We're learning our way through America's wild spaces with our two kids, and this podcast is where we tell you the stories that didn't make it onto the visitor center signs. Why that lake is so blue it looks fake? Whose village got destroyed to make this a park? ...and why that matters. The woman who lived in a tree for two years to save it. The bacteria that thrive in boiling water. The 17-year fight to protect one forest.
Every episode digs into one park's weird geology, real history, and the people who refused to give up when everyone said these places weren't worth saving. We explain things to kids without dumbing them down, because the kid who's asking "why?" seventeen times is the one who is asking exactly the right questions.
New episodes drop when we visit new parks!
Latest episodes
Showing 9 · updated from the feed
Olympic National Park | Why is quiet so hard to find?
You can close your eyes. There is no such thing as an earlid.
This episode is about the quietest square inch in the United States, and what it has to teach a kid whose e
Sep 13 29 min
North Cascades National Park | Monkeys in the mountains?!
North Cascades has more glaciers than any other national park in the lower 48... and almost nobody goes.
This episode is about the strangest, most tangled national park
Sep 1 19 min
Mount Rainier National Park | Who carries the load?
In this episode, we interview Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, who has stood on top of Mount Everest fifteen times and who in 2003 climbed it faster than any human being ever had. He
Aug 6 26 min
Crater Lake National Park | How do you save a lake — twice?
This episode explains how Mount Mazama collapsed into the bluest water in the world, and the native origin story of the lake. Then we tell the story of William Gladstone
Jul 24 21 min
Lassen Volcanic National Park | How many rules can one park break?
Lassen gets a fraction of the visitors Yosemite does, and we think that's because nobody knows what to make of it. This park is a rule breaker and in this episode we catc
Jul 16 17 min
[Detour] The Wave | We won the permit lottery. Now what?
There are 64 permits available per day to get to The Wave. During peak season, 300 people compete for them. We won! …and then we realized we had an 8-year-old who had nev
Jun 30 16 min
Redwood National and State Parks | How do the world’s tallest trees hold each other up?
Redwood trees have roots only ten feet deep. For a tree that grows as tall as the statue of liberty, that should be a problem…This episode is about why it isn't.
We expl
Jun 12 17 min
[Detour] LIGO | If two black holes collide in the universe, do they make a sound?
This episode explains how scientists built a machine so sensitive that your heartbeat standing next to it would ruin the experiment...and why they put it in the middle of
Apr 27 17 min
Joshua Tree National Park | How does anything survive in a desert this dry?
Joshua Tree isn't just about weird trees and cool rocks.
This episode tells you why those "trees" are not actually trees and what a rain shadow actually does to a landsc
Jan 2 15 min
Chart trend
Position in the Education for Kids chart (US), last 90 days.
#1#99#196JulAugSepOct
#50
all-time peak
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day in the top 50 since Jan 2026
Chart positions
Where Roam School Family ranks today in each Apple Podcasts chart (US, Oct 2, 2026).
A curated, balanced selection of Apple Podcasts reviews.
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Roam School Family, hosted by Erika, follows a mom homeschooling her two kids on the road, one national park at a time — great for a long drive with the whole family, or solo.
The hook is "the stories that didn't make it onto the visitor center signs," and it delivers. The Crater Lake episode pairs volcano geology with a Kansas teenager's seventeen-year campaign to protect the lake. Joshua Tree covers the 1875 seizure of Indigenous land alongside the socialite who later fought to preserve the desert. The Redwood episode links root systems to the women, from Lady Bird Johnson to Julia Butterfly Hill, who kept those forests standing.
It's current too — the Mount Rainier episode gets into glaciers melting six times faster than historical rates, sometimes pointing to concrete action like an actual petition for an endangered species.
Erika's kids narrate alongside her, treated with real respect — the show's guiding idea is that a kid asking "why" seventeen times is asking exactly the right question. That's what makes it a genuine shared listen, not just a kids' show parents tolerate.
loryjowildly · Aug 2026
This is my new favorite podcast. Erika and family are my kind of people. They are learning while living life and exploring. I spent many years as a homeschool mom, but my little is all grown up. Fortunately, I now get to follow along with this amazing family as they explore our amazing parks. I learn something interesting from every episode, (and I usually end up wanting to visit where they just were). I am currently trying to figure out how I can go visit LIGO. I can’t wait to hear where they go next.
PhoebeDee123 · Aug 2026
My kids and I listened to the first 3 episodes this past weekend. They are magical and we are craving more. Erika has woven her own kids' curiosity and their voices beautifully into the episodes, and the stories that she’s chosen to feature to illustrate big, important topics make these episodes about MUCH more than the parks you're visiting. Bravo and we are anxiously awaiting the next epiosdes!
Gate'08 · Jul 2026
I was surprised by how little I knew about a park I’ve visited so many times. The origin story, the curiosities and the way that the stories are accessible is really special. Well done.
Benjamin Stratford · Jan 2026
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Here you find the Apple Podcasts chart positions of Roam School Family, its latest episodes to listen to directly, and reviews from listeners. Rankings are updated daily for the United States.
