Before academics, worksheets, or curriculum—there’s one foundational question: Is my child ready to learn?

Learning starts with the body.

In this conversation, we are joined by Sarah Collins, homeschool mom and occupational therapist behind Homeschool OT.

Sarah helps us step into an OT’s perspective on learning readiness by unpacking retained primitive reflexes, regulation, and how to observe our kids with new eyes.

Together, we explore:

• What an OT does and how they support learning at home
• What primitive reflexes are, with a focus on the Moro reflex and ATNR
• The downstream impacts of unintegrated reflexes—on attention, emotional regulation, executive functioning, and reading
• Practical first steps for parents noticing challenges with regulation, readiness, and felt-safety
• Practical starting points for parents who feel maxed out or burned out

Sarah brings both expertise and empathy, reminding parents that you don’t have to do everything—just start where you are, with what you have.

Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

📌Learn more about Sarah, her classes and consulting at Homeschool OT

📌 Listen to Sarah’s podcast The Homeschool OT Is In

• Episode 21: Exploring Primitive Reflexes
• Episode 22: Play-Based Reflex Integration
• Video for Kids on Retained Reflexes

📌 Check out Day in the Life (DITL) Community.

• DITL is a community of parents who gather weekly to learn, reflect, and support one another as we homeschool with heart. Each month we welcome a guest expert like Sarah, and every day we build community through shared learning, encouragement, and friendship through our asynchronous video chats on Marco Polo.

📌 Kelly offers one-on-one coaching and a self-paced course on the 90-Minute School Day method.

📌 There is also Guide Training™, a live group learning environment, for those who prefer community learning.

📌Listen to or invite Kelly to speak about the 90-Minute School Day™.

🎧 Listen to the other episodes in the “Starting Where You Are” series:

• Part 1: What Grief Has to Teach Us with Emily Souder
• Part 2: Falling Behind is a Myth with Leslie Martino
• Part 4 and Part 5 coming soon!

The pressure to “do more” in homeschooling is constant—cover more subjects, check more boxes, keep up with the pace of everyone else.

But what if all that rushing is the very thing keeping kids (and parents) from real learning?

In this episode, Leslie Martino, author of The Joy of Slow, pushes back on the myths of falling behind and faster is better. She explains why slowing down is not about doing less, but about creating the space where values, curiosity, and connection can actually take root.

Highlights include:

• What “slow” really means—and what it doesn’t
• How descriptive inquiry shifts the focus from what’s wrong to what’s working
• Why reflection is the missing step between information and wisdom
• How routines, projects, and flexibility create homes where learning flourishes

This episode is part 2 in our 5-part Start Where You Are series, following the conversation on grief and meaning-making we began in Episode 48. Both episodes pair together to reveal the same truth: meaning is never found in speed—it’s found in slowing down enough to notice.

📌 Connect with Leslie: lesliemartino.com

📌 Join Leslie’s 30 Days of Connection 📌 Join 90-Minute School Day in the Life Community

🎧 Catch Episode 48 here: Grief, Acceptance, and Meaning-Making

This episode is the first in a brand new 5-part series on the podcast: Start Where You Are.

This series is designed to meet you wherever you are in your homeschooling journey, offering the resourcing you need to move forward with meaning and acceptance. And to begin, we’re going straight to the foundation—by naming the elephant in the room: grief.

Grief isn’t only about death. It’s about the losses, big and small, that come with parenting and homeschooling—especially for families raising neurodivergent kids. It’s the grief of unmet expectations. The invisible grief of constant adaptation. The grief of medical interventions, school refusal, autistic burnout, and family rhythms that look nothing like we imagined.

Too often, grief is dismissed, mislabeled, or buried under burnout. Grief is not an enemy to fight—it’s a friend to make room for. It’s a teacher that invites us toward healing, wholeness, and connection.

In this conversation, I’m joined by my friend and Day In The Life community member Emily Souder—therapist, author, homeschool mom, and parent of neurodivergent kids. Emily knows this territory intimately, both through her personal story and her work in the world of neonatal loss and grief.

Together, we explore what it means to befriend grief and create space for it in our families—because tending to grief is not only vital for our own healing, but for the well-being of our children.

• What grief is and how it shows up in our nervous system

• Why the 5 stages of grief are often misunderstood

• The Dual Process Model of Grief and how it helps us balance grieving and living

• What happens when we suppress or avoid grief

• Supporting our children in their own experiences of grief

• Practical ways to tend to grief in our family rhythms

• Learn more about Emily Souder on her website

• Pre-order Emily’s newest book, Your NICU Story

• Join us for the next Day In The Life Community Open House

In this final episode of our four-part series on technology and learning, we're tackling a topic that feels like the "Wild West": artificial intelligence + kids.

Is this a threat, a tool, or something else entirely?

Join us for a grounded and thoughtful conversation with Andrew Dugan, a former teacher and software engineer who created Aris.chat, a customizable AI designed for kids. He helps us demystify what generative AI and large language models (LLMs) actually are, offering a critical and creative look at how these tools can be used for learning.

Andrew shares his unique perspective as a parent, teacher, software engineer, and consumer, exploring the promises and pitfalls of AI, especially for neurodivergent kids. We'll discuss how to use AI for self-directed learning, the importance of maintaining human connection in a digital world, and what red flags to look for in a tech tool.

This is a must-listen for any parent trying to make sense of AI. Tune in for an engaging conversation that tackles the tough questions about AI's role in children's lives, offering guidance, hope, and practical tips for navigating this brave new world.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

Ready to talk about this and other topics with other parents?

• Add your name to our DITL community invite list to continue this conversation at our next open house.

Looking to catch up on the other episodes in this Tech + Learning Series?

• Ep. 39 – Screens Aren’t the Enemy: Disconnection is!
• Ep. 40 – Drop the Shame: The Other Side of Screens with Amanda Diekman
• Ep. 41 – Documenting Homeschool Learning with AI and Emily Biolsi

We hear it all the time: “But what about socialization?”

Socialization for homeschooled kids isn’t just same-aged peer associations and blindly following rules. It’s about nervous system safety, real relationships, and being known and accepted for who you are. Especially for neurodivergent kids, socialization must be safe enough to be meaningful.

But that’s not the socialization we’re here to talk about today.

This episode is about you—the homeschooling parent. The one navigating the invisible labor of parenting and educating kids with complex needs, while trying to re-parent yourself, manage burnout, and build a life that actually works.

And maybe feeling deeply alone in it.

If you've ever thought, “Where are the people like me?” or “Why does no one talk about how lonely this is?”—this episode is for you.

You’ll hear:

• Why parent socialization is not optional—it’s vital to your nervous system health, overall wellbeing, and your child’s learning.
• How isolation shows up in homeschooling—especially when conventional homeschool communities don’t fit.
• Why the parent is the primary learning environment and what that really means.
• What kind of community supports deep healing, authentic connection, and sustainable homeschooling.
• How the Day in the Life (DITL) community is set up to meet you where you are—burnout, busy days, middle-of-the-night Marco Polos and all.

Let’s stop pretending we can do this alone. Let’s talk about the kind of socialization you need to thrive.

Mentioned in This Episode:

Come to our next Day In the Life Open House and see what it looks like to support your homeschool life with a community that gets you.

Save your spot for the Open House It’s JULY 29th 1:00-2:30 pm EDT

We’ll show you what a real-life, sustainable, child-honoring homeschool actually looks like.

Stay connected:

• Podcast archives: Listen to the rest of this series (ep 42-46)
• Kelly offers one-on-one coaching and a self-paced course on the 90-Minute School Day method.
• There is also Guide Training™, a live group learning environment, for those who prefer community learning, offered twice a year. Join the waitlist here.
• Listen to or invite Kelly to speak about the 90-Minute School Day™ here.

At the end of the day, trust your instincts and explore alternatives to what isn’t working!

I’d love to connect personally, find me on Instagram.

Want to help another parent? Share this episode with a friend who’s been feeling isolated or burned out. Let them know there’s a place for them.

Friend, is your homeschool driven by the fear that your child is falling behind?

Do you find yourself itching to double down on academics—despite your neurodivergent child’s resistance—because that’s what society says learning looks like?

In today’s myth-busting episode, we unpack one of the most pervasive homeschooling fears: that more academic work = more learning. We’ll examine why this belief is misleading, what it overlooks about how learning actually works (especially for neurodivergent kids), and what to do instead when your child is in burnout, shutdown, or full-blown resistance.

If you feel like you’re walking a knife’s edge trying to wear both the “parent” and “teacher” hats, this episode is for you.

What You'll Learn:

• Why "falling behind" is a school concept, not a developmental truth
• What resistance actually signals—and why pushing harder backfires
• What relational neuroscience teaches us about co-regulation and trust in learning
• Why felt-safety matters more than curriculum
• What to focus on when learning is shut down

Ready to break the cycle of doubt and pushing to power through?

Come to our next Day In the Life Open House and see what it looks like to build a homeschool that works with your child’s nervous system—not against it.

🗓️ Save your spot for the Open House It's JULY 29th 1:00-2:30 pm EDT

We’ll show you what a real-life, sustainable, child-honoring homeschool actually looks like.

Share This Episode: Know a friend who’s overwhelmed by homeschool planning or stuck in the schedule spiral? Send this their way. It’s a breath of fresh air—and a much-needed mindset shift.

Enjoying the Podcast? Take 5 seconds to rate it or leave a review. This is a fast way to support our work and help other parents find this free resource.

Trying to stick to the plan? Maybe that’s the problem. In part 3 of our mini-series answering the most common homeschooling questions, you’ll hear a no-nonsense episode at what’s really underneath the question of “What should our homeschool schedule look like?”

If you’ve ever built a beautiful schedule only to abandon it two weeks later, you’ll want to tune-in. Don’t worry, you’re definitely NOT failing—you’re just trying to meet too many needs without enough margin. Let’s talk about why rigid plans rarely work (especially for neurodivergent families), how to shift toward rhythm, and how to start noticing what’s already working in your home.

You’ll also hear how the 90-Minute School Day framework helps families create a flexible container for consistent connection, story, and shared learning—without pressure, overwhelm, or performance.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why traditional homeschool schedules often backfire
• The difference between a rhythm and a schedule—and why it matters
• How to start with a time audit to identify your family’s needs and constraints
• What it means to co-create a rhythm that respects both your child’s autonomy and your own needs
• How the 90-Minute School Day framework offers structure without control

Links & Resources:

• Join the next Day in the Life Open House Want to see how real families are building rhythms that work? Get a behind-the-scenes look at the DITL community.
• Learn more about the 90-Minute School Day Framework https://90minuteschoolday.com

Share This Episode:

Know a friend who’s overwhelmed by homeschool planning or stuck in the schedule spiral? Send this their way. It’s a breath of fresh air—and a much-needed mindset shift.

Enjoying the Podcast?

Take 5 seconds to rate it or leave a review. This is a fast way to support our work and help other parents find this free resource.

You don’t need a better curriculum. You need a better question.

If you’ve been wondering which curriculum is best for your child—this episode is for you.

Homeschooling parents often carry the weight of making the “right” choice when it comes to planning, materials, and structure. But what if that whole line of thinking is leading you away from what your child actually needs?

In this second episode of our mini-series answering the most common homeschooling questions, we reframe the search for the perfect curriculum—and offer something far more valuable than a product recommendation: clarity, confidence, and a new approach to homeschooling that honors your child and your real life.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why the curriculum question creates pressure and overwhelm
• How to ask better questions that align with your child’s nervous system and strengths
• What curriculum actually is—and isn’t
• The role of your relationship, rhythm, and real life in creating learning that lasts
• How we use curriculum in my home
• What to do instead of searching for the “perfect” plan

Mentioned in this episode:

Join our Day In The Life Open House → https://90minuteschoolday.com/day-in-the-life

This free event gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how real families create connected, doable, and flexible homeschooling rhythms. You’ll leave with clarity—not a to-do list.

Get helpful tools + support when you RSVP!

Stay connected:

• Website: 90minuteschoolday.com
• Instagram: @90minuteschoolday
• Podcast archives: Listen to more episodes