can be a tricky person, because most abuse happens with people the children know. And teach them how to respond to tricky people.” Sara Ernst *” We are empowering our kids not making them afraid.” Greta Eskridge  

Today’s episode is extra special to me because I got to talk to Mary Jo Hoffman, someone I have followed online and admired for more than 10 years! Mary Jo is an artist whose art form is taking photographs of found nature on black or white backgrounds. As an avid nature collector myself, I absolutely loved her beautiful art and became a fan instantly.  Mary Jo is a rocket scientist turned artist, blogger, and now author of the book, Still, the Art of Noticing. She married to a James Beard award winning food writer, a mom to 2 kids, and she lives in St. Paul Minnesota.  Mary Jo’s art has made her into a “noticer”. Collecting pieces of nature and photographing them daily has made her slow down and really notice all the beauty there is in the natural world, no matter the season. We have a great discussion about her art and her book and the ways we can help our kids become noticers too, even though they are growing up in a world that doesn’t really celebrate slowing down. I know you’ll come away inspired by this episode. And maybe you and your kids can start a habit of noticing nature and loving the beauty of nature, just like Mary Jo has.   Some links for you from this episode: To see the art of Lisa Congdon, the artist who was an inspiration for Mary Jo, go here To learn more about the 72 micro seasons in Japan, go here Find the Beatrix Potter book here Find Mary Jo’s book here Read Mary Jo’s blog here Follow Mary Jo on Instagram here  Some favorite quotes from this episode:  *“The natural world drew me in first not as a source of beauty to observe, but as an expression of mathematics, and physics: I loved natural shapes for the trial-and-error perfection of their function; I loved seed pods for the ingenuity of their dispersal mechanisms; I loved the algorithms of spirals, saw toothed leaf tips, and the shapes of trees that imitated the shapes of rivers and their tributaries.” Mary Jo Hoffman * “We don’t value slowing down very much as a culture and we miss out as a result.” Greta Eskridge  *”As the project progressed, so too my definition of seasonality was redefined. I noticed not big sweeping changes in temperature and light, but daily changes. I noticed the exact day the sap began to run. The day the first catkins exploded. The day the lilacs opened. And the day the first orange maple leaf appeared. And I captured it all, one high-resolution image at a time, for ten years. The attentiveness required to make an image a day led to a depth of understanding I had not expected. The more narrow and deep I went, the more my world expanded.” Mary Jo Hoffman *” Kids don’t know the names of anything in nature anymore. How do we grow tomorrow’s stewards of the environment if the kids don’t have an attachment to it?” Mary Jo Hoffman *” Learning names of things in nature makes you care about them more. Because then you have a relationship and connection beyond, that’s a pretty flower.” Greta Eskridge *”How do you raise creative kids? You model it every day.” Mary Jo Hoffman *”Give your kids space and time for creativity.” Greta Eskridge *” Part of being a noticer is having childlike wonder.” Mary Jo Hoffman *” Owning the responsibilities of sharing the awe and wonder of the natural world is one of the duties of being a parent.” Mary Jo Hoffman *” Look for micro joys in your life!” Mary Jo Hoffman  If you haven’t already, please take a minute to subscribe to this podcast. I’d also be so very grateful if you leave a 5-star rating and write a quick review.  Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  I love you guys! Greta  

Today’s episode is all me. This one really is “The Greta Eskridge Podcast”! I like to have these episodes every month or so, where I get to catch up with you and share whatever is on my heart and mind at the time. Today I’m sharing thoughts on why it is so imperative for us to help our kids not just opt out of social media, gaming, and hours spent on a screen, but to opt into real life! That means opting into real life experiences and real life relationships and real life connections with the world and the people who live here. I share some sobering idea, but also encouragement that this isn’t as difficult as we might think.  I’m also sharing something exciting for you all, my podcast community! For the month of July and August I am inviting you to join me in an online cook club, reading my book Adventuring Together. If you have already read the book, you can join, or if you’re picking it up for the first time, you can join too. We’ll spend the month of July reading the book and then you can join me for a live book club meeting where we’ll chat and you guys can ask questions and it will be a great time! I’ll also be sharing one of my most favorite talks, The Connecting Power of Adventure” online for the first time. And my podcast listeners will have the opportunity to see that too. To take advantage of these opportunities I’m inviting you to join me on Substack. If you aren’t a Substack reader yet, its simply an online platform where writers like me can share our work and create a community with our readers. You can visit my website or my Instagram feed for all the details. I know we’re going to have a lot of fun, and be motivated and inspired to cultivate lasting connection with our kids and this beautiful world we live in!  Important links from today’s episode here: My favorite herbal blend of tea for sun tea here (I also like to add 2 or 3 bags of decaf black tea to the brew to make it a little stronger)  Find my website and all the book club info here Find my book, Adventuring Together, here For more adventurous, connecting ideas, see my children’s book here Follow me on Instagram here See Erin Loechner’s book, The Opt Out Family, here   Some favorite quotes from today’s episode: *”In order to help our kids opt out of social media, video games, endless screen time, and even pornography use, we have to offer them something better!” Greta Eskridge *”The algorithms are designed to make us want to stay on the screen, to scroll, and to watch for hours. So, we have to offer our kids something better!” Greta Eskridge * If our only goal is to check a lot of adventures or activities off the list with our kids, but we’re not using those things to build, and cultivate connection with them, then we’re all missing out.” Greta Eskridge *”Adventure is the vehicle, but connection is the goal.” Greta Eskridge *” If we consistently offer our kids the opportunity to experience the real world with the people they love to be with, they’ll want to choose that over the false connection, and even the false experiences offered through technology.” Greta Eskridge *”If people can just have an amazing virtual experience, why would they want to go through the effort, expense and bother of having a real one? Why would they want to have real life friendships, or real life relationships when they can have that with an image on a screen? This is the danger of satisfying your desires in a made up world, where life is easy and you expend no physical or emotional energy.” Greta Eskridge *”It is critical we create an appetite for real adventure and real experiences and real connection with the world and with it’s people in our kids! They need to experience struggle and hard work and being emotionally connected to others. There is so much at stake here.” Greta Eskridge *”It imperative that I not only pursue real life connection with my kids, but also teach them how to recognize it and to pursue it themselves.” Greta Eskridge *“This is more than just a list of things to do with your kids this summer. This is an invitation to you to begin creating connection and relationship with your kids that will stand the test of time.” Greta Eskridge 

In this episode I got to talk to my internet friend turned real life friend, Erin Loechner. Erin is a homeschooling mom to 3, a wife, a gifted writer and an incredibly creative, brilliant, unique person. I adore her. In this episode Erin shared with us about her brand-new book, The Opt-Out Family: How to Give Your Kids What Technology Can’t.  Erin’s book is a call to action and an invitation for every parent. It calls them to sit up and take notice of how the algorithm is coming after our kids, and then invites them to do something about it. The book is full of compelling research and helpful, practical ideas for helping your family opt out.  What makes Erin’s book even more compelling is that she is actually living that life with her family. Four years ago Erin left her successful career as a social media influencer, shut down her social media accounts and opted out. She knows what she is talking about. I really enjoyed this conversation with Erin and I learned a lot. I know you will too. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this episode: *I wanted to model for my daughter what it looked like to have a vibrant career and life without social media.  *If my kids say, “I don’t like how social media makes me feel, but I don’t know any other way. I want to be able to say, I’ve got another way. Let’s do it together.”  *You can’t know the opportunity missed but you can know the fruit gained.  *This is the world our children live in, where playground swings become selfie props. It is not an accident. It is the work of the algorithm. It is the work of a machine, a mission and a great strategy dreamed up by people in board rooms who make a living by stealing a life.  *We are no longer asking why we would opt out. We are asking how we opt out.  *It’s not enough to say no to devices. We have to say yes to something better.  *We parents can do it better than the tech guys!  *Our kids just want to be with us. It’s really so simple.  *There is a powerful message being sent to parents that our kids don’t want to be with us, especially as they grow up. Then we get afraid and think we have to compete, to be cool, to be better than Tik Tok. But when we slow down and just spend time with our kids, even our teens, we find out that they really do want to be with us.  *Start here: Give your kids your eyes.  The 2 books Erin and I talked about are: The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio (here) and Grandma Gatewood’s Walk (here) Chase joy and go read them now! Find Erin’s book here Visit her website here for additional resources and helpful info.  If you haven’t already, please take a minute to subscribe to my podcast.  I’d also be so very grateful if you leave a 5-star rating and write a quick review.  Reviews are incredibly helpful to me as a new podcaster. Thank you for listening and being part of my team.  I love you guys! Greta