The OpenEd Podcast

Lydia Hampton spent five years as a public school teacher before she built something most educators never consider. Research shows direct instruction works for about 9% of kids. The other 91% need something different - and Lydia decided to build a place for all of them.The Learning Lab is a 16,000 sq ft space in Wichita, Kansas where seven completely different education models operate under one roof. In this conversation with host Ela Bass, Lydia breaks down how Khan Lab School, a public school microschool, a homeschool co-op, a wrestling academy, and four other programs coexist in the same building.Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/personalized-learning-in-action-7-education-modelsAbout Lydia Hampton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lydiahampton/The Learning Lab: https://www.golearninglab.org/

Bria Bloom was unschooled from birth - no classrooms, no curriculum, no requirements. Now she works at the Alliance for Self-Directed Education (the organization Peter Gray co-founded), and she's raising her own kids the same way. In this conversation with host Ela Bass, Bria breaks down the relationship-first framework behind self-directed education, why denying your kid a math workbook can be just as controlling as forcing one on them, and what she actually wants for her children - the ability to define a good life for themselves.Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/unschooling-explained-lifelong-unschoolerAbout Bria Bloom:Website: https://briabloom.comInstagram: @bria.bloomTwitter/X: @BriaBloomsSubstack (Partnership Parenting): https://partnershipparenting.substack.comASDE: https://self-directed.org

Is your child spirited, neurodivergent, or both? Family therapist Dr. Laura Froyen breaks down the one question to stop asking your kids - and what to say instead. Plus: the whitewater rafting analogy that reframes "difficult" behavior, and why even an expert took five years to solve one family problem.Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/spirited-child-what-questions-parentingAbout Dr. Laura Froyen:Website: https://laurafroyen.comInstagram: @laurafroyenphdPodcast: https://www.laurafroyen.com/podcast

Gretchen Roe, a 27-year homeschool veteran who raised six children and coordinates outreach at Demme Learning, warns against overloading academics at the expense of practical skills. She discusses giving children autonomy early, turning passions into real projects, balancing group lessons with one-on-one time, teaching self-advocacy and real-world tasks, and staying flexible through burnout and changing seasons.

Justin Skycak, Director of Analytics at Math Academy, builds adaptive learning and assessment systems. Jason Roberts, Co-founder and former K–8 math coach, led students years ahead through personalized instruction. They explain why lectures fail. They unpack spaced repetition, interleaving, and real-time adaptivity. They describe mapping subskills, mastery-first practice, and how tech frees teachers for higher-level work.

What does it actually take to start a microschool - and why are nearly 80 of them thriving across 20+ states? Amar Kumar, CEO of KaiPod Learning, shares five years of lessons.Read the full blog post: https://opened.co/blog/how-to-start-a-microschoolAmar Kumar is the CEO and founder of KaiPod Learning, a microschool network with nearly 80 schools across 20+ states. A former classroom teacher turned education entrepreneur, Amar spent over a decade at Connections Academy before launching KaiPod in 2020.Learn more: https://www.kaipodlearning.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumaramarX: https://x.com/AmarKumarEdu

Dr. Claire Honeycutt is a neuroscientist, researcher, and homeschool parent who recommends two philosophically opposed books - Well-Trained Mind and Free to Learn - and says you need both. In this second conversation, Dr. Claire explains why sensitive developmental windows matter, how she introduces rigor without killing joy, and why she thinks kids need to learn to think before they learn to prompt. If you missed Part 1, where Claire talks about leaving her tenured neuroscience career to homeschool, go watch that first: https://opened.co/blog/what-neuroscience-tells-us-about-homeschooling-dr-claire-honeycuttDr. Claire Honeycutt:Substack: https://clarified.lifeTwitter/X: https://x.com/HippyMomPhD

Most advice about homeschooling comes from parents, researchers, and experts. But what does a 16-year-old who's lived it - and documented it across four teenage lives - have to say? Turns out, we've been asking the wrong questions.In this episode, Mason Ember shares what surprised him most about teenage homeschool communities, why his parents identified "storytelling" as his through-line instead of just "film," and his most pointed critique of homeschooling.His philosophy: "Be pro-kid over pro-system." Whether you're homeschooling, considering it, or just curious about what education looks like when teens have more agency, Mason's perspective offers something you won't get from the usual experts - because he's the kid those experts are theorizing about.Mason's Links:- Documentary website: https://www.againstthegrade.com/- Follow Mason on Instagram: @embers_insta- NY Times letter to the editor: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/24/opinion/letters/home-schooling-debate.html

What does minimalism have to do with education?Joshua Fields Millburn - co-founder of The Minimalists, Emmy-nominated filmmaker, and New York Times bestselling author - has spent over a decade helping people declutter their lives. But when his dyslexic daughter started coming home with stomach aches every morning from traditional school, he realized minimalism applies to more than physical stuff.In this conversation with OpenEd CEO Isaac Morehouse, Joshua shares his family's journey from public school struggle to thriving in an unschool environment - and the philosophy that made it possible.The Minimalists- Website: https://www.theminimalists.com/- TEDx "Scrolling Is the New Smoking": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYK1u8Vg5No- Netflix "Less Is Now": https://www.netflix.com/title/81074662- Book "Love People, Use Things": https://www.theminimalists.com/lput/

Krisy Shaughnessy never planned to homeschool. When COVID hit, she found herself renovating a house with her kids—and accidentally discovered they learned more from measuring boards than worksheets.In this episode, Krisy shares the "vegetable trick" she uses to hide education in plain sight, the $2 Wonder Wall system that captures her kids' questions (like "Do slugs have guts?"), and why she believes boredom is one of the most valuable tools in homeschooling.She also explains how she built a homeschool community from scratch by simply picking a park and sending an email—and why "if you want to be part of the village, you have to be willing to be the villager."Resources Mentioned:- Wonder Led Life (Instagram): [https://www.instagram.com/wonderledlife/]- Prodigy Math Game: https://www.prodigygame.com/- Life of Fred Books: https://lifeoffred.uniquemath.com/