Teaching Social Skills Through Stories

Homeschooling moms know it can sometimes be difficult to navigate the academic, emotional, and social needs of their children. Did you know that one of the most powerful tools in teaching social skills is storytelling? Whether through fiction, Bible accounts, or real-life examples, stories provide a unique opportunity to help children understand emotions, empathy, and relationship-building. Dr. Melanie Wilson joins me today to explore how stories—both fictional and true—can become a valuable resource for homeschooling moms looking to teach essential social and emotional skills in their children.

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Meet Dr. Melanie Wilson: From Reluctant Homeschooler to Advocate for Moms

Dr. Melanie Wilson, a Christian psychologist turned homeschool mom, shares her inspiring journey of homeschooling her six children, all of whom have since graduated. Initially a reluctant homeschooler, Melanie felt God’s persistent call to embark on this path, despite her initial doubts about balancing homeschooling with her passions for writing and speaking. Starting with homeschooling a preschooler, she quickly discovered it was far from easy, particularly for someone who considered herself disorganized and impatient.

However, through the challenges, homeschooling transformed Melanie, teaching her patience and organization while fostering deep connections within her family. Now, as the host of The Homeschool Sanity Show and creator of the Grammar Galaxy curriculum, Melanie is passionate about equipping homeschooling moms to thrive. She emphasizes that homeschooling is not only about educating children but also about the personal growth it brings to parents.

Growing and Adapting: Dr. Melanie Wilson’s Homeschooling Philosophy

Over the years, Dr. Melanie Wilson’s homeschooling philosophy has evolved from following structured methods to embracing a more eclectic approach. She began her journey with a literature-rich curriculum like Five in a Row, which used books and stories as the foundation for learning. Later, she incorporated unit studies, which were particularly enjoyable for her active boys, as they combined practical, hands-on activities with their studies. These activities eventually expanded into group learning experiences with other homeschooling families, fostering close friendships for both parents and children.

As her older children graduated and her family dynamics shifted, Melanie transitioned to a more eclectic homeschooling style. Drawing inspiration from classical education and unschooling, she blended elements from different approaches to create a customized education for her family. Melanie encourages moms to embrace the freedom of homeschooling, reminding them they don’t need to feel bound by rigid rules or a single method. Instead, she likens homeschooling parents to general contractors, free to experiment and adapt their approach to meet their family’s unique needs and goals.

Favorite Moments and Challenges in Homeschooling

For Dr. Melanie Wilson, one of the highlights of homeschooling was creating a home-based co-op. This intimate learning environment fostered close friendships among her children and other families, enriching their educational experience with shared activities and meaningful connections. However, as times changed and local homeschoolers leaned toward larger learning centers, Melanie faced the challenge of adjusting to a different model. While learning centers offered structure, they often lacked the opportunities for children to build lasting friendships, which was a priority for Melanie’s family.

Another significant challenge was navigating sibling dynamics. Despite her hope that homeschooling and shared Bible study would naturally foster harmony, Melanie was surprised to find her children often clashed. She acknowledges that homeschooling doesn’t erase human nature, and managing sibling relationships required intentional effort and patience. These experiences, though challenging, became opportunities for character growth and deeper family bonds, reminding Melanie and other homeschool moms that perfection isn’t the goal—growth and grace are.

The Importance of Teaching Social Skills

Dr. Melanie Wilson emphasizes that while children naturally learn social skills through daily interactions, some need more intentional instruction to thrive socially. She explains that being part of a family, attending church, participating in events, and interacting with neighbors and community members all offer ample opportunities for learning social cues. However, some children—whether due to special needs, attentional challenges, or individual temperament—might struggle to pick up these skills without explicit teaching.

Drawing on her background as a psychologist, Melanie highlights that social skills are closely tied to emotional management. In her practice, she often taught clients foundational skills that could have been addressed in childhood. Her passion for proactively teaching these skills stems from a desire to equip children early on, reducing the need for costly therapy in adulthood. For Melanie, teaching social skills is not about filling a gap in homeschooling but about recognizing that all children can benefit from intentional guidance in this area.

Why Stories Are a Practical Method for Teaching Social Skills

Dr. Melanie Wilson highlights the unique power of stories in teaching social skills, emphasizing their ability to foster empathy and understanding. While role-playing and direct practice are essential for mastering social interactions, stories offer something they cannot: a glimpse into the inner thoughts and emotions of others.

Research shows that people who read fiction often have better relationships later in life. This is partly because stories allow us to step into another person’s perspective, experiencing their motivations, struggles, and emotions. In real-life interactions, we often only see external behaviors, which can sometimes be frustrating or confusing. Stories, however, reveal the “why” behind actions, helping us empathize with others even when their behaviors are challenging.

Melanie adds that stories are an effective starting point for teaching social skills because they help orient our imaginations and affections toward understanding what is true and good. She draws a parallel to the Bible, where God reveals himself through stories of real people rather than through a straightforward textbook. Stories shape our ability to connect with others on a deeper level, making them an invaluable tool for teaching relational and emotional skills.

Using Bible Stories to Teach Social Skills

Dr. Melanie Wilson emphasizes that her faith-based curriculum uses Bible stories not as mere moral tales but as true historical accounts, providing a unique and powerful way to teach social and emotional skills. Here’s how she approaches this in a way that respects the Bible’s authenticity:

1. Distinguishing Between Faith-Based and Secular Versions
   In the secular version of her curriculum, Dr. Wilson uses fables and folktales, which are fictional. However, in the faith-based version, she treats Bible stories as real history, much like reading an account of a historical event or a biography. She stresses that these accounts are inspired by God and trustworthy as truth, making them distinct from fictional stories.
2. Understanding Motivations and Consequences in Bible Characters
   Dr. Wilson explores the motivations, choices, and consequences of Bible characters’ actions to teach children about behavior and decision-making. For example, she examines why people initially distrusted the Apostle Paul after his conversion and encourages children to think about trust and forgiveness in relationships.
3. Avoiding Simplistic Interpretations
   Early in her study of the Bible, Dr. Wilson assumed that all actions of prominent biblical figures were good, which led to confusion. Through her curriculum, she teaches children to analyze complex behaviors without jumping to conclusions. While some actions are clearly moral or immoral, others require understanding the cultural and personal contexts that influenced decisions.
4. Applying Lessons to Modern Life
   Dr. Wilson highlights that discussing the motivations and relational decisions of biblical characters allows children to reflect on similar situations they may face in life. This neutral approach—using a story removed from their personal experiences—reduces defensiveness and encourages thoughtful dialogue.
5. Encouraging Lifelong Skills
   By integrating questions like “Why did this character behave this way?” or “What might they have been thinking or feeling?” into Bible study, Dr. Wilson equips children with skills to navigate social dilemmas. These conversations extend beyond Bible stories to everyday interactions, helping children and even adults develop empathy and make wise relational decisions.

Dr. Wilson also notes that while modern culture may feel uniquely challenging, the Bible shows us that the human experience, including moral failings and relational struggles, has remained consistent throughout history. Using Bible accounts as a foundation for social and emotional learning connects children to this shared human experience while grounding their understanding in God’s truth.

Advice for New Homeschool Moms: Trust God

When asked what advice she would give to her younger homeschool mom self, Dr. Melanie Wilson’s response was clear and heartfelt: trust God. Here’s how she unpacks this invaluable lesson for new homeschoolers:

1. The Centrality of Trusting God
   Dr. Wilson identifies her lack of trust in God as her biggest regret, source of anxiety, and time waster during her early homeschooling years. She emphasizes that trusting God simplifies everything, while failing to trust Him makes every aspect of homeschooling feel more challenging.
2. A Daily Decision
   Trusting God isn’t a one-time decision but a daily choice. Dr. Wilson encourages homeschool moms to consistently remind themselves to trust the Lord, even in the face of uncertainties. She often reflects on Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
3. Encouragement to Persist
   Just as the Apostle Paul repeated essential truths to his readers, Dr. Wilson reminds moms that it’s okay—and necessary—to keep coming back to this foundational truth. Trusting God is a process that requires intentionality and perseverance.
4. Walking by Faith, Not by Sight
   This trust is the heart of homeschooling as a faith-based family. Walking by faith, even when the outcomes are unclear, is what gives homeschool moms hope and strength for the journey ahead.

Dr. Wilson’s advice serves as a powerful reminder for new homeschoolers to place their confidence in God rather than their own understanding or abilities, allowing them to approach their homeschooling journey with peace and faith.

By integrating stories into your homeschool curriculum, you not only enhance your children’s academic learning but also equip them with the crucial social skills they will need for life. Whether you choose fictional tales, Bible accounts, or real-life situations, the lessons learned through stories are invaluable. Trusting God throughout your homeschooling journey can help you focus on what truly matters—teaching your children not just what to know, but how to navigate the world with empathy and wisdom.

Key Takeaways

• Social Skills Are Learned Everywhere – Children learn social skills not only through interactions with peers but also in family settings and daily life, like going to the store or attending church.
• Some Children Need Explicit Teaching – Not all children naturally pick up social cues. Some may need guidance to recognize emotional and social signals in others.
• Social Skills and Emotional Intelligence Are Connected – Social skills are closely linked to emotional management, which is why teaching these skills early is crucial to avoid future challenges.
• Fiction Improves Social Skills – Reading fiction enhances relationships by helping children empathize with characters, understanding their thoughts and feelings, and learning social cues.
• Stories Teach Empathy – Stories allow children to see beyond behaviors and understand motivations, which helps them build empathy and social awareness.
• Bible Stories Can Teach Social Skills – Bible accounts provide real-life examples of behavior and decision-making that can be explored to teach social skills and emotional intelligence.
• Using Bible Accounts as History – Bible stories are treated as true history in Melanie’s curriculum, allowing children to engage with them as real events and explore the social and emotional lessons within.
• Practical Application of Bible Stories – Bible stories like those of Saul’s conversion or Rahab’s choices prompt discussions about trust, motivations, and moral decisions that are relevant in everyday life.
• Homeschooling Requires Daily Trust in God – Trusting God is essential for homeschooling success. This mindset helps alleviate anxiety and discouragement, making challenges easier to navigate.
• Homeschooling Advice: Keep Faith at the Center – New homeschool moms should focus on trusting God daily, remembering that relying on Him will make the homeschooling journey smoother and more fulfilling.

Listen to the full podcast episode “Teaching Social Skills Through Stories with Melanie Wilson” on  Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology

Dr. Melanie Wilson is a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six graduates. She is the host of The Homeschool Sanity Show and author of Grammar Galaxy and Training Aliens curriculum.

Find Melanie Wilson Online

• Homeschool Sanity
• Books

You may also enjoy:

• Charlotte Mason Inspired: Little Learners, Learning Challenges, and the Cultivation of Habits
• Homeschooling with Dyslexia (with Marianne Sunderland)
• Sibling Conflict and the Homeschooling Family (an interview with Lynna Sutherland)
• The Joyful Power of Storytelling for the Homeschool Family (with Jim Weiss)
• Finding the Gospel in Fairy Tales (an interview with Angelina Stanford)
• How We Homeschool Preschool

Check out all the other interviews in my Homeschool Conversations series!

Amy Sloan: Hello, friends. Today I am joined by Dr. Melanie Wilson, who is a Christian psychologist turned homeschooling mother of six graduates. Melanie is the host of the Homeschool Sanity Show and author of Grammar Galaxy and the Training Aliens curriculum. Melanie, I am so delighted to chat with you today. Could you please tell us a little bit about your family and your own background with homeschooling?

Melanie Wilson: All right, wonderful. I am just thrilled to talk with you today. I love talking about this topic of social skills and how we can use the Bible to teach it. I was a reluctant homeschooler. I really did not want to homeschool my kids. And when God was just continuing to impress upon me that I should do it, I looked into it, and I was very impressed by what I read. But I still did not want to do that, especially because I felt like God was calling me to be a writer and a speaker, and I did not see how I could homeschool and write and speak all at the same time. And then I realized, well, if God is asking me to do all three of those things, then he will work it out. So I tried it with a preschooler because I thought, I mean, how hard can it be to homeschool a preschooler? And I learned it was very, very hard for someone like me. I was just a disorganized person. I was very impatient. Two of the things that prospective homeschoolers tell me are disqualifying for them to be homeschooling parents, and I just say, yeah, yeah, I get it. I was both of those things, and homeschooling taught me to be organized, taught me to be patient, and it ended up being the most fulfilling thing that I have done with my life. I absolutely loved it. It met the desires of my heart. It has created a family of people who are all so close to one another, and it’s just been an absolute delight. And now, even though my kids are graduated, I am on a mission to help homeschooling mothers make this lifestyle work for them because it has just been such a blessing for me.

Amy Sloan: I love hearing how you brought up that you weren’t naturally organized, naturally patient, because so often, as I’m sure you have, someone will say, oh, I love the idea of homeschooling, but I’m just not patient enough to homeschool. And I’m like, girl, I am not either. But I love how you were sharing how the Lord actually used homeschooling to change you. It wasn’t just about your children, but it was your own personal growth as a mom. I mean, that is one way for sure, but do you see other ways in which your perspective on homeschooling or educational philosophy grew or changed over the years?

Melanie Wilson: Oh, for sure. When I started, I was actually really fortunate enough to find a curriculum that used books, stories as the basis for homeschooling. And we used five in a row, which many of your listeners may be familiar with. And I really enjoyed that. Then we moved on to doing some unit studies, which I also absolutely loved because it got us doing fun activities. I had four boys before I had a daughter, and those boys were very active. And they loved any time we did something practical to follow up on our reading and our studies. And eventually, I invited some acquaintances of mine through homeschooling to join us in doing activities that went along with our unit studies. And that ended up being our absolute favorite part of homeschooling itself. My kids made dear, dear friends. So did I. The husbands even became good friends, and we started vacationing together, going on field trips together. And it was just a wonderful way of homeschooling in those earlier years. Eventually, those kids graduated, and I still had younger kids at home, so we had to adjust our way of homeschooling. So I went from being a unit study homeschooler, which I still think the world of. I think it’s a wonderful way to learn. But then I became a lot more eclectic. I learned about classical education, and I learned about unschooling. And I incorporated more of those types of philosophies into kind of an organized whole without feeling like I had to follow the rules of any one approach. That just worked a lot better for me with my kids.

Amy Sloan: That’s one of the joys of homeschooling over time too, right? You just grow in your confidence in doing what works best for your family and not necessarily following a checklist for a particular method.

Melanie Wilson: Right. Absolutely. I love the freedom of it. And I feel sorry, I guess, is the best way to put it. I feel sorry for homeschooling moms who feel like they have to trade all of the rules of a traditional school setting for just a different set of rules, whether they’re trying to be a Charlotte Mason homeschooler or a non-schooler or using a particular boxed curriculum that I have to do all of these things that they say when you really don’t. I mean, I think it’s really great to learn by doing. So I don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying, you know what, I’m going to do just straight up Charlotte Mason this year and just see how that works for us. But then once you know what works for your family and what doesn’t work for your family, then you can make some adjustments. And you’re the general contractor for your kid’s education and you can adjust as you go along. And unless your state has a particular law or guideline that you have to follow, I mean, you really can experiment and just have fun with it.

Amy Sloan: Yeah. I love, that’s a great word picture, being the general contractor. Well, Melanie, what have been some of your favorite parts of homeschooling and then maybe some of your less favorite, some of those challenges and how you sought to overcome those challenges?

Melanie Wilson: Yeah. So I’ve already mentioned one of my favorite things was just doing a home-based co-op, which I think has so many advantages. Once my kids had gotten old enough that some of their friends had graduated, moved away, that happened too. Then we tried to invite other homeschoolers to join us in our home-based co-op. And I had just found that times had changed and most homeschoolers, at least in my area, were just reluctant to do a home-based co-op and preferred instead to go to a larger learning center where there were more kids that they could potentially make friends with. So I thought, well, I’m having no luck here. And so I put my kids into a learning center and just actually two, and it was not what we were hoping for. It was very difficult for them to make friends in that kind of setting because there wasn’t time. There wasn’t time for them to sit and talk together unless they were going to be there all day, which that wasn’t my plan. That wasn’t my goal as a homeschooling mom who wants my kids to be at home most of the time. So that was actually one of the things that was a challenge for me, was trying to adjust from a homeschool co-op model to a learning center model where my kids were going and taking classes. So that was one thing. And then I just published a podcast about this very thing, five of my biggest challenges in homeschooling. And I would say that another one of those challenges was my kids not getting along. That drove me crazy. And I really wasn’t expecting it like I should have. I mean, I didn’t get along with my next youngest brother. I have a brother who is 11 years younger than me, and the dynamic is very, very different. But my brother who is two years younger than me, we did not get along. So I should not have been surprised that my kids had plenty of disagreements and issues. I guess I just thought, oh, I’m this Christian homeschooling mom, and we’re going to spend so much time together, and we’re going to study the Bible together, and we’re going to deal with character issues, and so they’ll be the best of friends just automatically. And that did not happen.

Amy Sloan: I think that is so important for homeschool moms to hear. So I come at this kind of the same experience with my own children, but from a different point of view. So I was homeschooled growing up. I have one brother, four years, five grades younger than I am, and he and I were always really close. Yeah, sometimes I’m sure I was a jerky older sister, but for the most part, I don’t really have memory of fighting with him. I don’t have memory of conflict with him. We had a really great relationship. And so I just assumed that my children would always get along, and I was horrified, shocked, and appalled at the way they treated one another. It’s like, you did not learn this from me. And so just having to kind of be like, oh, so again, like homeschooling doesn’t make your children perfect. Okay, having to work through those same sinful issues that anyone else does, you know, people don’t always get along. Personalities sometimes clash. So true. Yeah. Well, Melanie, let’s talk about socialization. It’s a homeschool podcast after all. Right. I think a question I would ask about this, knowing what you’re going to be talking about, is I would just say, you know, don’t children learn social skills naturally? And why would you say we actually need to more proactively teach them to children? Which is kind of funny to have this conversation after we discussed our own children’s perhaps social ineptitude at times.

Melanie Wilson: Right. Well, I mean, I think the first answer is that our children learn tremendous amounts about social skills just by virtue of being in a family. Even an only child learns so much as a member of our family. Most of our listeners right now are not living in a cabin isolated from other people, you know, never sees anyone. That’s not a typical homeschooler today. Right. So we all have opportunities for our kids to act, interact with other people, not just children, but with other people at church, when we go to the store, when we run our errands, when we go see a doctor, when we are interacting with our neighbors, we take them to events. I mean, of course, our kids are learning social skills all day, every day. That is absolutely not what I’m saying. And I also don’t believe that homeschoolers need to learn social skills more than children who would attend a traditional school. I don’t think that at all. What I do think, however, is that some children have a harder time picking up these skills that aren’t explicitly taught. And we all know this, maybe outside of the realm of our parenting, we all know people who aren’t picking up social cues that we think they should. You know, you aren’t noticing that I don’t have a happy expression on my face, yet you’re continuing to do what is upsetting me. There are people who don’t pick up these skills, the cues, unless we help them and we teach them specifically what to look for or what to do, whether you have a child who has special needs, or whether you have a child who maybe has some attentional deficits and they aren’t paying attention because they’re just too busy doing what they’re doing, or you just have a child who is neurologically typical, but for some reason just isn’t that interested in that particular skill. So I do know that because I was a practicing psychologist before I had a family, I know that there are people who can go through life and end up in adulthood not having learned some really important skills, because social skills also are connected to emotion management, emotional skills. And I found as a psychologist that I was teaching the same basic skills over and over and over to my clients, and it made me sad that people were having to spend over $100 an hour back then to see me, to learn these things, when they could have learned them in childhood. And so that is one of the things that I wanted to do, was to find a way to teach these skills to our kids so that they wouldn’t have to see $100-plus-an-hour therapists later in life.

Amy Sloan: And I know that you have said that you think stories are a really powerful teaching tool to teach these social skills. So how are stories such a practical method of teaching these skills?

Melanie Wilson: Right. It seems like they wouldn’t be, and you would be correct if you think that really what kids need is actual practice. You know, let’s do some exercises, let’s do some role-playing. And absolutely, 100%, kids do need that. But what I was struck by when I started researching reading and its effect on later life, what I noticed in the research is that people who read fiction actually have better relationships later in life. And one of the reasons for that is not just because of the story, although sometimes stories, the plot or the theme itself has something to do with relationships that we can learn and be inspired by, that is for sure. But what we also get when we read or listen to a story is we get to hear a person’s thinking, we get to hear about their feelings, even if we don’t see them demonstrated. And in real life interactions, we don’t have the benefit of knowing what someone else is thinking. And so stories can help us to empathize with other people where we might not empathize with them. Otherwise, the only thing we are maybe seeing is just the behavior. Maybe it’s a problematic behavior and it’s annoying. But if we know, oh, that’s why this character did this. They did it because they thought this and this and they had experienced these other things that were related. So stories are very powerful, at least I think as a jumping off point, to teach social skills.

Amy Sloan: Stories are so powerful the way they form our imagination and orient our affections of what we think is true and good and all these things. And of course, we know that the Bible is full of stories about real people who lived, full of stories. God revealed himself not in a textbook, right? He revealed himself in this story. But I think maybe a question that might come up is you use Bible stories in your faith-based curriculum, but someone might be concerned and say, well, how do you make sure to use those stories in a way that still promotes the Bible as history, as a true, as something that is unique compared to other stories?

Melanie Wilson: Right. So I have two versions of my social and emotional skills curriculum. In the secular version, I use fables and folktales, which are obviously fictional stories. They’re not true. In the faith-based version, I use Bible stories, which I treat as real history. These are things that really happened, just like if we were to read an account of a war gone by, a particular scientific discovery, if we read a biography about someone who was a major figure in history, those stories are true. Now we might have some of the facts wrong, but with the Bible, we know that it is the inspired word of God and we can trust it as true. In my experience, I have only seen Bible stories, Bible accounts, I’ll call them that, Bible accounts, used to teach maybe some morals, maybe some just theology, to learn more about God, to learn more about who we are as people, and those things are all so valuable. There are so many lessons that we can learn from reading accounts from scripture, but what I haven’t really seen is a study of these accounts based purely on the social and emotional skills of the people in these accounts. When I was really growing in my knowledge of scripture, I did not read the Bible all the way through except for just a few passages here and there until I was expecting my second child. So for most of my life, I had not really read the Bible, and even when I began to read the Bible, I made the mistake of thinking, oh, so here is King David or here is Moses, here is a great leader from Bible times, and so everything that they do is good. I know you’re laughing at that. And so then when I would come across something like what we know David did, I would just be confused, you know, like, okay, this is- What do I do with this situation? Right, what do I do with this? And I mean, obviously, that’s an extreme example, right? I mean, it’s very obvious that David did the wrong things, but there are other times when you wonder, you know, okay, so Rahab lied to protect the Israelite spies, right? Is that right or wrong? You know, that just becomes- it becomes more of a conundrum, right? And so I wanted to go beyond that to looking at why would this person in Bible history choose to behave this way? Because many times, people who- young children in particular, who haven’t developed their social and emotional skills, they don’t spend a lot of time thinking about what motivates behavior, why people would choose to behave in a certain way, and what the potential consequences of choices behavior might be. So that is what I wanted to do with the scriptures. So, for example, when the Apostle Paul, who was previously Saul persecuting the Christians, tried to join up with- with the Christian Apostles, people were not too excited about that at first. And so I am asking kids to think about what might have motivated people to either trust Paul or not trust Paul. I mean, these are the kinds of issues that we have even today as adults. Who should we trust? Why should we trust them? On what basis do we make those decisions? And so it’s really using the accounts from the Bible to get kids talking about behavior and social skills, the choices that we make. And I just have to say, though, that what we can trust as the right thing to do is anything that God or Jesus does in the scriptures. Then we could say, okay, this- this is- this is the right move with the caveat that they are God and we are not. So there are some things that Jesus could and did do, and God did, that we are not capable of. But in terms of morality, for sure, we can say, yep, yep, that’s a moral thing to do. But it’s more in terms of let’s think about what makes someone behave in a certain way without jumping to conclusions, because this is what can really get kids and adults into trouble when we jump to conclusions about why someone does something.

Amy Sloan: And if we wait until there’s some sort of conflict or issue we see with our children or in a social circle and we’ve not had these conversations, you know, there can be that defensiveness that kicks in if we’re using their particular life experience as the way to teach the lesson. But to have going to, hey, we’re reading this story in the Bible, let’s talk about the way people are interacting with one another, thinking about motivations and relational decisions. It’s kind of enough removed from their life where it doesn’t have that same, I don’t know, defense mechanism that- that pops in. They can just sort of like, oh, yeah, let’s talk about this issue in a more neutral way.

Melanie Wilson: Absolutely. And, you know, I think this is something that we as homeschooling parents can do with any story, okay, any account, fictional or nonfiction. We can be watching a movie and we can say, why did the character do that? You know, what do you think they’re thinking? What do you think they’re feeling at this moment? Why would they be thinking that? And I think it is just a great practice for these social dilemmas that they’re going to have later in life. And I was going to say that my adult children talk to me all the time about social dilemmas that they have. And in fact, it is the number one thing that people ask me about. Grown adults older than me ask me, what should I do? And so, you know, the Bible is such an excellent place to go to really discuss these issues and learn social skills.

Amy Sloan: I think about that verse that says,no temptation has overtaken you, but such as is common to man, right? And God is faithful and so on. But like these are, there is something about like just the shared human experience. We like to think that, oh, no one’s ever faced this situation before. And maybe the details, not so much, but pretty much a common human experience most of the time. Yeah.

Melanie Wilson: So true. And I think, you know, we can also, you know, I was making the mistake of like, okay, well, this is the good person from the Bible. And so everything they did was good. I think we can also think, oh, our culture is so evil. It’s so terrible. And it really does feel like that. I get it. But when you truly think about the things that people did in Bible times, it really doesn’t look much worse. It doesn’t really look much worse to me.

Amy Sloan: Yeah. There’s something encouraging about that as well. Yeah. It’s true. Oh, Melanie, one of the questions I just love to ask veteran homeschool moms when I have them on the podcast, or just when I talk to them in my real life, is what advice you would give as a veteran experienced homeschool mom to your new homeschool mom self? If you could somehow go back in time and talk to yourself as a new homeschool mom, what do you wish that you had known back then?

Melanie Wilson: So that is an easy one for me. And I can answer it in two words, trust God. That is my biggest regret. It was my biggest time waster. It was my biggest source of anxiety, discouragement, not trusting God. And if I could go back and do it differently, that is what I would do. I would trust God because if you do trust him, everything else is easier. If you don’t, everything is going to be a challenge. Everything is going to be difficult. So I encourage a new homeschooling mom to daily make that decision. I wish you could just make it once, but I think we have to just do it daily. Okay? I’m going to trust God. Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. I have said that to myself so many times, and I honestly don’t regret saying it to myself because I need to hear it.

Amy Sloan: Yeah. I think it’s Paul, right? He’s like, it doesn’t hurt you to hear it again, and it’s easy for me to say it again. So let me just remind you. And we need those things. It’s so easy for us to forget those things, but trusting the Lord again, walking by faith, not by sight. That is our hope as homeschool moms. Yeah. That’s it. Well, this has been a lovely conversation. I know it will be encouraging to the moms who are here at the end. I want to ask you questions. I’m asking all my guests this season. So the first is just what are you personally reading lately?

Melanie Wilson: So I am readingthe Youth With a Mission version of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s biography. I was reading another biography of his, and just honestly, it was a slog. And then I switched over to the YWAM version, and I just wonder what took me so long. I absolutely love their biographies. I think they’re gripping. I used to read them aloud to my children. They would beg for another chapter. And this one has been so enlightening because I have always wondered about Bonhoeffer’s motivations for what he did during Hitler’s reign. And so it’s a social and emotional skills story that I can ask myself questions about. And it’s just fascinating to me in terms of history. And I’m always inspired when I read a Christian biography. It just makes all my little cares and woes seem so insignificant when you read about these people who face life and death situations for their faith. It’s like, okay, I think I can get through today.

Amy Sloan: Yes. Is that the series by Janet and Jeff Benge? It is. Okay. I have some kids who have read several of those as well and enjoyed them. We love missionary biographies. Church history is a huge thing in our family. In fact, two of my daughters are co-hosts on the Kids Talk Church History podcast. And so just like you were saying, when you study church history and you see the way God has equipped and sustained his church through a lot of times very ordinary people, it is so encouraging and gives us great faith and hope for today, our lives. Absolutely. Well, the final question I have for you is what would be your best tip for dealing with homeschool day or maybe a homeschool season that just seems to be going completely wrong?

Melanie Wilson: So I have been there so many times. And I will tell you about one particular day when I was just exhausted and I just sat down and prayed. The kids were just still, I think they were literally running around me, but I’m just sitting there praying. And I felt like the Lord said to me, yeah, of course you’re exhausted because you’re trying to do everything for these kids. And I was like, okay, yeah, you’re right. I’m trying to do it all when that is not my job. That is not what he has called me to do. So I would say probably 99% of the time when I was just, it just wasn’t going well, that was the problem that the Lord revealed to me after I prayed is that I’m trying to do too much more than what he has called me to do. So that would be my number one tip for you and everything else is kind of gravy after that.

Amy Sloan: Oh, that is a great encouragement. I love that. Thank you, Melanie. I needed to hear that today too. We all need to hear that many times. Melanie, where can people find you all around the internet?

Melanie Wilson: Yeah. So my podcast is the Homeschool Sanity Show. You can find that on any podcast player. The actual website is homeschoolsanity.com. And I sell my curriculum, Training Aliens, that is the social and emotional skills curriculum I was talking about, and Grammar Galaxy, which is also a story-based language arts curriculum that is available at Fun2Learn Books. You can find me on social media at homeschoolsanity. It’s probably the best place to look.

Amy Sloan: Okay. And I will have links to all of those things in the show notes for this episode at humilityanddoxology.com. I would love it if you are listening or watching today to screenshot the shows, share it in your social media, tag me and Melanie, tell a friend. Word of mouth is still the best way to let your friends know about new homeschool podcasts. And I am so glad to have been able to chat with you, Melanie, to get to know you a little bit more over the past couple weeks. And I look forward to chatting with you again. So until next time, happy homeschooling.