## Timestamped Outline **00:00** - The Myth of the "Perfect" Homeschool Day **04:05** - Why "Deschooling" Can Backfire **08:30** - The "Academy of Chaos" Origin Story **12:30** - How to Plan 12 Months in One Weekend **18:30** - Year-Round Schooling (And Guilt-Free Snow Days) **24:00** - Teaching Independence to a Four-Year-Old **30:00** - Why Screen Time Limits Don't Work for ADHD **36:00** - The Real Beauty: June Berries and Muddy Essays **42:00** - AI as an Intellectual Prosthetic **48:00** - Curriculum vs. Workbooks: Knowing the Difference ## 00:00 The Myth of the "Perfect" Homeschool Day **Ela:** Welcome back to the Open Ed podcast. Today I have Jean Lee, an absolute powerhouse. She homeschools her own children and created an academy where she helps homeschool other families as well. Jean, out of curiosity, did you always want to homeschool? **Jean:** I did not. Like everyone, COVID changed my family's lives. We started in traditional public school, but there were challenges. I have three very unique learners—highly gifted, twice-exceptional—and that doesn't always work well in a traditional classroom. But I didn't know what I didn't know. Coming home gave me the opportunity to try something different. If you would've asked me a decade ago, "Jean, would you be a homeschool mom?" I would've said, "No, that's weird." Now, I am so thankful I get to champion school choice and custom education. **Ela:** Was it a gradual experience going from "I'll never homeschool" to "maybe this works"? **Jean:** It was immediate—schools closed, and we came home. But I see the gradual shift happen everywhere I go. Whether we're at soccer or ballet, I talk to hundreds of families. Conversations always start with, "Do you homeschool?" followed by, "Have you ever considered it?" Before long, they find me and say, "Hey Jean, can you tell me more?" I love being a family's first homeschool friend. I didn't have that friend, and I wish I had. My transition was hundreds of hours of research to understand my kids' cognition as a neuroscientist. Now I get to make that transition smoother for others. ## 04:05 Why "Deschooling" Can Backfire **Ela:** Your background is in neuroscience. Did that give you a specific perspective? And were there biases you had to work through? **Jean:** Absolutely. There is a general bias that we just stay home all the time, sitting around a dining room table reading books. There's also a bias that we're not learning deeply because we aren't taught by a licensed instructor. The reality is we're never home. We outsource many things—piano lessons at 9 AM, multiple sports, fine art lessons, clubs. I teach two full days of deep STEM learning. Socialization is not an issue; we have way more friends because we have time for those friendships. **Ela:** What value do you put in front of families just starting to think about this? **Jean:** Families usually reach out with the same questions: "Our child is gifted and not challenged enough," "We're concerned about safety," or "We don't like the bullying." The biggest pro is more time with your children. You are deeply involved. Culturally, our children function differently when they aren't raised by peers. There's a different connectedness when family is your primary community. **Ela:** I heard something similar: at a certain point, a child determines their number one trusted source—either peers or parents. **Jean:** Exactly. And families who use home education are very connected. Where I go, my kids go. If we go to the grocery store, a museum, or a play date, everybody goes. When we sit down for dinner, nobody is running off to play video games. We share stories and ideas. That connectedness only comes with time shared. ## 08:30 The "Academy of Chaos" Origin Story **Ela:** You mentioned deschooling—that period where you rewrite the rules in your head. Did you go through that? **Jean:** I am not a fan of deschooling. I know kids function better when they have a schedule and clear expectations. They feel safer knowing their boundaries. They don't have the social-emotional ability to manage their own details when they're young. If you take too long of a break, it's a nightmare to get them back on track. Everybody's fighting, and nobody wants to do the work. It becomes a battle. So even on holidays, we might do a lighter load, but we rarely stop completely. **Ela:** Can you explain "structure with flexibility"? **Jean:** It was a transition. I started with a mindset of "9:00 is math, 10:00 is science." But it's child-dependent. My oldest needed that time schedule to get through the day. My younger ones just want to get the work done so they can move on. Knowing how much rigor you need is key. My oldest has ADHD, so knowing "this is our chunk from 8 to 11" worked for her. Now that she's developed executive function skills, we're more fluid. ## 12:30 How to Plan 12 Months in One Weekend **Jean:** I use a scheduling tool called Homeschool Planet to lay out lessons for the entire year. It takes me one weekend. I tried paper calendars—too much erasing. I tried Excel—too much work. I tried Google Calendar—not designed for this. Homeschool Planet is the best money I spend each year. **Ela:** Is that a tool the kids have access to? **Jean:** Yes. Each child has a login. They can't change the schedule, but they check off their work. Even my four-year-old logs in. It gives them ownership. I tell my students: "It is your responsibility to own this, not your parents'. They don't have the instructions—it's yours." This gives them visibility. They don't just hear "do the next lesson." They see that if Lesson 37 isn't done, they can't move to 38. It teaches them to consistently move forward as independent learners. ## 18:30 Year-Round Schooling (And Guilt-Free Snow Days) **Jean:** When I lay out the schedule, I realize how much time we actually have. If we do one math lesson every weekday, we finish by early April. We don't account for all the days traditional classrooms take off. We go year-round. We just end one level and start the next. But it snowed in Indiana this week, so I said, "We're not doing school today. We're going outside." We had a blast, then came right back to it the next day. Was that time wasted? No. Are we behind? No. We also take school on the road. Driving to Florida is 18 hours—that's a great time to get math and grammar done. It’s incredibly flexible. ## 24:00 Teaching Independence to a Four-Year-Old **Ela:** How do you set those expectations so they actually do the work? **Jean:** You have to be consistent. Giving them visibility helps. But also, teaching them that missing a lesson isn't failure. It's just data. "Oh, Lesson 37 is red? Let's back up." **Ela:** It sounds like there's a strong correlation between how you homeschool and how you parent. **Jean:** Often. We're together all day. If I'm curious at the park—"Look at that insect, what is that?"—they become curious. Homeschooling is great fun if you're a curious parent. But it’s not without battles. That picture on Instagram of a beautiful family reading around a dining table? That lasts three minutes before the baby crawls away and someone screams. That's not reality. By the time you have three kids, it’s madness. That’s where the name "Academy of Chaos" came from. ## 30:00 Why Screen Time Limits Don't Work for ADHD **Ela:** Do you use time-boxing as a guardrail for things like video games? **Jean:** That is dangerous with kids who have ADHD because it becomes a dopamine-seeking behavior. If you use screens as a reward—"Do your chores, then you get one hour"—you are asking them to do the worst job for the highest dopamine reward. It’s a craving they cannot control. I prefer it to be a pop-up surprise. "Guess what? We have nothing planned. Let's play Family Feud or Wii Sports." We lean toward community-based games rather than isolating ones like Roblox. My kids love technology, but because we don't make it the "forbidden fruit" reward, they often choose to go outside instead. Human connection helps us feel fulfilled and lessens anxiety. Seeing them lean away from tech is a sign they are healthy. ## 36:00 The Real Beauty: June Berries and Muddy Essays **Ela:** What does "beautiful" look like for you, if not the Instagram picture? **Jean:** Beautiful is a gentle breakfast together without rushing for the bus. It's when my daughter comes home from forest school with a pocket full of June berries she wants to share. It's seeing my kids play in the mud and knowing we have time to clean up. It's sitting on a swing writing essays together. It’s messy, it’s chaos, but the beauty exists in those pauses. **Ela:** I love that. It’s not that you schedule them to death, but you have things to do—and the flexibility to pause. **Jean:** Exactly. Last week, we were late because my daughter saw an insect she needed to identify. I paused and thought, "This is not a life or death situation." We stopped, used Google Lens, inspected it, and talked about it the whole drive. That is the beauty. ## 42:00 AI as an Intellectual Prosthetic **Ela:** You mentioned being excited about AI in learning. What’s your take? **Jean:** I’ve been thinking about technology as an "intellectual prosthetic" for 20 years. How do we use tools to enhance what we have? When I teach, everything is executive function focused—problem-solving, critical thinking, communication. Knowing how to use tech is a small part of that. My 4-year-old takes typing lessons because it's a necessary skill. AI won't take away my job as an instructor, but it will be a tool that enhances it. Someone still has to write the prompt, define the project, and solve the problem. Those human skills—critical thinking and communication—are what I focus on curating. ## 48:00 Curriculum vs. Workbooks: Knowing the Difference **Ela:** What do you look for in curriculum? **Jean:** The most important thing is recognizing the difference between curriculum and practice. Many parents buy workbooks and think that’s curriculum. Workbooks don't have lessons; they are just practice problems. You can't expect a child to complete algebra if you haven't taught them how to solve the problems. No one learns by osmosis. I help parents discern what they need. Does your child need visual models (great for ADHD)? Do they need mastery or spiral learning? For writing, we alternate years—one year heavy on writing, the next heavy on grammar. We don't need to spiral the same grammar rules every year if they've already mastered them. **Ela:** Where can people find you? **Jean:** My website is [**theacademyofchaos.com**](http://theacademyofchaos.com/), and I’m @theacademyofchaos on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. I love being that friend and mentor for families just starting out. -