#116: "Behind Who?" — Challenging Traditional Timelines and Expectations with Jackie

Dive into a refreshingly honest conversation about homeschooling with Jackie from @RealRaisingCubs, a tattooed, outspoken mother of four boys who's been homeschooling for over a decade. Jackie shatters the stereotypical image of homeschooling parents, offering a perspective that's both liberating and practical.

This episode explores the core concept of freedom that drives Jackie's homeschooling approach. We discuss her evolution from structured curricula to her current unschooling methods, and how her philosophy has adapted to meet the changing needs of her children. Jackie shares the startling statistic that average parents spend just one hour daily with their children, highlighting how homeschooling reclaims precious family time.

One of the most powerful moments comes when Jackie recounts being told her son was "behind" in reading, and another mom's perspective-shifting question: "Behind who?" This story exemplifies how homeschooling frees families from arbitrary timelines and expectations, allowing children to develop at their natural pace.

Jackie doesn't sugarcoat the challenges—she admits to doubting herself regularly and losing patience with her children. Yet she emphasizes that these real moments create opportunities for character development and authentic learning. Her practical advice includes not trying to replicate traditional school at home, focusing on character development before academics for younger children, and trusting your instincts as a parent.

Whether you're a veteran homeschooler, just beginning your journey, or simply curious about alternative educational approaches, this conversation offers valuable insights into creating an educational environment that honors children's natural development while preparing them for a meaningful, self-directed life.

Follow Jackie:

@RealRaisingCubs

@FreeThinkology

https://www.freethinkology.com/

 ✨ This episode is brought to you by Excelsior Classes — live, online courses for homeschoolers taught by passionate, Christian instructors. Whether your student needs support in core subjects or wants to explore exciting electives, Excelsior offers rigorous academics in a nurturing environment. Learn more at excelsiorclasses.com! 

The Tuttle Twins - Do you want to help your children learn about true history, personal freedom, responsibility, and individual rights? Then check out The Tuttle Twins books by clicking the link below.
Use code: Cheryl15 for 15% off the age 5-11 series!

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Episode Transcript

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.
Yet, but probably like you, myloud mouth gets me a lot of

(00:47):
people messaging me like hey,thanks for speaking up about
this thing or that thing.
So I assume do you get thosemessages all the time too?

Speaker 2 (00:53):
Yeah, always.
Are you in New Jersey or North,somewhere up there, new York,
new York, okay, yeah, yeah.
So my husband and I areoriginally from New Jersey, born
and raised, and I feel like forsure, especially because we
speak up about things thatpeople are thinking but they
don't actually say them out loud, especially during 2020.
I feel like a lot of us foundeach other.

(01:15):
Yeah, needless to say, you knowso thank you for reaching out
yeah kind of being like hey, Igot your back.

Speaker 1 (01:22):
Um, you know, we let's chat and kind of empower
other people that maybe don'twant to speak up either, but you
are also a homeschool mom rightI am.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
I am a homeschool mom , um, born and raised as far as
like public school, collegeeducated.
My husband and I and I havefour boys ranging from 14 down
to six, and we've beenhomeschooling for over a decade.
So my boys have never been inany kind of conventional
schooling and that has reallyimpacted our family dynamic and

(01:54):
just like differentopportunities we're able to take
on because we homeschool andall that.
So, yeah, I reach out to youbecause I just love what you're
doing for the homeschoolcommunity and you're just a
powerful voice and light and I'mjust honored to be here.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
So let's do this.
Oh, thank you so much.
Well, and so yeah, when youreached out, I was excited
because I was watching some ofyour videos.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:16):
Like they are hilarious.
You have a podcast as well,right the sister Yep.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
It's the sister show.
It's my sister and I.
We have a 16-year age gap andwe just kind of talk about
everything you would talk aboutwith your sister, but we let
people in on it.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
It's hilarious, and one of the things that you had
said on there which reallystruck me was that you were like
I don't understand why peopleare saying their happiness
depends on who's in office andit's actually changing the way
that they're living their life.
Like it doesn't change anythingabout the way you live your
life with who's in office.
Um, yeah, maybe a law mighttrickle down, but even at the

(02:52):
presidential level, it's likeit's hard for that to really be
part of our day, maybe if it's alocal office or whatnot.
But people are like, reallylike their lives are flipped
upside down depending on who'sin the presidential seat, and so
what you said made so muchsense Like people are actually
changing their demeanor, losingfriendships, which I have as
well, you know there's a lot ofpeople Same.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
I think that comes whenever you do things outside
of the norm.
Unfortunately, it's like whatis that mirror effect where
people it's just by you livingand me living people get
paranoid as if we're judgingthem when we're not.
And it's just by you living andme living people get paranoid
as if we're judging them whenwe're not.
And it's just.
You know it's crazy, but yeah,I think we've all lost family,
friends and loved ones a lot ofpeople, unfortunately, into the
2020 circus, for sure yeah, soall right.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
You have been homeschooling for over a decade,
so this was well before 2020hits so yeah, there's not a
reason.
Yeah, and you don't have thattraditional homeschooling sense
about.
You know, we all kind of thinkof like oh the Amish, or they're
like sitting down whittlingtogether all day long, like you.
I mean, I'm just judging rightnow, but you don't strike me as
the type that's like gatheringthe family to whittle every

(03:58):
morning, even though I kind ofdo want to know how to whittle
now.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
So I'm not even oh yeah, I mean, it's not to say we
don't want to learn thoseskills, but that seems like a
useful trait right now.
Yeah, so actually, my originalmommy blogging social media
started because the reason why Iwent semi-viral was because
people were like, first off,she's not Amish.
Second of all, she's gottattoos and says the f-word and

(04:22):
wait a minute, she homeschoolsand people are kind of like this
doesn't make any sense and,yeah, so my oldest is 14, which
is crazy, um, and the thing thatpeople are always shocked at,
because I am the wild child andmy husband's the calm, and I
feel like all amazingpartnerships are like that where
you're complete opposites.
But my husband, who was publicschool raised, you know, and and

(04:43):
graduated, started kind ofleaving little ideas in my head
when my oldest was one.
He would start saying you know,why do they?
Why do they make us put ourkids in this pre K or whatever
it is?
You know, people will calltheir kid when they're six
months old, I'm dropping off atschool and it's like no, that's
daycare babe.
But I, thankfully, because ofhim, I was able to stay home

(05:05):
with the, my first son and mysecond and I, honestly, girl, I
told him I'm like you're crazy,I'm not a teacher, I don't want
to do that and it's nothappening.
And then the more I looked intohomeschooling and then when my
kids started getting to the agethe age, whatever that may be I
was like, hmm, maybe I do wantto look into this a little more.

(05:25):
And so, yeah, I give Sean Godfirst, but Sean all the glory
and credit, because I would havemy kids absolutely in regular
old school if it wasn't for himeven bringing up the idea.
So that's actually how itstarted.

Speaker 1 (05:37):
Wow, and were you in?
You're in Florida right now,right.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
Yep, we were in South Carolina.
So one thing that I get all thetime when people ask me because
of course I know you know this,the how to Homeschool podcast
is well, what are the laws in mystate and what can I do and
this and that?
And so you always want to makesure you are looking up
specifically your state.
The craziest thing that Ilearned and I know you already

(06:03):
know this because you're fromthe North is these Northeast,
more liberal states actuallyhave the most freedom with
homeschool.
What I've found, compared toI'm not saying I mean Florida is
amazing, south Carolina wasamazing, but I'm pretty sure
even in New Jersey, because I dohave a lot of people I know
there that do it, there'sliterally like no, there's no

(06:24):
testing, there's no.
I could be wrong.
I haven't checked it in a while, but yeah.
So we originally started ourhomeschool journey in South
Carolina and now I do it inFlorida with the boys.
But one of the main things whywe choose and chose and continue
to choose homeschooling wasnumber one, my favorite, second
favorite F word, which isfreedom, and that is what

(06:46):
brought me to it the freedom todo things our way.
And you know, everyone's journeylooks so different and for us,
like at first I was doubting myability completely, which I
think is normal All of us arelike, wait a minute, can we
really do this?
And so originally I had myfirst son.
My first two are Irish twins,so they're literally a grade

(07:08):
apart.
So I was like, oh my gosh, howam I gonna do this?
But that actually works outreally good for homeschool when
your kids are close in age,because you just bunch them
together and do the same thingwith each of them.
But when, when I looked into it, I had them first in a co-op,
so there was a Christian co-opand I had them involved in that
and girl.
Throughout 10 years, I mean myhomeschool journey has gone a

(07:30):
little crazy and wonky.
We're more on the unschoolingspectrum now that I have four
boys.
Average American family parentsin 2023, it was called the
American Time Survey, if youwant to look it up the average
amount of time that parents arespending with their kids daily

(07:50):
is one hour and I'm like, look,I lose my patience, ok.
And I'm like, get the frickaway from me.
And I'm hiding from my childrenright now, not even at my house
.
But that's insane.
That's crazy that you know onaverage.
But that's insane.
That's crazy that you know onaverage what it was like 9.5
hours a week we're spending withour kids, and especially when

(08:12):
they're little, and then reallymuch so in their teen time.
We need to plug back into thenucleus of family, and so the
freedom has always been whatdrawn drew us to homeschooling,
for sure has always been whatdrew us to homeschooling for
sure.

Speaker 1 (08:28):
Yeah, New York.
We have strict laws in New York.
That doesn't mean New Jersey,is you know?
I agree that it's probablyaround us, that don't, but New
York's one of the strictest.
But even at that it is.
I worked for 16 years ingovernment.
It's no different than what Iwould have to report for my
employees.
Like they're you know, this iswhat I intend to you know have
you do for the next year.
And then every quarter.

(08:49):
This is what we've done, sothat's the extent of it.
And then there is testing.
You know, once they get to acertain age, every other year.
But, you can request that testcome to your house.
And like I'm not saying I woulddo it, but like the test is at
your house, you can practice.

(09:09):
Yeah, nobody, nobody wantsanything better for your kid
than you exactly.
So, if you're, you're not goingto do them a disservice by, you
know, filling out the wholetest for them, but you're not
going to let them fall behindeither.
You know, because we love them,we want them to do well.
That's why we're homeschoolingthem.
And I totally believe thatstatistic because when you add
in you know they're going tobefore care, a lot of them are
going to after care.
So there, you've got at least10 hours.

(09:31):
And when I think about my workday, I would drive down to
Albany and back.
So that was eight hours plustwo hours of commuting.
And then, yeah, you've gotsports in the evenings, birthday
parties and whatever else,activities that you feel
inclined like you have to do oryou're missing out.
You're missing out.
Yeah, it probably is one hourthat you're actually together.

(09:51):
You know, not sleeping.
That's crazy.
How are you going to instillanything in your kid for one
hour a day?
I mean, you want to spend thattime enjoying them.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
I'm not.
I don't want anyone listeningbecause I realize, especially I
try to put myself back to Jackie10 years ago and I hold space
for anyone who, you know, isthinking they can't do it or
they're like.
You know, this is not shade.
This is not me judging thoseother parents at all.
It's just I think we need totake a harder look at the time
that we are spending with ourchildren.
And when we look around at thisupside down world, it starts at

(10:23):
the family, it starts with thefamily, it starts with the
parents, it starts with yourkids.
And so, honestly, girl, allparents and all mothers were
homeschooled.
We're homeschoolers and I thinkthat's the thing that more
women need to realize.
And if you are in a situationwhere homeschooling look, I know
people that work full time,that homeschool so I will say,
if you make the excuse whichmost people don't want to hear

(10:46):
it's just not a priority to youand that's OK.
But if you're in, if you'rethinking of homeschooling, if
it's on your heart, I say go forit.
And this is not a marriage atany time.
If I saw any of my childrenwould do better in a regular
school setting, I wouldabsolutely put them there, but

(11:06):
so far, so far, taking it day byday, we're kicking ass.
And another thing I'm glad youbrought up the whole government
stuff is that in 2020, you wantto know who didn't skip a beat
was the homeschool families,which I felt so bad for those,
the kids doing virtual schooland with the masks and
everything, and there's a lot of, a lot of mind effery that was
going on, and you know, my kidsdidn't skip a beat and I'm so

(11:29):
grateful for that and it was sofunny.
People would reach out to me andbe like, how do you do this?
And I'm like, babe, virtualschool is not what we do.
It's not, we are not the sameand I don't know how you do it.
You know, cause it's, it'sclose to impossible and I know,

(11:51):
you know this and you've talkedto so many amazing people is,
even the teachers are like wecannot do what we need to do
with these kids.
Can you see, with your, yourchildren, they're so different
and learning styles are sodifferent.
It's like I feel teachers needto be paid.
You know, way more than sixfigures in my opinion, and I
think that would bring back somegood teachers, but it's never
going to happen, unfortunately.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
Well, yeah, the intention isn't to produce a
nation full of free thinkers,which kind of leads back to what
I was going to ask you was doyou the whole?
We're only with our fan, ourchildren, one hour a day on
average.
Do you think it's by design?

Speaker 2 (12:23):
of course.
Of course.
I mean who founded, you know,the school system in general?
Jay, whatever his name isrockefeller.
They want to make employees andwhen I here's my shot, I'm
shooting it.
What the hell does school looklike?
Prison, jail, I mean, I knowit's dramatic, but I'm a
dramatic kind of girly, you know, stay in line, don't raise your

(12:45):
hand to pee, don't thinkoutside the box.
I'm an entrepreneur through andthrough and none of the things
I learned in school I use.
I'm a college educated personand I don't use any of that shit
.
And I'm not saying that we needto raise up illiterate children
, but true, and my progressionof homeschool.
I sat there with my boys whenthey were little again.

(13:05):
But here's why the societalpressure of, yes, every state
has different hourlyrequirements and that's just not
.
That's not how you raise, likeyou said, critical thinking,

(13:25):
free thinking, entrepreneursthat learn a trade and, and you
know, aren't these little workerants out there?
And, by the way, I don't.
I'm not saying that we, theworld means all kinds of people,
but if you take a hard look atour school system in the last
hundred years, it has notchanged.
Every other thing that you lookat has evolved and grown and
come up with the times, exceptfor school.

(13:47):
Like kids should not be sittingin a especially, boys should
not be sitting in a desk for sixhours a day.
That's just not how God madethem.
So yeah, it's absolutely bydesign.
And there's the conspiracytinfoil hat I'll put on.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
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(14:24):
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Speaker 2 (14:40):
And also think back to when our society was thriving
was when we had one roomschoolhouse.
It was when families weretogether more Again, like I said
to you that hour a day, howmuch are you able to instill in
your kids if, at four years old,they're already out of the
house?
Please tell me Also afour-year-old still naps and
might even still wet the bed.
Like that's a baby, in myopinion.

(15:01):
So, yeah, no, it's all bydesign for sure.

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Well, and it even goes down to six weeks old,
cause they, you know, want youback to work at six weeks.
If you're a working mom, youknow.
I was lucky to at least takesix months with my son, which is
great.
It's crazy, though, because nowthat I've been home with my
daughter since she was born, Isee all the things that I missed

(15:25):
with him, and it's not evenjust like the first time.
They walk or crawl or say mama,like those are yeah, okay,
those are bad to miss, but it'slike all the times she needed a
hug from mom, like she was justfeeling and she just needed mom.
Um, my son didn't have me there.
He had the daycare ladies andI'm sure they're nice people,

(15:46):
but it's not family.
They weren't mom and and youknow just all.
It's crazy to me too, becauseit's like I don't know.
I just look at the things,little things that he does, and
I'm like, oh, I wonder why hedoes that and I can't even tell
you because I haven't been thereevery day with him since he was
born.
Like something could havehappened to him at daycare and I

(16:06):
wouldn't know about it.
The daycare providers might noteven know about it.
It might've been between a kidor anybody walking in their
house.
Well, like, it's crazy to me tothink that I'm like, yeah, I
couldn't tell you if anythingserious happened or something
that maybe traumatized him inany sort of way because I wasn't
with them and you don't thinkabout that stuff.
Until now I have the second andI've been for two and a half

(16:28):
years.
I've been with her every singleday and I'm like, wow, like
seeing the difference.
I just I feel bad, but alsoit's a perspective I can give to
someone who is especiallysomeone who's been a
stay-at-home mom forever, andthey're like, oh, I'm missing
out on the real world.

Speaker 2 (16:42):
Like no, you're not those people don't care about
you there.

Speaker 1 (16:46):
You're replaceable there.

Speaker 2 (16:47):
But don't beat yourself up with that mom guilt.
I mean, look how you've evolvedand you're a kick-ass mother
and wife and all the things.
So I'm definitely a.
Let's not live there.
And you know, god will use thatexperience for your son to
refine him.
I mean, my first kid was likemy guinea pig, right?
So there's a lot of mistakes weall make as mothers and so
don't, don't, don't be.
You know you're amazing andwhat you're doing is amazing for

(17:08):
the homeschool community.
But it's crazy because you thinkabout to what's a hot take,
because I'm a nutritionist and Iwork with clients every single
day and it's like everyone'stalking about their nervous
system and cortisol.
Think of that morning time rush, which, thankfully, I've never
really been in that rat race andI was a stay at home mom but
which, again, you know this isthe hardest job in the world.

(17:28):
But, with that being said, whenwe did have him in a Christian
co-op in the beginning thatrunning around it was only two
days a week I was like how dothese mamas do this five days a
week?
It was crazy and it's not asituation you know.
I see the school bus leavinghere in the Keys.
We live in Florida, on anIsland, and these kids are out
there when it's dark, and thenyou know I'll, I'll get my

(17:50):
homeschool done in an hour withall four kids and you know, then
I see them back at 5, 6 PM.
I'm like, oh my gosh, like Idon't even want to do that, you
know.
So, um, it's just a lot ofrunning around and rushing
around all by design, like yousaid, and you know I just I want
to empower women and families.
You know, if it's on your heart, try it, do it and you will not

(18:12):
regret.
The one thing I always say topeople that reach out to me is
you will never regret the timeyou spent with your kids.
And they are only and I'm goingto get emotional, but, like you
know, my oldest is 14, he's six, two, and it's like I feel like
time is just on fast forward.
I blink, and it's like anotheryear just passed us.

Speaker 1 (18:28):
And so, really being able to know that, like I, not
perfectly, there's F-bombs andpatients lost every day, but you
know, I spent all of my time Icould with these kids and it's,
it's what a gift that is, youknow, so um yeah, and and I lose
my patience too a lot and Icome from that like that mother
that's always rush, rush, rush,rush, rush, rush, rush, and even

(18:51):
at 77, she's retired and likehas nowhere to go, she's still
rushing places and it's like, ohmy gosh, mom.
And so I'm trying to removethat from, but I do it with my
son, even like I can't even makeit to an 11 o'clock play date
on Tuesdays by 11, like yeah.
I'm right with you like we'rethere an hour late every week,
but it is that rushing them outof bed, away like awake, when

(19:15):
they're not ready.
Their bodies might be fightinggerms or whatever, whatever we
believe in, terrain, fearwhatever, but their bodies are
doing something and you know,especially as young kids their
brains are connecting synapsesand you know they might need
that sleep like they, just theyneed it.
And then to be rushing them outof the door by jeez, yeah, like

(19:39):
you said, when it's still darkout, putting them out in the
cold, and I know the school downthe street from me like they
won't even have the kids gooutside if it's under 40 degrees
so.
I'm in upstate New.
York I mean it's always under40 degrees.
So yeah they're never outside.
It's crazy.
Yeah and um and okay, you're anutritionist so the other aspect

(20:00):
of this is the free breakfastand lunch program that like
pretty much all schools have itnow for all kids, because we
don't want to discriminateagainst the kids that need the
free and reduced lunch, so Ithink it's pretty much universal
.
Everybody gets.
So I could send my children toschool with all organic food.
You know that we source locally.
No hormones, antibiotics in it,make it all for them and then

(20:23):
they'll just throw that away forpizza.
Yep, I mean, how how does thatimpact a child throughout their
day when they're, when they'regetting the toxins from the food
in that program?

Speaker 2 (20:36):
Right.
And the other thing is, whichis so unfortunate?
I mean, I, I promise you, I'mpretty sure every boy out there,
including my husband, has someform of ADHD or autistic
something spectrum.
I feel like you know we'reconstantly trying to put labels
on childhood or a boy.
You know, and again, I knowthat there's very there's

(20:58):
situations where you knowthere's different learning,
disabilities and all thesethings.
But you know, just recently Iread a study that was published
and I can send this to you whenwe get off of here that
literally they took awayprocessed food and all the
stupid red dyes and everythingwhich I know everyone this is a
hot take right now that peopleare talking about and 80% of
these kids no longer had ADHD orhyperactivity.

(21:21):
Now I'm not saying I won'tshoot my shot of saying you know
we can cure autism, even thoughI do believe and I know people
that have done that beforethrough many different ways.
But you know so you're feedingthem the processed garbage in
the morning.
They're coming in whatever,from all different backgrounds
and that's the beauty of schoolis, you get to be around a

(21:41):
melting pot of different peopleusually and then're giving them
the red dyes.
We're giving them the sugar andthe processed foods.
And then you're the teachershaving 30 plus kids, or 20 plus
kids.
Yeah, those kids are going togo on adderall because now we
need them to sit down and shutup for the next six hours, and
so I'm like we need to take ahot, hard look at that nutrition
and all of it.
It's like I said to you in thebeginning of this why hasn't the

(22:03):
school system changed in 100effing years?
Someone, please tap in for meand maybe, maybe we'll get
someone.
That's like no, it has.
We're evolving.
No, no, no, we're not.
And there are very smallsituations that I see, you know,
models of schooling that I'mlike, oh, I can get down with
that, that's cool.
You know, I would love to putmy sons in something like that,

(22:23):
but I don't know, it's crazy andit's all connected, as I know.
You know, I see your totaltwins back there.
They're my favorite forhomeschool they're awesome.

Speaker 1 (22:32):
They're awesome.
Um, yeah, you're right, though,and the only way school has
evolved in the last hundredyears is getting longer, like
taking our kids younger, becausewhen I was younger, I'm 41, 41.
When I was in kindergarten, itwas half a day.
Now that's mandatory full daywhere I live and there's the

(22:52):
option to send your kid topreschool in the school system.
Like preschool used to be aseparate like in a church or
something every other day.
It is now full day from like 8 a3pm.
Preschool at four years old.
So yeah, the only thing that'schanged is they've added more
time to it.

Speaker 2 (23:11):
Yeah, yeah, and it's just, it's wild.
And you know, half the time now, with these free thinking
teenagers I've raised, I'm likemaybe I raised you a little too
much with those criticalthinking skills because you kind
of look down them like, oh mygosh, like I'm a little worried
about that.
But yeah, so for my journey asfar as that goes, with
homeschool, it's like we did theco-op.

(23:31):
I have literally girl.
I'm very unique because I'vedone everything with them.
I've done, you know, out of thebox, full-ass curriculums,
we've done co-ops, we've doneMontessori situations and right
now we are definitely on theunschooling spectrum.
I don't, I barely will do.
I don't know if you've heard ofthe five hour school week, but I
really love that book.

(23:52):
If you haven't heard of it,it's really.
Yeah, I'll have to text youthat the five hour school week
and then another one that I readonce a week a year not a week,
that'd be funny Is a book calledHomeschool.
Bravely, very short, easy read.
And that book, man, it reallykicks me in my butt when I'm
kind of, you know, doubting myability.

(24:12):
I think that's the thing thatpeople need to realize is on a
daily basis.
I doubt if I'm cut for this,and I think even down to my
youngest, who's six, and myoldest to 14, I'm sure I'll be
doubting myself until he turns18, the youngest, because this
is a huge call, this is a hugedeal, and you know when, when,
when you drop your children offand this is obviously what the
norm for society you can blamethe principal, you can blame the

(24:34):
pastor, you can blame everyoneelse, but you know what here, if
I'm raising a serial killer, Ican only blame myself at this
point because I'm not.
But you know, it's like, yeah,that's a big deal, and I I will
say this too, although myhusband was the one that was
like we're going to do this, hedoesn't do it, I do it.

(24:57):
I'm not saying, you know, whenit comes to the life skills and,
oh my gosh, the things that mysons are able to learn because
they can go to work with dad oryou know, real life, hands-on
things that boys actually wantto learn, like I've seen your
son all the time in the backyard.
I love that.
That's school, in my opinion,but when it comes down to
sitting down and teaching a kidto read, it's me, yeah, and you
know, one of the one of the bestthings I would say, though, too
, because I've done so manydifferent kinds of homeschool

(25:19):
with them, is just allow yourhomeschool journey to grow with
your family and change.
I'll never forget when I had myoldest, who's 14 now, in his
co-op homeschool the tutor andshe was amazing because they had
a tutor back then in this co-opand she's like, if it wasn't
for his younger brother comingup right behind him, we should

(25:40):
have him stay back.
He's not at the reading level.
And, man, that was my firstyear homeschooling and I was
like I'm failing.
I called up my husband and hegot so pissed off.
He's like, first of all, he'shomeschooled, so there's no
grades.
He's like, second of all, he'sperfect.
You're doing, you know, andit's.
It's always the best thing Iever heard from this veteran
homeschool mom.

(26:01):
She did it like literally.
She was probably Amish.
She had like eight kids.
I'm being mean, but anyway, youget the point.
She fit the mold of whathomeschool was.
And Jamie Tworkowski, she's notlistening to this live Lillian.
Lambert, she's not listening,she doesn't have the internet,
you know.
No, and I'll never forget.
I was like you know he's behind.
And she looked at me and shesaid behind who?
And I was like, well, now thatyou say that I don't know who is

(26:23):
he, who is he behind?
Because the thing is, is ourkids?
They catch up and look likeanything else in any other trade
.
You learn, or anytime you golive for the first time.
How bad was your first podcastepisode?
I'm sure it was bad, terrible,as you grow, as they grow.

(26:48):
The other thing is my son.
He's going to here on theisland and marathon in the Keys
they have a pilot school forhomeschool kids.
This kid's going to be flying ajet plane maybe not a jet, but
a plane as a teenager.
Now, find me one school thatwill allow your 14, 15-year-old
to learn how an airplane Like?
No, what are the Hollywoodcelebrities that we can't stand
do their kids are homeschooledLike?

(27:09):
They're not sticking their kidsin this rat race BS.
And I'm not again, I'm notsaying I'm a public school grad
over here and I think I'm prettycool and I you know that's the
other one that comes up a lotand I know you didn't ask this,

(27:29):
but I think you'll laugh becausewe hear it all the time.
It's the social socializationthing.
Right, you would have to lockyour kid up in an effing closet
and actually be raising a serialkiller.
Um, for your child not to besocial, seriously, like, think
about it.
The weird kid in public schoolin New Jersey or New York is the
weird kid in homeschool.
It's the parents, it's not thefreaking socialization.
No, I'm all about child led andagain, I'm not saying that I

(27:53):
don't throw it like my kids havenever, ever gotten a grade and
people are like how?
And I'm like, we take the test,I look at it, I look it over,
you got these three wrong.
Then we relearn it and then wemove on from that once the
concept is learned.
One thing that works for us toois is from the 14 year old down
to the six year old.
Let the six year old sit in onthese lessons.

(28:14):
I'm a I'm a one table kind ofgirly and I'm not saying that
that works all the time.
I have to separate theteenagers from the younger kids
a lot when I'm doing like a newconcept and there's lots.
I'm a yeller because I'm fromNorth Jersey and Greek, and you
know.
So I'm not over here like, okay, fam, like I'm not her.
If you think I'm the, thehomeschool teacher, that's like.

(28:34):
You know what I'm talking about.
They, you see this, some ofthese accounts on Instagram
you're like, wow, I'm not thatgreat, I'm not her.
But you know, I let my savageLuke sit in on a lesson that no
school would let a six year oldin on.
And, by the way, from the topdown, the kids, the older kids,
are learning patience.
They're learning you know howto slow down and talk to their

(28:58):
six year old brother.
And then the six year olds, youknow learning to, to be more
mature.
And that's another thing.
I can't tell you how many timespeople will walk up to us and
they're like your kids are sowell behaved and I'm like I
don't know because I'm notreally around that many other
children on a daily basis, butit's because I know that, it's
because we allow our children,as homeschooled kids, to be in

(29:21):
adult situations that a schoolwouldn't let them be in, and so
they can have theseconversations with like an
80-year-old.
You know whoever you think issuccessful.
And there's no disconnect,because I've never talked to my
kids like they were.
You know, I mean like a kid,but you understand what I'm
saying.
They're in these adultsituations where they're able to

(29:42):
use their brains and they'renot told to shut up and sit down
and you know, just it's.
It's impossible for you toreally get gauge every child in
the classroom.
I feel so bad for theseteachers because you have gifted
children, you have kids thattake a little more time and it's
like did you see that study?
I shared it to you know, talkmy, you know what, a couple
weeks ago, and it was like Idon't remember the state and

(30:04):
don't quote me, maybe Ohio, Idon't know.
And it was like 90% of the kidsaren't at their reading level.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
And here we are as homeschool parents, like
doubting ourselves all right,and again going back to what I
said, their days are long.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
I know school for water, so why are the?

Speaker 1 (30:21):
reading levels going down, but they're not teaching
kids to love reading.
They're teaching them how toread so that they can pass a
test, so that they can stopreading once they've graduated.
That's what you know kids.
That's how kids in school lookat it.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
I know.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
And I do.
I love that like that you'rejust being honest about, yes, I
yell, or yes, you know itdoesn't always go as planned,
but I mean I think, when youthink about the school, do you
think the teachers are notyelling at the kids?
I mean they'd have to be, Imean should I go get some
tinfoil.
Because, like I, I can't.

(30:56):
I mean, my two make me go crazy, so I can't imagine a classroom
of 30, like you'd have toliterally be a saint to never
yell at these kids.
So what I?
The way I look at it as okay, Iyelled at them, but now we have
the opportunity for me toeither, if I was in the wrong,
to apologize.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
That's a lesson.

Speaker 1 (31:12):
Teach my kids what being sorry and apologizing and
moving forward is.
Or you know, maybe they reallydid do something wrong and you
know, I'm there to see it, towitness it and to correct their
behavior for next time.
And you know, I'm there to seeit, to witness it and to correct
their behavior for next time.
Exactly.
But or you or you, just youhave this stranger Like I still
remember.
I don't remember much fromschool, but I remember our
chemistry teacher just losing itand he just took a ruler and

(31:36):
started smacking the desk.
You probably need more teacherslike that.
I still feel bad for that guybecause he probably is still
like mad at himself for that,but I'm like I really know, I
know well, think about it too.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
I'm sure you've seen that meme on TikTok or something
, where it's like I would neverdie for my kids or kill for my
kids which I think you and I arethose moms that absolutely we
would and you think about how wewould walk through fire for
these children that God gave us,and then we also lose our
complete shit on these childrenthat God gave us, and then we
also lose our complete shit onthese children that God gave us,
and so, of course, a strangeris not going to have the

(32:10):
fortitude and the patience If wedon't have it.
These are our hearts livingoutside of our body, and no one
knows your kids better than youno one.
You don't need to have yourcollege education, you don't
need to be have a specialeducation.
You know doctorate to be ableto school your kids.
And the other thing is we're in2025.

(32:31):
All right, we have chat, gpt,we have AI, we have all the like
.
There is no excuse.
Youtube, I believe, is thefuture of all education.
Name one person that doesn'tsearch a video up on YouTube and
learn something from it.
And so we need to, like I saidto you in the beginning, take a
harder look at, use theresources, find your village,
whether it's a co-op.

(32:52):
Right now I'm like a real bigrebel and I don't do any of that
, but like I feel like a madscientist.
I like this math.
Okay, we're going to keep thisone.
Oh, this English is not workingfor my 10 year old's.
Try this one.
Free resources like khanacademy and total twins youtube
channel and just all thesedifferent beautiful places.
You know, think, think back tolike.
I said to you 100 years agowhere I always joke with a lot

(33:15):
of my clients and people that Imentor with business, like these
housewives didn't have theability to go live and find a
community and talk to otherwomen.
They felt, felt so alone.
You are not alone.
The homeschool tribe is outthere.
You just need to look a littleharder for them and use the
resources, maybe for a period oftime.
Right now, my 10-year-old kiddoes not want to learn from me.

(33:36):
Right now we're in a stage Idon't know.
I never had any of my otherones.
It's tough on me.
I will use something like outschool.
If there's a concept that youknow I suck at math, girl, I
suck at it.
So, between my husband andtutors.
My kids will.
They'll figure, we'll get there, you know.
But another funny thing and Ikind of go off the beaten path

(33:58):
with it is like when do you use,unless you're an engineer,
there's very small specific sub.
You know algebra and the squareroot of this and all this I
mean, unless that's the routeyou and you'll know as you go
with your kid and learn theirlearning style and all that.
We don't.
There's so much fluff, there'sso much wasted time and I know
you talk about this all the time.

(34:18):
I'm able to get through what ateacher with 30 kids would take
her the whole day.
I could do that in an hour,easy.
And you're talking six to 14years old.

Speaker 1 (34:29):
So what does your day look like?
With your kids, with your boys?

Speaker 2 (34:32):
So right now, what we are doing is we have two solid
days of homeschool.
As far as you're going to sitdown and you're going to shut up
no, I'm kidding, I'm not reallykidding, though You're going to
sit down and when you have yourkids, once they can learn to
read and write, you're able tohand them this and be like sit
over here, I love you Do that.
One hack is you know, getheadphones.

(34:53):
So the older boys I'll givethem headphones.
Whether you play Beethoven oryou know, little Wayne, that's
up to you.
Use your discretion.
But like I let my kids theolder ones put headphones on and
draw out the little kids, causeit can be a little frustrating,
especially my six year old.
So I'll sit down, I'll hand theolder boys 13 and 14, their
work, whether they putheadphones on or not, whether

(35:15):
they go, crawl back in bed anddo their work, it's totally up
to them.
And then round table once andhonestly, it's phonics.
That is the hardest when youhave a bunch of different age
groups.
You want to really just likedial in with your kids as far as
that goes.
But we'll do that.
Let's say 45 minutes, and then,when the boys are done, the
older ones and I'm done with theconcept.

(35:36):
With the younger boys we comeback to the table and we'll do
total twins together.
Constitution work.
We'll do a science you knowproject.
We'll do total twins together.
Constitution work.
We'll do a science, you know,project yesterday.
Another thing is when, if you'repushing it and pushing it and
it's just not happening, juststop, just go find, go find a

(35:58):
recipe and have the kids thatare driving you, bonkers, go
cook.
That's what we did yesterday.
I was like I'm going to this isnot working.
So but because I've been doingit for so long, I realized I'm
behind, no one and they're goingto get it Just like.
When a new mom comes to me andsays I can't get my kid to give
up his passive or his you knowpotty, train him, I'm like
they're not going to be 21walking down the aisle with a
pacifier.
I promise you that.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
You guys know I am a big fan of the Tuttle twins.
I had Connor Boyack, the writerof these books, on episode 24.
I reached out to his companyasking to let me be an affiliate
because I strongly believe intheir books and their message.
In the H5-11 book series, whichI read to my son all the time I
mean, he actually asks us toread these books with him.
Book five, road to Serfdom,talks about what happens to a

(36:40):
local town with local businesseswhen corporations start moving
in.
Book six, the Golden Rule,talks all about Ethan and
Emily's experience at summercamp through a series of
cheating and manipulation oncertain races that they're
required to complete.
It talks about how the goldenrule of treating others how we
want to be treated ourselves ishow we all should be conducting

(37:02):
our lives.
Education Vacation talks aboutJohn Taylor Gatto and the
creation of the school systemand what it was actually
intended to do, which you get tolearn about by following Ethan
and Emily on a trip to Europe.
And book 11, the Messed UpMarket, takes you through the
journey of kids trying to createsmall businesses as they learn
all the laws and rules thatgovernment has put in place to

(37:26):
actually make it very difficultfor them.
You learn all about interestsavings versus borrowing, low
interest rates versus highinterest rates, and supply and
demand, and these are just someof the books in that series.
I also want to let you knowabout some other books that the
Tuttle Twins have out America'sHistory, volume 1 and 2, which
teaches all about the inspiringideas of America's founding

(37:48):
without the bias and hiddenagendas that's found in other
history books for kids and mostlikely in the schools.
There's also books on how toidentify fallacies, modern day
villains all stuff that we wantto be talking to our kids about.
Whether you homeschool or not,these books bring up important
discussions that we should behaving with our children.
Use the link in my show'sdescription or at

(38:09):
thehomeschoolhowtocom underlistener discounts.

Speaker 2 (38:14):
So you know, not that we don't do hard things, but
when you have days like that,I'm definitely the woman that
like closes the book and I'mlike screw this, like go, go, do
your thing.
But so once the older kids dotheir concept the younger ones,
you know then we'll do someround, table something together
and then that's it.
That's the whole day.
And when I say to you, I onlydo it two days a week, Every day

(38:36):
that your child is awake, theireyes are open, they're learning
.
They might be learning reallyshitty behavior of what their
marriage is, or they might belearning you know politics from
listening to the freakingpodcast or news you have on in
the background, but they'relearning.
And so I would challenge you torethink not you but anyone

(38:56):
listening to this your kids'eyes, they're open, they're
learning, and so that's thewhole mentality of child led and
unschooling.
Is, you know, being able torealize that?
My kid, he went to school.
If you really want to know,they do 12 hours a day of school
because their eyes are open,and that should make you and

(39:16):
whoever's listening to this feelso much better.
Going back to the 14 year old,when he was six in the co-op and
that tutor she was a sweetheartsaid you know, he needs to stay
back.
Do you want to know what I did?
You're going to laugh.
I took both boys because I hadthem in um, it was kindergarten
co-op and then they said heshould stay back and my husband

(39:38):
was like no, and the followingyear I was pregnant with our
fourth and I'm I'm not a cutepregnant person, I'm dying,
basically and I was like I can'tdrop these boys off.
This is not working.
I pulled my six-year-old and myfive-year-old out of this
Christian co-op Girl.
We did zero, zero worksheets,zero work that entire year.

(40:00):
Now, where I am in myhomeschool journey, now my
six-year-old, I don't even makehim sit down for any work.
I told you he'll listen to theolder kids, but I've evolved as
far as that goes.
I don't think children and thisis an unpopular opinion should
be sitting down.
Trying, especially boys untilseven years old, is what I've
learned with four boys that I'vehomeschooled.
That doesn't mean they're notlearning.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
That's what Finland does.

Speaker 2 (40:23):
Seven years old, unschooled.
That doesn't mean they're notlearning.
That's what Finland does.
Seven years old, yep.
And that is like someone saidto me the other day isn't Luke
in first grade?
And I kind of looked at themlike no, no, he's not, he's not,
but he anyway.
Going back to what I was saying, I took that whole year off and
guess who was reading at athird grade level by the end of
that year?
The kid that they said stayback.

(40:43):
And that was literally justfrom daily life.
It was from.
You know.
I'm not saying I didn't read tohim every day, I'm not saying
he wasn't.
Another funny one is put theclosed captions on when you
watch a show.
Yeah, such a lazy homeschoolhack.
Because their little eyes arewatching as the people are
talking and they're seeing thewords.
Because so much of frickinschool is memorization yeah,

(41:03):
memorizing facts that areuseless.
But obviously we need to learnhow to read.
But yeah, no, we took the yearoff.
Kid was on third grade level,but by the time he went into
second grade and we didn't evenwe didn't do any sit down school
.
So God does these littleforehead flicks or nudges in my
life and I can only speak withconfidence because I've messed

(41:23):
up so many times and I have theproof in the pudding of a 14
year old now, whereas you know,a new homeschool mom's like, oh
my gosh, I'm going to screw thiskid up or I'm pulling my kid
out in second, whatever it is,um, I, I, I sound confident
because I have my Guinea pigs.
That I've, I've, I see theproof.
You know, um, and yeah.

(41:44):
So that that's one story Ialways like to tell people when
they're doubting their ability.
And if God has called you to it, you got this and rely and find
your tribe.
Listen to the homeschool podcast.
Ask the questions.
None of us have this figuredout, none of us.
So, yeah, and we don't do any.
My children have never takenone standardized test.

(42:05):
I don't give them grades.
I do spelling tests because youneed to learn how to spell, but
you know, when it comes to, youknow, as the mother like, you
know if your kid got it, andthat's when we move on about
homeschool.
Freedom is when you have a childmy 10 year old, the one that's

(42:26):
giving me a run for my moneyright now with phonics and
reading and everything he'screative.
He's like going to be the next.
You know, I don't even knowwhat he.
He gets a lot of that for me.
So I'm I handed him a camerathe other day.
I have an extra vlogging camera.
Um, I make all my money andeverything from social media and
editing and I'm like here's a,here's a camera, go do something
with this thing.
And he's like, really.
And I'm like, yeah, so you know, he's running around and he'll

(42:49):
my 13 year old.
He'll be 13, he's 12.
He started a whole ass YouTubechannel with my permission and I
will never name drop it becauseI don't need crazies going to
watch it.
But it's a gaming channelbecause he has more free time,
because he's homeschooled andyou never see his face or
anything.
He taught himself how to editthe videos, how to put captions

(43:10):
over it, hashtags.
This is the future of allmarketing and all businesses.
And he's teaching himself thisat 12 years old because he has
the time.
That's the other thing.
When you homeschool, then yourkids are able to figure out.
One thing that traps my ass,girl is why are we asking 18
year old children what they wantto be when they grow up?

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Like bro, your brain isn't even it's not even
developed.

Speaker 2 (43:35):
Oh my gosh, it's crazy.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
But again going back to that, but no one's laid out
all the jobs for them that aregoing to be available in five to
10 years and say which onewould you like?
Yeah, just give us $200,000 ofyour money.
In fact, we'll just, you know,we'll just put it up.
The taxpayers can actually payit, but you know we'll,
someone's going to pay that debt.

(43:57):
For you to decide right now,without knowing all the jobs
that exist, what you want to be,and it's, and we're all just
okay, We're're all like.
I got a four-year degree forwhat same same, and I am
learning like your son how toedit videos right.

Speaker 2 (44:15):
And I'm not saying, by the way, I mean I I'm very
unconventional.
I'm like, oh yeah, becauseyoutubers literally are
billionaires out there, but likeI'm not saying that he's going
that will be his profession.
I'm not saying that, but thatis a again, just like your son
in the backyard doing what he'sdoing with your husband.
These are life skills that an18 year old that graduates from
the best private school in NewJersey or New York they don't

(44:35):
have.
They don't have them, theydon't have them.
And so the truly well-roundedchild is the ones that have the
are bored and they get theopportunity to figure out and
try different trades and allthat.
And again, going back to mebeing so unconventional with my
tinfoil hat, I absolutely can'tstand the whole college push
down everyone's throat thing.

(44:56):
By the way, homeschool kids arescouted by all the Ivy league.
If you want to go there, ifthat's important to whoever's
listening to this and you'relike, okay, four-year degree,
want to go there.
If that's important towhoever's listening to this and
you're like, okay, four-yeardegree, whatever, get their PhD.
But you know, learn a trade,learn a trade.
And if one of four of my kidsthat I don't really want to go
to college end up going tocollege.
I fully support that and I willmake sure that they do all the

(45:18):
tests and have all the SATs.
But again, going back to everywe know our kids best and again,
again, not to get emotional asthe mom guilt we all have and
share is like I blinked and Ihave a 14 year old, 6'2 man
child and I can't even imagineif I have been dropping them off
five days a week for six hours,how much more I would be like,

(45:41):
not not if that's all you know,it's all you know, but like
going back to never regrettingthe time you spend with your
kids.
I don't have any regret withthat.
These kids are with me throughand through.
And just like you were saying,when we lose our patients, of
course we lose our patients.
We're with them 24 damn seven.
I'm over here hiding from mykids to do this and so you know

(46:01):
I'm able.
Like you said, there's lessons.
When I said to you, if youreyes are open, you're learning.
When, when you screw up, if Idrop an f-bomb to my 14 year old
and I'm wrong in that situationI'm not always wrong, but if I
was wrong, there's so manyvaluable character lessons and,
like you said, asking forforgiveness, saying I'm a human
um, watching because my husbandworks from home a lot like

(46:24):
watching.
They watch me do my editing myvideos.
They watch me lead a zoom on apodcast like your kid.
You're setting such a beautifulexample and you don't even
realize it and teaching yourkids these life skills that they
wouldn't learn.
And who knows them best?
Us, and there it's not.
It's not the Amish homeschool,even though I would love.
I want to go hang out with theAmish because they got it all

(46:46):
figured out over there.
Seriously, like in 2020, did yousee the meme where the guy's
like so the Amish were right allalong?
You know, but listen, it's notlike that.
This is not.
You know, I'm not in my apron.
I know trad wives is trending.
I am a trad wife, I just don'tlook like one in.

(47:06):
I know Tradwives is trending.
I am a Tradwife, I just don'tlook like one.
But at the same time, like Isaid, there's so many different
resources.
My bigger page was hi, we're onFreethinkology.
Real Raising Cubs is my actualpage that I'm on all the time
and because of 2020, I'm bannedfrom going live.
But over there on that page,like've always shared, um, just
the realness of just like.
You can do this if you, youhave to be a little delusional,

(47:30):
but um and, and there's harddays, but it's always worth it.
I'm sure you, I love thatyou're able to compare both
versions of who you are and howyou show up for your family and
you'll be able to see thedifference.
You know, I saw you did a postor maybe it was your, your um
story when you were saying, like, in the morning, I think it was
the cuddles or something andI'm like it's so true, we take

(47:50):
these things for granted and youknow it's amazing and I'm just
again, there's bad days, butjust, you'll do what's a
priority and if you feel likeit's not working as far as
conventional school, try it out.
It's not, like I said, amarriage.
You can.
You can use so many.
What about these hybrid schoolsthat they do?

(48:12):
Or with online, like I said toyou, out school I think it's
called, I'm pretty sure, outschool you have a million tutors
and teachers at your fingertipsfor a great price if you, if
you're struggling with one ofyour kids, um, but yeah, no,
like one of my.
The other thing is my 14 yearold.
At 14, even though he is a manchild, he's still a child.

(48:34):
Yeah, like he and again, I knowit's gonna happen I know he's
gonna want a girlfriend and Iknow all the but like he's, he's
very innocent.
He's still like as someone thatI don't feel like.
My childhood was protected andI went to public school and went
to college.
I take pride in that that he'sstill a kid and I understand
that that's not for everyone,but I'm, like, so grateful for

(48:57):
that.
You know he's, he's not, he'snot.
Um, you know, I don't need tosay the things that I'm thinking
that we see.
And then the other thing thatwe haven't mentioned, which we
don't need to say, the thingsthat I'm thinking that we see,
and then the other thing that wehaven't mentioned, which we
don't need to go here if youdon't want to, is what kind of
freaking values are they shovingdown our kids' throats?
You know, especially in thesemore liberal cities.
You know, and I'm not saying,oh, conservatives, we have it

(49:18):
all figured out perfectly.
I'm not saying that because Iknow of Christian schools that
are like cults.
So I'm just saying in general,like what I teach my kids we
also show up and the values ofthat are the main thing.
And one other thing I'll say toyou is, with the whole seven
year old thing that I getcanceled all the time for saying

(49:38):
I don't make Lukey sit down forschool, which he does a little
bit, is I lost my train ofthought?
Where was I going to go with it?
I don't know.
You don't make theseven-year-old sit down.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
You don't make the seven-year-old sit down for like
formal.

Speaker 2 (49:52):
Yeah, I forgot they might come back.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
But the conservative schools I mean any school,
public schools, private schoolsthey're all getting funding from
some sort of government thing.
Our school down the road I meanyes, I'm in New York, but it's
kind of like a more country areaand there was a pamphlet or a
flyer and it said make transdreams a reality, in the hallway
of the middle school and Ithought a student like painted

(50:18):
it in art class and I was like,well, I mean, yeah, I guess
they're not going to not hang itup.
You have to honor that.
But I did take a picture of itand my friend said there's a
logo in the bottom of that andit was, yeah, a logo from a
nonprofit organization, from agovernment, but that they I
don't know if they're nonprofit,but they were giving money to

(50:38):
the school.
So therefore the school wasputting up their agenda and it's
this whole cyclical thing andsame with the testing.
It's like if you're acceptingfunding, you have to do what
they say.
And private school is nodifferent, private schools are
masking too during COVID,because they're accepting
funding from the government.
So the only way really to getout of that.
Like you said, there are hybridschools popping up.

(51:00):
I see some in our area.
We've got learning centers.
They can kind of beat aroundthe bush from, you know and
avoid having to do therestrictions that New York might
make them do by being called alearning center or a space.
I think that's what it is.
It can't be a learning center,but it can be a space.
So, now it sounds like a cultbecause of the word the space,

(51:29):
but that's essentially.
Yeah, they're finding differentways to educate kids in group
settings, or you know moms anddads that both work and you know
want you know someone to takehold of of a little bit of that
responsibility.
I I see that being the futureof education and and and public
education is going to end upbeing like the welfare of
education.

Speaker 2 (51:43):
No, literally.
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember now and I'llforget, so let me tell you what
I was going to say.
With the seven-year-old thingor this, you know, not doing
sit-down school is, honestly,until double digits.
All I care about is yourcharacter.
That's the only thing I reallycare about.
And if you have that mindsetwith your son or your daughter
I'm not saying that the you knowlet your daughter, if she's

(52:05):
like, oh, I want to learn mathand this and that, but like if
we could, as parents, focus more, not on the tests and grades
and SATs and what do you want?
You know all that pressure, butI want to raise a good human.

(52:27):
So if you're being a littleshit with your brother, I always
tell my boys if you can't be agood brother, you can't be good
at anything.
This is the first relationshipthat you have, so figure it out.
I love it.
But yeah, and going back to whatyou're saying with the schools,
you wouldn't believe.
I mean, I get a lot of trolls,but I get a lot of women
teachers that are leaving theirpublic school situation and
pulling their kids out, thewhole furry thing.
Like, do we want to go there?
They're giving kids adolescencebeing a five-year-old being a

(52:49):
teenager.
I have two teenagers, man.
Boys are emotional If you thinkthat the girls are the only
ones.
Boys are too.
They get their period, but notreally.
Okay, think of how confusing itis If we tried to go back to our
that time of our life.
Yeah, and now you're going tosay you could be a dog, you
could be like.
I mean, yeah, no, use yourimagination, but I'm like there.

(53:10):
I had a teacher reach out to mesix months ago on my DMS.
I screenshot it, I have to findit for you.
They had litter boxes litterboxes for the fricking eight
year old.
Yes, we're confused enough,right?
So you don't need to be likefostering that with children.
You know, whatever your beliefsystem is where I'm not here to,

(53:32):
I know what I believe, I knowwhat the Bible says and my kids
are not little jerks.
I mean, I'll go as far.
I don't want to say it on here,but you know the jolly fat man.
We don't even do that Like umand I don't, and that's because
my husband and I, our outlook onparenting from day one was why
did we do that?
Why did they do that with us?
How did we feel when we foundout the jolly fat man was a hoax

(53:56):
or whatever it is, and we kindof just looked at each other
like not doing it, yeah, noyou're so right, and I have a
homeschool family that I'mfriends with and he goes well.

Speaker 1 (54:06):
if I'm going to teach my kids that there is a God and
no, and just to preface, we dodo, yeah, yeah, like it's like
okay you get one gift and I'm Ifeel guilty about it every time.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
No, no girl, do you?
That's?

Speaker 1 (54:22):
me he goes.
I'm not going to teach my kidsthat there is someone that they
can't see, that they need tobelieve in, that is gonna reward
them for being good.
And then also tell them there'sa Santa, and then one day tell
them Santa doesn't exist.
And I was like, oh, that makesso much sense that I said to my
sister-in-law this year atChristmas, cause I am the
conspiracy theorist that likeruins everything for everybody

(54:45):
all the time.
And she was like saying how youknow, like I think I was.
Oh, they were making fun of mebecause we only have our son get
one present from Santa onChristmas.
And and um, they were like howcan you do that?
You're ruining his Christmas.
And I was like, well, it'ssatanic anyway.
And they're like what?

Speaker 2 (55:00):
no, oh my gosh, yeah, I mean let's come around, it's
satan no, I mean, I'll neverforget when my first son was uh,
you know, when we were figuringthis all out, because obviously
we grow as humans, and I was achild who had a child, basically
, and my mom, she cried so hardand she was like you're gonna
ruin his this and that.

(55:21):
And I mean we didn't doHalloween either.
And again, this is not shit, bythe way my kids get a million
gifts on Christmas.
So, like you do it better thanme, you do it more modest than
me.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
We give, we give him gifts from parents and then,
like Santa, left one.

Speaker 2 (55:35):
So yeah, but what's the beauty of us being in 2025
as women and and, like I said,with this live, being able to
communicate and connect likethis is.
I have friends that do do thejolly man and I respect them and
love them and they look at meand my kids are able because,
again, going back to focusing oncharacter, not one of my sons
have ever ruined that surprisefor another kid, because I'm not

(55:57):
raising little a-holes like you.
Don't like, no like.
Let let the kids have theirdream, their imagine.
You know all that.
Um, we did Snoop on a stoop thisyear because we never did like
the elf thing and it was thefunniest thing and the young
kids thought it knew that wewere moving him around.
But, going back to what yousaid about the friend local,
when I found out the fat manwasn't real, it it ruined me and

(56:20):
I think that was because and Idon't want to speak for you, but
I didn't have the cookie cutterupbringing and I almost felt
like he was like my dad, yeah,or something, and and so when I
found out, when I found out, itreally rocked me, it did not
rock my husband um, for myhusband, like no christmas was

(56:40):
ever the same ever I hadchildren.
Yeah, yeah yeah, and man, thatmagic of it, like I would love
and you can still I I guess Iwould challenge anyone listening
to this just really thinkthrough why you do what you do.
I think there's way too manylab rats that are just doing it
because, oh my, my parents didthis or my family did that, and

(57:01):
you know I fully support, likeif my son's one day because you
know, if you've seen anything Ishare my oldest son was injured
from a well visit and so itreally, and I went to nursing
school and it put my wholeworldview not to go off topic,
but we can do that for anotherday on your podcast of you know
the medical system and pharmaand everything, and I don't want
to get you unable to go live,so I'll shut my mouth now, but

(57:22):
every everything I was taught,whether it was from college or
my upbringing, you know I'm Inever take anything at face
value and I I'm raising fourother sons who will treasure
their wives and cook for theirwives and also know how to shoot
a gun and also, if they want todo Santa Claus, I'm going to
fully say I just just think, useyour brain and and and don't do

(57:45):
it because everyone else isdoing it, and I think that's
what we're doing in raisingthese, these, this next
generation of homeschooled kids.
And the beautiful thing thathappened in 2020 is I saw a
revolution before my damn eyeswhere I was like the 1% that
shared her life online andhomeschooled and people followed
me because of that.
Then it was like a homeschoolrevolution, just like people

(58:06):
going, you know, buying Biblesagain and and going to church.
You know, I am seeing thetrajectory going in the
direction that I would love tosee it.
And look, the beauty of us beingfree in America is we all don't
have to agree and we all canlearn something from each other.
So, if you are someone that hasyour kid in school, try to put
your phone down when they gethome.

(58:26):
If homeschooling is not for youbut I'm assuming you're
listening to this because you'reintrigued, or you you're like
these crazies over here um, putthe phone away.
Connect with your kids.
If it's not something that youyou want to do, um, but yeah, no
, I, a full circle moment is myadvice.
I know you said it and I don'tknow if we have to cap this at a

(58:46):
certain time yeah, if I canhead out at one yeah, if I could
give any advice to you, toanyone, whoever who might be
looking at me, one thinking thatI'm a badass and I got it all
figured out is I don't.
I don't have it figured out,girl, I'm winging it in my
business with my kids and mymarriage, but it's working out
for me.
But also, do not make schoolyour homeschool look like school

(59:10):
.
Do not make school yourhomeschool look like school.
Do not do that.
I had I built a custom home inSouth Carolina with a whole ass.
It had like a library for thehomeschool room.
We never used it.
We never used it.
Okay, if you have a little, alittle tote and you put all that
like you don't have to havemoney to do this, you don't.
You know you can do this andstop trying to make it look like

(59:31):
conventional schooling.
And homeschool is about freedom.
It's not about making school athome look like school you know,
at public school or privateschool.
And trust yourself, trustyourself, trust, trust the fact
that if God put it on you thatyou can do this and that's

(59:53):
that's all I would.
I would like to tell Jackiefrom 10 years ago is you got
this put on your headphones andjust ignore the rest.
Like we, we are badasses, all,all moms, homeschool moms,
working moms, trad wives, nottrad wives, and it's hard enough
.
So we need to stop joining inon this cancel campaign of like,
oh well, they homeschool sothey can be my friend or they

(01:00:16):
have their kid.
No, no, it's hard enough.
Being a mom like we can uniteand so, yeah, if your kids eyes
are open, they're learning, andI don't know it's, it's, it's a
journey for sure, and I can geton here another 10 years when I
have like a 20 year old, whichis petrifying and we could talk
about it some more.

Speaker 1 (01:00:32):
Well, hopefully we'll touch base before then, cause
I've had so much fun and I justwant to touch on too.
You know and that was a bigthing, a big fear of mine what
are my kids going to miss out on?
But you know what?
We didn't celebrate Halloweenthis year for the first time,
but you know what we did?
We had probably sevenhomeschooling families over our
house and the kids I said wear acostume if you want, don't

(01:00:53):
worry if you don't want.
We did in the woods, I did alittle storybook.
There was things for them tofind in the woods.
They played manhunt when it gotdark, like it was so much fun
way more fun than I've ever hadon Halloween, even in my college
years, I would.
You know it's like.
So you don't you think aboutthe prom and the football games?

(01:01:16):
Oh, they'll be missing out, butthat's only because that's what
you know.

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
Think about all the things you can create for your
kids that are even more specialThank you so much for being here
today.

Speaker 1 (01:01:24):
Um, I am going to save this um on my Instagram.
I'm going to collaborate withyou on your Instagram pages and
I'm going to release it as apodcast episode probably YouTube
as well, but where can peoplefind you if they want to like?

Speaker 2 (01:01:36):
yeah, yeah.
So my main account is realraising cubs, which they're
getting older now, but it'scause I'm the lioness and their
mama whatever you want to callme over here, so it's real
raising cubs.
And then I have a coaching page.
It's free thinkology, that'swhat we're live on today.
And then I do have a podcast,but it's not for homeschooling,
it's for girl, yeah, and so youwant to.

Speaker 1 (01:01:55):
you want to wear your earmuffs.
If you're Amish, don't walk inthere, yeah no, Amish will not
like it.
Or like, if you just want, likesuper entertaining and and talk
and not for kids creativethinking yeah, not for kids.

Speaker 2 (01:02:09):
Yeah, not for kids.
But yeah, thank you so much forhaving me on.
I'd love to come back.
I mean, yeah, I'm here anytimeyou guys want to talk more about
this.

Speaker 1 (01:02:16):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, of course.
Thank you.
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

(01:02:36):
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
generation.