Nikki Truesdale | Homeschooling, Socialization Myths, Education | The Edit Alaverdyan Podcast #40

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Ever wondered if a comprehensive education can be achieved in less time? Join us as Nikki Truesdale, a renowned advocate and second-generation homeschooler, challenges conventional educational timelines and reveals how homeschooling can be a tailored and rewarding path for families. Nikki shares her personal journey from being homeschooled in the 1980s to raising her children with the same approach. Alongside Nikki's insights, we also hear from a courageous single parent who successfully navigated the challenges of homeschooling after escaping a difficult situation. Together, they highlight how homeschooling offers unmatched flexibility and efficiency, allowing for personalized learning that respects each child's unique needs.

Misconceptions about homeschooling often point to socialization issues and curriculum gaps, but this episode sets the record straight. Nikki and our guests address these concerns head-on, emphasizing how homeschoolers often have richer social experiences than their traditionally schooled peers. From participating in sports and music to attending proms, they explore the myriad of social opportunities available outside the confines of a conventional school setting. Additionally, we tackle the fear of curriculum gaps, arguing that homeschooling allows parents to focus on truly important skills, ensuring a solid educational foundation.

The episode also delves into the distinctions between accredited and non-accredited homeschooling, discussing how these decisions impact learning experiences and future academic pursuits. We explore the liberation and empowerment that come with homeschooling, encouraging parents to embrace creativity and flexibility in designing an educational journey that aligns with their family's values and needs. Whether you're a seasoned homeschooler or just curious about the possibilities, this episode promises to enlighten and inspire, providing valuable insights for anyone interested in the transformative potential of homeschooling.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You can let your children start late and it
doesn't take 12 years and allthese things that I had learned
from my own experience as achild and kind of trial and
error as a homeschool mom.
I just started sharing them andI guess they resonated so
that's episode I have on thewonderful and prestige Nikki

(00:34):
Truesdale.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
Nikki is somebody that I admired and have been an
avid fan of and following for awhile now, since I am a
homeschooling mom myself, and Ithought of her because there is
so much misconception aroundmothers, families and
homeschooling and I reallywanted to clear out the air a
little bit.

(00:55):
Nikki is an author of AnyoneCan Homeschool.
She's a Christian blogger,she's a publisher at Knowledge
Keepers Bookstore, she's a wife,she's a mom and she is a
grandmother and also a secondgeneration homeschooling mother
and a guru of homeschooling.
The information that I gainedfrom this podcast was phenomenal

(01:19):
.
We talked about the pros, thecons of homeschooling.
Can really kids get intocolleges?
Are homeschooled kids sociallyawkward?
Right, that's a question thatyou hear and, just in general, a
really beautiful topic aroundhomeschooling, because I know
that you know, schools are notwhat it really is and I think

(01:41):
one of the most important topicsthat I wanted to address is
does really education last up to12 years?
And her idea is that a full,complete education should not
last up to like 12 years.
You know, and her kids did notgo to school for 12 years and I

(02:02):
certainly am not planning thatfor my children.
So I really wanted to talkabout how that works, because
what we're taught in today'ssociety is that you need 12
years, you need eight hours aday in school, you need hours
and hours of studying, hours andhours of homework, and this is
what gravitated me towardshomeschooling more is this
freedom, and we get to talkabout the why.

(02:24):
Why is homeschooling good foryou?
So we talk about the why andmany other important topics.
Please stay tuned and enjoy thisepisode.
Make sure you guys subscribe tothe channel, because it's such
support and I hope to hear backsome awesome feedbacks.
Yeah, I'm a first timehomeschool mom and I honestly

(02:48):
I've researched so much aboutthis and it's the best decision
I have ever made.
It is yes, yeah.
So tell us I mean, tell us alittle bit about how you got
into homeschooling and howyou're just such a guru of it.
Now Tell us how did you getinto that?

(03:10):
That's funny.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
Well, I was homeschooled as a kid and so
that's how I was firstintroduced to homeschooling.
My mom and dad took me and mysister out of public school in
the 1983.
Took me and my sister out ofpublic school in the 1983.
So we started our first schoolyear in September of 1983.
And I was 11 years old.
So that was my introduction tohomeschooling, and it was

(03:34):
obviously very different backthen, but it was.
It was a lifestyle that I lovedand I'm so thankful for it.
And so, as I grew older, it wassomething I knew I would do
with my kids.
There was no question that Iwas going to do the same thing,
and so I had to kind of figureout a way to do it and reconcile
that with my plans to also bethis awesome businesswoman.

(03:56):
So that was when I was ateenager.
Obviously, I chose motherhoodover being a career woman, and
I'm very glad I did.
But how I came to, you know,talk about it so much on social
media and things like that.
It was natural because I wasgiven that upbringing.

(04:18):
So it was easy for me toappreciate homeschooling and to
see it from both sides as astudent and also as a mom, and I
began to see that some thingsthat I would share from my own
experiences were what peoplewanted to hear.
People needed to know that itwas going to work and, based on
many of my own experiences, Iwas able to share that you can

(04:40):
do it if you're single, you cando it if you have to work, you
can let your children start lateand it doesn't take 12 years.
And all these things that I hadlearned from my own experience
as a child and kind of trial anderror as a homeschool mom, I
just started sharing them and Iguess they resonated.
So that's where we are today.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Yeah, one of the main , I guess, pathways that led me
to you is the article that youwrote about you don't need 12
years to educate your child.
There are so manymisconceptions out there with
parents and homeschooling.
We're going to get into that,of course, but what inspired you

(05:23):
to write the article of youdon't need 12 years to educate
your children, and what doesthat even mean?

Speaker 1 (05:30):
Well, honestly, that article came out of my
experiences as a homeschool mom,going through many different
situations that were tough,situations that were tough I in

(05:50):
school or homeschool,homeschooling as a mom, as after
the first year of homeschoolingmy first daughter, I was
divorced.
I ran away from a very abusivesituation and took my two little
girls with me and started over.
Just everything had to startover and I was broke and I was
single and we were homeless,except that my parents had a
house they were building andthey let us stay there, even
though it wasn't finished, andso I literally did have to start

(06:13):
all over from scratch and so,as you might imagine, that put
school on the back burnersometimes, but I was determined
going in that we were going tohomeschool, no matter what that
looked like.
I was determined going in thatwe were going to homeschool, no
matter what that looked like.
And what it looked like was alot of delay, a lot of skipped

(06:40):
days, skipped months dealingwith life and dealing with look
back on our situation and go.
You know, none of my kidsactually had 12 years of home
education, but they got acomplete education and it didn't
take all the time that peopletell you that it takes, and so I
learned that it doesn't take 12years plus kindergarten, and it

(07:01):
doesn't take eight hours a dayor seven hours a day, and you
don't have to spend five days aweek or nine months a year.
All of those things are justmade up by the government system
because it's convenient andthey have to answer to a lot of
people, and so what we havelearned is you know, mistakenly,

(07:21):
that it takes all this time toeducate children, but there's a
lot of wasted time in school,and I learned that from having
delayed my children in variouscircumstances because I had no
choice, and learned that theycould learn to read later and
faster, they could pick up theirmath concepts later and faster.
They could also graduate earlyand still get all of the
education they needed.

(07:42):
And so really, that camethrough a lot of my own
experiences, but also learningfrom others who had done this
before me, and so I was tryingto encourage people especially
who'd been in that situation.
Maybe they were single parentsor working parents, or maybe
they had a child with specialneeds, or there's so many

(08:04):
reasons why condensing theamount of time you spend is very
helpful to know about, and sothe more I shared, the more I
thought I just need to put thisall in one article and help
people see that the currenteducation system in America is
not really the norm throughouthistory and it's not really the
most efficient way, and it's notthe way we have to copy.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
And so that's where that that blog post came from
and I love and I've read it andI love it so much because I feel
like, you know, there's thiswhole thing about, not you know,
school's not for every kid.
There's this thing going aroundthat, not you know, education
is not for every child, or Ithink like, yeah, maybe the
controlled environment isn't so,but I think knowledge and
education can be made so easilyand so beautifully articulated

(08:52):
in a way where every childconnects with that, and it
shouldn't take 12 years.
So, from your perspective as aprofessional, how long do you
think a child needs to get aneducation, versus the full 12
years?

Speaker 1 (09:08):
I would honestly say about eight full years and you
know I didn't, you know I didn'tdo a calendar of eight years
with my kids but I wouldprobably say eight, maybe nine
years of just, you know, veryfocused, intense schoolwork and
that gives you all the levels ofmath that you need to graduate

(09:30):
high school.
It gives you plenty of time tolearn to read and to take your
reading ability and apply it toall kinds of different books,
but also to learn to write andwrite well and learn to
communicate well and to use allof that to learn science and
history and critical thinkingskills.

(09:51):
We don't need 12 years of agrammar curriculum or 12 years
of writing practice or you knowsome, even math Math doesn't
have.
There's not 12 years worth ofmath concepts that are actually
given to kids, not 12 yearsworth of math concepts that are
actually given to kids.
A lot of it is busy work andmade up stuff that could be
condensed into so much less timeand still give them a really

(10:12):
solid math foundation, and thesame goes for science too.
So what we see in the schoolsystem is just a creation of the
government system where thelonger they keep the kids, the
more tax dollars they can bringin.
The more government grows andthe more they keep the kids, the
more tax dollars they can bringin, the more government grows
and the more they make thepublic think that they're
providing a really necessaryservice, when actually it's a

(10:33):
whole lot of wasted time andunnecessary to take children's
their childhood away for thatlong.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
Yes, I agree with you .
I think also for the people whoare considering homeschooling.
I've met such amazing moms thatare homeschooling and I think
one of the advice they gave meis, if you are a mom or a family
that's consideringhomeschooling, it's important to
think about your why.

(11:00):
Why is it important?
Why, why is it important?
So, can you guide us throughthis and why you think that?
Why?

Speaker 1 (11:10):
homeschooling, or the why, is important for families
to consider.
Yes, I think I mean, mostpeople have a why.
If they're even considering it,they already have a reason, and
so I really recommend thatparents flesh that out
completely, write it down, sitdown with your spouse even your
kids, depending on their agesand really work out why you even
thought of this in the firstplace.

(11:31):
Because there is a reason.
Everyone has one.
They're all different, but itusually boils down to a few
things like either theatmosphere at the school or
bullying, learning problems, ormaybe the kid is bored and not
being challenged enough atschool.
It usually boils down to theactual academic education or the

(11:54):
atmosphere, and a lot of allsorts of little problems fit
into those two categories.
And so people are wanting toget out of the school system for
a lot of reasons and they needto write those reasons down.
And I will tell you that if youstart with one reason, your
list is going to grow.
Whether you stay in publicschool or you pull the kids out

(12:15):
and start homeschooling, yourlist is going to keep growing.
And hey, I've been in thehomeschool movement for 40 years
and my list hasn't stoppedgrowing because I look at the
world around me and I just I seeall the things that I'm either
already protecting my childrenfrom, or a new thing that pops
up and I think, whew, it's agood thing we are not at school,

(12:36):
you know.
And so it's important to writethat down, because when you
start homeschooling, you'regoing to find out that it's not
easy peasy.
It's not all rainbows andunicorns every single day.
But if you have a solid reasonfor why you started this, you go
back to that as your reminder.
And if the kids are arguingabout doing their schoolwork, or

(12:57):
everybody's tired and fussy, oryou're not feeling it that why
is your pep talk you can go backto that and go.
Okay, I remember my child wasbeing bullied at school and was
coming home crying every day, orthey were not getting the
special needs education that wewere promised, or whatever it is

(13:19):
.
You need that reminder, and soyou need to write it out and be
familiar with why you startedthis, because you will ask
yourself that sometimes what amI doing?
Why did I even decide to dothis?

Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah, I think that's beautiful.
And one thing I canself-reflect on is I was reading
this article and it was apsychiatrist, very wise, and he
was talking about how your childis literally with a stranger
eight hours a day and so theytake on.

(13:52):
If you know, we'll be lucky ifteachers have like good
Christian morals and values, butthat's really not accepted
anymore.
It's very different.
So if your child is withsomebody who doesn't have the
same values and morals as you doand your family portrays you
don't know what you're going toget.
So that really scared, thatreally scared me and so that was

(14:15):
my why outside of you know,like you know, having freedom is
one thing that I looked at aswell the why and safety, of
course, but that was one of thebiggest things for me.
Like I don't know, and they'rewith the teacher more than they
are with us 40 hours a week.
They're with you know teachers.

Speaker 1 (14:35):
But a lot of kids from a lot of different homes
with a lot of differentupbringings.
And these days you also have torealize those kids at least
half of them have unlimitedinternet access.
So you know, those peers areare definitely influencing kids
at school.
Whether people want to want tobelieve that or not, it is

(14:56):
absolutely real you are socorrect.

Speaker 2 (14:59):
Yes, and, and that's that's.
That's one of the biggestreasons why I gravitated towards
homeschooling.
So can we talk about some ofthe common misconceptions?
I think you've probably heardthis like a kajillion times, but
socialization is one of them.
Our, you know, homeschool kidsare weirdos.
They don't know how tosocialize, and so I think that I

(15:21):
probably was one of those momsat a certain point in my life
where I thought of that becauseI really didn't know any better.
But now that I'm in this, I amfinding out that, and from
several podcasts that I've hadwith you know professionals that
homeschool their kids.
That's such a gift that you cangive to your child.

(15:42):
Is you educating them?
And so is this true the commonmisconception of homeschool kids
don't know how to socialize.

Speaker 1 (15:55):
Not at all what I would say.
I usually call that the S word.
Since I was homeschooledstarting in 1983, we've been
hearing that same argument andit's kind of laughable for me,
and my kids are the same way.
They just think people don'teven know what they're talking
about.
So the first thing that I wouldsay, before I even argue with a

(16:17):
list of all the things that wedo, I would say for people to
ask themselves what do you meanby socialization?
Do you mean talking to peopleone-on-one, making eye contact,
playing games, being fair, beingpolite, talking to adults?
What about manners?

(16:38):
And, you know, do they know howto handle all kinds of social
situations?
That, to me, is whatsocialization is, and I would
say there's a lot of publicschool kids that have no clue
how to socialize.
They know how to interact withpublic school peers, which is
all the same thing and it's notreally pretty, but what they

(16:59):
don't know how to do very oftenis to greet a person who comes
into a room or make eye contactand have conversation, ask how
you're doing.
You know there's a lot more tosocialization than being around
other kids and I just argue forthe fact that public school kids
do not have that down, and so alot of people think well, your

(17:22):
kids need to be at schoolbecause of socialization.
And what they're picturing, I'msure is the good old days where
kids played on the playgroundand they had fun together and
they traded friendship braceletsand played basketball and all
that.
But the world is very differentnow and, like I said earlier,
it's an Internet driven worldand kids with devices.

(17:43):
They're not socializing andthat's a whole topic for another
day.
But that is not socialization.
And yes, some homeschool kidsare weird, but some public
school kids are weird too, andso it's just the nature of
humans.
You know, some of us areintroverts and some of us are
not.
And you know, I've got fivekids and I have one who's an

(18:05):
extreme introvert and I have towork with him all the time about
how to be polite, how to lookat someone in the eye and say
something nice, you know, andit's not because he's
homeschooled, because his foursiblings are homeschooled too.
And so what we have to do istrain our children how to be
sociable.
It starts in the home, andinteracting with family members

(18:29):
is the first kind ofsocialization.
This is where kids learn to bepolite and share and to put
others first and to have aconversation, even have a debate
or an argument, without gettingmad and starting a fight.
And there's so many ways tolearn socialization at home.
Learning it at school is theworst way and that's what I
usually just tell people like.

(18:51):
Socialization is the reason wehomeschool.
We don't want that kind ofsocialization for our kids.
But if you want to hear thelong list of things that kids
can do in homeschooling, I canshare that too, because we live
in a in my family lives in arural area of Texas north of the
DFW Metroplex.
Our county has a population, Ithink, of 24,000, something like

(19:15):
that.
It's really small, and we'vehad a homeschool community here
for as long as I've been in thehomeschool world.
So since the 80s, and throughoutthat time our families would
just create opportunities forthe kids to do things, whether
it was sports or music or fieldtrips or anything like that.
Well, now that we're in the21st century, homeschooling

(19:38):
opportunities are just crazy.
There's so many that even if wesigned up for everything there
is, we wouldn't be able to dothem all because it wouldn't fit
in a week and then we'd neverbe home having school where they

(20:00):
take all kinds of classes, fromcore academic subjects to, you
know, extracurriculars like artand dance and you know anything
you can think of that kids dowhen they get together.
My kids have done at this group, but we also have joined
science classes.
My kids go to a cotillion oncea month where they learn proper

(20:21):
etiquette and formal dancelessons.
There is a huge prom in theDallas area that they go to
every year with 2,000 otherhomeschool kids.
We have a sports associationfor kids that do volleyball and
basketball and they go tonational tournaments, and so
those are just a few of thethings.
There's a homeschool band thatmy kids have never joined, but
the kids learn strings and playorchestra music.

(20:43):
I've never joined, but the kidslearn strings and play
orchestra music.
I could go on, but the point isthey don't lack for
socialization opportunities.
In fact, I'm usually sayinglet's stay home today, let's
take a break from all of this,because we've had too much.
So homeschool kids don't staylocked in a basement unless you,

(21:04):
you know.
I know there is the rare familythat doesn't participate in
anything, and that's theirchoice, that's their right to do
that, but most homeschool kidsare involved in multiple things
every single week.
So we're not lacking foropportunities, and the parents
have.
They have the freedom and thetime to choose the opportunities
and the kids that their kidsare going to be around and to

(21:26):
train them in propersocialization skills all along
the way.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, I think one of the things that lots of families
are scared of is the yeah,socialization piece.
But in their mind they'rethinking well, they're in a
classroom full of friends.
What about their friends?
They're not going to make anyfriends, and so I think we're in
a time in the world now it'slike you know, you fully have to

(21:51):
really understand like, whattype of friends?
Like there's so many differentfamilies and I don't know.

Speaker 1 (21:58):
It's a hurting world.
It's a dark and hurting worldwe live in and we don't want
that world influencing our kids,and I think people that don't
understand that are just really.
They have their heads in thesand about what it's really like
at school and on the bus andyou know in the neighborhood.

Speaker 2 (22:16):
I love that.
Yeah, absolutely we.
I think you, you, you made areally good point that we think
that school is in the old timesof playing with each other and
friendship bracelets, but it'ssuch a.
I think it like, honestly,you're, our kids are surviving
in school versus.
I think it's a survival.
I remember my son coming homeangry all the time.

(22:39):
That really broke my heart.
Every time it was somebodysaying something, somebody doing
something.
It's, it's a survival, that'swhat my heart Every time it was
somebody saying something,somebody doing something.
It's a survival.
That's what I learned and I'mlike I don't want to see my son
come home angry all the time.
He's so calm.
Now we have beautiful slowmornings, we have breakfast, we
go walking and then we come homeand then, like you know, we
registered with Abeka, okay, andI adore them so much, I adore,

(23:05):
I adore them so much.
Um, I love like to havebiblical courses.
I, I adore it.

Speaker 1 (23:08):
So we're very yeah, you too.
Yes.
Yeah, we use a lot of differentthings, but we have used the
Becca here and there over theyears for different subjects.

Speaker 2 (23:18):
Yeah, they're great.
Um.
So one of the questions that Ihave is is homeschooling good
for all children and allfamilies, or their specific
types?
I think people are going toprobably wonder about this.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Well, I actually recently tweeted about this
because I hear a lot of peoplesay well, homeschooling is not
for everyone, and I disagree.
I think it's for anyone whowants to do it Honestly.
I don't think you have to be ofa certain income or special
circumstances or, you know, livein a certain place.
It is for anyone who wants it,and I, I mean I wrote my book

(23:59):
Anyone Can Homeschool, because Itruly believe that.
But I wish I could say everyoneshould, but that borders on the
offensive.

Speaker 2 (24:08):
But well, yeah, I'll cut you off kindly here.
Why do you think people shouldhomeschool their children?

Speaker 1 (24:17):
How much time do you have?
Well, I believe that theAmerican education system is
failing the students.
I mean, all you have to do islook at the standards and the
test scores that come out, andthe standards are being lowered

(24:38):
so that kids can still meet them.
And then they're still failing.
So there are websites where youcan go and look up the
statistics for the whole countryor for different states, but
even in a district that theymight call good or exemplary,
they keep lowering what thosestandards mean so that the

(24:58):
schools can meet them, eventhough the kids are failing.
They are not reading at theirown grade level standards,
they're not passing their ownmath standards.
You know, the state sets thesestandards and the kids can't
meet them and the teachers arenot holding them to the
standards.
And so if they're going toschool for an education and

(25:19):
they're not getting theeducation, what are we even
doing?
You know, at home a parent cansee what the kid needs to know
and they can teach it to them.
And if the kid is notunderstanding or learning, a
parent can take over right thereand say let's get you caught up
, let's figure out why you don'tunderstand this, let's help you
get ahead, whether they sitdown and do a lesson over or get

(25:43):
a tutor or join a class locallyor whatever.
When it's in the parents' hands, then the education has
actually the opportunity toflourish and again, like I said,
it doesn't even take 12 years.
So the education system iswasting our kids' lives and
failing to actually educate them.

(26:03):
But, even more importantly, theeducation in America, the
secular system, is very secular.
It is a Marxist, secular, humaneducation system and as
Christians we are not told inscripture anywhere to let anyone
else educate our children.
In the scriptures, the onlytime it talks about raising

(26:25):
children it's to parents andgrandparents.
It's not tutors and counselorsin the state or whoever at the
time is the most popular teacher.
God has given this job to theparents and we in America are
outsourcing it to a secular,humanist system that refuses to

(26:45):
acknowledge a creator andrefuses to acknowledge gender
and life before birth.
And there's so many littleoctopus arms that go out from
there where the, where childrenare being taught everything that
that directly opposes scripture, everything that directly
opposes scripture.
And so if we are sending ourchildren to be educated, as you

(27:08):
said, eight hours a day bystrangers who most of the time
do not share our biblicalbeliefs.
And then we go to church onSunday.
Who's having the bigger effecton our kids?
The secular system is not justgiving them an education, it is
raising them and it isinfluencing them.
And so, yeah, I absolutelybelieve that our kids need to be

(27:31):
taken out of the public schoolsystem and raised at home with a
biblical worldview and a solidacademic education.
That's so beautiful.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
What type of knowledge or education do
parents need to possess to beable to homeschool their
children?
That's another.

Speaker 1 (27:51):
That's a good question.
Schooled their children?
That's another that's a goodquestion.
Well, my mom had me when shewas 14 years old and dropped out
of school in the ninth gradeand never went back, and then
she homeschooled me.
So hopefully that answers thatquestion, because you don't have
to be an expert in all thesubjects to give your children
the information they need, andmy mom didn't.
She did not even have a highschool education, and so she was

(28:15):
able to take a good, solidcurriculum with the answer keys
and knew how to read, and shewas interested in learning
whatever she needed to to giveme and my sister the knowledge
we needed.
And so all you need is a parentwho's willing and and able to
read like literally.
That's all you need is a parentwho's willing and able to read
Like literally.
That's all you need to know isknow how to read, to start, and

(28:37):
you can go from there.
Especially today, the amazingamount of resources that
homeschoolers have to them isjust mind boggling, and I think
people outside the homeschoolcommunity don't even realize
that you don't have to go to thepublic school and ask for a
copy of their books or theirlesson plans.
We don't want that Like youdon't have to go to the public
school and ask for a copy oftheir books or their lesson
plans.
We don't want that.
We want good curriculum, solideducation, and it's all so easy

(29:02):
to use, it's open and go.
For the most part and for theparent who didn't even finish
high school, you can get yourcurriculum that's, you know,
streaming, where the teacher isteaching everything and the
answers are provided for you tocheck and make sure your kids
are understanding it.
You can actually sign up forlive classes online so your kids

(29:22):
get to interact with theteacher.
And, of course, co-ops areeverywhere where you can sign
your kid up for a class withsomeone who's an expert in a
certain subject or all thesubjects.
You know, what I like to tellpeople is you're a facilitator
and so you can teach all thesubjects at home, or you can
facilitate their education bygiving them access to whatever

(29:46):
teacher, whatever course youwant, and really the options are
so endless.
Sometimes I think I need toupdate my list of what's out
there and what's available,because there's so much good
stuff available and with abiblical worldview.
So you have teachers who arepassionate about their topic and
they believe in the word of Godand they want that to come

(30:07):
through their curriculum andthey help you give that to your
children.
Whether you know about biologyor algebra or how to write a
research paper, any of thatstuff, the help is there.
So, in answer to your question,I would say you don't need much
besides the ability to readhonestly, what about the time?

Speaker 2 (30:27):
There's so many families I know a lot of moms
that reached out to me said wewould love to, but we're working
full time.
Is this ideal?
Yeah, is this ideal forfull-time working parents that
want to get their kids out ofpublic?
Or?

Speaker 1 (30:40):
private it is, and I'm not going to promise that
it's simple when you're working,but I've done that.
I've worked many differentkinds of jobs while
homeschooling and the one thingyou have to understand and this
is why that article is soimportant about how it doesn't
take 12 years.
It does not take 12 years.
It does not take seven hours.

Speaker 2 (31:02):
In my country.

Speaker 1 (31:03):
You went to 10th grade, nikki.
Yes, yes, well before the 20thcentury the kids went to about
they had like seven, seven yearswas tops, you know, and that
was still a very, very solideducation, but it was condensed.
The things that they learnedwere condensed into a smaller
amount of time, but it was stillway above our standards.

(31:24):
Today, if you look at aMcGuffey reader, their top
reader, I think, is the sixthreader.
So that's six books that astudent needed to complete over
however many years they neededto complete their education in
America in the one roomschoolhouses.
But if you open a sixth reader,most adults would say wow, I do

(31:48):
not recognize this information.
How did they do it?
And these were people that were.
If they got to this point intheir education, they could
recite world history and theywould do complicated math
problems in their heads not on apiece of paper and certainly
not with a calculator.
And so what we have now is justa dumped down, spread out

(32:10):
standards, lowered education,and that's why it's so important
to understand that about thetime and the 12 years.
And all that because for aworking parent, often they think
, oh well, I don't have 8 to 2pm or 8 to 3 to devote to this,
and I certainly can't do thatafter work at night.
No, nobody can.
But you don't have to.

(32:31):
Because if your child can spend20 minutes on a grammar lesson
and be finished, why do theyneed an hour for that class?
Why do they need another hourfor a math class and another
hour for history?
If the goal is to learn and dothe lessons and keep moving
forward, do it in 20 minutes, doit in 30 minutes and you know,

(32:52):
for a typical kindergartarteneryou don't need more than one
hour a day.
For a high schooler, four orfive hours tops and about
elementary elementary, gosh two,two to three hours depending on
.
That's roughly around what wedo.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
It's about like three , three hours, three and a half
hours.

Speaker 1 (33:11):
So so look at the look at the amount of time
you're not spending teachingschool and look at how much time
your child gets to have achildhood oh my gosh.
Instead of.
And now there's so muchschoolwork done at school and
then homework at night thattheir whole childhood is just
being stolen from them.

(33:32):
Whole childhood is just beingstolen from them.
And so for working parents, Ihope they can see that you're
not devoting eight hours a day,five days a week, on top of your
full-time job, and so what Ialways say is start with your
job and figure out what othertime do you have during the week
, and you can have school onSaturdays and Sundays and at

(33:53):
night, whatever you need to, anddepending on the ages of your
children, there's a lot ofdifferent options, and I
actually have a pretty lengthyblog post on working and
homeschooling, and so I'll giveyou that link to share with your
listeners, because I break itdown Like how do I figure this
out for me?
Not everybody, but just for meand my family.

(34:13):
Do I figure this out for me?
You know, not everybody, butjust for me and my family, and I
have some free printableworksheets to kind of brainstorm
how am I going to work andhomeschool?
And there's differentconsiderations for every family,
because every family is unique,so what works for one group
isn't going to work for another,but it's so individual and it
is very possible.
I've worked outside the homeand from home, off and on, over

(34:36):
all these years and stillhomeschooled, because it doesn't
matter when you do it, as longas you do it.
That's the key.

Speaker 2 (34:44):
Absolutely.
I'm going to kind of go oversome concerns and questions that
people have, which I thinkthey'll get so much good insight
from this podcast, andquestions that people have which
I think they'll get so muchgood insight from this podcast,
other than the socializationpiece, fear of the curriculum
gap.

Speaker 1 (35:01):
Well, first of all, as I mentioned earlier, public
schools are lowering theirstandards and still not meeting
them.
They're passing kids throughgrade level after grade level
without the kids actuallylearning the content.
So that's a lot of gaps.
I get this information straightfrom teachers and if you ask a
teacher, just ask a randomteacher that you know are you

(35:25):
allowed to hold kids back?
Are you allowed to fail them?
Are you allowed to give them afailing grade?
You know how does that work.
And more and more often they'regoing to tell you we have to
pass them through.
Yeah, whether they know thatmaterial or not.
Yeah, so that's a gap.
I mean, that's like a lifelonggap.
If kids are not learning to reador basic math, concepts like

(35:47):
those are the two most importantthings and they're not getting
those.
So homeschoolers don't need tofear and because there's so many
really amazing curriculumoptions available, just follow
the curriculum, keep movingforward, but pay attention to
your children and if you seethey're not getting something,
you make that choice to go backand cover it again.

(36:09):
And what's really awesome isyou don't have to fail a whole
grade or start a whole gradeover.
Just go back over a conceptthat they missed or they
struggled with, and say we'regoing to work on this until you
understand it, and so they maybe flying through their math
lessons, but phonics is hard orwriting assignment is hard, and

(36:29):
so let the math keep flyingwhile you slow down in the
English or whatever combinationof subjects that might come up.
The parent has this opportunityto have a very customized
process for their kids, so thereshouldn't be gaps.
If you are paying attention, youknow you give them the

(36:50):
opportunity to go back and learnit and maybe find a game that
helps reinforce the concept orfind another way to approach it.
You know, sometimes that's allthey need is just a different
way to look at something,whether it's a different book or
maybe a hands-on activity.
But we have no need for gaps.
And another thing that peoplethink of with gaps is well,

(37:14):
you're supposed to learn allthis, like supposed to.
So who made that up?
Ask yourself, is this reallynecessary just because some
bureaucrat says it is?
Now, there's a lot that's veryimportant in education, but you
may come across something andthink, yeah, I don't think
that's important.

Speaker 2 (37:33):
And again kids articulate that have you noticed
my son?
Sorry to cut you off, but myson will articulate things like
why do we need this?
And when he was in school, Idon't know why I need this.
Teach me life skills, mom, Idon't need this.
And I was like, oh my God, this10 year old is so frustrated by
this one subject or this, thisarea.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
And you can.
You can answer them honestlyand sometimes my kids ask that
and I'll say you know what?
I've never used thatinformation, so if, if you want
to skip it, I'll let you skipthis concept.
But then sometimes they ask meand I'll say this is actually
very important and I do want youto learn it all, so you have
that freedom.
You know Now, obviously, insome states maybe you have to

(38:19):
submit to their standardizedtesting requirement for
homeschooling, so know what'sgoing to be expected on the test
and you can tell your kids look, the state wants to test you
for this.
This is the law.
I think it's silly, but we'regoing to follow the rules.
You know you don't want to getarrested and you don't want to
have your rights taken away, butit's good to have those
conversations and help your kidsto even see.

(38:41):
Like, yeah, there's a lot ofstuff in curriculum that's not
necessary.
And even in homeschoolcurriculum you're going to come
across things and go I'm notgoing to worry about this one,
let's skip this chapter, and Ido that.
I do that very often, dependingon the kid and the subject.
So it's totally okay, and that'spart of where condensing your

(39:01):
time comes in is identifyingstuff.
That's just a waste of time andgiving your kids the
opportunity to to get a solidfoundation in what's really
important and skip the rest.
And people will say well, howdo you know?
How do you know what to skip?
That's going to have to be upto you.
That's intuition.
And if you feel morecomfortable covering everything
in a book, then by all means doit.

(39:23):
But if you feel bold in yourdecisions I notice not everybody
has that confidence to make thedecision.
But if you've got it, use itand be free, fly away and be
free.

Speaker 2 (39:38):
I agree, I think one of the questions that well, it
wasn't even a question.
I was talking to a friend ofmine and she's like well, what
do you mean?
Homeschooling, doesn't thatmean that you can just pass him
on all his tests?
But isn't that failing him?
And so it's like, yeah, I'msure like mothers are.
I mean you can technically dothat, but you're hurting your

(39:59):
kid, so why would you want to dothat?
Right, you have, to be like,fully aware and conscious of
what to teach your child andwhat to pass, what not to pass.
So that's an anxiety that Ikind of want to let people know
that you're in charge of thattechnically, you are.

Speaker 1 (40:14):
But I would argue I get that question sometimes and
I would say that most peoplethat choose homeschooling are
choosing it because they want togive their kids a good
education.
That's right and they have nointentions of skipping
everything.
That's right.
They're not going to just givetheir kids a fake grade.
That does happen sometimes,just like what happens in public
school, but it's very rare,because most people that choose

(40:37):
homeschooling are making aconscious decision about their
child's education and they'regoing to give their children the
education, not just the finalgrade.
You know homeschoolers can'tdefend every other homeschooler
for doing something.
That's dishonest, you know, butthat's not the majority of us.

Speaker 2 (40:56):
Yeah.
What about the collegeperspective of it?
Another common misconception.
Well, what about college?
How would they get into college?

Speaker 1 (41:06):
They do all the time.
Um, I, I can tell you that it's.
It's not any harder for ahomeschooler than a public
schooler, because you stillissue your child a transcript
for high school, which is veryeasy.
It's just basically a list ofwhat they accomplished and what
grade they achieved, and I alsohave an article on my website

(41:29):
about how to do that how to workon a transcript.
And if you don't want to dothat, there are services that
will do it for you.
You just keep a record of whatyour kids have learned through
their high school years.
You know you need to know whatwas the course and what grade
did they get, and then it's easyto figure out how many credits
they got.

Speaker 2 (41:48):
But that's what is like a planner book from Amazon.
It's it's called um myhomeschooling keeper, something
like that.
I have it in my bedroom but Ijust log in all the classes,
like it's just so.
It's like a record, basically.

Speaker 1 (42:04):
Right, that's what you do, and then at the end of
their high school, you put itinto a form and you sign it and
date it and get mine notarizedso that it is a legal document,
and that's that's what collegeswant to see.
Now, a diploma is a nice,pretty certificate that you hand
out at graduation, but mostlythey want to see that transcript

(42:27):
and they want to know whatcourses your child took and for
the most part, they're going tohave your child take a test,
whether it's the SATs or at ajunior college level.
They'll have their own tests,but anybody takes those tests,
you know.
And homeschoolers are not onlyaccepted at colleges, but
they're often sought out morebecause different universities

(42:50):
are starting to see that they'recoming out with a better
education and with the abilityto learn independently.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
Leadership and independence.

Speaker 1 (42:59):
That's right.
Yeah, now I'm not saying thatall public school kids don't
know how to learn and don't care.
But what we're seeing isthere's a large number of them
that don't and they're comingout behind and they're having to
take remedial classes incollege because they don't know
how to do basic stuff.
And so homeschoolers a lot ofthem do testing.

(43:21):
Not everyone does, but thestate test scores for
homeschoolers generally areabout 10 to 20 percent higher
than public schools across theboard in states where they
collect that information InTexas we don't do that, we don't
have to report or test and theycertainly don't collect the
information.
But in the states where they do, that information has been very

(43:44):
eye-opening for a lot of peopleto see that you don't have to
have a college degree to teachyour kids and that you can give
them a superior education.
And the scores are proving it.
And also California, I think,has two or three different ways
to file for homeschooling.
Is that right?

Speaker 2 (44:04):
Yeah, I had to file.
I think it's called a PSA.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
So you're a private homeschooler, is that correct?
Yeah, so I don't remember allthe nitty gritty, but I think I
mean, do you have a requirementto report or to test at the end
of the year?
Okay, I think, if you do likethe charter route or something,
yes, that you have to becauseyou're still controlled by

(44:28):
public school.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
to because you're still controlled by public
school.

Speaker 1 (44:31):
Right, so every state is different, which is cool.
That's the way the foundersdesigned the constitution, so
that every state makes their ownrules, and so I can only tell
you look it up and see what yourstate requires and follow the
law, and if you don't like it,work to get it changed.

Speaker 2 (44:51):
Yeah, for sure, yeah, absolutely.
I mean you're.
Does this do homeschool kids?
I mean, does it mean thatthey're opt out of scholarships?

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Oh, no, no, I'd say for the most part, no.
There I have seen a few whereit said that you had to graduate
from a public school.
But homeschooling is so muchmore accepted now, it's so much
more mainstream, that prettymuch everybody just opens these
things up to all students, andso I know lots of kids who have
gotten full ride scholarships tothe university of their choice.

(45:27):
How though they, well they.
The scholarship process is justa means of digging and finding,
you know, and so wherever youlive and then wherever you want
to go to school, you have to doyour research there.
You know communities will offerthem.
Certain schools havescholarships available to apply
for, but then there are lots oforganizations that you just kind

(45:50):
of have to do your own research.
Beautiful for thosescholarships, but if you know
where to start looking, or asksomeone who homeschools in your
state, like what did you do?
You know, talk to someone who'salready been there and say what
, what did you learn and how canI do that too?
Um, that's the great thingabout where we are now.
There's so many veterans whohave already been down this road

(46:12):
and you just need to ask themhow did you get your kid into
college?
How did you find thatscholarship?
You know, how did you do yourtranscript, All of those things.
And it's important too, if youknow that your child wants to go
to college and maybe you knowtheir degree field that they
want to go into, and maybe whichschools they're looking at

(46:33):
around 9th or 10th grade.
Go ahead and startcommunicating with those
colleges and ask questions.
You know, say, we arehomeschooling.
We have our eyes on your schooland possible scholarship
opportunities, so what coursesneed to be on the transcript?
You know what should we bedoing now to prepare for that?
And that's a really good way tohave more possibility of

(46:55):
getting the scholarships and, ofcourse, getting accepted.

Speaker 2 (46:58):
I love that.
That's pretty smart, nikki.
I have a question.
So there's this non-creditedand there's this accredited
route.
When you are homeschooling, wechose the non-credited, but can
you kind of tell us thedifferences?
Is this, uh, four differentcurriculums, or all curriculums
are the same?

Speaker 1 (47:19):
Well sorry, it's the tongue twister A curriculum
cannot be accredited, Only aschool can be accredited.
Okay, so if you go, probablythis is like in California and I
can only speak from a littlebit of knowledge about
California but if you sign upunder a school, that school is

(47:39):
accredited, that's right.
But if you are a privatehomeschooler, you cannot be
accredited and your curriculumcan't be either.
And that's across the countryand that's just how it is.
So a lot of people think, oh, Ineed an accredited curriculum.
There is no such thing.
You would have to sign up undera school, an umbrella school,

(47:59):
or join a charter or somethinglike that to have accreditation.
It's basically public andprivate schools can be
accredited, but a homeschoolerand a homeschool curriculum
cannot.
But that doesn't mean thatthey're any less wonderful, of
course.
Yeah, I'm of the opinion that Idon't need the state to approve

(48:20):
my curriculum, so that doesn'tmatter to me at all?

Speaker 2 (48:24):
What about high school?
Is it essential to be going inthe accredited route when in
high school?

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Because that's what I'm hearing accredited route
when in high school, becausethat's what I'm hearing, but I
know you're not.
No, I think people who live instates where that is an option
will say you need to do this,but it's not.
The important thing is yourchild learns the content and can
show some kind of mastery afterthe course is finished.

(48:53):
That's what's important.
And, as far as you know, ifthey want to go to college, they
need to be able to get in bypassing the exams that the
college requires, whether it'stheir test or the SAT or ACT or
whatever, and so that's going tohappen if the child commits

(49:15):
themselves to learning thecontent.
So if the curriculum or, let'ssay, the school is accredited,
that doesn't make the kidssmarter.
It doesn't make them learnbetter.
It just is a nice littlecertificate or a pretty gold
seal on a certificate, but itdoesn't matter for the kid.

(49:36):
You know like it doesn't makethem any smarter or more
educated.
Does that make sense?
You?

Speaker 2 (49:42):
make perfect sense.
I have a list of questions andI think one of the questions
that I'm reading is a mom thatjust started and I put a like an
ask me bar.
One of the questions that I'mreading is a mom that just
started and I put an ask me bar.
One of the questions is how doyou answer to people that are

(50:03):
incredibly judgmental?
So I kind of asked her toexplain a little bit deeper and
I had a conversation with herand she said when I say my kids
are homeschooled, peoplenaturally think it's because
they're bad kids, they're got,they're in trouble.
So how do you naturally, youknow, respond to that Like why
are you homeschooling?
I think a lot of moms I havelike four or five of this like

(50:25):
they feel shamed, like they'reshamed half the time.

Speaker 1 (50:30):
They're shamed.
I know that happens and I am sosorry that it happens.
But this is a good reason tohave your why written down,
because your why is yours andnumber one.
You don't have to explainyourself to people.
Obviously, if it's your family,it's a little tougher.

(50:50):
You know when, when yourparents or the in-laws or family
, it's a little tougher.
You know when your parents orthe in-laws are the judgmental
ones.
My parents were there many, manyyears ago and it was tough.
But they said this is aconviction we have and we're
going to do it.
And it took many years, but allthe grandparents were on board
by a certain point, and thatincludes the ones that were
public school teachers.
So they have to see the fruitsometimes to really get it and

(51:14):
that's okay.
But I would say here's whywe're doing this and it's a
conviction that we have and itis for my child's best interests
.
And whether it's, you know,bullying or they were bored at
school or whatever the reason is, you can calmly state that
reason and don't worry if theyagree with you.
Don't worry if they suddenlyget on board or don't, or if

(51:37):
they just don't ever come around.
I mean, there are people thatwill never come around.
They will never see the benefitof it.
That's okay.
They, you don't need theirapproval.
You just calmly tell yourreasons why and smile and
remember that you are doingwhat's best for your kid.
And, um, honestly, that's whatyou do with naysayers.
Sometimes they're all naysayers.

Speaker 2 (52:00):
I haven't heard that before oh yeah, that's so cute
naysayers.

Speaker 1 (52:06):
I love that well, I think we do tend to want
approval.
You know we want people to sayyou're doing a great job, look
at you.
But when you homeschool you'renot always going to hear that.
You know you're going to getpeople.
It's because you're goingupstream, you're going against
the flow.
You know Friday night footballand the school spirit All those

(52:31):
things are part of Americanculture, and when you opt out of
that you're weird.
You know it's very different,and so you got to expect that
people are going to feel judged,even though they're judging you
.
A lot of times they're the onesthat are feeling judged because
you are making a very bold stepthat they haven't decided to do
, and so a lot of times it'sjust judged, they feel judged,

(52:56):
but a lot of times people's justjudged, they feel judged, but a
lot of times people are justthey just think you're crazy,
and they always will, and youcan't do anything about that.
So don't try.

Speaker 2 (53:02):
Nikki, do you think that?
Well, first of all, when I wasin school we had the Pledge of
Legions and you know there was adifferent level of God and
Christianity and faith inschools.
That was removed.
But do you feel like schoolscan go back to what it was
before?

Speaker 1 (53:20):
No, we don't think so .
No, the thing is, if a persondigs into the history of public
education, they will learn thatwhat we're seeing right now was
always the intent and I'm notsaying that the nice teacher at
your local public school whoalso goes to your church has

(53:40):
some nefarious intent to bringdown education, you know.
But what I'm saying is thepowers behind public education
in the United States had a goal,and it was to separate children
from their families and it wasto separate them from a
knowledge of God and to actuallygive them a secular education

(54:03):
and to implement Marxism alittle bit at a time In the
public school system in America.
The way we know it now, whichkind of came about in the 1920s
and 30s, was based on the modelfrom Germany, and I just have to
say sometimes there's some badstuff that comes out of Germany,
if you know what I'm talkingabout, and the education ideals

(54:26):
is one of those things, and sothere's a really good book that
I would recommend called Crimesof the Educators.
It's not a new book, but it'sby Alex Newman and he talks
about what really happens inschools and the roots behind
those things, and when you readthat, first of all, you'll feel

(54:46):
kind of gross because it's awfulbut it makes you mad.
But it also gives you moreinsight into what is behind all
the things that are going on ineducation today and how long
it's been in the works.
And so I think the reason weused to have prayer in schools
and we used to have the Pledgeof Allegiance and it was more

(55:09):
wholesome was because the UnitedStates has been a Christian
nation for so long that thetrickle-down effect lasted a
really long time, even in thepublic square, and it's finally
disappearing because of such aMarxist, secular, humanist push.
But we have such a legacy of aChristian nation that it took a

(55:33):
long time for that to slowlydisappear.
But we are there now.
It's disappearing more and moreand more.
I mean, you have to go tochurch to really experience what
people used to experience allover life.
You know, at the store and inthe town and at the school.
You know now it's pretty muchjust in the churches and in the

(55:53):
homes of Christians.
And so that's the long answer,to say no.
I don't think we can go back tothat.
Some people will say we justneed to put the Bible back in
schools, and so I would askwho's going to write that
curriculum and who's going toteach that curriculum?
If you tell every teacher theyhave to teach the Bible, how are
they going to treat the Bible?
How are the atheists going toteach the Bible?

(56:15):
How are they going to treat theBible?
How are the atheists going toteach the Bible?
How are the secular humanistsgoing to treat the Bible?
Or the people that have neverread it before?
You know that's not wise.
It used to be in the schools,but that day is long gone, and
the only way that your childrenare going to get the scriptures
now is if you teach them, and soyou can.

(56:37):
Yes, it'd be nice if theyprayed at school, but who's
doing the praying and why arethey doing it?
You can't.
You can't go back.
We're not going to be able togo back unless there is just a
huge outpouring of revival inthis country.
But the forces of darkness arereal and and they are at war for
the hearts of our children, andI don't think we're going to

(56:59):
see the schools reverse back tothe way they were.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
Hearing you say that and hearing myself talk about
this is a different level ofpain that I can't really explain
.
It hurts.

Speaker 1 (57:22):
It hurts, yes, well, I think in the article that that
you contacted me about first,about how it doesn't take 12
years to educate a child.
I talk about this book, the thenew England primer, and if you
look inside this book, you canget it on Amazon, by the way it
shows you how our educationsystem started and it was
private and it, by the way, itshows you how our education
system started and it wasprivate and it was in the homes,
but parents were given thislittle book as an easy way to
teach the ABCs with thecatechism.

(57:43):
And so when you think that thisis how generations were
educated in this country andthen you look at how we are now,
yeah, it's heartbreaking.
It makes me sad for our country, very sad.

Speaker 2 (57:57):
So I see, in a way, you know, because of all the
movement and the changes thatare happening with the
transgender movement, and wehave conservative parents that
are like no, no, not in ourschools, Our children don't need
to read about this, they don'tneed to know about this what
hope can we give those parents?
Because then we myself being anew homeschool mom we're looked

(58:20):
at as traitors.
You left the school system Like.
I will never be able to notfight for what's right ever.
I'm still going to fight, buthow wise are the parents to
continue to fight for the schoolsystem?

Speaker 1 (58:37):
Well, this is my opinion.
If you want to fight, go aheadand do it, because the masses
are still at public school andnobody's child needs to be
taught that.
But in the meantime, go aheadand get your kids out anyway.
This is what I see happening sooften is parents keep their
kids in school and they go tothose school board meetings once

(58:59):
a month and they have a timerset so they can speak for three
minutes and if they say thewrong thing their mic is cut off
and they're not even allowed tofinish.
But they keep going back andthey keep going back and you
know they say we're fightingthis, this shouldn't happen.
But meanwhile their kid isstill in that school, their kid
is still under those teachersand using the curriculum day

(59:22):
after day after day, while theparents think that showing up at
that school board meeting oncea month or putting in a freedom
of information request to seethe curriculum like that's gonna
do anything.
It's not.
You are trying to hold back atidal wave by putting your
finger somewhere, and you can't.
You know it's just not going towork.

(59:43):
So I don't think any of thatshould be taught in public
schools, because what we'relooking at is a new generation
of kids being grown, growing upand being taught utter confusion
, utter lies, and that's that'sour next generation of Americans
being grown, growing up andbeing taught utter confusion,
utter lies, and that's that'sour next generation of Americans
.
You know that's overwhelmingwhen you think about it.
But everyone that wants tofight, keep doing the fight and

(01:00:06):
take your kids home.
You know, that's that's what Iwould say.
And and you have to come to acertain point where you go okay,
I get it now, and I've seenthis happen so often.
Parents are in the school, theirkids are in the school, they go
to the school board meetingsand after a while they go.
This is getting nowhere.
I have accomplished nothing atthis school and my kids are

(01:00:27):
still there and then they saywe're going to have to
homeschool because there's noother option, because they're
not listening to me.
You know, every now and thenyou'll see a school board,
there's a victory and they say,ok, we're going to pull this
curriculum.
But here's what really happens,and this happened in Texas over
and over.
They said they're going tooutlaw Common Core.
Years ago they changed the name.
They said they're going tooutlaw critical race theory.

(01:00:51):
They just changed the names.
They keep changing the namesand they the exact same stuff,
and so the same thing's going tohappen with all this gender
theory stuff.
They're just going to keeprelabeling it until no one
recognizes it anymore, but it'sstill in the curriculum, day
after day after day.

Speaker 2 (01:01:10):
Yeah, what I am proud of is the parents that are
trying to create communitiesthemselves.
They're still fighting thefight, but they have little
homeschooling programs going onfor themselves.
Like I, I have a littlecommunity of myself.
I'm just so very, very proud ofparents who are really trying
to fight for what's right fortheir country and for their

(01:01:33):
children.
To fight for what's right fortheir country, for their
children.
Amen to that, yes, absolutely.
Thank you so much.
I feel that this was soenlightening and I feel
comfortable.
I think you have such goodwisdom and knowledge.
I mean people can reach out.
You are also doing consultingright Homeschool consulting.
I did see it on your websitethat it's incredibly affordable.

(01:01:56):
People can just make anappointment with you and you
walk through.
You know you walk them throughthe process right.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
Yes, I've had people ask me how to figure out a
kindergarten program or a highschool program, or, you know
even walking through how tostart a co-op.
So if it involves homeschooling, I will help with it.

Speaker 2 (01:02:18):
I love that.
Thank you so much, nikki.
I appreciate you.
This was.
It flew by so fast.
It's been an hour already.
I appreciate you, god bless.
You're such a great asset tothe world and I want people to
really genuinely know that womenlike you exist that are here to
help, and I love how the howyou made me feel.

(01:02:40):
I love the article.
I love, by the way, yourwebsite too.
I want everyone to know.
It's full of information ofwhat books to have children read
and what homeschooling is about, and just different websites.
And oh, it's amazing, how muchtime did you put into it?

Speaker 1 (01:02:59):
Oh gosh, I've been doing that since 2009.
So you know, it's been buildingup for a while, but it's
something.
It just something I love to doand it, you know, the ideas just
keep flowing.
So I share it there and just soyour readers, your listeners,
know, there's a menu on mywebsite and there's a page
called homeschool 101.

(01:03:20):
And it's a long list ofarticles that I've written over
all these years and hopefullycategorized in the subjects that
people can find, you know, tosee what they're looking for.

Speaker 2 (01:03:29):
So I find myself in those articles when my children
and I'm just reading and reading, Cause I think it takes a lot
of a lot of education.
I really do want to get likeall the knowledge that I can
Before we go.
I have one personal questionfor you what was your why?
Why homeschooling I know youwere homeschooled, but why you

(01:03:50):
chose to homeschool yourchildren.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
Well, when I became a mom, you know, as you know, I
was planning to do it, but thatwas my oldest daughter was born
in 1996.
And at that time we werealready seeing just increased
levels of secularism in theschools, and that was the main
concern for me.
Was that the atmosphere in thepublic school.

(01:04:14):
I did not want to send mylittle girl, I just could not
fathom it.
And then the other reason wasfor academics.
I wanted her to get a goodeducation and not just whatever
passed for the current standardswhich you know, like I said,
they're failing anyway, and soit had to do with having a solid

(01:04:36):
biblical and academic education.
But it's grown a lot since then.

Speaker 2 (01:04:43):
And what advice would you give a mom that's just
starting out or is thinkingabout it?

Speaker 1 (01:04:49):
I would absolutely say don't try to copy a public
school at home.
Whatever you grew up with youdon't have to do that.
You know and we often think well, I need a chalkboard and a desk
, and you know I did all thatthe first year, even though I
was homeschooled, I still did.
You know I had a bulletin boardwith the pretty little teacher
borders on it and you know theliving room looked like a

(01:05:10):
classroom.
It's fun if you want to do that, but you absolutely don't have
to.
You just need some books andsome pencils and paper and any
comfy place to sit and don't tryto recreate the school day or
the classroom.
Just this is what I say a lotto my readers you are a family,
you are not a school, so don'tact like a school, act like a

(01:05:32):
family.

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
It's so hard because now we have to go back and
unlearn, right yep, yep, they doin fact all that.
Yeah, I was gonna say you had,you had something on your blog.
I think it was, uh, unlearning.
Is that what it was called?
Schooling?
That's what it's called.

Speaker 1 (01:05:50):
Yes, that's one of the I think that's at the top of
the list of my articles there,because that's it's.
It's very common.
You know, most people went topublic school in America, so
it's the only thing we know.
And private school is verysimilar.
So even if you went to privateschool, it's the same thing.
It's just more expensive,honestly.
And so we have to unlearn thosemethods.

(01:06:12):
Not that they're all bad, butyou don't have to do that as a
family and, honestly, it justputs a lot of stress on the
parent to try to measure up tosomething that we don't need to
measure up to anyway.
And so I say that because Idon't want families to get so
stressed out that they give upand send their kids back to
public school.
Yeah, just take a side path andfigure out a different way to

(01:06:34):
do something instead of saying,oh, I can't do it because I'm
not like them.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
Well, that's the idea that our parents have in their
mind.
They think that when you'rehomeschooling, you have to
follow the same program, andthat's why you get so
overwhelmed and you're like Iwork full time, I can't do it,
but you have so much freedom,like you are in charge now.
You have so much freedom to dowhatever you want and teach

(01:07:00):
however you want.

Speaker 1 (01:07:01):
Thank you, well, the first two chapters of my book
are all about that.
Just yes, it's calledrethinking school and it helps
you to understand.
It looks however you need it tolook, so exactly, and it's so
helpful.

Speaker 2 (01:07:13):
Thank you so much, nikki.
God bless you and I'll talk toyou later, okay, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:20):
Bye.