#124: Why This Practitioner Rejects Traditional Education AND Medicine

Stepping away from traditional education wasn't originally in Jessica's plans. When her mother-in-law, a retired kindergarten teacher, began casually teaching her daughter at home "just for fun," Jessica discovered unexpected benefits that eventually led her family down the homeschooling path.

As the owner of Well-Rooted, a holistic wellness practice with multiple locations across several states, Jessica brings a unique perspective to homeschooling. The flexibility allows her family to integrate education with their entrepreneurial lifestyle - traveling when needed, adjusting schedules around sports commitments, and fostering stronger family bonds. "We wanted to maximize our time with our children to its fullest potential," she explains, noting that after struggling with infertility, every moment with her children feels precious.

This conversation dives deep into practical homeschooling approaches, from curriculum choices to incorporating outside teachers. Jessica shares how her family moved from boxed curriculum to more personalized learning methods that respect each child's unique learning style. Rather than assuming all children learn the same way, their approach incorporates games, movement, and real-world application. 

The parallels between Jessica's holistic health practice and homeschooling philosophy become evident as she discusses toxins in food, preventative healthcare, and teaching children to understand the "why" behind health choices. This isn't just about academics - it's about raising children who can think critically, advocate for themselves, and navigate life's complexities with confidence.

Whether you're currently homeschooling, considering it as an option, or simply curious about alternative educational approaches, this episode offers valuable insights into how one family balances business ownership, health advocacy, and personalized education. Follow Jessica and Well-Rooted Pediatrics on Instagram to learn more about their integrated approach to family wellness and education.

https://mywellrooted.com/

Follow: Well Rooted Pediatrics 

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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.
Welcome, and with us today Ihave Jessica, with Well-Rooted
Jessica, thank you for beinghere.
Why don't we start with how youfound yourself in the
homeschooling space in the firstplace?
Had you always been ahomeschooler, or did this sort
of fall into your lap like itdid mine?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yeah, I think we all have that.
You know how did we get here?
Right, because eventually youjust realize like, oh, this is
what we're doing every day.
But is this, is this a legitthing?
So my oldest is 11.
She's in fifth grade.
My youngest is nine, he's inthird, and when we had my oldest

(01:07):
I would say we had no, noinkling that we were ever going
to homeschool.
It was just they were going tobe in school, right, it's kind
of what you're subjected to.
We weren't really surroundedaround any homeschooling
families, so to us it was veryforeign.
And at the time mymother-in-law had just retired
and she was a kindergartenteacher for 20 years.
So at that point she startedhelping teach my daughter at

(01:28):
home, just for more fun, and werealized that she was kind of
ahead of the game and we wereworking towards that.
And throughout our naturaljourney we found more and more
homeschooling parents andrealized that it was what
aligned with us.
So our children have never beenin school.
We have homeschooled from theget-go and it has been a very

(01:48):
great decision for our family.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
You kind of saw how the effects of it before you
even intended to and yourecognize that too, like wow,
she's already ahead ofeverything that's going on
Everybody say like she can havefull conversations with adults,
or you know, it just seems likeyour kids problem solve really
well and you know, I think justa lot of those things were like

(02:14):
oh okay, maybe there is a bonusto this right.
And you know, it's not to dissanybody who's in the school
system, it's just for us that'swhat aligned and made the most
sense.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, and I think everybody starts out for
different reasons and then onceyou start homeschooling, you all
of the reasons sort of unfoldand you kind of see them play
out day by day.
Little things like just lettingyour kids sleep in until
they're ready in the morning,it's like wow, that's probably
really beneficial to them.
No-transcript benefits, otherthan she's just a little bit

(03:11):
ahead.
That you've seen.

Speaker 2 (03:12):
Yeah.
So I think for us you know yougo through for us personally, we
went through like we were aheadand then we had some challenges
and then we kind of got back ontrack and I think the
flexibility is the biggest thingfor us.
You know being business owners,you know owning Well Rooted.
We have, you know, severaldifferent locations and we have

(03:34):
a lot of different employees andstaff and a lot of different
moving parts.
So for the flexibility there,my husband's been home for five
years and helping me run thebusiness and so for us being
able to travel, just going andgrabbing, you know, lunch or
going and deciding like, hey,we're done for the day, we just
need to check out, and havingour kids present with us, you

(03:55):
know, I think some families forus.
You know we really worked hardto have our children.
We went through some infertilitystuff and some miscarriages and
you know God blessed us withtwo great kiddos and so we want
to be able to, we wanted to beable to maximize that right to
its fullest potential, and sothe flexibility is probably the
biggest thing that we see.

(04:17):
Again, we love to travel andjust being able to.
You know our kids are both intravel sports.
So just having that flexibilityto not be up, like you said,
530 on the bus or at school tillwhatever time and then have to
do sports till nine o'clock andthen come home and shower and go
to bed, like I always say, Idon't know how people do this,
you know, because for us it'schaotic and we're not even gone

(04:39):
from the house.
You know the house, you know.
So it's um, it's a ton of fun.
But just having that thatdifferent relationship with the
kids too, um, you know, we'reall very close.
We talk about so many differentthings.
We're the ones who areeducating and teaching them the
ways that they should be taught,um, and allowing them to, like,
make their own decisions andproblems all for themselves.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
Yeah, and like a great example of that, because
that sounds so good, right, like, oh, yeah, I want that.
But then it's so hard to reallylike how would that really work
in a day to day?
And it just reminds me of aconversation that I have with my
son on Monday, and you know, Iwas like what do you want?
And he's six.
I was like, what do you want todo when you're older?
And he goes oh, I want to workwhere dad works, you know, at a

(05:21):
company doing commercial HVAC.
I said, okay, why do you wantto work for that company?
Though?
He goes well, cause there'sgood people, I go well, but by
the time you get there you don'tknow that there will be.
I said, well, why wouldn't youwant to own your own business?
You can do that work.
Oh, yeah, okay, I'm going to dothat.
And then I started asking himwhat can do that as a business
too.
You can do that when you're 16,you, you know you don't have to

(05:46):
wait.
Um and so then he startedtalking about that, and you know
we live in upstate New York.
So I said, well, what would youdo in the winter time for work?
So we were brainstormingdifferent things he could do,
like plow, or, you know, ifthere isn't a lot of snow that
year, he could, you know, learnhow to butcher and process deer,
um, all these cool things.
Or or learn electrical and workin people's homes.

(06:08):
And uh, it was just a coolconversation, cause then I was
like, okay, well, oh, it startedbecause he said to me I don't
need to learn reading and mathbecause I know what I want to do
already.
And I was like, oh, wow, Inever really thought of that in
his mind.
He only has to learn stuffuntil he figures out what he
wants to do.
That's kind of funny, like likethey don't know why they're
going to school every day, likewe'd never, I never knew why I

(06:29):
was going there, right, um, youjust go, because that's where
they shuffle you off to.
But it was kind of cool, likehearing this come out of my son,
cause I was like, well, no, youneed to know how to read and do
math to do the job itself.
It doesn't stop because you'vefigured out that that's what you
want to do.
So now I'm kind of thinking oflike, okay, well, I can work
math into what he right now, asof right now wants to do, so I

(06:52):
can tell him, you know how?
Would you know how much moneyto charge people?
And that's where we can work onadding and subtracting and
multiplication and then it'sreally relevant for their life
and so that's like just such acool real world experience about
what you're talking about.
Because it's so easy to say itbut it happens like all the time
these conversations, but whenyou're really thinking about it
like this, it comes easy too,like you don't have to really

(07:15):
sit there and think today I amgoing to talk to my child about.
It's just, you have time tohave these conversations with
your kids when you're home withthem all day.
So it's I love that.
And you said your daughter'show old she's 11.
Oh, and then you have a son aswell.
He's nine.
Yeah, do you like look at theirrelationship and think how it
would be if they were both inschool in separate places all

(07:36):
day, versus what they aretogether?
Because I find that that'ssomething not talked about a
whole lot, but it's so special.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
That's just it.
And I literally have said toeven my husband like I can't
imagine them being separated allday, like they are so close and
don't get me wrong, they'restill siblings, right, so they
still have their fair share offighting and arguing and pushing
and shoving and all the things,but they like don't see
themselves like not a part ofeach other's lives.

(08:04):
So they're always thinking ofanother.
So it's like, oh, I'm going tograb this, cause you know Elena
wants this, or I'm going to makesure that, like, phillip gets
this too, and like they'realways, just constantly thinking
of each other.
And I have friends that areeven just like no way in heck
would my kids ever play likethat or get along.
And for me I'm like gosh, Idon't even know what that would

(08:26):
be like if they didn't do that.
You know, and we try to stillobviously you know you don't
make them do things togetherLike we really try to still
encourage independence withcertain aspects and marks in
their lives.
But also it's just like yoursiblings, your biggest piece,
and not everybody has thatblessing in those relationships.
So we really strive for justlike thinking of them and just
really ensuring that theyunderstand too, whether that be

(08:48):
emotional challenges even.
You know, do you understand,like why they're upset, um, and
if you don't like, let's try tofigure that part out.
So, um, their relationship issuper fun.
And I think, you know, obviously, growing up, like you don't
like looking back like I have ayounger brother and I never saw
like a disconnect, right likewhen you look back like I

(09:08):
remember the times that you weretogether so playing outside,
the car trips, like all of that,so you remember those things.
But you then you know I don'tremember moving out and like him
still being at home, like youdon't like kind of pay attention
to those details.
And and then now that we'reolder, it's like our
conversations are very differentwhen we meet up.

(09:28):
We're so different and they'rethey're still we're very close,
you know, blessingly, and we'revery connected.
But to think of like that gapin the kids is hard.
It's like super hard to try tofigure out and picture.

Speaker 1 (09:42):
Yeah, yeah, I agree it's.
It's.
It's not like you know cause Ithink about that too.
Oh, I have you know I'm closewith my sister and we were both
in public school, um, but youdon't know what you're missing
out on because it wasn't thereso you don't know what else
could have been.
But yeah, I agree it's, and youknow, I was thinking about it
as you were talking too.
It's almost like training forlike your future, like

(10:04):
relationships like in marriageand stuff.
Like your siblings are kind ofthey're that pushback, that like
kind of equal, because yourparents, it's a different
relationship, there's anauthority there, but when you're
with your seven siblings,you're kind of like equal and
that's your training, like, oh,this is how they react when I do
this.
And it's not to say that youknow if you're an only child

(10:25):
you're, you know, not going tohave that because you'll have
friends and all that stuff too.
That's all along the same lines.
But, um, and I love what youwere saying about the travel
groups too, because it's such apersona that homeschoolers just
are not socialized and, you know, can't do the sports and all
that.
But it's funny because mysister's kids they all went to
school and they all did theschool sports, but then they

(10:45):
also did the travel teams and Iwas like how does she do all
this?
So it's almost like the schoolsports are like practice for the
travel team anyway.
So is that what you're kind ofseeing?
Your kids obviously are notlacking for any sort of
socialization in that aspect.

Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, no, and, and they've been in sports for me,
whether it be when they weresmall gymnastics, dance, all the
you know the fun stuff for thegirls.
And, um, my son started earlywith like T-ball and he kind of
had just stuck with it.
But yeah, I mean theconversations and the respect,
and you know even coaches thatsaying like, oh, she's, she's
the leader on the team and team,and it's just interesting, it's

(11:24):
interesting to see and watch.
And you know, obviously, asparents, like we hold them to
higher expectations too.
It's like, you know, I don'tget caught up in that.
And as they grow, they deal withseeing other kids be bullied or
potentially name called ortalked about, and it's trying to
have those conversations.
Hey, we don't interact in thoseconversations.
Like it's okay to speak up anddefend that person.

(11:45):
It's okay to say, hey, thisconversation is not appropriate,
right?
So giving them that freedom andthat flex to be able to defend
their own character and likeexplaining, hey, do you know,
like, if you're in that group,but that conversation, right, if
they get in trouble, yourealize you're a part of that
she goes.
Well, I didn't say anything, Iunderstand, but you were there,

(12:07):
right?
So, like, let's talk about that.
So it's just taking real lifeexperiences and really putting
that to.
I think, what we all havelearned throughout life and as
parents and adults, and we'veall been in those situations.
But I always just say, likeyou're, you're guilty by what
you're a part of.
So we really just need to makesure that we're always paying
attention to, like what we'reteaching you at home.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
Yeah, and that's huge too.
I think about that a lot now asI'm witnessing my kids grow up
and seeing them interact withother people and like I'm there.
Like I was saying to my friendyesterday, you know, um her kids
like they can be like a littlewild and stuff, and she's like
you know, I'm not raising themto be like these well behaved
kids.
I want them to grow up to bewell adjusted adults.

(12:50):
So they're getting out alltheir craziness now they're like
they're living their best liferight now and it is funny that
we get to like witness that.
And I don't know when you thinkabout like kids in school, like
we all like, I guess, as whenyou hear pushback from like, say

(13:11):
, your parents, you know,because you're choosing to
homeschool your kids with yourparents or siblings or whatever.
If they don't homeschool, theymight be like listen, your kids
need to be in school.
They're a little wild, they'rea little crazy, they need to
learn discipline.
That da, da, da, da.
And you know you think aboutlike well, teachers are not
trained to be psychologists,they're not behavioral
specialists.
They are there to they.

(13:32):
They know how to teach, so theyknow how to like teach you your
phonics or teach you what's onthe test.
But yeah, this likemisconception that we have
behavioral therapists teaching30 children and so that they're
going to be way morewell-behaved it's just so funny,
but getting to witness it it's.
It's not to say thathomeschoolers are all perfect
and none of them are.

(13:53):
There are bullies in homeschool.
There are times your kid is thebully, no matter who your kid
is.
Your kid can be the nicest kid.
They might still laugh atsomeone or make a comment that
they didn't know was mean orwhatever, and they're the bully.
But like we're there to witnessit and correct it or talk about
it and have that conversationafter, which has been another
really cool part ofhomeschooling that I didn't

(14:13):
really expect going in, but yeah, I've been able to see that
we've, even at six years old,I've had some tough
conversations, whether it'sbecause my son's around kids
that are older sometimes, orkids that go to public school,
or just kids that you know,whatever they're exposed to and
they're saying stuff.
So yeah, it starts younger andyounger, I guess, but we're like

(14:34):
there for it and can talk themthrough it, which has been
really cool, very hard, but it'shappening in the schools too.
It's just you're not there towitness it and sort of help them
through it.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Yeah, and, like you said, you know the well-rounded
adults.
Like we want to make sure thatthey're set up for success and I
don't want to look back and belike, oh shoot, I could have
done that better.
You'll always think ofsomething, right, where none of
us are perfect, but I just wantto make sure that we're at least
hitting those marks.
Like simple things, like therewas a conversation I even had
with a patient the other dayabout kids ordering their own

(15:06):
food at restaurants.
And you don't think about thesmall things, right, but like
your child should be able tolook at that waiter or that
waitress, make eye contact, usetheir manners, order their meal,
know exactly what they want,not sitting there doing
something else on a phone or atablet.
You know even coloring.
Like put the crayon down, takethe second.

(15:28):
Like make the eye contact.
Like those are the things thatwe're shooting for, hey everyone
.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
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,

(15:54):
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 law.
Does your child know how tocall 9-1-1 from a locked cell
phone?
It is absolutely possible, andmy book demonstrates how to do

(16:17):
that, whether it 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

(16:39):
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 wanna 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

(17:01):
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 (17:21):
And I'm not sure, like you said, if it comes down
to like being in the businessrole now and like the
expectations that like we have,like I want to make sure that
they're set up for that and thatthey can thrive in any
environment and know.
And I even had the conversationwith my son yesterday at his um
, his.
He had a travel um like hittinglesson and um like he was

(17:45):
messing with his back, he waskind of like flipping it and
like turning it around and likehe wasn't looking at the guy
because he was talking to himand I was in the lobby.
I could see it on the camerasand so I had a conversation in
the car, listen, and he's going.
The guy homeschools his kidstoo, so he probably is used to
like these little squirrelsrunning around.
But I said, when he's talkingto you, like you need to give
him your undivided attention,right, because otherwise it

(18:06):
looks like you're not payingattention.
And so just kind of reiteratinglike hey, these are life skills
and my goal is to provide youwith these skills to allow you
to thrive in the environmentwherever that you know that
turns and, like you said, theywant to do all sorts of
different things at this age.
So it's all over the place.
You know, one day my son wantsto be a chef.
One day he wants to be a pilot.

(18:26):
One day he wants to be anarchitect.
Like I, have no idea what he'sgoing to do.
My daughter says she's going torun my company.
I have right.
Who knows?

Speaker 1 (18:33):
but you got to be able to provide them with those
tools to get there and that'shuge because when you think
about people that are successfulin life, I feel like it's the
people that can hold aconversation, are well-spoken,
have manners, are able to listenand then like, regurgitate to
show the person, the speaker,that they were listening and

(18:54):
understand.
People who ask questions, those, I feel like are the people who
, when you meet, you're like, oh, I like that guy, I like that
girl.
You know, those are theunforgettable people where
everybody else just kind of goesby the wayside.
The people that are on theirphones and scroll so, and that's
huge.
And when I just think about my16 year career at the state, it
was, you know, I did climb theladder and it wasn't because I

(19:17):
was like good at what I did oreven you know new stuff.
It was more just, I wasn'tafraid to talk to people and I
could speak a well, you know,developed sentence and so that
got you places.
And yeah, you're right, justbeing able to give an order to
the waiter or waitress, that'shuge.
I had a guest on my podcastrecently and she said I make my

(19:41):
kids call to set up theirdentist's appointments and
doctor's appointments at veryearly ages.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
Yeah, no, I've totally heard that and I've seen
even a reel on that where theysent their child to like make
that appointment and they had noclue.
They had no clue and this waslike an older child.
And the video was to be fun,like, oh my gosh, they have no
clue, but it's like man, theyshould have a clue.

Speaker 1 (20:04):
Right.

Speaker 2 (20:04):
Who teaches your child better than like you guys
teach them that.
We teach them the best asparents.
It's like we need to rock that.
That's so true.

Speaker 1 (20:13):
So then, all right, what do you?
How does your, how does yourcurriculum look?
I mean, I know that's anotherbig worry for people that want
to step into the homeschoolingworld, like am I going to teach
them enough?
Am I going to overwhelm themand make it look like school?
And we're going to scream ateach other, you know, kind of
like.
And then there's theunschooling, the Charlotte Mason
, the Montessori, the Waldorf,like there's so many things that

(20:34):
can just be overwhelming.
How do you kind of manage thaton a day-to-day basis and
without overwhelming your child?
Make sure that you're hittingon, like the thing, like how
important are all the littlethings that their counterparts
in school are learning?

Speaker 2 (20:50):
Yeah.
So, um, up until about a yearand a half ago, we were fully
using, just like full on builtcurriculums.
Because I am not a teacher andI did want to make sure that,
like I'm not setting them up tofail right, Like I think that
was my biggest fear and that wasmy biggest fear.
Getting started, and that's thebiggest thing I talked to
patients about is you're alwaysafraid you're going to miss
something you know or like misswhen that's supposed to be

(21:11):
taught.
So we followed, you know, thegood and the beautiful, like
full on curriculums where it'slike, okay, everything is here
and I'd say that works reallywell, up until about a year and
a half ago where then we kind offelt that there wasn't enough
being focused on in certainsubjects and headed to start
like piecemeal things.
And that's where I got a littleconfused.
You know, in full transparency.

(21:32):
It's like, okay, well, if Ihave to piece this together and
this is for grades one throughfour, like is it really one
through four is my fifth?
You know it gets tricky.
And then you're like, okay, dowe do we need to focus on
science and history?
Like is this something thatneeds to be dabbled in now?
Like, of course we all did it.
That's like your daily inschool, but like, is it a
necessary part?

(21:52):
At what point?
Right, like you, you know thatyou've thought about all these
questions and so you kind ofstart to spiral and you go a
little bit crazy and then youpost in a group and then you get
75,000 answers and they're alldifferent and you're like, oh my
God, can I at least get two ofthe same answers so that I could
feel like I have an idea?
Nothing is the same and it's sooverwhelming and you know, with

(22:16):
the way that the business wentand you know how busy that
became and the growth that wehad, I'm like I need to find
somebody to help us.
So in our situation, like weactually have now a teacher that
comes in to our house and wekind of all interact together
and she brings her two kiddosand so they do like a little
school together.
You know, four days a week fortwo hours a day, so they do

(22:37):
school from 10 to 12 and, um,again, she's kind of just
piecing stuff together, but alot of it's like learning
through games.
So what's interesting is mynine-year-old is doing the same
decimal fractions games systemsas these 11 and 14 year olds,
and so it's very cool to watchand he Elena's, like he's doing

(22:58):
the same math as me, and so shekind of gets a little like I'm
like you know, just think aboutit, Like it's good for him,
right, Because think about howhard it was for you to learn all
these things.
Like now he's just going tohave this awesome refresh and
like really be able to figure it.
So you know at a certain point,like there's so many resources
and I'm assuming, like you'veheard of things like out school

(23:19):
as well, like I'll send parentslike the tutoring, the one on
one help, the one on one courses.
My daughter was struggling withmultiplication like two years
ago and I literally did thethree day boot camp and it was
like 15 kids on a screen and itwas just three full days, like
three days of a couple hours,and she figured it all out in
three days.
It was just how it needed to betaught different.

(23:43):
And that's where we started torealize that the way it was
being taught, whether it bethrough the videos or the
curriculum itself, was thechallenge.
And the way that I was tryingto teach her wasn't connecting
with her brain because it waslike, well, I already knew it,
so now I'm trying to teach ithow I know it, and she's like,
yeah, I'm trying to teach it howI know it.
And she's like, yeah, I'm notconnecting these dots.
So games is a really big thingthat we do a ton of learning
through just games and direction.

(24:04):
The kids all love that positivepraise.
They all love like the rewardsof oh cool, this was fun and
interactive.
So they do a ton of floor timegames.
On the floor.
She makes all these differentactivities and like that's what
I was looking for.
And you know, I think that thetake home from that too is is
you can be a business owner, youcan work full time, like

(24:26):
there's ways, and it doesn'tmean that you have to
necessarily do the schoolingyourself, right, it just means
that you're choosing this lifefor these two hours.
So now we have her travelsoftball team, all of her
friends, they're all like wewant to be homeschooled.
All these parents are textingme like, oh my gosh, like
Elena's talking about her schooland now all my kids want to be
homeschooled.

(24:46):
We're just going to drop themoff at your house every day.
I'm like go for it, there's ateacher here we can figure it
out.
So that flexibility is reallybig for us.
But there's not one way to teachit and there's not a wrong way.
Like you can work full time,you can do it in the evening,
you can do it in the weekend,you can use this curriculum,
that curriculum, you can piecethings together, you can do

(25:07):
online.
As you know, there's so manydifferent ways, but getting, I
think, like you said like thesupport, and sometimes these
groups are really overwhelming.
I have been super overwhelmedin them.
Um, so local groups are thebest library groups.
Um, and just kind of learning,like where do I start?

Speaker 1 (25:27):
I, I love that point that you brought up and I've
recently connected that myselftoo because I was kind of
working with um, this companycalled Excelsior Classes, and
I'm, like you know, kind oflooking at avenues like of how
to present this to people andI'm, like you know, I feel like
homeschoolers think it's justgot to be parent sitting with a
child around the table and or,you know, on a blanket out in

(25:48):
the backyard and like it doesn'thave to mean that you're even
doing all the teaching and forone, your kids are learning
through your business, becauseI'm sure they're around you as
you're working the rest of theday.
And that's probably the bulk of,like the life skills that
they're learning.
But, yeah, it is finding whatwe're homeschooling is finding
what works best for your family.

(26:09):
So, like, if your daughter wasin school and multiplication was
a problem for her, her stayingafter class to work with that
same teacher, presenting it inthe same way, probably isn't
going to get her farther, butyou found a program that was
alternative to the way you werepresenting it and then it
clicked.
And how many things are likethat in life.
Or if you just heard it adifferent way, from a different

(26:30):
parent or from a different book,a different source, it does
make sense.
So I love that and I yeah, wecan outsource things all the
time, like whether it's anonline program, whether it's a
different textbook, whether it'sjust stuff you want YouTube
videos or audio books or readinga book, like there's so many
ways to consume information, wedon't have to read a boring book

(26:51):
.

Speaker 2 (26:53):
When I was talking with our one of our computers
yesterday about this, like justgoing through grad school, and
I'm like man, I was never theone and it was.
We started a book club and so Icouldn't get into this book.
It was god awful for me and Igave up at 50 pages.

Speaker 1 (27:06):
I'm like, yeah, this isn't for me.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
But we talked about like how the struggle was
through school, where, like if Ididn't, if I wasn't engaged in
that topic, it wasn't it.
But then I got to like nursingschool and grad school and it
was something that justenlightened me and I loved it
and I was so interested.
But I still had to print thePowerPoints.
Everything kind of started tobe techie.
So it was all like online and Ihad to like I would buy the
book that was like outdated.

(27:29):
I would like print thePowerPoint, I would use the
highlighter, I would write thestuff, because that was my way
of learning and I learned betterthrough that.
So then, with all of that, whenwe brought in this new teacher,
you know I had said here's ourstruggles and like here's where
our goals are.
The first thing she spent theentire first week doing an
entire assessment of how my kidslearn.

(27:49):
So whether it be throughauditory, visual, just hands-on
learning.
So that's where, like the gamesand the interactions, and it's
like it doesn't have to be apencil, a paper, like you said.
A classroom at a desk, at ablank wall, like that it does
not work for them.
They need to be able to moveright, like they're not robotic.
We can't just be stuck in aseat, like I am stuck in the

(28:09):
seat more than I would like.
It is like and I'm 37 years old, like I go crazy sitting in
this room, so it's a lot.
You have to accept thateverybody learns different and
that doesn't.
There could be seven differentways to get there, Right, but we
can't expect them all to followthe same way.
And so, yeah, the tutors aregreat.
Some of these teachers areabsolutely phenomenal.

(28:32):
You know I had met it from withone of the public school
teachers prior to finding thisteacher, because a girlfriend of
mine teaches at that school andshe's like this teacher could
really help her and like helpher excel.
I'm like awesome, she wasamazing, like I would have loved
to meet with her, to tutor withher several days a week.
Um, because she really justcared.
She was those one rare birdsthat really cared about your

(28:53):
kiddo.
But I'm like, yeah, the answeris still not to be coming.
You know we're not going to beenrolling in school, right?
So it just all figures out.
You know it all works out inthe end of the day.
You just got to figure out whatyour drive is and then know
that there's not just one way toget there and you can do it in
many different avenues.

Speaker 1 (29:11):
So tell us about Well-Rooted, and how does that
kind of tie into your homeschool?

Speaker 2 (29:15):
Yeah, so Well-Rooted.
We opened Well-Rooted about sixyears ago.
So Well-Rooted has a fewdifferent sectors pediatrics,
functional medicine and women'shealth.
So we are more of a holistic,functional-based practice that
focuses on why?
So the root cause of underlyinghealth conditions or problems.
We're not just band-aidapproaching things.
We're very parent choice, fullinformed consent, and that was

(29:40):
the way that I wanted my kiddosraised and that's the way that
that's what I was looking forfor them before we decided to
open.
So you know, we've built thisamazing community.
I started with just myself andyou know, now we have 14
providers, we have over 18,000patients, we're in 15 states,
berea Viet, telehealth and wehave 70 lovely employees that

(30:02):
you know support us on fiveyears behind our mission.
And so it is busy, we're superbusy.
We're always doing somethingdifferent, always trying to
figure out the next process onhow to help a parent.
You know, realize that theyhave a choice or that there's a
solution for them.
That's not just the-aidapproach, so a lot of advocacy,
which is where, like, we reallytry to push our kiddos to just
understand our why.

(30:22):
Like why aren't we eating that?
Why are we going to make abetter decision on that?
Like, why shouldn't we do thattoday?
You know whether it just belike toxins, chemicals.
You know all these girls areall into like Sephora and like
doing all this stuff and it'slike trying just to educate,
like okay, I want you to look atthose ingredients and tell me
if you even can read them.
Do you even know what they are?
So we take a lot of like whatwe preach through our mission of

(30:46):
Well-Rooted like into ourfamily and we want them to get
it.
We don't want them just to betaught and like brainwashed into
like this is it?

Speaker 1 (30:53):
right.

Speaker 2 (30:53):
Like they need to understand why, because once
they leave our home, I want themto thrive and understand those
reasons.
So they're constantly you know,my husband between both of us,
whether it be accounting,banking, you know, problem
solving, zoom meetings.
They understand that like allof that's a big part of our life
and they're there for it Likethey fully understand.

(31:14):
I mean, sometimes I feel likeshe knows more about my
employees than I do, justbecause they're always listening
, as much as you don't want themto be, and it's a lot of fun.
So, you know, hopefully we canteach them one thing just about
entrepreneurship and leadershipand just being a good human
through the work that we do.

Speaker 1 (31:33):
Yeah, my goodness.
So is it like a pediatrics oris it family wellness?

Speaker 2 (31:37):
So it's both.
So we have a pediatric, we havetwo pediatric locations in
Illinois and then we have anadult location connected to one
of our pediatric offices andthen we have a separate women's
location as well.
So like holistic gyne, and thenwe also focus on like IV
therapy and peptides and naturalhealing and alternatives like

(32:00):
blood pressure medications andhigh cholesterol and toxic mold
and Lyme and all the fun littlethings that come with illness
and chronic disease.

Speaker 1 (32:11):
So we're kind of like the one stop shop with RFK Jr
and taking out the toxins fromthe foods or at least some of
them, kind of different things,with vaccines coming to, maybe
light, maybe that we would justcan explore where before you
couldn't even explore.
How big is that for yourbusiness and what you're doing?

(32:32):
Obviously, this is sort of whatyou guys were, what you
probably started looking at inthe first place to make you go
from mainstream to off.
Uh, down the beaten path.
Huge, yeah, truly.

Speaker 2 (32:44):
It's huge.
It's huge and I think we'reexcited, like we're here for it,
just to to see what happens.
Um, and I know I'll talk aboutI saw this kiddo yesterday and
mom will probably watch this.
But, um, you know, their sonhas autism and like we were
discussing just the work that,like RFK is looking to do,
whether it just be to try tomake things better, and how
there's been like such amisconception, I believe, in the

(33:06):
delivery of his discussionsaround autism that like it's not
that it's a problem in yourfamily, it's not that it's a
that these children are problems, it's.
It is a problem that we wentfrom one in however many
hundreds to thousands, to nowone in less than 20 to two, to
whatever the ratio is looking tobe predicted for the future.
That's the problem.
It's the chemicals, it's thetoxins, it's these things that

(33:29):
are known to be neuro hindrancewhen it comes to toxicity and
even cord blood, right, so it'smaternals, it's environmental,
so it's awareness, and I thinkeverybody's so quick to like,
try to pull aside these days,like I'm on this side, or I'm on
this side, or I don't believein this and I'm gonna, you know
it's exhausting and in the end,just know that like these things

(33:51):
are not meant to be healthy,like we need to understand they
didn't exist back in the day.
You know, usually the kickbackis like, oh well, longevity
wasn't there either, people weredying by 50 or 60.
Like I'm not saying that, I'mnot saying there's not a time
and a place for medicine oradvancements in technology A
thousand percent there is.
But the chemicals we candefinitely do without.

(34:11):
So super excited, yeah, it's atwo year, what they say, 2026 or
something like that for um.
You know, kind of introduced inremoval and the introduction of
that, that bill and statementof reduction of food dyes.
But that's huge and why is itokay in other countries but it's
okay here?
Like that's where I want peopleto understand is other

(34:32):
countries are eons ahead of uswhen it comes to their food.
Um, obesity, chronic illness,death, you know all of it.
Like we just have to do better.
Um, and our kids deserve better.
We all deserve better.
So it really is aligning withum what we're preaching, that we
have been preaching prior toany of this coming about.

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Yeah, and it's funny Cause, as, uh, you were saying
that, it made.
It made me think of we have,like you know, my husband's
cousin's wife.
You know she's all over herFacebook saying you know, I will
punch anyone in the face whosays autism is caused by a
vaccine.
And I had to comment I try notto anymore because I just don't
have the time like the anxiety,yeah, but I was like listen,

(35:17):
lady, you're not a scientist.
How do you know?
How can you make that statement?
And you know she was going onand on and I guess her daughter
she's, you know, came out inthat saying, well, my daughter
is on the spectrum and I justthought so.
You would rather say she's thisway because of something in me
that, um, you know a gene or achromosome that I could not

(35:41):
control, but that came from me.
You would rather say that thatthat is why she has autism or is
on the spectrum, than, say, abillionaire of a pharmaceutical
company has made it so that I ammandated basically to give this
their product to my child andit's their fault.
Why are like?

(36:02):
That's crazy.
Why would we want the blame onourselves when we can look
externally and say and obviouslythere's so many different
reasons for it.
Sometimes it is chromosomes andall of that Absolutely.
But then we have to look at why.
Well, I know, like they put meon birth control at 15 years old
, what was that doing to my body, all of the toxins I took,

(36:22):
before I realized that they werebad?
You know the weather, there'sso many things, but we, we do.
It's just so funny.
Like you said, I think it'sthat side thing taking sides.
Well, if I hate this side, Ihave to hate everything that
that side says.
Where it's like people are like, you will not say it was the
pharmaceutical company, it wasmy fault.

(36:42):
Why wouldn't we want to explain?
You said awareness.

Speaker 2 (36:50):
Yeah, and I hear it and I see it all too, and I just
wonder, like I think they're solike unsure, and like they're
just lost and they don't haveanswers, and so they try to just
pick the—I don't even want tosay the easy way out, but like—
To them it's just like I don'twant to fight this battle, like
this is my life and it isprobably challenging for them
and so, like not being in thatposition, like I try to

(37:13):
understand.
But then, yeah, we were beat upover the weekend in social
media for me, commenting on, youknow, this mom, this
four-year-old was on all theselike medications for ADHD, or
maybe just one medication, butlike it's not helping.
They were looking to figure outsomebody else to manage it.
And I'm like you know, hey, weexist.
You know, we have so manykiddos that we help work through
, especially at that age.

(37:34):
There's a root cause, there'san underlying factor, like I'm
here for it, um, and it was likeplease do not recommend not
medicating.
And I'm like, but why, you know?
And then I had all these peoplelike mom said that she didn't
want your recommendations, likehow dare you stay in your lane?
Yada, yada, yada.
And I was so upset for thekiddo and the mom that like

(37:56):
doesn't know that.
Like if I were to have her in,like just give me six months,
like give me your trust, like wewould work through that.
You know, and even if it's justoptimizing slightly, you know,
the kiddo we saw yesterday lastyear there was tons of stimming.
He was nonverbal, like he wassaying words yesterday like like
75% less stimming, like youknow, not running around the

(38:19):
room.
He was conversing, like he'smaking eye contact, he's smiling
, like those are life goals,like that is awesome.
And am I saying that's going tohappen to everybody?
No, I'm not saying that, butthere wasn't also one thing that
was that was a part of thisLike there was a hundred things
that we had to work through andbuild every single month to get
him to where he's at.
So I just wish that people justhad a little bit outside the

(38:43):
box and we weren't so againsteach other.
You know, I'm not trying tolike push something on you Like.
I'm trying to like make thegeneration healthier.
I'm trying to like give thesekids an equal opportunity.
I'm trying to empower thesekids to know that they have
choices.
That's what we have to do.

Speaker 1 (38:58):
Yeah, and I think you probably wouldn't even be
against medication if you couldrule out all the toxins, take
them, eliminate them from thechild's life, see where that
takes them and then get a realevaluation of what medication do
you actually need.
Because what are we justcovering up for?
Because there's so much red dye40 in your diet, you're

(39:19):
dehydrated, you're vitamin Bdeficient, vitamin D deficient.
You know like rule changeeverything with diet before you
go on to.
And you know I, yeah, I, I comefrom um.
You know my father had verysevere mental illness and you
know he did need to be onsomething later on in life and I
, you know so.

(39:39):
But there was also a lot ofalcohol that was in there early
on to kind of mask things.
And it's like you've got toeliminate all that stuff, see
what's left and then work fromthere, but to layer it all on
top of each other.
And I just asked chat GPT thismorning.
I was like I said what could Ido to undo the years of damage I
did with prescriptions that mydoctor gave me, eating all the

(40:03):
chemicals and dyes, drinkingalcohol and what was the other
one?
Oh, bug spray.
I used to move into an apartmentand raid bomb every.
It would be the first thing Idid raid bomb the apartment.
You leave for six hours, youcome back in and then I just
thought, oh, it only kills bugs,won't do anything to me.
I'm sitting here thinking nowI'm like, oh my god, how have I
not got what?

(40:23):
Not had cancer yet?
But I did that for years,probably 10 years of raid bombs
I breathed in.
So I like asked chat GPT, howcan I reverse all this?
And it gave me like a long listof things.
It gave me a long list ofthings to do.
But and I consider myself apretty healthy person but I got
some work to do to detox.

Speaker 2 (40:44):
That's just it.
You know, like you said,there's there's MTHFR, there's
genetic pathways, there'sthere's ways, you know, that we
can test and look and see whereyour detox pathways are hindered
.
And you know those with MTHFR.
Sometimes they detox.
Well, you know, they detox 100%if they don't have a carrier
gene, or they can detox 10% orthey can have a really severe
mutation, your immune system.

(41:11):
So the way that MTHFR works isit's basically like your genetic
composition of your methylationpathways, so your homocysteine,
your B-complexes and folatereceptors.
So all of this kind of tellsyou like how well your body
stores and detoxes materialthat's not supposed to be there.
So molds, toxins, like you said, all those different things.
Like even on the kiddo that Isaw yesterday, like she came
back with one copy of the C677Tvariant, which is what I also

(41:34):
have.
So I detox only 50% and I store50% of all toxins that I have.
So those who have a higher, youknow, component of MTHFR, those
combination of mutations, dotend to struggle more, whether
that be medications or just ingeneral illness et cetera,
because those toxins are in ourbody.
So you have to kind of setyourself up for success in a

(41:56):
different way, you know, throughhome and limiting your toxins
and environment.
And I always say you cancontrol the four walls you live
in.
You can't control theenvironment, what you're going
to breathe in the second thatyou walk out your door.

Speaker 1 (42:12):
You guys know I am a big fan of the Tuttle Twins.
I had Conor 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
local town with local businesseswhen corporations start moving

(42:35):
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
our lives.
Education Vacation talks aboutJohn Taylor Gatto and the

(42:56):
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
actually make it very difficultfor them.

(43:17):
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.
Use the link in my show'sdescription or at the
homeschoolhowtocom under thelistener discounts page.
I also want to let you knowabout some other books that the
Tuttle Twins have out America'sHistory, volume 1 and 2, which

(43:39):
teaches all about the inspiringideas of America's founding
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

(43:59):
discussions that we should behaving with our children.
Use the link in my show'sdescription or, like I said, at
thehomeschoolhowtocom underlistener discounts.
Or like I said atthehomeschoolhowtocom under
listener discounts.

Speaker 2 (44:11):
So we need to do well here and we need to limit the
exposure to the chemicals andthose toxins, make sure our gut
health is very much optimized sothat our body and our liver can
really rid of these things.
I always say these othercountries that are doing T3 four
times a day, they got itfigured out, they're using herbs
to clean and they're reallyjust making sure that everything
is well.
But also with MTHFR, you're notgoing to be responsive to

(44:34):
certain medications.
So, like you said, there'scertain testing.
We're not opposed to meds Ifwe've worked through it.
We've got kids that were evenlike, stay on your meds until we
can figure this stuff out.
Or you know what?
I'm going to send you here toget some medication so that we
can still work through thesethings.
But your child's not strugglingand you're not struggling with
life.
But there's tests that you cando that actually tell you.

(44:54):
There's like a cheek swab thatactually looks at your
composition to say thesemedications work well for you
and these ones don't Like.
Why aren't we doing those?
Like I try to say andblessingly around here a lot of
psychiatrists and stuff arereally starting to look for
those tests.
Or if a parent asks, they'reokay with them doing it and
looking at the results.
But again, there's just not oneway.

(45:15):
And that's where we try tostress and try to educate, and
either people are receptive orthey're super against you, and
that's fine.
That is their life, that istheir journey.
You tried to plant the seed andhopefully it made their wheels
spin a little bit, um, and thatthey'll come back to it, but
that's all we can do, um is justcontinue to advocate for these

(45:40):
babies and just really, you know, try to push for a better
future.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
Yeah, and you were right before when you said it is
hard.
It is very overwhelming torealize that everything you know
and believe to be true has kindof been miss.
I would say lie, but thatsounds a little harsh.
But essentially you've beenlied to by people who wrote you
know you can go back to thehistory and who wrote the

(46:02):
pharmaceutical books forpharmaceutical schools and you
know medical schools A lot of itcame from the Rockefellers and
what their agenda was and, um,you know.
And schools a lot of it camefrom the Rockefellers and what
their agenda was, and you know.
And then they're having theirhand in the pharmaceutical
companies and it's just like,yeah, it did, it snowballed, and
it's hard to like, even justfor me, you know, a couple years

(46:22):
ago, thinking like, could Ireally homeschool?
And it's like when you stepinto homeschooling, you're not
just stepping into teaching yourkids at home, you're stepping
into now the people you hang outwith are going to be more
health conscious, you're goingto be reading labels, you might
get chickens, and now you've gotto have a coop and clean the
chicken coop and all that.
You might be getting raw milk.
You might be, you know, butyou're, you're, you might not be

(46:45):
vaccinating anymore.
Yeah, it, um.
I mean, my friends will evensometimes say something to me
like oh, do you guys have theSCOBY?
Anyone have extra SCOBY?
I'm like, what are you peopleeven talking about?
Um, what were they picking theother day?
I don't even know.
Like, they say so many wordsthat I don't even I always have
to say to them like guys, whatare you talking about?

(47:06):
And then they educate me on it.
And it's really cool, becausewe all have to start somewhere.
We didn't grow up learning thatway.
Um, but yeah, I think gettingback to our roots is really, uh,
awesome.
But so what can people do if,like, if they want to be part of
what you're doing?
Are you even accepting newpeople?
Do you have anything set up forthem?
Or is there something they cantake to their doctor and ask for

(47:29):
, like, can I get this test doneto see my, you know basic what
you're talking about?
What would you recommend?

Speaker 2 (47:35):
Yeah.
So people have asked you know,can I take what?
Can I ask for testing?
Why is that my current provider?
I will say, like, obviouslywe're not just a one size fits
all approach, so like there's no, like just standard tester or
testing that can be done withthat.
So we do look at your 16 pagesof intake paperwork to determine
what best testing.
So we wouldn't give youanything outside of our office.

(47:56):
However, yes, we're acceptingnew patients If we follow our
Instagram page.
So Well-Rooted Pediatrics, wehave an entire list of the
states that we can see viatelehealth, and then we also
have, like I said, our brick andmortar locations in Illinois,
based on telehealth states.
It's not a matter of like we'renot in your state because we
don't like you.
It's a matter of yourlegislation doesn't allow nurse
practitioners to have fullpractice authority, so we only

(48:20):
can do what we can do.
So I always try to stress thatwith people.
The states that we are in arestates that are allowance of
that and that we don't have anystruggles with.
We are pending in New York,actually, so we are applied and
waiting for that.
So that's super exciting.
But yeah, so you can call ouroffice and schedule that, but
really it's just more, like yousaid, just making sure the body

(48:41):
communicates and the body'sdoing what it needs to do and
it's set up for success.
So just optimizing we don'talways have to have a problem to
seek our services and just toensure that.
Hey, you know, I just want tomake sure my minerals and my
kiddos vitamins, their thyroidis actually functioning, because
the world's so toxic andthey're all these endocrine
disruptors are so present thatunfortunately we're seeing so

(49:02):
many more thyroid issues inkiddos.
And so a lot of working throughthat gut balance, gut gut
health, like I do stool studieson my kiddos at least once a
year because I want to know whattheir microbiome looks like,
because the microbiome is whatis going to determine their,
their health and their diseaseproject to the disease,
projection of the future, and soall of that is important for us

(49:24):
as parents and me as a provider.
So there's so many things thatwe can be proactive to and the
big thing that we preach is justbeing proactive versus reactive
, um, and we're here for it.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
So and that's so important and yeah, and I think
it's, we kind of have to get tothat realization too, that, when
you mentioned it before, um, wecan control what's in our four
walls, right, like we don't haveto wait for the RFKs
legislation to go through fortwo years from now to stop
giving our kids toxins.
You can just stop giving themthe cereal with the toxins in it

(49:53):
.
Look at the labels.
If you can't pronounce it,chances are it was made in a lab
.
So fix what you can withinreason, and you don't have to do
everything tomorrow.
You just one thing you switchover at a time, whether it be a
laundry detergent.

Speaker 2 (50:08):
Make a list, make a list of all the things in your
home.
There's an app that you can geton your phone.
It's the Yuka app.
You can download it and you canliterally scan any barcode and
it will give you a rating ofzero to a hundred and it gives
you green zones and yellow zonesand red zones, and it is the

(50:28):
simplest thing.
Your husband may come home tolike 75 garbage bags and he may
think you've lost your freakingmind because I've been there and
he's like, oh good Lord.
But you know, just eliminate it.
And there's better alternatives, right, thrive Market Good
Foods, you know, whole Foods,fresh Thyme.
There's all these things thathave better alternatives for
snack options.

(50:49):
Are they still processed foods?
They are, but they're made withwhole food ingredients, right.
So just make one change, figurethat out.
This week, I'm going to changelaundry detergent.
That can easily be done on abudget.
Or, when I'm finished with thislaundry detergent, I'm going to
change it because I can't evenfathom wasting it.
Fine, then what can you changetoday?
Right, can you change the syrupthat's in your fridge?

(51:10):
Can you change the butterthat's in there?
Can you, like you said,eliminate the cereal?
Can we buy a butter, granolabar, right, there's so many
things that we can do, butsometimes making that list and
figuring it out is super, superimportant, and it can really
help.
It gives a good guidance.

Speaker 1 (51:26):
Absolutely Cause you don't realize how many toxins
are in there until you startlooking at everything.

Speaker 2 (51:32):
It's overwhelming and I promise it'll make you go
crazy for a hot second.

Speaker 1 (51:36):
Yeah, and the second part of that.
Before we finish up, I wasgoing to say, too, I think we're
moving into the era of you knowwhere I grew up, kind of like
we don't go to any provider thatdoesn't accept our insurance.
And I think, think for myself,we've gotten out of that mindset
because I no longer work forthe state anyways.
My husband it's very selective,but he does have an HSA account

(51:59):
that we can save money to anduse.
So, basically, when I left mycareer, our child's pediatrician
which I had been kicked out ofthe last place due to my
decisions around, you know hercare were changing so they no
longer would let me take my kidsthere Went to another one and
he was very intimidating aboutthe same vaccine issues.

(52:19):
So I said, okay, I got.
I left there crying going, whatam I going to do?
Finally found someone and Ilove her.
Well, when I left the state, shedoesn't accept my husband's
insurance and I said, all right,well, let me, how much is an
appointment?
It was like $135.
But how often do you go?
I really, now that we areliving a healthier lifestyle,
knock on wood, we don't have togo that often.
So once a year I pay $135 foreach kid out of our pocket and

(52:44):
we have a pediatrician thataligns with our values or does
not bother me with.
Whatever my values are and Ilove what you're talking about
with the preventative care thatis so important I think we have
to get out of the mindset thateverybody we go see has to be,
you know, a provider thataccepts our insurance.
Maybe you might have to coughup a little something from your

(53:04):
pocket, but how much are yougaining in the long run?

Speaker 2 (53:07):
Well, and I always tell people, like having a
health share option you know somany people and so many patients
of ours, and including myself,have a health share versus
conventional insurance um, beingentrepreneurs and whatnot and
so it's because everything thatwe do is outside of that, so I'm
not sitting here like we'regoing to the chiropractor, we're
using supplements.
If I have to pay for aprescription because things came

(53:27):
up, somebody had pink eye and Itried doing all the things or
whatever, paying cash for aprescription is like super cheap
, so like taking those avenues,and like even cash labs, like I
always tell people.
Like a CBC which is justgenerally looking at blood
composition, for us is like $2.
So like.
But insurance, like you do afull panel on insurance and

(53:48):
sometimes, like our adult panels, insurance will charge the
patients five to $8,000 throughtheir insurance.
That panel is less than $300cash.

Speaker 1 (53:56):
Wait, Okay.
So how does that work?
Like if you go into a doctorwith no insurance, you say I
just want to pay out of pocketfor this CVC test.

Speaker 2 (54:05):
If they're not a cash accepting office, though they
may not see you, like there'snot not every practice will
accept you without insurance.
So, like for us, like we're feefor service, we don't take
insurance, but we can provide asuper bill, right, so you can
submit it to your insurance forreimbursement if that's what you
choose to do.
But a lot of our parents choosenot to because they would
rather just control their ownhealthcare, which is fine so.

(54:25):
But we have people that willlike not even use their
insurance for labs because theirinsurance is super expensive
and they have a deductible, sothey would rather just pay cash
that because they're not goingto pay for it anyway.
The test kits or, like you said, the visits themselves, like
all of that is an option.
And then with health shares,like health shares will submit
and reimburse you for, like, awellness visit and preventative

(54:46):
care, just because they want youto thrive.
Like you would think that theprevention would be where we
really put our focus on insteadof the illness, and try to
prevent that.
But unfortunately the world's alittle bit backwards and the
money's not made until we'resick.
So you know you can use an HSAand an FSA and all that stuff
still.
You know through the officesand through our.

(55:08):
Pos systems.
But we're distressing like, hey, you have options and you can.
You can pay cash here.
We don't take your insurance.
You can submit to yourinsurance If you would like.
We'll provide you with all ofthose.
You know those bills and theprice breakdown, but ultimately
it comes down to your decision.

Speaker 1 (55:25):
Well, I think, at least just empowering people to
know that they have a decision,because we're just kind of
taught, especially in school,like you know everything is just
the mainstream way, so I lovethat.
I hope this conversation kindof opened people's eyes to that
that they do have options andyou can shop around.
Oh, my God, I keep hittingeverything today.
I'm sorry.
Okay, jessica, thank you somuch for joining us today.

(55:45):
Where can people find you ifthey want to follow you, if they
want to learn more about yourbusiness and maybe enroll?

Speaker 2 (55:52):
Sure.
So, um, like I had mentioned,we are on Instagram well-rooted
pediatrics, Um, we havewell-rooted FM and well-rooted
women, and then I have apersonal brand page as well,
which is the well-rooted APRN,um, and then any of those sites
will have links to call usdirectly.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
Awesome.
I will put all of that in theshow's description and I hope
you do get approved in New Yorkbecause I would love to take my
kiddos there and really get someof these preventative tests
done.
This is awesome.
Thank you so much for the workthat you do and for joining us
today.

Speaker 2 (56:24):
Absolutely Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
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
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Any effort to help us keep thepodcast going is greatly

(56:50):
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
generation.