WILD + FREE

WILD + FREE is a homeschooling conversation show hosted by Ainsley Arment, and it is tied closely to the Wild + Free community. Several episodes open with an invitation to pour a cup of coffee and settle onto the front porch. The image suits the show. The conversations that follow are between mothers, and they stay specific. One episode asks how the place a family lives shapes its homeschool. A guest who grew up with a wild and free childhood, and is now a rancher's wife in Texas, credits homeschooling with giving her children free time outdoors once read-alouds, book work and chores are done. Her household has no individual screens and one television, which stays off until about four in the afternoon. Her middle son, Hank, calls himself a naturalist and brings turtles home. The same conversation argues that a family cannot be sheltered from everything, and that there are safe ways to get out into the rivers, the hills and the long grass. Teaching several ages at once is another thread. Jane Manka, a mother of five with another child on the way, talks with Jennifer Pepito about homeschooling older children with toddlers underfoot; some days the kids listen to a history audio, and some days are chaos. That talk also covers letting children make mistakes as they learn, and one speaker recalls trying, in her early homeschool days, to force herself to be something she was not. Books by guests anchor other conversations. Greta Eskridge discusses Adventuring Together and describes hiking with a group of families whose children range from teenagers down to a baby, the older ones going on ahead. Jennifer Pepito, founder of the Peaceful Press, talks about Mothering by the Book, which pairs each chapter's principle with a great work of literature; Charlotte's Web goes with a chapter on speaking words of life over children. That conversation describes fear as something that makes a parent controlling and miserable, and argues for finding joy in simple things. Daily structure gets attention too. In one episode a mother lays out her family's morning: a Bible story for the children at breakfast, math practice done together, scripture recitation, math facts said aloud, a months-of-the-year song, and copy work while she reads a chapter aloud. That conversation appears in 'Episode 70: Tribute to Emily of @the.hidden.way', a somber episode recorded after the unexpected death of Emily Mitchell of The Hidden Way and her unborn child. Another episode brings several mothers together at a bed and breakfast to talk about homeschooling, life and motherhood, and adds a heart-to-heart with Jennifer Narocki about homeschooling through difficult times. Episodes often end with news from the community: conferences, including one in San Luis Obispo, California, as well as monthly content bundles, a print magazine, a nature journal course and new books. For a first listen, the Texas conversation about place and time outdoors is a clear introduction to what the show cares about.