The BIG Home Ed Conversations

About The BIG Home Ed Conversations

The BIG Home Ed Conversations is one of the top active 'home education' podcasts for parents who want to move past the myths and dive deep into what we actually want to talk about as alternative educators. Join Kelly (home ed mum of 2 and home education coach & mentor) and Ashley (ex-primary teacher & home ed mum of 3) as they debunk myths, tackle real challenges, and share honest, empowering, mindset-shifting conversations for families choosing alternative education. Whether you’re new to home educating or looking for fresh perspectives to support your child’s learning journey, this podcast offers practical advice, mindset shifts, and heartfelt stories from UK-based parents and experts. We go beyond the basics—helping you handle the ups and downs of home education, break free from generational patterns, and build confidence in your own path. Tune in for weekly episodes packed with reassurance, motivation and community for mums, dads, and anyone passionate about holistic, alternative, project-led, or eclectic education. Find out why we’re one of the top-rated home ed podcasts, and feel less alone on your journey. Find us at www.bighomeedpodcast.com Ps. We only use the term homeschooling from time to time to help US, European and new to home ed families find us!

Publisher

Kelly Rigg & Ashley Vanerio

Category

education · kids & family · kids & family

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Mar 2024

Latest episode

15 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

69 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   15 Oct 2026

   Home Ed Burnout: Spotting the Signs, Lowering the Bar (and Finding Your Way Back)

   Whether you came to home ed after your child burnt out of school, or you're the parent running on empty right now, burnout is something so many of us know far too well. In this Season 6 episode of our series on the tricky bits of home education, Kelly and Ashley get honest about home ed burnout: what parent burnout actually looks like, why it creeps up on us, and how to find our way back, for our kids and for ourselves. Kelly shares how she went hell for leather in her first year of home ed, filled the calendar to the brim with meetups and outings, and burnt out hard and fast, plus the early warning signs she watches for now, from irritability and creeping clutter to answering work emails at dinner. Ashley talks about how disrupted evenings and sleep, solo parenting and being always on as parent, educator, driver, planner and social secretary tip her towards homeschool burnout, and the small changes she's made, from cutting back activities to getting the kids making their own lunches and cosying up the house with soft lamps, candles and coffee-shop music. Together they explore the pressure home educating parents feel to prove home ed works, the home ed comparison trap, why the well-meaning advice to just relax can backfire for families recovering from school burnout, and why home education is a marathon, not a sprint. Kelly shares a happiness hack (make the bits you hate a little better and the bits you love even better), the family meeting that transformed their car journeys, scheduling protected rest into the diary, and giving yourself permission to lower the bar on tired days. We'd love to hear from you: what are your tricks for changing the environment or reducing the workload to sidestep burnout? Next week: Why won't they just...? We're talking learning styles and effort, why one child flies through a worksheet while another needs to build it, act it out or argue with you about it first, and why what looks like not trying is sometimes something else entirely. Want to go deeper this season? Visit our website and join the waiting list for When Home Ed Gets Hard, our reflection and journalling companion with questions for every episode of Season 6, releasing in December. Waiting list members will be the first to hear when it's ready and get an early-bird discount: https://www.bighomeedpodcast.com/when-home-ed-gets-hard/ (https://www.bighomeedpodcast.com/when-home-ed-gets-hard/) And if you're navigating ADHD or neurodivergence, whether as a family or for yourself, Kelly offers 1:1 coaching. Find out more at https://www.kellyrigg.mykajabi.com (https://kellyrigg.mykajabi.com/). Loved this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1735186572), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6ammJpJq1SXDlacoUA4F8Q) or wherever you listen. It really helps other families find us.

2. 

   8 Oct 2026

   Home Ed Consistency: Rhythm vs Routine (and Letting Go of the Perfect Timetable)

   Consistency is one of those words that can make home educating parents feel a bit twitchy. Some weeks your home ed routine flows beautifully, and some weeks the maths book hasn't been opened and someone's still in their pyjamas at 2pm. In this Season 6 episode on the tricky bits of home ed, Kelly and Ashley unpick what consistency really means in home education. Do you need a strict homeschool schedule, or is a gentler rhythm (showing up, keeping the curiosity going and coming back to things after a break) enough? Kelly shares how a week of painting the bedroom turned into an unexpected lesson in life skills and independent learning, and the simple daily rhythm (one helpful task, three bits of learning, then screen time) that works for her ADHD and autistic kids. Ashley talks about swapping school days to fit in a new outdoor meetup, why a predictable routine helps children feel safe, and why getting back into a routine after a long summer break can be such a battle. Together they explore rhythm vs routine, how much of our worry about consistency comes from school and society rather than from our children, whether structure and child-led learning can work together, why being consistent in how we respond to our kids matters as much as any timetable, how to scaffold child-led goals like becoming a zoologist or a vet, and the small household routines that quietly set children up for adult life. We'd love to hear from you: what's one small thing you do consistently that makes a bigger difference in your children's lives than any curriculum could? Send us a message through our website or on Instagram. Next week: burnout. What happens when you've been showing up and showing up with nothing left in the tank. Want to go deeper this season? Visit our website and join the waiting list for When Home Ed Gets Hard, our reflection and journalling companion with questions for every episode of Season 6, releasing in December. Waiting list members will be the first to hear when it's ready and get an early-bird discount: https://www.bighomeedpodcast.com/when-home-ed-gets-hard/ (https://www.bighomeedpodcast.com/when-home-ed-gets-hard/) And if you're navigating ADHD or neurodivergence, whether as a family or for yourself, Kelly offers 1:1 coaching. Find out more at https://www.kellyrigg.mykajabi.com. (https://kellyrigg.mykajabi.com/) Loved this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1735186572), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6ammJpJq1SXDlacoUA4F8Q) or wherever you listen. It really helps other families find us.

3. 

   1 Oct 2026

   Back to Home Ed After Summer: Transitions, New Systems and Too Many Hats

   Welcome to season six of The BIG Home Ed Conversations Podcast, where we're digging into the tricky bits of home education. Not the sunshine-and-nature-walks highlight reel, but the real, unglamorous moments that every home educating family knows too well. After a summer apart, Kelly and Ashley catch up on what's been going on and why September always seems to bring that big "go" energy, the pressure to have new systems, new attitudes and a whole new approach. Ashley shares what it's like to go straight from a holiday in Italy into a new term with no pause, plus the realisation that her eldest is only a few years from needing to think about what comes next. Kelly talks about why transitions can feel like grinding gears for neurodivergent families, and the simple fridge chart and wall calendar that have helped her autistic kids feel settled and accomplished. Together they explore finding the right time of day for learning, the tricky balance between child-led learning and the bigger picture, why living alongside all the mess of home ed can feel so much heavier than a classroom, and Kelly's "which hat am I wearing?" mantra for staying focused. They also talk about helping kids face that big wall of "this feels too hard", from handwriting struggles to fractions, and why teaching our children how to learn and persevere might be the most important thing of all. If you've been feeling the pressure this September, this one is a gentle reminder that none of us are doing it wrong. We're just in the iteration we're in right now. Want to go deeper this season? We're creating When Home Ed Gets Hard, a reflection and journaling companion with questions for every episode of season six, releasing in December. Join the waiting list at https://www.bighomeedpodcast.com/when-home-ed-gets-hard/ (https://www.bighomeedpodcast.com/when-home-ed-gets-hard/) to be the first to hear when it's ready and get an early-bird discount. And if you're navigating ADHD or neurodivergence, whether as a family or for yourself, Kelly offers 1:1 coaching. Find out more at kellyrigg.mykajabi.com. Loved this episode? Please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen. It really helps other families find us.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

154

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

9 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 57 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

46

Social presence

94

YouTube

64

Engagement

60

Contact The BIG Home Ed Conversations

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about The BIG Home Ed Conversations