Homeschooling with Technology
Education Podcasts
The Homeschooling with Technology Podcast is a weekly show, hosted by Meryl van der Merwe, where she shares ideas on how to use technology to be more productive as a homeschool parent and on how to use technology to make lessons more engaging. In...
Location:
United States
Genres:
Education Podcasts
Description:
The Homeschooling with Technology Podcast is a weekly show, hosted by Meryl van der Merwe, where she shares ideas on how to use technology to be more productive as a homeschool parent and on how to use technology to make lessons more engaging. In addition, she covers techie skills your children need to learn and how to easily incorporate them into your homeschooling. Meryl homeschooled her 4 children after working as a computer programmer for many years. She uses technology whenever she can when teaching both live co-op classes and online classes for homeschoolers. In this podcast, she shares all the best tech resources she finds with you.
Language:
English
Episodes
Ways Grandparents and Kids Can Connect Online
4/22/2026
369: Ways Grandparents and Kids Can Connect Online Staying connected across the miles doesn’t have to mean just phone calls. In this episode, Meryl shares five practical ways grandchildren and grandparents can build real relationships digitally — with the bonus that several of these also sneak in genuine learning. 1. Reading together over video Alternate […]
The post Ways Grandparents and Kids Can Connect Online appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:12:51
AI Tips You Can Use This Week
4/15/2026
368: AI Tips You Can Use This Week In this episode, Meryl shares a practical mix of AI tips you can implement right away. What’s covered: 1. Ask Maps (Google Maps) Google Maps has a new AI feature called Ask Maps, currently rolling out. Instead of browsing categories, you can ask specific questions — gluten-free […]
The post AI Tips You Can Use This Week appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:16:03
Exploring Space: Interactive Tools for Your Homeschool
4/8/2026
367: Exploring Space: Interactive Tools for Your Homeschool The Artemis 2 mission has four astronauts circling the moon right now, and it’s a perfect time to bring space exploration into your homeschool. In this episode, learn about free (and nearly free) tools organized into four categories: learn and explore, games and interactives, simulations, and citizen […]
The post Exploring Space: Interactive Tools for Your Homeschool appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:15:10
Teaching Geopolitics and World Affairs to Teens
4/1/2026
366: Teaching Geopolitics and World Affairs to Teens Understanding what’s happening in the world is a life skill — it shapes how your teens will vote, travel, and navigate adult conversations. And for college-bound students, being able to speak to current events in scholarship and admissions interviews is a real advantage. In this episode, I […]
The post Teaching Geopolitics and World Affairs to Teens appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:15:56
Padlet Arcade for Learning Fun
3/25/2026
365: Padlet Arcade for Learning Fun In this episode, Meryl explores Padlet Arcade — a game-based learning branch of the popular Padlet platform. She walks through the types of games available, how to find existing games by subject and grade level, and how to quickly create your own AI-generated review games using a topic, a […]
The post Padlet Arcade for Learning Fun appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:13:48
What’s New in NotebookLM
3/18/2026
364: What’s New in NotebookLM NotebookLM has graduated from Google Labs beta into a fully featured, standalone tool — and it has grown dramatically. In this episode, Meryl walks through all nine features currently available in the Studio panel, explaining how homeschool parents can use them to save time and how students can use them […]
The post What’s New in NotebookLM appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:17:47
Gems: Your Custom Homeschool Co-Teacher
3/11/2026
363: Gems – Your Custom Homeschool Co-Teacher Google’s Gemini platform now includes a powerful feature called Gems. In this episode, we explore how Gems allow you to create customized AI assistants that can help with homeschooling tasks again and again without rewriting prompts each time. Meryl explains what Gems are, how they compare to […]
The post Gems: Your Custom Homeschool Co-Teacher appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:18:08
Avoiding tech burnout
3/4/2026
362: Avoiding tech burnout with Melissa Muir In this episode, Meryl is joined by Melissa Muir from Think Curio to discuss an important topic for homeschool families: avoiding tech burnout. While both Meryl and Melissa love educational technology and use it extensively in their teaching, they recognize the need for balance. With recent studies showing […]
The post Avoiding tech burnout appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:16:40
Homeschooling with Gemini
2/25/2026
361: Homeschooling with Gemini In this episode, we look at how homeschoolers can use Gemini and why it’s worth adding to your tech toolkit — even if you already use ChatGPT. Organization & Workflow “My Stuff” dashboard to quickly access everything you’ve created Model options (Fast, Thinking, Pro) depending on the depth of response you […]
The post Homeschooling with Gemini appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:16:21
Free Tech Tools Through Your Library
2/18/2026
360: Free Tech Tools Through Your Library In this episode of Homeschooling with Technology, Meryl interviews Melissa Brander from Pocket Homeschool about the many free technology resources available through your local library. Most homeschool families think of the library as a place for books. But today’s libraries offer far more — including digital tools, streaming […]
The post Free Tech Tools Through Your Library appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:23:48
How to make beautiful presentations
2/11/2026
359: How to Make Beautiful Presentations Presentations are a skill students will use again and again—in middle school, high school, college, and eventually the workplace. In this episode, learn about tech tools that can help homeschoolers (and parents!) create attractive, effective presentations without needing advanced design skills. Tools Covered in This Episode 1. Google SlidesA […]
The post How to make beautiful presentations appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:15:15
5 Free Homeschool Resources That Still Hold Up in 2026
2/4/2026
358: 5 Free Homeschool Resources That Still Hold Up in 2026 with Melissa Muir Melissa is a longtime homeschool mom of four, a licensed teacher, and the founder of Curio. She shares five free homeschool resources her family still uses regularly today—resources that have stood the test of time and continue to work well for […]
The post 5 Free Homeschool Resources That Still Hold Up in 2026 appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:16:16
Winter Olympics Resources for Your Homeschool
1/28/2026
357: Winter Olympics Resources for Your Homeschool The Winter Olympics are almost here, and if your family will be watching, why not turn that excitement into meaningful learning? In this episode, I share a collection of fun, engaging, and mostly free Winter Olympics resources you can use with elementary through high school students—before and during […]
The post Winter Olympics Resources for Your Homeschool appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:11:56
Pixar in a box
1/21/2026
356: Pixar in a box In this episode, we explore Pixar in a Box, a free, self-paced course created by Pixar in partnership with Khan Academy. Pixar in a Box gives students a behind-the-scenes look at how Pixar films are made. Lessons are taught by Pixar professionals and connect animation to math, science, art, and […]
The post Pixar in a box appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:14:19
355: Vibe Coding
1/14/2026
355: Vibe Coding – What It Is and How Homeschoolers Can Use It Vibe coding is a brand-new term, coined in early 2025 by former OpenAI researcher Andrej Karpathy, and it describes a radically different way of creating software—by describing what you want instead of writing traditional code. In this episode, you will learn what […]
The post 355: Vibe Coding appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:15:42
New Year, New Tools
1/7/2026
354: New Year, New Tools Episode Goal Choose one tech tool from this list to explore intentionally in 2026. The 10 Tools Featured 1. ChatGPT and Gemini AI assistants that homeschool parents can use for planning, teaching, and daily life. Ways to use them include: Rewriting articles at a child’s reading level Creating […]
The post New Year, New Tools appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:25:17
Replay: Taking Holiday Photos with Storytelling in Mind
12/24/2025
This is a rerun of episode 210 – you can find the original show notes here.
The post Replay: Taking Holiday Photos with Storytelling in Mind appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:16:09
Replay: Digital Christmas Cards
12/17/2025
This is a rerun of episode 162 – you can find the original show notes here.
The post Replay: Digital Christmas Cards appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:12:31
An AI-Powered Holiday Season
12/10/2025
353: An AI-Powered Holiday Season Learn how to make this an AI-Powered Holiday Season! If the holidays feel overwhelming, especially for moms carrying the mental load, AI can help you offload decisions, plan your days, generate gift ideas, create activities, and more. 1. Use AI to Create a Manageable Holiday Schedule Tools like ChatGPT […]
The post An AI-Powered Holiday Season appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:19:25
Hour of AI
12/3/2025
352: The Hour of AI Code.org has transformed its annual Hour of Code into the Hour of AI, offering a wide variety of free, interactive activities that help students understand artificial intelligence—not just coding. Some of the resources we tried out are: 1. AI Quests An interactive, story-driven adventure that teaches real-world Artificial Intelligence applications. […]
The post Hour of AI appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.
Duración:00:09:43