March 22, 2025 • 38 mins
The leap from corporate security to homeschooling freedom isn't just possible—it's transformative. Taylor proves this as she takes us through her journey from corporate employee to homeschooling entrepreneur during the unexpected blessing of COVID.
"I was giving all my time to a corporation who showed during COVID that I was very replaceable," Taylor reflects, describing the awakening that led her to prioritize family over financial certainty. As a single mother of two at the time, she faced skepticism from all sides but followed her conviction that traditional schooling wasn't right for her children.
The most profound shift in Taylor's approach came when she liberated herself from traditional education models. "It became so overwhelming where it almost scared me away," she admits about her early attempts at structured homeschooling. When she embraced a more intuitive, child-led approach, everything changed. Suddenly, making breakfast became a lesson in measurements, garage time with dad turned into engineering class, and family travel transformed into immersive geography studies.
Now married with three children (including a 9-month-old), Taylor and her husband combine their entrepreneurial work building off-road vehicles with a travel-focused education. Their family surfs, explores, and learns together—proving that education doesn't require classrooms or credentials, just commitment and creativity.
Taylor's story demonstrates that homeschooling doesn't demand perfection or wealth—just the courage to prioritize what matters most. Ready to reimagine education for your family? This conversation might be your first step toward a more connected, purposeful learning journey.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to this week's episode of the Homeschool
How-To.
I'm Cheryl and I invite you tojoin me on my quest to find out
why are people homeschooling,how do you do it, how does it
differ from region to region,and should I homeschool my kids?
Stick with me as I interviewhomeschooling families across
the country to unfold theanswers to each of these
(00:26):
questions week by week.
Welcome, and with us today Ihave Taylor Duggs.
For some reason, I thought itwas Dugan, is it Duggs?
The Duggs is the sort.
Okay, because then online it'sTay Duggs.
I was like maybe she's a rapper, I don't know.
(00:48):
But Taylor, right, correct.
Yes, welcome, taylor.
Thank you for being here today.
Thank you for having me.
What state are you in?
We are in California.
California, oh geez.
So yeah, I'm in the equivalenton the East Coast here of New
York, so where we're both likein great states, right yeah.
(01:13):
So how long have you been?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
homeschooling.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So my oldest is fourth grade, so about five
years, and was it a COVID thing,or you know what actually got
you into homeschooling in thefirst place?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
You know it was a little bit of COVID.
But from the get I was like Idon't, I'm not comfortable
putting my kids into publicschool, and then COVID kind of
helped solidify, like okay,we're not doing this.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So it was a blessing in disguise.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
You know it really was.
I know that some people hadawful times with COVID, but I
have so much to thank.
I really can't think of otherthan maybe some friendships lost
.
But it's like, um, we didn't, weweren't going to say it was
night eye but, um, you know,other than that, it was like it
opened my eyes to so many thingsthat I I would have still been
working in the cubicle for thegovernment and sending my kids
to public school and doing therat race and just to give
(02:10):
everything to taxes at the endof the day.
Um, but so it was funny cause Iwas looking back through kind
of some messages that you hadsent me over time and you know
you were talking about how youare trying to get more into the
holistic lifestyle which I'mdoing as well.
My family is not that way andwhen, especially when you're
dealing with, likemother-in-laws and people that
(02:32):
are, you know, they're so kindto watch your kids for you when
you need them, but then it'slike yeah, I need them to like
Charlie and the chocolatechemical factories.
So how has that been?
What kind of like?
Were you always holistic, orwas this kind of new for you too
?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Um, you know, COVID, like I said, was a huge blessing
.
I decided to quit my corporatejob during COVID and, you know,
went the homeschool route.
I became an entrepreneur whereI was able to stay at home with
the kids and kind of just makeit work and it allowed me to,
(03:10):
you know, find lots of differentrabbit holes to go down, and so
I started doing a lot ofresearch and, you know, just
learning a lot.
So, around COVID was when, youknow, I really started to open
my eyes to what was really goingon and the things that you know
.
I was, you know, in the grocerystore, you know, wanting to buy
(03:32):
the kids and things of thatnature.
So it's been a journey, forsure.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Reading labels and has it created some butting of
heads with the family, like theydon't understand why you're now
reading labels or don't wantyour kids to have.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know goldfish and cheetos and yeah, uh, you know
we travel a lot.
We're never in one place forvery long, so we're only around
family here and there, whichmakes it a lot easier to
navigate.
But you know it is a strugglewhen we're around family because
you know what grandma doesn'twant to cook, you know for their
(04:09):
kids and feed them all theserecipes that you know they've
known forever.
And so we navigate it.
And, you know, try to keep thepeace as much as we can.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, I, uh.
Well, I mean, in my case, like,for instance, yesterday we were
at my mother's house and shehad goldfish that she had bought
from the dollar store.
So I mean, at least your sideis cooking, my mom's getting
some like a hand-me-downgoldfish bioengineered, but so
okay, so your oldest is in.
Fourth, how many kids do youhave?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
We have three, so we have a.
Okay, so your oldest is infourth.
How many kids do you have?
We have three, so we have a.
Oh man, they just had birthdays, so I have to keep their ages
straight A 10 year old, a sevenyear old and a nine month old.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Oh, congratulations, thank you.
So how hard was it to quit thecorporate job?
I know for me that was thebigger hurdle than deciding just
to homeschool.
It was like uh, and I know youdon't always have to leave a job
or you know you can find otherways to make income.
But leaving the government jobthat I had just known for 16
(05:14):
years, and just that's where Isaw, okay, I'm going to retire
from here and have my pension,we have my health insurance, we
have my good pay and my nightsand weekends off, that was the
hardest part for me.
How hard was it for you toleave the corporate world?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
It was.
It was a very difficult um stepto take.
I spent a lot of time, you know, wondering if am I crazy?
You know everyone around me wastelling me you're crazy, you
have two kids.
At the time I was a single mom,so they told me it was even
crazier to do.
But it it was once I was ableto sit down and, you know,
(05:53):
silence, all the noise around me.
Nothing, nothing else madesense.
You know, um, I was giving allmy time to a corporation who
really showed during COVID thatI was very replaceable and they
didn't, you know, give two caresin the world about me unless I
(06:14):
was clocked in.
And so, you know, family becamea huge priority.
And, you know, once I was there, mentally it was easier to walk
away, but it took some time toreally like we're doing this.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, I agree, for me too it took probably a two year
, like really talking myselfthrough it and I still was like
no, I'm never going to leave agovernment job Like people just
don't do that.
Nobody did that.
There might've been one, therewere.
Well, there were a couplepeople that were like I can't
sit in these cubicles any longerand they like came into the
(06:51):
state and, you know, left withina year or had kids and left to
stay home with the kids, butthat was few and far between,
but more so what I saw was thesepeople in their you know
fifties and sixties justcounting down the days to
retirement and then it's almostlike retirement comes and they
don't really know what do I wantto leave.
(07:12):
It was almost like it was theexcitement of counting down
until when they could be freeand then, like the in Shawshank
redemption, when the guy leavesjail, he like commits a crime to
go back to prison because thatwas comfortable for him, he had,
he didn't know what to do onthe outside and I'm like, wow,
do I really want to end up likethese people?
So, yeah, I agree, it takessuch a time to get there and I
(07:36):
have a lot of people that willreach out to me and be like oh,
I love to homeschool, but Ican't.
I'm a single mom.
It's like how did you even makethat work financially and with,
like the time, just, you know,being home with your kids?
I know homeschooling does nottake six hours a day, five days
a week, but how did youfinancially and logistically
(07:57):
make that work If you'recomfortable talking about it.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Honestly, I was flying by the seat of my pants,
if we're being completely honest.
It was hard at first but,honestly, just having a strong
faith and knowing that you knowwhat I'm doing, there's so much
merit behind it that you knowGod is going to provide and make
(08:24):
things work.
As long as I'm 100 percentcommitted and you know, 110
percent in this and my heart isin this you know we'll make it
work.
And I was a new entrepreneur, Ihad just started a business.
So, you know, some days thebank account was looking really
(08:45):
scary.
But you know, we were alltogether at home making it work
and, you know, just being withthem day in and day out.
I didn't, I didn't have anoption to not make it work.
So we, we did what we could and, um, the client started to pick
up and I'm like, okay, we're,we're getting this, you know, um
(09:07):
.
And then, you know, being asingle mom and an entrepreneur,
sometimes the homeschool took avery big back seat because we
were just trying to get throughday by day.
But we're, we're better now.
We're making it work.
Um, having my husband in thepicture now has been a huge
(09:28):
blessing.
Um, and honestly, you know, godgot me through all this.
I don't.
I wish I could, you know,elaborate more, but man we made
it work.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
That's perfect.
And yeah, did you?
Did you start a business thatwas similar to what you were
doing in the corporate world?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
No, so while I was working in corporate, you know I
was dabbling on the side.
You know I was going to the thenine to five and then I was
coming home and doing the six to12, you know, working on my
business from home.
So it was it's completelyopposite.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
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I was doing.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
my business is graphic designing and printing,
you know, helping other smallbusinesses, youth, sports teams,
things of that nature.
So it was a complete 180 andhad to, you know, learn a whole
new skill set and just dove in.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
So you know.
What's interesting about that,too, is you.
Did you go to school forgraphic design?
I did not.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
No, I've always, I've always been a creative and it's
always, you know, kind of comenatural.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
But no, I did not, but you were able to learn it
enough to start it and learn howto start a business and run a
business and do all the ins andouts of the graphic design
without the degree.
Like that's huge, isn't that?
So telling for why your kidscan be homeschooled and like we
(11:56):
can all make that work.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, yeah.
I tried college so many timesand kept going back to it and
going back to it and I'm likeI've got to get this piece of
paper.
I need it.
My life depends on it, you know, and every time I'd be sitting
in a classroom I'm like I can'tdo this.
I'm learning.
(12:25):
I'm learning all of this in thereal world, at my real job.
I already know all this and I'mdoing it in real life.
I don't need a paper to tell methat I can do this or that, to
validate that I can do this.
So I didn't.
I didn't make it throughcollege.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
But I mean, even right there, that's telling you
couldn't make it through theclasses but yet you can be a
successful business owner withhaving children and
homeschooling them.
Three kids, I mean it's just.
It blows my mind the more Isubmerge myself in hearing
people's stories like how sillyit is to waste our time in
(12:59):
school and especially college.
Obviously, there are somecareers that it's relevant for,
but the more and more that I seenow it's more you can learn it
on your own.
You can read books, you canwatch movies, websites, whatever
, or you can just go get thehands-on experience.
So, um, it is.
I see it changing.
(13:20):
I hope it's going to change sothat people don't have to come
out of debt at 22 or 24 yearsold and like be a slave to the
system because, oh, it's just,it's gotten bad, but now OK.
So we talked about kind of howyou left your job and and making
it work like as so your job,you can work from home.
(13:43):
Making it work like as so yourjob, you can work from home, yes
, yes.
So that's beautiful.
And how hard is it like I'mwith you on that some days.
The homeschool just like, likeyour homeschool, is that we made
breakfast.
That's the homeschool it's, youknow, and and sometimes they're
just in front of the screensentirely too much.
But I look at it as OK if I canget sort of a business up and
(14:08):
running now to a place where itdoesn't take up quite as much
time later when they do need mefor maybe the field trips, the
harder tasks or subjects thatwe're going to sit down and work
on together when they're sixand two.
Yes, there's play and we doplay groups and and go places
and see friends, but um, as faras book work, I really don't
(14:30):
concentrate a whole lot on.
I try to make sure I read tothem every day.
It will throw some math inthere, but a lot of times it's
just in the car when we're onour way to a play date or
somewhere.
It's okay.
Well, what time is it?
What does the map say for?
How much longer it's going totake to get there?
What time did we leave?
Well, what's the difference inthat, like how much time went by
?
And you know where's the sun inthe sky right now?
(14:53):
Can you figure out if we'reheaded east or west, or north or
south?
And you know just theconversation, and I think that
does wonders.
We just think of homeschoolingas okay, we get these
curriculums that we researchedand have to do them every day
for 90 minutes and there's ourhomeschool.
Once you kind of just get likeconfident enough, I guess that
(15:16):
like they're going to be okay.
Yes, you can pull back the reinson it.
Like when I just think of whatI learned in school and I was
talking to another mom yesterdayat a play date and she agreed
with me like what I learned inschool was so minimal and like
didn't stick anyway, I didn'tretain any of it.
I one thing I remember fromcollege, a business law class,
(15:37):
and the guy said if you propose,make sure it's not on a holiday
, because if if you don't end upgetting married, she can keep
that ring.
Sure, it's not on a holiday,because if you don't end up
getting married, she can keepthat ring if it's given on a
holiday because it's a gift.
And that's literally the onlything I remember.
So when my nephew proposed tohis girlfriend on her birthday,
I was like don't do it on herbirthday.
(15:59):
That's actually excellent advice, but that's the only thing I
remember, and I don't know why,I never read any of the books
the Lord of the Flies, and theywere probably all good books.
I'm surprised that theyactually had us read it, because
it would be very telling of thefuture.
But I didn't read any of them.
I read like the first page andthe last page of the book and I
(16:19):
still managed to get by.
I think what I learned inschool and I remember thinking
this in college is oh, all youhave to do is show up, and
that's the same thing for thegovernment work that I did
Probably a lot of jobs.
You just got to show up Likethey don't care what you do when
you're there.
They're not going to fail youin school.
If you show up every day,they're not going to fail you.
You know, and there wereclasses, I failed every test,
(16:42):
but they're like.
Well, we see that you came, sohere's a D and and work is the
same way.
They're like oh well, she showsup, so she's.
She's doing better than 60% ofthe other employees.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yes, and you know I think that was the hardest thing
is starting homeschool andprobably the the thing I
(17:15):
struggled with the most isbreaking away from that.
You know, in doctrine mindsetof where they have to be doing,
you know be able to spell allthese words and you know do all
these different things and theyhave to do all their book work
and it became so overwhelmingwhere it almost scared me away
from the process and it took alot for me to.
(17:35):
You know they call it like theunschooling.
It took a lot for me to getthere.
It took a lot for me to getthere where, once I did it
totally took the pressure off.
Where, like you said, you knowwe're making breakfast this
morning, you're going to learnhow to make some eggs and
pancakes and you'll practiceyour measurements and we're not
(17:57):
going to burn the kitchen down.
So we're learningresponsibility and you know
different things like that.
It made it so much moreenjoyable when I was able to get
out of my own head and be like,okay, it doesn't have to be
this hard.
Like you don't have to have alesson plan and abide.
Like you're not a teacher, youdon't need to have a lesson plan
(18:18):
, you're not responsible for 30kids, that you have to have the
structure, not responsible for30 kids, that you have to have
the structure.
You know I'm flying by the seatof my pants, so that's how
we're going to homeschool.
There's I can't do the lessonplans, like all of that scared
me so much and it it took thejoy out of it.
I was like I don't want tohomeschool anymore.
Um, so when I finally got tothat point of you know like we
(18:44):
don't need to do this, get outof your own head.
Let's just, you know, have funand let the kids lead.
That has been my favorite partis just kind of letting them
lead and the questions that theycome up with.
I'm like, well, how did youeven think of this?
Like what it's perplexing to belike?
Well, how did you even think ofthis?
Like what what it's perplexingto be like?
(19:06):
Well, they were just sitting inthe car.
It was quiet for a minute.
I'm like, oh, why is it soquiet back there?
And then they, they have thislike profound question that
comes out and you're just like,wow, what?
Where?
Speaker 1 (19:18):
did that come from?
You're so right, and thathappens too.
And I have no genius for achild.
I love the kid and he is sosmart when it comes to like
mechanic stuff, but the readingand the spelling and no,
sometimes I'm like we shouldreally get you tested for
dyslexia.
There's so many backwardsnumbers here, but.
But the thing is is, um, yes,when, when they have enough time
(19:38):
to be bored and just to thinkof things, the questions that
come out of his mouth.
He told yes, when, when theyhave enough time to be bored and
just to think of things, thequestions that come out of his
mouth.
He told me something today hewas making eggs.
He's six and he was mom, lookat the really big bubble,
because we heat the pan and thenhe throws a little water in
there and if they're bubbles andthey're bouncing around, it's
hot enough to put the butter inand then the eggs.
(20:00):
So he's like mom, look at thebig bubble.
I'm like, oh, I wonder why itmade like a really bigger one.
And he goes into this wholething.
I have no idea if this is trueor not, if he just made this up
or if he really knew this.
He's like well, there's likethe combustion of dinner and he
says, get into this whole thingabout the.
I was like, all right, well, Ithink you would have just won in
(20:20):
a court of law.
So that really again it'sshowing up and being like today
you're teaching me is right.
But you're right Because inschool they almost don't have
the time to be bored enough tothink of the questions that they
want to think of.
That was another big thing forme too.
I was like what would I do allday as a homeschooler?
(20:41):
I don't even know what I liketo do, let alone what am I going
to do with my kid.
But you find that when youremove all of the societal
pressures of being here, thereand everywhere, in school and at
work you you have the time tofigure out what you like to do,
so that I mean that is justsomething so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, they've.
They've really been able togrow into their own selves, with
my husband and I both beingentrepreneurs.
You know my son loves to be inthe garage building the
off-roading trucks and you know,doing the welding and the
tinkering, and my daughter lovesto you know craft and draw and
color, and you know they've justcome into their own and it's
beautiful to watch.
(21:26):
And my son too.
He is not into reading.
If he despises reading lettersand words together, he hates.
And.
But if you sit and let him, youknow, give him some parts to
tinker with, you know you'llcome back and there'll be a
robot built and you're like wow,and he can tell you all the
(21:47):
features of the robot and how itcommunicates with the ether and
you can trans, you can travelto different dimensions and
you're just like whoa, all right, well, teach me today oh so
okay, so you're married.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Now how does that work with, like, the
homeschooling where you're likewe're going to get married, we
might have more children and I'mhomeschooling these guys
probably your, any children wehave too, was he on?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
board, yes, and I think that's probably one of the
biggest things that attractedhim my way is the, you know,
that motherly role that Iembodied and going 110% to
really be there for the kids.
And he's like I'm on board,let's go.
(22:37):
You know, being a single mom, Itouched on it a little bit
where, you know, homeschool gotput on the back burner more
often than I'd like to admitbecause, you know, I was doing A
through Z for the family.
So when he came on board, itwas like a sigh of relief where
(22:58):
I was like okay, I have someonewho wants to be a part of this
and wants to, you know, help anyway that he can.
I found out that I'm not verygood at teaching kids how to
read, you know I just I can dothe math, the science, you know
all everything, but the reading,you know I was like, well, this
(23:21):
letter says this, I don't knowwhy or how, or the consonants
and the vowel pairings.
I don't know why.
It's just that way and this isthis is how it is that way and
this is this is how it is.
But because we had more timeand we were able to, you know,
divvy up the tasks, he was ableto research why a vowel
(23:41):
sandwiched between a consonantand this and that, all the
different weird rules that theEnglish language has.
He was able to get the kids whowere, you know, somewhat behind
if you were to ask, you know atraditional school that they
were looked upon as behind intheir reading.
He was able to make it work andspend the time and now they're
(24:04):
exceptional readers and, youknow, they'll read on their own
and they enjoy it way more thanwhen they were with me.
So it's been amazing, you know,like what I lack, that's his
strong suit and what he lacks ismy strong suit.
So it's just an amazing balanceto have.
And you know, kingston, my son,loves to be doing boy things,
(24:27):
and so when they're doing boythings, I'm allowed, I'm able to
, you know, do girl things withmy daughter, and so it's just
been a beautiful blessing forall of us.
We've, you know, we're findingour rhythm and we're really, you
know, making strides and we'rereally, we're really excited.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, oh, that's awesome Now.
So do you do any sort of formalcurriculum?
As being you were callingyourself an unschooler, but I
guess I've learned too that thatcan mean that you still might
have some sort of formalcurriculum for like a reading or
a math, but it is more childled when you do science or
(25:08):
history or that sort of thing.
So do you have any sort ofsystem that you use right now?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
We do.
So we have differentcurriculums.
I I've never stuck to just oneis.
You know, I feel like sometimesthey grow out of it or they get
tired of of different things.
So, uh, we've used a bunch ofdifferent curriculums, Um, but
right now we're you know, Iwanted something, as we're we're
traveling a lot now, so Iwanted something that you know
is simple and easy to take onthe road and some curriculum
(25:43):
that you know, when we're in along car ride or we're me and my
husband are tied up doing somethings in our business, that
they can kind of just be selfsufficient and work on their own
.
Hey, everyone.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
This is Cheryl.
I want to thank you so much forchecking out the podcast.
I'm going to keep this shortand sweet because I know your
time is valuable.
I want to ask you a seriousquestion Do your kids know what
to do to actually save theirlife in an emergency?
The most important thing we cantalk to our kids about is
knowing their first and lastname, knowing mom and dad's
first and last name, mom's phonenumber, dad's phone number,
(26:18):
their address, what to do ifthey get lost, what to do if
someone who's watching them hasa heart attack, a stroke, an
accident, where they fall andyour child needs to get help.
We live in a world where there'sno landline phones anymore,
basically, and cell phones lock.
Does your child know how tocall 911 from a locked cell
phone?
It is absolutely possible, andmy book demonstrates how to do
(26:41):
that, whether it's an Android,whether it's an iPhone and, most
importantly, it starts theconversation, because I was
going through homeschoolingcurriculum with my kids,
realizing that, gee, maybe theyskim over this stuff, but they
don't get into depth, so mychild's not gonna remember this
should an accident occur, right?
I asked a couple of teacherswhat they do in school and they
(27:03):
said they really don't doanything either other than talk
about what to do in a fireduring the month of October fire
prevention month.
So I wrote a book because thisis near and dear to my heart.
I have had multiple friends thathave lost kids in tragedies and
I don't want to see it happenagain if it doesn't have to.
We were at the fair over thesummer and the first thing I
said to my son when we walkedthrough that gate was what's my
(27:26):
first and last name, what isyour first and last name and
what is my phone number?
And if you get lost, what areyou going to do?
You can get my book on amazonand I will put the link in my
show's description again.
It's called let's talkemergencies and I really hope
you'll check it out becausethere's just no need to be
scared when you can chooseprepared and it's very simple,
(27:48):
streamlined.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
you we're kind of hitting the science, history,
math, you know your grammar andthings of that nature.
So we use a bunch of differentbooks for different subjects and
we kind of just go from there.
We're focusing this year on alot of geography, learning about
(28:12):
the different places in theworld as we're traveling.
So they're really eager tolearn about the different places
and you know where we'revisiting.
They want to learn about allthe different.
You know the culture, the land,what's around.
So they're really intogeography, what's around?
(28:36):
So they're really intogeography.
And then we're just doing youknow very simple curriculum
where they can do it on theirown and we can come back and
review it together and justmakes everyone's lives a lot
easier.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
What curriculum is that.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
So right now oh goodness For math, we're using
Saxon math.
We really like their workbooksbecause it's just basic math
that they're learning.
I should know all this just offthe top of my head.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
What a wonderful, wonderful mom.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
That's okay.
Yeah, I can definitely get backto you and you know, if you
want to share those resources.
We use rainbow resource to kindof look at all the different
curriculum options.
That one, so it's an onlinewebsite and they have a ton of
different ton of differentcurriculum that you can take a
(29:33):
look at and then do your ownresearch based on what you find
there.
They have a lot of differentbooks, manipulatives that you
can use to help with thelearning, so we've enjoyed that.
It's a quick, easy resource touse.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Now, are you guys traveling for work or are you
actually doing a sort of roadschooling?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
A little of both.
So my husband builds off-roadtrucks so we've kind of been
doing an off-roading tour downsouth south.
(30:19):
We're also big, avid surfers,so we hope to be doing a down
south surf tour as well Once thebaby's just a little bigger.
So we we work and travel at thesame time.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Wow, we've that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
We've made it work so that we we have an excuse to
travel.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah, my husband actually had built a monster
truck and it wasn't finished butit was like almost running and
I made him sell it because I waslike we had I think maybe we
had had my son and I was like,if you haven't finished this in
the 10 years before you had akid, you're not to finish it
(30:53):
after you have kids and nor areyou going to have time to drive
up and down the East Coast torace it and then fix everything
that breaks on it.
So he's still, and my son stillyells at me to this day for
being the reason that there isno monster truck in the garage,
but he has lots of other toys.
(31:14):
But so that's so funny thatyour husband builds off is.
Is he building?
Like, oh, is your baby okay?
Speaker 2 (31:19):
oh, she's just really crazy, just she around this
time she just gets very vocal.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
I'll wrap up soon for you.
But um yeah, is he doing likemonster trucks or like side by
side four wheeler?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
It's more of like SUVs for people to off road in.
So he builds the SUV off roadtrucks, you know, puts the off
roading suspension, the big offroading tires, you know, the
roof racks and the overlandingequipment to to uh have people,
(31:56):
you know, have fun out on theroad and be able to take all
their gear.
And that's kind of how we'retraveling right now is just kind
of doing the overlandingjourney, uh, with our, our
pop-up camper.
So it's been really fun.
Oh, that is so cool.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, we have like a four seater side by side that we
are hoping to get to like oneof those off road parks the East
Coast has a couple, I thinklike New Hampshire has some nice
ones.
We're gonna that's our goal tomake it there.
This year.
We had the two seater, then wehad our daughter, so we had two
kids.
So I made him sell the twoseater, get the four seater.
(32:36):
And now my son thinks he shouldjust be driving his own four
wheeler.
So like I'm like, okay, wecould have just kept the two
seater, but a lot of thoseplaces I don't think they'll let
six year old rides ride ontheir own anyway.
So it's, it's okay.
It's okay.
But yes, what a fun little life.
I did not grow up this way, Igrew up in like this city, so
(33:00):
this is all new to me, but it isfun.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
I have not surfed ever, but oh, that sounds cool
too yes, yes, I grew up surfing,um, and so so did my husband as
well, so now we're able to doit together, which is really fun
.
And do the kids do it?
Uh, they are into snowboardingand, uh, skateboarding.
(33:23):
Surfing is somewhat new to them, um, but I'm sure they'll be on
a board catching some waves inno time.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Oh fun Any last minute, like things that you
wanted to make sure you touchedupon while we chatted today.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
One thank you for having me on.
I've really enjoyed this.
Your platform is amazing.
To be able to, you know, givehope and shed light to parents
who feel like homeschooling isnot in their means or that it's,
you know, scary, or that youknow they're not qualified to do
(34:01):
it, to be able to bring theawareness that you are for so
many people is the work of anangel.
Quite frankly, I hope my goal,you know, on my social media, is
to be able to spread awareness.
And, you know, even if I canjust touch some of my friends
(34:22):
and let them know that, you knowthis is possible.
I'm not making a killing as anentrepreneur by any means.
Neither is my husband.
You know.
Our motto is still, we'reflying by the seat of our pants,
even as, you know, a unit, butwe know that this is God's work,
we are backed by him.
(34:43):
And to be able to spend so muchtime with your kids, and even
if you're you're working yournine to five man, you can still
make it work and it's not asscary as you think.
It can be very scary at firstbut, man, once you dive in, I
(35:03):
would hope that you feel like Ido and you'll never want to go
back, and so I'm just verygrateful to have come across
your platform and to be able toshare my little story.
I hope you know can pushsomeone over the edge, to, you
know, make the leap of faith andto just jump into it.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Thank you so much.
And thank you for being alistener and, you know, for even
just reaching out and always,you know, just having a little
quick chat, for even justreaching out and always, you
know, just having a little quickchat.
Um, I think that, yeah, that isso helpful for people because
they think it has to look likeyour lesson planning on Sunday
nights and this rigid scheduleand that does work for some
people.
But today's modern dayhomeschooler and I think, the
(35:48):
homeschoolers of the past,because there weren't schools up
until recently, you know, lasthundred- years 125 years.
Um, you just taught your kids athome and you taught them what
they needed to know to survive.
And you spend time with yourkids.
You know it was like everybodywas learning by doing, um, this
whole like hey, let's get theminto school.
(36:11):
I, you know you can lookextensively into the history of
the education system.
It's all about creating anobedient worker, not independent
thinkers who can start theirown business.
And yeah, it's scary, but Iagree with you.
I have never once regrettedleaving my job.
In fact, there's just days thatI'm like, wow, I'd still be
(36:33):
sitting there right now If Ihadn't woken up.
I'd be sitting in a cubiclewhile somebody else is raising
my kid and just being with mykid all day, like just knowing
that the daycare had my kidlonger for their waking hours
than I did.
It's and having seen that, like,like, as my son was in daycare
and my daughter then wasn't,like seeing all the stuff in her
(36:56):
that I missed.
But I didn't know.
I missed it with him becauseyou don't know what, you don't
know.
Yes, like all the little things, just the little hugs that she
needs throughout the day, or acomfort, or mommy's voice.
Um, he didn't have that and Ifeel so bad, but that's all
right.
I mean you know he hasn't now,but and I feel so bad, but
that's all right.
I mean you know he hasn't now,but yeah, it is.
(37:16):
I'm so glad that you know yougot to share your story because
I think that's people will thinkoh well, they can do it because
it's a two parent household,they can do it because they have
a lot of money, or they can doit because they have.
You know they're very, theywere a teacher so they know how
to teach.
But you know you didn't haveany of that.
A single mom who left her jobto homeschool the kids.
(37:38):
You know who was in thecorporate world, not teaching.
And look at, you're making itwork and you guys are happier
than ever.
Yes, that's so inspirational tohear.
Thank you, taylor, for sharingyour story with us today.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, taylor, for sharingyour story with us today.
Thank you so much.
(37:58):
Thank you for tuning into thisweek's episode of the Homeschool
How-To.
If you've enjoyed what youheard and you'd like to
contribute to the show, pleaseconsider leaving a small tip
using the link in my show'sdescription.
Or, if you'd rather, please usethe link in the description to
share this podcast with a friendor on your favorite homeschool
group facebook page.
Any effort to help us keep thepodcast going is greatly
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
(38:21):
generation.
Welcome to this week's episode of the Homeschool
How-To.
I'm Cheryl and I invite you tojoin me on my quest to find out
why are people homeschooling,how do you do it, how does it
differ from region to region,and should I homeschool my kids?
Stick with me as I interviewhomeschooling families across
the country to unfold theanswers to each of these
(00:26):
questions week by week.
Welcome, and with us today Ihave Taylor Duggs.
For some reason, I thought itwas Dugan, is it Duggs?
The Duggs is the sort.
Okay, because then online it'sTay Duggs.
I was like maybe she's a rapper, I don't know.
(00:48):
But Taylor, right, correct.
Yes, welcome, taylor.
Thank you for being here today.
Thank you for having me.
What state are you in?
We are in California.
California, oh geez.
So yeah, I'm in the equivalenton the East Coast here of New
York, so where we're both likein great states, right yeah.
(01:13):
So how long have you been?
Speaker 2 (01:15):
homeschooling.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So my oldest is fourth grade, so about five
years, and was it a COVID thing,or you know what actually got
you into homeschooling in thefirst place?
Speaker 2 (01:26):
You know it was a little bit of COVID.
But from the get I was like Idon't, I'm not comfortable
putting my kids into publicschool, and then COVID kind of
helped solidify, like okay,we're not doing this.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So it was a blessing in disguise.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
You know it really was.
I know that some people hadawful times with COVID, but I
have so much to thank.
I really can't think of otherthan maybe some friendships lost
.
But it's like, um, we didn't, weweren't going to say it was
night eye but, um, you know,other than that, it was like it
opened my eyes to so many thingsthat I I would have still been
working in the cubicle for thegovernment and sending my kids
to public school and doing therat race and just to give
(02:10):
everything to taxes at the endof the day.
Um, but so it was funny cause Iwas looking back through kind
of some messages that you hadsent me over time and you know
you were talking about how youare trying to get more into the
holistic lifestyle which I'mdoing as well.
My family is not that way andwhen, especially when you're
dealing with, likemother-in-laws and people that
(02:32):
are, you know, they're so kindto watch your kids for you when
you need them, but then it'slike yeah, I need them to like
Charlie and the chocolatechemical factories.
So how has that been?
What kind of like?
Were you always holistic, orwas this kind of new for you too
?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Um, you know, COVID, like I said, was a huge blessing
.
I decided to quit my corporatejob during COVID and, you know,
went the homeschool route.
I became an entrepreneur whereI was able to stay at home with
the kids and kind of just makeit work and it allowed me to,
(03:10):
you know, find lots of differentrabbit holes to go down, and so
I started doing a lot ofresearch and, you know, just
learning a lot.
So, around COVID was when, youknow, I really started to open
my eyes to what was really goingon and the things that you know
.
I was, you know, in the grocerystore, you know, wanting to buy
(03:32):
the kids and things of thatnature.
So it's been a journey, forsure.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Reading labels and has it created some butting of
heads with the family, like theydon't understand why you're now
reading labels or don't wantyour kids to have.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
You know goldfish and cheetos and yeah, uh, you know
we travel a lot.
We're never in one place forvery long, so we're only around
family here and there, whichmakes it a lot easier to
navigate.
But you know it is a strugglewhen we're around family because
you know what grandma doesn'twant to cook, you know for their
(04:09):
kids and feed them all theserecipes that you know they've
known forever.
And so we navigate it.
And, you know, try to keep thepeace as much as we can.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
Yeah, I, uh.
Well, I mean, in my case, like,for instance, yesterday we were
at my mother's house and shehad goldfish that she had bought
from the dollar store.
So I mean, at least your sideis cooking, my mom's getting
some like a hand-me-downgoldfish bioengineered, but so
okay, so your oldest is in.
Fourth, how many kids do youhave?
Speaker 2 (04:42):
We have three, so we have a.
Okay, so your oldest is infourth.
How many kids do you have?
We have three, so we have a.
Oh man, they just had birthdays, so I have to keep their ages
straight A 10 year old, a sevenyear old and a nine month old.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Oh, congratulations, thank you.
So how hard was it to quit thecorporate job?
I know for me that was thebigger hurdle than deciding just
to homeschool.
It was like uh, and I know youdon't always have to leave a job
or you know you can find otherways to make income.
But leaving the government jobthat I had just known for 16
(05:14):
years, and just that's where Isaw, okay, I'm going to retire
from here and have my pension,we have my health insurance, we
have my good pay and my nightsand weekends off, that was the
hardest part for me.
How hard was it for you toleave the corporate world?
Speaker 2 (05:28):
It was.
It was a very difficult um stepto take.
I spent a lot of time, you know, wondering if am I crazy?
You know everyone around me wastelling me you're crazy, you
have two kids.
At the time I was a single mom,so they told me it was even
crazier to do.
But it it was once I was ableto sit down and, you know,
(05:53):
silence, all the noise around me.
Nothing, nothing else madesense.
You know, um, I was giving allmy time to a corporation who
really showed during COVID thatI was very replaceable and they
didn't, you know, give two caresin the world about me unless I
(06:14):
was clocked in.
And so, you know, family becamea huge priority.
And, you know, once I was there, mentally it was easier to walk
away, but it took some time toreally like we're doing this.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Yeah, I agree, for me too it took probably a two year
, like really talking myselfthrough it and I still was like
no, I'm never going to leave agovernment job Like people just
don't do that.
Nobody did that.
There might've been one, therewere.
Well, there were a couplepeople that were like I can't
sit in these cubicles any longerand they like came into the
(06:51):
state and, you know, left withina year or had kids and left to
stay home with the kids, butthat was few and far between,
but more so what I saw was thesepeople in their you know
fifties and sixties justcounting down the days to
retirement and then it's almostlike retirement comes and they
don't really know what do I wantto leave.
(07:12):
It was almost like it was theexcitement of counting down
until when they could be freeand then, like the in Shawshank
redemption, when the guy leavesjail, he like commits a crime to
go back to prison because thatwas comfortable for him, he had,
he didn't know what to do onthe outside and I'm like, wow,
do I really want to end up likethese people?
So, yeah, I agree, it takessuch a time to get there and I
(07:36):
have a lot of people that willreach out to me and be like oh,
I love to homeschool, but Ican't.
I'm a single mom.
It's like how did you even makethat work financially and with,
like the time, just, you know,being home with your kids?
I know homeschooling does nottake six hours a day, five days
a week, but how did youfinancially and logistically
(07:57):
make that work If you'recomfortable talking about it.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Honestly, I was flying by the seat of my pants,
if we're being completely honest.
It was hard at first but,honestly, just having a strong
faith and knowing that you knowwhat I'm doing, there's so much
merit behind it that you knowGod is going to provide and make
(08:24):
things work.
As long as I'm 100 percentcommitted and you know, 110
percent in this and my heart isin this you know we'll make it
work.
And I was a new entrepreneur, Ihad just started a business.
So, you know, some days thebank account was looking really
(08:45):
scary.
But you know, we were alltogether at home making it work
and, you know, just being withthem day in and day out.
I didn't, I didn't have anoption to not make it work.
So we, we did what we could and, um, the client started to pick
up and I'm like, okay, we're,we're getting this, you know, um
(09:07):
.
And then, you know, being asingle mom and an entrepreneur,
sometimes the homeschool took avery big back seat because we
were just trying to get throughday by day.
But we're, we're better now.
We're making it work.
Um, having my husband in thepicture now has been a huge
(09:28):
blessing.
Um, and honestly, you know, godgot me through all this.
I don't.
I wish I could, you know,elaborate more, but man we made
it work.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
That's perfect.
And yeah, did you?
Did you start a business thatwas similar to what you were
doing in the corporate world?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
No, so while I was working in corporate, you know I
was dabbling on the side.
You know I was going to the thenine to five and then I was
coming home and doing the six to12, you know, working on my
business from home.
So it was it's completelyopposite.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
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I was doing.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
my business is graphic designing and printing,
you know, helping other smallbusinesses, youth, sports teams,
things of that nature.
So it was a complete 180 andhad to, you know, learn a whole
new skill set and just dove in.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
So you know.
What's interesting about that,too, is you.
Did you go to school forgraphic design?
I did not.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
No, I've always, I've always been a creative and it's
always, you know, kind of comenatural.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
But no, I did not, but you were able to learn it
enough to start it and learn howto start a business and run a
business and do all the ins andouts of the graphic design
without the degree.
Like that's huge, isn't that?
So telling for why your kidscan be homeschooled and like we
(11:56):
can all make that work.
Speaker 2 (11:59):
Yeah, yeah.
I tried college so many timesand kept going back to it and
going back to it and I'm likeI've got to get this piece of
paper.
I need it.
My life depends on it, you know, and every time I'd be sitting
in a classroom I'm like I can'tdo this.
I'm learning.
(12:25):
I'm learning all of this in thereal world, at my real job.
I already know all this and I'mdoing it in real life.
I don't need a paper to tell methat I can do this or that, to
validate that I can do this.
So I didn't.
I didn't make it throughcollege.
Speaker 1 (12:37):
But I mean, even right there, that's telling you
couldn't make it through theclasses but yet you can be a
successful business owner withhaving children and
homeschooling them.
Three kids, I mean it's just.
It blows my mind the more Isubmerge myself in hearing
people's stories like how sillyit is to waste our time in
(12:59):
school and especially college.
Obviously, there are somecareers that it's relevant for,
but the more and more that I seenow it's more you can learn it
on your own.
You can read books, you canwatch movies, websites, whatever
, or you can just go get thehands-on experience.
So, um, it is.
I see it changing.
(13:20):
I hope it's going to change sothat people don't have to come
out of debt at 22 or 24 yearsold and like be a slave to the
system because, oh, it's just,it's gotten bad, but now OK.
So we talked about kind of howyou left your job and and making
it work like as so your job,you can work from home.
(13:43):
Making it work like as so yourjob, you can work from home, yes
, yes.
So that's beautiful.
And how hard is it like I'mwith you on that some days.
The homeschool just like, likeyour homeschool, is that we made
breakfast.
That's the homeschool it's, youknow, and and sometimes they're
just in front of the screensentirely too much.
But I look at it as OK if I canget sort of a business up and
(14:08):
running now to a place where itdoesn't take up quite as much
time later when they do need mefor maybe the field trips, the
harder tasks or subjects thatwe're going to sit down and work
on together when they're sixand two.
Yes, there's play and we doplay groups and and go places
and see friends, but um, as faras book work, I really don't
(14:30):
concentrate a whole lot on.
I try to make sure I read tothem every day.
It will throw some math inthere, but a lot of times it's
just in the car when we're onour way to a play date or
somewhere.
It's okay.
Well, what time is it?
What does the map say for?
How much longer it's going totake to get there?
What time did we leave?
Well, what's the difference inthat, like how much time went by
?
And you know where's the sun inthe sky right now?
(14:53):
Can you figure out if we'reheaded east or west, or north or
south?
And you know just theconversation, and I think that
does wonders.
We just think of homeschoolingas okay, we get these
curriculums that we researchedand have to do them every day
for 90 minutes and there's ourhomeschool.
Once you kind of just get likeconfident enough, I guess that
(15:16):
like they're going to be okay.
Yes, you can pull back the reinson it.
Like when I just think of whatI learned in school and I was
talking to another mom yesterdayat a play date and she agreed
with me like what I learned inschool was so minimal and like
didn't stick anyway, I didn'tretain any of it.
I one thing I remember fromcollege, a business law class,
(15:37):
and the guy said if you propose,make sure it's not on a holiday
, because if if you don't end upgetting married, she can keep
that ring.
Sure, it's not on a holiday,because if you don't end up
getting married, she can keepthat ring if it's given on a
holiday because it's a gift.
And that's literally the onlything I remember.
So when my nephew proposed tohis girlfriend on her birthday,
I was like don't do it on herbirthday.
(15:59):
That's actually excellent advice, but that's the only thing I
remember, and I don't know why,I never read any of the books
the Lord of the Flies, and theywere probably all good books.
I'm surprised that theyactually had us read it, because
it would be very telling of thefuture.
But I didn't read any of them.
I read like the first page andthe last page of the book and I
(16:19):
still managed to get by.
I think what I learned inschool and I remember thinking
this in college is oh, all youhave to do is show up, and
that's the same thing for thegovernment work that I did
Probably a lot of jobs.
You just got to show up Likethey don't care what you do when
you're there.
They're not going to fail youin school.
If you show up every day,they're not going to fail you.
You know, and there wereclasses, I failed every test,
(16:42):
but they're like.
Well, we see that you came, sohere's a D and and work is the
same way.
They're like oh well, she showsup, so she's.
She's doing better than 60% ofthe other employees.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Yes, and you know I think that was the hardest thing
is starting homeschool andprobably the the thing I
(17:15):
struggled with the most isbreaking away from that.
You know, in doctrine mindsetof where they have to be doing,
you know be able to spell allthese words and you know do all
these different things and theyhave to do all their book work
and it became so overwhelmingwhere it almost scared me away
from the process and it took alot for me to.
(17:35):
You know they call it like theunschooling.
It took a lot for me to getthere.
It took a lot for me to getthere where, once I did it
totally took the pressure off.
Where, like you said, you knowwe're making breakfast this
morning, you're going to learnhow to make some eggs and
pancakes and you'll practiceyour measurements and we're not
(17:57):
going to burn the kitchen down.
So we're learningresponsibility and you know
different things like that.
It made it so much moreenjoyable when I was able to get
out of my own head and be like,okay, it doesn't have to be
this hard.
Like you don't have to have alesson plan and abide.
Like you're not a teacher, youdon't need to have a lesson plan
(18:18):
, you're not responsible for 30kids, that you have to have the
structure, not responsible for30 kids, that you have to have
the structure.
You know I'm flying by the seatof my pants, so that's how
we're going to homeschool.
There's I can't do the lessonplans, like all of that scared
me so much and it it took thejoy out of it.
I was like I don't want tohomeschool anymore.
Um, so when I finally got tothat point of you know like we
(18:44):
don't need to do this, get outof your own head.
Let's just, you know, have funand let the kids lead.
That has been my favorite partis just kind of letting them
lead and the questions that theycome up with.
I'm like, well, how did youeven think of this?
Like what it's perplexing to belike?
Well, how did you even think ofthis?
Like what what it's perplexingto be like?
(19:06):
Well, they were just sitting inthe car.
It was quiet for a minute.
I'm like, oh, why is it soquiet back there?
And then they, they have thislike profound question that
comes out and you're just like,wow, what?
Where?
Speaker 1 (19:18):
did that come from?
You're so right, and thathappens too.
And I have no genius for achild.
I love the kid and he is sosmart when it comes to like
mechanic stuff, but the readingand the spelling and no,
sometimes I'm like we shouldreally get you tested for
dyslexia.
There's so many backwardsnumbers here, but.
But the thing is is, um, yes,when, when they have enough time
(19:38):
to be bored and just to thinkof things, the questions that
come out of his mouth.
He told yes, when, when theyhave enough time to be bored and
just to think of things, thequestions that come out of his
mouth.
He told me something today hewas making eggs.
He's six and he was mom, lookat the really big bubble,
because we heat the pan and thenhe throws a little water in
there and if they're bubbles andthey're bouncing around, it's
hot enough to put the butter inand then the eggs.
(20:00):
So he's like mom, look at thebig bubble.
I'm like, oh, I wonder why itmade like a really bigger one.
And he goes into this wholething.
I have no idea if this is trueor not, if he just made this up
or if he really knew this.
He's like well, there's likethe combustion of dinner and he
says, get into this whole thingabout the.
I was like, all right, well, Ithink you would have just won in
(20:20):
a court of law.
So that really again it'sshowing up and being like today
you're teaching me is right.
But you're right Because inschool they almost don't have
the time to be bored enough tothink of the questions that they
want to think of.
That was another big thing forme too.
I was like what would I do allday as a homeschooler?
(20:41):
I don't even know what I liketo do, let alone what am I going
to do with my kid.
But you find that when youremove all of the societal
pressures of being here, thereand everywhere, in school and at
work you you have the time tofigure out what you like to do,
so that I mean that is justsomething so wonderful.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, they've.
They've really been able togrow into their own selves, with
my husband and I both beingentrepreneurs.
You know my son loves to be inthe garage building the
off-roading trucks and you know,doing the welding and the
tinkering, and my daughter lovesto you know craft and draw and
color, and you know they've justcome into their own and it's
beautiful to watch.
(21:26):
And my son too.
He is not into reading.
If he despises reading lettersand words together, he hates.
And.
But if you sit and let him, youknow, give him some parts to
tinker with, you know you'llcome back and there'll be a
robot built and you're like wow,and he can tell you all the
(21:47):
features of the robot and how itcommunicates with the ether and
you can trans, you can travelto different dimensions and
you're just like whoa, all right, well, teach me today oh so
okay, so you're married.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
Now how does that work with, like, the
homeschooling where you're likewe're going to get married, we
might have more children and I'mhomeschooling these guys
probably your, any children wehave too, was he on?
Speaker 2 (22:15):
board, yes, and I think that's probably one of the
biggest things that attractedhim my way is the, you know,
that motherly role that Iembodied and going 110% to
really be there for the kids.
And he's like I'm on board,let's go.
(22:37):
You know, being a single mom, Itouched on it a little bit
where, you know, homeschool gotput on the back burner more
often than I'd like to admitbecause, you know, I was doing A
through Z for the family.
So when he came on board, itwas like a sigh of relief where
(22:58):
I was like okay, I have someonewho wants to be a part of this
and wants to, you know, help anyway that he can.
I found out that I'm not verygood at teaching kids how to
read, you know I just I can dothe math, the science, you know
all everything, but the reading,you know I was like, well, this
(23:21):
letter says this, I don't knowwhy or how, or the consonants
and the vowel pairings.
I don't know why.
It's just that way and this isthis is how it is that way and
this is this is how it is.
But because we had more timeand we were able to, you know,
divvy up the tasks, he was ableto research why a vowel
(23:41):
sandwiched between a consonantand this and that, all the
different weird rules that theEnglish language has.
He was able to get the kids whowere, you know, somewhat behind
if you were to ask, you know atraditional school that they
were looked upon as behind intheir reading.
He was able to make it work andspend the time and now they're
(24:04):
exceptional readers and, youknow, they'll read on their own
and they enjoy it way more thanwhen they were with me.
So it's been amazing, you know,like what I lack, that's his
strong suit and what he lacks ismy strong suit.
So it's just an amazing balanceto have.
And you know, kingston, my son,loves to be doing boy things,
(24:27):
and so when they're doing boythings, I'm allowed, I'm able to
, you know, do girl things withmy daughter, and so it's just
been a beautiful blessing forall of us.
We've, you know, we're findingour rhythm and we're really, you
know, making strides and we'rereally, we're really excited.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Yeah, oh, that's awesome Now.
So do you do any sort of formalcurriculum?
As being you were callingyourself an unschooler, but I
guess I've learned too that thatcan mean that you still might
have some sort of formalcurriculum for like a reading or
a math, but it is more childled when you do science or
(25:08):
history or that sort of thing.
So do you have any sort ofsystem that you use right now?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
We do.
So we have differentcurriculums.
I I've never stuck to just oneis.
You know, I feel like sometimesthey grow out of it or they get
tired of of different things.
So, uh, we've used a bunch ofdifferent curriculums, Um, but
right now we're you know, Iwanted something, as we're we're
traveling a lot now, so Iwanted something that you know
is simple and easy to take onthe road and some curriculum
(25:43):
that you know, when we're in along car ride or we're me and my
husband are tied up doing somethings in our business, that
they can kind of just be selfsufficient and work on their own
.
Hey, everyone.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
This is Cheryl.
I want to thank you so much forchecking out the podcast.
I'm going to keep this shortand sweet because I know your
time is valuable.
I want to ask you a seriousquestion Do your kids know what
to do to actually save theirlife in an emergency?
The most important thing we cantalk to our kids about is
knowing their first and lastname, knowing mom and dad's
first and last name, mom's phonenumber, dad's phone number,
(26:18):
their address, what to do ifthey get lost, what to do if
someone who's watching them hasa heart attack, a stroke, an
accident, where they fall andyour child needs to get help.
We live in a world where there'sno landline phones anymore,
basically, and cell phones lock.
Does your child know how tocall 911 from a locked cell
phone?
It is absolutely possible, andmy book demonstrates how to do
(26:41):
that, whether it's an Android,whether it's an iPhone and, most
importantly, it starts theconversation, because I was
going through homeschoolingcurriculum with my kids,
realizing that, gee, maybe theyskim over this stuff, but they
don't get into depth, so mychild's not gonna remember this
should an accident occur, right?
I asked a couple of teacherswhat they do in school and they
(27:03):
said they really don't doanything either other than talk
about what to do in a fireduring the month of October fire
prevention month.
So I wrote a book because thisis near and dear to my heart.
I have had multiple friends thathave lost kids in tragedies and
I don't want to see it happenagain if it doesn't have to.
We were at the fair over thesummer and the first thing I
said to my son when we walkedthrough that gate was what's my
(27:26):
first and last name, what isyour first and last name and
what is my phone number?
And if you get lost, what areyou going to do?
You can get my book on amazonand I will put the link in my
show's description again.
It's called let's talkemergencies and I really hope
you'll check it out becausethere's just no need to be
scared when you can chooseprepared and it's very simple,
(27:48):
streamlined.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
you we're kind of hitting the science, history,
math, you know your grammar andthings of that nature.
So we use a bunch of differentbooks for different subjects and
we kind of just go from there.
We're focusing this year on alot of geography, learning about
(28:12):
the different places in theworld as we're traveling.
So they're really eager tolearn about the different places
and you know where we'revisiting.
They want to learn about allthe different.
You know the culture, the land,what's around.
So they're really intogeography, what's around?
(28:36):
So they're really intogeography.
And then we're just doing youknow very simple curriculum
where they can do it on theirown and we can come back and
review it together and justmakes everyone's lives a lot
easier.
Speaker 1 (28:45):
What curriculum is that.
Speaker 2 (28:47):
So right now oh goodness For math, we're using
Saxon math.
We really like their workbooksbecause it's just basic math
that they're learning.
I should know all this just offthe top of my head.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
What a wonderful, wonderful mom.
Speaker 2 (29:09):
That's okay.
Yeah, I can definitely get backto you and you know, if you
want to share those resources.
We use rainbow resource to kindof look at all the different
curriculum options.
That one, so it's an onlinewebsite and they have a ton of
different ton of differentcurriculum that you can take a
(29:33):
look at and then do your ownresearch based on what you find
there.
They have a lot of differentbooks, manipulatives that you
can use to help with thelearning, so we've enjoyed that.
It's a quick, easy resource touse.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Now, are you guys traveling for work or are you
actually doing a sort of roadschooling?
Speaker 2 (29:56):
A little of both.
So my husband builds off-roadtrucks so we've kind of been
doing an off-roading tour downsouth south.
(30:19):
We're also big, avid surfers,so we hope to be doing a down
south surf tour as well Once thebaby's just a little bigger.
So we we work and travel at thesame time.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Wow, we've that's so cool.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
We've made it work so that we we have an excuse to
travel.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
Yeah, my husband actually had built a monster
truck and it wasn't finished butit was like almost running and
I made him sell it because I waslike we had I think maybe we
had had my son and I was like,if you haven't finished this in
the 10 years before you had akid, you're not to finish it
(30:53):
after you have kids and nor areyou going to have time to drive
up and down the East Coast torace it and then fix everything
that breaks on it.
So he's still, and my son stillyells at me to this day for
being the reason that there isno monster truck in the garage,
but he has lots of other toys.
(31:14):
But so that's so funny thatyour husband builds off is.
Is he building?
Like, oh, is your baby okay?
Speaker 2 (31:19):
oh, she's just really crazy, just she around this
time she just gets very vocal.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
I'll wrap up soon for you.
But um yeah, is he doing likemonster trucks or like side by
side four wheeler?
Speaker 2 (31:35):
It's more of like SUVs for people to off road in.
So he builds the SUV off roadtrucks, you know, puts the off
roading suspension, the big offroading tires, you know, the
roof racks and the overlandingequipment to to uh have people,
(31:56):
you know, have fun out on theroad and be able to take all
their gear.
And that's kind of how we'retraveling right now is just kind
of doing the overlandingjourney, uh, with our, our
pop-up camper.
So it's been really fun.
Oh, that is so cool.
Speaker 1 (32:13):
Yeah, we have like a four seater side by side that we
are hoping to get to like oneof those off road parks the East
Coast has a couple, I thinklike New Hampshire has some nice
ones.
We're gonna that's our goal tomake it there.
This year.
We had the two seater, then wehad our daughter, so we had two
kids.
So I made him sell the twoseater, get the four seater.
(32:36):
And now my son thinks he shouldjust be driving his own four
wheeler.
So like I'm like, okay, wecould have just kept the two
seater, but a lot of thoseplaces I don't think they'll let
six year old rides ride ontheir own anyway.
So it's, it's okay.
It's okay.
But yes, what a fun little life.
I did not grow up this way, Igrew up in like this city, so
(33:00):
this is all new to me, but it isfun.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
I have not surfed ever, but oh, that sounds cool
too yes, yes, I grew up surfing,um, and so so did my husband as
well, so now we're able to doit together, which is really fun
.
And do the kids do it?
Uh, they are into snowboardingand, uh, skateboarding.
(33:23):
Surfing is somewhat new to them, um, but I'm sure they'll be on
a board catching some waves inno time.
Speaker 1 (33:30):
Oh fun Any last minute, like things that you
wanted to make sure you touchedupon while we chatted today.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
One thank you for having me on.
I've really enjoyed this.
Your platform is amazing.
To be able to, you know, givehope and shed light to parents
who feel like homeschooling isnot in their means or that it's,
you know, scary, or that youknow they're not qualified to do
(34:01):
it, to be able to bring theawareness that you are for so
many people is the work of anangel.
Quite frankly, I hope my goal,you know, on my social media, is
to be able to spread awareness.
And, you know, even if I canjust touch some of my friends
(34:22):
and let them know that, you knowthis is possible.
I'm not making a killing as anentrepreneur by any means.
Neither is my husband.
You know.
Our motto is still, we'reflying by the seat of our pants,
even as, you know, a unit, butwe know that this is God's work,
we are backed by him.
(34:43):
And to be able to spend so muchtime with your kids, and even
if you're you're working yournine to five man, you can still
make it work and it's not asscary as you think.
It can be very scary at firstbut, man, once you dive in, I
(35:03):
would hope that you feel like Ido and you'll never want to go
back, and so I'm just verygrateful to have come across
your platform and to be able toshare my little story.
I hope you know can pushsomeone over the edge, to, you
know, make the leap of faith andto just jump into it.
Speaker 1 (35:24):
Thank you so much.
And thank you for being alistener and, you know, for even
just reaching out and always,you know, just having a little
quick chat, for even justreaching out and always, you
know, just having a little quickchat.
Um, I think that, yeah, that isso helpful for people because
they think it has to look likeyour lesson planning on Sunday
nights and this rigid scheduleand that does work for some
people.
But today's modern dayhomeschooler and I think, the
(35:48):
homeschoolers of the past,because there weren't schools up
until recently, you know, lasthundred- years 125 years.
Um, you just taught your kids athome and you taught them what
they needed to know to survive.
And you spend time with yourkids.
You know it was like everybodywas learning by doing, um, this
whole like hey, let's get theminto school.
(36:11):
I, you know you can lookextensively into the history of
the education system.
It's all about creating anobedient worker, not independent
thinkers who can start theirown business.
And yeah, it's scary, but Iagree with you.
I have never once regrettedleaving my job.
In fact, there's just days thatI'm like, wow, I'd still be
(36:33):
sitting there right now If Ihadn't woken up.
I'd be sitting in a cubiclewhile somebody else is raising
my kid and just being with mykid all day, like just knowing
that the daycare had my kidlonger for their waking hours
than I did.
It's and having seen that, like,like, as my son was in daycare
and my daughter then wasn't,like seeing all the stuff in her
(36:56):
that I missed.
But I didn't know.
I missed it with him becauseyou don't know what, you don't
know.
Yes, like all the little things, just the little hugs that she
needs throughout the day, or acomfort, or mommy's voice.
Um, he didn't have that and Ifeel so bad, but that's all
right.
I mean you know he hasn't now,but and I feel so bad, but
that's all right.
I mean you know he hasn't now,but yeah, it is.
(37:16):
I'm so glad that you know yougot to share your story because
I think that's people will thinkoh well, they can do it because
it's a two parent household,they can do it because they have
a lot of money, or they can doit because they have.
You know they're very, theywere a teacher so they know how
to teach.
But you know you didn't haveany of that.
A single mom who left her jobto homeschool the kids.
(37:38):
You know who was in thecorporate world, not teaching.
And look at, you're making itwork and you guys are happier
than ever.
Yes, that's so inspirational tohear.
Thank you, taylor, for sharingyour story with us today.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, taylor, for sharingyour story with us today.
Thank you so much.
(37:58):
Thank you for tuning into thisweek's episode of the Homeschool
How-To.
If you've enjoyed what youheard and you'd like to
contribute to the show, pleaseconsider leaving a small tip
using the link in my show'sdescription.
Or, if you'd rather, please usethe link in the description to
share this podcast with a friendor on your favorite homeschool
group facebook page.
Any effort to help us keep thepodcast going is greatly
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
(38:21):
generation.
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