IDAHO, USA – September 23, 2026 – For Marilyn Howshall, the idea of education has never been limited to books, worksheets, or a classroom.
It is found in the questions a child asks.
It is found in the things that make them curious.
It is found in everyday experiences, conversations, creativity, mistakes, discoveries, and the unique way each child sees the world.
After more than three decades of working with homeschooling families, Howshall has spent much of her life encouraging parents to look at education differently. Her latest book, Creative Freedom ~ Wisdom’s Way to Grow Smart Children, is an invitation to do exactly that.
But for Howshall, this message is personal.
She knows what it is like to search for a better way of raising and educating children. Through her own family’s experience, she discovered that stepping away from conventional expectations opened the door to a completely different way of living and learning one she says she didn’t even realize was possible at the time.
“God was so faithful to show us the way,” Howshall reflects.
That discovery eventually became the foundation of what she now calls Lifestyle of Learning™
Leaving the Pressure Behind
Howshall believes many parents begin homeschooling because they want something different for their children, only to discover that they have unintentionally brought the pressures of conventional education into their homes.
The pressure to keep up.
The fear that a child might fall behind.
The temptation to compare one child with another.
The feeling that learning has to happen in a particular way, at a particular pace, using a particular set of expectations.
In Creative Freedom, Howshall describes these pressures through the biblical imagery of Egypt—representing a form of educational bondage that families may carry with them even after leaving conventional schooling behind.
Her alternative is not simply “do homeschooling differently.”
It is to rethink what education actually means.
Howshall encourages parents to pay closer attention to the child in front of them—to notice what captures their imagination, what questions they naturally ask, what challenges them, and how they are uniquely designed to learn.
Instead of constantly trying to manufacture learning, she encourages parents to recognize the opportunities for learning that are already present in everyday life.
She compares this approach to gathering the “manna” that God has already scattered around us.
Learning Begins With Knowing the Child
At the center of Howshall’s philosophy is a simple idea: parents need to know their children deeply.
Every child is different.
And while academic achievement certainly matters, Howshall believes education should also help children develop wisdom, character, creativity, critical thinking, and the common sense they will need long after their formal education is finished.
“I hope readers come away understanding that creativity is such a powerful driver of learning,” Howshall says. “More importantly, it gives us a window into who our child is while stretching their thinking in every direction and developing the cognitive skills, wisdom and good old fashioned common sense they’ll use for life.”
For Howshall, creativity isn’t something that should be added to education after the “important” subjects are finished.
Creativity is part of how children learn to think.
It gives parents an opportunity to see what is happening inside their child’s mind. It can reveal interests, strengths, questions, and ways of thinking that might otherwise be overlooked.
And perhaps most importantly, it can make learning feel alive.
A Message Built From Experience
Howshall’s work with families didn’t begin with this book.
In 1990, she and her husband, Jim, co-founded Lifestyle of Learning™ Ministries. For more than 30 years, they have served the homeschooling community through ministry, conferences, speaking engagements, and resources designed to help families grow together.
For 15 years, Marilyn traveled throughout the country sharing the Lifestyle of Learning™ message at her own conferences and as an invited speaker at state homeschool conventions.
Her work has also grown beyond education.
Following a significant health crisis, Howshall shifted her focus toward helping families become stronger relationally through what she describes as the Gospel of Reconciliation. Today, as an ordained minister, she serves alongside a team of couples who oversee a local community of families committed to whole-family relationships and a lifestyle of learning.
Those years of experience have shaped the message she now shares with a new generation of parents.
More Than a Homeschooling Philosophy
Although Creative Freedom speaks directly to homeschooling families, Howshall believes its deeper message reaches beyond homeschooling.
It is about learning how to recognize the person God created your child to be.
It is about letting go of fear and comparison.
It is about resisting the idea that there is only one right way for a child to learn.
And it is about trusting that growth doesn’t always happen on our schedule.
Howshall describes the journey through the seasons of sowing, watering, waiting, and reaping an approach that encourages parents to be patient with their children’s development rather than constantly measuring them against someone else’s timeline.
For parents who have ever wondered, Am I doing enough? Is my child learning enough? Are we falling behind? the book offers a different question:
What if we stopped measuring our children against expectations and started paying closer attention to who they are becoming?
That is the heart of Creative Freedom.
Bringing the Message Home
Today, Marilyn and Jim live in northern Idaho, surrounded by family. Their son and daughter and their families share the same property, giving Marilyn and Jim the everyday joy of being grandparents to seven grandsons.
It is a fitting setting for someone whose life’s work has centered on family, relationships, and learning together.
Through Creative Freedom ~ Wisdom’s Way to Grow Smart Children, Howshall hopes to give parents permission to slow down, observe, trust, and enjoy the process.
Because education, she believes, doesn’t have to feel like a race.
It can be a relationship.
It can be an adventure.
And it can happen right in the middle of ordinary family life.
About Marilyn Howshall
Marilyn Howshall and her husband, Jim, co-founded Lifestyle of Learning™ Ministries in 1990 and have served the homeschooling community for more than three decades. Marilyn is the author of Wisdom’s Way of Learning, Making God Real to Your Children, and Empowered. For 15 years, she carried the Lifestyle of Learning™ message throughout the country through her own conferences and as an invited speaker at state homeschool conventions.
Following a significant health crisis, Marilyn turned her attention toward helping families grow stronger through the Gospel of Reconciliation. Today, she serves as an ordained minister alongside a team of couples who oversee a local community of families committed to whole-family relationships and a lifestyle of learning.
She and Jim live in northern Idaho, where they enjoy life alongside their children, grandchildren, and extended family.
Book Title: Creative Freedom ~ Wisdom’s Way to Grow Smart Children
Author: Marilyn Howshall
Genre: Christian Parenting | Homeschooling | Education | Family Life
Website: www.MarilynHowshall.com
Lifestyle of Learning™: www.LifestyleofLearning.org
Global Book Network – Marilyn Howshall, Author of Creative Freedom
Media ContactCompany Name: Global Book NetworkContact Person: Henry ZaneEmail: Send EmailCountry: United StatesWebsite: https://www.globalbooknetwork.tv/
