The InFormed Parent with Suzanne Phillips

What parents need to understand about standards, curriculum, effective instruction, and the practical path toward stronger public education.
Episode Summary
Education can feel complicated fast — standards, curriculum, instructional models, state adoption, testing, rankings. But parents do not need to become policy experts to understand whether children are actually learning well.

In this episode, Suzanne sits down with Nathan Gwinn of Freedom in Education to unpack some of the language and systems shaping today's schools and give parents a clearer framework for evaluating education.

Nathan explains the difference between standards and curriculum, why academic standards matter, how learning actually happens, and what research tells us about effective instruction. The conversation also explores ideas like direct instruction, retrieval practice, feedback, character, and why strong academics do not happen by accident.

Most importantly, Suzanne and Nathan discuss the role parents and teachers can play in improving education — and why there is still reason to be hopeful about what comes next.
In This Episode
→ The difference between academic standards and curriculum — and why parents should know both

→ Why organizations like Freedom in Education are working to strengthen state standards

→ How standards are adopted and how they affect public and private education
→ What research tells us about how children actually learn and retain information
→ Why direct instruction, practice, feedback, and strong content still matter
→ How parents and teachers can become informed participants in improving education
Meet Nathan
Nathan Gwinn is a veteran school leader and curriculum expert with experience across public and Catholic school systems.

As Senior Advisor for Curriculum and Instruction with Freedom in Education, Nathan works with state departments of education on the revision of math and science standards, with a focus on academic rigor, transparency, and practical implementation.

He has served on the writing committee for the Franklin and Archimedes Standards and has developed state-level instructional materials and professional development frameworks. His work is focused on helping parents, educators, and students access high-quality resources that support stronger learning outcomes.
Connect with Nathan + Freedom in Education
📲 Instagram → @freedomined

📘 Facebook → Freedom in Education

🌐 Website → https://freedomined.org/
Keep Growing with Beacon Parent
Want more trusted tools to help you make informed decisions about your child's education and development?
→ Beacon Parent: www.beaconparent.com

→ Suzanne's trusted books: Beacon Parent Vetted List
https://www.amazon.com/shop/beacon_parent
→ Get practical tools and biblical insight in your inbox: Subscribe
https://beaconparent.myflodesk.com/subscribe
→ Hear More on Instagram: @beacon_parent
https://www.instagram.com/beacon_parent/
→ Work with Suzanne Phillips: SuzannePhillips.net
🎧 If this episode helped you better understand how schools work and what strong learning actually requires, follow The InFormed Parent, leave a review, and share it with another parent or educator who wants to be part of a better way forward.

Episode Summary
Family estrangement can feel final, but is it always?

In this episode, Suzanne sits down with Tania Khazaal for a deeply personal conversation about disconnection, emotional healing, and what it can take to repair relationships that have been fractured over time.

Tania shares her own story of healing and reconciliation, along with the patterns she now sees in families experiencing estrangement. Together, she and Suzanne explore what may be contributing to the rise in family cutoffs, why avoidance can sometimes be mistaken for healing, and what both parents and adult children need to understand if they hope to rebuild trust.

This conversation offers practical wisdom for the parent who is waiting, the child who has stepped away, and any family wondering whether repair is still possible.
In This Episode
→ Common patterns and cultural factors contributing to family estrangement

→ Why disconnection can feel protective without necessarily bringing true healing

→ What reconciliation required in Tania's own story

→ Practical guideposts for parents who desperately want to reconnect

→ What adult children may need to consider when stepping away from family

→ Hope and encouragement for families living in the tension of waiting, healing, and repair


Meet Tania
Tania Khazaal is a wife, mother, speaker, and emotional healing practitioner whose work grew out of her own experience with disconnection and reconciliation.

After years of studying psychology, neuroscience, human behavior, communication, and the mind-body connection, Tania began helping others recognize the patterns beneath relational pain. Today, her work focuses on helping people heal emotionally, communicate with greater courage and clarity, and repair the relationships that matter most.

Her mission is rooted in the belief that meaningful healing can include understanding, responsibility, communication, and the possibility of restored connection.
Connect with Tania
📲 Instagram → @taniakhazaal

📘 Facebook → @taniakhazaal

🌐 Website → www.taniakhazaal.com
Keep Growing with Beacon Parent
Looking for trusted support as you lead your family through difficult seasons and relationships?

→ Beacon Parent: www.beaconparent.com

→ Suzanne's trusted books: Beacon Parent Vetted List https://www.amazon.com/shop/beacon_parent

→ Get practical tools and biblical insight in your inbox: Subscribe https://beaconparent.myflodesk.com/subscribe

→ Hear More on Instagram: @beacon_parent https://www.instagram.com/beacon_parent/

→ Work with Suzanne Phillips: SuzannePhillips.net
🎧 If this conversation gave you hope or helped you see family estrangement differently, follow The InFormed Parent, leave a review, and share this episode with someone walking through a season of disconnection or repair.

Episode Summary
After more than two decades of speaking with parents, churches, and schools, Suzanne has noticed something significant: the questions parents are asking have changed because the language shaping our culture has changed.

Words like toxic, trauma, triggered, inclusive, emotional regulation, and deconstruction now show up regularly in conversations about family, relationships, identity, and faith. But language does more than describe culture — it can reshape the way we understand ourselves, one another, and ultimately what we believe to be true.

In this solo episode, Suzanne steps back for an aerial view of what she is hearing from parents across the country. From changing language and the search for trusted voices to AI, pornography, online access, anxiety, and shifting definitions of truth, she points to the deeper issue beneath it all: worldview.

The question for parents is not simply, "What trends should I be worried about?" It is: Who is shaping the way my family thinks — and does it line up with the Word of God?
In This Episode
→ Why changing language can change meaning, relationships, and culture

→ How to examine popular ideas through a biblical worldview rather than simply adopting cultural language

→ Who parents can trust for wisdom, guidance, and resources

→ How technology, AI, pornography, and online access are shaping the next generation

→ Five cultural trends challenging biblical identity, truth, authority, and hope

→ Why intentional parenting begins with understanding the worldview discipling your family
Meet Suzanne
Suzanne Phillips is the founder and CEO of Beacon Parent, host of The InFormed Parent Podcast, speaker, coach, writer, and advocate for families and education.

For more than 20 years, Suzanne has worked with parents, churches, schools, and communities to help families navigate culture through a biblical worldview. Her work centers on intentional parenting, spiritual formation, family vision, and equipping parents to lead with greater clarity, wisdom, and confidence.
Connect with Suzanne + Beacon Parent
Want practical tools and trusted resources to help you lead your family with biblical clarity?
→ Beacon Parent: www.beaconparent.com

→ Suzanne's trusted books: Beacon Parent Vetted List
https://www.amazon.com/shop/beacon_parent

→ Get practical tools and biblical insight in your inbox: Subscribe
https://beaconparent.myflodesk.com/subscribe

→ Hear More on Instagram: @beacon_parent
https://www.instagram.com/beacon_parent/

→ Work with Suzanne Phillips: SuzannePhillips.net
🎧 If this episode helped you think more intentionally about what is shaping your family, follow The InFormed Parent, leave a review, and share it with another parent who wants to parent with purpose instead of simply reacting to culture.

Episode Summary

Most parents want to believe the adults and institutions surrounding their children are safe. But what happens when warning signs are missed, reports are mishandled, or an unsafe educator is allowed to move from one school to another?

In this episode, Suzanne sits down with nationally recognized sexual abuse attorney John C. Manly for a difficult but necessary conversation about protecting children in school environments.

John draws from decades of representing survivors of sexual abuse to explain how institutional failures can happen, what "pass the trash" means, how mandated reporting works, and why background checks and internal policies do not always provide the protection parents assume they do.

This conversation is not about parenting from fear. It is about understanding the systems surrounding our children, recognizing potential warning signs, asking better questions, and knowing where greater accountability is needed.

In This Episode

→ What "pass the trash" means and how unsafe educators can move between institutions

→ How mandated reporting works — and where breakdowns can occur

→ What parents should know about school notification, background checks, and accountability

→ Why abuse and grooming may not always look the way parents expect

→ How widespread institutional failures can develop when warning signs are missed or ignored

→ Practical ways parents and citizens can advocate for stronger safeguards and greater transparency

Meet John

John C. Manly is the founder and managing partner of Manly, Stewart, Finaldi & Thom and has spent more than 25 years representing survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

He served as lead counsel for survivors abused by former USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University physician Larry Nassar and has represented survivors in major cases involving schools, universities, religious institutions, sports organizations, and medical providers. His firm reports recovering more than $3 billion on behalf of clients.

John is a graduate of the University of Southern California and Pepperdine University School of Law and previously served as an intelligence officer in the United States Navy Reserve. (Manly Stewart)

Connect with John + Manly, Stewart, Finaldi & Thom

📲 Instagram → @msflawfirm

▶️ YouTube → @manlystewartfinaldilawfirm

📘 Facebook → @ManlyStewart

🌐 Website → www.manlystewart.com

Keep Growing with Beacon Parent

Want more trusted tools to help you stay informed, protect your children, and parent with biblical clarity?

→ Beacon Parent: www.beaconparent.com

→ Suzanne's trusted books: Beacon Parent Vetted List https://www.amazon.com/shop/beacon_parent

→ Get practical tools and biblical insight in your inbox: Subscribe https://beaconparent.myflodesk.com/subscribe

→ Hear More on Instagram: @beacon_parent https://www.instagram.com/beacon_parent/

→ Work with Suzanne Phillips: SuzannePhillips.net

🎧 If this episode helped you better understand the systems surrounding your children, follow The InFormed Parent, leave a review, and share this conversation with another parent who needs to hear it.

Episode Summary
Pornography is a conversation most parents would rather not have — but avoiding it does not protect our children.
In this episode, Suzanne sits down with author and speaker Greta Eskridge to talk honestly about why parents need to begin conversations around sex and pornography earlier than many of us expect.
Greta shares the personal journey that led her to this work, what she learned as she began understanding the impact of pornography, and why connection is one of the most important tools parents have. Together, Suzanne and Greta unpack how to start the conversation, what to do when a child has already been exposed, and how parents can respond without panic, shame, or fear.
This is not about having one perfect "talk." It's about becoming a safe, informed parent who is willing to keep the conversation going.
In This Episode
→ Why parents need to talk about pornography before exposure happens
→ When and how to begin age-appropriate conversations about sex and porn
→ Some of the most surprising realities parents need to understand
→ How to respond if your child tells you they've seen pornography — or you discover it yourself
→ Practical ways to protect children while preserving connection and trust
→ Encouragement for parents who feel overwhelmed, uncomfortable, or unsure where to begin
Meet Greta
Greta Eskridge is an author, speaker, wife, and second-generation homeschooling mom of four.
She is passionate about helping families create connection, preserve childhood, pursue joy, and protect children from pornography. Greta travels the country equipping parents with practical tools for connected, courageous parenting and helping families engage difficult conversations with greater confidence and hope.
She is also the author of Adventuring Together and It's Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn.
Connect with Greta
📲 Instagram → @greta.eskridge
🌐 Website → www.gretaeskridge.com
 📚 It's Time to Talk to Your Kids About Porn
📚 Adventuring Together
Keep Growing with Beacon Parent
Want more trusted resources to help you navigate difficult cultural conversations with biblical clarity and confidence?
→ Beacon Parent: www.beaconparent.com
→ Suzanne's trusted books: Beacon Parent Vetted List
→ Get practical tools and biblical insight in your inbox: Subscribe
→ Hear More on Instagram: @beacon_parent
→ Work with Suzanne Phillips: SuzannePhillips.net


🎧 If this episode helped you feel more prepared for an important conversation, follow The InFormed Parent, leave a review, and share it with another parent who needs these tools too.