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Homeschooling: You’re Doing It Right (Yes, Really.)

I’ll never forget the first time I invited Ginny Yurich on my podcast. It was five or six years ago, and her message about logging 1000 hours outside with your kids instantly resonated with my heart. Since then, Ginny’s movement has grown into a worldwide phenomenon—and I was so excited to welcome her back to The Feast Life to talk about her brand-new book, Homeschooling: You’re Doing It Right Just by Doing It.

Y’all… this conversation is one of my favorites. Not because we had it all together (there were tech issues, interruptions, and lots of laughter), but because we didn’t. It was real. It was honest. And it was exactly the message homeschool moms need right now.

Here’s why:

The Pressure to "Do It Right" Is Heavy—But It Doesn’t Have to Be

Whether you’re brand new to homeschooling or years into this journey, chances are you’ve wondered at some point:

“Am I messing this up?”

Ginny reminds us: Just by choosing to homeschool, you’re already doing so much right.

Seriously. You’ve given your kids the gift of time, presence, and real-life learning. It might not look like a perfect Pinterest schedule or a color-coded plan (and that’s okay!). It might look like muddy boots, abandoned math workbooks, or a toddler crawling across the table—but that doesn’t mean it’s not working.

The Gift of Multi-Age Learning

One of my favorite parts of our conversation was when Jenny shared how even though homeschooling with toddlers underfoot can feel chaotic (and yes, sometimes frustrating), it’s actually a powerful learning environment.

Older kids are learning empathy, leadership, patience, and real-world flexibility just by being in a home with younger siblings. And babies? According to research, they’re empathy builders. In fact, some schools hire out babies to help teach emotional intelligence!

But homeschool families? We’ve got that naturally—right there in our living rooms.

Real Learning Isn’t Always Measurable

We often measure homeschool success by how many lessons we check off, how fluent our kids are in math facts, or whether they can write a five-paragraph essay. But Ginny challenged us to consider what doesn’t show up in a scope and sequence:

• A child’s creativity sparked by a cardboard box
  
• The grit it takes to hike four miles on a balance bike
  
• The resilience to bounce back after a tough day
  
• The ability to sit in the quiet and be bored… and then invent something new
  
  

These aren’t “bonus” skills—they’re the ones that matter most in a world that’s changing faster than we can imagine.

Your Life Gets to Feel Like a Feast, Too

Ginny and I are both former public school teachers. We’ve been in the system. We’ve taught in the closets and pushed the carts. (Yes, literally!) We know what school was like on the inside, and we also know the freedom homeschooling brings—not just for our kids, but for us.

You’re not just checking boxes anymore. You’re crafting a life. A Feast Life.

A life that makes room for connection. For purpose. For creativity. For play.

And yes, sometimes for rest. Because as Jenny says:
“Don’t quit. Just rest.”

Final Thoughts: You Don’t Have to Do It All to Do It Well

So if you’re in a hard season…
If your toddler just dumped out the flour…
If your teen rolled her eyes at today’s Shakespeare reading…
If you’re questioning everything…

Here’s what I want you to know:

You are not alone.

You are not behind.
You are not failing.

You're doing it right—just by doing it.

About Our Guest:

Hi! I'm Ginny.  My husband Josh and I are parents to five children ages 12 and under and we reside in Southeast Michigan.  Throughout our journey of parenthood we have consistently seen city, county, and state parks, as well as trails, campsites, and nature-scapes in general, nearly devoid of children most of the time. About five years ago we started to ask ourselves a simple question: Why? With so much natural beauty all around us (even though we take it for granted at times) it seemed counterintuitive that so many outdoor spaces were just empty. 

​With that question of “why” still unanswered, we did some research and read that striving for a goal of 4-6 hours of outside time within a day (what!?!?) was an ideal amount of time for children to spend, well, outside. This seemed excessive to us and quite frankly, way too long - most children's activities are at most an hour (like a library program) and, many times, much less. BUT, we tried it. And you know what? We have not looked back. Our greatest times as a family, and my most successful times mothering almost exclusively point back to these fully immersive nature days. In time, we began to find that there is benefit upon benefit to this wonderful time outside.

Connect With Ginny Yurich:

• Ginny’s book: Homeschooling, You’re Doing It Right Just by Doing It
• The 1000 Hours Outside podcast
• Follow Ginny on Instagram: @1000hoursoutside
• Learn more at  1000hoursoutside.com

Additional Resources Mentioned:

• Free to Learn by Peter Gray
• Weapons of Mass Instruction  by John Taylor Gatto
• Do Schools Kill Creativity?  TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson
• Other Feast Life Podcast episodes with Ginny- 1000 Hours Outside  Young Children Learn Best Through Play and Experiences