It's no secret that large families tend to homeschool their children. But why is this their approach of choice, and how does it work? This week, Josh and June take a look at the origin of homeschooling and discover how the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), an advocacy organization founded by homeschool parents, has effectively created a parallel education system in the United States with almost no oversight or accountability.
***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to...
It's no secret that large families tend to homeschool their children. But why is this their approach of choice, and how does it work? This week, Josh and June take a look at the origin of homeschooling and discover how the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), an advocacy organization founded by homeschool parents, has effectively created a parallel education system in the United States with almost no oversight or accountability.
***WE WANT YOUR THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEKLY MAILBAG! Send an email with feedback about this week's episode to illconceivedpod@gmail.com***
EPISODE ART: Monica Swanson, a Christian homeschool advocate and author of the books Boy Mom: What Your Son Needs Most from You; Raising Amazing: Bringing Up Kids Who Love God, Like Their Family, and Do The Dishes; and Becoming Homeschoolers: Give Your Kids a Great Education, A Strong Family, and a Life They'll Thank You For Later. Swanson also has hosted podcasts about homeschooling and has four sons.
AUDIO CLIPS:
- 42:30 – Monica Swanson, a homeschooling advocate and author of Becoming Homeschoolers, in conversation with Jim Daly on Focus on the Family Radio
- 1:03:58 – Tiffany Jefferson, a homeschool mom, in a HSLDA promotional video entitled "What Is Freedom For?"
- 1:20:07 – A promotional video for HSLDA's online academy on their website
FURTHER READING:
- "Mechanisms of cultural diversity in urban populations" by Harin Lee, Noric Jacoby, Romain Hennequin & Manuel Moussalam (Nature Communications, 2025)
- "Implicit racial biases are lower in more populous more diverse and less segregated US cities" by Andrew J. Stier, Sina Sajjadi, Fariba Karimi, Luís M. A. Bettencourt & Marc G. Berman (Nature Communications, 2024)
SOURCES:
- "A look at homeschooling in the US" by Isabelle Pula (Pew Research Foundation, February 20, 2025)
- US National Center for Education Statistics Fast Facts on Homeschooling
- Becoming Homeschoolers: Give Your Kids a Great Education, a Strong Family, and a Life They'll Thank You for Later by Monica Swanson (Zondervan, 2024)
- "The Dangers of Early Schooling: The Need to Reexamine our Motives and Methods" by Raymond Moore (1973)
- Homeschooling: The History and Philosophy of a Controversial Practice by James G. Dwyer and Shawn F. Peters (UChicago Press, 2019)
- The Homeschool Choice: Parents and the Privatization of Education by Kate Henley Everett (NYU Press, 2021)
- Biography of Michael Farris on the Alliance Defending Freedom website
- Generation Joshua website
- Homeschool Legal Defense Association website
- Archived copy of HSLDA statement on same-sex marriage
- Current HSLDA statement opposing the Make Homeschool Safe Act
- Center for Responsible Home Education website
FOLLOW THE SHOW:
- Website: illconceivedpodcast.com
- Bluesky: @illconceivedpodcast.com
- Tumblr: @illconceivedpod
FOLLOW JOSH:
- Website: joshboerman.com
- Bluesky: @bosh.worstpossible.world
- Other podcast: The Worst of All Possible Worlds
- Stream: Traditional Scrench
FOLLOW JUNE:
- Bluesky: @junlper.beer
- Other podcast: Kill The Computer
- Writing: June's Substack
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