Full Transcript for Emily - Second-Generation Strength, Homeschooling with Confidence and Grace

that was kind of the start. 00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:12.800 He had really enjoyed being in high school and public school and just thoroughly enjoyed it. 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:14.960 But he was 34 when we got married. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:17.120 He was that much older when we had kids. 00:02:17.360 --> 00:02:27.199 And it was just him realizing after hearing from some of his friends who had kids going through the school system, like, oh, school, public school isn't what it used to be. 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:29.199 It looks different than it used to be. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:33.919 And um, hearing some stories and things that were happening, we were in Washington State at the time. 00:02:34.080 --> 00:02:36.400 We've only been in South Carolina for three years. 00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.199 So um, Washington State was where we were. 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:43.520 And um, he just uh, you know, it was just sort of a gradual. 00:02:43.759 --> 00:02:47.840 I started teaching the kids things anyways because you're constantly teaching your kids things. 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:53.199 Uh, and then after a while, he just was like, Well, of course we're gonna homeschool. 00:02:54.960 --> 00:03:00.159 We're not gonna send them to public school, and we didn't have the funds to be able to think about doing private school for them. 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.159 So there were only so many options. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:07.520 So, what does an average homeschool day actually look like for your family? 00:03:07.840 --> 00:03:10.560 Okay, well, I don't know how normal this is gonna be. 00:03:10.639 --> 00:03:11.840 What's normal, anyways? 00:03:12.560 --> 00:03:13.120 Exactly. 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:16.719 For several years there, my husband worked second shift. 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:24.400 That was actually another reason for why we homeschooled because he wouldn't see the kids during the week if they went off to school somewhere. 00:03:24.639 --> 00:03:28.479 Uh, so we are uh family pretty much of night owls. 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:32.000 We have a couple kids who get up earlier, but we tend to stay up late. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:35.039 So I get up sometime between nine and 10 in the morning. 00:03:35.199 --> 00:03:39.599 I make sure all the kids are out of bed at 10, and then everyone kind of starts their day. 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:49.439 They have a checklist of what's expected of them for the week, whether it's you have to do so much of this a day or you have to get this much done in a week's time. 00:03:49.599 --> 00:03:52.000 And they are very independent at this point. 00:03:52.159 --> 00:03:54.400 They pursue most of their stuff on their own. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:58.319 Uh, they know the goals, they know the deadlines, they work through it. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.599 Um, I'm there to help if I can. 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:03.599 Sometimes I can, sometimes I can't. 00:04:03.680 --> 00:04:05.919 You know, I've got four high schoolers now. 00:04:06.159

--> 00:04:08.159 Sometimes I have to call Lifeline. 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:12.159 Um Academy's wonderful, right? 00:04:12.560 --> 00:04:14.240 And then, yeah, or my dad. 00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:16.639 My dad's kind of my on-call math tutor. 00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.319 And then our youngest one loves to get help from our daughter. 00:04:20.639 --> 00:04:24.399 So uh he loves to look to an older sibling instead of his mom. 00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:27.759 He's kind of sort of convinced I don't know as much as she does. 00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:31.199 So wow. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:34.639 So you said that your kids are pretty much independent now. 00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:42.319 Did was there anything you did intentionally when they were younger that helped build that independence now that they're older? 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:53.600 Um, you know, I think that's something that we just kind of always were kind of pushing them towards in a variety of ways, but maybe not uh we maybe weren't calling it that. 00:04:53.759 --> 00:04:59.040 Like for instance, I had them doing a lot of chores and I taught them how to clean their clothes. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:01.279 Well, they all clean their own clothes now, their own sheets. 00:05:01.360 --> 00:05:03.439 That there's they're just on their own for that. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:05.680 And so it's kind of the same with school, you know. 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:09.279 It's like I'm gonna teach you how to do this, but also it's curriculum choice. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:15.759 If I there's sometimes I picked a curriculum where I was like, oh, I've got to sit down, gather you two up. 00:05:15.920 --> 00:05:19.360 We've got to all, you know, get together on this. 00:05:19.680 --> 00:05:28.720 It just uh it wasn't as conducive to getting through the day, um, especially when everyone's getting up at different times and they're in the middle of other things. 00:05:28.800 --> 00:05:33.759 It's just hard to congregate everyone together to do certain um subjects. 00:05:34.079 --> 00:05:36.720 So it just um sort of evolved that way. 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:38.639 So part of it was curriculum choice, I guess. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:54.079 And part of it was just giving them the fortitude and the guidelines to be like, you know, you can do this, you're capable of trying doing it on your own, you know, try again, read the instructions again, and then um I'll jump in if I need to. 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:55.600 Absolutely. 00:05:55.839 --> 00:06:04.079 And be there is a the support system and the kind of like the net, the safety net, just in case they need something. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:08.879 So talking about curriculum, how have you found your curriculum? 00:06:09.040 --> 00:06:12.560 You weren't always with SCAES because you weren't always in South Carolina. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.560 So, how did you find curriculum before and after SCAES? 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:18.800 Oh, before and after SCAES. 00:06:18.879 --> 00:06:19.519 Hmm. 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:28.000 Well, so curriculum is an interesting one because when I was homeschooled, there weren't very many options out there. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:30.000 So very limited. 00:06:30.160 --> 00:06:31.839 My mom only had so many choices. 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.600 She picked some things because sometimes it was the only thing there was. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:42.240 Um, then by the time I was homeschooling our kids, it was like the world was opening up. 00:06:42.879 --> 00:06:53.759 Everyone was creating curriculum, it seems like, and especially in the last few years, it's like there's just so many uh different things that are opening up in terms of ways to teach different subjects. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:57.120 And it's just, it's it's actually overwhelming. 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:01.120 Instead of feeling like you're, oh, well, I'm only limited to this, you have the opposite problem. 00:07:01.199 --> 00:07:02.879 You're like, there's too much out there. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:06.800 Uh, I can't, how can I possibly find what it is that I want? 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:13.199 Um my biggest thing is one of the greatest things about homeschooling is you can change stuff. 00:07:13.360 --> 00:07:16.720 You chink, change change stuff all the time, especially when they're younger. 00:07:16.879 --> 00:07:24.319 If you got a book and you're working through it with them, they don't like it, you don't like it, it's not clicking, like do something else. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:29.120 You know, it's you're not tied down, you don't have to try and make it work. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:30.959 You you can find something else. 00:07:31.120 --> 00:07:38.959 Now, of course, there's something to be said for persevering just because you had a bad day, but when something's really not working out, you can change it around. 00:07:39.040 --> 00:07:59.600 And I've also tried to be pretty careful about like looking at sample pages online or if I'm at a homeschool convention, seeing if I can get my hands on a copy of whatever book I'm interested in so that I can take a look and see if it's something that's probably going to work for us or not, or if it's too far from what we're already doing, it might be too big of a jump to work over to. 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:02.240 But but I've always been more of a neglectic homeschooler. 00:08:02.319 --> 00:08:03.600 I pull stuff from here and there. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:07.600 So I don't use any particular one, one manufacturer. 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:09.439 I've always pulled a lot of different things. 00:08:09.680 --> 00:08:17.839 And then as far as going with SCAS, when we moved down here, we were, I guess we had ninth graders then, two ninth graders. 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:21.680 And I wanted to be sure that I was on task with everything related to high school. 00:08:21.839 --> 00:08:24.720 And so I wanted to be sure that I was covering everything I needed to. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:28.720

In Washington, there's um less oversight than here. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:44.080 And uh so when I was looking at the different options for homeschooling down here, I saw that SCAES looked like it had some good resources for me to be able to keep me in line as far as goals and making sure that we were meeting what we needed to for high school. 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:54.639 So we actually joined SCAES uh a little bit before we actually even moved down here because we were trying to sell our house and we were kind of in process, but we knew we were gonna make it down here. 00:08:54.879 --> 00:09:02.720 And uh, so that's that's been helpful because at high school, especially for electives and like foreign language and different things like that. 00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:19.120 Our SCAES counselor has helped guide me towards what's acceptable or what's accepted, um, not just with SCAES, but with the state and so on and so forth, um, giving me some ideas um so I don't have to spend a lot of time searching something out. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:24.720 Because sometimes you find something and it seems like a good thing, and then you realize it's not really going to count for high school. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:25.919 And oh no. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:27.360 Oh well. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:31.360 So um they've been really great about giving a few options. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:35.360 If I'm like have a real quandary about something, I'm like, I don't know what to do about this. 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.559 She'll shoot me back a few ideas that I can research. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:40.000 That's wonderful. 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:47.600 So for families who've never used a homeschool accountability association, how would you describe what SCAESE actually provides to you? 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:58.720 Well, for me, SCAES provides guidance and administrative backup because I'm thinking transcripts here. 00:09:58.879 --> 00:10:04.159 Yeah, and um and just generalized support. 00:10:04.240 --> 00:10:13.679 The our counselors are pretty often, I feel like, checking in with me just to see how we're doing and if they can help and if there's anything they can pray for. 00:10:13.840 --> 00:10:16.639 And um, and they're they're always very responsive. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:18.320 They get back to me really quickly. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:31.919 So they um they're just there as a really solid resource to help us along and to help us feel like we're on the right track and we're you know, we have what we need to get to get through the day and to get through the year. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.120 So homeschooling can stretch us as parents. 00:10:35.279 --> 00:10:38.240 What has the journey taught you about yourself? 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:52.480 Um well, one thing the people often say when they talk about homeschooling or not being able to homeschool is oh well, I don't have the patience to homeschool my kids. 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.360 And I've heard that a lot over the years. 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:59.440 And I thought, you know, I'm not sure anyone does. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:01.679 I I know that I don't. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:08.240 I mean, I it's definitely been a stretch for me because I used to think I was such a laid-back individual. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:15.279 And then when I became a mom and was schooling them and parenting them, I'm like, I don't, I'm not a laid-back person at all. 00:11:15.440 --> 00:11:17.519 Like, what what happened to me? 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:32.320 Um, so I think the the um I also realized like what a control freak I was and have had to kind of like go through a process of like letting things go and realizing that perfection is really not the goal. 00:11:32.480 --> 00:11:35.120 And sometimes good enough is good enough. 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:37.679 Process of perfection. 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:39.600 Yeah, there's been a lot of that. 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:46.320 Uh God has also been through encouraging me over the many years to say no to a lot of things. 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:53.759 So there's been a lot of um, just drawn a whole lot of boundaries around our schedule and around our commitments. 00:11:54.080 --> 00:12:10.639 And that has been a lifesaver, I think, because it's allowed us to do better on the areas that we actually are committed to and not being so strung out that we're not actually being excellent in anything because we're too too spread out. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.320 Yeah, yeah. 00:12:12.639 --> 00:12:14.240 That's really wise. 00:12:14.399 --> 00:12:25.120 I love it when I love that you have protected your family in that way, protected your schedule and your boundary, and created those boundaries that you needed. 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:27.279 That's really fabulous. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:28.799 Good job for you. 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:31.679 Well, it's hard sometimes. 00:12:31.919 --> 00:12:32.080 Yeah. 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:34.080 People are like, why aren't you in a co-op? 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.440 Don't you want to be in a co-op? 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:45.840 I'm like, well, I've thought about it so many different times, but every time I look at it, I'm like, well, then we're on their schedule, then we have this commitment every week. 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:48.960 I look at the cost of it and I'm like, huh. 00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:50.080 Yeah. 00:12:50.480 --> 00:12:54.080 So I just I've looked at it so many times, but we've never been part of a co-op. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.000 So what does community look like for your homeschool family? 00:13:00.399 --> 00:13:03.679 Well, um, I was thinking about that yesterday, actually. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:10.240 And one of the things that we prayed for before we came to South Carolina was that we would have good neighbors. 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:12.799 That was something in particular that we prayed for. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:18.639 And we ended up on this cul-de-sac with five other houses

and great people. 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:26.320 Like we're we're good friends with all of them, really close with a couple of them, and um, also people of faith. 00:13:26.480 --> 00:13:29.360 So we just feel like a support system there. 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.679 Um, but you know, my kids, our family, we like to host a lot. 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:35.919 So we have people over to our house. 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:38.159 They're really around people of all ages. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:39.519 It's not just their peers. 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.360 They do have peer time though. 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.120 We have our kids involved in troop. 00:13:43.440 --> 00:13:48.799 So um, our daughter's involved in American Heritage Girls, and our boys are all involved in trail life. 00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:57.200 So that's one of our biggest, that's our one extracurricular that we go and do because that's that one extracurricular involves a lot of other things. 00:13:57.279 --> 00:13:58.960 So it keeps us busy. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:00.960 Yes, absolutely. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:05.279 So, do you have any Freedom Award seekers or Stars and Stripes seekers? 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:11.120 Well, my daughter got her Abigail Adams Award, and so she's one level below there. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:23.679 And she thought about doing Stars and Stripes, but she um, as much as she loves doing community service, she found it a little daunting to be coming up with and driving an entire service project. 00:14:23.919 --> 00:14:32.240 And so she actually has a lot of the requirements done for stars and stripes, but she decided that she's not probably gonna go for it. 00:14:32.639 --> 00:14:34.960 Good for her to know her own self. 00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:39.360 Absolutely, that's amazing, and that she achieved the Abigail Adams. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:44.159 That's phenomenal, and kudos to you, mom, for supporting her through all that. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.279 Yeah, it's definitely the parents and the kids, isn't it? 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:49.440 Yes, yes, it is. 00:14:49.679 --> 00:14:54.480 And then on the boys' side, we only got deeply involved with Troop after we moved here. 00:14:54.559 --> 00:15:00.399 So our oldest who's 17, he hasn't really had the time to truly go after the Freedom Award. 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.600 He wouldn't, it would be really difficult for him to go after that. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:10.399 But he's already he's gotten three ranks up and he's might get a fourth rank before he graduates. 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:13.440 So he's definitely made some progress and he's achieved a lot. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:15.600 Um, and then the younger boys, yeah. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:18.320 The younger boys will see, we'll see how far they get. 00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.279 Wow, you guys are just blowing my mind. 00:15:23.440 --> 00:15:24.960 You are so impressive. 00:15:26.559 --> 00:15:46.240 But yes, yes, absolutely, because it's it's this normal, average, everyday impressive, you know, it's just you guys are out there living the life, doing your everyday life and succeeding, and that's phenomenal. 00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:49.200 Well, it's only by the grace of God. 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:51.039 I feel that. 00:15:51.600 --> 00:15:52.960 I feel that deeply. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:16:01.759 So for families approaching or in high school, what has SCADE support meant for things like transcripts or coursework or graduation planning? 00:16:02.559 --> 00:16:08.639 Well, like I mentioned before, uh, I don't know why it is that transcripts seem so daunting. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.360 I I'm administrative by nature and a planner. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:13.519 You'd think I could make a piece of paper. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:21.679 Um, but there was something about diving into all the requirements while we were still in Washington State that I was like, I just this is so overwhelming. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:30.000 I don't even know like where to start with what they're expecting for high school and how to wrap my mind around it and how to divide it into the four years. 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:38.799 And so transitioning into being under SCAES as we moved here really helped me to wrap my mind around the actual scheduling of it. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:44.799 Like, here's how you usually divide it up, here's typically how it works, here's how electives work. 00:16:45.120 --> 00:16:54.559 Uh, so helpful, so helpful because it just took a lot of the ambiguity out of it and made it more concrete for me to be able to make a plan and move forward with it. 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:55.679 Again, I'm a planner. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:16:59.039 I like I usually do this stuff all the time, but for some reason I had a mental block. 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:04.799 It's like the mental block I had when we first started homeschooling when I was like, I don't know if I can teach our kids to read. 00:17:05.039 --> 00:17:07.599 And I'm like, that was that was so daunting to me. 00:17:07.680 --> 00:17:13.200 I was like, after they can read, we can do anything, but I don't know if I can teach them how to read. 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:17.920 And I just that was the biggest mind block for me when we first started. 00:17:18.079 --> 00:17:19.200 They they all can read. 00:17:19.359 --> 00:17:19.920 Good news. 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:20.799 Yay! 00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:23.440 Yay, how did you do it? 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.720 Oh let's see. 00:17:26.960 --> 00:17:33.680 We used a combination of uh like old Abecka books, the all of the early reader series. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:35.599 We did a lot of Bob books. 00:17:36.079 --> 00:17:41.119 Oh, we had a I had all the phonics charts from a becca that my mom had from like ages ago. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:42.799 She had laminated them. 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:48.640 Um, and so that was kind of like the the foundation for how we got into that. 00:17:48.799 --> 00:17:51.839 I tried using

another book one time, I can't recall the name of it. 00:17:52.240 --> 00:17:55.279 People love it, but I tried it and I was like, oh, this is not clicking. 00:17:55.440 --> 00:17:56.319 This is not working. 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:58.559 So in terms of what I knew. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:01.519 Good for you to make that uh decision. 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:02.720 You know, it's not working. 00:18:02.799 --> 00:18:04.960 So we're just gonna find what does work. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:07.759 That's been that's fantastic. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:12.000 So, what's the most unexpected place you've ever done school? 00:18:12.720 --> 00:18:32.640 I asked my daughter about this yesterday because I was thinking, you know, all the normal places like every single room in the house, but um, we were actually we were living here when Hurricane Helene came through and we were out of power for about eight days, but we kept thinking, oh, it's gonna come on the next day, it's gonna come on the next day. 00:18:32.799 --> 00:18:39.680 And so we had dirty clothes just piling up and piling up and piling up with a family of seven, there's a lot of dirty clothes. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:43.200 And so after a while, I was like, we've got to go get these cleaned. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:51.680 So we went to a laundromat, which the kids have never been to before, and they brought some of their schoolwork with them, books to read and so forth. 00:18:51.839 --> 00:19:01.519 So that while we were cleaning our clothes of the laundromat and mixing with all of the various people in our area, they were also getting some schoolwork done too. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:07.680 So we decided that that was probably the the most uh bizarre place that we'd done our work before. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:11.920 So is there a homeschool win that you love bragging about? 00:19:14.000 --> 00:19:17.279 I I'm not much of a bragger when it comes to homeschooling. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:21.039 I it's just something that I feel like has been right for our family. 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:31.440 Although I think that if people, if you were to ask somebody else, they would probably say that I brag about the fact that some of our kids are accelerated with their grades. 00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:40.880 But that honestly, I I say it only in the sense of informationally to people because we have a 16 and 17-year-old who are graduating in the spring. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:43.599 And it's it's just like informational to me. 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:52.799 It's not like, oh well, look at me, pat my back, you know, and the acceleration happened so far back that it's just, you know, now we're on the other side of it. 00:19:53.039 --> 00:19:58.160 Um, but yeah, so I have two kids that are accelerated a year and one that's accelerated two years. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.559 The Abigail Adams Award winner. 00:20:03.759 --> 00:20:08.240 So, what do you wish someone had told you before you started homeschooling? 00:20:08.880 --> 00:20:17.039 Well, I think that the best advice that I can give to someone who's starting, and I have told this to a lot of people, especially in 2020 when people were considering it a lot. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:25.839 And that is that it's really important that you sit down and write down your why of why you're going to do this. 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.279 Um, don't do it because somebody else told you to. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:33.599 Don't do it because someone else thought it might be a good idea for you or for your kid. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:36.559 You need to be assured of what you're doing. 00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:55.200 And you and your spouse need to be assured of what you're doing, and you need to have a list of reasons for why you're doing it, because there are going to be times when you want to give up and you're questioning why are you doing this, or maybe we should do something else. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:00.240 You need to be able to have that list to look back at and say, hey, this is why we're doing it. 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:04.000 And that list may change, you know, it may change from year to year. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:08.640 You you just because you homeschool now doesn't mean you're homeschooling later, take it year by year. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:15.440 But um, you need to know why, because you need to be sure about what you're doing, all the other stuff will fall into place. 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:16.400 Absolutely. 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:23.119 And that why helps you protect your boundaries, helps you know what to say yes or no to as well. 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:27.759 So that really helps inform your day-to-day homeschooling. 00:21:28.160 --> 00:21:30.000 Oh, it's so wise. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:31.839 Thank you for sharing. 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:39.599 What has been the biggest benefit of having a counselor who knows your ski your family? 00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:44.799 Well, um, you know, I wish that I've been able to meet all of them in person. 00:21:44.960 --> 00:21:47.440 I've tried at homeschool conventions. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:51.119 I go to the SKES booth to see which counselors are there. 00:21:51.359 --> 00:21:59.759 Um, some of them have been there and some of them haven't been, but um it's just kind of fun to track with them along. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:08.160 The way and let them know kind of little bits here and there about what our kids are like because they also don't see our kids in person. 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:19.680 And so, and having the kids start as the kids get older, having the kids reach out to them as well and have some kind of communication with them is uh it's pretty cool too. 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:28.799 For instance, I just uh emailed our counselor a couple days ago to show her a 3D print that my son had made because he's doing a 3D printing elective right now. 00:22:28.960 --> 00:22:31.359 And so I was like, well, I think you'd probably like to see this. 00:22:31.440 -->

00:22:36.559 It's a 3D print of a South Carolina state emblem sort of a thing. 00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:40.799 And I sent it along to her and I was like, oh, you know, so you can see sort of what he's doing. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:49.599 Because, you know, it's very, very distant, you know, she's not seeing what he's actually producing, and she just thought it was so cool and she applauded him for it. 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:56.000 But um, just trying to kind of keep those that communication open and and see what the kids are doing. 00:22:56.079 --> 00:23:04.319 I think the electives are really the real key into the counselor understanding what is this kid about and what drives them. 00:23:04.799 --> 00:23:09.200 That's probably one of the biggest indicators for them as to what the students are like. 00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:12.400 At least that's what I understand from their from their side. 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:19.039 What's one piece of advice you'd give to a family who's just beginning the homeschooling journey? 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:30.480 Take a deep breath, give yourself grace, give your children grace, and even give grace to all the people around you that are making commentary on everything that's going on. 00:23:30.880 --> 00:23:31.279 Yes. 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:34.559 And don't be afraid to change something that's not working. 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:35.440 Yes. 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:38.240 That flexibility is key, isn't it? 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:39.920 A hundred percent. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:46.640 So when you imagine the future, how do you hope your children will look back on their homeschool years? 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:57.680 I think imagining what they look back on is going to be a combination of how they think of my husband and I as parents mixed with their homeschooling years. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:01.599 I'm not sure that they'll necessarily be able to divide one from the other. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:02.319 Yeah. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:07.519 And I'm I'm sure that they'll look back and be like, mom and dad are really screwed up in this way. 00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:09.039 Unavoidable, right? 00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:10.559 Like none of us are perfect. 00:24:10.960 --> 00:24:18.160 Um, but as far as the homeschooling part goes, I think that they're gonna look back and appreciate it because they already appreciate it now. 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:36.480 They they understand, even though it's all they've ever done, they understand the value of the latitude that we're able to have and the um unique circumstance that we find ourselves in so that we can tune the curriculum to the child and meet them where they're at. 00:24:37.039 --> 00:24:38.640 They they understand that now. 00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:43.519 So I think that they're gonna look back years from now and still see that as such a such a value add. 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:46.720 Whether they decide to homeschool or not themselves, I don't know. 00:24:46.960 --> 00:24:54.160 But

if the situation presents itself, I think that they'll be, you know, like I was, more comfortable with the idea, more open to the idea. 00:24:54.480 --> 00:24:58.160 So, what's one way that homeschool has brought joy or peace to your home? 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:13.359 All I have to do is hear a story about a family who's pulling their hair out every morning, trying to get their kids out the door, onto a bus or into the car to get to school, and realize how much peace we have in our household. 00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:24.400 The amount of stress that we have uh circumvented by being on our own schedule is uh probably limitless. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:28.480 I I don't think I could even calculate it at this point over all the years. 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:32.319 Uh that's that's where the peace comes from. 00:25:32.480 --> 00:25:36.319 It's it's making things work for your family, right? 00:25:36.880 --> 00:25:38.319 Yeah, I love it. 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:41.440 So I think this will be our last question. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:45.920 What would you say to a parent who's afraid that they're not enough to homeschool? 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:50.640 Well, the news flash is we're all not enough. 00:25:51.920 --> 00:25:55.039 And so don't let that discourage you. 00:25:55.680 --> 00:26:02.079 I think if it's something that you feel strongly that you should pursue, that you should do it anyways. 00:26:02.400 --> 00:26:11.519 And that you should, with a lot of prayer and with a lot of guidance and help, hopefully, from some people around you, you can you can make a go of it. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:21.119 Because it's not like there's a perfect personality that makes a good homeschool parent, but nobody's gonna be as invested in your kid as you're invested in your kid. 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:33.759 So you're the perfect person to come alongside them because you've already been coming alongside them their entire life to help guide them, train them, educate them. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.039 And I think people sometimes forget that they've already educated their kid in so many ways. 00:26:39.279 --> 00:26:44.240 Maybe it wasn't in the core academics, but it was in every other department of life. 00:26:44.480 --> 00:26:46.960 And this is just another this is just another piece of it. 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:48.799 Academics is only a piece of it. 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:53.680 Well, is there anything else you would like to share with us before we wrap up today, Emily? 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:56.000 Oh, you're leaving it wide open for me, huh? 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:57.359 Oh, yeah. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.680 Oh my goodness. 00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:06.319 I should probably have looked back through the question and seen what my favorite thing was. 00:27:06.799 --> 00:27:18.960 Well, I will say um one of the questions that kind of made me laugh was it was kind of wanting to know if there was any sort of curriculum that I decided I never wanted to do again, like we

had tried it and it was so bad. 00:27:19.039 --> 00:27:28.960 And I was like, and and I hate throwing people under the bus because just because it didn't work for me doesn't at all mean that it doesn't work great for somebody else. 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:37.759 But I will say that there was a full circle story I have there, and that was that when I was homeschooling, if you did math, it was basically Saxon math. 00:27:37.920 --> 00:27:39.680 That was that was the option, pretty much. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:43.200 So I did Saxon math all the way through. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:44.960 And it was fine. 00:27:45.119 --> 00:27:46.319 I mean, I did okay in math. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:49.119 I wasn't a math whiz, that's probably part of the issue there. 00:27:49.359 --> 00:27:56.000 But um when it came around to my kids doing math, then I start seeing things like teaching textbooks and different stuff like that. 00:27:56.079 --> 00:27:58.640 And I'm like, oh my gosh, this is so much more engaging. 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:03.279 This is so much more colorful, this is so much more enchanting than Saxon math. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:06.000 So I got them all like doing that. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:07.920 And you know, they did great with that. 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:19.119 And but then we got did get to a point this year where we had a counselor for my not a scase counselor, but an outside counselor for one of my sons saying, Well, you really should challenge him more on his math. 00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:38.799 So Saxon would be a good idea, and I was like, No, not Saxon that but the beauty of uh now is that you have great people like Nicole the math lady and different different resources where like the kids can like get these lectures, it's much more engaging. 00:28:38.960 --> 00:28:46.319 They can, you know, and with Nicole, you can even they can put all their stuff into the website and you don't even have to grade anything. 00:28:46.480 --> 00:28:48.000 So it's like perfection. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:52.640 That was another thing I loved about teaching textbooks that I was just like holding on to it with a death grip. 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:55.200 Um, but anyway, yeah, so things came full circle. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:28:59.839 So I have two kids doing Saxon math now, and it kind of makes me laugh sometimes. 00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:01.920 I love it. 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:05.200 Well, thank you so much for sharing today, Emily. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:07.039 And thank you for listening today. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:11.680 Remember to follow, like, and share skates stories, and I'll be talking with you soon. 00:29:12.079 --> 00:29:14.160 Thank you for listening to today's episode. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:22.720 If you have any questions or just want to find out more about skates, you can find us online at scomeschooling.com. 00:29:23.039 --> 00:29:30.160 Or email us at S C A I H S at SCAIHS.org. 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:33.920 This podcast was produced by Bob Sloan Audio Productions.