Learning Is a Lifestyle

The Everyday Educator podcast is your weekly reminder to open your eyes to the world as your classroom, your encouragement that you don’t have to homeschool alone, and your lifeline for practical tips and resource suggestions for the road ahead.

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Listen to the Latest Episode

Stop Blaming the Textbook: Lessons from a Photography Class with Leigh Bortins

What do charging elephants and frustrated homeschool parents have in common? More than you might think. In this engaging episode of Everyday Educator, Classical Conversations founder Leigh Bortins shares her recent adventure taking a photography course in Botswana with her husband. What started as a vacation quickly became a masterclass in learning dynamics when Leigh realized she naturally learns classically—even when her instructor doesn’t teach that way. Through five days of “butting heads” with her teacher while capturing stunning wildlife photos, Leigh discovered profound insights about perseverance, community learning, and why the perfect classroom setup still leads to conflict. This episode offers encouragement for homeschool parents who struggle with difficult learning days, showing that even adult learners face challenges and that giving up is often the default human response. Leigh also introduces the new MathMap Monomials program for Challenge B students.

Key Discussion Points: •    Why even “perfect” learning conditions still involve struggle and conflict •    How community support prevents students from giving up •    Why it’s the student’s responsibility to learn, not the teacher’s to educate •    The importance of tailoring instruction to different learning styles •    How cross-training and “breaking things” are essential parts of learning •    Why parents often become the biggest obstacles to their children’s learning

 

This episode of Everyday Educator is sponsored by The Math Map: Monomials

The Math Map Monomials helps families practice introductory algebraic computation together using classical skills that prepare students for the mathematical conversation of the ages. Visit https://classicalconversations.com/the-math-map/ today to transform your family’s math experience!

A dad teaches his son how to fix a bike

About Everyday Educator

Everyday Educator began in 2015 with a simple purpose: to help other parents leap over the hurdles and steer around the potholes encountered on the homeschooling journey by laying out simple systems to apply the classical tools of learning.

Now, the show has reached over one million downloads and is enjoyed by homeschool families all over the world.

Enthusiastic lifelong learner Lisa Bailey, often joined by fellow everyday educators, comes alongside listeners to offer much-needed encouragement, present practical tips, and suggest helpful resources to make homeschooling a little more doable.

You don’t have to do this alone. Everyday Educator will encourage, equip, and inspire you to continue on the journey with excellence!

Meet Lisa Bailey

Lisa Bailey has been a homeschool mom for more than twenty years and is the mother of two Classical Conversations Challenge program graduates. She has served in a variety of positions at Classical Conversations since 2004 and most recently serves as a Lead Curriculum Developer at Classical Conversations Multi-Media. As host of the Everyday Educator podcast since its humble beginnings, Lisa considers herself blessed with the unique opportunity to encourage homeschool families across the nation and around the world.

Lisa Bailey headshot