#140: From School to Farm: One Family's Homeschool Journey with Animals, Freedom & Real-Life Learning

Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_02 (00:05):
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 people are homeschooling?
How do you do it?
How does it differ from regionto 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, I have Brookeand Savannah.
How are you guys both doing?
Very good, thank you.
Okay, so Brooke, your mom, andSavannah, your daughter, right?
Homeschooled daughter.
Yeah.
This is so exciting to hear yourperspective as well.

Um, a little disclosure (00:45):
we all actually know each other.
Um, I've been to your farm.
It is amazing.
So thank you so much for beinghere today.

SPEAKER_01 (00:54):
Yes, thank you for having us.
We're excited to share our livesand what we are as
homeschoolers.
And um, as you know, Cheryl, Ilive here with my five kids.
Savannah's the oldest out of allfive.
And we are, so to speak, livingthe dream, I guess you could
say.
And it's been an unbelievableride.
So I'm excited to share thatwith you.

SPEAKER_02 (01:12):
Why don't you tell us what even got you into
homeschooling?

SPEAKER_01 (01:14):
Have you always homeschooled the kids?
No, actually, we didn't.
We started as putting the kidsin school.
It was kind of something that Ifollowed.
The Jones is like keeping upwith the Jones, just keeping up
with your neighbors.
And I just never really thoughtanything of it other than you
just send your kids to schooland that's what we do.
And I did the whole exciting,you know, getting them ready,
first day of school signs,everything that really all of us

(01:34):
do as moms, right?
And thinking we're on thiscorrect path.
And I'm actually only here onthe farm four years prior to
that.
I lived downstate on Long Islandin a residential neighborhood.
And my husband is a farmer backon Long Island, so I've always
had that farm avenue to travelin, but my whole upbringing was
not farm related or outdoorsrelated.

(01:55):
I was a rider and loved horsesand followed that trail.
But I grew up in a residentialneighborhood, and school to me
was never thought of anythingother than that's what we do.
We go to school, we send ourkids there, and that's it.
And then COVID hit, and I haduh, I had always joked with my
husband about owning land,animals, and raising my kids
with farm animals.
And again, when I had thatthought, I wasn't thinking about

(02:17):
homeschooling.
I just loved the idea of thatlife bringing that separate
entity into their life of thedaily chores, the animals, the
commitment, the work, the ethicthere that that would show them,
along with school.
And so my husband finally in2021, when COVID hit, said, you
know what, go find your farm.
Let's do it.
And I think he was kidding, butI took it seriously.

(02:37):
And so off I went on thisadventure to find this farm.
And we luckily landed here in 21on a 30-acre horse farm with
Opportunity Galore.
And when I bought this farm, itwas an equestrian farm and it
still is today.
Although that can mean manythings, because equestrian just
means lots of stalls that Icould put lots of different
animals in that I like.

(02:57):
So, but originally when webought it, I made it a horse
farm and all my kids went toschool.
The ones that were old enough,which had just happened to be
Savannah.
And Billy.
Yeah, but Billy didn't go thatfirst year, right?
It was just you.
And then Billy first year ofschool was up here.
First year of school was uphere.
Savannah had school downstate,and then Billy was the
first-time schooler up here.

(03:18):
And my first year, towards theend of uh that first year, I had
a friend come visit me fromdownstate who is K through fifth
teacher, a friend of mine forover 25 years, who has always
been an advocate and a followerof my dreams.
And she came up here and Itoured her through the barn, and
she stopped me dead in my tracksdown the main aisle of my barn.
And she looked at me and shesaid, Why don't you homeschool,

(03:41):
bro?
And I looked at her and I didn'tunderstand really what she was
getting at.
And I have such a bigpersonality.
I'm a very animated mom.
I divide I actually say tomyself, I'm kind of the Mary
Poppins mom in my style ofliving with my children.
I love to perform and teach andanimate and be creative and do
it in a fun way, where I becomealmost childlike myself with an

(04:03):
adult manner.
And I've always had thatability, which is why I do what
I do today here and host eventsfor children, because I
absolutely love the two thingsthat sparkle my eye are children
and animals.
And my dear friend knows thatabout me.
And she saw my little journeyhere on the farm with farm
animals, going from horses andkind of bringing in odd
four-legged creatures thataren't horses for these kids to

(04:25):
enjoy.
And her thought to that day whenshe said to me, Brooke, why
don't you homeschool?
I looked back at her and I said,Well, I don't know.
I I never really considered thatI could do it.
And she says, Anyone could doit.
And she said, and what betterthan for someone like you who
you play with your kids in funand learning every day.
That's school.
And her biggest point to me is,and it's so true, and I didn't

(04:45):
see it, I was so not in therealm of homeschooling when I
bought this farm.
And it's so funny because peoplethink, well, you buy a farm so
you can live this homesteadinglife, so you can keep your kids
home and raise them in thatstyle of living.
That wasn't me.
It was almost that it came insteps.
And so the light just camebigger and bigger as I just
lived the months that passedhere, and people came into my
lives in different ways andperspectives that showed me

(05:07):
different avenues.
And then she presented to me,and I will touch on this, you
would be a great unschooler aswell, homeschool, unschool.
And she I said, Well, I don'tknow what any of that means.
I'm gonna educate myself on it.
I said, but it would be reallyneat, and this is the one fact
she told me, you will neverregret the time you will get
back with your kids.
And you will only see that ifyou're in that life.
She goes, for me, heropportunity is not there, her

(05:30):
circumstances are different.
But she said, for you, you'llfind the glory in that.
And I left her that day and Ithought, but I didn't act.
And my cousin, a very closecousin, who's almost a sister of
mine, who's been with me since Istarted this farm, alongside of
my kids.
She has two daughters, um, whoare 10 and 12 today, is a big
homeschool advocate, follows youas well.
And we just happened to connectthat, Cheryl, the other day,

(05:52):
because I told her that I wasgoing to be on your show, and
she says, I follow her already.
And I said, Oh, do you know howthat I said, I'm gonna be I'm
gonna be doing a little clip forher.
Anyways, so she was one who alsowas so strongly advising the
benefits of homeschooling andhad then she started sending me
information.
So I had two close people to mestart to send me information on
homeschooling, the benefits, whywe should try it, why we should

(06:15):
do it as a whole country now.
I feel globally.
Okay.
But um, and and I started toeducate myself and think about
it.
And then I have to admit, I donot like the common core
teachings in schools.
I find it difficult for myselfto even teach my children and
have a way that I have tointerpret it and re-deliver it
and then get them to understandit that way to then bring it

(06:37):
back into the school and havethem pass these tests and all
these things that are pressure.
And that didn't come natural tome either.
I didn't like that.
I didn't like the idea ofteaching something that I wasn't
confident and actuallystruggling in myself.
And I thought, if I could teachit in the way that I can teach
it, and there's a connectioninstantly, that's beauty, that's
learning and happiness.
But if I teach and struggle andyell and say, Well, I don't,

(06:58):
this is the way I taught, andyou shouldn't, where's that
gonna get me?
And that was a big angle of it.

SPEAKER_02 (07:02):
And I think that's on purpose.
They want parents to not be ableto teach their kids what they're
learning in school because theywant the kids to go to the
teacher and not the parents,kind of getting that divide in
the family home.

SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Right, that's absolutely right.
And so those are the things thatI didn't even have thoughts of
at that point, but now my mindis so open.
I've been doing this over twogoing into three years, and I
just find myself soaking in allthis information, seeing it in
real time, real life,productivity with the children.
People say, Well, how do yourkids learn?
Now, let me mind you now, so Idid pull the children from
school and decided I'm going ona homeschool adventure.

(07:36):
What's the worst that couldhappen?
Well, in my head, I'm going, youjust send them back, right?
And and I want to kill my wordsand zip my mouth for those,
right?
But we stand in a fear wherewe're a schooled mind.
I was school.
Many of us in my family, I mean,that's a big battle in itself.
You can have a wholeconversation on that.
Is, oh, you know, your childrenaren't gonna be social.
They're gonna miss out on somesocial aspects of life.

(07:58):
And do you really think that'sin their best interest?
And the answer is, man, yes.
I wish you could join me on thisroad and see the beauty and the
growth.
And yet, I find it so funnybecause, and this is not to pat
myself on the back, it's anactual fact.
Savannah's sitting beside me,she can vouch for this.
Savannah, every time we go out,whether it's a store or a dinner
or a gathering, tell me what I'mtold mostly every time.

(08:21):
You have well-behaved kids, andyeah.
How great-mannered, respectfulkids I have, right?
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 (08:28):
I I agree with that.
You do.
Well, thank you.
My son left there the one dayand he said, Mom, those are the
nicest kids I've ever met.
I'm so happy.
That's great.
I meant to text you that and Iforgot.

SPEAKER_01 (08:38):
Thank you, Cheryl.
That means a lot to me.
And that is not scripted.
This is real.
This is because I'm able toconnect with my kids as people,
as children.
I'm able to support their needs.
I do believe a lot of that hasto do with the ability to be so
connected in a family and toraise them every day.
I am teaching them.

(08:59):
We're learning together, we'relaughing together, we're
learning real life together,we're in the car together.
That doesn't mean though, thatthe children are just solely
wrapped around mom and they haveno external life.
Please don't misread that.
Today, Samantha's leaving me andgoing on a play date with a
schoolmate that has stayed intouch with her for all these
years.
There's so many external avenuesfor these children to be social,

(09:21):
but what they gain, which Ithink is so tremendous and
what's not taught in school, isreal life learning.
And that today is a greatexample of that.
This is a 10-year-old daughterwho I offered the opportunity to
be in a podcast abouthomeschooling.
And her choice was to go early,well, actually on time to this
play date, or to be a part ofthis.
She's 10.
She chose to sat here with two,sit here with two adults to

(09:43):
listen to this conversation andenjoy it and learn from it.
And said, I'll visit my friendin an hour or so.
And to me, that's a great thatis someone who is um a
self-doer, self-thinker, um,seen a little bit beyond what a
normal child would in just aschool child, I think would just
want to play.
Like just get me out, I shouldgo play.
And Savannah chose the opposite,which is neat.

(10:05):
But I do think that I being aparent that could be home with
the child, and I know we can'thave that for every child.
I understand circumstances arewhat they are, but there is such
warmth and beauty in that.
Um, and if you're able toconnect with your kids, and most
moms we can, it's the stressesof our lives and the system that
we have on us that pressures usto lose it with our children,

(10:25):
not connect with our children.
We're always on a schedule,we're always on a time, and
that's another huge topic that Ilove.
Cheryl, to wake up in themorning, I did it with school
kids.
Get out of bed, get you eat.
Did you eat?
Where's your homework?
Where did you get it?
Wait, your hair, you're a mess.
Come on, you can't.
I mean, chaos.
Let's all face it.
That's the truth of a morningschool kid, six o'clock, we're
waking these kids up.
I have zero guilt about eachchild sleeping till eight, nine,

(10:48):
nine thirty.
I don't care.
It doesn't matter.
Yeah.
It is a wonderful thing.
Now, people well, that's youknow, because that that's
providing laziness.
No, it's not.
It's allowing a child to be achild.
That's not to say, and I've reada statistic on this, a
homeschool child has moreself-worth and ability to
understand a clock, to want togain what they're looking to
gain because they'reself-achievers.

(11:08):
They want to do, they want tolearn.
They're there's sponges outthere that have not been
manipulated and indoctrinated ina system.
They're looking to learn becausethey want to learn.
And I'll tell you right now,Savannah wanted a horse.
And, you know, I didn't do thatfor years.
This is not a privileged family.
This is a family we work for thethings that we get.
We're learning in this bubble ofour life.
And I said to Savannah, well,you're gonna have to work for

(11:29):
that.
We're gonna do like a littlework to own, right?
This kid has no problem gettingup every day on her own, going
down to that barn and doing thework in that barn.
And I don't think you have analarm clock, do you, Savannah?
No, no.
Why is she doing it?
Because she's just automatic.
She knows she has to do it.
She gets up.
Is it at 8.02, 8.05?
It's around that time.
We don't care.

(11:49):
She's up, she's out, she doesher chores, and so do all the
other children here.
And it's a beautiful thing towatch.
I could speak indefinitely aboutjust the beauty of having your
kids home with you.
And then we're gonna go.

SPEAKER_02 (12:02):
And I agree because yes, I used to get my son up for
daycare so that I could get offto work that 10 hours a day, you
know, at a six months old, hewas with somebody else.
And I do think that sleeping in,their bodies are going through
so much.
You know, they might be fightinga cold, they might be, you know,
fighting a virus or whatever.
They might be going through agrowth spur, their brain might
be going through a change, andthey just need that sleep.

(12:24):
And when you're rushing them outof bed to get them to school,
they are so deprived of that.
But do you ever have pushbackfrom the kids?
Like there are times with mine,and I know I come like my
childhood was a little spastic,so I'm sure that makes me a
little bit more spastic as anadult.
Or, but you sometimes, I mean,my son, I'm like, I remember the
one day I was like, Are youtrying to kill me?
Are you literally trying to killme?

(12:44):
And he was like, No, mom, if Iwanted to kill you, I could find
easier ways.
So, do you ever have that?
Or is there like a thing we haveto do to switch ourselves off
and be like, this is how Ishould really be handling this
instead?

SPEAKER_01 (12:57):
Right.
So I think that any child candraw you to an intolerance of
just you lose it, right?
We all we all have to admit thatnothing's perfect all the time
and we all lose it.
We all have our moments, right?
I have a lot, I have a definitehigh tolerance for patience.
I am a very patient mom.
With myself having five kids, Iput myself in a little bit of a
different character, uhdifferent category.

(13:19):
Um, because and it's funny Itouched that quickly.
I never thought I would be a momof five.
I thought I would be a mom oftwo.
I come from a family that is mysister and I, and actually, I
grew up.
And uh God saw a different pathfor us, and here we are with
five.
And I remember then going onpodcasts, not about school, but
about how do I live with fivekids?
How do I do this?
Like, how do I survive?
This is going to be crazy.
And they were all a year apart,you know, a year and a half

(13:41):
apart.
So I didn't have big gaps withinthe children.
And there's such beauty inallowing them to learn real
life, real risks.
Um, I'm not the mom that's, ohGod, don't climb that tree or be
careful, or I want my child tounderstand risk.
I think that's a huge thing thatmakes my home a little more um,
a little more humble or a littleless chaotic, is that these

(14:03):
little people, even thoughthey're five and seven and nine
and and ten and double on thefive because they're twins, they
understand what most kids Ithink almost don't.
And that is the ability to see areality and it in taking a risk.
As simple as, I'm not gonna runaround the stairs too fast
because if I do, if I trip and Ifall, then I'm gonna probably
get hurt and I'm gonna needstitches, and that won't be
good.
And it's them thinking forthemselves, not, oh, if I do

(14:25):
that, mom's gonna get mad.
Yes and no.
I think actually before that isthe thought for themselves.
And how I teach that is allowingthat fault.
I remember going to Jim Boreewhen I was young and I had just
Savannah.
And I remember a mom being a momvery on top of her child, let's
say, right?
No, don't touch that, or no,don't do that, or watch your
step there.
And I'm just naturally not thatmom.
I'm kind of the mom is I dothis.

(14:47):
Savannah, you think you're gonnamake it from that rock to that
rock?
I don't know if you will, butlet me see you try.
And the child will look at melike, you're gonna let me try
this?
Yeah, I mean, I'm not gonna sayit's gonna work out good.
It may not be good, but you cantry.
And what I've always done isthat trying will only be because
I have I'm pretty confidentthey're gonna make it.
If they're not, I've alwaystaught my kids if you jump from

(15:08):
that rock to that rock, you'renot gonna make it.
And you're probably gonna falland you're gonna need some help.
And that's a guarantee that I'mtelling you.
And they will never do it.
And the reason for that isbecause I've always taught real.
I don't tease my kids, I don'tjoke with my kids.
It's not saying I'm not havingfun with my kids.
We have so much fun.
We have dance parties, we have,we, we, we laugh our little
butts off.

(15:28):
But when I say something that isthat's hot, I wouldn't touch it,
you're gonna get burnt.
They take that as real.
Because I don't trick my kidsand do it all the way.
Well, I never laugh at them fora fault.
I never say, oh, you go aroundthat corner, watch yourself
fall, and when they fall, laughat their faces.
I've always taught that mom'sgonna deliver the truth.
And I think that really hashelped me to have well-mannered
children in teaching becausethat's not to say that I'm

(15:49):
perfect either, that I may teachthem a wrong.
Today we were talking aboutpolitics, and I said, gee, I see
this about President Trump, Isee this about this person, or
Elon Musk.
We're talking politics, and Isaid, you know, Savannah, I'll
tell you what I think, but Ican't say I'm right.
I can't say I'm wrong.
I may teach you the wrongthings.
I'm just mom learning for thefirst time with you as my
10-year-old.
Well, they'll turn 11.
My first rodeo with you, 11,first rodeo with you 12, and so

(16:12):
on and so forth.
And I'm gonna make mistakes, butI'll own them.
I'll speak of them.
And we do that, and that'shomeschool.
That's the beauty of homeschool.

SPEAKER_02 (16:21):
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(16:43):
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(17:06):
Not what somebody else wants outof you.
You can grab the link to thisebook in the show's description
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SPEAKER_01 (17:14):
That is it wrapped in a bundle that these children
are learning adult emotions thatI'm trying to interpret to them
and teach them and have themlearn aside me with my mistakes.
But I think as a teacher, uh andactually as a human, because
even if I had them in k inschool, which I did, I still was
like this way that I'm going toteach them risk and reason in
real life.
That's it.

(17:34):
And my husband's a littledifferent.
You know, he'll tease the kids.
And I will find one fault withinteachings that I do in that way
is that sometimes when they areteased, they have to think a
little bit more and say, well,is that true?
Because everything I'm told ismostly true.
And I think that I've questionedmyself in that and be like, my
gosh, am I doing the right thingby teaching them this realness
that I am?
And the answer is, in what I'vecome up with so far is it's

(17:56):
fine, bro.
Because eventually their mindsare going to develop over an age
where they can unjustify what'sright, wrong, crazy, logical,
etc.
And again, because I have thisconfidence in me to teach these
kids along this journey, is I'mteaching everything real.
And when I say real, I mean inthe world of our lives as adults

(18:17):
and littles, these kids havefreedom to play.
I think that play is soimportant.
I met a wonderful lady who ownsJack and Jill Preschool.
And I'm gonna give a shout outto her.
She wanted to attend one of myevents here at the farm.
I said, oh my gosh, as ahomeschooling mommy, how am I
advocating for a school, right?
Well, she's a preschool.
And now one of the questions Iasked her, because I screened
her, I said, I'm big on umfreedom of play, children being

(18:37):
little, children playing.
I do think curriculum isimportant.
I think that life learning isimportant.
I think you can combine thosethings and be genuinely
impressed with what you're gonnaget out of your child if you
allow that.
I think it's a scary role toplay, but I think when played
out and looking back, you'regonna see that success and
you're gonna be like, that'sincredible.
And it goes back to when we'rebabies.
Do we teach a baby um how tograb or how to crawl?

(19:02):
Are we on the ground every daygoing one like this, like this?
Okay, next one, next one.
No, no.
They're they're learningnaturally.
We don't give the childrenenough credit.
We always think we have to showand teach and demonstrate and
test.
And when you pull all that awaya little bit, okay, you see a
result of what beauty is inhumans, of what we're able to
adapt to and absorb and thenshow in real life.

(19:25):
And it's it's amazing.
And so this woman at at thispreschool, I had asked her this
one question.
And after after she answeredthis question, I said, I'll take
you on.
I think you're gonna be greathere for what I advocate.
And she said, I my question toher was what do you think is the
most important thing for aparent to do for their children
in today's world, right?
And she looked at me and shesaid, Remove the four walls.
Yeah.
And what she meant by that isfreedom, play.

(19:47):
Yeah, let them outside.
Be outside.
And she's a preschool.
Be outside.
Let your kids be kids, let themget dirty.
I have a little uh quote herethat we use is let them be
country.
And that's on my website.
I promote that here on the farm.
And it really does mean let themplay, let them be little, don't
take their childhood away.
These kids, I think, should beplaying till six, seven years
old.
And after that, I think theyshould still continue to play

(20:10):
and use their imagination.
Why do we steal that from them?
Why do we take that from them?
I disagree with that.
I know that there's a time it'slike uh my grandfather always
said, Don't worry, Brooke, yourcut will heal before you get
married.
He's telling me that every timeI would get cut as a little kid.
And what he meant by that istime will heal everything and
time will bring you to the nextdestination that you're supposed
to be naturally.
And if you just allow that tohappen, it'll get there.
We don't have to force it.

(20:31):
A child will leave theirchildhood when they're ready.
You're right, so you do.

SPEAKER_02 (20:35):
And we spoke before uh we got on the call about just
the fears around homeschoolingand am I doing enough for my kid
and providing enough for them?
Is my kid playing enough?
Is my kid being creative enoughon his own?
How can I construct him beingcreative, right?
And I would always be like,Okay, Colin, do you want to try
Legos?
And you can build things, buildanything.
And he never wanted to do Legos.

(20:56):
All his friends like Legos.
There's Lego Club.
He's like, no, mom, I don't wantto do it.
And so finally I'm like, orwell, we had neighbors move in
that actually had an11-year-old, a little bit older
than our son.
And they spent the last twomonths together every single day
outside, building tiny houses,building fires, looking for
frogs and actually cooking froglegs, like making frog legs and

(21:16):
eating them.
It was so disgusting.
And I'm like, okay, I said,Well, uh, Lego Club came up and
he goes, Why would I buildsomething out of plastic when I
can build something real?
And that was like his whole thereason the whole time.
And I never thought past you'renot being creative because you
won't play with Legos.
Meanwhile, he's like, I justneeded the opportunity to go
outside and build somethingmyself.

(21:37):
But Savannah, I want to ask youa couple questions too before we
get back to mom.
How did you like going to schoolversus being homeschooled?
And you can really be honestwith us.
Like, there must have beensomething you liked about going
to school.
You made friends that you'restill connected with today.
What's the difference for you?

SPEAKER_00 (21:52):
Yeah.
Well, at school, I feel like Iwas like sitting there a lot and
I was really bored.
Where here I can like do a lotof things and I could like play
with the animals, and I feellike I like that better because
I feel like in school I justlike sat there like most of the
time, and I didn't really get todo anything.
I was really bored.
So like I felt like I reallyjust want to play.

SPEAKER_02 (22:10):
Kind of wasting your time.
Do you think your youngersiblings that never went to
school will have theappreciation that you do?
Because you knew what it waslike to have to sit there all
day.

SPEAKER_00 (22:19):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (22:21):
They're probably gonna be like, I don't know,
this is just what life is alwayslike.
Exactly.
Right, I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 (22:25):
Uh-huh.
Yeah.
And one of my sisters alwaysasked me, I wish I won I wonder
what it was felt like to go toschool.
And I was like, I didn't reallylike it.
I don't think you would like it.
Like, I liked playing at recessand like going to the gym.
I liked like art class.
Like some of the stuff was fun.

SPEAKER_01 (22:39):
I think for Savannah's age too, when she
answers these questions, I'veasked her the same thing,
Cheryl.
And I do think it really justempowers that children need to
be children a little longer thanwe give them.
You know, because if you ask anychild, I think, from this age
group that fifth grade, fourthgrade, third grades, their
favorite class is usually artand gym.
And that's not we shouldn'tjudge that at well originally

(23:01):
yeah, I think a lot of feedbackwould be, well, of course
they're gonna say that, that'sthe fun ones.
And of course they're not gonnalike the science or the
geography or the math or the theAnd and so we're so in this mind
of, well, they should be likingthose things, but should they?
I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 (23:13):
If you can make science fun, history fun, and
like in homeschooling, combinethem so it doesn't take you six
hours.
Hey, in 45 minutes, we can learnthree subjects all intertwined
in one.
That's right.
Because we don't have to babysitduring the day.
Like we're living life, not theschool has to withhold these
work hours so that the kids arebabysat all day.

SPEAKER_01 (23:33):
That's right.
That's right.
And the learning happens withinour day.
It's as simple, it could be inthe kitchen, right?
It could be outside.
And I'll tell you too, boredomis something I think we should
children learn from adults.
When I was a kid, and Cheryl,you tell me, I don't think I
ever could go to my mom and tellmy mom I was bored.
And maybe I have.
Let's just say I did it fivetimes.

(23:54):
Whatever.
On an average yearly basis,there's no way I went to my mom
all the time.
Well, and I was only my oldersister who never played with me,
by the way.
I was kind of a loner.
But I found ways to entertainmyself.
How?
Well, I went outside, I dug, Iwent, I played with ants, I
played in the dirt, I playedwith my bike, my scooter, I made
up games in the garage, I putbooks out and I did a little
bike path.
I remember one time with alittle scooter I had.

(24:14):
I self-played, I self-enjoyed.
I never blinked.
I never thought about it.
I never thought that I was umlacking of anything.
I loved.
But I just loved being a kid.
These kids today, my five, hereon the farm, there, there's a
beauty to having the land.
There is.
And I can't say that that'syou're not a benefit, because it
is.
But lucky for me, anything canget monotonous.
Anything can get it's GroundhogDay every day, right?

(24:35):
Even for a life of a of aperspective that I have, okay?
It is the same day every day.
Roosters crow every morning,chores never go away, and they
stay the same.
And so for a child to be pickedup out of their life of what
they think might be born in aresidential and dropped here a
year or two later of doing thislife.
On Christmas morning, too.
These kids, we gotta work,right?
There are no days off here onthe farm.
So the grass isn't alwaysgreener on that other side, is I

(24:57):
guess what I'm getting at.
But what I'm really trying totouch is boredom.
So these kids have kids visit,and as homeschoolers think it's
great, right?
But boredom can set in toanybody's life, especially when
it's it's a repetitive life,right?
Like any work week.
And I have to say, boredom isnot a word used here on the
farm.
My kids find a way ashomeschoolers, as creators, as

(25:18):
learners, to figure out a way,whether it's inside, outside, at
the barn, wherever it is, to dothings.
And I can't tell you if I had tocount maybe on one whole hand
because I got five.
One hand, maybe what my kidshave come to me in the four
years I've been here told methey were bored.
And I can't even say that that'strue.
I want to take that down to onehand.
They figure out a way to enjoytheir time and their space.
They can separate and rejoin.

(25:39):
Billy, my son, as ahomeschooler, I believe in
following their path andteaching within their likings.
I find that to be much moresuccessful than me opening the
book and talking about today'scurriculum or today's subject.
So, what I like to do is pickout my subject in my head,
naturally in my head, apply itto something that they're gonna
do within the day, and actuallynot even discuss it as a topic.

(26:02):
Why?
Because that's real life, right?
So I believe that I'm settingthem up for their future of
what's really gonna happen, thatthey're 18, 21, 25.
But here on the farm, I'mapplying it in a hidden way, a
hidden agenda almost, right?
So Billy will go down to thebarn, he just recently did this.
And tell me what he did,Savannah.
What did he do when he wanted toin uh build?
He has a little firehouse downon the farm.
He loves firemen.
And what did he build for everykid?

SPEAKER_00 (26:23):
Lockers.
So like he took pieces of woodand he drilled them together
with the drill.
Is that what you're talkingabout?
Yeah, and he also built a firepole, and he also built stairs,
and then up on the off thestairs was like a whole meeting
area, and then he put like achair in there.

SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
Yes.
And then he put and then heeight years old, just turned
nine.

SPEAKER_00 (26:40):
And dad got him a bunch of like fire gear and all
the other kids' fire gear, andthey would play, and they had
fake dummies that Billy tookcoats and like pants, and he
taped them together and stuffedstuff.
I don't even know what hestuffed me.

SPEAKER_01 (26:52):
Yeah, I don't know either.
Make dummies.
Uh-huh.
All of this was math and sciencein a beautiful day of him never
knowing he learned any math andscience.
And at the end, all I could dois connect the dots and say,
Billy, gravity.
When you built that pole and youneeded something sturdy, we
talked about gravity.
We talked about the landing.
He cushioned the landing.
We talked about um the lockers.

(27:13):
I mean, angles, 90 degree anglesthat he applied on those lockers
to make these successful thingsto hold this equipment.
How many screws did you need tobuild each locker?
Oh, mom, I needed 10.
Well, how many lockers did youmake?
I made three.
So how many screws did you get?
Oh my, how do you 30 screws?
Really?
You just multiply.
I don't know multiplication,really.

(27:33):
You don't, because you just didit.
And so this is what happens allthe time.
Every day.
Every day.
If you allow your child to livelife and explore, you can apply
your curriculum within it.
And I think that's the biggestthing is homeschoolers.
How am I going to teach my kids,right?
I'm not good academically.
I wasn't successful.
I wasn't the best student.
So how am I going to teach mykids?

(27:55):
Stop.
Deschool that mind.
Apply your papers, yourcurriculum when you want in fun.
When it goes out, close thebook.
It's okay.
It's okay.
Think about your life aroundthat book, that there are things
that are going to happen in thatday that you could pull that
subject right out and nail itright to your left side of that
outdoor activity that justapplied what you just were

(28:16):
trying to teach at that table inthat book.
So the first thing I want todefinitely tell your listeners
is the homeschooling academythat we're part of, which is a
school-accredited school thatwe're all going to graduate
from.
And it's an online school.

SPEAKER_02 (28:29):
This is yes, the name parents want to know.
Like if I work, what can I do tomake sure my kids are getting
what they need or just, youknow, need a little guidance.
Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 (28:39):
And uh this is not only just a wonderful curriculum
and a wonderful uh whole programshe put together.
There are resources beyond evenhers that she uh allows you to
achieve or retrieve on here.
She's accessible through thephone.
I've emailed her personally forquestions.
And her curriculum is based onnatural learning.
So you can apply it on youreveryday in your kitchen, in

(29:01):
your den, at nighttime watchingmovies.
It's amazing what she has openedmy mind to in learning that I'm
like, that's learning.
Oh, yeah, that is.
Oh yeah, that works.
And her name is Leah McDermott.
And the name of her academy isBridge Academy.
Um, and she's pretty impressive.
And what I also love about her,she will assist any new
homeschool mommy in thepaperwork avenue of what we're

(29:23):
all fearful of will I do thepaperwork correctly in whatever
state you live in.
She does actually not justnation, she's global.
So she is qualified and herstaff to guide you through the
right paperwork that you willsubmit, your quarterlies, your
IHIPS to begin homeschool.
She will stay with you for everyquarter and take you from the
beginning of the year all theway to the end of the year.

(29:45):
And to me, that was tremendous.
Yeah, because it was beyondamazing.

SPEAKER_02 (29:50):
If people, if they don't realize every state has
different homeschooling laws.
So we are in New York where it'svery strict on what you have to
do.
It's Still doable, but it'slike, yeah, you know, my gosh, I
had in my phone, my IHIP was dueand I missed it, and yada yada.
This sounds like she takes careof all of that.
I mean, with five kids, that'samazing.

SPEAKER_01 (30:12):
It's amazing because it allows me to dedicate, allows
me to dedicate the time to theteaching, the time to the
children, which is what it'sbroke.
And I and I've had moms tell me,I just don't think I could keep
up with the paperwork.
Like I feel fearful of beingable to do that on top of
teaching the kids, doing thelaundry, doing the and I get
that.
And Leah McDermott has found away for you not to be able to

(30:33):
tell me that.
And I love to deliver that tothe audience and let them know
listen, that part of it thatyou're scared of and afraid,
removed.
She cushions that, takes care ofthat.
She's supportive.
She emails your quarterliesdirectly to your email, you
review.
Um, and it's been amazing.
She has a portal, so every childhas their own descriptive ways
of what they learned that monththat you just type in what you

(30:54):
want to type in and she appliesit and she takes care of
everything.
And everything, like you said,is different in every state.
That to me was the mostunbelievable thing.
And on top of it was hercurriculum.
I think it's brilliant.
I think it's easy access.
I think it's easy read.
The worksheets are a lot ofphysical, which we love as our
family.
But there's also things on theon the computer too.
But I love the idea that I couldprint out her worksheet or read

(31:16):
it and then just do it in mykitchen on like a science
project, right?
Or even outside.
There were a lot of things shehad me do outside with sticks
with the kids, teaching themthings.
Um, and that comes naturally tome.
So I haven't even explored halfof it.
And I can only imagine with thewonderful things she has on
there and great resources.

SPEAKER_02 (31:30):
And just to give you a little taste of Leah
McDonald's, I'm gonna link thatin the show's description for
anyone listening.
You don't have to run and get apen or anything.
We'll link her website, right,in the show's description.
And you said she also does, shesupports unschoolers as well,
right?

SPEAKER_01 (31:43):
She does.
She does absolutely, and she'swonderful.
And I wanted to actually readyou a few of her quotes, which
do, I think, highlight anunschool mind as well as the
homeschool mind.
So she promotes both um andunderstands both, and there sees
the delight and the beauty inboth sides, which are really one
and all, anyway.
And a couple of the things Ijust jotted this down is she
wrote, I want to raise childrenwho are well learned, not well

(32:05):
schooled.
And I love that because that isso true.
We want children that are welllearned, not well schooled.
And to sit in a classroom forthose eight hours, right?
And to to have a to me, it's asystem and it's it, it's it's
it's robotics.
It's it's there is no mind, nothought, no creativity.
They're taught what they had tolearn, they recite it back, they
have to remember it, they haveto test on it, then they're

(32:26):
approved or not approved, andthen they're categorized again,
and then this repeats, right?
And to me, that's well schooled.
But is that well learned forlife?
Absolutely not.
How many kids, and you can seestatistics of homeschoolers
coming out of school orgraduating, and actually,
they're self-doers, they'reachieving goals.
It's it's proven.
There are statistics that showthat they are the doers and they

(32:47):
have the ability to do thatbecause they're homeschooled.
Uh, another thing she wrote iswhen you remove the burden of
the school mindset, learning isjust a part of life.
It's not a performance, it's nota requirement.
It's just a thing you get to dowhile you live and discover the
world around you.
It's a joy to go through lifelearning new things.
And she also said when you takea step outside the system, you

start to see it for what it is: an illusion of importance, (33:06):
undefined
neatly divided into boxes thathave very little to do with how
we actually live and learn inthe real world.
No child is, yeah, no child is aone-size-fits-all model.
It doesn't happen on apredictable timeline.
Homeschoolers get to celebratethat.

(33:27):
And we sure do.
Because every child here in myhouse learns on a different
level.
And that is okay because I knowthey're all gonna excel and they
do.

SPEAKER_02 (33:35):
I read a book to my kids this morning about corn,
because it's fall here, a kid'sbook, and I swear I learned more
from these kids' books than Iever did in school.
Right, right.
It said how like one stalk ofcorn, the corn will only grow if
the pollen goes from one to theother and it pollinates it.
And I'm like, corn pollinatestoo?
I had no idea, but the it thatgoes to what you just said.

(33:58):
Where I'm learning about thelife around me and if homestead,
you know, you need to know thatstuff.

SPEAKER_01 (34:04):
It's so true.
Oh my God.
It's so true.
It really is.
And we're all gonna learn.
So it's like life is learningthroughout, it doesn't end when
you graduate high school.
It doesn't end when you graduatecollege.
So why can't it begin and startat a young age and just go
lifelong and real-world life,living?

SPEAKER_03 (34:19):
Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
And yes, we have a curriculum.
And yes, we need our children tolearn to read.
And yes, we need to learn math.
And there are basics that ourchildren need to learn, and they
will learn those things becausewe're gonna apply them, we're
gonna teach them.
We have these tools ashomeschoolers to teach these
things, such as Leah McDermottBridge Academy and her
curriculum.
Um, but you can even trust,because I've tasted on it, I've
I I I've done it, I've seen it,that naturally they will be

(34:41):
sponges, as I spoke before, andlearn things in real life
learning.
And manners, I was writing acouple of notes here.
Uh Manners taught in real life.
Yeah, so people say, Well, howdo your kids learn and how are
they, you know.
So you leave your curriculum onthe table and you go out for
your regular day.
Well, what else are theylearning?
And and I say, Well, my kids cango to the bank, right?
They could put a card in amachine and actually take money

(35:02):
out.
That's pretty that's that'sthat's something they're really
gonna now need to know, aren'tthey?
Yeah, they can write it, theyunderstand how to write a check.
Go ahead, Savannah.
What did you learn?
Uh I learned how to pump gas atthe gas station.
Well, you definitely need toknow that.
Right.
So she could pump gas at a gasstation, use the card.
So can Billy at eight.
Dakota's learning.
Those are silly things that Iactually I don't even know when
I learned those things.

(35:23):
I I think I was older.
I I don't think I was taught howto change a tire till my friend
told me, but yet I needed tohave a tire change when I was a
teenager because I lost a tire.
And I was like, I'm so happy myfriend taught me.
But did my mom teach me?
No.
My mom didn't teach me anythingin real life.
I learned all that just byfault.
Well, why not?
Didn't my parents not teach methat?
Because they didn't have theopportunity.
I was busy in school all day.

SPEAKER_02 (35:40):
Yes.
Right.
I thought that like you justhave to call triple A when you
get a flat tire.
Like that's the only option.
I didn't know that you couldjust change a tire yourself.
I still have never done that.
But baby steps.

SPEAKER_01 (35:52):
That's okay.
But yeah, that's right.
It is baby steps.
But there are so many things,making phone calls, using the
phone for the little ones, thefive-year-olds, the
six-year-olds, how do they learnnumbers?
Call that, right?
Uh, how do we learn to themicrowave?
There's so many things ashomeschoolers that I always say
back to moms is your kid learnsevery day.
And when I have people say,Well, how do your kids learn?
I tell my kids to say, we learnevery day in real life, not just
on the computer, not just on ourcurriculum, but every day.

(36:14):
So that's a big thing that Ithink is so lost in in society
that we don't realize thathappening.

SPEAKER_02 (36:19):
It's huge.
And you mentioned the wordperform, and that really like
struck a chord with me.
That is literally what they'remaking these kids do, perform
with the testing and all that.
And who decides, right?
The Rockefellers, they decidewhat our kids should learn at
every age.
That's so arbitrary.
And you know, when we spoke onthe phone before this call, you
said something that sparked theidea in me, maybe with them

(36:40):
testing our kids every otheryear in New York.
I think it's like grade three orfour and above.
And it's like, well, I thoughtto myself, prove to me that all
your fourth graders can do, canpass this test.
You know, they're testing ushomeschooling parents.
Let's let's test the teachers.
Oh well, are you?
You know, it's like, can all ofyour kids in fourth grade pass
everything?
No.
I'm guaranteed no, they cannot.

(37:02):
So that's right.
It is just, yeah, it's what aperformance it all is.
But how do you handle thereading thing?
Since you are more like, let'sbring it to you when you're
you're interested in it, whenyour brain is ready to learn it.
But that seems to be the onething that people get stuck on
when you say you'rehomeschooling.
It's not like, do they knowtheir multiplication yet?

(37:22):
I mean, I don't feel like peoplereally concentrate.
Do they know about the Aztecs,Incas, and Mayans yet?
Like they don't care so muchabout that stuff.
But the reading, they feel likeif you don't have them reading
by age seven proficiently, thenlike your kids doomed forever,
even though most kids in schoolat age seven cannot read
proficiently.
How do you handle that?

SPEAKER_01 (37:42):
Yes.
So I will admit to you that thatwas a very big fear of mine.
And that could actually be thevery reason why homeschooling
wasn't really on my mind foryears.
I've heard of it.
Um, and when COVID hit, it was,you know, a big boom there.
But I think what you just statedwas a very big doubt of mine is
how am I gonna teach these kidsif I'm not this big academic,
you know, sit down and read forsix hours.

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(38:23):
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SPEAKER_01 (38:34):
And so I've traveled down the truth avenue of all
right, well, and I'm gonna behonest here because I think it's
helpful where I go on a regimentand a schedule sometimes with
these kids, right?
We will sit down and we'll dobook time, reading time.
We have some apps that we do.
Um, and that sometimes works outgreat, and then sometimes that
falls apart on me, whereby I'mnot getting the focus that I

(38:54):
need.
I will not sit the children downand force them to read or learn.
But then you have the nervouspart of it where you just asked
me, well, what do you do whenthey're seven, eight, nine and
they're not, you know,excelling?
Well, they will, and I'mconfident they will.
Why?
Again, it goes to everyday life.
How?
How brook?
And let me tell you howinteresting this is.
I have a five-year-old son who'sgonna be now first, kindergarten

(39:15):
into first, which is Bryce andBrody.
We have this now again, thishappens to be at a barn, but it
could be anywhere in our life.
It could be in a bathroom with asign, it could be in the kitchen
with an ingredient sign.
Down my barn aisle are animals'names on the stalls.
And do you know just byrepetition on a daily basis?
Because a lot of things we doare repetition, and that's how I
think people learn, right?
When we study, we read it overand over again.
But we're forced to read it overand over again.

(39:35):
But every day when we go downthe barn, we say, good morning,
blue, good morning, this one,good morning, that one.
And my son, I never taught it.
I'm gonna tell you right now, Ididn't teach the letter B, I
didn't teach the letter A.
I took that reading app out thatI'm actually more focused on my
seven and my nine-year-old onbecause they love it.
That's why I do it.
They love it.
And my five-year-old goes, Mom,I want to sit down and do
letters.
And I'm thinking to myself,sure, let's do it.
And I take that out and he'sreading me the letters.

(39:57):
And Cheryl, I'm going, Savannah.
I'm thinking, do you what didyou go over the alphabet with
Bryce?
No.
How is that possible?
Well, that's possible becausehe's just learning on repetition
of everyday life.
Mom, I remember below.
He starts with the letter B.
You know, so that's earlystages, and that I grab that and
I run with it.
I believe when the interest isthere and the showing of
learning the to read on thatage, you run with it.

(40:17):
So now every day Bryce loves it.
He wants to excel in that.
So we're going ahead of theschedule, right?
Or the system because I'm I'mable to do that.
Now moving to the bigger ones,again, it's in the car.
Okay.
I think homeschooler, I don'tknow about you, Cheryl, but for
me, I teach so much stuff in thecar.
When I'm driving around withthese kids, all these curriculum
I think we're we're we'reinverted.
We don't do anything.
Our kids aren't social.

(40:38):
Well, let me tell you, we have avery busy schedule, a schedule,
and schedule.
And we are able to do so manyfun things that people think
homeschoolers are stuck home inin this introverted life, right?
A bubble.
But I teach a lot in the car.
And reading is one of them.
Reading is huge in the car.
How?
Well, I say to my kids all thetime, we go around the corner,
what's that sign say?
Yeah.
Where are we?
What town are we in?

(40:59):
Lost.
What is we named our GPS Judy?
What's Judy say, Billy?
I can't see that street.
Oh, that's Lucy Lane, Ma.
You were supposed to pass onLucy Lane.
Ma, you missed I-90.
Oh, really?
I didn't even teach you numbersyet.
You know numbers?
Yeah, I do.
I know 90.
You say it all the time.
Again, they're sponges, they'relearning every day.
I can't emphasize enough.
It's so important, so crazy.
And so we take that and we runwith it.
I take it and I run with it.

(41:19):
And I and I I um books are hugeto me.
I think reading is tremendousfor kids, but I think that every
kid's not the best reader.
And I don't know if you havethat, but I find my son isn't as
big as a reader as this one.

SPEAKER_02 (41:30):
Right.
The boys just don't pick it upas fast.
They just don't want to sit.

SPEAKER_01 (41:34):
That's it.
That's okay.
Oh, you know what I saw this toothe other day.
I th I found this sointeresting.
Statistics were sh were it wassomething on Facebook, and I
can't really uh devote myself tosaying it was 100% accurate.
I don't know the resourcesbehind it, but it was logical.
And it stated that a boy'stestosterone at age five and six
is so heavy that um their onlyway to exert that energy, that
feeling that they get is throughphysical activity and being

(41:57):
impulsive and being creative intheir body and explosive, right?
And unfortunately, when that ageoccurs, they're five years old,
six years old, seven years old,and it happens.
I think they talked about thatoccurring till 12.
And boys are deemed crazy andnuts and just, you know,
something wrong with them,right?
And we put them in classroom.
Well, that's just it.
Okay, so we're looking at theselittle boys who are trapped in

(42:17):
these bodies that just reallyneed to play outside.
I mean, there's another thingI'm gonna note quickly called
Timbernook School, which is awoman who was a pediatric
occupational therapist who leftthe world of system world and
went and dove into an outdoorschool.
And she's impressive.
I haven't dipped enough in her,but um, that avenue of looking
into that dove me into this wayof uh this this light that I was

(42:38):
taught taught about the boys.
And they so they talked aboutthese boys are all being
misunderstood, misrepresented asbad boys, right?
Boys that aren't learning, andnow they have to be evaluated,
and then they're gonna bemedicated, and then they're not
gonna then they have to be andthey're zoned, and I see all
these kids.
I'm telling you, I do hostevents here and I see children
come to the farm and they'rejust they're their their
childhood is stolen.

(42:59):
The system owns and it's it's sobad.
It's so bad, so it breaks myheart.
I actually feel sorrow, sadness,right?
And when I see a homeschool mompop over with the light still in
the child's eyes and thefreedom, it is magnificent.
There's nothing better.
The journey has been amazing.
I wouldn't change it for theworld.
I would push every mom, sellyour house, get one job with one

(43:19):
parent, and homeschool your kidsif you can.
You will never regret it.
The time can never be taken awayfrom you.
You will have no regrets.
You will get frustrated, youwill get mad, you will, but it's
real life.
It's okay to get mad and yelland then kiss and say, I'm so
sorry, I can't believe I did toyou.
It's teaching real.
And it's us, mom, that canforgive.
It's the mom that can reprimandand the father.
That's as it should be.

(43:40):
Not the teacher that has to sayto the child, Oh, I don't know,
you're gonna have to go to theprincipal office, you're acting
a little bad, or maybe you'regood, I don't know, maybe you're
and it's just confusion.
There's no direction and there'sno discipline that's offered
correctly.
And there's no one even to lookup to for the children.
They don't know which way to gobecause our system's so bananas.
So it means so much, I think,for me to advocate for us to

(44:01):
homeschool if we can and makethose sacrifices to do it.
I would never change it.
Um, and I'm not gonna say it'sall peaches and cream, because
you and I both know it's not.
There are levels of frustrationthat we all seek out and we go,
and I want to touch on that realquick because I didn't finish
before.
I have a very high patience, ahigh tolerance, and I find that
less is more.
So, in a state of mind that Iwant to react and I want to

(44:21):
yell, I remove myself.
And a lot of the times I'll say,You think about it, you work it
out.
You too work it out.
When you're done, you come tome.
I won't tolerate physical.
That's something I won'ttolerate in this house, and the
kids just know that.
Again, it goes back to my wholeidea of I teach real and risk,
and right is right, wrong iswrong, and you don't cross me.
Period.
And these kids, they'rereceptive, they're human, they
understand, they want to please.

(44:42):
They're they're just like you asan adult want to please your
job, your people, your husband,your wife, your we all are
looking to be happy and pleaseeach other.
So are the children.
They're not looking for badavenues.
The only reason they're goinginto bad avenues is because they
feel like they're trapped andthey need more freedom, you
know, more to feel like kids.
And I just think that ashomeschoolers, we'll able to
deliver that to our children aswell, not just academically, but

(45:03):
physically, especially for youngboys.
So many I see are misdiagnosed,and diagnosed is not even,
shouldn't even be a term.
They just need to be boys.
Right.
Well, very huge, very huge.

SPEAKER_02 (45:12):
You're right.
And like when I do fly off thehandle, because I didn't have
good representation of that aswhen I was growing up, I do say
to my kids, I said to mydaughter the other night, I
said, Come here, give me a hug.
I said, just like you werecrying all through dinner and
all through your bath, you haveemotions that you can't handle
right now, and that's your wayof getting it out.
I said, I yelled at you thismorning because I couldn't

(45:33):
handle my emotions.
So I'm sorry, I'm gonna dobetter, and I know you want to
do better.
And, you know, that's just kindof like explaining it out
because I mean, teachers aren'tgonna go apologize to them later
after they fly off the handle.

SPEAKER_01 (45:47):
No way, and give an explanation for it.
They're already on to the nextchild, the next option, the next
thing, the next test.

SPEAKER_02 (45:52):
Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 (45:53):
And we have the beauty to teach that.
And that to me, I really believeCheryl will be the beauty in the
light in the future that recitesback to us.
Our kids will stand outdifferently and in a good way.
And they're gonna have aconnection to their emotion,
they're gonna have empathy, andthey're going to connect to
humans in a way that schoolerswon't.
And I'm not stereotyping it in away, but it's not, it's it's the

(46:14):
truth of the reality of humanbeings who we are, right?
And what our childhood is a bigdeal.
And we are products of ourenvironment, right?
And what better to have thattrue real emotion in that
upbringing?
Exclamation point.
Because you were able to touchback on your child and say to
your child, I'm sorry, mommy hadan out, you know, mommy
outlashed too, mommy got upset,and that's real life.

(46:34):
And those to me connect theemotions together.
Think about the boy in theclassroom who shouts and yells
and goes crazy, and the kids arelooking at him going, eh, he's
crazy.
What's wrong with him?
I don't know, he just got takenaway, went to the principal's
office.
That's it.
Done, over, ends.
So that little child reallywants to know what happened and
why is that boy like that?
And what is that?
Are you talking about that?
No, you're not.
You're on to the test, man.
You got to remember that whatyou got to recite the next day

(46:55):
to remember to pass to get theA, so then you're not evaluated
and say you're left behind andput in the wrong classroom and
put with the wrong kids.
And it goes on and on and on.

SPEAKER_02 (47:01):
So your teacher can prove that she's doing what she
needs to do to the district sothat she can keep her job and
the funding can keep coming.
Funding, funding, funding.
That's right, that's right.
Oh, it is so convoluted.
Okay.
Any parting words?
I know you had stuff that youwanted to make sure, and we're
running up on the hour.
Any parting words that you wantto say?
I know you kind of did closethat out nicely, but I want to

(47:23):
make sure you didn't leaveanything out.

SPEAKER_01 (47:24):
Yeah, no, I think that I definitely want to
highlight our academy, BridgeAcademy.
I think is such a greatopportunity for any moms that
are thinking about homeschoolingtheir kids.
And I think that if you can makeit happen in your life, don't
hesitate, do it.
There's so much support.
I think that uh your childrenwill blossom.
And that's Bridge Academy, LeahMcDermott.
And and just to touch a littlebit too, here on my farm, for

(47:46):
anybody local that does followyou, Cheryl.
I have a program here where Ihost events for kids to come and
be free and wiggle out thosewiggles and jiggles, be amongst
animals, find themselves.
I think that the outdoors is ais a place of serenity for
children.
It's for some adults too, if youallow it to embrace you.
It's a beautiful place here onthe farm.

(48:06):
Host uh events that are public.
I'll host small events.
We'll do private tours.
We do birthday parties.
We're doing an October event,October 26th, where children can
just come to be children.
And that to me is my work's tome.
I always believe in don't chaseand my husband will differ.
Um he'll laugh at this.
I chase the dream.
I don't chase the money, right?
And that is what makes thisplace successful.

(48:28):
Because I do see the beauty inthe connection of these guys
with the animals, with theoutdoors, and opening my doors
up to the public to invite thosechildren in.
When kids come to this farm,they're filled with happiness,
they're free, they're running.
Yeah, right?
They're free, they're running,they're having so much fun.
And we're able to offer that tothem as a family.
We host all of our events as afamily.

(48:49):
Savannah works the parties withus, any private small events
that we do, even big ones.
The kids are involved inworking.
Yeah, it's just straight up.

SPEAKER_02 (48:57):
There's so much right there.
Just the just it really is.
We're running a business.
I mean, talking to them aboutlike this is how taxes work,
this is how advertising works,this is how marketing works, you
know, withholding money andcosts, what costs we have to
claim.
And wow, all that is just sovaluable for them that they'll
never get in school.

SPEAKER_01 (49:17):
Right.
Absolutely agreed.
And we talk about that, Savannahand I, and and the other
children as well, isadvertising, right?
And how we promote the farm andwhat it gives us, and we talk
about numbers and reality.
Um, and sometimes we have eventsthat aren't successful and we
talk about why uh and how can wefix that?
And what do you kids think wecould do to make it better?
And I like the mind of a childto tell me because these are
children-based events.
So I'll say, Savannah, what doyou think we could do to improve

(49:39):
that part of the farm?
And so, you know, hearing fromthe kids is is a is a beautiful
thing, and it gives them amoment of confidence to that's
okay, to give an opinion.
That's actually I I take it andI'll I'll I'll achieve it.
I'll I'll change something.
They're accountable for whatthey feel, and I will make it a
reality.
And that's important too, isallowing your child, I think,
the freedom to express somethingand then have it delivered in

(50:02):
reality.
And they go, wow, I just can'tbelieve she that that just
happened.
Savannah makes decisionssometimes with the animals on
the farm, right?
It makes them feel worthy.

SPEAKER_02 (50:10):
Like you're worth something.
Absolutely.
That's the way that's soimportant.
Yes.
Because in school, it's notever, it's just this is what you
have to do.
This is what you have to learn.
Yeah, you have self-worth whenyou can make those decisions and
then see it implemented.
I hadn't really thought aboutthat yet.
That's so cool.
Savannah, what's your favoritepart about living on a farm now?

SPEAKER_00 (50:28):
I like the horses.

SPEAKER_02 (50:28):
Do you ride them?

SPEAKER_00 (50:29):
I like yeah, I like riding horses.
Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 (50:31):
That's so cool.
Yeah, that's awesome.
All right, ladies, this has beenso fun.
You've inspired me to homeschoolmore, less.
I don't know.
Less in terms of like, you don'thave to do that reading
curriculum that I we paid for,or right.

SPEAKER_01 (50:46):
And I think that that's okay.
Touch on that.
I dive in and out.
I'm on this wonderful journeyalongside of all of you.
It's been beautiful.
I don't know all the answers,but uh, what I can tell you is I
see more light in being freewith my children than I do on
being strict.
And I see a much happier resultfor both myself in my tolerance

(51:07):
and my sanity and for that.
And so be okay with that.
And follow the people that Ithat I'm mentioning because
Bridge Academy, Leah McDermott,is is a great leader to what I'm
starting to really solelybelieve in.
And she's magnificent also inher curriculum department.
So I I really think everybodyshould check that out.
Yeah.
Again, Leah McDermott and BridgeAcademy.
Your natural learner is yournatural learner.

(51:31):
Okay.

SPEAKER_02 (51:31):
I've definitely heard of your natural learner.
So I just must not haveconnected it to Bridge Academy
and Leah McDermott.
Awesome.
Well, thank you for clearingthat up.
That will be linked as well asyour website or your Facebook
page.
I'll put that on as well.
Because you know, that's alsoeven if you're not local, it's a
great resource to see what youare doing on the farm that
people could kind of model thatafter, you know.
I love it.

(51:52):
You could even open up a schoolfor kids coming in.
Well, we don't want to add morework to your plate.
But isn't that a great, like anoutdoor school for kids all day
being around animals?
So wonderful.
I love that.

SPEAKER_01 (52:04):
It is.
And I I offered a workshop lastyear and it was wonderful.
And I I I'm thinking of a futurein different ways for kids to
come to the farm and explore andhave that uh connection with
learning with the animals.
So definitely on my bucket listhere.

SPEAKER_02 (52:16):
So great.
Thank you, Brooke.
Thank you, Savannah.
You guys have a wonderful restof your day.
Thank you, Cheryl.
Be good.
Take care.
Thank you for tuning in to thisweek's episode of the Homeschool
How To.
If you've enjoyed what you heardand you'd like to contribute to
the show, please considerleaving a small tip using the
link in my show's description.

(52:36):
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.

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