Suggested Interview Questions

Thank you for your interest in Sophia Homeschool. I am happy to work with the media. Here are some recommended questions you may want to consider asking. Of course, any and all questions are welcome. 

 

Background

• What was homeschooling like back in the 1980s?

• Do you feel like you missed out on anything having not attended a traditional school?

• What was so great about being a homeschool kid that you have now become such an advocate of it?

• Do you think homeschooling is for everyone?

• Was your mother a certified teacher or did she have other special qualifications for homeschooling?

• Did your mother make mistakes in her homeschool?

• What was the result for you and your siblings being homeschooled?

• You did not go to college?

• How did you become a reporter for one of the most widely read newspapers in the nation?

• Did you homeschool your own children from the beginning?

• You had four children in a five-year span and you talk about how difficult those early years of motherhood were for you. What made it so difficult and how did you find your way through it?

• Now you work for the Institute for Excellence in Writing. What is it like to work with Andrew Pudewa?

• As a full-time working mother and homeschooler, what advice would you give other mothers wondering if that can be done?

• As a homeschool child and now a homeschool mother, you are able to address homeschooling from both the child’s perspective and from the parent’s perspective. Give us an idea of what that means.

• What is SOPHIA HOMESCHOOL

 

Why teacher training?

• Why teacher training

• Do home educators need training?

• What would you say to someone who has been a certified teacher? Do they need training?

• The training you recommend is not the same thing you would get if you had a degree in education?

• What skills do home educators need?

• Isn’t raising kids all trial and error anyhow? What is at risk for not getting training?

• What advantage  will homeschoolers get from training?

• What is in the Masterclass?

 

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Childhood development

• Your training places a significant emphasis on childhood development. Why do you think this is such an important topic for home educators?

• How will understanding childhood development and brain development help parents?

• What are the four planes of development?

 

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The new culture within homeschooling

• Is the culture changing for home educators?

• Is distance learning the same as homeschooling?

• What advice would you give parents who feel forced into homeschooling but wish they didn't have to?

 

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The three pillars of education

• The child, the prepared adult and the prepared environment: why are these the three pillars of education?

• When you speak of the child you often refer to the symbiotic relationship between the child and adult. Can you unpack that a little bit? 

• What does the prepared adult look like?

• The prepared environment: do homeschool families need a classroom in their home?

• What is the ideal prepared environment?

 

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Homeschool without losing your own life

• A common complaint for families homeschooling centers around burnout but you say it doesn’t have to be this way. What is your prescription for beating homeschool duodenums?

• When you choose to homeschool do you have to suddenly commit your whole life to teaching?

• Can parents keep their full-time jobs and homeschool?

• How about a mother who feels like she is struggling enough to manage her own life much less her children’s education?

• What would you say to others who are feeling overwhelmed?

• As you know, you cannot give from an empty cup. What would you recommend to mothers who feel like they cannot homeschool because they are already living from a Place of depletion?

• What is the Woman School?

 

Homeschooling children with learning disabilities

• Is it true you did not read proficiently until high school? 

• You grew up with a learning disability. Tell me about that.

• How would school have been different had you been properly diagnosed and treated?

• You were ultimately diagnosed. Tell me about that. How did it change your life?

• Does a learning disability affect more than learning? 

• You speak also of the advantages behind learning disabilities. Can you name a few

• How would a parent know if their child had a learning disability that required therapy?

• Learning disability or bad behavior: how can a parent tell the difference?

• What resources would you suggest for parents facing SPED?