December 27, 2025 • 44 mins
You know your child better than any teacher, curriculum, or system ever could — but trusting that instinct can feel scary.
In this episode of The Homeschool How To Podcast, I’m joined by Leanne, a former classroom teacher, homeschool mom of two grown kids, and Unfold History co-creator, to talk honestly about what homeschooling really looks like over the long haul.
We dive into:
- How to know when a curriculum isn’t working — and when to switch
- Why learning should be engaging, exciting, and sometimes messy
- The freedom homeschooling gives families beyond academics
- The impact of screens, dopamine, and constant stimulation on developing brains
- Why college doesn’t have to be the end goal — and what success can actually look like
- How homeschooling can strengthen family bonds well into adulthood
Leanne is also one of the creators behind Unfold History, a live-action, story-based history program for kids designed to make history meaningful, visual, and relatable. The program uses short, kid-centered videos paired with flexible curriculum to help children understand why history matters — not just memorize facts.
Whether you’re homeschooling, exploring alternative education, or simply questioning the traditional school system, this episode will remind you that there is no single “right” path — only the one that works for your family.
🎧 Listen in and be encouraged: you can do this.
Check out: www.unfoldhistory.org
Follow Unfold History on Instagram and Facebook
The documentary mentioned is actually called : The Social Dilemma (not The Social Experiment!)
📘 The Homeschool How To Complete Starter Guide
Thinking about homeschooling but don’t know where to start? Cheryl created this comprehensive guide, compiling insights from interviews with over 120 homeschooling families across the country. From navigating state laws to balancing work and home life — this eBook covers it all. Stop feeling overwhelmed and start feeling confident on your homeschooling journey.
👉 15% off Tuttle Twins books with code Cheryl15
Let's Talk, Emergencies!- Grab it on Amazon!
What is the most important thing we can teach our kids?
HOW TO HANDLE AN EMERGENCY!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:05):
Welcome to the quick episode of the Homeschool How
too.
I'm Cheryl and I invite you tojoin me on my class to find out
why are people 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 Leanne.
Hi Leanne, how are you?
Hi, I'm great.
How are you?
Good.
Now, what state are you comingto us from?
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
We are from Southern California.
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Okay.
All right.
So I'm in New York.
So I'm like the same state onthe opposite coast here.
Do you find that there's a lotof homeschoolers in California?
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
Yes.
Homeschooling has grown ttremendously in California.
I think there's been a hugeinsurgence of it over the last
probably 15, 20 years, even.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
Wow.
So even before, was that beforelike the vaccine laws got, you
know, the religious exemptionwas taken away?
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
Yeah, that definitely made a huge jump in
it, but it had been growingsubstantially before then.
I homeschooled my kids yearsago.
And at that time it was alreadystarting to gain momentum.
And I think that all of thethings that have happened in the
last six years have justaccelerated the growth.
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Yeah.
So how old are your kids?
SPEAKER_00 (01:29):
I have a 27-year-old and a 24-year-old.
So been been a little whilesince I've done that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
And they were homeschooled and they came out
okay on the other side?
SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
Yes, they're both very functioning adults that are
holding down jobs and doingreally well.
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Well, that's so good to hear.
See, they're not living in abasement and wearing cat
costumes.
If anything, that's out of thepublic school side today.
SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
No, they're doing great.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
So, what even got you into homeschooling in the
first place?
SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
Well, I actually have my teaching credential.
I taught for a few years beforeI had my daughter, and it was
always kind of on my radar.
But my husband and I weredisagreeing a little bit.
He's like, I really want you tohomeschool.
And I was like, we'll see.
It really takes a certain mix ofparent and child to make that
work.
And I don't know if I want to dothat or not.
(02:15):
But um after I had my daughter,I quit teaching and stayed home
to be mom.
And by the time she got tokindergarten, I was like, no, I
definitely want to try this andsee how it works.
So we homeschooled through acouple of different charter
schools through the years, and Iused different schools based on
the different needs of my kids.
My kids were really differentlearners and they needed
(02:36):
different things.
So yeah, we kind of just rolledwith it and left it open-ended
as to how long we were going tocontinue to do it.
And as long as it was working,we kept doing it.
And when it was time totransition, my daughter actually
was homeschooled all the wayuntil her senior in high school.
And then she decided, she goes,Yeah, I kind of want that senior
experience.
I'm like, all right, go for it.
(02:57):
And she's like told me thatshe's like, that was honestly
the best way to do it.
I got all the perks fromhomeschooling my entire life,
but I then got to do all thisfun senior things for senior
year.
It was fun.
SPEAKER_01 (03:07):
And all right, if you could go back a second and
just explain, like, what even isgoing through a charter school?
SPEAKER_00 (03:13):
Yeah, so I decided to use a charter school for
keeping track of the records andhonestly to be able to get the
resources that are available.
So in California, when the kidsare in a charter school, there's
they were still homeschooled athome full-time, but we had an
educational facilitator that wewould check in with monthly, and
they would be the ones thatfiled our paperwork for us,
(03:35):
which it was just one less thingfor me to do.
Because of my background ineducation, I also was an
educational facilitator.
So I've I've experiencededucation from a lot of
different perspectives, both asa classroom teacher, as a
homeschooling parent, and as afacilitator for charter schools.
So another benefit for us wasthat they gave us monthly
(03:57):
stipends that we could use forenrichment activities.
We used it for karate or danceor music lessons, things like
that.
Um, and then the curriculum, wewere able to pick and choose
what we used for that and thethings that we liked, we got for
free from them.
And then things that I knew thatI wanted that that the school
(04:18):
would not cover, then we justpurchased outside.
So it really for me was the bestof all worlds where I could
still have full control of howwe taught and what we did and
how we did it, but I didn't haveto deal with any of the back end
stuff and had a lot of resourcesavailable.
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Oh, that is that is cool.
I hadn't actually had anyoneexplain it like that before.
So now when they talk about thecredits that they're giving
people or vouchers or schoolchoice, they kind of all tie
into what's been going on foryears anyway, at least in
California.
SPEAKER_00 (04:48):
Oh yeah, at least here.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Okay.
So let's go back to thebeginning.
Like how was it beginning tohomeschool when there really
wasn't like all the resourcesthat there are today?
I mean, now everybody onInstagram and Pinterest, you
know, has a curriculum or acurriculum there, a different
way to homeschool here, look atthe day in the life.
What was it like kind of gettinginto it?
How did you figure out whatcurriculum you wanted to use
(05:11):
with the kids or even findgroups to get together with?
SPEAKER_00 (05:14):
So I actually used a wide variety of curriculum and
different curriculum with eachkid.
Part of it, I think I had anadvantage of having the
background in education.
I was aware that there is a lotout there and I wasn't afraid to
ask questions.
So I asked our facilitator, Isaid, Hey, what do you have?
And what other programs do youoffer?
And what else can I get?
(05:35):
And if I want this particularcurriculum, will you buy it for
me?
So I wasn't afraid to beproactive and ask those things.
A lot of it was just spendingtime looking up stuff and
knowing my kids, knowing whattypes of learners they were and
the types of activities thatthey liked to do, the types of
things that helped inspire them.
I'm a real hands-on person.
(05:56):
I love to have fun witheducation.
So a lot of our stuff wasdefinitely project-based and
getting out there and actuallydoing things versus sitting in
front of a book.
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
So was that a big change for you from coming from
the classroom?
Had you kind of experienced thatin the classroom where you're
like, ah, I could go, I couldtake these kids outside and
teach this in such a moreinteresting way.
And then at your homeschooled,like, oh wow, I can really put
this to good use.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
For sure.
It was definitely liberating tohave full control.
Thankfully, came from teachingkindergarten, which that was uh
it's an age where there's a lotmore freedom in in schools that
you're allowed to be morecreative.
I actually I taught at a smallprivate school, so we also had
small class sizes, and it's thesame thing.
We we planted gardens.
(06:44):
I drug my husband up to themountains at two o'clock in the
morning to bring back truckloadsof snow so they would have a
snow day because we're inSouthern California.
There's no snow days.
So I've always kind of been alittle bit different when it
comes to education in general.
SPEAKER_01 (06:58):
That is so awesome.
There is a snow day today for uhwe're on like the school
district's call list somehow,must be because we report to
them.
So 5 a.m., the school will beclosed.
There's like seven plus inchesoutside today.
SPEAKER_00 (07:11):
Meanwhile, it's 70 degrees and sunny here.
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean, it's cute for like a day and a half,
and then you're like, all right,is it April yet?
Uh it's nice for Christmashaving the snow, but yeah.
So, all right, so how what wasthe difference you saw in
homeschooling your boy versushomeschooling the girl?
SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
It's it's night and day.
They're such different humans onevery level.
My daughter is reallyself-motivated.
Learning comes very easy forher, and so she was needed a lot
less guidance and a lot lessstructure to things.
My son definitely needed moresupport and his learning more
reinforcement.
I used a wider variety ofmaterials to try to find what
(07:54):
stuck for him.
So yeah, they were on verydifferent paths.
SPEAKER_01 (07:58):
All right, so walk me through this too, because
people will think, like, allright, well, she was a teacher,
she knew all the differentcurriculums and styles of of
learning.
But you know, at what point whenyou're teaching your son say how
to read?
Like I have a seven-year-old andwe've been working on reading
for at least three years, right?
And he's just now picking it up,and that's probably less to do
with the curriculum and more todo with just seven-year-old
(08:19):
boys.
Things are more starting toclick in their brain at that
time, but then the girls mightit'll be a little bit sooner.
But like at what point do yousay, like, this curriculum isn't
working, or I've spent the moneyon it.
We have to just keep trudgingthrough.
Maybe it'll be better after, youknow, next month or the next
month.
And when do you just say, like,throw your hands up?
All right, let's try somethingelse.
(08:40):
This isn't working.
Where is that line?
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
I really, especially when I was a facilitator working
with homeschooling parents andsaw a wide variety of kids and
learning styles.
Um, encourage the parents toreally trust their instincts on
things because you do know whatyour kids want and need better
than any teacher ever could.
There is nobody, no teacher in aclassroom that would ever be
(09:04):
able to have an ounce of insightinto your child the way you do.
So when you find that they'regetting frustrated and shutting
down, um, it's past time toswitch at that point.
It's supposed to be fun.
And learning should be engaging,learning should be exciting,
learning should be somethingthat we want to do.
(09:25):
Uh, and of course, there'salways the not-so-fun stuff that
you have to do just because youhave to do.
I mean, we have to scrubtoilets.
Not so fun, has to be done.
Uh, but in general, we reallywant to see kids wanting to do
that.
And that's one of the biggestreasons that we started unfold
history, is because of that.
SPEAKER_01 (09:42):
Okay, so let's get into what is unfold history?
Where, where did this idea comeup with and what is it?
SPEAKER_00 (09:48):
Yeah, this is actually not my brainchild at
all.
This was uh a friend of minecame to me with this idea of I
want to make history videos forkids.
I was like, history videos,yeah.
I mean, I'm I'm a recoveringhistory hater.
Okay, so yes, I'm a teacher, andyes, I did not like history.
I thought it was boring and sawabsolutely no point in it.
Why do I want to learn about abunch of dead guys?
(10:09):
It doesn't mean anything to me.
Uh what did catch my attentionthough, I was like, okay, well,
there definitely is a need forthat.
Because when I was teaching andhomeschooling and all of these
throughout the year, all theways I've been involved in
education, there's a ton ofreally fun resources for math
and for science and for reading.
And I was like, oh yeah, this isgreat stuff.
(10:31):
And then you get to history, andit's like, okay, let's read a
book and answer some questions.
Yay, that's fun.
So that little part, that funpart of me that wants to be like
make education enjoyable waslike, okay, this is this is
actually an idea.
But what we need to do is weneed to create a whole program
for parents and for teachersthat can turn history into
(10:53):
something that isn't drudgery,but actually something that can
be enjoyable and moreimportantly, relatable.
And for them, the kids to reallybe able to see why.
Why?
Why do we need to study this?
Why is this important?
Why does it matter to me today?
And that's something I didn'tget until I was an adult before
I finally got the why it wasimportant.
(11:14):
So we're really trying to catchkids a young age and start
inspiring a love for that now.
Okay, so these are videos.
Yeah, so we have season one wasjust released this last year.
We're currently in the middle offilming season two, and they're
short videos that are verykid-centric.
So the kids really drive thestoryline in here.
(11:35):
We have three modern-day kidsthat have this really eccentric
history tutor that they have togo to and they don't want to go
because who wants to go tohistory tutoring?
And the history of you tutortakes them back in time to
witness these little moments intime.
And then a lot of the discussionin these is between the kids
themselves as they're processingwhat they've seen and relating
(11:56):
it to current things that theyexperience in their lives, um,
and making it something thatthey can actually understand why
why it matters.
So the the videos are gearedtoward second through fifth
grade, but we're finding thatadults are loving it, older kids
are loving it because it isrelatable.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Yeah, and I'm right with you.
Like, history never made senseto me.
I never cared.
And until I actually startedhomeschooling, I was like, wow,
this stuff is reallyinteresting.
And even just living where Ilive in the Northeast, so many
wars about the Hudson River, thebuilding of the Erie Canal and
how that affected trade.
And the I'm like, they nevertaught us anything like this in
(12:36):
school.
Like that it was right here, andthat it was just it wasn't that
long ago.
I feel like in the school itseemed like, oh, this was like
an ancient, you know, everythingwas back in the Maya's and you
know, because Mayans all that,but it just seemed so out of
touch.
But now that I'm like, oh theybuilt the Erie Canal.
Well, that really was only likeI think it was 150 years ago.
(13:00):
And just thinking about like,well, how did they have to do
it?
They had to like ask people ortell people, hey, we're taking
your land.
You know, you have this farmhere, we're taking this, and we
have slaves and people fromimmigrants, and we're forcing
them to dig this thing, dig aditch basically, and it wasn't
supposed to work.
And it's super interesting.
It's like, wow, they reallycould have like spiced that up a
(13:22):
little bit in school, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (13:24):
I think what you're hitting on is a key part of what
we are trying to do because Ikind of had the same experience
when I went to DC for the firsttime.
I was like, oh, wait, this is areal place with real people in
real time.
And so that there's such powerin visual representation.
I think that's one of the thingsthat's really been missing from
history is that we read about itin a book and we answer
(13:48):
questions, but being able to seethings and then being able to
relate them to the here and nowuh and the similarities and
understand the progression ofhow we get there and letting the
kids watch the struggles.
That's an important part of ittoo.
We really have tried to look athistory from different
perspectives and to show themthat, hey, it's complicated.
(14:09):
There's a lot of things thatwere happening and a lot of
different experiences fordifferent groups of people.
And what might have this beenlike to have been Susie versus
being one of the indigenouspeople and like how how were
their experiences differentthrough that?
So those types of things that wecan visually portray for the
kids, I think is one of thethings that's making people
(14:32):
really start to notice that oh,okay, this is different.
This is something that can beenjoyable and fun.
We've uh accompanied it withcurriculum that is designed to
be very user-friendly.
That was one of my pet peeves asa homeschooling parent and as a
teacher, was don't make me wadethrough a ton of stuff.
Nobody has time for that.
We don't have time for that.
(14:52):
So everything that is is puttogether in the curriculum is
really what you need and nothingelse.
So we don't add a lot ofadditional fluff.
How do you get through thislesson with the minimal amount
of supplies?
Because I also don't have timeto go out and buy a bunch of
weird stuff that I need in orderto make this craft or do this
project.
(15:13):
Uh, I want to be able to do it,I want to be able to move on.
And that's um that's been one ofthe important things to me in
developing the curriculum is notonly does it need to be
engaging, but it needs to bedoable for parents and for
teachers.
And we want it to be able to beused in a classroom if they
choose to.
We want homeschool parents touse it if they choose to as
(15:34):
well.
SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Thinking about homeschooling but don't know
where to start?
Well, I've interviewed a fewpeople on the topic.
Actually, 120 interviews at thispoint with homeschooling
families from across the countryand the world.
And what I've done is I'vepacked everything I've learned
into an ebook called theHomeschool How to Complete
Starter Guide.
From navigating your state'slaws to finding your
homeschooling style, fromworking while homeschooling to
(15:58):
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This guide covers it all withreal stories from real families
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I've taken the best insights,the best resources, and put them
all into this guide.
Stop feeling overwhelmed andstart feeling confident.
Get your copy of the HomeschoolHow to complete starter guide
today and discover thathomeschooling isn't just about
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(16:18):
It's about getting what you wantout of each day, not what
somebody else wants out of you.
You can grab the link to thisebook in the show's description
or head on over to thehomeschoolhow to.com.
SPEAKER_00 (16:29):
So we've got different types of projects.
We have five differentcategories that are talk about
it, and those types of thingsare how do you get the kids
talking about what they saw andwhat did that mean to them and
what did they notice and thosetypes of things.
We have investigated, and that'sa lot of the STEM type
activities where we bring inmath and science and the
(16:51):
technology, research, analyticalthinking, those types of
activities for them to engagein.
Imagine it uses a lot ofcreative thinking and writing,
perspective taking, those typesof activities that are designed
to get them to think aboutsomebody else's experiences as
(17:11):
well.
Draw it, taps into our for ourartists.
So it can be anything fromgraphing to creative
illustrations or comic strips,things that that might hit those
types of learners.
And then do it is for ourtactile learners, the ones that
need to actually be out theremaking hard tack or building
models or doing things that canreach those learners in
(17:34):
different ways.
So we really want homeschoolparents to have a wide variety
of resources for all thosedifferent types of learners.
So if you have a second graderand a fifth grader, they don't
have to do the same activity.
And that a lot of that comesback to my experiences with this
is that my son wouldn't havewanted to do the creative
(17:54):
writing that my daughter did,but he would have wanted to go
out there and build something.
So we want there to be a littlebit of something for everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (18:02):
Oh, that's awesome.
So what grades is it for?
What ages?
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
So it's designed with second through fifth grade
in mind, but it's reallyadaptable.
Um, we've had parents saying,Oh, I could absolutely use this
with my high schooler as well.
So uh a lot of the ideas thatare in there are to help parents
that may not have as muchexperience to like like now what
do I do with this?
Okay, we watched this 10-minutevideo, we also kept them short
(18:27):
because attention span, but nowwhat?
And so this is a springboard.
The materials that we give are aspringboard to get um parents
thinking about like what do I dowith this now?
How do I adapt this to myseventh grader and my
seven-year-old?
SPEAKER_01 (18:42):
And then does it go the whole year or is it more
like a short unit study?
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Right now, we if this is justrelief star first season.
So the period of time that we'recovering was prior to the
Mayflower up into that firstwinter uh in in the New World.
Season two is going to coverkind of that forgotten about
time frame of what happened thenin between that and the
Revolutionary War.
(19:06):
So we really are trying to setthe stage and cover some things
that are often overlooked in inhistory, but are really
important to understanding thestory of why we're here today.
So this is um we have sevenvideos and two interviews that
are a part of the curriculum.
So it's definitely asupplemental curriculum at this
point.
(19:26):
Eventually we we have greatdreams on expanding this, but it
takes time and it takesresources.
So we're working on that.
SPEAKER_01 (19:34):
Yeah, definitely.
Uh we we just went to FortWilliam Henry um in Lake George,
which I I would not have knownwhat what war that had anything
to do with until uh bringing mychildren.
But yeah, learning about theFrench and Indian War, which
like you said, that forgottentime period between the
Mayflower and the AmericanRevolution.
(19:56):
It was like the French andIndian War.
I don't know, I wouldn't havebeen able to tell.
You, what continent that waseven fought on, and who fought
in it?
It was so interesting to learn.
Like, you know, it was foughthere, it was the French versus
the British.
They both wanted territory.
The they were getting theindigenous people to fight on
both sides, and what that musthave felt like for the ind like
(20:17):
you were saying for theindigenous people being like, We
don't want either of you.
You know, it's kind of like usand our government today, like,
we don't want either of you, butlike we gotta it's it's so
interesting to to learn aboutit.
And it was like from 1492 to1776, that's a long time.
That's like more than between1776 and now.
(20:38):
I mean, you know, it's the samelike that was a lot of years
that they were just sittingthere not being uh an actual
country.
And yeah, we gotta don'tconceptualize that.
Right.
We're we're really thinkingabout the day-to-day, what was
going on, and okay, we're gonnaneed a leader, and you know how
Washington was actually the onethat started the French and
Indian War.
And it was called the SevenYears' War in the rest of the
(20:59):
world because they were fightingelsewhere too.
But yeah, super interesting, andschool just made it the absolute
most boring thing you could everhear about.
SPEAKER_00 (21:10):
That's been one of the fun parts of the of the
project is that working with theour child actors that are part
of it, they've actually had areally big voice in the project,
which has been really fun togive them because they have
really great ideas and thethings that they found
interesting, like, well, if theyfind this interesting, other
kids are gonna find thisinteresting.
(21:31):
And the things that that theyreally related to were things
that we felt were important tobring forward in the project.
And so it's really been a verycool project to be a part of
because of the the way it's justgrown and developed, and the
different ways that the kidshave had a voice in the project
has been really cool.
SPEAKER_01 (21:52):
So when you say videos, you're not just meaning
like a teacher talking to ascreen who they are actors.
SPEAKER_00 (21:59):
Live action, yeah, live action videos that are just
with our three modern day kidsthat are taken back with their
history tutor.
And then we incorporate kids inthe historical sequence as much
as is appropriate or whatever wetend to be covering.
Because again, we're reallytrying to help kids now
(22:19):
understand that there were kidsthen and they were experiencing
these events as well.
So the more relatable we canmake it for them, the more
likely they are going to startasking questions and to be more
engaged with the process.
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
So who writes the script?
SPEAKER_00 (22:40):
Guyler does the initial writing and then we go
back and forth with it withabout a million revisions.
This is probably the hardestpart, is that it's very
difficult to research this.
We use primary sources as muchas possible, but unfortunately,
those are often very one-sided.
So a lot of its time is spentinto researching things to try
(23:02):
to portray things ashistorically accurate as we can
based on materials that areavailable.
And so it's definitely acreative process.
We get together weekly and wehash out different ideas for
things and we're scratching outand restarting, and it's a
process.
SPEAKER_01 (23:17):
Yeah, that is amazing.
Okay, so so getting back to youjust homeschooling your
children.
I mean, stuff like this didn'tquite exist then, did it?
SPEAKER_00 (23:26):
No, which it was probably the only reason that
Skylar talked me into doing thisproject is because I was like,
this is definitely not anythingthat I had access to.
And the only ways that I couldmake history fun and relatable
was to take my kids' places.
Well, we're in SouthernCalifornia, so we don't have the
same access to a lot of thehistorical places to visit that
(23:51):
are there on the East Coast.
So a lot of it was um a lot ofscrambling, looking for books,
trying to find stories abouthistorical figures, but there's
just such limited resources forhistory that I was like, this is
definitely something that isneeded.
And I'm like, I think we couldhave fun with this.
And again, I love fun.
(24:12):
So that's what I'm alwayslooking for.
SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
Yeah, it sounds so awesome.
So can people just purchase likeone year curriculum at a time,
that sort of thing?
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
Yeah, so the it's the membership is a is a one
year again, realizing that a lotof times you're covering
different periods of history, soyou can buy it for the year that
you're you're using, you'll haveaccess to all of the curriculum
and then and the videos.
We have two memberships, so youcan buy one that's just the
videos without the curriculumfor people that are like, well,
I'm not plan to use thecurriculum at all, but for
(24:41):
homeschoolers, you're gonna wantthe curriculum.
That's the fun stuff.
So that uh you have access to itfor a year from the time that
you purchase it, and then umwe'll be releasing seasons,
hopefully, on the annual basisfrom here on out.
SPEAKER_01 (24:54):
Awesome.
All right, so I'll make sure toput the link for all of that in
the show's description so peoplecan just easily go there.
But yeah, getting back to yourhomeschooling too, like how was
that transition for yourdaughter going back into school?
And I know you said that youwere happy about it, but I mean,
was there a part of you that waslike, oh, I just wanted to kind
of finish this out with you?
I'm a little sad.
What am I gonna do now?
SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Yes and no.
Every transition period, I thinkas a parent, there's that, oh my
goodness, we need to go, you'redoing so great.
And then that little bit of, youdon't need me so much anymore.
Wait a minute.
I've just spent my entire lifedevoted to raising you.
Now what?
But I was excited for her andbecause I liked seeing her push
herself out of her comfort zone.
(25:35):
And I think that that issomething that homeschooling
gives parents the ability toscaffold for their kids in a way
that helps them to buildconfidence, we're able to
protect them from experiencesthat are really common in in
public school settings thatallow them to grow at a
developmentally appropriaterate.
(25:57):
So I felt like she was ready.
And uh she she made it evenharder on herself because she
actually started after the theyear started.
She made this decision like atthe beginning of September.
I want to go back to school.
Part of that was because she's adancer, so she wanted to be on
the dance team.
Um, and so she had connectionsalready there, which I think
definitely made it easier forher than if she'd walked into a
(26:18):
school where she knew no one.
But that little part of me thatwas like was definitely way
overridden by like just pride inher for being willing to put
herself out there and go.
SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
And how was she academically compared to her
peers?
SPEAKER_00 (26:31):
She was way ahead of where her her peers were.
She would have definitely endedup at the top of her her class
had she been there long enoughto accumulate the the way they
they do it in the public schoolsystem, but that wasn't
important.
SPEAKER_01 (26:44):
Wow.
Was that you being very diligenton like we're doing this many
hours a day of homeschool?
You know, because now we havelike the unschoolers that just
kind of go with the flow, andthen we have like the a Becca
people that are like, we'redoing this, this, this is very
rigid, and then everything inbetween.
So how how rigid were you withher curriculum?
SPEAKER_00 (27:02):
With it, everything in between.
It was she was because of herdance, her dad she was dancing
at least 20 hours a week, andthen she was also doing
auditions and things too.
So she had a pretty intenseschedule, and it was important
to me that she didn't lose theopportunity to still be a kid
and to to do those things.
So I gave her a lot ofresponsibility with her schedule
(27:24):
for it as she got older and lether choose, like, okay, this is
what you need to get done.
How you choose to do that is upto you.
And I think that was importantfor her as well, because that's
an adult skill that we all haveto do.
Like, okay, we have certainthings we have to get done.
How am I gonna do that?
So um that really set the stage,I think, well for her with that
(27:44):
and gave her the flexibility toif she needed had a day where
she was not feeling it and shewas tired, she didn't have to do
as much that day, but she knewshe had to get it done at some
point.
SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
Yeah, okay.
So it was, I mean, I know thereare some families I talk to that
are like it and we do Latin andwe do, you know, this and I'm
like, oh my God.
I it sounds important to me.
And it might be one of thosethings like history where like
once you get into it, it'sprobably really interesting.
But just thinking about addingLatin to our schedule among you
know, all things I'm like, Idon't know if we're ever gonna
be that those people, but that'sokay, you think?
SPEAKER_00 (28:17):
I mean, yeah.
I I really that's I think one ofthe best things for us about
homeschooling was that I lovedthe freedom that it gave us to
be who we were.
Um, I love the fact that wecould go on vacation and go
exploring somewhere and takestuff with us or catch up when
we got back without somebodybreathing down our neck telling
(28:38):
us, oh, you've missed X amountof school days.
So ability to be a reallytight-knit family and to be able
to help control the flow ofinformation that came into my
kids was also really importantto me.
Um, and that's what homeschoolschooling gave us.
Um, my kids are still we'rewe're all really close still.
I mean, they're they're 27 and25.
(28:58):
And I just spent a whole weekendwith my daughter being her adult
teammates at a dancecompetition.
So, you know, it is where we'veit really for us set the stage
for a very close family bondthat is irreplaceable.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
And that's a huge thing.
I don't think you think aboutwhen you're thinking, oh, should
I homeschool?
Should I not?
Are my kids gonna be weird?
Are they gonna be smart enough?
Am I gonna do a good enough job?
Am I gonna be we don't thinkabout the amount of hours that
they are spent, not with theirsiblings and not with their
parents.
And you know, when they'reyoung, it's one thing.
But we kind of think like, oh,as they get older, they don't
(29:35):
need that.
And if anything, they might evenneed it more.
SPEAKER_00 (29:38):
More absolutely emotionally, yeah, for sure
going through the teen years.
SPEAKER_01 (29:43):
Like, did they I know phones are yeah, your kids
were of that age where phoneswere probably getting pretty
common.
How like did you have to fallinto that gimmick?
Yeah, the whole classroom hasone, your kid is left out if you
don't give them one because youdidn't homeschool, so maybe you
didn't have to deal with that.
SPEAKER_00 (30:00):
We were able to avoid, I think, a lot of the
pressure that comes sociallyfrom that.
I mean, you know, like I said,my daughter was a dancer, my son
was involved with karate, he wasinvolved with Boy Scouts, he was
involved with differentorganizations as well.
So it wasn't like they were notaround other kids or other
groups.
We actually made our own littlehomeschooling groups when they
(30:21):
were really little because thereweren't other ones.
So we got together and had craftdays with where other kids would
come over to our house or wewould do science days and things
like that.
SPEAKER_01 (30:32):
Do your kids know what to do in an emergency?
Do they know how to call 911from a locked cell phone?
Well, if you've been listeningto my podcast for any length of
time, you know that I have beenworking for the last year on a
book that talks about exactlythis.
I was going throughhomeschooling curriculum with my
son and realized that althoughthey would brush over certain
things that my son would need toknow in an emergency, nothing
(30:53):
really delved into it, anddefinitely not on a repetitive
basis.
I started reaching out toteachers and asking them what
schools do to prepare kids foremergencies, and other than
skimming the surface, they saidthat they really feel that this
information is the parents'responsibility to teach.
But do parents know that?
It's not like there's a handbookwhere we talk about who is
responsible for what.
(31:14):
So I set out on a journey towrite a book about exactly this.
And it is finally published.
My illustrator, CherylCrowthelmell, is a retired NYPD
officer.
So she was the perfect fit forthis book.
We have hidden a 901 and a onein each illustration so that you
and your kids can have funsearching for these numbers
while solidifying for your kidswhat these numbers look like.
(31:34):
I've put the steps for how toreach 911 on various cell
phones, even if they're locked,and what that call will go like
and what information they willbe looking for.
My book will help your childpractice their first and last
name, mom and dad's first andlast names, their address, what
to do if there is a fire.
It goes over stranger danger,internet, water, and gun safety.
And I have paired an activitybook to go right along with it
(31:57):
to solidify these concepts.
Give yourself peace of mind andgive your kids the confidence to
handle the unexpected bygrabbing your copy of Let's Talk
Emergencies today.
You can head on over to the linkin my show's description or the
homeschoolhoutto.com.
And if you do purchase the copy,please, please, please leave me
a review on Amazon.
The more reviews I have, themore the algorithm will push
(32:20):
this book out there.
So I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for listeningand for all of your support of
the show.
SPEAKER_00 (32:28):
As far as like the the phones, we didn't have to
navigate that as much because itjust wasn't, you don't need a
phone.
You know, and so for a long timethey didn't have them.
When my daughter was in highschool, she she had one because
she was gone more in placeswhere she didn't need it, and
especially when she starteddriving.
But in at that point, then shehad social media.
(32:48):
But I think that being able toshelter them from that,
especially in those early teenyears, was really beneficial for
both of my kids.
SPEAKER_01 (32:58):
Yeah.
And it's just younger andyounger now.
And the internet's gotten justso much more than it ever was,
the things that you can see onthere.
SPEAKER_00 (33:08):
Um it's changing the way they they their brains are
wired too, which is reallyconcerning.
Um I won't geek out on you, um,but my PhD is in psychology with
an emphasis on cognition andinstruction.
So I could easily geek out onyou.
But it does concern me what Isee happening to the wiring of
(33:28):
people's brains and not justkids, we do it to ourselves as
adults as well.
But the impact of that asthey're growing is is profound.
SPEAKER_01 (33:35):
Yeah, no, feel free to talk about that because you
know, even just the synapsesmaking the connections of like
fast pace, fast pace, fast pace,fast pace, and the lighting on
the screen and the thescrolling, even is a whole
psychological like they havethey're paying people millions
to analyze how they can get usto keep scrolling, basically.
(33:57):
Go ahead and talk about that.
SPEAKER_00 (33:58):
Well, it's for me, one of the biggest concerns is
the dopamine dump that happenswith social media.
And the reason for that is thatthe more that we are exposed to
that at unnaturally high levels,the less sensitive your brain
becomes to that.
So I do think that it's one ofthe reasons research is
supporting us, one of thereasons that we're seeing so
(34:18):
much higher rates of anxiety anddepression in um in not just
kids but adults as well.
And is because we'refundamentally changing both the
the chemical makeup of our brainand the actual wiring of our
brain.
So yeah, it's tough now forparents.
I'm kind of glad my kids areolder now.
SPEAKER_01 (34:37):
It's very tough because I even noticed with
myself, and I I actually don'tscroll a ton.
I find that it bothers me as acontent creator because the more
I scroll, I'm like, oh I didn'tthink of that first.
I didn't think of that one.
Oh, I could have done that.
I get more angry.
So I'm like, ah, I don't, Idon't even want to scroll.
But you I still will to check,okay, I have to post this.
(34:59):
And so I'm on there and Inoticed that my kids were
watching Zootopia today when wewere eating lunch.
And even at like a slow part ofthe movie, I found myself going
onto my phone and hitting theInstagram.
But and I'm like, oh geez, mybrain literally, I didn't even
think about it.
It just was like, oh, it's theslow part.
Let me find something else to dowithout even thinking.
(35:20):
And that's scary.
I can't go through like youradolescence and training your
brain to do that then.
SPEAKER_00 (35:28):
Well, and that's the problem, is that you know, our
brains aren't finisheddeveloping until we're 25.
So that entire developmentalperiod, if that is how we're
training our brain to respondand what it needs in order to be
feel normal, um, it's it's gonnabe a rough road for a lot of
these kids.
SPEAKER_01 (35:47):
Yeah.
I mean, is it similar to likethe the dopamine of like um
alcohol or nicotine or drugs?
SPEAKER_00 (35:55):
Typically your stimulant drugs are the ones
that that we see operating in asimilar way to what we're seeing
happen with social media.
It may not be as pronounced, butit's absolutely the same concept
and it's having more long-termeffects than that we're just now
starting to understand.
SPEAKER_01 (36:14):
So, what would a long-term effect be?
Like I'm so anxious because Ineed constant screen change or
movement.
My brain needs to keep going,and because it's quiet, I need
some sort of medication torelax.
SPEAKER_00 (36:27):
Yeah, it's hard for us to be quiet now.
unknown (36:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (36:32):
And it's hard for our brains to focus.
So the ability to focus on atask has diminished
tremendously.
And that that's hard because wehave to have that.
And a lot of times I think,especially as women, we tend to
like, oh, I can multitask.
No, you you actually can't.
Our brains don't do that.
We task switch, but the cost ofthat is we're not as effective
(36:57):
at the task that we're onbecause we're switching back and
forth.
So this constant switching, thisconstant seeking of that feeling
of the dopamine wrench, it's notactually even just scrolling,
it's the notifications.
When you see that notification,it actually gives a dopamine
dump.
So it's not even the act ofopening your phone to look at
(37:18):
it, it's the fact that you seethat little light on your phone
that says, oh, something,somebody wants to talk to
somebody said something,somebody posted something,
somebody wants me.
It's it's tough.
And it's also impacting ourface-to-face interactions.
We all see it.
We see everyone at a dinnertable on their phones.
We're not learning how tointeract with people face to
face anymore.
And that's the problem.
SPEAKER_01 (37:39):
Yeah.
Um, and is the movie called TheSocial Experiment that really
gets into the psychology ofthat?
SPEAKER_00 (37:45):
Yeah.
Um the social, something alongthose lines.
That, yeah, that's it's a reallyeye-opening documentary that
explains a lot of the behind thescenes that goes into um there's
a lot of time and money beingspent in trying to control and
manipulate our our brains.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:04):
I think I just pulled up, I think that's what
it is, the social experiment,but that was from 2022.
SPEAKER_00 (38:08):
Is it yeah?
SPEAKER_01 (38:09):
I think that's what it is.
So for people to check that out,it is it is eye-opening.
It's only an hour and a halflong.
So definitely worth a watch andhave your kids watch it.
I think I saw it on Netflix andI was surprised that Netflix
would have something on theretrying to like tell you not to.
SPEAKER_00 (38:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:28):
I think maybe I don't know.
Is that what there is a moviecalled The Social Experiment?
SPEAKER_00 (38:34):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (38:36):
Yeah.
Uh but it was a very good movie.
So yeah, look into that folks.
Um just getting back to like thethe last part of our uh
interview too, uh just with youhomeschooling your kids.
Were the like is the goal, wasthe goal to go to college?
I know for a lot ofhomeschoolers nowadays, that's
really not like it's notsomething I think homeschoolers
(38:59):
are pushing so much anymore.
How did that work for you guysand your family, especially
because that was about seven,eight, ten years ago?
SPEAKER_00 (39:06):
Well, it's funny because I actually teach at a
college.
I teach adapted kinesiologyclasses for adults with
disabilities, but I've taughthealth for years.
And I probably have an unpopularopinion on that, that I don't
think college is necessarily agreat idea.
Um, and especially not at first,even.
Um, my daughter just now, she's27 and is just this fall,
(39:30):
decided she wanted to go backand get her degree because she
needs it for what she wants todo for work.
College, I don't think, is thebe all and all.
And I think that the stress andthe the pressure that we put on
teenagers to figure their lifeout.
I'm I don't haven't figured mylife out.
It's it's ridiculous.
So I don't, I don't think thatthat is the end goal.
(39:51):
It could be, it could be part ofyour path.
It depends on what you want todo.
And if you want to do it, great.
And if you know if there'ssomething else you want to do,
my my son is an occupation.
Educational therapy assistantthat required 20 months of
school.
He hated school as far as likehe's like, uh, I don't want to
do that.
So for for him, the idea ofgetting a master's degree to be
an OT was a terrible idea.
(40:11):
And he loves his job.
But yeah, it's everybody's pathis unique.
And I wish we honored that morein education and didn't try to
pigeonhole people into this isthe way you need to go.
This is the best way.
There's no best.
SPEAKER_01 (40:24):
Did your son have any issues getting into college,
being homeschooled?
And how did you prepare thetranscript or you know, the
diploma?
Was there or did the chartertake care of all of that?
SPEAKER_00 (40:35):
The charter did that.
So for um for my son, he hischarter did that.
And then for my daughter, shewent to school for senior year.
So that was part of her diplomathat she got with that.
But there's there's so much moreflexibility with that now.
And to be honest, I love juniorcolleges.
Um those first couple years,kids should be taking a bunch of
(40:58):
random classes and figuring outwho they are and what they want
to do.
And so, why would I want tospend$500,$1,000 a unit to do
that when I can spend$50 a unitto do that or get it paid for
through a lot of the differentstates have programs for that
now?
So both of my kids use thejunior college system for their
(41:19):
early on um as a way to explorekind of what they wanted to do.
Auto class, dronecertifications.
I mean, they did all kinds ofrandom stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (41:28):
Yeah, and especially with the way AI and technology
are just like going at rapidspeed to spend$200,000,$300,000
on a degree right now is alittle silly because we don't
know what the world is gonnalook like in four or five years
from now.
Um yeah, it it's an interestingtime.
(41:48):
Um and and you're on the one endof it, and I have a seven and
three year old, so I'm on thecompletely opposite end and I do
I feel confident though thatlike like just the school
system, the more I learn aboutit, I'm like, oof, I have way
more control within my housethan I ever would without
(42:09):
unleashing them onto the world,to the government.
For sure.
All right, closing out.
What can you any parting wordsabout about unfold history or
like where we can find it?
I like I said, I'll puteverything in the show's
description, but like anythingwe left out already?
SPEAKER_00 (42:25):
Um, just I would love for you guys to to take a
peek at it and get us somefeedback on it.
We're constantly working onimproving the user experience of
it as well.
But I just would encourage allof the homeschooling parents out
there to that that you can dothis, you can totally do this,
and don't let the fun get suckedout of it.
(42:46):
You should be having fun too.
And there's gonna be the not fundays for sure.
Enjoy this.
And it is, you know, everyonealways says, Oh, it's so short.
It is, it is so short.
And you'll get to the other sideand you go, Oh, I miss those
days.
I miss those days of us doingrandom field trips and art
projects together and makingprojects and you know cooking
(43:06):
class and things like that.
So um, you can do it.
And there's there are a lot ofresources now, and that's what
we hope to be, is we hope to bea resource to help parents to
feel like I got this.
SPEAKER_01 (43:18):
Thank you, Leanne.
Um, it was been so fun talkingto you.
I love where this conversationwent.
Check out Unfold History in theshow's description, and
hopefully we will chat with youagain in the future.
SPEAKER_00 (43:28):
Awesome.
Thank you.
Good luck, everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (43:32):
Thank you for tuning in to this week'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.
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
(43:53):
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
generation.
Welcome to the quick episode of the Homeschool How
too.
I'm Cheryl and I invite you tojoin me on my class to find out
why are people 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 Leanne.
Hi Leanne, how are you?
Hi, I'm great.
How are you?
Good.
Now, what state are you comingto us from?
SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
We are from Southern California.
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Okay.
All right.
So I'm in New York.
So I'm like the same state onthe opposite coast here.
Do you find that there's a lotof homeschoolers in California?
SPEAKER_00 (00:52):
Yes.
Homeschooling has grown ttremendously in California.
I think there's been a hugeinsurgence of it over the last
probably 15, 20 years, even.
SPEAKER_01 (01:01):
Wow.
So even before, was that beforelike the vaccine laws got, you
know, the religious exemptionwas taken away?
SPEAKER_00 (01:08):
Yeah, that definitely made a huge jump in
it, but it had been growingsubstantially before then.
I homeschooled my kids yearsago.
And at that time it was alreadystarting to gain momentum.
And I think that all of thethings that have happened in the
last six years have justaccelerated the growth.
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Yeah.
So how old are your kids?
SPEAKER_00 (01:29):
I have a 27-year-old and a 24-year-old.
So been been a little whilesince I've done that.
SPEAKER_01 (01:34):
And they were homeschooled and they came out
okay on the other side?
SPEAKER_00 (01:37):
Yes, they're both very functioning adults that are
holding down jobs and doingreally well.
SPEAKER_01 (01:42):
Well, that's so good to hear.
See, they're not living in abasement and wearing cat
costumes.
If anything, that's out of thepublic school side today.
SPEAKER_00 (01:50):
No, they're doing great.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
So, what even got you into homeschooling in the
first place?
SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
Well, I actually have my teaching credential.
I taught for a few years beforeI had my daughter, and it was
always kind of on my radar.
But my husband and I weredisagreeing a little bit.
He's like, I really want you tohomeschool.
And I was like, we'll see.
It really takes a certain mix ofparent and child to make that
work.
And I don't know if I want to dothat or not.
(02:15):
But um after I had my daughter,I quit teaching and stayed home
to be mom.
And by the time she got tokindergarten, I was like, no, I
definitely want to try this andsee how it works.
So we homeschooled through acouple of different charter
schools through the years, and Iused different schools based on
the different needs of my kids.
My kids were really differentlearners and they needed
(02:36):
different things.
So yeah, we kind of just rolledwith it and left it open-ended
as to how long we were going tocontinue to do it.
And as long as it was working,we kept doing it.
And when it was time totransition, my daughter actually
was homeschooled all the wayuntil her senior in high school.
And then she decided, she goes,Yeah, I kind of want that senior
experience.
I'm like, all right, go for it.
(02:57):
And she's like told me thatshe's like, that was honestly
the best way to do it.
I got all the perks fromhomeschooling my entire life,
but I then got to do all thisfun senior things for senior
year.
It was fun.
SPEAKER_01 (03:07):
And all right, if you could go back a second and
just explain, like, what even isgoing through a charter school?
SPEAKER_00 (03:13):
Yeah, so I decided to use a charter school for
keeping track of the records andhonestly to be able to get the
resources that are available.
So in California, when the kidsare in a charter school, there's
they were still homeschooled athome full-time, but we had an
educational facilitator that wewould check in with monthly, and
they would be the ones thatfiled our paperwork for us,
(03:35):
which it was just one less thingfor me to do.
Because of my background ineducation, I also was an
educational facilitator.
So I've I've experiencededucation from a lot of
different perspectives, both asa classroom teacher, as a
homeschooling parent, and as afacilitator for charter schools.
So another benefit for us wasthat they gave us monthly
(03:57):
stipends that we could use forenrichment activities.
We used it for karate or danceor music lessons, things like
that.
Um, and then the curriculum, wewere able to pick and choose
what we used for that and thethings that we liked, we got for
free from them.
And then things that I knew thatI wanted that that the school
(04:18):
would not cover, then we justpurchased outside.
So it really for me was the bestof all worlds where I could
still have full control of howwe taught and what we did and
how we did it, but I didn't haveto deal with any of the back end
stuff and had a lot of resourcesavailable.
SPEAKER_01 (04:34):
Oh, that is that is cool.
I hadn't actually had anyoneexplain it like that before.
So now when they talk about thecredits that they're giving
people or vouchers or schoolchoice, they kind of all tie
into what's been going on foryears anyway, at least in
California.
SPEAKER_00 (04:48):
Oh yeah, at least here.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:50):
Okay.
So let's go back to thebeginning.
Like how was it beginning tohomeschool when there really
wasn't like all the resourcesthat there are today?
I mean, now everybody onInstagram and Pinterest, you
know, has a curriculum or acurriculum there, a different
way to homeschool here, look atthe day in the life.
What was it like kind of gettinginto it?
How did you figure out whatcurriculum you wanted to use
(05:11):
with the kids or even findgroups to get together with?
SPEAKER_00 (05:14):
So I actually used a wide variety of curriculum and
different curriculum with eachkid.
Part of it, I think I had anadvantage of having the
background in education.
I was aware that there is a lotout there and I wasn't afraid to
ask questions.
So I asked our facilitator, Isaid, Hey, what do you have?
And what other programs do youoffer?
And what else can I get?
(05:35):
And if I want this particularcurriculum, will you buy it for
me?
So I wasn't afraid to beproactive and ask those things.
A lot of it was just spendingtime looking up stuff and
knowing my kids, knowing whattypes of learners they were and
the types of activities thatthey liked to do, the types of
things that helped inspire them.
I'm a real hands-on person.
(05:56):
I love to have fun witheducation.
So a lot of our stuff wasdefinitely project-based and
getting out there and actuallydoing things versus sitting in
front of a book.
SPEAKER_01 (06:06):
So was that a big change for you from coming from
the classroom?
Had you kind of experienced thatin the classroom where you're
like, ah, I could go, I couldtake these kids outside and
teach this in such a moreinteresting way.
And then at your homeschooled,like, oh wow, I can really put
this to good use.
SPEAKER_00 (06:23):
For sure.
It was definitely liberating tohave full control.
Thankfully, came from teachingkindergarten, which that was uh
it's an age where there's a lotmore freedom in in schools that
you're allowed to be morecreative.
I actually I taught at a smallprivate school, so we also had
small class sizes, and it's thesame thing.
We we planted gardens.
(06:44):
I drug my husband up to themountains at two o'clock in the
morning to bring back truckloadsof snow so they would have a
snow day because we're inSouthern California.
There's no snow days.
So I've always kind of been alittle bit different when it
comes to education in general.
SPEAKER_01 (06:58):
That is so awesome.
There is a snow day today for uhwe're on like the school
district's call list somehow,must be because we report to
them.
So 5 a.m., the school will beclosed.
There's like seven plus inchesoutside today.
SPEAKER_00 (07:11):
Meanwhile, it's 70 degrees and sunny here.
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Yeah, I mean, it's cute for like a day and a half,
and then you're like, all right,is it April yet?
Uh it's nice for Christmashaving the snow, but yeah.
So, all right, so how what wasthe difference you saw in
homeschooling your boy versushomeschooling the girl?
SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
It's it's night and day.
They're such different humans onevery level.
My daughter is reallyself-motivated.
Learning comes very easy forher, and so she was needed a lot
less guidance and a lot lessstructure to things.
My son definitely needed moresupport and his learning more
reinforcement.
I used a wider variety ofmaterials to try to find what
(07:54):
stuck for him.
So yeah, they were on verydifferent paths.
SPEAKER_01 (07:58):
All right, so walk me through this too, because
people will think, like, allright, well, she was a teacher,
she knew all the differentcurriculums and styles of of
learning.
But you know, at what point whenyou're teaching your son say how
to read?
Like I have a seven-year-old andwe've been working on reading
for at least three years, right?
And he's just now picking it up,and that's probably less to do
with the curriculum and more todo with just seven-year-old
(08:19):
boys.
Things are more starting toclick in their brain at that
time, but then the girls mightit'll be a little bit sooner.
But like at what point do yousay, like, this curriculum isn't
working, or I've spent the moneyon it.
We have to just keep trudgingthrough.
Maybe it'll be better after, youknow, next month or the next
month.
And when do you just say, like,throw your hands up?
All right, let's try somethingelse.
(08:40):
This isn't working.
Where is that line?
SPEAKER_00 (08:43):
I really, especially when I was a facilitator working
with homeschooling parents andsaw a wide variety of kids and
learning styles.
Um, encourage the parents toreally trust their instincts on
things because you do know whatyour kids want and need better
than any teacher ever could.
There is nobody, no teacher in aclassroom that would ever be
(09:04):
able to have an ounce of insightinto your child the way you do.
So when you find that they'regetting frustrated and shutting
down, um, it's past time toswitch at that point.
It's supposed to be fun.
And learning should be engaging,learning should be exciting,
learning should be somethingthat we want to do.
(09:25):
Uh, and of course, there'salways the not-so-fun stuff that
you have to do just because youhave to do.
I mean, we have to scrubtoilets.
Not so fun, has to be done.
Uh, but in general, we reallywant to see kids wanting to do
that.
And that's one of the biggestreasons that we started unfold
history, is because of that.
SPEAKER_01 (09:42):
Okay, so let's get into what is unfold history?
Where, where did this idea comeup with and what is it?
SPEAKER_00 (09:48):
Yeah, this is actually not my brainchild at
all.
This was uh a friend of minecame to me with this idea of I
want to make history videos forkids.
I was like, history videos,yeah.
I mean, I'm I'm a recoveringhistory hater.
Okay, so yes, I'm a teacher, andyes, I did not like history.
I thought it was boring and sawabsolutely no point in it.
Why do I want to learn about abunch of dead guys?
(10:09):
It doesn't mean anything to me.
Uh what did catch my attentionthough, I was like, okay, well,
there definitely is a need forthat.
Because when I was teaching andhomeschooling and all of these
throughout the year, all theways I've been involved in
education, there's a ton ofreally fun resources for math
and for science and for reading.
And I was like, oh yeah, this isgreat stuff.
(10:31):
And then you get to history, andit's like, okay, let's read a
book and answer some questions.
Yay, that's fun.
So that little part, that funpart of me that wants to be like
make education enjoyable waslike, okay, this is this is
actually an idea.
But what we need to do is weneed to create a whole program
for parents and for teachersthat can turn history into
(10:53):
something that isn't drudgery,but actually something that can
be enjoyable and moreimportantly, relatable.
And for them, the kids to reallybe able to see why.
Why?
Why do we need to study this?
Why is this important?
Why does it matter to me today?
And that's something I didn'tget until I was an adult before
I finally got the why it wasimportant.
(11:14):
So we're really trying to catchkids a young age and start
inspiring a love for that now.
Okay, so these are videos.
Yeah, so we have season one wasjust released this last year.
We're currently in the middle offilming season two, and they're
short videos that are verykid-centric.
So the kids really drive thestoryline in here.
(11:35):
We have three modern-day kidsthat have this really eccentric
history tutor that they have togo to and they don't want to go
because who wants to go tohistory tutoring?
And the history of you tutortakes them back in time to
witness these little moments intime.
And then a lot of the discussionin these is between the kids
themselves as they're processingwhat they've seen and relating
(11:56):
it to current things that theyexperience in their lives, um,
and making it something thatthey can actually understand why
why it matters.
So the the videos are gearedtoward second through fifth
grade, but we're finding thatadults are loving it, older kids
are loving it because it isrelatable.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Yeah, and I'm right with you.
Like, history never made senseto me.
I never cared.
And until I actually startedhomeschooling, I was like, wow,
this stuff is reallyinteresting.
And even just living where Ilive in the Northeast, so many
wars about the Hudson River, thebuilding of the Erie Canal and
how that affected trade.
And the I'm like, they nevertaught us anything like this in
(12:36):
school.
Like that it was right here, andthat it was just it wasn't that
long ago.
I feel like in the school itseemed like, oh, this was like
an ancient, you know, everythingwas back in the Maya's and you
know, because Mayans all that,but it just seemed so out of
touch.
But now that I'm like, oh theybuilt the Erie Canal.
Well, that really was only likeI think it was 150 years ago.
(13:00):
And just thinking about like,well, how did they have to do
it?
They had to like ask people ortell people, hey, we're taking
your land.
You know, you have this farmhere, we're taking this, and we
have slaves and people fromimmigrants, and we're forcing
them to dig this thing, dig aditch basically, and it wasn't
supposed to work.
And it's super interesting.
It's like, wow, they reallycould have like spiced that up a
(13:22):
little bit in school, you know.
SPEAKER_00 (13:24):
I think what you're hitting on is a key part of what
we are trying to do because Ikind of had the same experience
when I went to DC for the firsttime.
I was like, oh, wait, this is areal place with real people in
real time.
And so that there's such powerin visual representation.
I think that's one of the thingsthat's really been missing from
history is that we read about itin a book and we answer
(13:48):
questions, but being able to seethings and then being able to
relate them to the here and nowuh and the similarities and
understand the progression ofhow we get there and letting the
kids watch the struggles.
That's an important part of ittoo.
We really have tried to look athistory from different
perspectives and to show themthat, hey, it's complicated.
(14:09):
There's a lot of things thatwere happening and a lot of
different experiences fordifferent groups of people.
And what might have this beenlike to have been Susie versus
being one of the indigenouspeople and like how how were
their experiences differentthrough that?
So those types of things that wecan visually portray for the
kids, I think is one of thethings that's making people
(14:32):
really start to notice that oh,okay, this is different.
This is something that can beenjoyable and fun.
We've uh accompanied it withcurriculum that is designed to
be very user-friendly.
That was one of my pet peeves asa homeschooling parent and as a
teacher, was don't make me wadethrough a ton of stuff.
Nobody has time for that.
We don't have time for that.
(14:52):
So everything that is is puttogether in the curriculum is
really what you need and nothingelse.
So we don't add a lot ofadditional fluff.
How do you get through thislesson with the minimal amount
of supplies?
Because I also don't have timeto go out and buy a bunch of
weird stuff that I need in orderto make this craft or do this
project.
(15:13):
Uh, I want to be able to do it,I want to be able to move on.
And that's um that's been one ofthe important things to me in
developing the curriculum is notonly does it need to be
engaging, but it needs to bedoable for parents and for
teachers.
And we want it to be able to beused in a classroom if they
choose to.
We want homeschool parents touse it if they choose to as
(15:34):
well.
SPEAKER_01 (15:36):
Thinking about homeschooling but don't know
where to start?
Well, I've interviewed a fewpeople on the topic.
Actually, 120 interviews at thispoint with homeschooling
families from across the countryand the world.
And what I've done is I'vepacked everything I've learned
into an ebook called theHomeschool How to Complete
Starter Guide.
From navigating your state'slaws to finding your
homeschooling style, fromworking while homeschooling to
(15:58):
supporting kids with specialneeds.
This guide covers it all withreal stories from real families
who've walked this path.
I've taken the best insights,the best resources, and put them
all into this guide.
Stop feeling overwhelmed andstart feeling confident.
Get your copy of the HomeschoolHow to complete starter guide
today and discover thathomeschooling isn't just about
education.
(16:18):
It's about getting what you wantout of each day, not what
somebody else wants out of you.
You can grab the link to thisebook in the show's description
or head on over to thehomeschoolhow to.com.
SPEAKER_00 (16:29):
So we've got different types of projects.
We have five differentcategories that are talk about
it, and those types of thingsare how do you get the kids
talking about what they saw andwhat did that mean to them and
what did they notice and thosetypes of things.
We have investigated, and that'sa lot of the STEM type
activities where we bring inmath and science and the
(16:51):
technology, research, analyticalthinking, those types of
activities for them to engagein.
Imagine it uses a lot ofcreative thinking and writing,
perspective taking, those typesof activities that are designed
to get them to think aboutsomebody else's experiences as
(17:11):
well.
Draw it, taps into our for ourartists.
So it can be anything fromgraphing to creative
illustrations or comic strips,things that that might hit those
types of learners.
And then do it is for ourtactile learners, the ones that
need to actually be out theremaking hard tack or building
models or doing things that canreach those learners in
(17:34):
different ways.
So we really want homeschoolparents to have a wide variety
of resources for all thosedifferent types of learners.
So if you have a second graderand a fifth grader, they don't
have to do the same activity.
And that a lot of that comesback to my experiences with this
is that my son wouldn't havewanted to do the creative
(17:54):
writing that my daughter did,but he would have wanted to go
out there and build something.
So we want there to be a littlebit of something for everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (18:02):
Oh, that's awesome.
So what grades is it for?
What ages?
SPEAKER_00 (18:04):
So it's designed with second through fifth grade
in mind, but it's reallyadaptable.
Um, we've had parents saying,Oh, I could absolutely use this
with my high schooler as well.
So uh a lot of the ideas thatare in there are to help parents
that may not have as muchexperience to like like now what
do I do with this?
Okay, we watched this 10-minutevideo, we also kept them short
(18:27):
because attention span, but nowwhat?
And so this is a springboard.
The materials that we give are aspringboard to get um parents
thinking about like what do I dowith this now?
How do I adapt this to myseventh grader and my
seven-year-old?
SPEAKER_01 (18:42):
And then does it go the whole year or is it more
like a short unit study?
SPEAKER_00 (18:45):
Yeah, that's a great question.
Right now, we if this is justrelief star first season.
So the period of time that we'recovering was prior to the
Mayflower up into that firstwinter uh in in the New World.
Season two is going to coverkind of that forgotten about
time frame of what happened thenin between that and the
Revolutionary War.
(19:06):
So we really are trying to setthe stage and cover some things
that are often overlooked in inhistory, but are really
important to understanding thestory of why we're here today.
So this is um we have sevenvideos and two interviews that
are a part of the curriculum.
So it's definitely asupplemental curriculum at this
point.
(19:26):
Eventually we we have greatdreams on expanding this, but it
takes time and it takesresources.
So we're working on that.
SPEAKER_01 (19:34):
Yeah, definitely.
Uh we we just went to FortWilliam Henry um in Lake George,
which I I would not have knownwhat what war that had anything
to do with until uh bringing mychildren.
But yeah, learning about theFrench and Indian War, which
like you said, that forgottentime period between the
Mayflower and the AmericanRevolution.
(19:56):
It was like the French andIndian War.
I don't know, I wouldn't havebeen able to tell.
You, what continent that waseven fought on, and who fought
in it?
It was so interesting to learn.
Like, you know, it was foughthere, it was the French versus
the British.
They both wanted territory.
The they were getting theindigenous people to fight on
both sides, and what that musthave felt like for the ind like
(20:17):
you were saying for theindigenous people being like, We
don't want either of you.
You know, it's kind of like usand our government today, like,
we don't want either of you, butlike we gotta it's it's so
interesting to to learn aboutit.
And it was like from 1492 to1776, that's a long time.
That's like more than between1776 and now.
(20:38):
I mean, you know, it's the samelike that was a lot of years
that they were just sittingthere not being uh an actual
country.
And yeah, we gotta don'tconceptualize that.
Right.
We're we're really thinkingabout the day-to-day, what was
going on, and okay, we're gonnaneed a leader, and you know how
Washington was actually the onethat started the French and
Indian War.
And it was called the SevenYears' War in the rest of the
(20:59):
world because they were fightingelsewhere too.
But yeah, super interesting, andschool just made it the absolute
most boring thing you could everhear about.
SPEAKER_00 (21:10):
That's been one of the fun parts of the of the
project is that working with theour child actors that are part
of it, they've actually had areally big voice in the project,
which has been really fun togive them because they have
really great ideas and thethings that they found
interesting, like, well, if theyfind this interesting, other
kids are gonna find thisinteresting.
(21:31):
And the things that that theyreally related to were things
that we felt were important tobring forward in the project.
And so it's really been a verycool project to be a part of
because of the the way it's justgrown and developed, and the
different ways that the kidshave had a voice in the project
has been really cool.
SPEAKER_01 (21:52):
So when you say videos, you're not just meaning
like a teacher talking to ascreen who they are actors.
SPEAKER_00 (21:59):
Live action, yeah, live action videos that are just
with our three modern day kidsthat are taken back with their
history tutor.
And then we incorporate kids inthe historical sequence as much
as is appropriate or whatever wetend to be covering.
Because again, we're reallytrying to help kids now
(22:19):
understand that there were kidsthen and they were experiencing
these events as well.
So the more relatable we canmake it for them, the more
likely they are going to startasking questions and to be more
engaged with the process.
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
So who writes the script?
SPEAKER_00 (22:40):
Guyler does the initial writing and then we go
back and forth with it withabout a million revisions.
This is probably the hardestpart, is that it's very
difficult to research this.
We use primary sources as muchas possible, but unfortunately,
those are often very one-sided.
So a lot of its time is spentinto researching things to try
(23:02):
to portray things ashistorically accurate as we can
based on materials that areavailable.
And so it's definitely acreative process.
We get together weekly and wehash out different ideas for
things and we're scratching outand restarting, and it's a
process.
SPEAKER_01 (23:17):
Yeah, that is amazing.
Okay, so so getting back to youjust homeschooling your
children.
I mean, stuff like this didn'tquite exist then, did it?
SPEAKER_00 (23:26):
No, which it was probably the only reason that
Skylar talked me into doing thisproject is because I was like,
this is definitely not anythingthat I had access to.
And the only ways that I couldmake history fun and relatable
was to take my kids' places.
Well, we're in SouthernCalifornia, so we don't have the
same access to a lot of thehistorical places to visit that
(23:51):
are there on the East Coast.
So a lot of it was um a lot ofscrambling, looking for books,
trying to find stories abouthistorical figures, but there's
just such limited resources forhistory that I was like, this is
definitely something that isneeded.
And I'm like, I think we couldhave fun with this.
And again, I love fun.
(24:12):
So that's what I'm alwayslooking for.
SPEAKER_01 (24:14):
Yeah, it sounds so awesome.
So can people just purchase likeone year curriculum at a time,
that sort of thing?
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
Yeah, so the it's the membership is a is a one
year again, realizing that a lotof times you're covering
different periods of history, soyou can buy it for the year that
you're you're using, you'll haveaccess to all of the curriculum
and then and the videos.
We have two memberships, so youcan buy one that's just the
videos without the curriculumfor people that are like, well,
I'm not plan to use thecurriculum at all, but for
(24:41):
homeschoolers, you're gonna wantthe curriculum.
That's the fun stuff.
So that uh you have access to itfor a year from the time that
you purchase it, and then umwe'll be releasing seasons,
hopefully, on the annual basisfrom here on out.
SPEAKER_01 (24:54):
Awesome.
All right, so I'll make sure toput the link for all of that in
the show's description so peoplecan just easily go there.
But yeah, getting back to yourhomeschooling too, like how was
that transition for yourdaughter going back into school?
And I know you said that youwere happy about it, but I mean,
was there a part of you that waslike, oh, I just wanted to kind
of finish this out with you?
I'm a little sad.
What am I gonna do now?
SPEAKER_00 (25:15):
Yes and no.
Every transition period, I thinkas a parent, there's that, oh my
goodness, we need to go, you'redoing so great.
And then that little bit of, youdon't need me so much anymore.
Wait a minute.
I've just spent my entire lifedevoted to raising you.
Now what?
But I was excited for her andbecause I liked seeing her push
herself out of her comfort zone.
(25:35):
And I think that that issomething that homeschooling
gives parents the ability toscaffold for their kids in a way
that helps them to buildconfidence, we're able to
protect them from experiencesthat are really common in in
public school settings thatallow them to grow at a
developmentally appropriaterate.
(25:57):
So I felt like she was ready.
And uh she she made it evenharder on herself because she
actually started after the theyear started.
She made this decision like atthe beginning of September.
I want to go back to school.
Part of that was because she's adancer, so she wanted to be on
the dance team.
Um, and so she had connectionsalready there, which I think
definitely made it easier forher than if she'd walked into a
(26:18):
school where she knew no one.
But that little part of me thatwas like was definitely way
overridden by like just pride inher for being willing to put
herself out there and go.
SPEAKER_01 (26:28):
And how was she academically compared to her
peers?
SPEAKER_00 (26:31):
She was way ahead of where her her peers were.
She would have definitely endedup at the top of her her class
had she been there long enoughto accumulate the the way they
they do it in the public schoolsystem, but that wasn't
important.
SPEAKER_01 (26:44):
Wow.
Was that you being very diligenton like we're doing this many
hours a day of homeschool?
You know, because now we havelike the unschoolers that just
kind of go with the flow, andthen we have like the a Becca
people that are like, we'redoing this, this, this is very
rigid, and then everything inbetween.
So how how rigid were you withher curriculum?
SPEAKER_00 (27:02):
With it, everything in between.
It was she was because of herdance, her dad she was dancing
at least 20 hours a week, andthen she was also doing
auditions and things too.
So she had a pretty intenseschedule, and it was important
to me that she didn't lose theopportunity to still be a kid
and to to do those things.
So I gave her a lot ofresponsibility with her schedule
(27:24):
for it as she got older and lether choose, like, okay, this is
what you need to get done.
How you choose to do that is upto you.
And I think that was importantfor her as well, because that's
an adult skill that we all haveto do.
Like, okay, we have certainthings we have to get done.
How am I gonna do that?
So um that really set the stage,I think, well for her with that
(27:44):
and gave her the flexibility toif she needed had a day where
she was not feeling it and shewas tired, she didn't have to do
as much that day, but she knewshe had to get it done at some
point.
SPEAKER_01 (27:54):
Yeah, okay.
So it was, I mean, I know thereare some families I talk to that
are like it and we do Latin andwe do, you know, this and I'm
like, oh my God.
I it sounds important to me.
And it might be one of thosethings like history where like
once you get into it, it'sprobably really interesting.
But just thinking about addingLatin to our schedule among you
know, all things I'm like, Idon't know if we're ever gonna
be that those people, but that'sokay, you think?
SPEAKER_00 (28:17):
I mean, yeah.
I I really that's I think one ofthe best things for us about
homeschooling was that I lovedthe freedom that it gave us to
be who we were.
Um, I love the fact that wecould go on vacation and go
exploring somewhere and takestuff with us or catch up when
we got back without somebodybreathing down our neck telling
(28:38):
us, oh, you've missed X amountof school days.
So ability to be a reallytight-knit family and to be able
to help control the flow ofinformation that came into my
kids was also really importantto me.
Um, and that's what homeschoolschooling gave us.
Um, my kids are still we'rewe're all really close still.
I mean, they're they're 27 and25.
(28:58):
And I just spent a whole weekendwith my daughter being her adult
teammates at a dancecompetition.
So, you know, it is where we'veit really for us set the stage
for a very close family bondthat is irreplaceable.
SPEAKER_01 (29:14):
And that's a huge thing.
I don't think you think aboutwhen you're thinking, oh, should
I homeschool?
Should I not?
Are my kids gonna be weird?
Are they gonna be smart enough?
Am I gonna do a good enough job?
Am I gonna be we don't thinkabout the amount of hours that
they are spent, not with theirsiblings and not with their
parents.
And you know, when they'reyoung, it's one thing.
But we kind of think like, oh,as they get older, they don't
(29:35):
need that.
And if anything, they might evenneed it more.
SPEAKER_00 (29:38):
More absolutely emotionally, yeah, for sure
going through the teen years.
SPEAKER_01 (29:43):
Like, did they I know phones are yeah, your kids
were of that age where phoneswere probably getting pretty
common.
How like did you have to fallinto that gimmick?
Yeah, the whole classroom hasone, your kid is left out if you
don't give them one because youdidn't homeschool, so maybe you
didn't have to deal with that.
SPEAKER_00 (30:00):
We were able to avoid, I think, a lot of the
pressure that comes sociallyfrom that.
I mean, you know, like I said,my daughter was a dancer, my son
was involved with karate, he wasinvolved with Boy Scouts, he was
involved with differentorganizations as well.
So it wasn't like they were notaround other kids or other
groups.
We actually made our own littlehomeschooling groups when they
(30:21):
were really little because thereweren't other ones.
So we got together and had craftdays with where other kids would
come over to our house or wewould do science days and things
like that.
SPEAKER_01 (30:32):
Do your kids know what to do in an emergency?
Do they know how to call 911from a locked cell phone?
Well, if you've been listeningto my podcast for any length of
time, you know that I have beenworking for the last year on a
book that talks about exactlythis.
I was going throughhomeschooling curriculum with my
son and realized that althoughthey would brush over certain
things that my son would need toknow in an emergency, nothing
(30:53):
really delved into it, anddefinitely not on a repetitive
basis.
I started reaching out toteachers and asking them what
schools do to prepare kids foremergencies, and other than
skimming the surface, they saidthat they really feel that this
information is the parents'responsibility to teach.
But do parents know that?
It's not like there's a handbookwhere we talk about who is
responsible for what.
(31:14):
So I set out on a journey towrite a book about exactly this.
And it is finally published.
My illustrator, CherylCrowthelmell, is a retired NYPD
officer.
So she was the perfect fit forthis book.
We have hidden a 901 and a onein each illustration so that you
and your kids can have funsearching for these numbers
while solidifying for your kidswhat these numbers look like.
(31:34):
I've put the steps for how toreach 911 on various cell
phones, even if they're locked,and what that call will go like
and what information they willbe looking for.
My book will help your childpractice their first and last
name, mom and dad's first andlast names, their address, what
to do if there is a fire.
It goes over stranger danger,internet, water, and gun safety.
And I have paired an activitybook to go right along with it
(31:57):
to solidify these concepts.
Give yourself peace of mind andgive your kids the confidence to
handle the unexpected bygrabbing your copy of Let's Talk
Emergencies today.
You can head on over to the linkin my show's description or the
homeschoolhoutto.com.
And if you do purchase the copy,please, please, please leave me
a review on Amazon.
The more reviews I have, themore the algorithm will push
(32:20):
this book out there.
So I would really appreciate it.
Thank you so much for listeningand for all of your support of
the show.
SPEAKER_00 (32:28):
As far as like the the phones, we didn't have to
navigate that as much because itjust wasn't, you don't need a
phone.
You know, and so for a long timethey didn't have them.
When my daughter was in highschool, she she had one because
she was gone more in placeswhere she didn't need it, and
especially when she starteddriving.
But in at that point, then shehad social media.
(32:48):
But I think that being able toshelter them from that,
especially in those early teenyears, was really beneficial for
both of my kids.
SPEAKER_01 (32:58):
Yeah.
And it's just younger andyounger now.
And the internet's gotten justso much more than it ever was,
the things that you can see onthere.
SPEAKER_00 (33:08):
Um it's changing the way they they their brains are
wired too, which is reallyconcerning.
Um I won't geek out on you, um,but my PhD is in psychology with
an emphasis on cognition andinstruction.
So I could easily geek out onyou.
But it does concern me what Isee happening to the wiring of
(33:28):
people's brains and not justkids, we do it to ourselves as
adults as well.
But the impact of that asthey're growing is is profound.
SPEAKER_01 (33:35):
Yeah, no, feel free to talk about that because you
know, even just the synapsesmaking the connections of like
fast pace, fast pace, fast pace,fast pace, and the lighting on
the screen and the thescrolling, even is a whole
psychological like they havethey're paying people millions
to analyze how they can get usto keep scrolling, basically.
(33:57):
Go ahead and talk about that.
SPEAKER_00 (33:58):
Well, it's for me, one of the biggest concerns is
the dopamine dump that happenswith social media.
And the reason for that is thatthe more that we are exposed to
that at unnaturally high levels,the less sensitive your brain
becomes to that.
So I do think that it's one ofthe reasons research is
supporting us, one of thereasons that we're seeing so
(34:18):
much higher rates of anxiety anddepression in um in not just
kids but adults as well.
And is because we'refundamentally changing both the
the chemical makeup of our brainand the actual wiring of our
brain.
So yeah, it's tough now forparents.
I'm kind of glad my kids areolder now.
SPEAKER_01 (34:37):
It's very tough because I even noticed with
myself, and I I actually don'tscroll a ton.
I find that it bothers me as acontent creator because the more
I scroll, I'm like, oh I didn'tthink of that first.
I didn't think of that one.
Oh, I could have done that.
I get more angry.
So I'm like, ah, I don't, Idon't even want to scroll.
But you I still will to check,okay, I have to post this.
(34:59):
And so I'm on there and Inoticed that my kids were
watching Zootopia today when wewere eating lunch.
And even at like a slow part ofthe movie, I found myself going
onto my phone and hitting theInstagram.
But and I'm like, oh geez, mybrain literally, I didn't even
think about it.
It just was like, oh, it's theslow part.
Let me find something else to dowithout even thinking.
(35:20):
And that's scary.
I can't go through like youradolescence and training your
brain to do that then.
SPEAKER_00 (35:28):
Well, and that's the problem, is that you know, our
brains aren't finisheddeveloping until we're 25.
So that entire developmentalperiod, if that is how we're
training our brain to respondand what it needs in order to be
feel normal, um, it's it's gonnabe a rough road for a lot of
these kids.
SPEAKER_01 (35:47):
Yeah.
I mean, is it similar to likethe the dopamine of like um
alcohol or nicotine or drugs?
SPEAKER_00 (35:55):
Typically your stimulant drugs are the ones
that that we see operating in asimilar way to what we're seeing
happen with social media.
It may not be as pronounced, butit's absolutely the same concept
and it's having more long-termeffects than that we're just now
starting to understand.
SPEAKER_01 (36:14):
So, what would a long-term effect be?
Like I'm so anxious because Ineed constant screen change or
movement.
My brain needs to keep going,and because it's quiet, I need
some sort of medication torelax.
SPEAKER_00 (36:27):
Yeah, it's hard for us to be quiet now.
unknown (36:32):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (36:32):
And it's hard for our brains to focus.
So the ability to focus on atask has diminished
tremendously.
And that that's hard because wehave to have that.
And a lot of times I think,especially as women, we tend to
like, oh, I can multitask.
No, you you actually can't.
Our brains don't do that.
We task switch, but the cost ofthat is we're not as effective
(36:57):
at the task that we're onbecause we're switching back and
forth.
So this constant switching, thisconstant seeking of that feeling
of the dopamine wrench, it's notactually even just scrolling,
it's the notifications.
When you see that notification,it actually gives a dopamine
dump.
So it's not even the act ofopening your phone to look at
(37:18):
it, it's the fact that you seethat little light on your phone
that says, oh, something,somebody wants to talk to
somebody said something,somebody posted something,
somebody wants me.
It's it's tough.
And it's also impacting ourface-to-face interactions.
We all see it.
We see everyone at a dinnertable on their phones.
We're not learning how tointeract with people face to
face anymore.
And that's the problem.
SPEAKER_01 (37:39):
Yeah.
Um, and is the movie called TheSocial Experiment that really
gets into the psychology ofthat?
SPEAKER_00 (37:45):
Yeah.
Um the social, something alongthose lines.
That, yeah, that's it's a reallyeye-opening documentary that
explains a lot of the behind thescenes that goes into um there's
a lot of time and money beingspent in trying to control and
manipulate our our brains.
So yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:04):
I think I just pulled up, I think that's what
it is, the social experiment,but that was from 2022.
SPEAKER_00 (38:08):
Is it yeah?
SPEAKER_01 (38:09):
I think that's what it is.
So for people to check that out,it is it is eye-opening.
It's only an hour and a halflong.
So definitely worth a watch andhave your kids watch it.
I think I saw it on Netflix andI was surprised that Netflix
would have something on theretrying to like tell you not to.
SPEAKER_00 (38:27):
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (38:28):
I think maybe I don't know.
Is that what there is a moviecalled The Social Experiment?
SPEAKER_00 (38:34):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (38:36):
Yeah.
Uh but it was a very good movie.
So yeah, look into that folks.
Um just getting back to like thethe last part of our uh
interview too, uh just with youhomeschooling your kids.
Were the like is the goal, wasthe goal to go to college?
I know for a lot ofhomeschoolers nowadays, that's
really not like it's notsomething I think homeschoolers
(38:59):
are pushing so much anymore.
How did that work for you guysand your family, especially
because that was about seven,eight, ten years ago?
SPEAKER_00 (39:06):
Well, it's funny because I actually teach at a
college.
I teach adapted kinesiologyclasses for adults with
disabilities, but I've taughthealth for years.
And I probably have an unpopularopinion on that, that I don't
think college is necessarily agreat idea.
Um, and especially not at first,even.
Um, my daughter just now, she's27 and is just this fall,
(39:30):
decided she wanted to go backand get her degree because she
needs it for what she wants todo for work.
College, I don't think, is thebe all and all.
And I think that the stress andthe the pressure that we put on
teenagers to figure their lifeout.
I'm I don't haven't figured mylife out.
It's it's ridiculous.
So I don't, I don't think thatthat is the end goal.
(39:51):
It could be, it could be part ofyour path.
It depends on what you want todo.
And if you want to do it, great.
And if you know if there'ssomething else you want to do,
my my son is an occupation.
Educational therapy assistantthat required 20 months of
school.
He hated school as far as likehe's like, uh, I don't want to
do that.
So for for him, the idea ofgetting a master's degree to be
an OT was a terrible idea.
(40:11):
And he loves his job.
But yeah, it's everybody's pathis unique.
And I wish we honored that morein education and didn't try to
pigeonhole people into this isthe way you need to go.
This is the best way.
There's no best.
SPEAKER_01 (40:24):
Did your son have any issues getting into college,
being homeschooled?
And how did you prepare thetranscript or you know, the
diploma?
Was there or did the chartertake care of all of that?
SPEAKER_00 (40:35):
The charter did that.
So for um for my son, he hischarter did that.
And then for my daughter, shewent to school for senior year.
So that was part of her diplomathat she got with that.
But there's there's so much moreflexibility with that now.
And to be honest, I love juniorcolleges.
Um those first couple years,kids should be taking a bunch of
(40:58):
random classes and figuring outwho they are and what they want
to do.
And so, why would I want tospend$500,$1,000 a unit to do
that when I can spend$50 a unitto do that or get it paid for
through a lot of the differentstates have programs for that
now?
So both of my kids use thejunior college system for their
(41:19):
early on um as a way to explorekind of what they wanted to do.
Auto class, dronecertifications.
I mean, they did all kinds ofrandom stuff.
SPEAKER_01 (41:28):
Yeah, and especially with the way AI and technology
are just like going at rapidspeed to spend$200,000,$300,000
on a degree right now is alittle silly because we don't
know what the world is gonnalook like in four or five years
from now.
Um yeah, it it's an interestingtime.
(41:48):
Um and and you're on the one endof it, and I have a seven and
three year old, so I'm on thecompletely opposite end and I do
I feel confident though thatlike like just the school
system, the more I learn aboutit, I'm like, oof, I have way
more control within my housethan I ever would without
(42:09):
unleashing them onto the world,to the government.
For sure.
All right, closing out.
What can you any parting wordsabout about unfold history or
like where we can find it?
I like I said, I'll puteverything in the show's
description, but like anythingwe left out already?
SPEAKER_00 (42:25):
Um, just I would love for you guys to to take a
peek at it and get us somefeedback on it.
We're constantly working onimproving the user experience of
it as well.
But I just would encourage allof the homeschooling parents out
there to that that you can dothis, you can totally do this,
and don't let the fun get suckedout of it.
(42:46):
You should be having fun too.
And there's gonna be the not fundays for sure.
Enjoy this.
And it is, you know, everyonealways says, Oh, it's so short.
It is, it is so short.
And you'll get to the other sideand you go, Oh, I miss those
days.
I miss those days of us doingrandom field trips and art
projects together and makingprojects and you know cooking
(43:06):
class and things like that.
So um, you can do it.
And there's there are a lot ofresources now, and that's what
we hope to be, is we hope to bea resource to help parents to
feel like I got this.
SPEAKER_01 (43:18):
Thank you, Leanne.
Um, it was been so fun talkingto you.
I love where this conversationwent.
Check out Unfold History in theshow's description, and
hopefully we will chat with youagain in the future.
SPEAKER_00 (43:28):
Awesome.
Thank you.
Good luck, everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (43:32):
Thank you for tuning in to this week'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.
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
(43:53):
appreciated.
Thank you for tuning in and foryour love of the next
generation.
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