The Brainy Moms

Season 6 Launch: A Year of Tools For Homeschooling (and Classroom) Parents

• Dr. Amy Moore • Season 6 • Episode 600

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Ready for a season that actually makes parenting, homeschooling, and supporting your child easier? We’re kicking off season six with a clear promise: weekly, expert-driven conversations that turn overwhelm into action for families of struggling learners—homeschoolers and classroom parents alike.

In 2026, you’ll hear from experts around the world on topics relevant to kids with learning struggles and special needs as well as curriculum choices and support for all types of students. Starting with homeschooling guru Christy Faith, we've got a lineup you won't want to miss. For example, occupational therapist Sarah Collins returns with practical strategies for executive function and sensory processing—think sensory diets that fit real lives, smoother transitions, and routines that build independence without battles.

We go deep on writing and thinking with Andrew Pudewa, exploring how background knowledge fuels expression and how breaking skills into tiny steps wires stronger pathways. Expect concrete takeaways for reluctant writers, from copywork and oral narration to deliberate practice that sticks. Scientist and autism expert Dr. Teresa Lyons brings a sharp, evidence-first lens to epigenetics, nutrition, and supplements, cutting through social media noise so you can make decisions with clarity and care.

You’ll also get a no-nonsense guide to choosing methods and reading curricula by fit, not hype—what each approach does well, where the gaps are, and how to supplement at home. We tackle technology and the brain with balanced guardrails: when screens help, when they hinder, and how to protect attention, sleep, and deep work. And we widen the lens with survivalist Timber Cleghorn on fear, faith, and resilience, connecting outdoor grit to everyday parenting courage.

We’re back to weekly drops, launching a monthly newsletter packed with free PDFs and guides, and hitting conferences across the country to meet you in person. Subscribe now, share with a friend who needs practical hope, and leave a quick review to help more parents find tools that work. What topic should we tackle next? Email us at BrainyMoms@gmail.com

ABOUT US:
The Brainy Moms is a parenting podcast hosted by cognitive psychologist Dr. Amy Moore. Dr. Amy and her co-host Sandy Zamalis (& sometimes Dr. Jody Jedlicka or Teri Miller, MS PSY) have conversations with experts in parenting, child development, education, homeschooling, psychology, mental health, and neuroscience. Listeners leave with tips and advice for helping parents and kids thrive. If you love us, add us to your playlist and follow us on social media!

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Visit our sponsor's website: www.LearningRx.com

Dr. Amy:

Hi, Smart Moms and Dads. Welcome to season six of the Brainy Moms Podcast, brought to you by Learning RX Brain Training Centers. I'm Dr. Amy Moore. I am here with my co-host, Sandy Zamalis. And Sandy and I just want to give you a preview of what season six is gonna look like and sound like and all the cool stuff that we have for you this coming year. Hi Sandy.

Sandy:

I'm excited. I've already we've already done some of the interviews for season six, and they've been my favorite so far.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, I'm really excited. So we, you know, we've spent professionally, we've spent the last few years um really focused on supporting homeschool families, especially families who have kids with learning struggles and ADHD and special needs. And you know, Sandy and I go to conferences um and just you know, do workshops and share resources and you know, in our role with Learning Rx, really just try to uh give parents hope. Um and so we've really embedded ourselves in that community and we know that there are some pain points, you know, with homeschooling kids who are struggling. And so I well, homeschooling is hard enough, right? If you don't have a struggling learner. Um, but if you have a struggling learner, then it just compounds it. And so anyway, so we just thought um that we would devote the entire season to bringing you conversations and resources and experts that will just speak into those pain points and those struggles, you know, to hopefully give you guys some ideas and resources and um things to consider.

Sandy:

Yeah. And the biggest thing is, you know, if you're not a homeschooling family and you have listened to us in the past, I don't want you to be deterred by our focus because we are still gonna hit topics and talk to applicable to that are gonna, but we because Amy and I both have had uh some homeschooling experience in our background, we've both um been a homeschooling parent. Um, and many of the clients I work with every day are homeschooling parents, and just the amount of love and um great camaraderie we've built in the homeschool landscape because of all the workshops that we've done over the last several years. We just want to dig in on that a little bit so that um we are bringing a blessing upon those families because um there's just so much you take on when you choose to homeschool your kids. Um, one of them uh guilt at every turn when things don't go the way they should. Not that all moms don't have that, but um we want to help just educate as much as we possibly can because learning is hard. Um, education is difficult. Uh, no matter what educational path you choose, there's gonna be obstacles along the way. Um, so we hope that you get a lot out of this season just from our conversations, even though we have a little bit of that homeschooling lane that we're gonna be in. Um, and I will say, even some of the people we've talked to already, you may listen and be like, I don't get it. There's really not a homeschooling thread here. But it's because many of our topics are universal. Um, they really are universal. And we want to make sure that um we're giving you as parents um the best tools possible. Um, and honestly, from a like a just a soul perspective, I believe we're all homeschooling parents because our kids are our kids. So we're gonna be um teaching them at home in some way, even if it may not be their reading, writing, and math.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, I love that perspective, Sandy. Thanks for kind of clarifying a that yes, uh most of the episodes that we're gonna do, and by the way, we're going back to every week. We for the last uh couple of years, we've done every other week, but we're doing uh an episode every week. And so most of those episodes are gonna be applicable to every parent. Um, some of them are going to be helpful specifically to homeschooling families in terms of how do I choose the right curriculum, how do I choose the right approach? Um, that maybe won't be as applicable, but you still might be able to glean some cool information about, okay, if we're talking about reading curricula, right, and we're talking about the pros and cons of each type of curricula, you might say, oh, well, that is a curricula that my curriculum that my you know child's teacher uses. Here's what's missing, and maybe how I need to supplement at home.

Sandy:

Right, exactly. Exactly. We want to make sure we're bringing uh value to everyone on when we think about our kids, we think about their development, both emotional and educational. Uh, we want to make sure we're hitting it on both fronts as best we can. So we want lots of tools and resources, and the best way to do that is to get experts on our show that can help us make sure we're doing it in the most robust way.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, and I would argue um from my perspective, um, and maybe I'm a little bit biased because I am a psychologist, um, but I believe social emotional health is more important than academics. I think that when we uh work on social and emotional development and social emotional health, then the academics will follow.

Sandy:

Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah. So let's talk about some of the guests that we're going to be interviewing, some of the experts that we have um invited to come on and share insights and expertise and experience. Well, we're kicking it off with the homeschooling guru herself, Christy Faith.

Sandy:

Yes, yeah, she's so um infectious with her enthusiasm. Like I just can't help but get like, I feel my energy lift whenever we have her on the show because she's just so passionate about homeschooling and helping homeschooling moms. And so I our listeners, you're definitely gonna get that energy from her when you listen to that episode. And I think we're gonna have her back again um sometime in the season. So you'll you'll hear her at least twice.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, yeah. And she's got just great insights from having such a large community um and how she curates uh her own groups of experts, right, to to speak into her community and their pain points.

Sandy:

And so And I love that she's got she's been she's had a foot in both worlds. So she's had a foot in the education space as a public school teacher. She's had her foot in the space of um tutoring, but she now she's on the homeschooling front. So she's had her foot in each of those places and has a just a breadth of knowledge that is just so helpful for parents.

Dr. Amy:

Um and then we also have a returning guest, Sarah Collins, the occupational therapist who's known as the homeschool OT. Uh, she'll be back a couple of times this season.

Sandy:

Yeah, and she's just super practical. She gives you lots of really great practical information about um helping your child um overcome obstacles, which I think is gonna be super helpful.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, and she, you know, she talks about um executive function from an occupational therapist perspective, but she also talks about sensory processing and how sensory processing issues impact learning. And that's a topic that you know I'm passionate about. Um so we talk about sensory seeking and sensory avoiding and like how we can help create sensory diets that match our kids' sensory needs. Um, so I always love it when she comes and hangs out with us.

Sandy:

For those who aren't in the homeschooling world, um we have a guest this year that um was probably one of my top most coveted, like I hope we could get this person on our show. Um, we have Andrew Pudua on the show. And that was probably hands down my top two podcasts we've ever done. That was such a cool conversation and all about the brain. So um, those of you who've been with us for a while know Amy and I love brain talk in general, but uh his approach um with his writing curriculum and just his background in Suzuki um violin, that it's just it was a fascinating discussion. You're gonna love that one.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, um, you know, especially how we were able to talk about how background knowledge influences writing ability and like how music development influences writing ability. It it was a fascinating conversation. We're really excited to bring that one to you.

Sandy:

Yeah, and how to break things down. Like that was probably my biggest takeaway from that one is the importance of breaking things down into manageable pieces whenever you're developing any kind of skill. Um, that was just such a great um foundational part of that conversation, and it was very cool to even think about building those brain pathways as we work through that process with our kids, no matter what they're learning.

Dr. Amy:

So, we're also gonna have a conversation with Dr. Teresa Lyons. She is um a scientist and an autism expert, and she has devoted her career to dissecting the research and then using that to coach parents of kids with autism. And so she's gonna break down you know some of the things that we're hearing on social media about autism. Uh, she's gonna talk to us about epigenetics and nutrition and supplementation and um, you know, all of the things that are relevant today uh to parenting uh kids on the spectrum. So uh that's gonna be a fantastic conversation. Um who else are we having? We are going to be we're gonna be doing some of our own episodes, right? So we're gonna talk about all the different homeschooling uh uh philosophies and methodologies. We're gonna kind of break those down for those of you who are still trying to figure out um which approach you all want to take.

Sandy:

Yeah. Um, and we kind of mentioned we're we do because our wheelhouse is reading and helping kids overcome reading struggles, we really want to dig into that a little bit this season as well and help you navigate all the choices out there in the world so that you know what might your child do best in. Otherwise, sometimes it just feels like you know a shotgun effect. You're kind of shooting out into the world and you can't really aim at the target as well as you'd like. So we want to help you with that process because sometimes it's not about the curriculum, but it helps to know what the curriculum kind of paradigm is, what the main structure is, so that you can figure out if it's gonna fit the needs of your child. So we want to break that down a little bit and look at it in a really um critical way, but not critical as judgmental, but more like a, like I said, pros and cons, what works well with this curriculum, what holes are here, what might you need to seek for some other resources?

Dr. Amy:

And I think we're gonna do an episode two on technology and the brain. Um, right, like so the pros and cons of using technology and you know, which which uses of technology are beneficial, um, which impact uh brain development negatively and positively. I think we're gonna really dig into some of the research on that uh as well.

Sandy:

Yeah, yeah, it's gonna be a good season. I'm excited.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah. So we just interviewed uh the most fascinating Timber Cleghorn. He was the runner-up on season 11 of the the show Alone. So he's a survivalist. And um what a really amazing interview on um how he talked about um fear and overcoming fear and challenges and how his faith has impacted uh uh parenting and approaching um adversity and challenge, not only in game fashion, but in real life as a humanitarian aid worker.

Sandy:

And he was so raw in our interview. Um, listeners, you're gonna just be amazed. Um he just he came to talk with us and just really shared his heart. So it was such a good conversation.

Dr. Amy:

Uh and then we have a full lineup of other experts. We're gonna interview Amber O'Neill Johnston, we're gonna um interview Martin Cotherren and Dr. Rinton Rathbun and Dr. Eliza Song and Justin Whitmel Early, Aaron Vanick. We just have this huge lineup already of experts um in child development, in child psychology, in curriculum, uh, in legalities uh related to homeschooling, um, in you know, mental health for moms. Um, so we're really excited about what this season is gonna bring. We're excited that we're in season six. Can you believe that we've been doing this that long already?

Sandy:

No, it does it doesn't feel like it, weirdly. It's just a part of my every Thursday.

Dr. Amy:

And we're excited that we're gonna be coming to you every Thursday from now on, too. So we've missed doing it every week, and we said let's let's get back into that. Yes. So we want to tell you about a couple new things. One, we have a newsletter. We're gonna be doing a monthly newsletter uh that's gonna recap the um episodes from the month. We're gonna do additional resources, um, PDFs for free, um, related to the different topics that we're covering. Uh we're gonna create new stuff like um Brady Mom's Guide to Sensory Processing. We're gonna create a PDF of the reading curricula comparisons based on the show that we do later in the spring. So it's a lot of really great, all free uh resources. And so you gotta get signed up for that. Just go to the BradyMoms.com and uh you'll see a sign up button to sign up for that free newsletter. So we're excited to bring you that. Um and what else?

Sandy:

And now another success story from our sponsor, Learning RX Brain Training Centers. Here's what Jacoby from Atlanta, Georgia said about his experience at Learning RX. I just wanted to say how thankful that I am to have been recommended Learning RX. Before now, I did not fully understand the power of cognitive training and the difference that it can make in my everyday life as a graduate student. Through their expertise, my attention to detail, processing speed, and overall academic confidence have all improved considerably. I recommend these services to both children and adults who've had to work extremely hard to excel thus far or are just looking for ways to improve mental sharpness. At Learning Rx, we target the root cause of learning struggles, cognitive skills that need to be strengthened. Every child is different, and you or your child may or may not achieve the same results as Jacoby, but give Learning RX a call to see if brain training is the next best step for you or your child. Around the world in our centers and over Zoom, we've worked with more than 130,000 children and adults who struggled with thinking and learning. Visit LearningRx.com or call 1866-Brain01. Mention that you heard about us on the Brainy Moms podcast to get a special pricing on the cognitive skills assessment. That's 1866-Brain01 or Learningrx.com. Well, we're at a lot more conferences this year than we've ever ever been at. So that's something if you are a listener and um you do go to homeschool conferences, um, check out your state lineup because it's very possible that you're gonna see um Amy there as well as some other um representatives of Learning RX all throughout the country. And so that's really exciting.

Dr. Amy:

Yeah, so you and I are gonna be together at um Heave in Virginia, at Chap in Pennsylvania, at Mache in Maryland. Um Machi or Mache?

Sandy:

We always I is it Mache or Machi?

Dr. Amy:

Was it Machi? Okay, Mache is Minnesota. Mache is Minnesota. Mache is Maryland. You're right. Sorry, sorry, Maryland.

Sandy:

Um It's the same acronym.

Dr. Amy:

It is the same acronym. Um, and we're also gonna be, I'll be in Texas. And um, yeah, so if you are coming to any of those, be sure to find us.

Sandy:

Yeah, absolutely. And come see us at our booth. We'll we'll always have a booth um at where we do demos and answer questions um just about cognitive training in general. But um, we love talking to you guys. It's really probably one of my favorite things when someone comes up and says, I heard on a podcast. And then I can, you know, get to talk to them because we love um not only our podcast, but when we've been on guests on other shows too, um and you've caught us there. It's just such a fun um connection to to be able to capture um with you as a listener, uh, to be able to talk to you in person. It's just we really love it. QA question answer time is our favorite. Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Amy:

So, listeners, we love it that you choose to spend an hour with us every week. We hope that you are continuing to find value in what we do. We would love to hear from you, though. If there's a guest that you would like us to interview, um, if there's a topic that you'd like us to cover, email us at brainymoms at gmail.com. That's brainymoms at gmail.com because we love to hear from our listeners. Um and then finally, please leave us a five star rating and review on Apple Podcasts so that it uh puts us higher up in their algorithm and we can find more parents like you. So that is all that we have for you today. We're excited to spend season six with you. We'll catch you next time.

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Dr. Amy Moore

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