[SPEAKER_01]: So we have brought you guys a long on our journey on are we going to be choosing homeschooling this year or we're going to be going the private school route we shared on our last episode or a couple episodes ago I guess just a little bit about what we were struggling with some concerns that I had as our families growing and my limited capacity in bandwidth as a homeschooling mother.
[SPEAKER_01]: And today we're here to settle everyone's questions.
[SPEAKER_00]: The verdict, final verdict will be revealed in today's episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: But before we do reveal the verdict, we want to let you know that Vogue Newsgate Academy is now still.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's still currently accepting students for this fall.
[SPEAKER_00]: season 2026.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you're looking to get piano lessons, guitar, fiddle, ukulele, mandolin lessons for any of your children or for yourself, check a link below and you will get a 20% discount on every month that you are enrolled.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's a subscription.
[SPEAKER_00]: So as long as you're enrolled, you get access to weekly lessons or video archives, you get access to all of our live calls that we do or coaching calls or live showcases.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You get access to our badge system where we mail physical badges to our students when they complete various ranks.
[SPEAKER_00]: So check the link below, jump in for this fall and get some music lessons going in your home.
[SPEAKER_00]: Okay, Katie.
[SPEAKER_00]: What's the big reveal?
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's funny.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not what I thought it was gonna be.
[SPEAKER_01]: I thought when we did that last episode, it was kind of a soft launch for sending our kids to private school.
[SPEAKER_01]: I felt like, because Elishina both grew up homeschooled and homeschooling has been a big part of her, I mean, it's been all we've done up until now with our children.
[SPEAKER_01]: we needed to just kind of like process pros and cons and stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: And with you guys, too, because we know a lot of you guys are homeschoolers as well.
[SPEAKER_01]: Maybe that's why you initially even followed the podcast is wanting to hear our experiences growing up, that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I didn't want it to just like come out a left field with us considering a different option for our kids.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we kind of wanted to like discuss that with you guys.
[SPEAKER_01]: That said,
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that is, that's our conclusion.
[SPEAKER_00]: We are all in home schoolers in the year 2026 and 2027.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I mean, and we are pumped about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I've never seen Katie so fired up about a school year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're, you're thoroughly excited about school.
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yes, yes, I've got an excited about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm excited our kids are excited.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, the energies in the air all around the country.
[SPEAKER_00]: It is that time of year where everybody's getting fired up about, going back to school or just starting school again.
[SPEAKER_00]: There were a couple of things that, I don't know if I mentioned the last episode that I just wanted to refresh on as to why we would even, I guess, breach the subject of sending our kids to a private Christian school.
[SPEAKER_01]: OK, private, classical Christian school, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was very specific.
[SPEAKER_00]: We had a very specific criteria by which we were going to look out, you know, look through different opportunities and options.
[SPEAKER_00]: But there were a couple things that I think I had always believed that I'm not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't think I believe as much anymore, and so some things that maybe I've said, since growing up in a home school family and I loved my upbringing, I'm so grateful for the opportunities that my parents worked hard to provide for me and to set me up for.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so there were some things that I think I've always said that I don't know if I'm going back fully on them, but I'm certainly questioning.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that is okay, private Christian school, private Christian class, you have private classical Christian school.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was this fear of peer influence.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's like, OK, well, you're losing control over who your children are now interacting with on a daily basis.
[SPEAKER_00]: There was a couple things that was, again, strict criteria for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had the one particular school that we are considering had very strict technology use.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, technology was not allowed at all on the campus as far as smart phones, iPads.
[SPEAKER_01]: even the teachers.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.
[SPEAKER_01]: The teachers and then any high school kids that did have a phone had to turn it in at the beginning of the day and pick it up at the end of the day.
[SPEAKER_01]: So like there was just was no technology on the campus which is is a really big blessing in a safeguard.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, because I'm sure we've all heard stories about, you know, well, meaning Christian parents sending their nine year old to a Christian classical school and they're like, man, we stand by the, you know, a statement of faith, we stand by the educational philosophy, we love all the teachers, great role models, we know the other families,
[SPEAKER_00]: But then kids bring a smart phone and they're exposed to pornography at nine years old at a Christian classical school where kids have smart phones.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we wanted to be very aware of that and just consider that.
[SPEAKER_00]: The second part of that, what use control who the influences are, I think I started seeing that just because your home schooling does not guarantee healthy role models or sorry, healthy peer influences in your children's life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just like home schooling doesn't guarantee a Christian education, which is something that we are very committed to.
[SPEAKER_00]: We want our children to have a Christian worldview.
[SPEAKER_00]: and we want all of the academics that they pursue to be through that filter of being there being one creator God and him being above all things and he's being the father of Jesus Christ our Savior and really learn through that context and through that lens.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we were seeing that in different home school co-ops, in different home school communities and gatherings, it's not like your guaranteed great peers.
[SPEAKER_00]: And in fact, you know, you just doesn't take long to look around.
[SPEAKER_00]: And be like, that's actually not a great, you know, influence on my child.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so,
[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, I think I had assumed, like, well, when you're home schooling, you've got the scare and teeth like we're around other home schoolers, we get to control who are children are around and I started to be more and more of a challenge and I think more and less and less of a guarantee.
[SPEAKER_00]: So those were a couple of things, there was a couple of other things I don't know if you wanted to add to those right off the bat when we were considering the school.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I don't know about things that, I mean, something that I think gets thrown around a lot is like, you're the best educator for your child and I do think that you're always the best advocate for your child.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you are, how would you say it?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, you're the best parent for your child.
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you're the best parent for your child and in terms of decision making and looking out for them, like, no one's going to care for your child like you do.
[SPEAKER_01]: And
[SPEAKER_01]: And so advocating for your child and choosing very wisely and prayerfully where they're going to be educated or what medical system you're going to use or you know we just had to take on our sons with a rash to the doctor and it's like I felt I didn't feel like I was the best person to give him medical care
[SPEAKER_01]: but I did feel like I was the best person to consider all of his needs and decide what route to take in terms of election, I'd together as a unit.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I do think parents always be making those decisions.
[SPEAKER_01]: We don't just want to turn our kids over to a medical system or turn our kids over to an educational system and say, hey, you got this, but I don't think that
[SPEAKER_01]: me as the mother teacher might always be the best person to educate them.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, for instance, when it comes to, you know, we're joking about this, like, calculus, I'm not the best person to teach them calculus.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've never done calculus.
[SPEAKER_01]: So therefore, I'm not the best educator for my child in this instance.
[SPEAKER_01]: So this will still be something that I think allows you to continue to take year by year, child by child.
[SPEAKER_01]: and keeping really open hands with it.
[SPEAKER_01]: We kind of talked on the past episode, what some of the concerns were or the things that were pushing us towards considering this model.
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, it was a very specific system.
[SPEAKER_01]: We ended up going and meeting with the teachers and having the kids do their assessments.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that was very eye-opening for me and very helpful for me.
[SPEAKER_01]: So here in North Idaho, or anywhere in Idaho,
[SPEAKER_01]: you're required to do any kind of testing, formal testing at all.
[SPEAKER_01]: You don't even have to declare your homes going.
[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes that lack of accountability is kind of more unfortunate to me.
[SPEAKER_01]: I get it's a big freedom, but also the grass is always greener, but I see these moms who are required by state to like homeschool for 36 weeks.
[SPEAKER_01]: and submit proof of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm like, oh, it'd be kind of nice to have someone I have to answer to.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we count a bill in the book.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so accountability, because sometimes it's easy for me to be like, oh, we won't do it this week, because we're busy or whatever.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then I regret it later.
[SPEAKER_01]: So...
[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways, that's it.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's so open ended.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was really helpful to get objective insight into where the kids were at.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I do think that gave us a good roadmap for going forward this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: And Elijah brought up a good point because, um,
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys know I've been very open about this.
[SPEAKER_01]: I failed our kids and language arts so far.
[SPEAKER_01]: They're still young, but we need to like write the ship.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think why I feel a sense of urgency when a lot of people don't feel a sense of urgency for me is, you know, I get told all of your kids are young, your kids are young, and I'm like, yes, that's true.
[SPEAKER_01]: I got told that with potty training too, and I was trying to teach them all to use the toilet by themselves in a very young age.
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's like,
[SPEAKER_01]: If the Lord continues to bless our family, we have children cropping up behind them.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, so it's like, I don't, I have always felt a sense of urgency with our children because of the potential for the Lord's blessing in our life this way.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so,
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's not just because you've got a 9-year-old or an 8-year-old or a 7-year-old that are at a particular level, although you consider that it's because of what you know is coming right behind them.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you're like, hey, this isn't going to slow down anytime soon.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's only going to become more intensive and complex.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I see the older children needing more input and then the younger children's staying.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think, Elijah, I do have a pretty accurate perspective on this because we grew up in big families where this was definitely the case.
[SPEAKER_01]: Where our mothers had to juggle these wide spans of needs.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I see it as the single most complicating factor of running a home and giving your children what they need is dealing with the wide span of age groups and the wide span of needs.
[SPEAKER_01]: So they both did a really good job and I'm looking to my mother's example, my mother in Las example, and also trying to learn from 2020 hindsight as well and be like, okay, how can I maybe learn from their experience?
[SPEAKER_01]: when it comes to our family side.
[SPEAKER_01]: So all that said, I do feel kind of like this desire to have a feel really confident in our children knowing the three R's at, you know, before 10 years old so that I can kind of feel confident in those things with them and be moving to the younger children and having the older kids do independent work.
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's just a lack of thoroughness that I think I've seen in myself with even like ABCs or letters or something like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know the kids are seeing in the ABC song and they're seeing like essence instead of X. I was like, okay, maybe we should go over the ABCs for you.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think those were appeals with the school is kind of like everyone has to move at the same pace and I know that that Regulation is Kind of annoying on one instance, but it's also Really encouraging because it's a clear Path to keep everyone on You know, I know that they're getting Everything and then you have to check all the boxes before you get a move into that next grade
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and I know we covered a lot of that in the previous episode.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was just kind of doing a refresher.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we went far more into detail as to why it was even a consideration from an academic standpoint, the pros, the cons.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because yeah, even with that, I think that you and I throughout this process have had to be very honest.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we've tried to be honest with the self-awareness along the lines of like, what matters to us is going to matter to us.
[SPEAKER_00]: But
[SPEAKER_00]: But we can't, like, base our, we don't want that to be what dictates our children's education, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, on some level, like, of course, it's a privilege and a responsibility and a cool opportunity to guide your children and things in areas that you feel like are important.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we will certainly do that, but I was just hearing myself say things like, well, that doesn't really matter or that's not that big of a deal.
[SPEAKER_00]: and I don't want my perspective on certain subjects or on what's important to entirely dictate what education my children get.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that was the healthy thing about having that objective input, you know, just for the short time, and it really told the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, like, okay, got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Moving on, because we experienced that in, we've experienced it with music, okay, like telling the truth, like what is the staying goes like all progress starts by telling the truth and I think it's really hard to know what the truth is unless you get outside objective perspective we don't really know the truth with our children.
[SPEAKER_00]: And by the truth, I mean, where are they at in a sport?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are they at with their instrument?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are they at academically?
[SPEAKER_00]: Where are they at even in character, in their integrity?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because we just are going to have a partial bias take on our children.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was the first fiddle contest that I brought our kids to.
[SPEAKER_00]: I guess this was like three years ago, maybe four years ago.
[SPEAKER_00]: Um, and it was, it was humbly not, like, I wasn't embarrassed, but it was just a really good reality check of, okay, got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's plenty of kids there, age that are doing much better than them, and that's just the objective truth right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's the truth.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now we start making progress, and that's why, like, to consistently do fiddle competitions because it tells the truth, that's to where your children are in their progress.
[SPEAKER_00]: Same thing happened when Lucy joined gymnastics and the boys did jujitsu.
[SPEAKER_00]: I was the dad, it's like, well, my kids are so
[SPEAKER_00]: They could be good at any sport.
[SPEAKER_00]: Look at their coordination, their natural athleticism, and that statement might be true.
[SPEAKER_00]: They could be good at any sport, but they're not good at any sport right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were not good at one sport when Lucy started gymnastics, and the boys started, GiGetsu, and then Leon started basketball.
[SPEAKER_00]: And to be able to see an objective criteria that they were measured up to was really, again, humblings a strong word, it was just, it was revealing.
[SPEAKER_00]: It was just like, okay.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like you said, I think the reality check was a good term.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like raw talent unless it is cultivated is just that.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's raw talent.
[SPEAKER_01]: So like, I would still say like our kids are athletic.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or people say your kids are bright.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or these things, or it's like, I agree.
[SPEAKER_01]: But unless that's cultivated, it just is dormant.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not like they're ever going to like really maximize that potential.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, and that was it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I mentioned music sports, and then with academics, I would've always said, well, our children are bright.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're intelligent children, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: They're smart, but once that's actually, you know, judged with a third party objective, you know, curriculum or testing, the truth is told.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so while it may be true that your child's, you know, like they're learning capacity could be very great.
[SPEAKER_01]: portancy than that all it is is just potential you know and we just know what good that does okay when it's not cultivated yeah and so and I wrote about this a little bit in a sub-stack election I don't have our children act there are children's academic future it's like this goal because it's like a star on our chart or something like that it's we want them to develop into
[SPEAKER_01]: God-fearing God-loving human beings that are able to carry the burdens of families one day and the church and communities and be Leaders in these environments and things like that and we see academics is a great tool to try and that and to our kids.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that is the we see it as a means to an end not like
[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, well, if our kids can go to X, Y, Z school, then we will have a ride with this parent so we can like put that on a bumper sticker.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, like, that's not the goal here, okay?
[SPEAKER_01]: So, yeah, we just see it as a way that Lord willing, unless he gives us a better path, one that we could really train virtue in our children.
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is in an old concept either, or this is in a new concept either, you know, it is a classical concept, it's an older concept, you see this in Asia a lot with Confucius's teaching where he viewed education as the source of virtue or the trainer of virtue.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think that is why a lot of Asian parenting values academics highly is because they value virtue.
[SPEAKER_00]: So even Western, because a lot of people are like, well, what do we want to have to do with those Eastern philosophies and even religions?
[SPEAKER_00]: Western perspective and a Christian perspective, the leaders in the church, leaders in Christian communities, leaders in our government have been rigorously educated.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I get that's looked different for different people, but they have education has been a tool by which they were sharpened as an individual.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, exactly.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's, anyways, I hope you guys understand her hurt behind that because when we talk about this a lot, I don't want the wrong thing to come across.
[SPEAKER_01]: But okay, so all that said, the kids ended up, we knew they would do well in math.
[SPEAKER_01]: They did great in math.
[SPEAKER_01]: They did good in reading.
[SPEAKER_01]: A live show reminded me of things that they weren't testing for.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, you know, poetry or the kids quoting Shakespeare being very familiar with that.
[SPEAKER_01]: Or, you know, it's like some of these things they are not.
[SPEAKER_01]: You're an even testing a second grader on because no one cares till you're in high school.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, but they've had exposure to a lot of things.
[SPEAKER_01]: that I think will serve them later in life, but didn't get tested in this test.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so, I sure reminded me of that, which was encouraging to me as a mother.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, yeah, we have put time into other things.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, even things like Latin or mythology, or things like that weren't like tested on this test.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so they did really good in those things.
[SPEAKER_01]: The language arts is where we're like going to buckle down this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: But when we went to basically, the assessments really went really good, I thought this is going to be a great plan.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we went into the interview process.
[SPEAKER_01]: And basically, we just, in that interview process, realized that this was not the right opportunity for us this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was an all right partnership.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, because I think we, at least for me, when I was sitting through out this interview, I was just starting to account for all the things that we were not going to be able to do by choosing this option.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we've been able to give our kids and our whole family such a vast rich life with a lot of unique experiences.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know that they can sound very, you know, I guess.
[SPEAKER_00]: ambiguous and vague.
[SPEAKER_00]: And on some level, it is, but I think there were specific things that were starting to show up when it was like, okay, these hours are being spent at this facility.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we've got all the extra events that we need to be at.
[SPEAKER_00]: You start like checking off the things you're not going to be able to do, you know, fiddle lessons with the kids or the Shakespeare plays we brought them to, you know, throughout the year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just family evenings together, you know, where they are memorizing scripture and they are reciting Tenison things that to be our Academic their life and rich in it and they are developing shaping the character in the virtue of the child And I could go on there was other things that really started showing up for me that I was like I don't think I'm willing to Sack to give this up in in order to to gain this other thing
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think we saw to the, at least for this small school, the involvement being higher than what we were ideally hoping for.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so not like we're not wanting to be involved in our kids, but we didn't necessarily want to be involved in a school.
[SPEAKER_01]: you know, we kind of wanted to just be involved in the kids and then trust that some things are going to get taken care of.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it felt a little bit more like we'd be taking up on the responsibility now of a school and exchange for them having our children.
[SPEAKER_01]: And it just felt like a lot of responsibilities and volunteer opportunities and things outside of the school hours because I think we'd kind of wrapped our minds around it's a four day week, which was nice.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're like,
[SPEAKER_01]: But then, even if we'd wrapped our minds around the school hours, we got a paper with all the events on it that were extras and all the different dinners and craft fairs and just different things are like, well, we're going to be the one parent not there.
[SPEAKER_01]: But we have a lot of extracurricular stuff we do outside of the school stuff, and so
[SPEAKER_01]: and exchange for, like, language arts, to be totally honest.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so then I think that was the consideration that we took home was kind of like, okay, how can we leverage our time at home here to make sure these gaps get filled?
[SPEAKER_01]: And that all of a sudden buys us so much time, which I know so many of you guys are saying,
[SPEAKER_01]: But again, there are these trade-offs and accountability can be very helpful to get things done that you want to get done.
[SPEAKER_01]: We've really experienced that even with the kids' sports or stuff like that.
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think in contrast, for instance, with like Lucy's gymnastics, we really felt like
[SPEAKER_01]: We brought Lucy to this gymnastics academy.
[SPEAKER_01]: They take care of everything.
[SPEAKER_01]: We just have to get her there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: If that makes sense.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then they're just on top of stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, when we were looking at the whole time, a lot of, you know, and time lost, I think it is a good thing to consider when you, with how you're distributing your time in general as a family.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because time is a limited resource and we want to pour into our children in a way that
[SPEAKER_00]: It means a lot for their future, but just because you don't, just because you might not appreciate how somebody is allotting their time at a school or in a sports program or even at a job or an internship or something like that, doesn't mean that you automatically will be able to a lot of better.
[SPEAKER_00]: So I think it was something that we had to consider.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's easy to say, oh, there's so much waste of time and you could say that with any youth program.
[SPEAKER_00]: ever, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Whether it's a sports program, like a gymnastics, you know, music, like extracurricular or school programs.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're so much wasted time.
[SPEAKER_00]: As like, well, what are you going to do with that time?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that actually might be a better use of their time, what they're doing at that school, unless you choose to make that time more valuable at home.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so it was a good challenge for us to say, okay, there is a lot of time here that you and I see as being maybe not optimized, are we able to do?
[SPEAKER_00]: like better than that like are we able to get better use that at this time and it's gonna be a real challenge but we're committed to like stepping up to the occasion
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, and I think, too, it wasn't so much the time during the school day that I felt was wasted.
[SPEAKER_01]: Like, I want to clarify that.
[SPEAKER_01]: I do think they did a very good job, especially, I think that's why I kind of highlighted the classical Christian element of it is because when I look down what the kids are studying each day and each period, it's all very specific.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they still do spelling, they still do cursive.
[SPEAKER_01]: They still do a lot of these things that a public school or even typical Christian schools drop.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it wasn't like I was looking at any period and being like, oh well, kind of wish they weren't doing that one.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was more of the requirements and like paraphernalia that was operating outside of the school day.
[SPEAKER_00]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that was just kind of like, oh, well, well, just write the children at that time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Two in from school, you know?
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was something that we had to account for.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they like you said the extra things.
[SPEAKER_01]: because it's like 45 minutes away for us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So Elijah does have this year, the music school in town.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so it was going to be like a closer commute from there, but it's still going to be a ways from the house.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and this is, this got covered, I think, in our previous episode in, you know, as to why we're even considering this in the first place, but I do think that the only reason this was a temporary consideration was because of this one particular school.
[SPEAKER_00]: I think for most homeschooling parents, it's a very easy decision, whether like, hey, there's no good option within driving distance within our region.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then also depending on how, you know, accessible,
[SPEAKER_00]: funds are for your state.
[SPEAKER_00]: It could be a financial thing, too, right, where it's just not an option, and you can triple down on home schooling and plan for the future knowing that that is always going to be for the, you know, unless something dramatically changes, always going to be the best option for your kids.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so I think that that is something that a lot of parents don't, they don't need to have this conversation because there's not an option like that close by.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, exactly.
[SPEAKER_01]: And this is the one classical Christian school currently in our town.
[SPEAKER_01]: So it's like we'd have to compromise one way or another to go any other route.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's also too late in the year to go any other route.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think when this option was ruled out and in that interview it was just clear this wasn't going to be a great situation for us this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: It was...
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I don't know, I put a lie shit through a lot of emotions about it, because I just really felt like going, I was, my mind was mentally wrapped around going full steam, this one direction.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and again, like maybe Katie and I spend way too much of our life stressing out about things, but I think we'd rather air on the side of viewing our season with our children as being short and their childhood, as being short and trying to enjoy it and maximize that time with them.
[SPEAKER_00]: than the flip side of saying hey they're young you've got all the time in the world and so there might be people that have a lot more care free attitude towards their children's education and they're just not stressed about it but that's not us it's like we do view our children's time under our roof as being a pretty
[SPEAKER_00]: like it's a pretty short season and each year, each school year, we view as being extremely valuable and we want to be able to maximize it and it doesn't mean that we're not going to make mistakes.
[SPEAKER_00]: Of course, we will make mistakes and say hey, hey, we're not going to do that again.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's try to recover from that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let's rebound over here.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we don't want to like, we don't want to just flippantly say hey, it'll work itself out.
[SPEAKER_00]: We really do want to apply ourselves.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I think there are enough home school horror stories now out there where people don't feel like their parents invested that time and energy into them and I know that our kids will be
[SPEAKER_01]: you know they're gonna have we can't teach him everything we're gonna look back and be like oh we probably should have picked this path instead of this one or man sorry about that we figured that out on the fly but I want our children to know we invested all the time energy we had into giving you the best that we could and we put a lot of thought into it we put a lot of energy into it and we tried our hardest well and that's what I want them to know
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm so grateful and humbled when I consider what my parents, you know, uh, yeah, they really did sacrifice and for their heart and soul into, you know, into our children's me, sorry, our children, me and my siblings formation and our education.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so even if I choose to do something tactically different than what they did, it's not because like they were working their faces off in doing
[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I don't know, I'm just so grateful that my parents put as much time and energy effort into me and, you know, and my siblings as they did because it was a sacrifice.
[SPEAKER_00]: It came out of cost.
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's definitely how I feel with my parents.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like I feel like they did everything they could to ensure that we were going to be poured into.
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: With resources with their time, with their energy, they got inspired when they were not motivated.
[SPEAKER_01]: They went through the difficult seasons and they found solutions to problems.
[SPEAKER_01]: They were always trying super hard.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I respect that and looking back, you can't criticize that and I think that where I do think it's very easy for some other people to maybe criticize their parents because they felt like their parent was just like eating chips on the couch instead of investing their energy into their child.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, and I just want, I just want our kids to know, okay, we're trying.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, that's it.
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the Lord will bring the increase and that's the thing.
[SPEAKER_01]: It's like I just,
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to try our best this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: We're mixing up some things a little bit with home school this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: Be like, okay, can we maybe overcome some of these things that were a challenge last year?
[SPEAKER_01]: Mainly consistency.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's the biggest thing with home schooling.
[SPEAKER_01]: I've always thought that was the biggest inhibitor of home schooling is just consistency.
[SPEAKER_01]: because it's so easy to be available for everything and every opportunity because your kids aren't in school, you know?
[SPEAKER_01]: And if people come on Tuesday and leave on Thursday, it's really easy to just hang out or you know, it's all the same if we stay another day or two at a family's wedding or you know, it's just very easy to not notice that days are slipping by.
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
[SPEAKER_01]: You get to the end of the year and you're like, oh, man, we, you know, really missed out on some of that consistency.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I mean, we, I'm sure we will be able to do up episode on kind of like the particulars, the particulars that you have planned for the, for the, for the kids.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, we did just pick up a whole lot of, uh, packages, a lot of books came in the mail for recently.
[SPEAKER_00]: Uh, but maybe can you give like a 30,000 foot view as to what your focus is going
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, okay, so big 30,000 foot view.
[SPEAKER_01]: You guys know, really invested in math and reading.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because those have been things that I just turned, were hangups for home school parents.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I was like, I really wanted to pin it readers and I really would like them to be good at math.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not that great at it.
[SPEAKER_01]: We invested there very heavily, but this year we're going to change it up.
[SPEAKER_01]: The kids are going to be held back in their math grades in order to get like phonics and spelling up to grade level.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so we're going to do that this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: I'll share more specifically like what curriculum we're doing, but I think we're going to go back a couple of grades in math.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so my time is not going to be relegated to explaining new concepts because that's kind of where the bulk of my time has gone in the hour and a half after breakfast is breaking down new concepts with each child and they aren't at a math level where they can just
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, totally read and do it all completely on their own independently.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think we're in a bump back and just have that be completely independent work and move into the morning hours being a language arts focus.
[SPEAKER_01]: So that said, like I love Charlotte Mason.
[SPEAKER_01]: I love her philosophy.
[SPEAKER_01]: And I do think that some people, I know some women that are very consistent and diligent and tracking progress that way.
[SPEAKER_01]: For me, it's a little open-ended for me to be super consistent with all the kids.
[SPEAKER_01]: So yes, poetry and language arts, I mean like language arts in terms of like reading classic read alouds and things like that are still going to be very much a part of our homeschool year because that's what I enjoy and we'll sneak that in here and there but we're going to a lot more workbooks this year just because it's like I need to be able to check boxes this year we have a baby coming in November which is wonderful and
[SPEAKER_01]: and then next spring we have our book launch which is crazy and so I feel like there are things that I just need to be able to like when my brain is somewhere else be able to look at a checklist open up the book and be like okay did you do the lesson did we cover the sounds that a silent e-makes okay great let's go to the next thing so I'll share a little bit more eventually on exact curriculum we're doing but we'll be dropping math back making that in
[SPEAKER_01]: and putting language arts as our focused in the morning because that is it the time I am consistent with is that hour and a half right after breakfast and then there are some seasons where we do four and a half to five hours a day and it's amazing and we're just like going from one thing to the next the next the next and then there's have been some months where all the kids have done are math and reading.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, the like the all they do is that that's all they do right.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so it's like I need to make sure that hour and a half of that's all we do is bringing these other things up to speed Because yeah and not Yeah, we have our own unique weaknesses now
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and that actually was a helpful in making the decision when you realized that you could because the kids are advanced in math right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can keep them at the same grade level or you can move them back so they're able to go at their own pace and work.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're starting out their own pace.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're able to do independent work.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's essentially what was going to happen at the private classical Christian school is their reading capabilities and their, yeah, that was going to put them back.
[SPEAKER_00]: to a, sorry, a lower math grade than what they were capable of.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we're like, well, this is going to happen anyways.
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can make the change in the devote more time.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's how it kind of felt.
[SPEAKER_01]: I felt was like, okay, since this is going to be the process that they do here, maybe we do that process at home.
[SPEAKER_01]: Because I just, I don't have the energy or the band with now, like, realistically, to be driving every subject forward with the enthusiasm and the time that I do think the kids could keep up with.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I do think the kids are very capable in doing math at an accelerated rate and getting their language arts up to speed.
[SPEAKER_01]: But with a breastfeeding baby, I know I'm going to be the one who's not as capable of that.
[SPEAKER_01]: And honestly, like, within four to six grade, depending on which curriculum you do, that's kind of the same subjects taught over and over and over.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's like multiplication
[SPEAKER_01]: And taught in different ways and different times depending on the curriculum.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I do think we might mix up our math curriculum this year so that the kids hear the same things from a different angle instead of just going over the same process.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're just going to try to go a lot deeper and their math understanding and really set them up.
[SPEAKER_01]: I was already really questioning putting Leon in proud to run this year because he is
[SPEAKER_01]: which would really put him out of my league of teaching young.
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, like, we're going to need to get help for him within a year or two.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think this is a good, this could be a really good grounding of these concepts before going into the more algebraic abstract stuff.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, I want them to have confidence and if they're just able to get a ton of reps and I like the idea of changing up the curriculum so they're able to hear or and experience the same concepts top from a different angle word it differently because that is you can really learn your curriculum like we all do I mean like if you're in sacks and you just start burning sacks and and then you get to like a third party test and you're like wait a second one
[SPEAKER_01]: Like they don't phrase it that way on my test, you know, it's like I want like different phrasing.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_01]: So I think it could be a great year for them to still develop their mathematics skills but in a different way than what we've been doing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And then we're going to continue on with the kids sports, what we with what we have been doing, gymnastics, we are going to
[SPEAKER_00]: Hopefully get into a basketball league for laying on this year and then the boys will continue to do in jujuts to and then We're gonna make fit all the primary instrument that all the kids are doing lessons with me at the music academy and then using Supplementing with the online Bober music academy at home when I'm not able to teach them
[SPEAKER_00]: And that will be like the curriculum is fiddle progress, things that we don't need to tell them to do, or things like additional instruments, those are always the things that our kids gravitate towards.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they all want to play the mandolin or the piano or the guitar or the ukulele.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and that's so, that was so my experience growing up, too.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's like I had to practice piano and fiddle, so I would do that and, you know, like get my minimum practicing, and then I'd go sit with the mandolin and the guitar for hours.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so those are fun things that our kids get to be a part of, and then we'll work up family arrangements that are,
[SPEAKER_00]: Again, just fun and extra where they get to play a little piano riff or they get to play the mandolin or they get to play a guitar part or learn a harmony to sing, but the fiddle will be kind of the required instrument that they're going to be progressing in this year.
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, so that's kind of like the big picture I am grateful for things like sewing, Lucy loves to sew.
[SPEAKER_01]: This frees up having more time and afternoons for her to do that,
[SPEAKER_01]: that being home more will open up a lot of opportunities to do things that the children enjoy being doing here at home.
[SPEAKER_01]: And again, I just, I think I felt like the bottleneck either way.
[SPEAKER_01]: And so trying to figure out how to make that, not the case.
[SPEAKER_01]: So, which is the life's just so supportive of that and just like the brainstorming.
[SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see how this year goes.
[SPEAKER_01]: We'll keep you guys updated.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, and then, I don't think you mentioned this.
[SPEAKER_00]: You did signly on up for one online program.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I did, which I think will be helpful.
[SPEAKER_00]: It'll give him, you know, a track to run on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we'll go into that when you actually go through the curriculum.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're using that stuff, or at least you want to go over it now.
[SPEAKER_01]: That's a great idea, let's do that.
[SPEAKER_00]: Folks, thank you all so much for listening, let us know what you're doing for school in this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you know us homeschool parents can't get enough of it.
[SPEAKER_00]: So all we talk about this time of year, like, she's just very supportive of us.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, it's all we talk about, be it's like we go on date night and I don't know if any other fathers and husbands can relate.
[SPEAKER_00]: I do care about this, so it's not like I get fatigued talking about it, but we end up talking about it more than I would choose to talk about it, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't, it doesn't weigh on me like a ways on you, but it still does weigh on me, and I think it matters.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's a good thing to talk about.
[SPEAKER_00]: Anyways, thank you for those.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for listening.
[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk to you next time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Bye-bye.