August 4, 2025 • 34 mins
Are you wondering how real homeschool families overcome challenges, find support, and stay inspired on their journey? In this special episode, “Live from the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference, answering your questions!”, host Kashia Davis brings you straight to the heart of Colorado’s vibrant homeschooling community.
Recorded live at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference, this episode features exclusive interviews with passionate and experienced homeschool leaders and parents, including:
- Corey Scott (letswonder.org | fourfringes.org): Veteran homeschool dad and co-founder of Wonder—an arts and enrichment homeschool program—and Four Fringes, a ministry dedicated to supporting homeschool groups and protecting religious freedom.
- Thaine Norris (walkingtogether.press): Homeschool dad and founder of Walking Together Press, a publisher supplying Christian books to communities in Africa and advocating for character-focused education.
- Eryn Lynum (erynlynum.com/nattheo): Host of the Nat Theo podcast, combining faith and science for nature-based, hands-on learning rooted in biblical truth.
- Ted Jones, Marketing Director, CHEC (chec.org): Dedicated homeschool dad of seven and an active leader in Colorado’s Christian home education community.
- Andrea Black (chuckblack.com): Homeschool mom of six, grandmother, and wife of Chuck Black (author of The Kingdom Series), with deep experience in family unity and academic excellence.
- Rebecca Keller & Juli Noce, Board of Directors, Bridging the Gaps Dyslexia Center (bridgingthegapsdyslexiacenter.com): Veteran homeschool moms specializing in supporting families navigating reading challenges and dyslexia.
You’ll hear real solutions and encouragement as these guests address your most pressing questions: How can you fund homeschooling without compromising your values? What does hands-on, faith-based learning look like in practice? How do you balance housework and school, nurture character, and keep your family’s “why” at the center?
Discover actionable tips, inspiring success stories, and practical strategies from leaders who’ve walked the journey and are passionate about helping homeschool families succeed. Whether you’re new or seasoned, you’ll find valuable insights to support your own homeschool adventure.
Don’t miss this community-packed, wisdom-filled episode! Subscribe to The Colorado Homeschool Podcast now so you never miss an episode full of resources, inspiration, and support for your homeschooling family.
The Colorado Homeschool podcast is a ministry of Christian Home Educators of Colorado. We have been motivating parents to disciple the next generation by embracing home discipleship that is Christ centered, parent directed, and free from government control. We invite you to join us in this mission. If you’re looking for support, resources, and inspiration on your homeschooling journey, visit CHEC.org. Don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast and share it with anyone who might benefit from the wisdom shared in this episode!
If you want to support homeschooling in Colorado go to CHEC.org/donate. Thank you! Brought to you by ThePodcastUpload.com Empowering Faith Driven Voices.
This podcast is powered by The Podcast Upload. Want to start your own? Book a free call: https://www.thepodcastupload.com/discovery-call
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
It's not the funding that's the problem. You know, when I've thought about this question
and Helen and I have talked about it within wonder, it's not that we don't
believe that funding can't come if it's a program or a
nonprofit that gives money to homeschool programs that promote
biblical education, when the government gets involved in that funding, and that's
the source, they don't allow religious education. So a lot of these
(00:21):
programs that are funded by the government, they don't allow you to talk about God.
They. They don't allow you to meaningfully raise your children through these programs
that, in fact, they will tell you, you can't talk about God. You can't
talk about it. And for us as believers, when you think about it, why would
we want to participate in something that says, you cannot talk about your faith, you
cannot talk about God.
(00:46):
Welcome. It's the Colorado Homeschool Podcast,
interviewing experts, parents, graduates,
all here to help you navigate this incredible journey called
homeschooling. And if you're looking for resources, tips and help,
go to CHEC.org you'll find what you need. In the meantime,
subscribe, follow along. Well, hello and
(01:09):
welcome. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm your host, Keasia Davis,
and we have an unusual podcast for you today. This
time it's a compilation of six different interviews that we did so
live on the Rocky Mountain homeschool conference for
June 11th through 14th in Denver. So we asked
people who were in attendance to submit questions that we could ask. I think you're
(01:32):
really going to enjoy them, but bear with us as the sound and the
audio is going to be a little and the video is going to be a
little different than normal. But we think it's well worth your time. So
thanks for being here. Good morning. My name is Kasia
Davis. I'm so excited that you guys are here. We're live from the Rocky Mountain
Homeschool Conference, and I'm your host today. And we have a great
(01:53):
guest. This is Corey Scott. He and his
wife Helen have. Gosh, you have your hands in quite a lot
today. So thank you. Why don't you tell us before we get started
quickly about the things that you're here representing for the Rocky
Mountain Homeschool Conference. And then I'm gonna. We have been collecting questions,
so we're. Gonna ask him some questions that we. Had people submit for our live
(02:15):
podcast. So what's a little bit about these two
booths? Yes. So the first one we have is Wonder so My wife and
I have had wonder. We're entering into our sixth year this year actually. So
we've been doing a homeschool music, arts and enrichment program for the
last five years and it's been wonderful. We have choir, we
have band, we have orchestra, we have dance, we have theater. And these
(02:37):
programs are intended to support the homeschool community. We do that one day a week.
And last year we had almost 150 students and so
60 to 70 families each year, which is wonderful. So
just something we really love doing and enjoy. And also we have Four
Fringes, which is the ministry we started about a year ago. And Four Fringes
is intended to support homeschool groups and
(02:59):
homeschool co ops and homeschool programs and different academies.
We want to make sure that they are supported as much as they can be
and that they have the religious protection they need. So. Okay, nice.
Well, this is perfect because the questions that I picked out for Corey to
answer for us are right up your alley. We have many co ops and
communities for homeschoolers. My question is many parents are loving
(03:21):
the government funded homeschool. How can we educate parents to stop
allowing or participate in programs that are funded by the
government? Yes. Any thoughts on that? You know, this is something we get
quite a bit. We are a privately funded program with wonder. So for the last
five years we've not taken any government funding or any funding. Is it
challenging? Yes, it can be challenging. But one thing that I've been thinking about
(03:43):
is think what and why did we start homeschooling? Because
if you think about why you started homeschooling for us as a family, we've been
homeschooling almost 20 years now and we've never taken any funding from
any other source. And we've also not been a part of programs that have taken
funding from other sources. And the reason why that's important to us is we
homeschool because we don't want the government inside of us
(04:05):
raising our children. And we think about that personally sometimes. But I think when
it comes to some of the funding situations, we start to think outside of that
and we say, well, I'll take some government funding here, government funding there,
or take the programs that have it. And I think we've got to get back
to that. What is the source of why we wanted to homeschool and
where did God lead us and is that really what he wanted us to do?
(04:27):
And the other side of that is it's not the funding that's the
problem. You know, When I've thought about this question and Helen and I have talked
about it within wonder, it's not that we don't believe that funding can't come.
If it's a program or a non profit that gives money to
homeschool programs that promote biblical education, when the
government gets involved in that funding, and that's the source, they don't allow
(04:49):
religious education. So a lot of these programs that are funded by the government,
they don't allow you to talk about God, they don't allow you to meaningfully raise
your children through these programs that in fact they will tell you, you can't talk
about God. You can talk about it. And for us as believers, when you think
about it, why would we want to participate in something that says you cannot talk
about your faith, you cannot talk about God. And so we've got to
(05:11):
educate a lot of our, especially our newer homeschool families to say, you know what,
what the government funds, it runs. And with government shackles come
government shackles at some point down the road. And if we think about that,
we say it may look great now for the first couple of years or
few years, but at some point restrictions are going to come
and we want to make sure that we educate vouchers on that. We haven't really,
(05:33):
I guess we've dipped our toes in it, but like some of the states that
have already introduced vouchers, we've seen that with the. What did you
say? That's somebody's quote, right? With the shekels come
shackles. We've seen that they're starting to introduce regulation immediately.
So yeah, thank you for that answer. Okay, we have another question kind of.
Similar, and this is, we homeschool on a single income. We're
(05:55):
wondering why the so much push against getting public
funding, but obviously kind of similar, but where can we get money
to offset that money? Do you have any thoughts on that? Because
I understand that strap for. I do, I do. And when you think
about, you know, as a homeschooled dad myself, and for the last
20 years we've been on one income for all of our home. We
(06:17):
did too. We have seven kids. And you think, wow, this is going to get
expensive. And I do understand that. But one again, go back to why are you
homeschooling? Did you really homeschool when you started to say, God, give me all the
money I need to do all these programs and all this stuff? No, usually it's
to slow down that pace and raise your children according to what, you know,
God is Leading. So sometimes that means your kids can't be a part
(06:38):
of every program, and that's okay. Our kids haven't been a part of every
program. You've got to be responsible in your home. If you can't afford it, it's
outside the means. It's okay. But we're praying that God continues to open those
doors for the income. It doesn't mean, oh, wife, you've got to go back to
work. No, it doesn't mean that. It means God, can you help me
increase what I can do so that I can put more output into our family?
(06:59):
Because those single incomes. I know as dads, I know it can be hard every
time. It's, we need these books. We need this curriculum. Didn't we just buy that
curriculum last year? But in addition to that, we need
more homeschoolers. When you graduate your last child, you are now
a homeschool alumni. Give back into the community.
Say it again. Say it louder. You think about it. You think about booster clubs
(07:22):
from universities. If these people who graduated from these colleges don't
support the colleges they graduated from, most universities would
crumble because they need the support. Home education is no
different. When you graduate your child, you are now an alumni. How can you give
back? Is that through some funding? A little bit here, a little bit there. Find
programs that actually provide funding. Scholarships, scholarships and
(07:43):
grants to families who need to offset some of those costs. We understand that
single moms who are homeschooling, it would be great to have those costs offset.
And that's something we're doing with Four Fringes is creating an opportunity
for us to help fund some of these organizations. So we need
support. Programs need support. Look at who you're giving to. Because
if that source is Christian believers who are strong in their faith
(08:06):
that are providing this, they're going to encourage biblical education, not
discourage it. So that's something we need to do more, is look back
as homeschool alumni. Yeah. Well, Corey, thanks for taking time out
of the conference to do this. I hope this was encouraging to everybody.
We're going to be talking to other vendors throughout this whole. So we're going to
clip these together and of course, we're going to link. Every person that we talk
(08:27):
to. We'll link the groups that they represent. So thank you, Cory. Thank you
very much. Have a good day. Yes, hi, it's me, Kashia, and we're doing
more of those live questions at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool
Conference. I'm here with my friend named Thaine Norris, Thaine. Will you tell
Us who you are and what you do. Yes. I am
a new book publisher. We have a publishing company
(08:49):
called Walking Together Press that was formed specifically as
a vehicle for supplying new books
freely to schools and communities in Africa. Specifically
freely. Okay. Amazing. Yeah. You're also a homeschool
dad. I am a homeschool dad. This is. This is my first time back at
the CHEC conference for 20 years. I was here 20 years ago
(09:11):
as a homeschool dad. That's amazing. With my kids here, you know,
drinking in all the workshops and
materials. That's awesome. We're so happy to have you here today. So
thank you. So I got a couple questions for you, and I think especially since
you said you were supplying books to Africa, this one is going to be good.
So I am the outreach director and I do a lot of community
(09:34):
engagement. And while we were doing one of our meetups for
the groups, they said, how do you engage your children in different
cultures when you don't live in that diverse culture? Yes.
Do you have any suggestions? I do. So I live in Estes
Park, Colorado. Oh, yeah. Raised my kids,
six kids in Estes Park. And it is not a diverse
(09:56):
culture. No, it's not. We know the diverse tourists, maybe, but
not. Yeah. Residents. We know the black family.
Yeah, exactly. That sort of thing. But I would
say that the answer to that is that we have always had
a missional approach
(10:16):
to our homeschooling and to our lives. And so we've taken our kids on different
short term missions. Nice. We were missionaries on the Mexican
border for a short time. So these experiences combined
together, just going out
and being a minority in some other culture. Oh,
my gosh. That's a great way to say it. Go be a minority. Yes,
(10:38):
that's a good idea. And eat their food. Yeah. And. And learn
to appreciate that people. Then when you come home, the
kids are like, especially attuned to people who don't look like. Yeah.
And it has been wonderful. Just, you know, my kids are. Are now
30, down to 19. Yeah. And they have.
They have lived that out. That's awesome. I love the way you phrase that. Go
(11:01):
be a minority. And that really is true. My. My husband is black,
so in our whole world, we've really lived here. I mean, this is
a rabbit trail. But he is always a minority and I rarely
am, so. And we've had that conversation a lot. That was. I've been on lots
of mission trips, but that was sort of profound. That was a good tip, guys.
Thank you. Okay, I have another question. Okay. Okay. How
(11:24):
do you balance character in your academic training as a home? From a
homeschool perspective, how do you do that? Yeah, so
it's a good question. You know, I'm the homeschool dad, so I'm the
substitute teacher. Okay. My wife did the
majority of the academics and the training. But I think as a
principal, first of all, each kid is
(11:47):
different in his academic aptitude, and it
was important for us to realize that early on. So we're not shoehorning each kid
into, oh, you need to learn the classics and you need to learn
calculus and achieve at this level. That sort of sorted
itself out. But underlying all of that is the most
important thing, which is character. And
(12:09):
so I would say,
how do you balance the two? Well, you stress
character and be flexible. Yes. Oh,
okay. And you get the character from. I was trying to tee you up. Come
on, Thane. What's the most important thing that builds the character that we got to
implement? Well,
(12:31):
being exposed to other people that aren't like you is. Oh,
yeah. Having a daily
diet of the scriptures. Yeah.
Knowing the one. Not just knowing the things, but knowing the one.
Yeah. And then I would say, of course, being a publisher
of so many great
(12:53):
biographies from the past, reading good
stories, and like, we have this
interesting interaction in Nigeria where
young people would come. I was sitting under a mango tree, and
a random young person would walk up and you wouldn't even say hi. You
just sit down and say, tell me how to walk more deeply with Jesus.
(13:17):
This happened regularly? Yes. Wow,
that's cool. Well, praise God, you know? Yeah. What an opportunity. But how do you
answer a question like that? Right? Well, you begin to talk about Jesus
and you ultimately begin to talk about his teachings.
Well, you know, don't be anxious for what you're going to eat or what you're
going to wear, and love your enemies and these things, and those are all
(13:39):
pretty. But who's ever done that? Right?
So the answer to that question is telling stories like
in the Nigerian context, with violence and whatnot.
Loving your enemies is a hard thing, but I can tell the story of
Corrie 10. Boom. And then I can tell stories of our own
family, of trusting God for our provision. And then
(14:02):
all of those stories add together, too, to really
put meat on these pretty saying. Well, it's testimonies
of what God is. Doing in other people's lives through and for them.
Right. I love it. Well, I have to tell you guys, the CHEC
booth is directly across from where they are. And I've
been over. I mean, I'm running around the whole time, but every time I come
(14:23):
over and talk to Thane, it's been a delight. So we're gonna link
the resources to Walking Together Press so you can
find them in the show notes. Thank you. Hi, guys,
it's Kasia. We're still here at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool conference
and we're answering questions that you guys submitted while you were here. So
I'm so excited because I have a new friend, I think, Erin
(14:45):
Lynham. Erin, will you tell us a little bit about who you are and
what you represent? Yeah. Thank you. So I'm the host of the NAT
Theo podcast. Nat Theo is short for natural theology.
That's really what science came from. It was this pursuit of learning about
God, our creator through creation. Coming from Romans
1:20. And so on the Nat Theo podcast we are nature lessons
(15:07):
rooted in the Bible so that as our kids are learning about nature and
science, they're at the same time learning theology, the study of
God, and nurturing their faith as they follow their God given
curiosity. That's awesome. I know that we have the right questions for you,
Erin, so thank you for doing this with us. So I'm just going to ask
a question. That was some. Okay. We have. My kids are not
(15:29):
a fan of textbooks, but I'm not very creative.
What's an easy way to find hands on learning? I mean, this is
definitely for you. Yeah, that is such a good question. I always encourage
parents, start with your child's interest. God has
tucked that curiosity inside of them. So whether it is rocks and
geology or maybe it's amphibians, we have our axolotls here at
(15:52):
the booth with us this weekend. I know I should. We should tour it. That's
really what we should have done. But. But if it's insects, if it's
water creatures, follow that curiosity because that's already a
spark, something God's put within them. And then gather fun
materials, whether it is fun books from the library with
pictures, whether it's podcasts, documentaries. Better yet,
(16:13):
if they love butterflies, go visit a butterfly garden. If they love
amphibians, go to a reptile house. Right. Use what God's
wonderful inside of them. Exactly. And really use that for those hands on
activities and then see, see where their curiosity leads them.
So what do we do? That part of the. The not being creative and not
feeling like I can come up with anything. Yeah. I mean, maybe I'm teeing you
(16:35):
up too. Good. Because you have, you have an answer for this. I know we
do. Yes. So click play on the Napio podcast. It's free
to listen on any podcast. Yeah, Click play.
Click play. Click play. So easy. You can also
listen straight on our website, aaronlineham.com
and we also have a full curriculum available with it where you don't have
(16:58):
to do anything. It's science, it is experiments, it's nature
prompts, it is Bible study. Everything you need to really just
spark that interest that God put in your child and help them to
follow that curiosity and learn about their creator. Okay, that's so
fun. So I kind of group these by theme. So this one is not that
far off. It says, what do you recommend for outdoor educational activities
(17:20):
for our homeschooling? You already kind of answered some of that. Yeah. But if you
really want to get outside with your children, which I highly recommend, one thing I
love doing is encouraging their skills of observation and
seeing details. Because in a way that also. Yeah, it's from
Charlotte B. Smith's method. It also teaches them that there is
absolute truth, that there are details in creation, that it's not
(17:41):
blurry, it's defined and it's detailed. And so one thing I love
doing with my kids is taking them to a natural area, whether it's a
prairie, a field down at the river. And I say, hey, go find something
interesting and then come back and tell me about it. And they need to
describe it to you maybe what is it doing? Is it singing? Is it
swaying? Is it climbing? Is it just sitting there? Is it
(18:04):
hard? Is it soft? What color is it? And you get to try and guess
what it is and then go with them to see that opportunity. You made a
game out of it. That's your game. Exactly. And then you can, even after you
go see it, encourage them, say, hey, you did a great job
describing that. Maybe give them a few more words that they could use to build
their vocabulary. And then it's your turn. You go find something that interests
(18:25):
you and bring it back to them because you're really training those skills of
observation. If you want to take it a step further, get a guidebook
from the library on wildflowers, birds, rocks.
Then. Or you can use like an app, like Inaturalist. Then you can actually
find what is that flower? What is that insect? What is that bird? And that's
a reward to really learn the name of that thing. Well, okay, this
(18:47):
wasn't written down. This is just from you talking like the personal. My kids are
older, I have a 30 and a 28 year old, so I haven't homeschooled in
a long time, but this was my vibe. I love this, but
it sounds like. And again, I'm teeing you up. I think nature, and
that is what God has given you and what he's led to you. But how
much of that is your homeschool like, day? Are you.
(19:08):
Yeah, it's a big part. It really is. Yeah. So I came to
appreciation of nature later in life. And so it was really in my late
20s as I started seeing my kids outside experiencing their
creator. I wanted to learn more about all these materials that God has given
us. And so now, as much as we can, we incorporate this into
our homeschool, whether we're inside listening to Nat Thiel and going through the
(19:31):
resources, and then we go outside and see these things for ourselves.
And so we really. This is a lot of our day right now in the
booth. It's the passion right now. It's your passionate. Yeah, I love it.
Sharing it with them. So we're always, you know, we always have caterpillars coming
and turning into butterflies, creatures in our house and plants.
And as much as we can, we want to be surrounded by God's creation
(19:54):
inside and outside, to always be spurring on those faith
conversations, I'm telling you. Okay. Thank you so much, Erin, for taking the time. Thank
you. But I wish you were here so you can go explore. Her booth is
adorable, and I kind of feel like I need to go explore this right now,
so thank you. Thank you. Hi, guys, it's Keisha again,
and we're still here at the Rocky Mountain homeschool conference, only
(20:15):
now we're at the CHEC booth, and I get to introduce you to my friend
that I get to work with and you never get to see. This is Ted
Jones, our marketing director. Hi, Ted. Hi. Hello. Hey, Ted, tell us your
homeschool story. Tell us about your friends, family. Homeschool story. Family. I've
been married actually in two weeks. We married 25 years
when my wife, Aaron and I. Oh, nice. Yeah, right. My wife, Aaron
(20:37):
and I, we knew we wanted to homeschool from the beginning. My oldest
now 22. My youngest is nine. And how
many kids do you have? So I have a total of seven kids. My. My
seven. The number of completion. Amen. We had.
Not that we refuse anymore, you know? Know. But. But yes.
So my two oldest are boys. My five younger are
(20:59):
girls, so. Yeah. Nice. I got to see Ted's family.
They stayed a couple days before the conference, and I got to hang out with
his family. They're absolutely delightful. So well done, Daddy.
So, you know, we're asking questions that were submitted for the live podcast, so we're
gonna ask Ted a couple questions too, so. Ted, this is hard. All
right? Tell me why it's worth it. Why is it worth it? Yes.
(21:22):
Homeschooling is so worth it. Not necessarily for the education,
I think. I think our kids will get a great education, but really, it's the
relationships. The relationships between sibling and sibling and
relationship between parent and child we have. I grew up in the public school
system, not a Christian home, and I
didn't know my brothers. I had three older brothers. Didn't know really. I mean, I
(21:44):
knew my mom, but didn't really know her. It was just somebody
else at home, you know, his mom, but not a close.
Close relationship that I see my kids have with my wife and the close
relationship my kids have with me. Yeah. And then I love
that either. Yeah. Siblings, they really are best friends, and it's because the
time they spend, not necessarily just always hanging out with a few
(22:06):
group, but they're hanging out with their family. Nice. That is a good answer.
Nobody answered that, which I think is probably the one of the number one reasons.
That's good. Okay, Ted, can you give us your favorite
homeschool memory? Favorite homeschool memory.
Since I'm not the primary one doing the teaching. My
favorite homeschool memory, because we can homeschool, I would say, is
(22:29):
volunteering, is being able to go and serve for a number of years prior to
working with CHEC, and which they're all volunteering now. Prior to working with
CHEC, we were over at a homeschool camp, or it was a Christian
camp, and we were able to run a homeschool family
homeschool camp. That's really cool. Since we were homeschooling, we could plan it.
We knew what it was like, and we were. We're able to do basically a
(22:51):
mini convention at a camp for families that would come for three
or four nights. Wow, that's really cool. Doing it together. And they're serving together
now, all in different little areas. It's awesome you brought your own
tea. That's good. Okay, final question. This isn't
from the audience, but I want to ask you
if. If there's one. Wait, wait. I can't even read my own writing.
(23:14):
Guys, one thing that you wouldn't be able to do. Yes.
What is one thing that you wouldn't be able to do if you weren't homeschooling?
Because you homeschool. You can do it. Let's put it that way. Yeah.
I would tie it really back to the last answer. Is being able to volunteer,
is being able to have that flexibility and time very much like a work from
home job. There's a ton of flexibility in there. And I think when
(23:35):
homeschooling is, there's a ton of flexibility. So
we don't have this rigid schedule. We get a lot
done with homeschooling, but we're able to have a lot of free time
or extra time to be able to serve others. So being able to
volunteer at conventions like this or at home or at. Church, oh, I love it.
Well, thanks, Ted. We are at the CHEC booth. There's about 20 minutes
(23:58):
remaining at the conference, at least of the exhibitor hall portion. We're about to
tear it down. We've got some friends here. I'm trying to get them Come say
hi. But we want to say thank you for joining us and being here for
the live homeschool podcast. Come say hi,
guys. Welcome back. This
is Kasia at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference. We are doing
(24:20):
live podcasts here with questions that people
submitted here at the conference. And I have with me Andrea
Black. Andrea, would you introduce yourselves and tell
everybody who you represent and absolutely be happy to. My name is
Andrea Black. I'm the wife of Chuck Black, the writer of the
Kingdom series. That's probably what he's best known for. He does have four series
(24:42):
now. But we love coming to the Colorado conference, so
it's a delight to be here and a treat to be asked to be on
your podcast. So thank you very much for asking. I'm so excited. And how many
children did you raise and homeschool? We have six children, three
girls and three boys, homeschooled from
kindergarten through, excuse me, through high school.
(25:02):
All went to college. That was their choice. All are now
married and we are grandparents to 14 beautiful grandchildren with more
to come, hopefully. So fun. Okay, so I went through the questions and
I picked this one is perfect for you. I have a couple questions that I
think you're going to be great at. So I'm going to read the question and
then, Andrea, you can answer it. When a family tries homeschooling for the first
(25:24):
time, what's the most common myth about homeschooling that they
see busted? Well, we homeschooled back in the day when it was
absolutely not the cool thing to do. And everyone was really worried about the
social life of my children. They were quite concerned that I was going to
raise social misfits. I did remind them that the jails were full of
social misfits who had not been homeschooled. But anyway, that was maybe
(25:46):
not the answer you want to give. So I, you know,
originally I would just wear myself out explaining to them they
don't need to worry because they're in Awana and they're in Sunday school and they're
in this and they're in that. And. And the people weren't necessarily
still satisfied with my answer. Right. So I would.
I realized it was foolish for me to be exhausting myself trying to
(26:08):
answer their question. So what I began to say say
was, can you define that term for me?
And when I did that. I didn't.
Have a single person have the ability to define that term. Oh my
gosh, that's a great question. I would wait, and then
I would say, well, it's obvious that I can't answer that to your
(26:30):
satisfaction since you yourself aren't certain what it is that I'm supposed
to say in response. She likes Zara. So when
you have a definition, you can ask me and I'll tell you. If I did
it. And nobody ever came back a second time. So I don't
think we need to wear ourselves out satisfying them
about the socialization of our children, that they will never stand before God and be
(26:53):
responsible for that you yourself alone will be responsible for.
Oh, my goodness. So just memorize that answer, people.
Memorize it. That was good. It works. That's good. Okay,
well, I have another question for you. That was really good.
Okay. I get asked this a lot. How do I make sure that I
am doing enough? Especially by new to
(27:16):
homeschooling moms. I hear this a lot too. Yes. Well, we
all start out thinking we have to have them seated in a
desk with the floor. Where I'm from in North Dakota,
it's four hours of even in kindergarten teaching. And
it didn't take me long to really realize you can be done with kindergarten
if you stretch it out in about an hour and a half. Yeah.
(27:39):
And so I learned quickly that as Mr.
Rogers says, their job at that early age is
to play. So play counts for
school. Yeah. And so you just get creative
in how you play. And that
isn't really difficult since you probably.
(28:01):
They probably entertain themselves pretty well as. As well. Especially if you
have multiple children. They're very good at playing. So I. I
just like to remember that littles their job is to
play and ask yourself, what is enough anyway?
Is it an. Is it enough that they love Jesus? Is it
enough that they love Their family. That's good. That's. Is
(28:24):
it enough that they have
a family togetherness? I always said the best thing for homeschooling
for us was family unity. And it wasn't about the academics, although
the academics certainly were important. It was about the family unity.
And so that became our goal. Ask yourself, what is my goal?
What is my goal for this child? As they grow, ask them, what
(28:47):
is your goal? Do you want to be successful? Something that needs
extra training? Let's help you tailor your education
toward that. And that is enough. And that's the beauty of
homeschooling is you get to see the gifts that God has placed in your individual
child. And ours are vastly different from one another. And then you tailor their education
toward who God created that person to be. Amen. Individualized.
(29:09):
Individualized. And so is that enough? That's enough.
And remember to love God with all your heart and your mind and your soul
and to love your neighbor as yourself. That is enough. Andrea,
thank you for chatting with us. That was fantastic. I am going to link
that how you can find them. So in the show notes, make sure you check
it out because all the people that we talk to today, they're going to be
(29:30):
linked so you can find them because obviously she's got some wisdom. Thank you. Thank
you. My pleasure. Hi, guys, it's Kashia again. We're
answering questions at the Rocky Mountain homeschool conference. And I have a couple friends
here or new friends. I'm just meeting them. This is Julie and this is
Rebecca. I'm gonna let them introduce themselves. Julie, tell us who you are and what
you do. Hi, my name is Julie and I have four children, one of whom
(29:53):
is a recent college grad. So we're pretty excited about that. My youngest is in
the eighth grade, so we have some battle scars. And we are not
finished, but we're on our way. Okay. It seems like you
are. The wisdom that we, a lot of the young homeschool moms need is somebody
who's like a little bit ahead of them. You're there. That's kind. Definitely the years,
but maybe the wisdom, you know, that's debatable. Well, we're
(30:15):
excited you're answering questions for us. Thank you. And Rebecca. So my name is
Rebecca. I am a homeschooled mom. I have a 20 year old and a 12
year old. My kiddo is in college doing great.
Nice. Okay, so we have a couple questions here. We asked people to
submit them as, you know, sorry, you guys have heard the drill. Now
let's start with you, Julie, tips and tricks on how to
(30:39):
balance doing school and housework while keeping your.
Keeping your home functioning. Tips and tricks. Yeah. Well,
okay. I speak the most important thing, one of the most important things is
to avoid mom guilt. Don't be deceived by that, because
that's something that is easy. A trap that's easy to fall into. Especially
when the kids are younger and. You feel like you have to take. Do it
(31:00):
all. I want to do it all. I want to have a clean house. I
want an adventurous house. I want to invite people over. I want to have a
great birthday party. I want to minister at church. I want to do everything and
teach my kids to read and discipline them. You're ministering to me right now
because I'm not young anymore. That is a lot. That's a lot. And so
I think it's important to remember that the work that you do for your
family and for your kids, even if it's not perfect, even if
(31:24):
it's minimal, is a blessing. And it's a gift to be with
those people and to serve the people that you love and to remember that it
doesn't last forever. Amen. And. And that you really are very
blessed. And to try to find things to be thankful for alongside the work.
And then when it comes on the floor. Yeah.
Be okay with it. And when you fall into bed at the end of the
(31:46):
day, just be grateful and ready to get up and go back and do battle
again. Because, you know, it's. It's a real blessing, and it doesn't last forever.
I know my kids are adults, and I always say. I don't. I didn't say
it. I don't know who said it, but the days are long, but the years
are short. Yeah. It's so true. Yeah. True. Or worse. Yeah, we heard it. It's
so true. Okay, so let's go to our next question. And this one is perfect.
(32:06):
This is actually. They're representing. Bridging the gaps, dyslexia.
So this is a perfect question for you. Tips and
strategies. Oh, no, that's not the question. I don't know where it went.
Well, I'll tell you because I remember it. I'm gonna paraphrase. I'm sorry for whoever
wrote it. How would you handle it when your child is falling
behind in reading and you're just trying everything and beating your head against the
(32:29):
wall? Okay. My first piece of advice is to listen to your mama
gut. It's your best tool. God
gave it to you for a reason. If you feel like there's something wrong. It
is definitely worth exploring that, especially. Especially
if you're dealing with reading disabilities. Or reading disabilities
that probably can run in families. I would
(32:51):
look at some online resources. Signs and symptoms of
dyslexia and then try to
get those and try to get help. And there is help, right? There is. I
mean, that's what you guys do. I can't tell you. So I have been in
a couple of other little sessions all over the conference and I've heard this
organization be referenced more than once. Yes. In fact, our keynote today did.
(33:13):
So there's help. You can do it. We are out there. Yes. Yeah.
Yes, there is. Awesome. And don't feel along. Thank you. Awesome. Thanks for
talking to us. I'm gonna post resources again so you can find them in the
show notes. Thank you so much for joining us today.
The Colorado Homeschool Podcast is a ministry of Christian Home
Educators of Colorado. We have been motivating parents to discuss
(33:35):
disciple the next generation by embracing home discipleship that
is Christ centered, parent directed and free from government control. We
invite you to join us in this mission. If you want to support homeschooling in
Colorado, go to CHEC.org donate in
the meantime, share this with your friends and make sure you subscribe. That really
helps us. Thank you.
(34:01):
Brought to you by thepodcastupload.com empowering
faith driven voices.
It's not the funding that's the problem. You know, when I've thought about this question
and Helen and I have talked about it within wonder, it's not that we don't
believe that funding can't come if it's a program or a
nonprofit that gives money to homeschool programs that promote
biblical education, when the government gets involved in that funding, and that's
the source, they don't allow religious education. So a lot of these
(00:21):
programs that are funded by the government, they don't allow you to talk about God.
They. They don't allow you to meaningfully raise your children through these programs
that, in fact, they will tell you, you can't talk about God. You can't
talk about it. And for us as believers, when you think about it, why would
we want to participate in something that says, you cannot talk about your faith, you
cannot talk about God.
(00:46):
Welcome. It's the Colorado Homeschool Podcast,
interviewing experts, parents, graduates,
all here to help you navigate this incredible journey called
homeschooling. And if you're looking for resources, tips and help,
go to CHEC.org you'll find what you need. In the meantime,
subscribe, follow along. Well, hello and
(01:09):
welcome. Thanks so much for joining us today. I'm your host, Keasia Davis,
and we have an unusual podcast for you today. This
time it's a compilation of six different interviews that we did so
live on the Rocky Mountain homeschool conference for
June 11th through 14th in Denver. So we asked
people who were in attendance to submit questions that we could ask. I think you're
(01:32):
really going to enjoy them, but bear with us as the sound and the
audio is going to be a little and the video is going to be a
little different than normal. But we think it's well worth your time. So
thanks for being here. Good morning. My name is Kasia
Davis. I'm so excited that you guys are here. We're live from the Rocky Mountain
Homeschool Conference, and I'm your host today. And we have a great
(01:53):
guest. This is Corey Scott. He and his
wife Helen have. Gosh, you have your hands in quite a lot
today. So thank you. Why don't you tell us before we get started
quickly about the things that you're here representing for the Rocky
Mountain Homeschool Conference. And then I'm gonna. We have been collecting questions,
so we're. Gonna ask him some questions that we. Had people submit for our live
(02:15):
podcast. So what's a little bit about these two
booths? Yes. So the first one we have is Wonder so My wife and
I have had wonder. We're entering into our sixth year this year actually. So
we've been doing a homeschool music, arts and enrichment program for the
last five years and it's been wonderful. We have choir, we
have band, we have orchestra, we have dance, we have theater. And these
(02:37):
programs are intended to support the homeschool community. We do that one day a week.
And last year we had almost 150 students and so
60 to 70 families each year, which is wonderful. So
just something we really love doing and enjoy. And also we have Four
Fringes, which is the ministry we started about a year ago. And Four Fringes
is intended to support homeschool groups and
(02:59):
homeschool co ops and homeschool programs and different academies.
We want to make sure that they are supported as much as they can be
and that they have the religious protection they need. So. Okay, nice.
Well, this is perfect because the questions that I picked out for Corey to
answer for us are right up your alley. We have many co ops and
communities for homeschoolers. My question is many parents are loving
(03:21):
the government funded homeschool. How can we educate parents to stop
allowing or participate in programs that are funded by the
government? Yes. Any thoughts on that? You know, this is something we get
quite a bit. We are a privately funded program with wonder. So for the last
five years we've not taken any government funding or any funding. Is it
challenging? Yes, it can be challenging. But one thing that I've been thinking about
(03:43):
is think what and why did we start homeschooling? Because
if you think about why you started homeschooling for us as a family, we've been
homeschooling almost 20 years now and we've never taken any funding from
any other source. And we've also not been a part of programs that have taken
funding from other sources. And the reason why that's important to us is we
homeschool because we don't want the government inside of us
(04:05):
raising our children. And we think about that personally sometimes. But I think when
it comes to some of the funding situations, we start to think outside of that
and we say, well, I'll take some government funding here, government funding there,
or take the programs that have it. And I think we've got to get back
to that. What is the source of why we wanted to homeschool and
where did God lead us and is that really what he wanted us to do?
(04:27):
And the other side of that is it's not the funding that's the
problem. You know, When I've thought about this question and Helen and I have talked
about it within wonder, it's not that we don't believe that funding can't come.
If it's a program or a non profit that gives money to
homeschool programs that promote biblical education, when the
government gets involved in that funding, and that's the source, they don't allow
(04:49):
religious education. So a lot of these programs that are funded by the government,
they don't allow you to talk about God, they don't allow you to meaningfully raise
your children through these programs that in fact they will tell you, you can't talk
about God. You can talk about it. And for us as believers, when you think
about it, why would we want to participate in something that says you cannot talk
about your faith, you cannot talk about God. And so we've got to
(05:11):
educate a lot of our, especially our newer homeschool families to say, you know what,
what the government funds, it runs. And with government shackles come
government shackles at some point down the road. And if we think about that,
we say it may look great now for the first couple of years or
few years, but at some point restrictions are going to come
and we want to make sure that we educate vouchers on that. We haven't really,
(05:33):
I guess we've dipped our toes in it, but like some of the states that
have already introduced vouchers, we've seen that with the. What did you
say? That's somebody's quote, right? With the shekels come
shackles. We've seen that they're starting to introduce regulation immediately.
So yeah, thank you for that answer. Okay, we have another question kind of.
Similar, and this is, we homeschool on a single income. We're
(05:55):
wondering why the so much push against getting public
funding, but obviously kind of similar, but where can we get money
to offset that money? Do you have any thoughts on that? Because
I understand that strap for. I do, I do. And when you think
about, you know, as a homeschooled dad myself, and for the last
20 years we've been on one income for all of our home. We
(06:17):
did too. We have seven kids. And you think, wow, this is going to get
expensive. And I do understand that. But one again, go back to why are you
homeschooling? Did you really homeschool when you started to say, God, give me all the
money I need to do all these programs and all this stuff? No, usually it's
to slow down that pace and raise your children according to what, you know,
God is Leading. So sometimes that means your kids can't be a part
(06:38):
of every program, and that's okay. Our kids haven't been a part of every
program. You've got to be responsible in your home. If you can't afford it, it's
outside the means. It's okay. But we're praying that God continues to open those
doors for the income. It doesn't mean, oh, wife, you've got to go back to
work. No, it doesn't mean that. It means God, can you help me
increase what I can do so that I can put more output into our family?
(06:59):
Because those single incomes. I know as dads, I know it can be hard every
time. It's, we need these books. We need this curriculum. Didn't we just buy that
curriculum last year? But in addition to that, we need
more homeschoolers. When you graduate your last child, you are now
a homeschool alumni. Give back into the community.
Say it again. Say it louder. You think about it. You think about booster clubs
(07:22):
from universities. If these people who graduated from these colleges don't
support the colleges they graduated from, most universities would
crumble because they need the support. Home education is no
different. When you graduate your child, you are now an alumni. How can you give
back? Is that through some funding? A little bit here, a little bit there. Find
programs that actually provide funding. Scholarships, scholarships and
(07:43):
grants to families who need to offset some of those costs. We understand that
single moms who are homeschooling, it would be great to have those costs offset.
And that's something we're doing with Four Fringes is creating an opportunity
for us to help fund some of these organizations. So we need
support. Programs need support. Look at who you're giving to. Because
if that source is Christian believers who are strong in their faith
(08:06):
that are providing this, they're going to encourage biblical education, not
discourage it. So that's something we need to do more, is look back
as homeschool alumni. Yeah. Well, Corey, thanks for taking time out
of the conference to do this. I hope this was encouraging to everybody.
We're going to be talking to other vendors throughout this whole. So we're going to
clip these together and of course, we're going to link. Every person that we talk
(08:27):
to. We'll link the groups that they represent. So thank you, Cory. Thank you
very much. Have a good day. Yes, hi, it's me, Kashia, and we're doing
more of those live questions at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool
Conference. I'm here with my friend named Thaine Norris, Thaine. Will you tell
Us who you are and what you do. Yes. I am
a new book publisher. We have a publishing company
(08:49):
called Walking Together Press that was formed specifically as
a vehicle for supplying new books
freely to schools and communities in Africa. Specifically
freely. Okay. Amazing. Yeah. You're also a homeschool
dad. I am a homeschool dad. This is. This is my first time back at
the CHEC conference for 20 years. I was here 20 years ago
(09:11):
as a homeschool dad. That's amazing. With my kids here, you know,
drinking in all the workshops and
materials. That's awesome. We're so happy to have you here today. So
thank you. So I got a couple questions for you, and I think especially since
you said you were supplying books to Africa, this one is going to be good.
So I am the outreach director and I do a lot of community
(09:34):
engagement. And while we were doing one of our meetups for
the groups, they said, how do you engage your children in different
cultures when you don't live in that diverse culture? Yes.
Do you have any suggestions? I do. So I live in Estes
Park, Colorado. Oh, yeah. Raised my kids,
six kids in Estes Park. And it is not a diverse
(09:56):
culture. No, it's not. We know the diverse tourists, maybe, but
not. Yeah. Residents. We know the black family.
Yeah, exactly. That sort of thing. But I would
say that the answer to that is that we have always had
a missional approach
(10:16):
to our homeschooling and to our lives. And so we've taken our kids on different
short term missions. Nice. We were missionaries on the Mexican
border for a short time. So these experiences combined
together, just going out
and being a minority in some other culture. Oh,
my gosh. That's a great way to say it. Go be a minority. Yes,
(10:38):
that's a good idea. And eat their food. Yeah. And. And learn
to appreciate that people. Then when you come home, the
kids are like, especially attuned to people who don't look like. Yeah.
And it has been wonderful. Just, you know, my kids are. Are now
30, down to 19. Yeah. And they have.
They have lived that out. That's awesome. I love the way you phrase that. Go
(11:01):
be a minority. And that really is true. My. My husband is black,
so in our whole world, we've really lived here. I mean, this is
a rabbit trail. But he is always a minority and I rarely
am, so. And we've had that conversation a lot. That was. I've been on lots
of mission trips, but that was sort of profound. That was a good tip, guys.
Thank you. Okay, I have another question. Okay. Okay. How
(11:24):
do you balance character in your academic training as a home? From a
homeschool perspective, how do you do that? Yeah, so
it's a good question. You know, I'm the homeschool dad, so I'm the
substitute teacher. Okay. My wife did the
majority of the academics and the training. But I think as a
principal, first of all, each kid is
(11:47):
different in his academic aptitude, and it
was important for us to realize that early on. So we're not shoehorning each kid
into, oh, you need to learn the classics and you need to learn
calculus and achieve at this level. That sort of sorted
itself out. But underlying all of that is the most
important thing, which is character. And
(12:09):
so I would say,
how do you balance the two? Well, you stress
character and be flexible. Yes. Oh,
okay. And you get the character from. I was trying to tee you up. Come
on, Thane. What's the most important thing that builds the character that we got to
implement? Well,
(12:31):
being exposed to other people that aren't like you is. Oh,
yeah. Having a daily
diet of the scriptures. Yeah.
Knowing the one. Not just knowing the things, but knowing the one.
Yeah. And then I would say, of course, being a publisher
of so many great
(12:53):
biographies from the past, reading good
stories, and like, we have this
interesting interaction in Nigeria where
young people would come. I was sitting under a mango tree, and
a random young person would walk up and you wouldn't even say hi. You
just sit down and say, tell me how to walk more deeply with Jesus.
(13:17):
This happened regularly? Yes. Wow,
that's cool. Well, praise God, you know? Yeah. What an opportunity. But how do you
answer a question like that? Right? Well, you begin to talk about Jesus
and you ultimately begin to talk about his teachings.
Well, you know, don't be anxious for what you're going to eat or what you're
going to wear, and love your enemies and these things, and those are all
(13:39):
pretty. But who's ever done that? Right?
So the answer to that question is telling stories like
in the Nigerian context, with violence and whatnot.
Loving your enemies is a hard thing, but I can tell the story of
Corrie 10. Boom. And then I can tell stories of our own
family, of trusting God for our provision. And then
(14:02):
all of those stories add together, too, to really
put meat on these pretty saying. Well, it's testimonies
of what God is. Doing in other people's lives through and for them.
Right. I love it. Well, I have to tell you guys, the CHEC
booth is directly across from where they are. And I've
been over. I mean, I'm running around the whole time, but every time I come
(14:23):
over and talk to Thane, it's been a delight. So we're gonna link
the resources to Walking Together Press so you can
find them in the show notes. Thank you. Hi, guys,
it's Kasia. We're still here at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool conference
and we're answering questions that you guys submitted while you were here. So
I'm so excited because I have a new friend, I think, Erin
(14:45):
Lynham. Erin, will you tell us a little bit about who you are and
what you represent? Yeah. Thank you. So I'm the host of the NAT
Theo podcast. Nat Theo is short for natural theology.
That's really what science came from. It was this pursuit of learning about
God, our creator through creation. Coming from Romans
1:20. And so on the Nat Theo podcast we are nature lessons
(15:07):
rooted in the Bible so that as our kids are learning about nature and
science, they're at the same time learning theology, the study of
God, and nurturing their faith as they follow their God given
curiosity. That's awesome. I know that we have the right questions for you,
Erin, so thank you for doing this with us. So I'm just going to ask
a question. That was some. Okay. We have. My kids are not
(15:29):
a fan of textbooks, but I'm not very creative.
What's an easy way to find hands on learning? I mean, this is
definitely for you. Yeah, that is such a good question. I always encourage
parents, start with your child's interest. God has
tucked that curiosity inside of them. So whether it is rocks and
geology or maybe it's amphibians, we have our axolotls here at
(15:52):
the booth with us this weekend. I know I should. We should tour it. That's
really what we should have done. But. But if it's insects, if it's
water creatures, follow that curiosity because that's already a
spark, something God's put within them. And then gather fun
materials, whether it is fun books from the library with
pictures, whether it's podcasts, documentaries. Better yet,
(16:13):
if they love butterflies, go visit a butterfly garden. If they love
amphibians, go to a reptile house. Right. Use what God's
wonderful inside of them. Exactly. And really use that for those hands on
activities and then see, see where their curiosity leads them.
So what do we do? That part of the. The not being creative and not
feeling like I can come up with anything. Yeah. I mean, maybe I'm teeing you
(16:35):
up too. Good. Because you have, you have an answer for this. I know we
do. Yes. So click play on the Napio podcast. It's free
to listen on any podcast. Yeah, Click play.
Click play. Click play. So easy. You can also
listen straight on our website, aaronlineham.com
and we also have a full curriculum available with it where you don't have
(16:58):
to do anything. It's science, it is experiments, it's nature
prompts, it is Bible study. Everything you need to really just
spark that interest that God put in your child and help them to
follow that curiosity and learn about their creator. Okay, that's so
fun. So I kind of group these by theme. So this one is not that
far off. It says, what do you recommend for outdoor educational activities
(17:20):
for our homeschooling? You already kind of answered some of that. Yeah. But if you
really want to get outside with your children, which I highly recommend, one thing I
love doing is encouraging their skills of observation and
seeing details. Because in a way that also. Yeah, it's from
Charlotte B. Smith's method. It also teaches them that there is
absolute truth, that there are details in creation, that it's not
(17:41):
blurry, it's defined and it's detailed. And so one thing I love
doing with my kids is taking them to a natural area, whether it's a
prairie, a field down at the river. And I say, hey, go find something
interesting and then come back and tell me about it. And they need to
describe it to you maybe what is it doing? Is it singing? Is it
swaying? Is it climbing? Is it just sitting there? Is it
(18:04):
hard? Is it soft? What color is it? And you get to try and guess
what it is and then go with them to see that opportunity. You made a
game out of it. That's your game. Exactly. And then you can, even after you
go see it, encourage them, say, hey, you did a great job
describing that. Maybe give them a few more words that they could use to build
their vocabulary. And then it's your turn. You go find something that interests
(18:25):
you and bring it back to them because you're really training those skills of
observation. If you want to take it a step further, get a guidebook
from the library on wildflowers, birds, rocks.
Then. Or you can use like an app, like Inaturalist. Then you can actually
find what is that flower? What is that insect? What is that bird? And that's
a reward to really learn the name of that thing. Well, okay, this
(18:47):
wasn't written down. This is just from you talking like the personal. My kids are
older, I have a 30 and a 28 year old, so I haven't homeschooled in
a long time, but this was my vibe. I love this, but
it sounds like. And again, I'm teeing you up. I think nature, and
that is what God has given you and what he's led to you. But how
much of that is your homeschool like, day? Are you.
(19:08):
Yeah, it's a big part. It really is. Yeah. So I came to
appreciation of nature later in life. And so it was really in my late
20s as I started seeing my kids outside experiencing their
creator. I wanted to learn more about all these materials that God has given
us. And so now, as much as we can, we incorporate this into
our homeschool, whether we're inside listening to Nat Thiel and going through the
(19:31):
resources, and then we go outside and see these things for ourselves.
And so we really. This is a lot of our day right now in the
booth. It's the passion right now. It's your passionate. Yeah, I love it.
Sharing it with them. So we're always, you know, we always have caterpillars coming
and turning into butterflies, creatures in our house and plants.
And as much as we can, we want to be surrounded by God's creation
(19:54):
inside and outside, to always be spurring on those faith
conversations, I'm telling you. Okay. Thank you so much, Erin, for taking the time. Thank
you. But I wish you were here so you can go explore. Her booth is
adorable, and I kind of feel like I need to go explore this right now,
so thank you. Thank you. Hi, guys, it's Keisha again,
and we're still here at the Rocky Mountain homeschool conference, only
(20:15):
now we're at the CHEC booth, and I get to introduce you to my friend
that I get to work with and you never get to see. This is Ted
Jones, our marketing director. Hi, Ted. Hi. Hello. Hey, Ted, tell us your
homeschool story. Tell us about your friends, family. Homeschool story. Family. I've
been married actually in two weeks. We married 25 years
when my wife, Aaron and I. Oh, nice. Yeah, right. My wife, Aaron
(20:37):
and I, we knew we wanted to homeschool from the beginning. My oldest
now 22. My youngest is nine. And how
many kids do you have? So I have a total of seven kids. My. My
seven. The number of completion. Amen. We had.
Not that we refuse anymore, you know? Know. But. But yes.
So my two oldest are boys. My five younger are
(20:59):
girls, so. Yeah. Nice. I got to see Ted's family.
They stayed a couple days before the conference, and I got to hang out with
his family. They're absolutely delightful. So well done, Daddy.
So, you know, we're asking questions that were submitted for the live podcast, so we're
gonna ask Ted a couple questions too, so. Ted, this is hard. All
right? Tell me why it's worth it. Why is it worth it? Yes.
(21:22):
Homeschooling is so worth it. Not necessarily for the education,
I think. I think our kids will get a great education, but really, it's the
relationships. The relationships between sibling and sibling and
relationship between parent and child we have. I grew up in the public school
system, not a Christian home, and I
didn't know my brothers. I had three older brothers. Didn't know really. I mean, I
(21:44):
knew my mom, but didn't really know her. It was just somebody
else at home, you know, his mom, but not a close.
Close relationship that I see my kids have with my wife and the close
relationship my kids have with me. Yeah. And then I love
that either. Yeah. Siblings, they really are best friends, and it's because the
time they spend, not necessarily just always hanging out with a few
(22:06):
group, but they're hanging out with their family. Nice. That is a good answer.
Nobody answered that, which I think is probably the one of the number one reasons.
That's good. Okay, Ted, can you give us your favorite
homeschool memory? Favorite homeschool memory.
Since I'm not the primary one doing the teaching. My
favorite homeschool memory, because we can homeschool, I would say, is
(22:29):
volunteering, is being able to go and serve for a number of years prior to
working with CHEC, and which they're all volunteering now. Prior to working with
CHEC, we were over at a homeschool camp, or it was a Christian
camp, and we were able to run a homeschool family
homeschool camp. That's really cool. Since we were homeschooling, we could plan it.
We knew what it was like, and we were. We're able to do basically a
(22:51):
mini convention at a camp for families that would come for three
or four nights. Wow, that's really cool. Doing it together. And they're serving together
now, all in different little areas. It's awesome you brought your own
tea. That's good. Okay, final question. This isn't
from the audience, but I want to ask you
if. If there's one. Wait, wait. I can't even read my own writing.
(23:14):
Guys, one thing that you wouldn't be able to do. Yes.
What is one thing that you wouldn't be able to do if you weren't homeschooling?
Because you homeschool. You can do it. Let's put it that way. Yeah.
I would tie it really back to the last answer. Is being able to volunteer,
is being able to have that flexibility and time very much like a work from
home job. There's a ton of flexibility in there. And I think when
(23:35):
homeschooling is, there's a ton of flexibility. So
we don't have this rigid schedule. We get a lot
done with homeschooling, but we're able to have a lot of free time
or extra time to be able to serve others. So being able to
volunteer at conventions like this or at home or at. Church, oh, I love it.
Well, thanks, Ted. We are at the CHEC booth. There's about 20 minutes
(23:58):
remaining at the conference, at least of the exhibitor hall portion. We're about to
tear it down. We've got some friends here. I'm trying to get them Come say
hi. But we want to say thank you for joining us and being here for
the live homeschool podcast. Come say hi,
guys. Welcome back. This
is Kasia at the Rocky Mountain Homeschool Conference. We are doing
(24:20):
live podcasts here with questions that people
submitted here at the conference. And I have with me Andrea
Black. Andrea, would you introduce yourselves and tell
everybody who you represent and absolutely be happy to. My name is
Andrea Black. I'm the wife of Chuck Black, the writer of the
Kingdom series. That's probably what he's best known for. He does have four series
(24:42):
now. But we love coming to the Colorado conference, so
it's a delight to be here and a treat to be asked to be on
your podcast. So thank you very much for asking. I'm so excited. And how many
children did you raise and homeschool? We have six children, three
girls and three boys, homeschooled from
kindergarten through, excuse me, through high school.
(25:02):
All went to college. That was their choice. All are now
married and we are grandparents to 14 beautiful grandchildren with more
to come, hopefully. So fun. Okay, so I went through the questions and
I picked this one is perfect for you. I have a couple questions that I
think you're going to be great at. So I'm going to read the question and
then, Andrea, you can answer it. When a family tries homeschooling for the first
(25:24):
time, what's the most common myth about homeschooling that they
see busted? Well, we homeschooled back in the day when it was
absolutely not the cool thing to do. And everyone was really worried about the
social life of my children. They were quite concerned that I was going to
raise social misfits. I did remind them that the jails were full of
social misfits who had not been homeschooled. But anyway, that was maybe
(25:46):
not the answer you want to give. So I, you know,
originally I would just wear myself out explaining to them they
don't need to worry because they're in Awana and they're in Sunday school and they're
in this and they're in that. And. And the people weren't necessarily
still satisfied with my answer. Right. So I would.
I realized it was foolish for me to be exhausting myself trying to
(26:08):
answer their question. So what I began to say say
was, can you define that term for me?
And when I did that. I didn't.
Have a single person have the ability to define that term. Oh my
gosh, that's a great question. I would wait, and then
I would say, well, it's obvious that I can't answer that to your
(26:30):
satisfaction since you yourself aren't certain what it is that I'm supposed
to say in response. She likes Zara. So when
you have a definition, you can ask me and I'll tell you. If I did
it. And nobody ever came back a second time. So I don't
think we need to wear ourselves out satisfying them
about the socialization of our children, that they will never stand before God and be
(26:53):
responsible for that you yourself alone will be responsible for.
Oh, my goodness. So just memorize that answer, people.
Memorize it. That was good. It works. That's good. Okay,
well, I have another question for you. That was really good.
Okay. I get asked this a lot. How do I make sure that I
am doing enough? Especially by new to
(27:16):
homeschooling moms. I hear this a lot too. Yes. Well, we
all start out thinking we have to have them seated in a
desk with the floor. Where I'm from in North Dakota,
it's four hours of even in kindergarten teaching. And
it didn't take me long to really realize you can be done with kindergarten
if you stretch it out in about an hour and a half. Yeah.
(27:39):
And so I learned quickly that as Mr.
Rogers says, their job at that early age is
to play. So play counts for
school. Yeah. And so you just get creative
in how you play. And that
isn't really difficult since you probably.
(28:01):
They probably entertain themselves pretty well as. As well. Especially if you
have multiple children. They're very good at playing. So I. I
just like to remember that littles their job is to
play and ask yourself, what is enough anyway?
Is it an. Is it enough that they love Jesus? Is it
enough that they love Their family. That's good. That's. Is
(28:24):
it enough that they have
a family togetherness? I always said the best thing for homeschooling
for us was family unity. And it wasn't about the academics, although
the academics certainly were important. It was about the family unity.
And so that became our goal. Ask yourself, what is my goal?
What is my goal for this child? As they grow, ask them, what
(28:47):
is your goal? Do you want to be successful? Something that needs
extra training? Let's help you tailor your education
toward that. And that is enough. And that's the beauty of
homeschooling is you get to see the gifts that God has placed in your individual
child. And ours are vastly different from one another. And then you tailor their education
toward who God created that person to be. Amen. Individualized.
(29:09):
Individualized. And so is that enough? That's enough.
And remember to love God with all your heart and your mind and your soul
and to love your neighbor as yourself. That is enough. Andrea,
thank you for chatting with us. That was fantastic. I am going to link
that how you can find them. So in the show notes, make sure you check
it out because all the people that we talk to today, they're going to be
(29:30):
linked so you can find them because obviously she's got some wisdom. Thank you. Thank
you. My pleasure. Hi, guys, it's Kashia again. We're
answering questions at the Rocky Mountain homeschool conference. And I have a couple friends
here or new friends. I'm just meeting them. This is Julie and this is
Rebecca. I'm gonna let them introduce themselves. Julie, tell us who you are and what
you do. Hi, my name is Julie and I have four children, one of whom
(29:53):
is a recent college grad. So we're pretty excited about that. My youngest is in
the eighth grade, so we have some battle scars. And we are not
finished, but we're on our way. Okay. It seems like you
are. The wisdom that we, a lot of the young homeschool moms need is somebody
who's like a little bit ahead of them. You're there. That's kind. Definitely the years,
but maybe the wisdom, you know, that's debatable. Well, we're
(30:15):
excited you're answering questions for us. Thank you. And Rebecca. So my name is
Rebecca. I am a homeschooled mom. I have a 20 year old and a 12
year old. My kiddo is in college doing great.
Nice. Okay, so we have a couple questions here. We asked people to
submit them as, you know, sorry, you guys have heard the drill. Now
let's start with you, Julie, tips and tricks on how to
(30:39):
balance doing school and housework while keeping your.
Keeping your home functioning. Tips and tricks. Yeah. Well,
okay. I speak the most important thing, one of the most important things is
to avoid mom guilt. Don't be deceived by that, because
that's something that is easy. A trap that's easy to fall into. Especially
when the kids are younger and. You feel like you have to take. Do it
(31:00):
all. I want to do it all. I want to have a clean house. I
want an adventurous house. I want to invite people over. I want to have a
great birthday party. I want to minister at church. I want to do everything and
teach my kids to read and discipline them. You're ministering to me right now
because I'm not young anymore. That is a lot. That's a lot. And so
I think it's important to remember that the work that you do for your
family and for your kids, even if it's not perfect, even if
(31:24):
it's minimal, is a blessing. And it's a gift to be with
those people and to serve the people that you love and to remember that it
doesn't last forever. Amen. And. And that you really are very
blessed. And to try to find things to be thankful for alongside the work.
And then when it comes on the floor. Yeah.
Be okay with it. And when you fall into bed at the end of the
(31:46):
day, just be grateful and ready to get up and go back and do battle
again. Because, you know, it's. It's a real blessing, and it doesn't last forever.
I know my kids are adults, and I always say. I don't. I didn't say
it. I don't know who said it, but the days are long, but the years
are short. Yeah. It's so true. Yeah. True. Or worse. Yeah, we heard it. It's
so true. Okay, so let's go to our next question. And this one is perfect.
(32:06):
This is actually. They're representing. Bridging the gaps, dyslexia.
So this is a perfect question for you. Tips and
strategies. Oh, no, that's not the question. I don't know where it went.
Well, I'll tell you because I remember it. I'm gonna paraphrase. I'm sorry for whoever
wrote it. How would you handle it when your child is falling
behind in reading and you're just trying everything and beating your head against the
(32:29):
wall? Okay. My first piece of advice is to listen to your mama
gut. It's your best tool. God
gave it to you for a reason. If you feel like there's something wrong. It
is definitely worth exploring that, especially. Especially
if you're dealing with reading disabilities. Or reading disabilities
that probably can run in families. I would
(32:51):
look at some online resources. Signs and symptoms of
dyslexia and then try to
get those and try to get help. And there is help, right? There is. I
mean, that's what you guys do. I can't tell you. So I have been in
a couple of other little sessions all over the conference and I've heard this
organization be referenced more than once. Yes. In fact, our keynote today did.
(33:13):
So there's help. You can do it. We are out there. Yes. Yeah.
Yes, there is. Awesome. And don't feel along. Thank you. Awesome. Thanks for
talking to us. I'm gonna post resources again so you can find them in the
show notes. Thank you so much for joining us today.
The Colorado Homeschool Podcast is a ministry of Christian Home
Educators of Colorado. We have been motivating parents to discuss
(33:35):
disciple the next generation by embracing home discipleship that
is Christ centered, parent directed and free from government control. We
invite you to join us in this mission. If you want to support homeschooling in
Colorado, go to CHEC.org donate in
the meantime, share this with your friends and make sure you subscribe. That really
helps us. Thank you.
(34:01):
Brought to you by thepodcastupload.com empowering
faith driven voices.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.