Welcome to the Wild and Free podcast, episode 76. I'm Ainsley Arment, and this week we're talking with our dear friend Julie Bogart, all about her new book, raising critical thinkers, and having faith in our teens when they don't follow the well-worn path.

It is the dynamic exchange of ideas between two interested parties

that helps your kids retain what they're learning.

School doesn't have that opportunity because it's one teacher with 25 or 30 students.

But even in a family with 10 kids, you already have a better ratio than the school.

So if you really want to grow the mind life of your children,

engage them in conversations and ask open-ended style questions.

Plus, we'll share about our Wild and Free Conference

in Dallas, Texas, coming up on May 20 and 21. So grab a cup of coffee and join us on the front porch. Let's get started.

Several years ago, I threw in the towel on homeschooling. It's not you, it's me, I told my kids

rather dramatically. I failed you. About an hour later, I found myself sitting on a park

bench while my kids played on the playground, occasionally inviting me to join them,

despite my half-hearted responses. I felt numb, tired, and lonely. For 30 miserable

minutes, I had a perfect pity party, a wonderful wallow in a pit of worries. I knew I wasn't

the first parent to reach this point. I just never thought it would be me. The truth is, I was drowning

in self-doubt. I had lost sight of my true north. On that particular windless, wintry day,

a strange and sudden gust blew across the park and jolted me out of my rueful reverie.

It was then that I heard my children's laughter. I felt the sun's warmth on my face and the cold air in my nostrils. I inhaled the scent of

grass and pine and sweat on their clothes as they raced over to embrace me. I absorbed the joy in their

smiles and the life from their rosy cheeks,

and I felt a rush of adrenaline flow through my body. Their chilly hands pulled me up from the

park bench. You're it, Mom. Try and catch us. In an instant, I was back in the present, back to the place I was supposed to be, back to my senses, literally and figuratively, back to the miracle of the moment.

...