Latest / Abbey the Podcast Lady / Homeschool History: A Masterclass in Engaging Educational Content

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Homeschool History: A Masterclass in Engaging Educational Content · Abbey the Podcast Lady

• 0:05
  Well, hello there and welcome back to Abby the
• 0:07
  podcast lady. This is the monthly case study
• 0:10
  episode where I break down a podcast that I've
• 0:13
  been listening to and I share what I think is
• 0:15
  great about it and what could use some improvement.
• 0:17
  And most importantly, what you can take from
• 0:20
  this show and apply to your own show. Today's
• 0:23
  case study is going to be on the show homeschool
• 0:27
  history. It's a BBC radio for podcast that was
• 0:30
  hosted by Greg Jenner. If that name sounds familiar,
• 0:32
  it's because he's a public historian. He's best
• 0:35
  known for horrible histories and you're dead
• 0:37
  to me. And homeschool history is just a fun,
• 0:41
  fast -paced, action -packed, family -friendly
• 0:44
  series that brings historical moments to life
• 0:47
  with sound effects and storytelling, and there's
• 0:49
  just plenty of humor in it. And I actually found
• 0:51
  it on TikTok only a couple of weeks ago, and
• 0:53
  I've just been absolutely sucked into it ever
• 0:56
  since. Someone was talking about it and I just
• 0:59
  Googled it up. hit play and I've been listening
• 1:01
  ever since. Unfortunately, the last episode was
• 1:05
  published four years ago in March of 2021, but
• 1:08
  we're gonna get more into that coming up here
• 1:10
  in a little bit. So a little background on what
• 1:12
  this show is. It started during the pandemic
• 1:15
  right around the time when kids were stuck at
• 1:17
  home, parents were scrambling for educational
• 1:19
  content and resources and schools were trying
• 1:22
  to figure out how to do remote learning and e
• 1:24
  -learning and all that stuff. So this show really
• 1:27
  was a brilliant concept at the right time. It
• 1:30
  was just fun short history lessons that were
• 1:32
  family friendly. They lined up very loosely with
• 1:35
  like what homeschool curriculum would look like
• 1:37
  for an elementary school student, but it didn't
• 1:39
  feel like school. It felt like storytelling and.
• 1:42
  watching something on TV or listening to an immersive
• 1:45
  audiobook experience. Episodes covered everything
• 1:49
  from Pocahontas to The Space Race to Pompeii
• 1:52
  to William Shakespeare. Like it covered a really
• 1:55
  wide range of topics and every single one of
• 1:57
  them wrapped up with a little pop quiz. So you
• 2:00
  could kind of play along with it at the end.
• 2:01
  It kind of had that game show element, which
• 2:03
  I really, really enjoyed. So as I mentioned,
• 2:06
  the show only ran until March of 2021, but I
• 2:09
  think it's still something that's really worth
• 2:11
  talking about and exploring, especially since
• 2:14
  people like me are still discovering it and listening
• 2:16
  to it. So I wanna kind of break down why it is
• 2:19
  still relevant to this day and what you can take
• 2:21
  away from this show. Let's start with what works
• 2:23
  well about homeschool history. There's a lot
• 2:25
  of things at this show. did really, really well,
• 2:29
  and honestly still does really, really well.
• 2:31
  They're just not making new episodes. The very
• 2:33
  first thing I want to point out about what this
• 2:35
  show did so well was that they clearly knew their
• 2:39
  audience. They knew exactly who the show was
• 2:41
  for. There was no denying it was meant for families
• 2:44
  and kids. Everything about the tone of the show,
• 2:47
  from the goofy sound effects to the silly jokes,
• 2:49
  it was designed to really suck the kids in, but
• 2:52
  also be entertaining for parents and be something
• 2:54
  that the parents want to turn on. and want to
• 2:57
  listen to, and everyone in the family, in the
• 3:00
  car, in the home, wherever they were at listening
• 3:02
  to it, stayed really captivated with the show.
• 3:05
  It literally was a just brilliant, brilliant
• 3:08
  case study, and if you're making a show for a
• 3:11
  specific audience, you really can cater to them,
• 3:13
  and they're gonna love it. Another thing that
• 3:15
  this show did really well was their use of sound
• 3:18
  design. So sound effects in the show were super
• 3:21
  great. They were playful and they just really
• 3:23
  helped paint the scene of what they were talking
• 3:26
  about. So like in the space race one, they were
• 3:28
  doing rocket noises and things like that where
• 3:31
  it just brought you into the moment and it felt
• 3:33
  like you were part of this world of the history
• 3:36
  that you were learning about in the process.
• 3:38
  And it didn't overdo it either because I have
• 3:40
  heard things where it's like, oh, really, that's
• 3:43
  it's an excessive amount of effects you start
• 3:45
  sounding like a one -man band trying to play
• 3:47
  every instrument at once and this show just did
• 3:49
  a really good job of balancing the sound design
• 3:52
  to be something that wasn't too obnoxious or
• 3:55
  too much for the parents but kept the kids really
• 3:57
  engaged and captivated. Another thing this show
• 3:59
  did so fantastically was their clear concise
• 4:03
  format. Every single episode is pretty much the
• 4:06
  same. It's just telling a different piece of
• 4:08
  history. They're only about 15 minutes long,
• 4:11
  and it's kind of that sweet spot for kids' attention
• 4:13
  spans or running the kids from point A to point
• 4:16
  B. I think the average American's car ride is
• 4:19
  about 15, 20 minutes right now. And that 15 minute
• 4:22
  mark for an episode? Perfect timing everyone
• 4:25
  gets settled you hit play on the episode by the
• 4:27
  time you're dropping everyone off or picking
• 4:28
  them up Like it's done and over with you're moving
• 4:30
  on to the next thing It was also really great
• 4:33
  as an adult listening to this way after the pandemic.
• 4:37
  I was out on a walk in my neighborhood I hit
• 4:39
  play on the first one started walking by the
• 4:42
  time I got home I didn't even realize I had walked
• 4:44
  two miles because I was just going one episode
• 4:46
  right after the next it felt like I was binge
• 4:48
  -watching Something but it wasn't I was out on
• 4:50
  a walk listening to it and it was just fantastic.
• 4:53
  I think that 15 minutes short storytelling, perfect
• 4:57
  for the attention span these days. The last thing
• 4:59
  I wanna touch on that this show just did so extremely
• 5:02
  well was the little pop quiz element at the end
• 5:05
  of every episode. It's not just a clever way
• 5:08
  to reinforce learning, it's also a call to action
• 5:10
  for your listeners to actively participate in
• 5:14
  the show. How many times have you turned something
• 5:16
  on and then had to tap that 15 second rewind
• 5:19
  button? because you're like, oh, wait, what'd
• 5:21
  they say? I wasn't actually listening. I just
• 5:23
  kind of had it on the background. But then they
• 5:24
  start talking about something where you're like,
• 5:25
  oh, probably should have paid attention. Like
• 5:27
  this show, having that pop quiz at the end, you
• 5:30
  pay attention because you want to get all five
• 5:33
  questions right. There's no prize. There's no
• 5:35
  reward for knowing the answers to the questions
• 5:37
  at the end of the show. but it gives you a reason
• 5:41
  to really pay attention to what the host is saying.
• 5:44
  And you know that pop quiz is coming because
• 5:46
  they announce it right away. When the show starts,
• 5:49
  it says, hey, here's a show. Here's what it's
• 5:51
  all about. And remember, there's a pop quiz at
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  the end. So be paying attention. I think that
• 5:55
  that is genius, especially if you're doing something
• 5:58
  that's targeted at actually like learning history,
• 6:01
  learning a certain thing. You're an educator
• 6:03
  of some sort. You're talking to little kids.
• 6:05
  It keeps them focused on a task. They know what's
• 6:08
  coming up. and then they get to feel good at
• 6:10
  the end if they know the answers to the questions.
• 6:12
  I love the pop quiz element. So now let's get
• 6:15
  into what could be improved about the show, Homeschooled
• 6:18
  History. No show is perfect. Even my show isn't
• 6:22
  perfect. I'm well aware of that. But I think
• 6:24
  there's a couple of areas that really could be
• 6:27
  improved about the show to make it even stronger.
• 6:29
  And I know we are talking about a show that is
• 6:31
  not made anymore, but... These lessons still
• 6:34
  apply. So the first thing I want to touch on
• 6:36
  is the fact that this show isn't around. It was
• 6:38
  a limited run. Obviously, that isn't a flaw of
• 6:42
  the content itself. The beautiful thing about
• 6:43
  doing something like this for a show focused
• 6:46
  around history is that there's always going to
• 6:48
  be history. History keeps getting made every
• 6:50
  single day. So there's always something to talk
• 6:52
  about in the past. But it's just it was something
• 6:54
  that was tied to a specific moment. People were
• 6:56
  homeschooling and it needed entertainment for
• 6:59
  their kids, needed entertainment for themselves.
• 7:01
  And the show Beautifully served its purpose even
• 7:05
  though it did have a very limited run. So with
• 7:07
  that in mind think about your own show and its
• 7:10
  staying power. If you're designing a show, think
• 7:12
  about how your format could evolve beyond a temporary
• 7:16
  thing, especially if you're doing something that's
• 7:18
  very like right here, right now. This is what's
• 7:20
  happening in the modern moment. Like how can
• 7:22
  you take that show and what does the staying
• 7:24
  power look like six months from now, a year from
• 7:27
  now, heck five years from now when someone random
• 7:30
  discovers it on TikTok. Another thing that I
• 7:32
  think could be improved on for this show is the
• 7:34
  fact that it was catered so heavily to kids.
• 7:37
  I would love I would love to see even like a
• 7:39
  young adult or an adult version of it. I love
• 7:42
  the lightheartedness. It was so easy to listen
• 7:45
  to. You could throw it on in any place and people
• 7:47
  would want to engage and listen to it. It appealed
• 7:50
  to every single age, but I would love to see
• 7:53
  like a more in -depth history lesson for adults
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  because I do, I'm a history nerd. I like learning
• 7:58
  about this stuff, especially the Pocahontas episode.
• 8:01
  I've been through the American school system.
• 8:03
  I know we were not that nice to those historical
• 8:07
  figures. So I think something like that where
• 8:09
  there's more of an in -depth real -life not so
• 8:11
  sugar -coated version of history Would be really
• 8:14
  fun and engaging to listen to and that would
• 8:16
  lend itself to longer than 15 minute episodes
• 8:19
  You could have an extended episode on certain
• 8:22
  topics that warranted it So I think that would
• 8:24
  be a really cool way for the show if they ever
• 8:27
  wanted to come back I would love to see them
• 8:28
  come back, but something they could do is come
• 8:31
  back keep doing the shows catered for kids, and
• 8:33
  then maybe even once a month where, hey, we're
• 8:35
  deep diving this topic. This is more adult content.
• 8:38
  It's young adult content. You've been warned,
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  but I would still want that pop quiz at the end
• 8:43
  of it because that was my favorite part. And
• 8:45
  then something else I want to touch on with what
• 8:47
  the show could improve on is more discoverability
• 8:49
  after the fact. The show ended in 2021. It was
• 8:52
  over five years ago, but it's still relevant
• 8:55
  today, which I think is so awesome. I found it
• 8:57
  in August of 2025, but I wish the BBC would do
• 9:00
  more. with their evergreen content to even push
• 9:02
  it on their channels. Cause like I said, I found
• 9:04
  it from some random person on my for you page
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  on TikTok. So I think it'd be really cool if
• 9:09
  the BBC would bring it back, promote that evergreen
• 9:11
  content because I mean, it's history. So it doesn't
• 9:15
  necessarily change a whole lot. So they could
• 9:17
  keep pushing the show and get more people listening
• 9:19
  to show that. They're not necessarily making
• 9:21
  more episodes of, but they can keep sharing it
• 9:23
  and getting that SEO and generating those views
• 9:26
  and downloads. So what can you take away from
• 9:28
  the show and apply to your own show? Knowing
• 9:30
  your audience, I think, is a huge lesson from
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  homeschool history. If you're making a business
• 9:35
  podcast, maybe your audience is busy professionals,
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  so you keep your episodes short and sweet so
• 9:40
  they can consume it when they're going from one
• 9:41
  meeting to the next. Maybe you are making a show
• 9:43
  for kids and you're like, yeah, you're right,
• 9:45
  that attention span thing. I need to shorten
• 9:46
  up what I'm talking about, get to the point faster.
• 9:49
  audience and who your show is for can help you
• 9:52
  cater to them better, which in turn makes them
• 9:55
  more loyal to your brand and what you're doing.
• 9:57
  Another thing I think we can all take away with
• 9:59
  is playing with sound. You don't need a giant
• 10:01
  production team to make your show more engaging.
• 10:05
  Even adding like a cheering noise when you announce
• 10:07
  a special guest or an applause at the end of
• 10:09
  it or little transition noises when you're going
• 10:12
  between topics can make a huge difference and
• 10:15
  really level up the sound of your audio and of
• 10:17
  your video. So I think That is something we can
• 10:20
  all really take away from this show. And then
• 10:22
  end with an action. I think I've said it a billion
• 10:25
  times in this podcast. I love the fact that there
• 10:28
  was a pop quiz at the end of this show. Think
• 10:31
  about how you can do something that's engaging
• 10:33
  in your own way as well. It doesn't have to be
• 10:35
  a pop quiz. It can be a pop quiz. I'm down for
• 10:37
  a pop quiz. But think about what you can do to
• 10:40
  really get that call to action with your guests,
• 10:42
  get them engaging, that call to action with your
• 10:45
  listeners. Keep them engaged, keep them thinking,
• 10:48
  have them retain the information that you shared.
• 10:50
  I think the pop quiz is a great structure. Everyone
• 10:52
  should have a pop quiz. That's the new rule.
• 10:55
  And I was trying to keep it to three, but I'm
• 10:57
  gonna add a fourth one here as well. I want you
• 10:59
  to think about the longevity of your podcast.
• 11:01
  Are you doing something that is tied to a trend
• 11:03
  right now or something that's airing on TV or
• 11:06
  modern news? What could you do to plan that content
• 11:10
  more for long -term discoverability? Is there
• 11:13
  some way you could tie a lifelong lesson in there?
• 11:15
  Is there some sort of download you can create
• 11:17
  on your website that keeps people coming back
• 11:19
  even though It was more of a. timely episode.
• 11:22
  Think about that just in the long term, because
• 11:24
  like I said, I discovered this show four years
• 11:26
  after they stopped making it and I still really
• 11:28
  like it because of how well they made this evergreen
• 11:31
  content. So just something to keep in the back
• 11:33
  of your mind as you're going about formatting
• 11:36
  and making your podcast. So that's my breakdown
• 11:38
  of homeschool history. Overall, I think it is
• 11:41
  a fantastic show and a great example of how to
• 11:44
  make educational content fun and accessible.
• 11:47
  It really shows the power of targeting an audience
• 11:50
  and using that sound design effectively to keep
• 11:52
  them captivated and entertained, especially in
• 11:55
  a time when the world was very uncertain. If
• 11:57
  you're a podcaster looking for inspiration, go
• 11:59
  give homeschool history a listen. It's a masterclass
• 12:02
  in short form content. And if you're looking
• 12:04
  for help making your own show more engaging,
• 12:06
  that's exactly what I do. I am a consultant.
• 12:09
  I am a podcast producer. I'm here to answer questions.
• 12:12
  So if you're looking for help in anything that
• 12:14
  involves podcasting, go ahead and check out abbygravesproductions
• 12:17
  .com. I've got links in the show notes. And I'd
• 12:20
  love to help you out. I'll catch you back here
• 12:21
  in a couple weeks with another episode of Abby
• 12:24
  the podcast lady Thank you so much for listening