Have you ever worried that you’re not meeting all of your child’s needs—academically, emotionally, spiritually, or even socially? Pretty much every day, right?

You’re not alone. Most of us have asked ourselves if we are giving our kids everything they need at one time or another.

In this episode, I’m sharing a replay from one of our Circle with Sarah live sessions where RAR Community Manager Kelsey Murphy and I dug into what education is really for, because if we know what it’s for, we’re better able to answer if we’re meeting our children’s needs.

I hope this conversation helps you reimagine your kids’ education in a way that eases your worries and reminds you that education is about relationships, not checklists, and that is very good news.

Circle with Sarah is my homeschool mentoring program within RAR Premium. Every Monday, members get a quick five to ten minute podcast with just the encouragement they need to be the peace-filled, joyful homeschool mom they’re called to be. Learn more here.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why education is not about meeting all of your child’s potential needs, but about love and relationships
• The three pillars of connection that form the bedrock of our homeschools
• Simple, practical ways to weave those three pillars into your daily life

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/education-is-for-love

Many of you will already know that I am a huge fan of The Chronicles of Narnia. Today, I want to introduce my fellow Narnia lovers to a new book that jumped right off the shelf as soon as I saw it.

Giant is a middle-grade novel by debut author Judith McQuoid where we meet Davy, a fictional working class boy from East Belfast, Ireland who is sent to work in the wealthy Lewis household in 1908. There, he forges a friendship with Jacks–as C.S. Lewis was known to his friends and family–over books, stories, and building worlds of imagination and adventure.

Giant is a must-read for Narnia fans that adds a whole new depth of experience to C.S. Lewis’s world and will help you read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in a fresh way. And today, I’m chatting with the author about what inspired her to write the book, how much of the story is fictionalized, and how the process of writing the book shaped her identity. And you’re going to love her Irish accent!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The way her dad’s love of Narnia and Lewis’s Belfast heritage inspired Judith to write this story
• How Judith started with a “skeleton” draft and added layers of detail and depth with revisions
• The faith that carried Judith through the ups and downs of creating Giant

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/judith-mcquoid

Astrid Sheckels continues the wit and whimsy of childhood through her marvelous and magnificent illustrations and storytelling.

You might recognize her from the Hector Fox and Friends series or Sea Dog and Sea Dog Rescue, and she created the gorgeous cover and interior illustrations for Beyond Mulberry Glen by Millie Florence.

Today we’re chatting about her new book, Flora and the Jazzers, which Kirkus called “sumptuously illustrated” in their starred review and I couldn’t agree more. This jazz-age Cinderella story starring a ferret named Flora and set in a 1920s New York hotel is going to blow you away, I just know it.

Astrid is a New Englander who loves to paint animals in clothes, so clearly she is a woman after my own heart, and I just know you’ll fall in love with her too.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• How childhood family read-alouds instilled a love for stories in Astrid
• The way one of Astrid’s earliest childhood drawings became the inspiration for Flora
• Why a sketchbook is an ideal tool for budding creatives

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/astrid-sheckels

Peace. It sounds lovely, right? It’s what so many of us want more than anything else in our homeschools. We long for peace, even if it often feels unattainable.

But what does peace actually look like in the midst of a real, chaotic homeschool day?

Last month in Circle with Sarah–my mentoring program for homeschool moms inside RAR Premium–we had a retreat. And our theme? Maintaining Peace in Your Homeschool.

Over four sessions, we walked through practical tips for letting go of guilt and holding onto peace when your day doesn’t go as planned–which we all know is basically every hour of every day, right?

Today, I’m sharing the first session of the retreat, called “What Do We Mean by Peace?”

I hope you find encouragement for maintaining peace within the everyday rhythms of homeschooling and that you get a better picture of the peace that’s available to you right here, right now, regardless of the circumstances you find yourself in.

And if you want to check out the rest of the retreat, all of the sessions are available now as part of RAR Premium (Join us right here!).

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The real definition of peace (hint: it’s not always calm and quiet!)
• Our primary responsibility as moms and homeschoolers
• How our fears cause us to lose hold of peace

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/peace

What does having a happy homeschool mean to you?

How would you describe it? What would you be doing?

Our homeschools are all unique. We have different kids, different spouses, different resources, different homes, different demands on our time and energy. And yet I have a hunch that when we think about what having a happy homeschool means, our answers would be remarkably similar.

As many of us are getting into the swing of a new school year, I want to revisit a topic that I think is incredibly important to keep in mind so that you can actually enjoy your homeschool this year.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• The one word we want our homeschools to emulate
• Why your peace and contentment as a homeschool mama matters more than curriculum
• The five things moms told us again and again about having a happy homeschool (with a handy acronym!)

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/homeschool-habits

Today, I have a very special treat for you! This spring, our publishing imprint here at RAR, Waxwing Books, celebrated the release of Painting Wonder: How Pauline Baynes Illustrated the Worlds of C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien at one of my favorite bookstores, Fabled Bookshop in Waco, Texas.

I had so much fun talking to Painting Wonder’s incredibly talented author and illustrator, Katie Wray Schon, about this picture book biography of the fascinating woman behind the iconic illustrations in the works of C. S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

We knew this conversation would be too good to keep to ourselves, so we recorded it, and now we’re sharing it with you!

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why Katie wanted to write and illustrate a picture book about Pauline Baynes
• Katie’s process for writing, illustrating, and revising a page-turning book
• What Katie would go back and tell her younger self, plus her favorite resources for aspiring authors and illustrators

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/painting-wonder-launch

One of the all-time most useful things I’ve implemented in my homeschool is Quiet Reading Time.

I did Quiet Reading Time with my three eldest kids, who are now in college and beyond, during the most hectic years when I had all six at home (three of whom were babies at the time!), and I still do it with those younger three today. It has made a bigger difference in our homeschool than almost anything else.

It isn’t always quiet. And it isn’t always reading, in the most traditional sense. But it is incredibly effective, and it’s still my kids’ favorite part of the day.

In this episode, I’m going to talk all about how to bring Quiet Reading Time into your homeschool.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why and how Quiet Reading Time can simplify your curriculum
• What Quiet Reading Time does for your kids (and for you!)
• How to manage reading time with littles underfoot

Learn more about Sarah Mackenzie:

• Read-Aloud Revival
• Waxwing Books
• Subscribe to the Newsletter

Find the rest of the show notes at: readaloudrevival.com/quiet-reading-time