What happens when a flight attendant with international benefits decides to homeschool? Magic, adventure, and a whole new approach to education.
Gabriella from RellaBBooks invites us into her world as a "hybrid homeschooler," where her four-year-old daughter attends traditional school three days weekly while spending the remaining two immersed in personalized education at home. But this arrangement is just temporary—by second grade, Gabriella plans to fully homeschool, transforming their lives into a globe-trotting educational adventure.
Drawing from her own childhood experiences in Japanese schools—where libraries featured Zen gardens and the curriculum embraced cultural immersion—Gabriella recognized the stark limitations of American education when she returned stateside. The contrast was jarring: from child-led exploration to strict limitations where even her already-mastered cursive writing was prohibited because "they hadn't taught that yet."
After working within the school system and discovering disturbing correlations between third-grade reading scores and prison population projections, Gabriella chose a different path. Now she's creating children's books that make learning joyful, starting with financial literacy in "Mama I Got a Dollar." Her multifaceted approach includes podcasts where authors read to children, YouTube content featuring movement and imagination, and even plans for a movie about English language components.
Most innovative is her vision for young readers to become "little editors," providing feedback on manuscripts before publication—a brilliant way to engage children in the creative process while teaching communication skills.
Whether you're considering homeschooling, looking for creative ways to supplement traditional education, or simply fascinated by alternative educational approaches, this conversation offers practical insights into crafting a learning environment that honors children's natural curiosity while preparing them for real-world success.
Ready to rethink education? Download this episode now and discover how one mother's journey might inspire your family's educational adventure.
Check out Gabriella's work here: RellaBBooks
Home Grown Collective: It’s time to take food security into our own hands! Responsibly grown, locally sourced, and accessible to all. This app is free and easy to use! Just download in the app store or log on at HomeGrownCollective.org to connect with local farmers, find fresh food, and support sustainable agriculture. Whether you’re a consumer or a grower looking to expand your business, this platform has the tools to make it happen—commission-free sales, a social share tool, and even a farmer reimbursement program!
What is the most important thing we can teach our kids?
HOW TO HANDLE AN EMERGENCY!
This could mean life or death in some cases!
Help a child you know navigate how to handle an emergency situation with ease:
Let's Talk, Emergencies! -and don't forget
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 Gabriella from ReloBee
Books.
Gabriella, thank you for beinghere.
Thank you so much for having meAll right.
So how did you get into thehomeschooling space?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So technically I'm dipping my foot in.
I would consider myself ahybrid homeschooler, and the
reason that I say that isbecause right now my daughter
goes to school three days a week, and then the other two days a
week she actually stays homewith me and during those two
days we still do reading, math,science and we also do a lot of
extracurriculars.
I have some reasons why I'mdoing it this way, but
(01:05):
ultimately my goal is to haveher fully homeschooled in second
grade.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
And so what even makes you want to homeschool?
There's so many reasons thatpeople have from all different
you know, from medical to whatthey're learning.
What are your reasons?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So some of the reasons that I want to
homeschool is protectionhonestly, protection from
different social influences.
Another reason that I want tohomeschool is protection
honestly, protection fromdifferent social influences.
Another reason that I want tohomeschool is just because I
really want to have a lot offlexibility when it comes to
what she's learning and whereshe gets to learn it.
I have flight attendantbenefits so we can travel a lot
and very easily, and I wouldlove to be able to travel around
(01:42):
the world and teach her notonly about different places in
their history, but also show herdifferent cultures, languages
actually in those places.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So I've had world schoolers on the podcast before
and that's a technical term thatthey call themselves.
We are world schooling, onewoman in particular.
They kind of just look for thecheapest flight that they can
get, where they can get somesort of housing situation in
that community and she was likeon a raft and, let's say, like
(02:11):
the Amazon or something.
I'm going to have to look backat that episode, but it was
amazing and they just stay therefor six months or a year and
really submerge themselves inthe culture.
So that really is cool.
Where has been the awesomestplace that you've visited so far
?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Oh, this is a really hard question.
I think the most memorableplace would probably be Puerto
Rico, the most exotic placewould probably be China, and the
place that I would probablylove to go back would be Japan.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Hey, well, you got a bucket list, then that's so cool
and yeah, what better way tolearn than actually being there
learning than reading about itin a book?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yes, and even the journey to get there is such a
great lesson to have.
I don't know if I'd be able tostay for six months to a year,
but I plan to be able to takethree or four trips a year for
about four weeks and I'm goingto have her plan an itinerary.
Figure out how to get therewith the flights, budget the
trip, figure out how much moneywe need to spend and what we're
going to be able to do whilewe're getting there.
I'm so excited, but right nowshe's only four, so we travel a
(03:13):
lot, but not for very long.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, so there's a little time, but, yes, all of
that, all of those life skills.
Like my kids are young too, Ihave a six and a two year old
and just my son learning how tomake eggs in the morning and him
being the one that you know hemakes the eggs, that's his job
and you know I cut the bread buthe'll toast it up and it's like
these real world and he'll evengo to the chicken coop to get
(03:37):
the eggs.
So it's like he's really seeinglike this full circle kind of
thing happening going on, wherehe goes to feed the chickens,
take care of the coop, and thenhe's collecting the eggs and
making the eggs with it.
It's really an awesome way tolive because we're so
disconnected from all of thatwhen we're in the school.
Have you homeschooled, likebeen homeschooled yourself, or
did you go to traditional school?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
No, I was never homeschooled.
I went to school on militarybases and moved a little bit and
then I was just in like regularschool after that, I did online
schooling at home in additionto public school, so I don't
know if that counts.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Oh, that's interesting.
What made you do that?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I wanted to get out of school.
I wanted to be out as fast aspossible.
So I was like, let me just doall of my credits online and I
could have graduated early.
But my mom didn't let mebecause she didn't want me to be
in the real world or with olderkids.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
That's understandable .
What did you not like aboutschool yourself?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Because I lived in Japan for three years.
The school system there wasamazing.
The library was reallytherapeutic so you could do Zen
gardening there.
They had different like classes, like robotics, it wasn't just
like art or like anything likethat.
They had cultural classes aswell.
So we had a regular math classwhere we're just learning
(04:54):
different principles of math,but then we also had like a
Japanese language class, aJapanese math class.
It was very interesting and itwas more child led.
And then I moved to the States,to Nevada, and it was just not
the same, like even the giftedand talented programs, the way
they ran the schools, the waythey taught.
It just never compared to Japan.
(05:17):
And I was like I don't want todo this anymore.
It wasn't fun and they werereally limiting here.
So I already knew how to writein cursive.
When I moved out here I was inthird grade and they were like
no, you can't write in cursivebecause we haven't taught that
yet.
So I was like, oh, ok.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I can't do things.
Your first three years were inJapan of seeing this is what
school is supposed to be.
And then you come to the Statesin third grade and they're kind
of like, no, it was it moregeared towards the test here in
the state at that time.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Um, yes, I feel like they mainly teach to the test,
but even then they just theydidn't want kids to be too far
ahead of each other, so theywere like really limiting, like
where you could go and what youcould do.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That makes a lot of sense, especially when, like I
try to talk about peopleunderstanding this concept of
the fact that we're supposed toall learn the same things
because we're all eight yearsold in the same way and then be
tested on it.
But we all have differentbackgrounds.
We all have different likelevels that our brain is making
connections, and we all havedifferent backgrounds.
We all have different likelevels that our brain is making
(06:26):
connections, and we all havedifferent.
You know even backgroundexperiences as far as who could
get to bed early the nightbefore, or you know who gets
nourished enough at home.
So things just come easier tosome and we're all just supposed
to be like learning it fromthis textbook and then graded on
it.
And then how is that supposedto make you feel when you don't,
you know, get as high of agrade as the other eight year
(06:49):
olds?
It really is a terrible way.
Did they have testing in Japanthat you remember?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I know that they did testing but I don't remember it
ever being like a superstressful thing.
I know we would do a lot ofquick tests, so you know you do
your multiplication tests andyou have to do it like as
quickly as possible.
But it wasn't like they wouldgrade it and we would go over
like which ones we got wrong ornot.
But it wasn't like a punitivething, it was a learning thing,
(07:15):
like OK, let's see how far youcan get, can you finish the
sheet?
Or maybe you couldn't finish aseat, maybe you had to skip some
, maybe certain numbers trippedyou up more than others, and so
it was a way to figure out whereyou were struggling the most.
Maybe it was speed, maybe itwas certain numbers, and then
you could learn from that andthen you could go into different
groups of people that are atyour like learning level and
(07:36):
then get better help.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Oh, wow, yeah, that's very different than what we
have now.
That's so interesting, so okay,so did you finish out your
public school education in theStates, like in Nevada?
Yes, I did and you wanted toget out as quickly as possible.
What did you end up going tocollege for?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
for education.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
That's ironic, were you trying to change the system?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I did, I really wanted to, and I even worked for
the school district for threeyears after college and I just I
started off in elementaryschool and then I went to the
technology department because Ilove technology I've always
loved computers but just so manythings that I learned about the
school district and the waythey work, it was like I can't
do this.
Let me just go, like travel theworld and see things, because
(08:19):
you guys are doing thingsbackwards, like you don't teach
a lot of real life lessons.
And then when I found out thatthey were using third grade
scoring for like reading andliteracy and everything to
correlate to how many prisonersthey would have in the future, I
was like what?
There should not be acorrelation there and if there
is, there should be a lot ofheavy intervention around that
(08:40):
time.
So I was just heartbrokenlearning different things behind
the scenes in the schooldistricts and I left.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I have heard about that study, yeah, so break that
down for us.
What are they correlating now?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
So they use third grade reading scores for their
standardized testing and theynormally try to use those number
correlations to the amount ofprisoners that they'll have to
house years later.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
So okay.
So if I take all the thirdgraders in the United States and
say 50% of them, say a millionof them fail, I have to think
there's going to be a millionpeople in prison in 20 years
from now.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yes, that's kind of like a rough correlation of how
they have it, and I mean it'snot directly like, oh, if your
child fails this and they'regoing to be in prison.
But it is more likely becauseif they're not passing these
reading tests and everything,it's more likely that they're
not going to be able to readwhen they're taking tests to get
jobs or employment and otherthings.
And if you can't get thatemployment, where do you
(09:42):
normally turn?
To crime or opportunisticthings.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
So yeah, absolutely.
Instead of saying okay, whatare we doing as a system that
isn't allowing these children toread, you know, and I really do
think pushing the reading earlyis the detriment Ever thought
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You know, if your kid's notready, my son's six.
He's not reading fully on hisown yet and I really try hard to
not push him to learn it on hisown, because just because
that's what he's supposed to doat six years old, it's like all
(11:11):
right if your brain's just notthere yet.
There are so many other thingsthat you are good at, I know.
You know there's nothingdevelopmentally wrong or you
know we can look at dyslexia andstuff down the line if it
really never comes naturally toyou.
But pushing it and pushing itis just going to make the kids
hate story and reading and beingcreative thoughts.
(11:32):
You know, just sitting thereand looking at a book without
like getting nervous becausethey're so used to screen
changes, screen changes from allof the social media and video
game TV.
So, yeah, what are we doing asa society to fix that?
Instead of testing them on it,maybe spend more time reading
with them in school?
I don't really remember.
I remember like a teacher,every now and again, would take
(11:53):
out a book and read it to us.
I don't remember that beingtypical every day, you know.
I do remember like in sixthgrade we had a reading class,
but I remember wanting to read aGoosebumps book and they
wouldn't let me.
So it's like okay, just becausethe content might not be what
you want, but this is readingclass, I'm reading, I'm, I'm
reading.
That's the point.
I'm reading something thatinterests me and they're just
(12:15):
kiboshing it and telling me togo read something more, you know
, maybe more literature based,but all that did was make me sit
there and stare at a book andnot read.
I just looked at the clock tillyou know the 39 minutes was up
for the class.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yes, I remember that, and that's a big reason why I
started writing children's booksand creating content that is
based around reading, becausesometimes parents don't have
time to read or sometimes kidswant to read the same story over
and over.
So I created a YouTube channelwhere I read to kids, a podcast
where I read to kids, and I alsocreate children's books that
are silly and some of them arelike science-based.
(12:52):
Because I don't think that youshould discount any form of
reading.
Audiobooks are still reading.
Watching someone read to you onthe TV, like Reading Rainbow,
or my YouTube channel Readingwith Relibee, is still reading,
and you still get those momentsof being able to know, like,
okay, what's going to happennext, and using your
comprehension skills and thingslike that.
So you know, I think it's moreimportant to have our kids
(13:15):
really interested in reading,because the formality of it can
come later.
There's people that have toread them different ways because
of disabilities, like if youhave to use a screen reader,
that doesn't mean you're notreading.
If you have to use an audiobook instead of a book, that
does not mean you are notreading I use, I use audio books
for everything.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
These days you just gotta.
You don't have extra hands tohold the book or to sit there
without falling asleep.
So tell us a little bit aboutall right.
I wrote one children's book theone behind me.
That was a lot of work and youdon't really make a lot of money
.
I didn't make anything fromwhat I put in it.
So you've written multiplebooks.
(13:53):
Tell us where did this startfor you?
You realized the educationsystem is crap.
You started traveling the world.
What made you say I want towrite children's books?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
well, see, nobody told me what you just told me.
Before I was like we're notgoing to make any money doing
this, so like, don't do it.
But I've always wanted to writebooks.
I'm working on a novel as well,but I started with children's
books because I love children'sbooks.
I love some of the differentbooks that I remember when I was
little was like Junie B Jonesand the Boxcar series.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Those are such children, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So I just wanted to have a part of that and I'm like
maybe some kids will be sodrawn to my books that they're
like I remember that when I wasyounger.
So it's mainly about gettingkids to think about different
situations and just outside ofthe box.
So I started my children'sbooks and I'm sticking with it
(14:49):
as far as like trying to getthem out into the world and
everything.
But it's not just about thebooks, it's also about getting
kids to love reading.
So that's why I wanted to havecontent with it as well.
And I'm really excited becauseI'm working on a book that's
about a little like fantasycreature that lives in a
homeschool and the kids actuallyteach the creature what they
know, but in a tricky way,because they hate learning.
(15:11):
So if they see a workbook comeout, they're hiding, they are
not going to like do homework,they're not going to watch a
science presentation or anythinglike that, but the kids show
him different things in a verysneaky way that then they
realize they can apply later andthat learning is not so bad and
I'm very excited about that.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That sounds amazing, cause, yes, I mean, that's
that's all.
Even my son will say, uh, whendo we, when do we get to stop
doing homeschool?
How old do I have to be?
And I'm like, no, that's notwhat it's about.
It's like you should alwayswant to learn and be like
thirsty for knowledge and I knowthose are like coined terms
that to me always sounded corny,but now that I'm homeschooling
(15:54):
him, I'm excited to learn thestuff that I never learned in
this way.
Uh, so it really is a.
I think that's.
The most challenging part islike how do you get them excited
about it?
Because it their world is sosmall at that point, like they
don't realize I didn't realizethere was this whole like nature
outside of us and I wouldalways think about, like, teach
(16:15):
him about nature.
Like well, I don't want toteach him about bugs, but now
that I'm like doing a garden andyou see, for example, like a
pill bug, and I think I lookedit up one day, or maybe it was
just in one of the books we werereading, and it was like these
things are made of like steel.
You can't, when they like roundthemselves to as a defense
mechanism, you can't get throughthe bug.
(16:36):
It's crazy.
So I'm like that's sointeresting.
How is he not?
So I'm really trying to findways to get him excited about
that.
But to him he's like okay,because he doesn't know that
that's the only bug really thatthat happens to, or you know,
and it's so it's finding a wayto get them excited.
But I love that idea.
What was your first book thatyou wrote.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
So the first book I wrote was Mama I Got a Dollar.
Because I love financialliteracy, I think it's so
important that people understandthe way their money works and
debt, so I wrote a children'sbook about it Just short, sweet
and simple, but just has a touchon all of the basics saving
(17:18):
debt, spending your money whereyou can save your money because
it's important to start talkingabout that early.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
You are so true.
My son has like a littlecheckbook right now that he has
my husband's old checkbook, sohe's marking down like all the
the monies that he's got andlike the savings account at the
bank and in his piggy bank andevery time he spends a little
bit he minuses whatever that isand then if he finds I think he
(17:45):
just found like a couple likesilver dollars, so he's adding
that back in and it really is.
That's, that's huge right thereand gosh, you can get into that
for days, going into how tosave and like how interest works
and taxes and oh my gosh, stuffthey never taught us in school.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yes, yes, Even just being able to take maybe $10 and
invest it for them and showthem the way that it can grow.
My daughter's four, so shedoesn't really get it.
But like what do you?
What do you really like?
You like Disney.
Okay, we can buy a portion ofDisney.
This little teeny tiny 0.0001%is yours and we can watch it
(18:26):
grow.
There's just so much that youcan learn with money, and
obviously I mean word problemslike regular math.
Investing all of that stuff isjust so necessary and I feel
like money is a fun way to do it, because if they want toys or
they want to do their chores andget more money, what are you
going to do with it?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, and you know they really don't teach us much
about investing in school andyou got to think that's probably
by design.
They don't want the commonersto invest.
Well, because somebody's got tobe like.
You know the workers that justare kind of a slave to the
system.
You know like we're just hereto grind away and 50 percent of
(19:04):
our income goes to taxes, whichthat isn't even income tax,
isn't even legal.
But they don't teach you thateither.
But yeah, you know we're taxedfor a sales tax, corporate tax.
Every time you buy something,it's taxed.
When you sell it, it's taxed.
It's it's taxed.
When you sell it, it's taxed.
(19:24):
It was taxed before it got tothe store that you took it from.
And then they're taxing yourincome, they're taxing your
property, they're taxing you forschool.
It's insanity, but they don'twant us to know about all that
because if we all got wise to it, we'd probably stop paying it
or throw tea in the harbor andthen, they'd really have to do
something Exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I didn't even add taxes actually in the book.
I feel bad about that now.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, hey, that's your sequel.
So what's next for you?
You said that you have apodcast too.
So are you reading to the kidson the podcast?
What kind of books?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Your own, so I, actually I do read my own, but
on the podcast we have the kidssit down and listen and what we
do is we do a riddle to find outwhat we're going to be reading
about, and then we invite anauthor and an author comes and
reads us their story and we mixin some fun little sound effects
and then we talk about thelessons in the story and then we
do a shout out at the end of it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Hey everyone, 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,
(20:37):
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
(21:00):
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 going to remember
this should an accident occur,right?
I asked a couple of teacherswhat they do in school and they
(21:22):
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
(21:45):
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.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I was doing a little like stretch and movement.
So in some of the olderepisodes I was doing like
interactive, like imagination uhsegment or a stretch where
they're like wiggling around andmoving as well.
Um, but I'm I'm testing itwithout the movement part
because I know for younger kidssometimes it can be a little bit
harder to take audio onlyinstructions when they can't see
(22:28):
you.
So I'm keeping that on YouTubefor right now.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Wow.
So you're doing you're writingthe books, you've got the
podcast, you're doing a YouTubechannel and being a mom and
you're still doing the flightattendant work.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Oh no, no, I have not flown um for a long time, so we
just have a really like uniquesituation right now where I can
still be employed but I don'thave to fly and I get the
benefits Wow.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah, so you are busy , though.
Yes, that's amazing.
All right, what's next thatyou're working on?
Speaker 2 (22:59):
So, besides the homeschooling book, I am working
on a couple of different booksand I'm working on like a book
club where little readers cancome and give me input on the
books before they're done, sothey can read the manuscript,
they can see the sketches, thecovers, the development of it
and then they can be put on aspecial page.
I don't know if I'm going to becalling this page a special
(23:21):
thanks page or if I'm going tobe calling it a little editor's
page and then all of theirlittle credits are going to go
in there, because I really thinkit's important to like get kids
input, because this is who I'mtrying to write for and I think
it'll just be fun for them.
It's a reading project for them.
Maybe I'll make a mistake andthey can catch the mistake and
I'll do like a giveaway if theycan find so many mistakes in the
(23:42):
thing.
So I'm trying to make a littlecommunity around the development
of my books.
I love it and I think some ofthe stories are really cute.
And the other thing that I'mreally trying to work on which
this will be like a 2026 or 2027thing is doing a movie.
That's a reading with Relevymovie and it's talking about the
different parts of speech inEnglish and reading.
(24:05):
So that's, I have thescreenplay done, but I've never
done a screenplay, so that'samazing.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Wow, I thought of the one book and I'm like all right
, that was a lot of work.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I'm out.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You think the writing of the book is actually like
the bulk of it, but it's notlike the writing and rhyming it
and stuff.
That was like the easy, funpart.
And then it was the editing,and even working with the
illustrator, I didn't illustrateit myself.
So it was like, okay, here's,uh, here's what she envisioned
for each page.
I'm like no, that's not what Ienvisioned.
(24:37):
And you know, I mean Iself-published.
So I could tell her no, youknow, I'm the one paying you.
So like you got to change it tothis, change it to that, change
it to that, Um, and then it waslike, okay, these didn't fit on
the page, right, Her, you know,illustrations didn't fit with
where I had.
You know, my text is too big.
So then I'm changing the fontand the size, but now it's not
(24:57):
equal to the other pages andwhere are you going to put it?
And that background clashes.
Oh my God.
And then doing the ISBN numbersand making sure you know there's
one for a Kindle and one for apaperback and one for a
hardcover.
Where are you distributing itall to?
I was like at the end of it Iwas like it's out, I'm done.
No, there's got to be an easierway.
(25:17):
I loved writing.
It was a great experience.
Maybe someday I'll do it again,but I forgot even how the whole
process.
I should have written it downat the time like this is what
I'm doing next.
Maybe that's an idea for you,since you're a pro at it.
Now you could.
Yes, I do I'm doing next.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Maybe that's an idea for you, since you're a pro at
it.
Now you could?
Yes, I do.
I'm working on my system stilland it's exhausting, like you
said.
That's why I'm trying to workon so many at one time, because
even giving feedback toillustrators is a really big
mental process and it helps withyour communication, and that's
why I think that involving kidsin that process, they can
(25:51):
communicate their ideas andtheir thoughts, because they're
like you know this, this armlooks funny, like so how should
it be?
Like tell me how you envisionthe arm going and that alone
like being able to communicateyour thoughts in a way that
somebody else can understandthem and then translate it into
a drawing on a piece of paper.
Like, yeah, exhausting.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
It is.
You're so right.
I remember some of thosemornings at 5am looking at it
like, oh God, this isn't what Ipictured, but I don't know how
to fix it.
Yeah, so kudos to you for doingthis multiple times.
It must get a little easier.
Maybe you get a flow going.
Yes, that's awesome.
I'm going to link all yourbooks in the description of this
(26:36):
podcast so people can checkthem out and then, if you would
like to put your contact infofor the best way for them to
find you on social media, if youwant to relay that off right
now, feel free, but I'll alsoput it there.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yes, of course.
If you'd like to connect withme, you can find me at Rella B
books on any social media andRella B bookscom, and that's R E
L L A B B O O K Scom.
So lots of doubles.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
I love it and uh, yeah, kudos to you too.
Even just having all the socialmedia accounts, because that
was the other thing it was like,okay, now you need a website
for the book.
Well, can't I just use mypodcast website?
Nope, you're an author, now yougot to have your own website
and oh well, you should have,you know, a page for Instagram
for this and Facebook, andthat's a lot.
(27:26):
It's a lot for you and what likeyou're.
You're teaching your, yourdaughter, all of this stuff as
she gets older and watches thisprocess and being a business
owner and entrepreneur, and howyou do your finances with it,
and the marketing and theoutreach and the organization of
it all.
They're all just fantastic andjust the writing itself,
Fantastic tips for her to learnall along the way.
(27:49):
I love that idea, as I, aspeople ask me like how could I
work and homeschool things likethis, like running your own
business writing books, eventhough they don't really make a
lot of money?
I'm sure at some point you getto a place where they do.
You get a little bit morewell-known and you know people
like your first book, so theygrab your second, third and
fourth.
Um, but yeah, that's awesome.
Congratulations and thank youso much for coming on the
(28:10):
podcast today.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Thank you, Cheryl.
This was great.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Thank you for tuning into this week'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
(28:38):
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
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 Gabriella from ReloBee
Books.
Gabriella, thank you for beinghere.
Thank you so much for having meAll right.
So how did you get into thehomeschooling space?
Speaker 2 (00:43):
So technically I'm dipping my foot in.
I would consider myself ahybrid homeschooler, and the
reason that I say that isbecause right now my daughter
goes to school three days a week, and then the other two days a
week she actually stays homewith me and during those two
days we still do reading, math,science and we also do a lot of
extracurriculars.
I have some reasons why I'mdoing it this way, but
(01:05):
ultimately my goal is to haveher fully homeschooled in second
grade.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
And so what even makes you want to homeschool?
There's so many reasons thatpeople have from all different
you know, from medical to whatthey're learning.
What are your reasons?
Speaker 2 (01:20):
So some of the reasons that I want to
homeschool is protectionhonestly, protection from
different social influences.
Another reason that I want tohomeschool is protection
honestly, protection fromdifferent social influences.
Another reason that I want tohomeschool is just because I
really want to have a lot offlexibility when it comes to
what she's learning and whereshe gets to learn it.
I have flight attendantbenefits so we can travel a lot
and very easily, and I wouldlove to be able to travel around
(01:42):
the world and teach her notonly about different places in
their history, but also show herdifferent cultures, languages
actually in those places.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
So I've had world schoolers on the podcast before
and that's a technical term thatthey call themselves.
We are world schooling, onewoman in particular.
They kind of just look for thecheapest flight that they can
get, where they can get somesort of housing situation in
that community and she was likeon a raft and, let's say, like
(02:11):
the Amazon or something.
I'm going to have to look backat that episode, but it was
amazing and they just stay therefor six months or a year and
really submerge themselves inthe culture.
So that really is cool.
Where has been the awesomestplace that you've visited so far
?
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Oh, this is a really hard question.
I think the most memorableplace would probably be Puerto
Rico, the most exotic placewould probably be China, and the
place that I would probablylove to go back would be Japan.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Hey, well, you got a bucket list, then that's so cool
and yeah, what better way tolearn than actually being there
learning than reading about itin a book?
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yes, and even the journey to get there is such a
great lesson to have.
I don't know if I'd be able tostay for six months to a year,
but I plan to be able to takethree or four trips a year for
about four weeks and I'm goingto have her plan an itinerary.
Figure out how to get therewith the flights, budget the
trip, figure out how much moneywe need to spend and what we're
going to be able to do whilewe're getting there.
I'm so excited, but right nowshe's only four, so we travel a
(03:13):
lot, but not for very long.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, so there's a little time, but, yes, all of
that, all of those life skills.
Like my kids are young too, Ihave a six and a two year old
and just my son learning how tomake eggs in the morning and him
being the one that you know hemakes the eggs, that's his job
and you know I cut the bread buthe'll toast it up and it's like
these real world and he'll evengo to the chicken coop to get
(03:37):
the eggs.
So it's like he's really seeinglike this full circle kind of
thing happening going on, wherehe goes to feed the chickens,
take care of the coop, and thenhe's collecting the eggs and
making the eggs with it.
It's really an awesome way tolive because we're so
disconnected from all of thatwhen we're in the school.
Have you homeschooled, likebeen homeschooled yourself, or
did you go to traditional school?
Speaker 2 (03:58):
No, I was never homeschooled.
I went to school on militarybases and moved a little bit and
then I was just in like regularschool after that, I did online
schooling at home in additionto public school, so I don't
know if that counts.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Oh, that's interesting.
What made you do that?
Speaker 2 (04:14):
I wanted to get out of school.
I wanted to be out as fast aspossible.
So I was like, let me just doall of my credits online and I
could have graduated early.
But my mom didn't let mebecause she didn't want me to be
in the real world or with olderkids.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
That's understandable .
What did you not like aboutschool yourself?
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Because I lived in Japan for three years.
The school system there wasamazing.
The library was reallytherapeutic so you could do Zen
gardening there.
They had different like classes, like robotics, it wasn't just
like art or like anything likethat.
They had cultural classes aswell.
So we had a regular math classwhere we're just learning
(04:54):
different principles of math,but then we also had like a
Japanese language class, aJapanese math class.
It was very interesting and itwas more child led.
And then I moved to the States,to Nevada, and it was just not
the same, like even the giftedand talented programs, the way
they ran the schools, the waythey taught.
It just never compared to Japan.
(05:17):
And I was like I don't want todo this anymore.
It wasn't fun and they werereally limiting here.
So I already knew how to writein cursive.
When I moved out here I was inthird grade and they were like
no, you can't write in cursivebecause we haven't taught that
yet.
So I was like, oh, ok.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
I can't do things.
Your first three years were inJapan of seeing this is what
school is supposed to be.
And then you come to the Statesin third grade and they're kind
of like, no, it was it moregeared towards the test here in
the state at that time.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
Um, yes, I feel like they mainly teach to the test,
but even then they just theydidn't want kids to be too far
ahead of each other, so theywere like really limiting, like
where you could go and what youcould do.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
That makes a lot of sense, especially when, like I
try to talk about peopleunderstanding this concept of
the fact that we're supposed toall learn the same things
because we're all eight yearsold in the same way and then be
tested on it.
But we all have differentbackgrounds.
We all have different likelevels that our brain is making
connections, and we all havedifferent backgrounds.
We all have different likelevels that our brain is making
(06:26):
connections, and we all havedifferent.
You know even backgroundexperiences as far as who could
get to bed early the nightbefore, or you know who gets
nourished enough at home.
So things just come easier tosome and we're all just supposed
to be like learning it fromthis textbook and then graded on
it.
And then how is that supposedto make you feel when you don't,
you know, get as high of agrade as the other eight year
(06:49):
olds?
It really is a terrible way.
Did they have testing in Japanthat you remember?
Speaker 2 (06:53):
I know that they did testing but I don't remember it
ever being like a superstressful thing.
I know we would do a lot ofquick tests, so you know you do
your multiplication tests andyou have to do it like as
quickly as possible.
But it wasn't like they wouldgrade it and we would go over
like which ones we got wrong ornot.
But it wasn't like a punitivething, it was a learning thing,
(07:15):
like OK, let's see how far youcan get, can you finish the
sheet?
Or maybe you couldn't finish aseat, maybe you had to skip some
, maybe certain numbers trippedyou up more than others, and so
it was a way to figure out whereyou were struggling the most.
Maybe it was speed, maybe itwas certain numbers, and then
you could learn from that andthen you could go into different
groups of people that are atyour like learning level and
(07:36):
then get better help.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Oh, wow, yeah, that's very different than what we
have now.
That's so interesting, so okay,so did you finish out your
public school education in theStates, like in Nevada?
Yes, I did and you wanted toget out as quickly as possible.
What did you end up going tocollege for?
Speaker 2 (07:54):
for education.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
That's ironic, were you trying to change the system?
Speaker 2 (07:59):
I did, I really wanted to, and I even worked for
the school district for threeyears after college and I just I
started off in elementaryschool and then I went to the
technology department because Ilove technology I've always
loved computers but just so manythings that I learned about the
school district and the waythey work, it was like I can't
do this.
Let me just go, like travel theworld and see things, because
(08:19):
you guys are doing thingsbackwards, like you don't teach
a lot of real life lessons.
And then when I found out thatthey were using third grade
scoring for like reading andliteracy and everything to
correlate to how many prisonersthey would have in the future, I
was like what?
There should not be acorrelation there and if there
is, there should be a lot ofheavy intervention around that
(08:40):
time.
So I was just heartbrokenlearning different things behind
the scenes in the schooldistricts and I left.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
I have heard about that study, yeah, so break that
down for us.
What are they correlating now?
Speaker 2 (08:52):
So they use third grade reading scores for their
standardized testing and theynormally try to use those number
correlations to the amount ofprisoners that they'll have to
house years later.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
So okay.
So if I take all the thirdgraders in the United States and
say 50% of them, say a millionof them fail, I have to think
there's going to be a millionpeople in prison in 20 years
from now.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yes, that's kind of like a rough correlation of how
they have it, and I mean it'snot directly like, oh, if your
child fails this and they'regoing to be in prison.
But it is more likely becauseif they're not passing these
reading tests and everything,it's more likely that they're
not going to be able to readwhen they're taking tests to get
jobs or employment and otherthings.
And if you can't get thatemployment, where do you
(09:42):
normally turn?
To crime or opportunisticthings.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
So yeah, absolutely.
Instead of saying okay, whatare we doing as a system that
isn't allowing these children toread, you know, and I really do
think pushing the reading earlyis the detriment Ever thought
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You know, if your kid's notready, my son's six.
He's not reading fully on hisown yet and I really try hard to
not push him to learn it on hisown, because just because
that's what he's supposed to doat six years old, it's like all
(11:11):
right if your brain's just notthere yet.
There are so many other thingsthat you are good at, I know.
You know there's nothingdevelopmentally wrong or you
know we can look at dyslexia andstuff down the line if it
really never comes naturally toyou.
But pushing it and pushing itis just going to make the kids
hate story and reading and beingcreative thoughts.
(11:32):
You know, just sitting thereand looking at a book without
like getting nervous becausethey're so used to screen
changes, screen changes from allof the social media and video
game TV.
So, yeah, what are we doing asa society to fix that?
Instead of testing them on it,maybe spend more time reading
with them in school?
I don't really remember.
I remember like a teacher,every now and again, would take
(11:53):
out a book and read it to us.
I don't remember that beingtypical every day, you know.
I do remember like in sixthgrade we had a reading class,
but I remember wanting to read aGoosebumps book and they
wouldn't let me.
So it's like okay, just becausethe content might not be what
you want, but this is readingclass, I'm reading, I'm, I'm
reading.
That's the point.
I'm reading something thatinterests me and they're just
(12:15):
kiboshing it and telling me togo read something more, you know
, maybe more literature based,but all that did was make me sit
there and stare at a book andnot read.
I just looked at the clock tillyou know the 39 minutes was up
for the class.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Yes, I remember that, and that's a big reason why I
started writing children's booksand creating content that is
based around reading, becausesometimes parents don't have
time to read or sometimes kidswant to read the same story over
and over.
So I created a YouTube channelwhere I read to kids, a podcast
where I read to kids, and I alsocreate children's books that
are silly and some of them arelike science-based.
(12:52):
Because I don't think that youshould discount any form of
reading.
Audiobooks are still reading.
Watching someone read to you onthe TV, like Reading Rainbow,
or my YouTube channel Readingwith Relibee, is still reading,
and you still get those momentsof being able to know, like,
okay, what's going to happennext, and using your
comprehension skills and thingslike that.
So you know, I think it's moreimportant to have our kids
(13:15):
really interested in reading,because the formality of it can
come later.
There's people that have toread them different ways because
of disabilities, like if youhave to use a screen reader,
that doesn't mean you're notreading.
If you have to use an audiobook instead of a book, that
does not mean you are notreading I use, I use audio books
for everything.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
These days you just gotta.
You don't have extra hands tohold the book or to sit there
without falling asleep.
So tell us a little bit aboutall right.
I wrote one children's book theone behind me.
That was a lot of work and youdon't really make a lot of money
.
I didn't make anything fromwhat I put in it.
So you've written multiplebooks.
(13:53):
Tell us where did this startfor you?
You realized the educationsystem is crap.
You started traveling the world.
What made you say I want towrite children's books?
Speaker 2 (14:03):
well, see, nobody told me what you just told me.
Before I was like we're notgoing to make any money doing
this, so like, don't do it.
But I've always wanted to writebooks.
I'm working on a novel as well,but I started with children's
books because I love children'sbooks.
I love some of the differentbooks that I remember when I was
little was like Junie B Jonesand the Boxcar series.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Those are such children, yes.
Speaker 2 (14:27):
So I just wanted to have a part of that and I'm like
maybe some kids will be sodrawn to my books that they're
like I remember that when I wasyounger.
So it's mainly about gettingkids to think about different
situations and just outside ofthe box.
So I started my children'sbooks and I'm sticking with it
(14:49):
as far as like trying to getthem out into the world and
everything.
But it's not just about thebooks, it's also about getting
kids to love reading.
So that's why I wanted to havecontent with it as well.
And I'm really excited becauseI'm working on a book that's
about a little like fantasycreature that lives in a
homeschool and the kids actuallyteach the creature what they
know, but in a tricky way,because they hate learning.
(15:11):
So if they see a workbook comeout, they're hiding, they are
not going to like do homework,they're not going to watch a
science presentation or anythinglike that, but the kids show
him different things in a verysneaky way that then they
realize they can apply later andthat learning is not so bad and
I'm very excited about that.
Speaker 1 (15:30):
That sounds amazing, cause, yes, I mean, that's
that's all.
Even my son will say, uh, whendo we, when do we get to stop
doing homeschool?
How old do I have to be?
And I'm like, no, that's notwhat it's about.
It's like you should alwayswant to learn and be like
thirsty for knowledge and I knowthose are like coined terms
that to me always sounded corny,but now that I'm homeschooling
(15:54):
him, I'm excited to learn thestuff that I never learned in
this way.
Uh, so it really is a.
I think that's.
The most challenging part islike how do you get them excited
about it?
Because it their world is sosmall at that point, like they
don't realize I didn't realizethere was this whole like nature
outside of us and I wouldalways think about, like, teach
(16:15):
him about nature.
Like well, I don't want toteach him about bugs, but now
that I'm like doing a garden andyou see, for example, like a
pill bug, and I think I lookedit up one day, or maybe it was
just in one of the books we werereading, and it was like these
things are made of like steel.
You can't, when they like roundthemselves to as a defense
mechanism, you can't get throughthe bug.
(16:36):
It's crazy.
So I'm like that's sointeresting.
How is he not?
So I'm really trying to findways to get him excited about
that.
But to him he's like okay,because he doesn't know that
that's the only bug really thatthat happens to, or you know,
and it's so it's finding a wayto get them excited.
But I love that idea.
What was your first book thatyou wrote.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
So the first book I wrote was Mama I Got a Dollar.
Because I love financialliteracy, I think it's so
important that people understandthe way their money works and
debt, so I wrote a children'sbook about it Just short, sweet
and simple, but just has a touchon all of the basics saving
(17:18):
debt, spending your money whereyou can save your money because
it's important to start talkingabout that early.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
You are so true.
My son has like a littlecheckbook right now that he has
my husband's old checkbook, sohe's marking down like all the
the monies that he's got andlike the savings account at the
bank and in his piggy bank andevery time he spends a little
bit he minuses whatever that isand then if he finds I think he
(17:45):
just found like a couple likesilver dollars, so he's adding
that back in and it really is.
That's, that's huge right thereand gosh, you can get into that
for days, going into how tosave and like how interest works
and taxes and oh my gosh, stuffthey never taught us in school.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
Yes, yes, Even just being able to take maybe $10 and
invest it for them and showthem the way that it can grow.
My daughter's four, so shedoesn't really get it.
But like what do you?
What do you really like?
You like Disney.
Okay, we can buy a portion ofDisney.
This little teeny tiny 0.0001%is yours and we can watch it
(18:26):
grow.
There's just so much that youcan learn with money, and
obviously I mean word problemslike regular math.
Investing all of that stuff isjust so necessary and I feel
like money is a fun way to do it, because if they want toys or
they want to do their chores andget more money, what are you
going to do with it?
Speaker 1 (18:43):
Yeah, and you know they really don't teach us much
about investing in school andyou got to think that's probably
by design.
They don't want the commonersto invest.
Well, because somebody's got tobe like.
You know the workers that justare kind of a slave to the
system.
You know like we're just hereto grind away and 50 percent of
(19:04):
our income goes to taxes, whichthat isn't even income tax,
isn't even legal.
But they don't teach you thateither.
But yeah, you know we're taxedfor a sales tax, corporate tax.
Every time you buy something,it's taxed.
When you sell it, it's taxed.
It's it's taxed.
When you sell it, it's taxed.
(19:24):
It was taxed before it got tothe store that you took it from.
And then they're taxing yourincome, they're taxing your
property, they're taxing you forschool.
It's insanity, but they don'twant us to know about all that
because if we all got wise to it, we'd probably stop paying it
or throw tea in the harbor andthen, they'd really have to do
something Exactly.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
I didn't even add taxes actually in the book.
I feel bad about that now.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
Well, hey, that's your sequel.
So what's next for you?
You said that you have apodcast too.
So are you reading to the kidson the podcast?
What kind of books?
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Your own, so I, actually I do read my own, but
on the podcast we have the kidssit down and listen and what we
do is we do a riddle to find outwhat we're going to be reading
about, and then we invite anauthor and an author comes and
reads us their story and we mixin some fun little sound effects
and then we talk about thelessons in the story and then we
do a shout out at the end of it.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Hey everyone, 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,
(20:37):
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
(21:00):
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 going to remember
this should an accident occur,right?
I asked a couple of teacherswhat they do in school and they
(21:22):
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
(21:45):
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.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I was doing a little like stretch and movement.
So in some of the olderepisodes I was doing like
interactive, like imagination uhsegment or a stretch where
they're like wiggling around andmoving as well.
Um, but I'm I'm testing itwithout the movement part
because I know for younger kidssometimes it can be a little bit
harder to take audio onlyinstructions when they can't see
(22:28):
you.
So I'm keeping that on YouTubefor right now.
Speaker 1 (22:30):
Wow.
So you're doing you're writingthe books, you've got the
podcast, you're doing a YouTubechannel and being a mom and
you're still doing the flightattendant work.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Oh no, no, I have not flown um for a long time, so we
just have a really like uniquesituation right now where I can
still be employed but I don'thave to fly and I get the
benefits Wow.
Speaker 1 (22:54):
Yeah, so you are busy , though.
Yes, that's amazing.
All right, what's next thatyou're working on?
Speaker 2 (22:59):
So, besides the homeschooling book, I am working
on a couple of different booksand I'm working on like a book
club where little readers cancome and give me input on the
books before they're done, sothey can read the manuscript,
they can see the sketches, thecovers, the development of it
and then they can be put on aspecial page.
I don't know if I'm going to becalling this page a special
(23:21):
thanks page or if I'm going tobe calling it a little editor's
page and then all of theirlittle credits are going to go
in there, because I really thinkit's important to like get kids
input, because this is who I'mtrying to write for and I think
it'll just be fun for them.
It's a reading project for them.
Maybe I'll make a mistake andthey can catch the mistake and
I'll do like a giveaway if theycan find so many mistakes in the
(23:42):
thing.
So I'm trying to make a littlecommunity around the development
of my books.
I love it and I think some ofthe stories are really cute.
And the other thing that I'mreally trying to work on which
this will be like a 2026 or 2027thing is doing a movie.
That's a reading with Relevymovie and it's talking about the
different parts of speech inEnglish and reading.
(24:05):
So that's, I have thescreenplay done, but I've never
done a screenplay, so that'samazing.
Speaker 1 (24:11):
Wow, I thought of the one book and I'm like all right
, that was a lot of work.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
I'm out.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
You think the writing of the book is actually like
the bulk of it, but it's notlike the writing and rhyming it
and stuff.
That was like the easy, funpart.
And then it was the editing,and even working with the
illustrator, I didn't illustrateit myself.
So it was like, okay, here's,uh, here's what she envisioned
for each page.
I'm like no, that's not what Ienvisioned.
(24:37):
And you know, I mean Iself-published.
So I could tell her no, youknow, I'm the one paying you.
So like you got to change it tothis, change it to that, change
it to that, Um, and then it waslike, okay, these didn't fit on
the page, right, Her, you know,illustrations didn't fit with
where I had.
You know, my text is too big.
So then I'm changing the fontand the size, but now it's not
(24:57):
equal to the other pages andwhere are you going to put it?
And that background clashes.
Oh my God.
And then doing the ISBN numbersand making sure you know there's
one for a Kindle and one for apaperback and one for a
hardcover.
Where are you distributing itall to?
I was like at the end of it Iwas like it's out, I'm done.
No, there's got to be an easierway.
(25:17):
I loved writing.
It was a great experience.
Maybe someday I'll do it again,but I forgot even how the whole
process.
I should have written it downat the time like this is what
I'm doing next.
Maybe that's an idea for you,since you're a pro at it.
Now you could.
Yes, I do I'm doing next.
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Maybe that's an idea for you, since you're a pro at
it.
Now you could?
Yes, I do.
I'm working on my system stilland it's exhausting, like you
said.
That's why I'm trying to workon so many at one time, because
even giving feedback toillustrators is a really big
mental process and it helps withyour communication, and that's
why I think that involving kidsin that process, they can
(25:51):
communicate their ideas andtheir thoughts, because they're
like you know this, this armlooks funny, like so how should
it be?
Like tell me how you envisionthe arm going and that alone
like being able to communicateyour thoughts in a way that
somebody else can understandthem and then translate it into
a drawing on a piece of paper.
Like, yeah, exhausting.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
It is.
You're so right.
I remember some of thosemornings at 5am looking at it
like, oh God, this isn't what Ipictured, but I don't know how
to fix it.
Yeah, so kudos to you for doingthis multiple times.
It must get a little easier.
Maybe you get a flow going.
Yes, that's awesome.
I'm going to link all yourbooks in the description of this
(26:36):
podcast so people can checkthem out and then, if you would
like to put your contact infofor the best way for them to
find you on social media, if youwant to relay that off right
now, feel free, but I'll alsoput it there.
Speaker 2 (26:49):
Yes, of course.
If you'd like to connect withme, you can find me at Rella B
books on any social media andRella B bookscom, and that's R E
L L A B B O O K Scom.
So lots of doubles.
Speaker 1 (27:05):
I love it and uh, yeah, kudos to you too.
Even just having all the socialmedia accounts, because that
was the other thing it was like,okay, now you need a website
for the book.
Well, can't I just use mypodcast website?
Nope, you're an author, now yougot to have your own website
and oh well, you should have,you know, a page for Instagram
for this and Facebook, andthat's a lot.
(27:26):
It's a lot for you and what likeyou're.
You're teaching your, yourdaughter, all of this stuff as
she gets older and watches thisprocess and being a business
owner and entrepreneur, and howyou do your finances with it,
and the marketing and theoutreach and the organization of
it all.
They're all just fantastic andjust the writing itself,
Fantastic tips for her to learnall along the way.
(27:49):
I love that idea, as I, aspeople ask me like how could I
work and homeschool things likethis, like running your own
business writing books, eventhough they don't really make a
lot of money?
I'm sure at some point you getto a place where they do.
You get a little bit morewell-known and you know people
like your first book, so theygrab your second, third and
fourth.
Um, but yeah, that's awesome.
Congratulations and thank youso much for coming on the
(28:10):
podcast today.
Speaker 2 (28:11):
Thank you, Cheryl.
This was great.
I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Thank you for tuning into this week'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
(28:38):
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
generation.
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