Hey friends! It's that time of year again—backpacks, new shoes, and… big decisions about school. In this week’s episode, Chris and I open up about what school looks like for our family this year. With five kids in different grades (and different learning styles), we’ve never taken a one-size-fits-all approach to education—and this year is no different.

From public school to community college to homeschool with a neighbor, we share why each of our kids is doing something unique this year and how we’ve learned to give them a say in the process. We also reflect on how our views on education differ as a couple, how we prepare our kids emotionally and spiritually for the school year, and why the words they speak about school really do matter.

This isn’t about promoting one path over another. It’s about showing up with intention, remembering that you get to choose, and making space to parent each child individually.

Plus, we talk about:

• Why we brought in a neighbor to help homeschool Indy
• How Chris is learning not to rush everyone out the door
• Our back-to-school blessing tradition
• Practical ways we’re setting our mornings up for peace (not panic)

Whether you're homeschooling, doing public school, or a little bit of everything—this episode is for you. Let’s start the school year strong—together.

LINKS:

All Links Family Brand! 

• stan.store/familybrand

Episode Minute By Minute:

• 0:00 – Intro: Why this back-to-school season looks different
• 1:30 – Every child, every year: how school changes for our family
• 4:45 – Melissa and Chris’s different philosophies on education
• 6:20 – A breakdown of what each of our five kids is doing this year
• 10:00 – Letting kids help decide their education path
• 11:20 – Why Melissa brought in outside help for homeschool
• 13:30 – The power of outsourcing in a season of change
• 14:45 – Preparing our kids mentally for the new school year
• 15:50 – Why language matters: school isn’t boring unless we say it is
• 17:00 – “You chose this”: a powerful reminder to ditch the complaints
• 18:00 – How we use our back-to-school dinner to set intentions
• 19:00 – Our tradition of giving each child a blessing before school starts
• 20:15 – Teaching our kids to look out for the new kid
• 21:00 – Daily habits that build spiritual and emotional armor
• 22:00 – The importance of clear family agreements for school mornings
• 23:30 – Recap on Tate and how his senior year is evolving
• 24:30 – The reminder: no two kids are the same, and that's a gift