This Golden Hour

115. Raising Apologists with Angela Mitchell

• Timothy Eaton

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In today’s episode, we get to spend time with Angela Mitchell from Georgia. Angela is a homeschool mother of three, author, speaker, and apologist. We talked about the transition from public and private schooling to homeschooling and the factors that influenced the Mitchell’s decision, including concerns about curriculum content and family values. We also discussed the importance of customizing education to each child’s learning style and interests, and the wonderful freedom that homeschooling affords. Angela shared some of the  challenges of homeschooling, including self-doubt, difficult seasons, and the need for grace and flexibility. Other relevant topics covered in this episode include navigating technology and social media with children, focusing on discernment, delayed smartphone use, and fostering critical thinking. Angela emphasized how finding like-minded families and building supportive communities have blessed her family. 

Connect with Angela

Raisingapologists.com

raisingapologists@gmail.com


Curriculum

Living Heritage Curriculum

Answers in Genesis


Books

Farmer Boy

Theologians You Should Know

Animal Farm

Little House Series

This Golden Hour

Angela Mitchell:

we don't just sit around doing school. It's do life. We go to the park, we make lunch together. I love being with my kids and I can't imagine outsourcing that not being with them and missing all of that and their relationships with each other. It can be hard being together like all day as a family, but we have just this small amount of time in their childhood that they're with their siblings.'cause when they grow up and move out. That's it. It's over, that season is over. And so I really love the time.

Timmy Eaton:

Hi. I am Timmy Eaton, homeschool father of six and Doctor of Education. We've been homeschooling for more than 15 years and have watched our children go from birth to university successfully and completely without the school system. Homeschooling has grown tremendously in recent years, and tons of parents are becoming interested in trying it out, but people have questions and concerns and misconceptions and lack the confidence to get started. New and seasoned homeschoolers are looking for more knowledge and peace and assurance to continue. New homeschooling. The guests and discussions on this podcast will empower anyone thinking of homeschooling to bring their kids home and start homeschooling and homeschoolers at all stages of the journey will get what they need and want from these conversations. Thank you for joining us today and enjoy this episode of This Golden Hour podcast. As you exercise, drive clean or just chill. You're listening to this Golden Hour podcast. In today's episode, we get to spend time with Angela Mitchell from Georgia. Angela is a homeschool mother of three author, speaker, and apologist. We talked about the transition from public and private schooling to homeschooling, and the factors that influenced the Mitchell's decision, including concerns about curriculum, content, and family values. We also discussed the importance of customizing education to each child's learning style and. And the wonderful freedom that homeschooling affords. Angela shared some of the challenges of homeschooling, including self-doubt, difficult seasons, and the need for grace and flexibility. Other relevant topics covered in this episode include navigating technology and social media with children focusing on discernment, delayed smartphone use, and fostering critical thinking. Angela emphasized how finding like-minded families and building supportive communities have blessed her family. Welcome back to this Golden Hour podcast today. We are very excited to have with us Angela Mitchell from Georgia. Angela, thank you for joining us.

Angela Mitchell:

Thank you for having me.

Timmy Eaton:

So it's such a pleasure for us. Just a quick bio and then you can complete that as you will. Angela is a homeschool mother of three, and she's a homemaker, author and apologist. And her biggest things that everyone can find, and we'll put this in the show notes, but is on Facebook and Instagram at Raising Apologists. And and I highly recommend it. I was just telling Angela before we started, how grateful I am for the work she's doing. I think she's making a. A giant impact for good on the world. So again, thank you. Angela, what would you add to your short biography there?

Angela Mitchell:

Yes I also write articles. It's on WordPress, it's raising apologists.com and you can also reach me there. You can also email me if anyone has any questions at raising apologists@gmail.com.

Timmy Eaton:

And all of that will be in the notes for sure. We'll keep referring to that and put that in cool. I kind of wanna just start with the your homeschool journey and then talk about. This idea of raising apologists and then all your emphasis on motherhood and homemaking. How did you get started? What was the first thing you, like, how did you hear about homeschooling? What was your first exposure and then like, how did you guys actually make the decision to dive into it? It's

Angela Mitchell:

actually a funny story. We started off homeschooling, so we didn't do preschool or anything like that with my oldest daughter. And then I actually have health issues, so I have some chronic pain issues. And we decided it was best in that season to ascend my oldest to public school. And she went to public school for a year. And then we decided to put her in a private school. We didn't really see much difference between the public school system and the private school system. We can get into that. Yes. And then my son came along, so my second born came along and we put him in public school, so in a preschool program. And this was 2020 and then it all shut down and they came home. My children were actually sent home with their schoolwork and with a computer program that they needed to access every day. So we had everything that they were learning right there at our fingertips. And I know the teachers were having a really hard time. It was a mess. Yes. So there's grace for that. But we realized that they were being taught some things that we didn't necessarily agree with. And through that experience, my husband guess, he was the one that wasn't on board yet with homeschool. And through that experience, he woke up in the middle of the night one night I'd been praying for him and he said it's time. It's time for us to homeschool. And so what year was that? Was that

Timmy Eaton:

2020? It

Angela Mitchell:

was 2020. So this is our fifth going on sixth year of homeschooling. And it's just been such a blessing for our family and. Throughout this time of homeschooling, I've learned so many things about it that I didn't even know on the front end when we began. And I just couldn't be more grateful.

Timmy Eaton:

So what was his reluctance at the start?

Angela Mitchell:

I had, like I said, chronic pain issues and so he was concerned that it would be too much to juggle. And we were both public schooled, so we felt like pioneers in a way. Yes. Of what does this even look like? And a lot of our friends weren't homeschooling. We didn't have a support group, if that makes sense. And so we didn't even know what it looked like. And the Lord was faithful to just change our convictions. And our oldest daughter was actually being taught yoga and she was being an SEL program. Social emotional learning was being introduced the year we decided to not go back. And we looked into that and we realized it it was going to be. More of teacher turning into therapist. And we really felt like that was an infringement on us as parents. That's our job. Yeah. To help our children with their emotions. And so it just opened up our minds too, is this really the best thing biblically for our children. So yeah, he got there eventually and he's always says this is the best decision that we've made. And for him, there's just no going back. There's no going back to the public school system. And this is what we're gonna do.

Timmy Eaton:

So it wasn't like a necessarily a philosophical thing. You both came from a public background, just like my wife and I. And then talk a little bit about what you were saying about, it's hard to distinguish between a private and a public experience. What'd you mean by that?

Angela Mitchell:

For our experience the workload was still the same. And so our daughter would come home and she'd have homework on top of being out at school all day. And this was kindergarten and it just, it seemed who are doing school all day. Yeah. And then you had families that were going to the private school that weren't. Necessarily believers because they wanted a be better education for their children. And so my child was still sitting next to children that, weren't being taught biblical truth. And it just wasn't very strong. It didn't feel like just much of a difference between. Public school for us and that might just be our area, but it wasn't strong enough of a change that we wanted to make it work. It also was very expensive and so we realized homeschooling is gonna save us a lot of money as far as yes. The higher education is concerned and I can basically do the same thing at home'cause it was a classical. Kind of method, which is what our family has chosen. Cool.

Timmy Eaton:

And do you stick to a pretty strict curriculum or are you eclectic in the sense that you'll pull from here and there, especially as you evolve as a homeschool mother? That's something I've learned. I've done. Well over a hundred of these interviews now and we've homeschooled from the beginning, from birth to university. Three kids have gone to university without a diploma, and so we've been doing this for over 17 years, and I just find that no matter what happens, it will become the Mitchell Homeschool or the Eaton homeschool, and it's just, it's very unique to the family. But have you found that yourself or.

Angela Mitchell:

Oh yes, we have first we started with a co-op and so we started in like a CC because I didn't know where to start. And then we decided it was actually best to, do everything at home. And we do more of a Charlotte Mason style home school. Yeah, it's actually called Living Heritage. So it's a newer curriculum, but I have so much freedom with it. It's book lists and I can go through and decide which books to do. Totally. And then, for each child.'cause each of my children have completely different learning styles. Yeah. And they have completely different interests. And so I will cater and tailor their curriculum to what I feel like is gonna be best for that particular child. Yeah. So there's a lot of flexibility.

Timmy Eaton:

As you say, that, it's just I, it's every interview and every homeschool family I talk to, it just reaffirms like the idea that you can customize it to your kid and bless the heart of these teachers who have 25 to 40 kids they don't have the ability to do that. And so it's just it seems like a no-brainer. Way more people in the US and Canada are waking up to that, which is why it's growing so exponentially fast. But as you say that it just totally resonates with me. It's an interesting thing because I think one thing amongst homeschoolers is like, learning happens all the time. It doesn't have to be in a building and it doesn't have to be according to a schedule, but we do tend to maybe even have longer breaks and shorter days but we do tend to start in the fall and with a new thing and it's like a fresh thing for our kids. And they're excited. It's Christmas morning here for a week.'cause the kids wake up, go to the dining room table and there's new. Supplies and clothes and books and so it's it's really fun. Can you describe like what is it like when you're starting a new year of homeschool with your family?

Angela Mitchell:

Oh yeah. We're very excited just to get our curriculum and we actually start our mornings off and the new year with together time where we pray and we actually have a time of repentance and we sing a hymn and we do a catechism. And we quote a poem, so we're memorizing poems and right now we're actually memorizing Romans 12 together as a family. And so Love it. Yeah, we love just getting together in the new year and my kids have, new pencils and. Just books that they've never seen before and they just love to flip through them. So I feel like we're more excited as a homeschool family in the new year than my kids ever acted when we went to school. And just being together is unique and it's fun to start off the new year,

Timmy Eaton:

and you said their ages are seven, 10, and 14. Was it? Yes.

Angela Mitchell:

Yeah. Seven 10. And so

Timmy Eaton:

What do you say to a new homeschool mom that's like, well, how do you do that? If you're customizing it to them individually, how much time do you do together and then how do you decide what they do on their own? That's a common question among, especially newer homeschool moms. We have six children, and so we've navigated that I like how you called it together time. That's exactly what we call it. We call it together time. And that always involves some kind of my wife reading to the kids a, a very, inspiring book, and that's literally until they leave our home at 18, that has happened every day of their lives. So describe that to somebody who might go how do you do that with such an age range?

Angela Mitchell:

First, I would say, how old are your children? Because if you have really young children and small children, it's gonna look completely different than someone with older children or around my age. So I would say if you have really small children, lower your expectations and then lower them again because you know you are home. You're not a school. And as they get older, they're more independent. I think when you first start out, you think, I've gotta sit there and be with them 24 7. But really you're teaching your children how to love education and how to love learning. So from a young age, how to open a book, how to ask questions they will learn their curriculum and then you need to be available for them. When they're older. So I always like to say in, in the younger years it is more hands-on, but I'm working myself out of a job. As far as, getting them to where they can read and they can do math and they can discover. I feel like my 14-year-old, this is the first year she's really more independent. And there's things that she obviously still really needs me for. And even things that we can outsource. If I can find a tutor that can come alongside our family and go, Hey, we need to learn how to write a little bit better, or we're studying physics can you help us out with that? Just keeping your options open, like the options for homeschoolers is absolutely unlimited. And so if you think I have to do this all myself, or I need to sit down eight hours a day, you're already thinking about it wrong, because in the time that you know, public schoolers get to school and then they get home, those nine hours homeschoolers have been done. With their schoolwork for at least four or five hours. Yeah. And so it takes a lot less time than you would imagine. And if you have multiple children, think about what they can do together what history can be read together. It's okay to couple them up because we don't necessarily go by grades. We don't have to go by that system because we're a home. And I think you'll find that your younger children learn a lot alongside their older siblings. So it takes time to learn your kids and their different learning styles. And if you're just starting out, give yourself time. Give yourself grace. Look at the first couple of weeks or year as the time to just learn and be together as a family. You'll eventually figure out, okay, this is how this child learns very hands-on. Or, this child's really good at reading, or This child needs visuals. And it just takes time to learn that about your kids. Yeah.

Timmy Eaton:

So that's what I would say. Oh, that's a great response. What would you say to like the favorite part so far about homeschooling? A couple things about what have you totally enjoyed or see as the blessings and the greatest? Benefits. And then also what has been pretty challenging, like what unique to the homeschool lifestyle and decision.

Angela Mitchell:

I would say what's most encouraging is those aha moments or where we see growth. And then I get to be a part of that with my child that they, maybe they struggled on a concept or they weren't understanding, and then they just excel and they look at me like, mom, look at what, look at what I can do and look at what we did together. And just those stretching moments and just the time together as a family. Like we, we don't just sit around doing school. It's do life. We go to the park, we make lunch together. I love being with my kids and I can't imagine outsourcing that not being with them and missing all of that and their relationships with each other. It can be hard being together like all day as a family, but we have just this small amount of time in their childhood that they're with their siblings.'cause when they grow up and move out. That's it. It's over, that season is over. And so I really love the time. I would say homeschool iss hard. Yeah. I think a lot more moms should be honest about that, that it's hard, especially in challenging seasons. Say if somebody's sick or you have a parent that needs help or, there's just different seasons that can bring all kinds of hard into the equation. Yeah. And I would say after December. Like January, you get the January blues of, oh, we have all the way until April or May. We've gotta continue doing this. The January, February timeframe, I feel is when a lot of homeschool moms go, I don't think I can do this anymore. And every homeschool mom's going to hit a season or a time where they go, maybe I'm messing my kids up. Maybe this isn't right and maybe they need to go back, whether they are listening to lies or they're comparing themselves to other people. We all hit that season of, oh no, this is all up to me and I'm screwing them up and we panic. So I would say that struggling through that can be difficult.

Timmy Eaton:

And a lot of that probably stems from like a lack of establishing, and I know it's real for anybody, no matter what they do. Like I know that's a reality. But a lack of establishing a clear purpose for what your family's doing. Because when you remind yourself of that purpose, and that's one thing I do with families is help them establish like a purpose statement and a purpose document.'cause that way they can say, when they do hit those times, they go, oh no. What's this all about? Yeah. We weren't trying to focus on academics as the highest priority anyway. And so if we are striving to have, for example, someone might say, we're striving to develop disciples of Jesus, then that's your rubric or that's your measurement. And so that's a good reminder for parents and moms because inevitably you're gonna hit those feelings, but just go, oh yeah, what was this all about for us? And like you said, like the name of this podcast is this Golden Hour because it's fleeting. And I can witness to anyone right now that with three kids now done with homeschool, whatever that means it's fast man. It's fast. I've got three kids left and I can't believe it., It goes fast. And like you said, you don't get that time back and so you wanna make the most of it. Don't stress on the things that don't even connect with your purposes and priorities anyway. That's a good reminder.

Angela Mitchell:

Oh no, I completely agree with you. I always say that education is discipleship. So the point is to point our children to Christ and learn about everything that he's authored and created. And, we want them to have good character. We want them to have integrity. All of these character traits should be above academics because, we're sending them out into the world as arrows. But if they have good character and you're training them in truth and you're correcting them or you're helping them through things, they're going to be successful. It's just a principle of it.

Timmy Eaton:

And of course they retain their agency and their ability to choose, but the likelihood of that is what much greater when they've come from that environment. Do you guys Are you guys big on read alouds and reading good books together?

Angela Mitchell:

Yes. Are there, we're just a reading family.

Timmy Eaton:

Individually, do they get into it like on their own?

Angela Mitchell:

They do? Yes. Cool. That's the curriculum that we've chosen is just a lot of reading and narrating and

Timmy Eaton:

Can you name a few of your favorites?

Angela Mitchell:

Yeah, we have a lot. We, my youngest we're doing a little house on the Prairie and Farmer Boy and all the classics. Yeah. We're going back to the original Little Mermaid, it's just a work of art compared to what Disney's done with it. I had no idea. I am opening these books up with my kids for the first time and going, I'm getting the education that all I always wanted. Yes. And my oldest, she's actually reading Animal Farm right now. So it's a very love it. Critical thingy book. And she's reading Theologians You Should Know and Treasure Island. We're studying US History and so we've got the signers and the founders. We're actually reading about the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and we're memorizing the amendments and it is just such a well-rounded, way to educate your kids. And we just love reading together.

Timmy Eaton:

Some people would definitely argue about which is weird to me in a way like that they argue that you're pushing your worldview on your children. That's always like a thing that comes up. But you're able to, that's one of the beauties and I think a lot of people, regardless of believing or not, like secular or faith that's a principle to use the word you used like. To be able to have control of the curriculum for the people that you have stewardship over and we as parents have the rights of raising our children and have a stewardship. And if you're from a faith background, you have a stewardship before God. Do that in a way that is pleasing to him. You were mentioning some stuff about like amendments and stuff that you've been reading with your kids. I know you've said some things about Charlie Kirk, so what do you think the effect of what he has done and the legacy he's left will have on home education in the next year?

Angela Mitchell:

I think moms and dads are realizing how important critical thinking is and being able to articulate ideas and understanding counter arguments and also how to study history, like what sources do we go to. But I think Charlie Kirk was just brilliant at being able to speak respectfully with his opponents. While also understanding what he believed and why. And I think that is crucial right now for homeschool parents is to think about raising a child that knows what they believe and that can articulate it in a gracious and kind way because as we've seen Charlie Kirk being assassinated, we're living in a really hostile world where we can't even exchange ideas. And that has to do with the way people have been trained and the way that they've been raised thinking that words are violence. And we have a way of teaching our kids that just because someone disagrees with you, they could be wrong. But that doesn't mean that you can hate them or that it's violence. So I think it's really important to raise critical th thinkers. I think Charlie Kirk is encouraged. Parents to think in that direction?

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah I personally think with COVID o and this and so many other factors of people not being satisfied within archaic system that doesn't fulfill the needs of especially for the future with AI and all that kind of stuff. I just feel like we're gonna see another boom in homeschool and, I dunno. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. So how did you get into writing and and especially, a lot of homeschool moms are like, man, how does an Angela Mitchell find time to do that with such a busy life with. Three homeschool kids and I know my wife has felt that way. That the idea that when you're homeschooling, it's hard to give time to other things while having self-care for yourself and that kind of stuff. And maybe it's just a difference in capacity or difference in interest or difference in way that you fill your bucket. But how do you respond to that when people are like, how do you do that with all this other stuff?

Angela Mitchell:

I would say that it's about priorities. And so for me writing and studying like apologetic topics and things like that, it's the last priority in my life. I would encourage moms that you're homeschool and your marriage and your home, it should always come first. So if you feel like you don't have capacity to, be on the internet or writing articles. That is normal. And that is good. And keep your priorities

Timmy Eaton:

in the proper order. Yes. Yeah.

Angela Mitchell:

Yes. Keep your priorities in the proper order because like we just discussed this time is fleeting that you have with your kids and you're not gonna regret saying no to other things while they're in your home. And for me, I study apologetics just as I go along. I'm teaching my oldest and my middle child apologetics, and we have these discussions and I read these books and it's an overflow. So it's just an overflow of what I'm already naturally bent towards and doing. And sometimes I don't have any overflow because I've gotta give all hands into my home. And I've said no to a lot of speaking engagements a lot of writing, a lot of things that I would like to write on and do at the right

Timmy Eaton:

stage. Yeah.

Angela Mitchell:

Yes, at the right stage. And when my kids move out and. Lord willing. I can take on more, but this has had to be a lower priority for me. Yeah. Still a blessing that I get to do it, and I'm so glad. But,

Timmy Eaton:

and it's hard when something like your stuff is catching on. When you're, yeah. When you're gaining a following, like you're getting and then,'cause then you have this obviously primary and most important in your view of serving your children and raising them. And then you have these people that are, you're being called to, to help these people that you're obviously resonating with. And so I'm sure that becomes a hard balance for you. It

Angela Mitchell:

can. Yeah, it can. And if I have time to encourage other moms, I really have a heart for women and especially homeschool moms, young homeschool moms, I will, I'll just take 20 minutes and write something out to encourage them. Cool. So that's what I try to do.

Timmy Eaton:

Can you just give us a little bit of a definition of apologetics and in what sphere are you like applying that.

Angela Mitchell:

Okay. Apologetics actually comes from the Greek word apia, which comes from one Peter 3, 15 which comes from the word defense in that verse. And so apologetics is simply just giving a defense for the faith. And we're called to do that just in everyday conversations. And for me, my account's name is Raising Apologist, and so my apologetic approach is really to pour into my kids so that they know different worldviews, they know how to defend their faith. We talk about other religions we showed them the character of God and yeah. Apologetics in our home is really just to equip my kids. And I also wanna encourage moms to, think in that direction of, apologetics is gonna be something very necessary in the days ahead. And our kids need to know what they believe and why they believe it.

Timmy Eaton:

I don't mean to keep talking about Charlie Kirk, but talk about man a, an example of apologetics. And in the way, the proactive way that he did that. That was, that's probably unmatched. That's true,

Angela Mitchell:

but

Timmy Eaton:

yeah. Yes. And then like along with this concept of apologetics and you, a lot of your Instagram stuff is about motherhood and homemaking, and there's like, when I read yours, I'm like, oh yeah she's looking and seeing angles and nuances that almost sound counterintuitive to some, because the world will tell us that homemaking is like this crazy sacrifice which, I respect other points of view, but how do you talk about homemaking and motherhood as a calling of a mother and so on.

Angela Mitchell:

Yeah. Homemaking and motherhood is a ministry, and since I am. A wife and a mom. I have a built-in mission field and I don't have to look anywhere else from my mission field. I have little hands and little feet running around my house and they need the gospel and they need to be taught the truth and. I think a lot of times feminism, it's lies to women says, you just being at home is actually not a good thing. You're not using your brain, you're not being smart. And as a homeschool mom, that is the most ridiculous thing ever because I have to use my brain all the time, every single day. Children ask the best questions and the hardest questions. And they challenge me. And yeah, just looking at your role as a homemaker, as a way to glorify God and I don't have to look, outside of my home when I have my little children in the season, so

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah.

Angela Mitchell:

Yeah. It's God glorifying work

Timmy Eaton:

for sure. One thing that happens in a lot of the congregations I've attended is you'll have men get up and they'll say, I'm so grateful for the support my wife gives me. And, which is cool. I have no complaints about that, but I've always thought, and and I'm glad this was instilled in me in an early age. I've always thought that it really is backwards. And marriage is an equal thing where you work together. But this idea that. Because wives do support their husbands, but really the most important work that happens is within the walls of our home and the principal person who typically does that work is the mother. And so really the dad has the supporting role. But we say that in our society totally flipped. And I've always thought that, and I've said that at conferences that I've spoke at. I've, I always bring that up'cause it's just a little flip, but it makes a difference because if somebody said, what's the most important work that you have? And I'm like it's my role as a husband and father yes, I am the person who's going out to to try to provide for my family in a monetary sense. In a protective sense but my wife is doing the work that is like totally the most important work for sure. And not that it's a hierarchy of roles, it's an equal but I'm supporting her in that effort and I've always seen that. And you said the word feminism and that word has become a bad word and I'd almost call it radical feminism because fem uh, what's something, are you a feminist? I go, yeah, man, in the truest sense of the word, because my wife is fulfilling her feminine role. And and I'm so grateful for that and so I support her. Anyway,

Angela Mitchell:

No, that's good. I feel every good homeschool dad is just making the best environment for his children and his wife to thrive. And it reminded me of Erica Kirk saying that Charlie Kirk would write little love letters and at the end would say, how can I be a better husband to you? Like, how can I serve you better? And I know in our home, that's my husband's heart is too. How can I serve you better? What can I do to, help you thrive in this role of teaching our kids? Because it is a huge undertaking and I don't do that alone, but he is definitely my support.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah. What are some specific ways that you have seen him contribute that help what happens in your homeschool?

Angela Mitchell:

In addition to me, he leads a lot of the Theological conversation. So we have a family worship time, that's what we call it, together at night where we read through scripture every year together. He leads in that, but this year he's taken on the undertaking of teaching my son Greek. So my husband's never learned Greek either. So they're doing that together. And there's different subjects that he's better at than I am, and he understands where he has the bandwidth to do, and he'll take some time out and do that with our kids. No worries. He's really hands on and I'm glad because. Homeschool moms really don't want to do it all alone. And they need their husband's opinion and they need his help. I'm thankful for that.

Timmy Eaton:

This is a hard question to ask homeschool moms but is there something you wish oh, I wish he did this or even didn't do this? I don't know if you know this, but the course that I've created in the homeschool world is called proactive Homeschool Dad or PhD. Yeah. And so I help dads who are starting and or just anywhere along the journey and I highlight six identities or roles that homeschool dads have. But I'm just wondering, is there stuff maybe you don't wanna say it on this podcast, but is there something No, I don't, no. I wish he would either do or not do this, or, there's some things that I feel like I'm helping and then I quickly learned that she's no, that's like that. I don't want you to do that. That's not helpful. I'll get the groceries. Or whatever it is.

Angela Mitchell:

Yeah. That can happen too. Yeah. He. Things he is helping by. Yeah. Getting the groceries and then I'm like, what are we making? Because we have all these different ingredients that I'm not sure of, but yeah, he is there. There are things I think homeschool moms in General would like their husbands to be more involved or just understanding the curriculum. Because I think a lot of the curriculum can just be up to the wife, and she's the one that's like the expert on it. She's the one watching all the YouTube videos and that's a normal thing. Halfway through the year he's like, well, what are y'all like, what is this? What are y'all learning? What are y'all doing? And that's how we started out is he was like you've gotta handle this, which was fine. But he's become more involved and more understanding of, oh, these are the goals and this is what we're doing. And I think when our kids transition into high school, I want him to even have more of a part. And this is what the kids are studying and, yeah, that's what I would say.

Timmy Eaton:

No, totally. And that's why I feel like the thing that I'm doing is really helpful because a lot of times dads just go I'm supportive in that I just support it. Or I'm not contrary to it, but I'm learning. There's a lot more they can do without it becoming overwhelming. Because the first thing I find dads being a little reluctant to is like, dude, I'm already working and it's overwhelming to them, but this course helps them go, no, you already by choosing to get married and have kids, you've already taken on those roles. And so this is just to help you do that with more intention. I think what you were just pointing out, and this is something that took us a long time to learn I mean I'm still learning it for sure after 17 plus years, I would illustrate it with this and then tell me what you think about this. My wife was learning, like you said, all the stuff she was learning and at that point it was a lot about blogs and this is the early two thousands and it was a lot about blogs and like just you, you're pulling from all over the place, Charlotte Mason and John Taylor Gato and. John Holt and all these places. And then you're implementing those things, but your husband or your spouse doesn't know all the stuff that you're learning. And so the second module in my course is called Be a Companion, which means. Basically get on the same page because that's what happened. So many of his dads were like, I see a lot of cool things happening, but I'm not like totally connected with the purpose and priorities, which is why I go back to that purpose statement that I talked about earlier. And so like I would see stacks of books all over our house. And I would complain. I'd be like, dude, the guys put this stuff away. Or Hey, why aren't the kids why aren't they hanging out with this kid or that kid? And my wife's learning about intentionally finding like-minded families so that they grow up with those friends. And I was so slow on that stuff that it's become a headache even in these later years. And so if I can help younger homeschool families. Go. You gotta get on the same page with your spouse.

Angela Mitchell:

Yes. It does, it has to be a team effort. Like you can't view it as, this is my wife's job and my job is, I go to work because like you said this, these are your kids and this is your family. And. The children don't just need a mom, they need a dad, and they need dad's input. And I think that there's things that I've wanted to do and homeschool and my husband go, I think you're biting off more than you can chew. Because I've let him in and I've gone, do you think this is something that you know we should be doing? Yeah. Whereas before, I might just do it anyway and then be stressed out and exhausted and then be like, what? What's going on? But. Yeah, just getting his input. And I know it does take, like you said, intentionality. Like at the end of the day, you're tired. The last thing you wanna do is try to wrap your head around homeschool, but it's really important that you view it as. Both of your mission to disciple your kids and dads to realize that when they are discipling their kids and they're pouring into their kids, that's part of homeschool because it's all relevant to the goal.

Timmy Eaton:

That's really good. I appreciate that. Your daughter's 14, how are you guys approaching in the world that we live, how are you guys navigating the idea of technology, phones, especially when you wanna maintain a certain worldview and relationships and health

Angela Mitchell:

this past April, my speaking engagement, for answers and genesis, I did a the topic. The battle for your mind discernment in a digital age. And so I read a whole bunch of books about social media and about the effects on your brain and just your worldview. And that was really healthy for me as a mom to wrap my head around the use of technology.'cause we can't get away from it. We can't isolate our kids or put them in a bubble as much as we want to do that. And maybe we have that urge of if I just control everything, but they're going to run into issues and we have to parent them through it. Totally. But what we've decided is we're gonna hold off as long as we can on the smartphone. And, I don't know what that looks like quite yet, but she doesn't have a smartphone. She has a way to. Message her friends. It's called Kids Messenger, and it actually pulls up on our phone. But yeah we're holding off on all of that, no social media platforms, and we're talking to her about it. Yeah. It's not just laying down rules and saying, you can't do this. We're giving her the reasons why. Because my kids, like I said, I've raised them to critically think so they ask me a lot of questions. Yes. But yeah, we are, we're particular about. The friends that they keep.'Cause we know that in one Corinthians 1533 that it says the bad company corrupts good character and good morals. And so we're careful of their friendships. And yes, we want them to be friends with people that don't believe what we believe. We want them to be but as long as they're rubbing off on them and not the other scenario. Because if they're, rubbing off on our kids. We're gonna limit the time that they have with them and. Yeah we're called to protect them and shield them. And I like to say our house is a greenhouse and they're plants and we're trying to raise them up and that's so

Timmy Eaton:

crazy you just said that.'cause like in my very last interview, somebody used the same analogy and it was the first time I had heard it and I was like, I like that man.

Angela Mitchell:

Yes. Yes.

Timmy Eaton:

That's awesome. and

Angela Mitchell:

social media and just spending a lot of time online is not good for anybody's brain, much less a developing brain. And yeah,

Timmy Eaton:

And you know what you're saying and when you and I went to high school, did people have cell phones when you were in high school? Okay.

Angela Mitchell:

And we weren't allowed to bring them in. I feel like at the end of, at the end of my high school, cell phones were introduced, but we had to leave them in your car, you weren't allowed to. Okay, so

Timmy Eaton:

you're younger than me, but I look, when I was in high school, it was just like, I mean I think a few people had a cell phone, but of course it was like for literally calling and. And and the texting came in later and all that. So I didn't have that. And then what's hard is as a parent, even though I've been teaching youth and young adults for 20, almost 23, 24 years. I'm very connected with that age group, but yet I'm not that age. Do you know what I mean? And so that's the hard part that we found is that you really have to find like-minded families because unless you do. You're always swimming upstream. Even as homeschooling becomes more common and it's more accepted in society, it's still like the salmon run, like you're swimming upstream in so many things. And then when you take your belief inside of that and you go. Man, this is the way that kids are communicating today. But the way they're communicating is not, for a developing brain, this could be detrimental to anybody at any stage, but we know the detriment of that type of dopamine hit getting a text from somebody you like nonstop all day.

Angela Mitchell:

Yes.

Timmy Eaton:

And some people don't monitor that at all, man. And it's just I know. I don't know. It's hard. It's hard because we don't live in that day yet. We do know the effect.

Angela Mitchell:

Yes, we do. And just the fact of when we went to school, you could be bullied at school and bad things happen at school, but it stayed at school. So you went home, your home was

Timmy Eaton:

a refuge,

Angela Mitchell:

home was a refuge, but now you're taking it. These kids are taking these problems in their pockets home. And it doesn't end. I know. So I'm concerned about that. But like you said, it's important to find other like-minded families and the lord's been gracious to provide that, because if you're not going in the same direction, your children are gonna be left out. They're gonna feel left out, they're gonna feel pressure or it can create all kinds of conflict in your home. Yes. If you're not careful. So it's

Timmy Eaton:

a real thing. Just one more question on that topic. I just,'cause it's so relevant right now to our world, but like some people will hear people say we try to find like-minded families and like you said, if. If you know that you're not lifting that friend to higher ground and it's the opposite effect, then we as parents wanna step in on that. And so how do you respond to parents or others that have a different worldview and they say, which, obviously we just go, that's your worldview and whatever. But that say that sounds almost like. un-Christian because it sounds like judgmental instead of accepting and sharing the light with others, how do you respond to that, navigating that fine line of like protection education direction and then being judgmental or holier than now?

Angela Mitchell:

You do have to be careful with how you think about this and how you talk to your children about this. It's not an easy thing to navigate, but I always teach my children that people are made in the image of God and some children's parents are making different decisions or they're allowing things that their parents don't allow and that we're supposed to be kind and loving and friendly. We don't gossip or think we're better than anybody else. All the biblical principles apply. But also teaching our children, there's different relationship levels. They're superficial friends. There's close friends there, she get access to me all the time. Friends and some people just stay on that more superficial plane. And then if they do become more mature and they are making better choices or they become a believer, maybe that friend moves into a closer friend. But yeah, we don't keep people at arms distance and say, we're better than you. We want to love them and we want to be kind to them. But that's different than being around someone all the time and letting how they think and what they believe influence you. And so yeah, navigating that is can be tricky, especially with kids. But I think being an example of that to them, of we just make different choices because at the end of the day, mom and dad are the parents that God put over you. Not so-and-so's parents. And at the end of the day, mom and dad answer to God for you. And we have to go to sleep at night with a clear conscience. And the Lord has given us wisdom and principles and scripture to live by and we wanna honor him with our life. And the best way to love other people and honor them is really to live your life. That way. And so how could that be unloving and how could that be judgmental?

Timmy Eaton:

And I love what you said about like different relationships. That was really good because that's clarifying for a lot of people. How have your families responded to your decision to home educate? Because you were both public schools. I don't know how many siblings you and your spouse have, but how have they responded? Grandparents your parents, his parents, siblings, good friends. What was it like from the beginning? How has that evolved?

Angela Mitchell:

Thankfully we have a very supportive family unit. I think my parents saw where public school was going and they encouraged, maybe you should homeschool, and they've always been on board. But yeah, we've had friends and extended family and just people that we know go. Do you have a degree for that or do you, do your kids have friends or, are you in a cult? Homeschool families get asked all kinds of questions from people that just have been trained by the public school thoughts that your kids need the experts, they, somehow we have this idea that because our kids are in a school building sitting next to their age group, that socialization. Which never happens again once they graduate high school. So how could that possibly be the definition of that word? No. But I don't blame them. It takes a lot when when you, your mind has been trained in the government, public school education. To undo all of that and go, wait a second, this is the new idea. Actually, public school and the government education is the new idea. This wasn't the norm at all and not even a hundred years ago. So this is really the experiment, not homeschool. So amen. Just open it up and have some conversations, answer some questions. A lot of the times I've found that people actually become more supportive when they see. Oh wow. Look at what your kids know and look at how well-rounded they are, and y'all get all this time together as a family. We've actually converted a lot of people to, I think we're gonna homeschool or, yes. I actually think this is a good thing, so Yeah. Yeah.

Timmy Eaton:

Great response. That's one of the reasons I started this podcast with my wife, really encouraging me to do it because after years of people asking so many questions and more and more people starting to homeschool I can't tell you how many people have started. And my wife is just, I don't know. I feel like everybody really needs to meet her and learn from a seasoned homeschool mom. And she's just, anyway, I think she does it beautifully, but. But it, it's led to good. The last thing I wanted to ask, and then I'll give you the final word, is like, and this is a weird question, but I've been asking that the last few interviews, but how has this interview been for you?

Angela Mitchell:

It's been great. It's, I feel like I'm talking with a like-minded family, a like-minded dad. Very encouraging. These topics are so relevant. I feel like you said, homeschool is booming. There's so many new families and they don't even know where to start, and they might have this picture in their head of what it is. But these conversations need to be had. So yeah, it's gone. Great. Thank you.

Timmy Eaton:

Thank you and I really appreciate you taking time. You guys again, this has been Angela Mitchell and we'll put how to connect with her and what she's working on in the show notes. I'll give you the final word and then we'll wrap up.

Angela Mitchell:

I would say if you're a young new mom, starting off on your homeschool journey. To trust the Lord. He's the one that made the sun and the moon and the stars, and he's sustaining them and he will sustain you in your home. And to seek out other moms that are homeschoolers and ask them questions and just to give it your best shot.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes. Thank you very much. I love that. I love the idea of seeking a seasoned homeschool mentor like that is just so helpful. So thank you very much. Thanks for taking time and being with us today.

Angela Mitchell:

Of course. Thank you for having me.

Timmy Eaton:

That wraps up another edition of this Golden Hour podcast. If you haven't done so already, I would totally appreciate it if you would take a minute and give us a review on Apple Podcast or Spotify. It helps out a lot, and if you've done that already, thank you much. Please consider sharing this show with friends and family members that you think would get something out of it. And thank you for listening and for your support. I'm your host, Tim Eaton. Until next time, remember to cherish this golden hour with your children and family.