June 10, 2025 • 35 mins
"What if homeschooling didn't have to look like anyone else's version but your own?" This question frames our enlightening conversation with Linsey Knerl, veteran homeschooling mother of six and author of "Homeschool Hacks." With children ranging from 11 to 26 years old, Linsey shares how her family's "one year at a time" approach evolved into a two-decade educational journey that prioritizes flexibility, observation, and meeting each child where they are.
Linsey reveals her pragmatic "education curation" philosophy—connecting children with passionate subject experts through online courses, co-ops, and carefully selected curricula rather than attempting to personally teach every subject. This approach fosters independence while developing research skills children will need throughout life. "I'm not providing all the information," she explains. "My job is equipping them to find that information themselves."
The discussion explores how technology has transformed homeschooling, making learning more accessible for diverse learning styles. Linsey shares candid insights about supporting her son with dyslexia, finding the unexpected combination of audiobooks with physical text tracking worked best for him—not because it followed expert recommendations, but because they observed and listened to what actually helped him learn effectively. This theme of careful observation runs throughout our conversation, challenging parents to truly know their children rather than following prescriptive educational methods.
Whether you're considering homeschooling, already deep in the journey, or simply curious about educational alternatives, Linsey's practical wisdom offers a refreshing counterbalance to perfectionism. "Take the time to get to know your child," she advises. "Let them be more of the compass than the group of families on Facebook who have this specific curriculum they love." Connect with Linsey at homeschoolhacksbook.com and discover how to create a homeschooling approach uniquely suited to your family's needs.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The SJ Childs Show is Backford's 13th season.
Join Sarah Brafford and the SJChilds Show team as they explore
the world of autism and sharestories of hope and inspiration.
This season we're excited tobring you more autism summits
featuring experts and advocatesfrom around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Go to sjchildsorg.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Hi and welcome to the SG Child Show today.
I'm really excited to get intothis conversation, lindsay
Neural hopefully I pronouncedall that correctly.
We're excited to have you hereand learn more about you and
some exciting services, I guess,and products that you're
(00:56):
providing for families, becausewe know families, especially
moms, homeschool moms, dads,whatever you are aunt, uncle,
grandma, grandpa thank you, andwe're here to help.
We're here to give you all theresources we can.
Thank you so much for beinghere today, lindsay.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I'm excited.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yeah, really good to have you and give us a little
bit of an introduction.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and what brought you
here.
Yeah, so I am a mom of six.
I've been homeschooling sincethe very beginning.
My oldest is married and 26years of age and my baby is 11.
Yeah, and I have been slowlybuilding a work at home business
probably for the last 16 years.
Started out writing and mommyblogging back in the day and
(01:47):
then it turned into a journalismcareer and then a content
career and I've been just kindof doing a little of this and a
little of that and it's beengreat because my kids are with
me for the whole journey and asI transitioned to new things,
they're kind of right there withme and it's just kind of a
testament to how you canengineer your life to put the
(02:10):
things that are most valuable toyou in the forefront at
whatever that happens to be atthe moment that you're in.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I love that, and it's never too late to do that.
Six kids is a lot, and forthose of you not watching this,
you're not going to believe thatshe's really those of you that
are.
I won't believe that that shereally has a 26 year old Cause I
think she's only in herthirties, so uh um yeah, no, I
have a 25 year old stepdaughteras well, so I totally get that
(02:38):
and um, but only three, not six,but it's a in.
We've been homeschooling nowfor as well, since oh gosh,
since the beginning, since wewere told that we would not be
accommodated in our publicschool system, which was a hard
swallow.
I came from a paralegalbackground and for many years I
(03:01):
was like why didn't you fightthem, why didn't you, you know?
But now I see that nothing thatthey could have done would have
provided the opportunities thatI have provided for him and
that we have able to, like yousaid, kind of pattern our life
in this way that fits all of us.
(03:22):
And so, yeah, and we have areally tricky sleeper in our
home who follows the moon andsleeps two weeks in the day and
two weeks in the night.
So in order to accommodate one'sbiological differences,
sometimes we have to take thingsinto our own hands and be the
person we never thought we wouldbe, which is the teacher we
(03:45):
never went to school to be.
But that's okay, you know it's.
It's been a hard but really,really rewarding journey on my
end.
Tell us about your experienceand kind of you know, why did
you start it out?
What happened?
What was that key factor?
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah.
So you know, I think there area lot of people that you know
they have the thing that likepushes them out of the school
systems.
Maybe you know learningdifferences or bullying or you
know whatever it is, and that'sabsolutely valid.
We kind of came from it wherewe were moving and we weren't
(04:29):
really settled in the communitywe wanted to be in and our kids
are really tiny and we thoughtdoes it really make sense for
them to be gone?
You know, we our our system hadjust moved from half day
kindergarten to like full daykindergarten.
There was just a lot of it thatdidn't set right and my husband
and I had not been homeschooled.
(04:49):
We didn't have a lot ofexperience with being
homeschooled.
We weren't even actually likelooking at homeschooling and
going.
That's what we want to do.
We want to be like that.
We were actually a little bitlike, you know, I want to work
and I don't really know how tointeract maybe so well with kids
at that age.
That wasn't an age I was reallyvery confident with dealing
(05:11):
with, and so it was kind of athing where we're like we're not
ready to put them in yet.
Let's just take this one yearat a time and if it works, we'll
keep doing it.
And then you know, 20 yearslater, we're like this is, this
is giving us the result, like wefinally have like the product
of our homeschool that has, youknow, gone on to, to to be
(05:34):
functional and well formed and,I think, successful from from
the education and the formationstandpoint and the formation
standpoint.
And so I feel like, yeah,there's a few things we did
right.
This was one of them and andthat was that one year at a time
experiment that we just kept,kept, kept doing and and it
seemed to do, do well for us.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Now, it sounds like, since you do have six, they are
at different age brackets.
How do you accommodate thedifferent age needs and
curriculum, if you will, and howdo you spread it across?
Do you do one subject at variedlevels for everyone, or do you
do them separately?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah, so because I do work and I run a business and
we like to travel and I like todo things efficiently but also
put the right people in theright jobs, I have more of like
an education curation role inour homeschool.
So instead of sitting at thetable and doing all the
instruction kind of circa early90s 2000s, it's more okay,
(06:42):
here's this great course andit's taught by a teacher who
really, really loves their topicand they're passionate and I
know they're going to pass thatpassion on to you.
Let's have you take this as anonline or we're going to take
this through co-op or it's a lotof.
I think eclectic is kind of theterm yeah, the term I use in my
(07:03):
book, but it's a mix and matchplug and play and there's a few
kind of core curriculumproviders that we use for, like
math.
That seems to work for alllearning styles, or you know
some writing that learn, youknow, helps.
My dyslexic can use it as well,as you know my, my honors level
writing student, and then it'sjust a matter of at their own
(07:26):
pace.
But by and large, it's just wefigure out at the beginning of
the year what we're going to use.
I kind of know what's beenworking for our family and
everyone.
Just, it's like moving pieceson a chessboard.
Every you know.
I go around and I'm like, okay,what's your next move and
what's your next move and whatdo we hope to get done this week
?
And what are our, what are ourobstacles?
(07:46):
And then you know it's largelyself-directed.
They're watching the videos,they're taking the courses,
they're doing the work.
And then they come to me withlike I don't, I can't figure
this out.
And then you know I'm notcalculus two material.
So I'll say let's figure thisout together, let's figure out
how to get the answer, let'sfigure out who can be, because
that's how it's going to be incollege, right, or a job or
(08:09):
anything else that you're doing.
You're going to have to figureout who the keeper of that, that
, that information, is, and sowe're actually just equipping
them to find that information.
I'm not providing all of it.
My goodness, I couldn't evenbegin to have all that knowledge
.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So, yeah, I love that .
No, I think that there's.
I think that's a reallyimportant thing for parents to
hear.
There's no one stop shop there.
It is a mastery of all.
And there is, you know, thespider web of, if you will, of
all of the things put together.
Is the complete picture really,what about for any of our
(08:47):
parents out there who might bestruggling with a kiddo, who
isn't interested and doesn'twant to do the work, like, how
do we help them look atsomething and be interested, or
how do you kind of leverage that?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, it really is carrot stick, carrot being like
okay, you know you likeMinecraft and you know, every
day you want to play nine hoursof Minecraft, no, minecraft,
till you do math.
And sometimes it's as simple asthat and other times it's, you
know, okay, maybe you're not thekid that gets motivated by that
, but we, we have to to, we haveto look at maybe some you know,
(09:26):
taking the phone away, or Imean, my kids have been pretty
good about, um, not having tohave.
We don't wait until it gets tothe point where we have to like,
really just pull everythingaway, like it's not, like we're
with them all day long, right,so we?
So we get to see the behaviors,we get to see the, the
obstacles, like before they getto the point where it's like you
(09:49):
haven't done this in four weeks.
Now I have to cry, yeah, like,like it.
It kind of like falls on us tonot let it get to that point.
And then you know there arejust some kids with some
subjects that are just alwaysgoing to be I mean, look at,
look at your day, there'sprobably something you
procrastinate, you hate doing,and it's only because you know,
(10:09):
like, like taxes, like I'm goingto suffer my house being taken
or jail yeah, toilets.
So so we, we can't really notsee that in our own children and
I, honestly, I just think Iknow what each of my kids is
Carrots, what the thing is goingto be, and I'm like here's what
(10:31):
it is, and for most of my kids,it's video games.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Honestly, yeah, well, and I love how much and how
many resources there are nowthrough video games.
Like I remember, you know mykids are 13 and 15 now, so they
don't.
One of them still likes to playMinecraft once in a while and
stuff, but not like they used to.
You know they were really intoit at the different ages, but I
(11:00):
remember having one kiddo domultiplication tables in
Minecraft, build their ownmultiplication tables, count the
blocks, count the, and I reallyjust tried to help them in and
kind of help tutor them in thatprocess in what they were doing,
and that's so fun for everybodyand then it also gives them a
chance to feel real proud ofthemselves when they do do
(11:23):
something and then they can showyou, look what I've done and
look what you know I've, I've,I've accomplished, and that's
always great.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, you know it's interesting with that too, that
you say that the video gameshave changed a lot, because, you
know, I just cleaned out abunch of homeschool curriculum,
which is always a painful.
Oh, we spent all this money forthis.
Don't want to get rid of it,but yeah, I get it.
It's funny what technology hasreplaced and I, you know, I
(11:52):
could look at it and say, oh,it's sad, but at the same time
it's like, oh, my kids arereally, you know.
I think one of them was ageography website where every
day they're learning a differentplace in the world and the
capitals.
And I had to look, I had tolook at my, my books that I
bought that were capitals andStates, that that never got
opened, and I thought, oh, I'm aterrible parent.
(12:12):
And the kids are like why Iknow what these little, teeny,
tiny countries in Eastern Europeare called and we wouldn't
maybe have learned that withthis very workbooky style of
curriculum that you feel goodabout, because it's all very,
you know, physical and very welllaid out and beautiful.
(12:32):
But it didn't work for them.
And I think there's kind ofbeing careful that we don't make
things too precious because welike the idea of them if they
don't work.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
That's a great point.
I really like that.
I think that we do put a lot ofpressure on ourselves to do
that.
I'm like really glad you saidthat I do that to myself and
sometimes can get in my own wayin that way.
And I agree that we need tolook.
(13:04):
This generation is unlike anygeneration that's ever been.
The generation after that willbe the same.
That's how it works.
You know, we have to honor thespace that they're in and we
have to be like understandingthat we don't understand where
they're at because we don't.
We didn't have that availableto us, we weren't nine and
(13:28):
having every channel.
You know we didn't have to waitfor commercials, we didn't have
to all of those things.
It's like everything isavailable to them.
We really have to almost diveinto it, navigate it ourselves,
so that we can be good teachers,role models, everything in
(13:49):
using it correctly Right now.
And I just had a wonderfulautism event where I use chat
GPT so much.
I've, you know, had it puttogether so many things for me
and I've done several events inthe past and this one was the
best, it was the easiest, it wasthe best, it was the best put
(14:10):
together, because I rely.
I use the tools available to mein the right ways, you know,
without taking advantage orusing them incorrectly or for
any other purpose.
But I'm now seeing, you know,my kiddos really not interested
in having a computer.
She just wants her phone.
She doesn't even want a laptopor anything, and I'm like but
(14:33):
there's these things that canreally assist and I want you to
learn how to use these tools tohelp yourself.
You know, be better.
But I also think I see thedangers in making them
complacent.
It's really tricky.
You have to, I guess, have theright boundaries put down.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
It is, and you know we're learning alongside them,
which is another another thingabout homeschooling because you
know, I see so many times onthese, like Facebook groups or
these boards, and these parentsare like they think they have to
learn everything first and thenthey can turn around and teach
their child.
And I'm thinking about thesebusiness gurus or people you
know.
You probably have seen themright.
(15:17):
They're like selling theirmillion dollar course or
whatever.
A lot of these people just arelike have learned the one thing.
They're one step ahead.
Like a guru is often justsomebody who just learned
yesterday what you're going tolearn tomorrow.
And the same principle could beapplied to like your children,
like you don't.
You can learn alongside them.
How do we navigate technology?
(15:37):
What is this thing?
How do we put in boundaries towait until you have it all
figured out?
Your children are going to bemoved out and gone and you're
still not going to have it.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, and it's changing.
It's ever changing, isn't it,and I think that that we have to
embrace that.
I think that I had a reallyhard time getting rid of the
books and the workbooks and allof those things, cause I did,
you know, have one child thatwas very much kinetic, very much
(16:07):
wanted hands on everything, andthen one that was more auditory
and visual, because she wasdyslexic and those things didn't
work for her.
Those were written workbooksand things that she couldn't
hear it correctly, was feltimpossible for her to to learn
(16:27):
from.
So important to recognize yourchild's learning style, you know
, and and how to identify those.
Do you have any tricks that youmight give a parent to help
narrow down what their kid'slearning style might be?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Yeah, and you know it's interesting because we see,
oh, there's no such thing as alearning style or the back and
the forth of that.
And I would just say that, youknow, having a child who was
diagnosed very late in theprocess was was 18 when we
finally got my son, because weknew there was some.
He was performing really wellin school, he was getting A's,
(17:04):
he was reading these giant booksand he was enjoying them, but
it was just, it took him a longtime, right and, and there were
just signs, or, and it turnedout that the systems he had
built to be able to perform werejust intricate.
Right, they're genius kids.
Right, they form theseintricate, little little systems
for how to get by in life.
(17:25):
And when we discovered this, wewere like, okay, this is amazing
.
But also, looking back, I feellike I should have.
I should have taken the easierpath of least resistance right,
Like not just because now I findout that was probably the only
way you could have learned, butbecause part of learning as an
(17:48):
adult is trying to find the mostefficient, easiest way to learn
things.
True, and I love beautifulbooks and I am actually.
I love classical education.
That's pretty much what we do,but we mix it with technology.
For my kids that have obstaclesin their learning, A lot of it
is just observation.
You know, when we got thediagnosis, I started buying
(18:10):
audio books for him and he toldme mom, I can't focus on the
audio books.
Like, I know, this is how I'msupposed to learn better, but I
still really like seeing thewords with my eyes and reading
along.
And what we found is, oh, heneeded audio books, but he also
needed the physical book so thathe could track, otherwise his
(18:30):
focus would kind of wander.
And so you know that's notsomething.
Maybe that was listed in therecommended accommodations for
him, but it was something thatwe discovered through time.
So I think a lot of it is justlistening to your child when
they say this isn't, this isn'tright or this isn't working,
because he prefers not to doaudio books for certain things,
(18:53):
or he prefers to write oldfashioned with a pen, even
though it's atrocious and wecan't see what he's written
because he feels like thatsticks in his brain better.
So it's kind of finding thathappy medium between what they
want to do and what works forthem and what's practical, like
we can't take nine hours to takenotes, right, we only have.
(19:15):
It's just a lot, and I thinkthe technology is really going
to help fill in the gaps betweenall those different learning
styles making things that werenever tactical or tactile
tactile right, making thingsthat were never auditory
auditory.
It's a great time ofpossibility.
But just because an expert saysyour child might learn better
(19:38):
this way, they're still superunique, individual, human and
they might have built a systemwhere maybe it's a roundabout
way to getting there, but that'swhat they're comfortable with
and so I never try to interferewith that.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I love that, I agree.
I totally agree.
You should always follow whatyou're.
You learn the best about yourchild when you follow, and it's
hard.
I think parents struggle withthat.
I think that they come with anidea that being in charge means
being in control and I thinkthat that's a tricky, tricky
(20:13):
tightrope to walk.
I don't like I've, and maybecall it because it's child
number three.
You can say whatever.
You know, it's number six.
But the essence of having arelationship with this
individual, as just this humanrelationship goes, is so much
(20:33):
more important to me than thetime that they're going to get
out of bed or the dinner thatthey might not eat all the way,
or you know, I just really havefound this different parenting
relationship with this otherchild than I have in the past
and it's given me a such adifferent perspective of
parenting that I could neverimagine.
(20:56):
And I said to my husband lastnight and I think it's kind of
unique she's somebody that she'slike my shadow self, somebody
that I never could have been,and so I want to see every part
of that thrive, because it'slike you know, yes, bloom,
(21:22):
please, you know where I wasbeing.
Like you know, told not to.
Yeah, I think it's just reallyfascinating when we really
follow and we see what worksbest.
Yeah, amazing.
It must be a lot of work, though, to you know, this was my
question that came up before.
I just interrupt myself with myown weird comments there.
But what about graduating?
So we're getting close tograduation.
We're in graduation time rightnow for a lot of parents Help
(21:46):
parents that don't understandwhat that looks like.
You know what does that processlook like?
Do they do a certificate ofcompletion?
That type of how do we get tothat when it's to the end, what
do we do then?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
so I think again, this is what you have to do and
then what you might want to do,and those are two very different
things.
Right, for our state, we justparent diploma if the kid wants
it.
I had two kids that were verymuch wanted to have a diploma at
their graduation party.
So we special ordered from aplace that does them for
homeschoolers, from a place thatthat does them for
(22:20):
homeschoolers, um, and it wasall nice and they had their,
their cord, their graduationcord, and all that stuff.
I had another child who wasjust like put, just put the,
take the money and put it in mycollege fund.
I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
I don't want any of that right.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Um, we had one child that wanted to walk across a
stage with the local homeschoolgroup.
They had 50 students or so andthey to do the little, the
little you know, procession.
Um, I had one child that justdid a small like recognition
ceremony with their speech anddebate.
Um group.
Uh, I think there's a.
The more connected you are withwith community type groups and
and clubs, the moreopportunities you're going to
see for that.
But other than that, it wasreally just making sure we had
(23:06):
crossed our T's and dotted ourI's for the transcript and if
they had taken any dualenrollment classes.
You know college classes duringhigh school that we got all
those transcripts kind of all inwhere they needed to be so that
when they do apply to collegeswe have we have that information
ready to go and I think thatwasn't difficult.
(23:27):
But I think that's a pointwhere you might second guess
yourself as a parent a littlebit and say did we get
everything on here that we didor did?
Does the grading appropriateand does it reflect my child's
effort?
You know, if it was somethingwhere it was a little more
subjective and a little more,you know you're always like that
(23:47):
parent grade.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
You know that I think those are the more difficult
things than do I print out adiploma, if that makes sense, I
love that.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
No, I appreciate that information because, like I
said, we're just 13 and 15.
So we're still getting to thosestages and my son actually
completed the online classes andcourses we were doing at 12.
So it's been we haven't donemuch in the last few years, but
(24:17):
we're going to figure somethingout.
I think every family is sounique and different, aren't
they?
And I think that, um, doingwhat's best for you and your
family is what's important, andthere's just, there's resources
to find.
You know um, financial help, ifthat's what's necessary, or
(24:38):
scholarships there's so manyscholarships, what about that?
Do you apply for anyscholarships?
Like you know, in Utah we have,like the ACE or the Utah Fits,
all scholarships that our kiddoscan get for homeschooling.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Yeah, so I've been following that the ESA
scholarship space, verycarefully because it seems like
every month another state popsup with some funds.
I live in Nebraska, so the oddsof that happening are.
We're not.
We're not quite that gearedtowards that.
We don't have charter schoolsor a lot of things that are.
They're very different, but Iknow that we do try.
(25:17):
The co-ops in the communitiesaround us do try to really price
things to be more accessiblethan maybe some of the higher
cost of living states.
Right, it's just a lower costof living state to begin with
and our big thing is just tryingto take advantage of, like our
state 529 plan where you can putaway money for college, lowers
(25:38):
your state tax liability alittle bit and then that money
sits there and grows for thechildren.
I think our biggest challengeis having three in college at
the same time is going to be alittle bit of a struggle and
we're we're just.
We're just, year by year,trying to figure, figure out
those numbers and figure outwhat we need to do as a family
(26:00):
to tackle that.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I love that.
Well, and at least you'reworking together as a family
doing it, so that's reallyspecial and that's great.
Oh, my gosh, how let's talkabout the book.
Talk tell, do you have a copyof it by any chance?
So you can?
I should have told you to getit ready beforehand, so, but,
(26:24):
yeah, I got, I have it righthere.
Wonderful Homeschool hacks?
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Yeah, tell us about it.
Yeah.
So it was funny.
I had started this book.
Oh, my goodness, 12.
I can't even tell you how manyyears ago.
I just couldn't.
It just didn't have anytraction at the time.
It was like how to work, how towork while you're homeschooling
, and the the number of peoplewho were trying to build careers
(26:52):
at the same time ofhomeschooling was a very small
slice of people at the time.
And during the pandemic, whenall the schools were shut down
and it just seemed like I wasgiving so much advice, I was.
You know, news stations werecalling and they were asking the
same 10 questions over and overand over and over again.
Right, and I thought I wonderif the book would work.
So I did.
I got an agent, they sold itpretty quickly.
(27:15):
I cleaned it up, wrote it, didinterviews, filled it full of
you know, advice from differentparents, because I obviously
can't get advice, give advice onwhat it's like to be a military
family, homeschooling or youknow just different things that
might help different families.
And we packaged it up and got itout the door pretty quickly for
a traditional publisher andit's been.
(27:36):
You know it's.
It's.
It's not a.
It's not a New York Timesbestseller, but what's fun about
it is that very regularly everymonth I'll get a parent writing
me and saying oh, this was thebook I wished I had when I
started homeschooling.
So it's very much not trying tocome from a place of any
(27:58):
political or faith or you know.
It's like if I had a homeschoolMonday, could I read it this
weekend and at least feelconfident that I could do it,
and and I think that that that'swhat we accomplished with the
book.
So I'm proud of it in thatsense that if you just kind of
feel like you don't know whereto go and Facebook feels busy
(28:18):
and loud and the news feels busyand loud, maybe this is a
little bit more, you know, pullit back and be really realistic
about what you can get done andset some, some standards that
are doable, because I think weput a lot of pressure on
ourselves to do everything anddo it perfectly, and this book
is kind of the counter to that,I think.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I love that.
Homeschool hacks.
Is that correct, mm-hmm?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Super.
Yay, make sure I'm typingcorrectly as I'm listening here.
Yay, oh, yes, definitely go andget a copy.
Where is it sold?
Is it Amazon?
All the places?
Speaker 4 (28:57):
probably.
I guess it's in some Barnes andNobles it's kind of where I
find it all over and it seems tobe just about in every library.
So I know funds are always anissue.
And so please go.
If your family's you're not inthe budget for new books, check
out the library.
I'm pretty sure most of themhave it.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Wonderful, and if your library doesn't have it,
you can ask for it.
You can request books from yourlibrarian and they will look
into them and order them foryour libraries.
I think that that's such a nicething to be able to know and to
do, and libraries have a lot ofreally great community resource
groups get togethers, thingslike that.
(29:41):
So probably check out yourlocal libraries too for some
good information.
Any advice you would like toleave with our listeners today,
or how to get a hold of you allof the good stuff?
Sure.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Sure.
So my website for the book ishomeschoolhacksbookcom and it
has where you can reach me.
Um, but basically I just, youknow, I want to caution parents
not to look to some of thesepeople that have been doing it
forever and have you know theircurriculum all sorted and their
(30:16):
systems all sorted and theirbullet journals and their, their
, their plastic containers andall that stuff, stuff, and feel
like you have to get there zeroto 60.
Usually parents start with onesubject, one activity.
You know.
Just we're just starting at oneand we're building up and the
biggest part is just to reallytake the time to get to know
(30:39):
your child, because we talkedabout those learning styles.
You cannot approach thatcorrectly if you haven't just
had someone on one time withyour kiddo.
So summer's a great time tojust go for a drive.
Take them to the store, slowdown a little bit, listen to
what they're saying and ask themquestions about you know what
(31:00):
do you hate about this subject?
What do you love about thesubject?
Listen to your child.
Let them kind of be more of thecompass than maybe the group of
families on Facebook who havethis specific curriculum they
love or the specific method thatthey love because your child is
the one that you're, you'reraising and you're nurturing,
and especially if they have some, some special needs or some
(31:21):
learning style challenges, thatanswer is only going to come
from the time that you take withthem, from nowhere else.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
Yeah, I love that.
I agree, I think that it'sreally important that you learn
from watching, and I think agood word to say is curious, be
curious, be curious about yourkids.
Then it's fun and interestingand you want to get to know them
better.
I love that.
It's been so nice to get toknow you today, lindsay.
(31:51):
Thank you so much for your time.
Yeah, thank you.
Wonderful advice for familiesand everyone who can go to
homeschoolhack.
Let me bring that upHomeschoolhacksbookcom and and
go follow you.
What social medias and thingslike that can people follow you
on?
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Yeah, so I'm on Instagram a little bit on
Twitter.
I just it's L and my last nameNeural K N E R L.
Okay, yeah, so you can find methere and if you Google I pop up
and you can see all the waysthat.
I mean, I'm just love that.
My emails there.
(32:30):
You can just you can find meand I'm happy to answer
questions.
I don't, I don't consult, Ijust try to point people to the
right direction, me too.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I love that Agreed.
I think that it's it's reallywhen you have resources that you
can help families with, like, Ithink it's the most important
thing to share, and I love Ilove sharing resources with
people.
So make sure that you alsoshare this resource with any
homeschool families that youmight know that might need this
(32:58):
information.
So thank you so much for yourtime today.
I hope we can stay in touch.
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
In the heart of the city.
She's shining bright, oh yeah,stories of love and courage all
throughout the night, her voiceresonating an anthem for all.
Through the trials and thetrials, she answers the call.
A mother and a fighter,breaking barriers and strife.
(33:41):
Love is her guide, guide She'llnever hide.
She's changing the world foryou With her heart and speech
and strong Empathies and melody.
In her journey we all belong.
Followers gather Like stars inthe night.
(34:01):
So bright 44,000 voices Sharingin the night.
So bright, 44,000 voicesSharing in the light.
She stands for family,advocates for more Movement of
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Ways we'll soar Podcast.
Together.
Symphony of support.
Creating life Changing report.
She's changing the world foryou with a heart that's fierce
(34:27):
and strong.
Empathy's, a melody in ajourney we all belong.
Through her eyes, a visionclear.
Together we rise, sheddingfears in every heart, she plants
the seed of understanding andlove for dearly me.
She's changing the world foryou With a heart that's fierce
(35:04):
and strong, empathies andmelodies In a journey we all
belong.
The SJ Childs Show is Backford's 13th season.
Join Sarah Brafford and the SJChilds Show team as they explore
the world of autism and sharestories of hope and inspiration.
This season we're excited tobring you more autism summits
featuring experts and advocatesfrom around the world.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Go to sjchildsorg.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Hi and welcome to the SG Child Show today.
I'm really excited to get intothis conversation, lindsay
Neural hopefully I pronouncedall that correctly.
We're excited to have you hereand learn more about you and
some exciting services, I guess,and products that you're
(00:56):
providing for families, becausewe know families, especially
moms, homeschool moms, dads,whatever you are aunt, uncle,
grandma, grandpa thank you, andwe're here to help.
We're here to give you all theresources we can.
Thank you so much for beinghere today, lindsay.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
I'm excited.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Yeah, really good to have you and give us a little
bit of an introduction.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and what brought you
here.
Yeah, so I am a mom of six.
I've been homeschooling sincethe very beginning.
My oldest is married and 26years of age and my baby is 11.
Yeah, and I have been slowlybuilding a work at home business
probably for the last 16 years.
Started out writing and mommyblogging back in the day and
(01:47):
then it turned into a journalismcareer and then a content
career and I've been just kindof doing a little of this and a
little of that and it's beengreat because my kids are with
me for the whole journey and asI transitioned to new things,
they're kind of right there withme and it's just kind of a
testament to how you canengineer your life to put the
(02:10):
things that are most valuable toyou in the forefront at
whatever that happens to be atthe moment that you're in.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
I love that, and it's never too late to do that.
Six kids is a lot, and forthose of you not watching this,
you're not going to believe thatshe's really those of you that
are.
I won't believe that that shereally has a 26 year old Cause I
think she's only in herthirties, so uh um yeah, no, I
have a 25 year old stepdaughteras well, so I totally get that
(02:38):
and um, but only three, not six,but it's a in.
We've been homeschooling nowfor as well, since oh gosh,
since the beginning, since wewere told that we would not be
accommodated in our publicschool system, which was a hard
swallow.
I came from a paralegalbackground and for many years I
(03:01):
was like why didn't you fightthem, why didn't you, you know?
But now I see that nothing thatthey could have done would have
provided the opportunities thatI have provided for him and
that we have able to, like yousaid, kind of pattern our life
in this way that fits all of us.
(03:22):
And so, yeah, and we have areally tricky sleeper in our
home who follows the moon andsleeps two weeks in the day and
two weeks in the night.
So in order to accommodate one'sbiological differences,
sometimes we have to take thingsinto our own hands and be the
person we never thought we wouldbe, which is the teacher we
(03:45):
never went to school to be.
But that's okay, you know it's.
It's been a hard but really,really rewarding journey on my
end.
Tell us about your experienceand kind of you know, why did
you start it out?
What happened?
What was that key factor?
Speaker 4 (04:06):
Yeah.
So you know, I think there area lot of people that you know
they have the thing that likepushes them out of the school
systems.
Maybe you know learningdifferences or bullying or you
know whatever it is, and that'sabsolutely valid.
We kind of came from it wherewe were moving and we weren't
(04:29):
really settled in the communitywe wanted to be in and our kids
are really tiny and we thoughtdoes it really make sense for
them to be gone?
You know, we our our system hadjust moved from half day
kindergarten to like full daykindergarten.
There was just a lot of it thatdidn't set right and my husband
and I had not been homeschooled.
(04:49):
We didn't have a lot ofexperience with being
homeschooled.
We weren't even actually likelooking at homeschooling and
going.
That's what we want to do.
We want to be like that.
We were actually a little bitlike, you know, I want to work
and I don't really know how tointeract maybe so well with kids
at that age.
That wasn't an age I was reallyvery confident with dealing
(05:11):
with, and so it was kind of athing where we're like we're not
ready to put them in yet.
Let's just take this one yearat a time and if it works, we'll
keep doing it.
And then you know, 20 yearslater, we're like this is, this
is giving us the result, like wefinally have like the product
of our homeschool that has, youknow, gone on to, to to be
(05:34):
functional and well formed and,I think, successful from from
the education and the formationstandpoint and the formation
standpoint.
And so I feel like, yeah,there's a few things we did
right.
This was one of them and andthat was that one year at a time
experiment that we just kept,kept, kept doing and and it
seemed to do, do well for us.
Speaker 3 (05:55):
Now, it sounds like, since you do have six, they are
at different age brackets.
How do you accommodate thedifferent age needs and
curriculum, if you will, and howdo you spread it across?
Do you do one subject at variedlevels for everyone, or do you
do them separately?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Yeah, so because I do work and I run a business and
we like to travel and I like todo things efficiently but also
put the right people in theright jobs, I have more of like
an education curation role inour homeschool.
So instead of sitting at thetable and doing all the
instruction kind of circa early90s 2000s, it's more okay,
(06:42):
here's this great course andit's taught by a teacher who
really, really loves their topicand they're passionate and I
know they're going to pass thatpassion on to you.
Let's have you take this as anonline or we're going to take
this through co-op or it's a lotof.
I think eclectic is kind of theterm yeah, the term I use in my
(07:03):
book, but it's a mix and matchplug and play and there's a few
kind of core curriculumproviders that we use for, like
math.
That seems to work for alllearning styles, or you know
some writing that learn, youknow, helps.
My dyslexic can use it as well,as you know my, my honors level
writing student, and then it'sjust a matter of at their own
(07:26):
pace.
But by and large, it's just wefigure out at the beginning of
the year what we're going to use.
I kind of know what's beenworking for our family and
everyone.
Just, it's like moving pieceson a chessboard.
Every you know.
I go around and I'm like, okay,what's your next move and
what's your next move and whatdo we hope to get done this week
?
And what are our, what are ourobstacles?
(07:46):
And then you know it's largelyself-directed.
They're watching the videos,they're taking the courses,
they're doing the work.
And then they come to me withlike I don't, I can't figure
this out.
And then you know I'm notcalculus two material.
So I'll say let's figure thisout together, let's figure out
how to get the answer, let'sfigure out who can be, because
that's how it's going to be incollege, right, or a job or
(08:09):
anything else that you're doing.
You're going to have to figureout who the keeper of that, that
, that information, is, and sowe're actually just equipping
them to find that information.
I'm not providing all of it.
My goodness, I couldn't evenbegin to have all that knowledge
.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
So, yeah, I love that .
No, I think that there's.
I think that's a reallyimportant thing for parents to
hear.
There's no one stop shop there.
It is a mastery of all.
And there is, you know, thespider web of, if you will, of
all of the things put together.
Is the complete picture really,what about for any of our
(08:47):
parents out there who might bestruggling with a kiddo, who
isn't interested and doesn'twant to do the work, like, how
do we help them look atsomething and be interested, or
how do you kind of leverage that?
Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, it really is carrot stick, carrot being like
okay, you know you likeMinecraft and you know, every
day you want to play nine hoursof Minecraft, no, minecraft,
till you do math.
And sometimes it's as simple asthat and other times it's, you
know, okay, maybe you're not thekid that gets motivated by that
, but we, we have to to, we haveto look at maybe some you know,
(09:26):
taking the phone away, or Imean, my kids have been pretty
good about, um, not having tohave.
We don't wait until it gets tothe point where we have to like,
really just pull everythingaway, like it's not, like we're
with them all day long, right,so we?
So we get to see the behaviors,we get to see the, the
obstacles, like before they getto the point where it's like you
(09:49):
haven't done this in four weeks.
Now I have to cry, yeah, like,like it.
It kind of like falls on us tonot let it get to that point.
And then you know there arejust some kids with some
subjects that are just alwaysgoing to be I mean, look at,
look at your day, there'sprobably something you
procrastinate, you hate doing,and it's only because you know,
(10:09):
like, like taxes, like I'm goingto suffer my house being taken
or jail yeah, toilets.
So so we, we can't really notsee that in our own children and
I, honestly, I just think Iknow what each of my kids is
Carrots, what the thing is goingto be, and I'm like here's what
(10:31):
it is, and for most of my kids,it's video games.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Honestly, yeah, well, and I love how much and how
many resources there are nowthrough video games.
Like I remember, you know mykids are 13 and 15 now, so they
don't.
One of them still likes to playMinecraft once in a while and
stuff, but not like they used to.
You know they were really intoit at the different ages, but I
(11:00):
remember having one kiddo domultiplication tables in
Minecraft, build their ownmultiplication tables, count the
blocks, count the, and I reallyjust tried to help them in and
kind of help tutor them in thatprocess in what they were doing,
and that's so fun for everybodyand then it also gives them a
chance to feel real proud ofthemselves when they do do
(11:23):
something and then they can showyou, look what I've done and
look what you know I've, I've,I've accomplished, and that's
always great.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
Yeah, you know it's interesting with that too, that
you say that the video gameshave changed a lot, because, you
know, I just cleaned out abunch of homeschool curriculum,
which is always a painful.
Oh, we spent all this money forthis.
Don't want to get rid of it,but yeah, I get it.
It's funny what technology hasreplaced and I, you know, I
(11:52):
could look at it and say, oh,it's sad, but at the same time
it's like, oh, my kids arereally, you know.
I think one of them was ageography website where every
day they're learning a differentplace in the world and the
capitals.
And I had to look, I had tolook at my, my books that I
bought that were capitals andStates, that that never got
opened, and I thought, oh, I'm aterrible parent.
(12:12):
And the kids are like why Iknow what these little, teeny,
tiny countries in Eastern Europeare called and we wouldn't
maybe have learned that withthis very workbooky style of
curriculum that you feel goodabout, because it's all very,
you know, physical and very welllaid out and beautiful.
(12:32):
But it didn't work for them.
And I think there's kind ofbeing careful that we don't make
things too precious because welike the idea of them if they
don't work.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
That's a great point.
I really like that.
I think that we do put a lot ofpressure on ourselves to do
that.
I'm like really glad you saidthat I do that to myself and
sometimes can get in my own wayin that way.
And I agree that we need tolook.
(13:04):
This generation is unlike anygeneration that's ever been.
The generation after that willbe the same.
That's how it works.
You know, we have to honor thespace that they're in and we
have to be like understandingthat we don't understand where
they're at because we don't.
We didn't have that availableto us, we weren't nine and
(13:28):
having every channel.
You know we didn't have to waitfor commercials, we didn't have
to all of those things.
It's like everything isavailable to them.
We really have to almost diveinto it, navigate it ourselves,
so that we can be good teachers,role models, everything in
(13:49):
using it correctly Right now.
And I just had a wonderfulautism event where I use chat
GPT so much.
I've, you know, had it puttogether so many things for me
and I've done several events inthe past and this one was the
best, it was the easiest, it wasthe best, it was the best put
(14:10):
together, because I rely.
I use the tools available to mein the right ways, you know,
without taking advantage orusing them incorrectly or for
any other purpose.
But I'm now seeing, you know,my kiddos really not interested
in having a computer.
She just wants her phone.
She doesn't even want a laptopor anything, and I'm like but
(14:33):
there's these things that canreally assist and I want you to
learn how to use these tools tohelp yourself.
You know, be better.
But I also think I see thedangers in making them
complacent.
It's really tricky.
You have to, I guess, have theright boundaries put down.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
It is, and you know we're learning alongside them,
which is another another thingabout homeschooling because you
know, I see so many times onthese, like Facebook groups or
these boards, and these parentsare like they think they have to
learn everything first and thenthey can turn around and teach
their child.
And I'm thinking about thesebusiness gurus or people you
know.
You probably have seen themright.
(15:17):
They're like selling theirmillion dollar course or
whatever.
A lot of these people just arelike have learned the one thing.
They're one step ahead.
Like a guru is often justsomebody who just learned
yesterday what you're going tolearn tomorrow.
And the same principle could beapplied to like your children,
like you don't.
You can learn alongside them.
How do we navigate technology?
(15:37):
What is this thing?
How do we put in boundaries towait until you have it all
figured out?
Your children are going to bemoved out and gone and you're
still not going to have it.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, and it's changing.
It's ever changing, isn't it,and I think that that we have to
embrace that.
I think that I had a reallyhard time getting rid of the
books and the workbooks and allof those things, cause I did,
you know, have one child thatwas very much kinetic, very much
(16:07):
wanted hands on everything, andthen one that was more auditory
and visual, because she wasdyslexic and those things didn't
work for her.
Those were written workbooksand things that she couldn't
hear it correctly, was feltimpossible for her to to learn
(16:27):
from.
So important to recognize yourchild's learning style, you know
, and and how to identify those.
Do you have any tricks that youmight give a parent to help
narrow down what their kid'slearning style might be?
Speaker 4 (16:42):
Yeah, and you know it's interesting because we see,
oh, there's no such thing as alearning style or the back and
the forth of that.
And I would just say that, youknow, having a child who was
diagnosed very late in theprocess was was 18 when we
finally got my son, because weknew there was some.
He was performing really wellin school, he was getting A's,
(17:04):
he was reading these giant booksand he was enjoying them, but
it was just, it took him a longtime, right and, and there were
just signs, or, and it turnedout that the systems he had
built to be able to perform werejust intricate.
Right, they're genius kids.
Right, they form theseintricate, little little systems
for how to get by in life.
(17:25):
And when we discovered this, wewere like, okay, this is amazing
.
But also, looking back, I feellike I should have.
I should have taken the easierpath of least resistance right,
Like not just because now I findout that was probably the only
way you could have learned, butbecause part of learning as an
(17:48):
adult is trying to find the mostefficient, easiest way to learn
things.
True, and I love beautifulbooks and I am actually.
I love classical education.
That's pretty much what we do,but we mix it with technology.
For my kids that have obstaclesin their learning, A lot of it
is just observation.
You know, when we got thediagnosis, I started buying
(18:10):
audio books for him and he toldme mom, I can't focus on the
audio books.
Like, I know, this is how I'msupposed to learn better, but I
still really like seeing thewords with my eyes and reading
along.
And what we found is, oh, heneeded audio books, but he also
needed the physical book so thathe could track, otherwise his
(18:30):
focus would kind of wander.
And so you know that's notsomething.
Maybe that was listed in therecommended accommodations for
him, but it was something thatwe discovered through time.
So I think a lot of it is justlistening to your child when
they say this isn't, this isn'tright or this isn't working,
because he prefers not to doaudio books for certain things,
(18:53):
or he prefers to write oldfashioned with a pen, even
though it's atrocious and wecan't see what he's written
because he feels like thatsticks in his brain better.
So it's kind of finding thathappy medium between what they
want to do and what works forthem and what's practical, like
we can't take nine hours to takenotes, right, we only have.
(19:15):
It's just a lot, and I thinkthe technology is really going
to help fill in the gaps betweenall those different learning
styles making things that werenever tactical or tactile
tactile right, making thingsthat were never auditory
auditory.
It's a great time ofpossibility.
But just because an expert saysyour child might learn better
(19:38):
this way, they're still superunique, individual, human and
they might have built a systemwhere maybe it's a roundabout
way to getting there, but that'swhat they're comfortable with
and so I never try to interferewith that.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
I love that, I agree.
I totally agree.
You should always follow whatyou're.
You learn the best about yourchild when you follow, and it's
hard.
I think parents struggle withthat.
I think that they come with anidea that being in charge means
being in control and I thinkthat that's a tricky, tricky
(20:13):
tightrope to walk.
I don't like I've, and maybecall it because it's child
number three.
You can say whatever.
You know, it's number six.
But the essence of having arelationship with this
individual, as just this humanrelationship goes, is so much
(20:33):
more important to me than thetime that they're going to get
out of bed or the dinner thatthey might not eat all the way,
or you know, I just really havefound this different parenting
relationship with this otherchild than I have in the past
and it's given me a such adifferent perspective of
parenting that I could neverimagine.
(20:56):
And I said to my husband lastnight and I think it's kind of
unique she's somebody that she'slike my shadow self, somebody
that I never could have been,and so I want to see every part
of that thrive, because it'slike you know, yes, bloom,
(21:22):
please, you know where I wasbeing.
Like you know, told not to.
Yeah, I think it's just reallyfascinating when we really
follow and we see what worksbest.
Yeah, amazing.
It must be a lot of work, though, to you know, this was my
question that came up before.
I just interrupt myself with myown weird comments there.
But what about graduating?
So we're getting close tograduation.
We're in graduation time rightnow for a lot of parents Help
(21:46):
parents that don't understandwhat that looks like.
You know what does that processlook like?
Do they do a certificate ofcompletion?
That type of how do we get tothat when it's to the end, what
do we do then?
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
so I think again, this is what you have to do and
then what you might want to do,and those are two very different
things.
Right, for our state, we justparent diploma if the kid wants
it.
I had two kids that were verymuch wanted to have a diploma at
their graduation party.
So we special ordered from aplace that does them for
homeschoolers, from a place thatthat does them for
(22:20):
homeschoolers, um, and it wasall nice and they had their,
their cord, their graduationcord, and all that stuff.
I had another child who wasjust like put, just put the,
take the money and put it in mycollege fund.
I don't.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
I don't want any of that right.
Speaker 4 (22:45):
Um, we had one child that wanted to walk across a
stage with the local homeschoolgroup.
They had 50 students or so andthey to do the little, the
little you know, procession.
Um, I had one child that justdid a small like recognition
ceremony with their speech anddebate.
Um group.
Uh, I think there's a.
The more connected you are withwith community type groups and
and clubs, the moreopportunities you're going to
see for that.
But other than that, it wasreally just making sure we had
(23:06):
crossed our T's and dotted ourI's for the transcript and if
they had taken any dualenrollment classes.
You know college classes duringhigh school that we got all
those transcripts kind of all inwhere they needed to be so that
when they do apply to collegeswe have we have that information
ready to go and I think thatwasn't difficult.
(23:27):
But I think that's a pointwhere you might second guess
yourself as a parent a littlebit and say did we get
everything on here that we didor did?
Does the grading appropriateand does it reflect my child's
effort?
You know, if it was somethingwhere it was a little more
subjective and a little more,you know you're always like that
(23:47):
parent grade.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
You know that I think those are the more difficult
things than do I print out adiploma, if that makes sense, I
love that.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
No, I appreciate that information because, like I
said, we're just 13 and 15.
So we're still getting to thosestages and my son actually
completed the online classes andcourses we were doing at 12.
So it's been we haven't donemuch in the last few years, but
(24:17):
we're going to figure somethingout.
I think every family is sounique and different, aren't
they?
And I think that, um, doingwhat's best for you and your
family is what's important, andthere's just, there's resources
to find.
You know um, financial help, ifthat's what's necessary, or
(24:38):
scholarships there's so manyscholarships, what about that?
Do you apply for anyscholarships?
Like you know, in Utah we have,like the ACE or the Utah Fits,
all scholarships that our kiddoscan get for homeschooling.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
Yeah, so I've been following that the ESA
scholarship space, verycarefully because it seems like
every month another state popsup with some funds.
I live in Nebraska, so the oddsof that happening are.
We're not.
We're not quite that gearedtowards that.
We don't have charter schoolsor a lot of things that are.
They're very different, but Iknow that we do try.
(25:17):
The co-ops in the communitiesaround us do try to really price
things to be more accessiblethan maybe some of the higher
cost of living states.
Right, it's just a lower costof living state to begin with
and our big thing is just tryingto take advantage of, like our
state 529 plan where you can putaway money for college, lowers
(25:38):
your state tax liability alittle bit and then that money
sits there and grows for thechildren.
I think our biggest challengeis having three in college at
the same time is going to be alittle bit of a struggle and
we're we're just.
We're just, year by year,trying to figure, figure out
those numbers and figure outwhat we need to do as a family
(26:00):
to tackle that.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
Yeah, I love that.
Well, and at least you'reworking together as a family
doing it, so that's reallyspecial and that's great.
Oh, my gosh, how let's talkabout the book.
Talk tell, do you have a copyof it by any chance?
So you can?
I should have told you to getit ready beforehand, so, but,
(26:24):
yeah, I got, I have it righthere.
Wonderful Homeschool hacks?
Speaker 4 (26:29):
Yeah, tell us about it.
Yeah.
So it was funny.
I had started this book.
Oh, my goodness, 12.
I can't even tell you how manyyears ago.
I just couldn't.
It just didn't have anytraction at the time.
It was like how to work, how towork while you're homeschooling
, and the the number of peoplewho were trying to build careers
(26:52):
at the same time ofhomeschooling was a very small
slice of people at the time.
And during the pandemic, whenall the schools were shut down
and it just seemed like I wasgiving so much advice, I was.
You know, news stations werecalling and they were asking the
same 10 questions over and overand over and over again.
Right, and I thought I wonderif the book would work.
So I did.
I got an agent, they sold itpretty quickly.
(27:15):
I cleaned it up, wrote it, didinterviews, filled it full of
you know, advice from differentparents, because I obviously
can't get advice, give advice onwhat it's like to be a military
family, homeschooling or youknow just different things that
might help different families.
And we packaged it up and got itout the door pretty quickly for
a traditional publisher andit's been.
(27:36):
You know it's.
It's.
It's not a.
It's not a New York Timesbestseller, but what's fun about
it is that very regularly everymonth I'll get a parent writing
me and saying oh, this was thebook I wished I had when I
started homeschooling.
So it's very much not trying tocome from a place of any
(27:58):
political or faith or you know.
It's like if I had a homeschoolMonday, could I read it this
weekend and at least feelconfident that I could do it,
and and I think that that that'swhat we accomplished with the
book.
So I'm proud of it in thatsense that if you just kind of
feel like you don't know whereto go and Facebook feels busy
(28:18):
and loud and the news feels busyand loud, maybe this is a
little bit more, you know, pullit back and be really realistic
about what you can get done andset some, some standards that
are doable, because I think weput a lot of pressure on
ourselves to do everything anddo it perfectly, and this book
is kind of the counter to that,I think.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
I love that.
Homeschool hacks.
Is that correct, mm-hmm?
Speaker 3 (28:44):
Super.
Yay, make sure I'm typingcorrectly as I'm listening here.
Yay, oh, yes, definitely go andget a copy.
Where is it sold?
Is it Amazon?
All the places?
Speaker 4 (28:57):
probably.
I guess it's in some Barnes andNobles it's kind of where I
find it all over and it seems tobe just about in every library.
So I know funds are always anissue.
And so please go.
If your family's you're not inthe budget for new books, check
out the library.
I'm pretty sure most of themhave it.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
Wonderful, and if your library doesn't have it,
you can ask for it.
You can request books from yourlibrarian and they will look
into them and order them foryour libraries.
I think that that's such a nicething to be able to know and to
do, and libraries have a lot ofreally great community resource
groups get togethers, thingslike that.
(29:41):
So probably check out yourlocal libraries too for some
good information.
Any advice you would like toleave with our listeners today,
or how to get a hold of you allof the good stuff?
Sure.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
Sure.
So my website for the book ishomeschoolhacksbookcom and it
has where you can reach me.
Um, but basically I just, youknow, I want to caution parents
not to look to some of thesepeople that have been doing it
forever and have you know theircurriculum all sorted and their
(30:16):
systems all sorted and theirbullet journals and their, their
, their plastic containers andall that stuff, stuff, and feel
like you have to get there zeroto 60.
Usually parents start with onesubject, one activity.
You know.
Just we're just starting at oneand we're building up and the
biggest part is just to reallytake the time to get to know
(30:39):
your child, because we talkedabout those learning styles.
You cannot approach thatcorrectly if you haven't just
had someone on one time withyour kiddo.
So summer's a great time tojust go for a drive.
Take them to the store, slowdown a little bit, listen to
what they're saying and ask themquestions about you know what
(31:00):
do you hate about this subject?
What do you love about thesubject?
Listen to your child.
Let them kind of be more of thecompass than maybe the group of
families on Facebook who havethis specific curriculum they
love or the specific method thatthey love because your child is
the one that you're, you'reraising and you're nurturing,
and especially if they have some, some special needs or some
(31:21):
learning style challenges, thatanswer is only going to come
from the time that you take withthem, from nowhere else.
Speaker 3 (31:29):
Yeah, I love that.
I agree, I think that it'sreally important that you learn
from watching, and I think agood word to say is curious, be
curious, be curious about yourkids.
Then it's fun and interestingand you want to get to know them
better.
I love that.
It's been so nice to get toknow you today, lindsay.
(31:51):
Thank you so much for your time.
Yeah, thank you.
Wonderful advice for familiesand everyone who can go to
homeschoolhack.
Let me bring that upHomeschoolhacksbookcom and and
go follow you.
What social medias and thingslike that can people follow you
on?
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Yeah, so I'm on Instagram a little bit on
Twitter.
I just it's L and my last nameNeural K N E R L.
Okay, yeah, so you can find methere and if you Google I pop up
and you can see all the waysthat.
I mean, I'm just love that.
My emails there.
(32:30):
You can just you can find meand I'm happy to answer
questions.
I don't, I don't consult, Ijust try to point people to the
right direction, me too.
Speaker 3 (32:36):
I love that Agreed.
I think that it's it's reallywhen you have resources that you
can help families with, like, Ithink it's the most important
thing to share, and I love Ilove sharing resources with
people.
So make sure that you alsoshare this resource with any
homeschool families that youmight know that might need this
(32:58):
information.
So thank you so much for yourtime today.
I hope we can stay in touch.
Yeah, me too.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
In the heart of the city.
She's shining bright, oh yeah,stories of love and courage all
throughout the night, her voiceresonating an anthem for all.
Through the trials and thetrials, she answers the call.
A mother and a fighter,breaking barriers and strife.
(33:41):
Love is her guide, guide She'llnever hide.
She's changing the world foryou With her heart and speech
and strong Empathies and melody.
In her journey we all belong.
Followers gather Like stars inthe night.
(34:01):
So bright 44,000 voices Sharingin the night.
So bright, 44,000 voicesSharing in the light.
She stands for family,advocates for more Movement of
compassion.
Ways we'll soar Podcast.
Together.
Symphony of support.
Creating life Changing report.
She's changing the world foryou with a heart that's fierce
(34:27):
and strong.
Empathy's, a melody in ajourney we all belong.
Through her eyes, a visionclear.
Together we rise, sheddingfears in every heart, she plants
the seed of understanding andlove for dearly me.
She's changing the world foryou With a heart that's fierce
(35:04):
and strong, empathies andmelodies In a journey we all
belong.
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