August 19, 2025 • 16 mins
CHRISTIAN HOMESCHOOLING WAS THE OG OF HOMESCHOOLING And I'm not sure Kashia Davis with the Christian Homeschooling Educators of Colorado wants to be called an Original Gangster (OG) but it's true. She joins me today to talk about Christian homeschooling in Colorado at 1pm. Find out more about their organization here.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
In this hour we're going to talk about you know,
I love educational options. I love giving kids and families
the most opportunities to have their kids succeed. I have
known children who have gone to private school, public school,
charter schools, homeschool, Christian homeschools, I mean every kind of
schooling that you can imagine, And I love having options.
(00:21):
And joining me now to talk about one of the
options that I could to guess that this particular option
has been around maybe the longest out of any of
your non public sort of school traditional pathways, and that
is Christian homeschooling. And joining me now Keaja Davis. She
is the outreach director for the Christian Home Educators of
(00:42):
Colorado Association.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Keja, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
First of all, I thank you, Mandy. I really appreciate
you having us on.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, it's great to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Am I accurate because I feel like when I was
a kid at you know, back in the seventies, like
the only people that homeschool did so because they were
Christian homeschoolers. So I feel like you guys are like
like the original gangster of homeschooling.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Ah, that's true.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
It's funny that you said that, because I feel like
there's a modern movement of homeschooling that started maybe in
the seventies eighties when it really became legal.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
But I would.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Argue exactly what you just said. It really is the
oldest form of education. It's what we did from the
beginning of time, parents trained their children. Our idea of
modern education really was like the nineteen hundreds, right, It
totally evolved and changed here.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
So yeah, I agree, and today.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
The homeschooling movement is completely being transformed. It's not as
largely just a Christian movement. We're seeing families and that's
why I emailed the radio station. It's back to school season,
but we're seeing a lot of people who are saying,
I am done, I am out, and they're coming to
homeschooling because they're sort of fleeing.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
What they're seeing in the public education system.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Will I was talking about this earlier. I feel that
there are there are Christian homeschoolers that use a curriculum
that is rooted and Christian principles. They use Bible as
a reference point, you know, more often than not. And
then there's this secular homeschool movement that doesn't really have
any of those components, but is still parents taking control
(02:14):
of what their kids are learning and how they're learning. Yeah,
So are you saying they're like they kind of blend
together in the middle or are they distinctly different And.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
If so, how are they different?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, I definitely think that they're different, obviously different motives,
and yet at the same time, they're similar because the
motive is really they want what's best for their kid, right, right,
They're trying to take an education system because I mean,
I think the studies of families that are not happy
with the education system, it's like sixty plus percent are
saying that they're not happy with the education system. So
(02:47):
we're seeing that and the reason the number one reason
in these same studies that people choose homeschooling, they're citing safety.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
So it might not necessarily be biblical.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Values, but we're hearing We just had our introduction to
homeso seminar. We do several of these trainings throughout the year,
but in just the last one, it seemed like half
of the group was citing the governments think they own
my children. I'm tired of the woke ideologies, and we're
seeing that in Colorado. I mean, look at Fight thirteen twelve,
that the rally of all the parents that came out
(03:18):
of the woodwork, the groups that were activists fighting against.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
That to defend those rights. And I love that. So
in my mind, I'm like, come on, come at it,
let's go.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
We have different theologies, we have different reasons that maybe,
but I think what we're united in is what we
want best for our children, what we think is best
for our kids.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So let me ask you a few questions, because you know,
I've worked as part of the school choice movement for
a long time.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
I believe in charter.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Schools, I believe in traditional schools, and I you know,
and I mean it when I say I want every
kid to have access to whatever is the best educational
opportunity for them, right, whatever that is. But ultimately you
get the same kind of objections. And one of the
things that I hear when you talk about homeschooling Christian
homeschooling regularly, well, the kids don't have any social they don't.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
They end up being the weird kids.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
And my personal.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Experience with homeschool kids is the exact opposite. They're the
most social and outgoing, and you know, can talk to
anybody kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Is that what you see as well?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Yeah? I do.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
It's funny because it is probably the first common objection,
but it's the most ridiculous objection because if I were
to flip that around and ask you, well, where in
your life outside of K through twelve.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Are you going to be in a room with thirty
people who.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Are all your same age, who are all living the
same life? Right? That never happens. That's not real socialization.
So homeschool that's a myth. Are there weird homeschoolers?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yeah? Are there weird public schoolers? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Are there weird private schoolers? I mean there are weird people.
We're at diverse human race, right.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
So yeah, I laugh at that objection because it is
very silly.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What about people who say, you know what? What? What
you know?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
How do you think you're smart enough to actually teach
your own children?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
How do you think?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I mean, teachers go to college and they get degrees
and they learn all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
How are you smart enough to do this?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
It's so funny. I mean I have kind of two
thoughts on that. One.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
One of the fastest growing demographics in home education are
actually teachers because.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
They're and they feel ill equipped, which is hilarious.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
But what they're learning for education is really classroom management,
behavioral things, and that doesn't apply in a homeschool setting.
It's completely different. It's not doing school at home. But
then I like to turn that on somebody's head and.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Say, well, did you go to public school?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So are you telling me that public school education didn't
equip you enough to teach your.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Kid to read? I mean, it's just funny to me.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So but the answer, the best answer for that being snarky,
really is that there's curriculum.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
You don't have to be an expert.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I like to say it's not my quote, but somebody said,
you know, homeschooling is rad You need two education set once.
So as a homeschool mom, you can learn with your
student because the curriculum is written differently than the.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Public school books that have a teacher manual and a
student manual.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
A lot of times, the curriculum is written so that
you're doing this as a family together.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
It makes it much more attainable. So rest assured you
can do this.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
And I like to joke that I was like the
smartest dumb person ever because I was brilliant in school.
I got like full ride scholarships for college. But then
tell me, ask me about it later. I went to
school for chemical engineering, and by the time we got
to chemistry. When I was doing homeschool with my kids,
I looked at the periodic table of elements, which I
at one point had memorized, and I said, I have
(06:36):
never seen this before in my life. And that is what.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Traditional education is doing.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Is teaching us to regurgitate, to memorize. It's not creating
critical thinking.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
It's not. So my job is to engage a community.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I want a revolution. I want to see more parents
embracing education. I think the more that they are involved,
the better. So clearly, in my mind, homeschooling is.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
The best, but I don't really care. I want parents
to just jump in get involved.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You are equipped, and the fact that you think you're
mad equipped is kind of telling to me and kind
of points to the fact that we need to do
something different.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Right, Absolutely, I mean I think that's a great point.
I mean, you don't think you're equipped because you just
got a public school education that you're about to send
your kids to. That's a pretty compelling argument. I just
got this text message most people can't afford to homeschool
because both parents have to work. I mean, that's an objection,
that's a timing objection. But what would you say to that.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
That's a great objection, and I would say it's a
valid objection.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I totally understand.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
However, schooling homeschooling is not schooling at home, so you've
got to kind of think outside the box. I think
we've been conditioned to think, well, homeschooling is you've got
to sit at a desk, it's from like seven thirty
until three.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Or whatever, and it's absolutely not that.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
You can be much more efficient with your time, and
you can think outside the box and think creatively as
a homeschool mom. Myself, I did stay home with my children, but.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
I never didn't.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I also, we were entrepreneurs, we had our own business,
we did side things, so we worked in non traditional
ways in non traditional times, so you don't necessarily have
to do it when all the kids are going on
their yellow school bus.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
You can do it outside of that.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And then there are other I mean, there's some great studies.
It's not really in my wheelhouse, but there's a lot
of information about how that second job really is costing you.
So it's evaluating and reassessing your priorities. And these are
some of the things that we like to talk about
at check because you know, Christian Home Educators of Colorado,
we're here to support homeschooling, to lift up their hands,
(08:36):
to point them to resources, just to strengthen them.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
And that's a real life objection. So how do you
do that?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
And we want to give them some tips and some
blog posts and some encouragement from real life homeschoolers that
just talk about those real things to help you think creatively,
not the way it's always been done, because there is
a there is a way.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Well, and I will say that the rise of remote
work has all also been very helpful. Both my son
and his wife work, but they work remotely so they're
able to homeschool my grandsons because they can balance that
very very easily. So what kind of support is there?
Because I'm aware I have a lot of friends who homeschooled,
and to your point, most of them are former public
(09:18):
school teachers or even private school teachers, and they've left
the field to stay and teach their own kids. But
what kind of support do you have or are their
homeschool groups like yours, or how can people find the
community that exists.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Yeah, that's a really good question too, because yeah, homeschooling
is not being a little hermit inside your box, inside
your bubble. You really do want community, and you need
the right community to support you and help you.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Especially, as you said, a lot of people do need to.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Incomes and trying to think outside of the box, and
that does require probably support and community.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
So again, check dot org is our website, and we do.
We have a.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Whole directory of homeschool groups that are from support groups
to co ops to enrichment programs and I'm on and
on the list goes. But basically you can kind of
find a community where you can get around that other resources.
I mean, if you think of a homeschool need, we
have it from encouragement too.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
We have a podcast that is all about.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Talking to homeschool moms and helping them tell their stories
so other people can be inspired in other ways.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
So there is a plethora of it's almost a little
bit too much.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
So I'd like to help navigate people because every homeschool
family is different, and you said that at the beginning,
Like I want to see families embrace what they need
for their home, and they're going to have unique needs
because they have unique children, right, And that's what homeschooling
affords is the opportunity for them to customize and to
have a really specific education plan that is that incorporates
(10:53):
everything holistically.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
So do not have do you.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Have any data on the college readiness or college attainment
of homeschool kids versus the general population of other kids.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, I don't have it memorized necessarily, but I do
know that the statistics on homeschool students and standardized testing
is like an average of twenty five points higher, twenty
five cotage points higher, which is amazing, and that's always
been the case on standardized test comparisons. So that's really encouraging.
And I do know I've heard anecdotal stories of schools
(11:28):
pursuing college college is pursuing homeschool graduates. So yeah, there's
no data that suggests that there isn't that college path.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
In fact, the opposite.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Well, this texture just said, Mandy, don't forget about ask,
don't forget to ask about going to college. My son
graduated from Colorado's School of Minds. They love homeschoolers.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Yes, a lot of times I hear that. That's why
I said anecdotally, I hear college admission people talking about, Oh,
they're great because they're independent learners. They know how to
be critical thinking, they know how to do something more
than just what they're told.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Right when people are thinking about this, you mentioned a
few things that are on your website. I want to
find out, like you said, enrichment, what does that mean?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
So when we have different classes and co ops that
you can do.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So a co op would be families coming together and
kind of sharing the work and teaching.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Maybe Susie teaches art and Sero teaches science, that kind
of thing.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
An enrichment program is where you kind of all akart,
pick some supplemental things.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
So you might want to.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Do a lego robotics class, but you don't feel like
you could do it. So an enrichment program would be
a great resource for.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
You where you can just pick the activities that are
going to really enrich your homeschool. All right, does that
make sense?
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I just wanted to clarify
so if people understand. And that's the thing I think
that when people initially start thinking about homeschooling, there is
also that fear of loneliness, not just for the kids,
but especially if you have an only child. And every
family that I have known, and again I've known so
many that have homeschooled, Their kids have played sports because
the district that you're in can accommodate that they have
(13:02):
done after school activities, They've done all these enrichment plans,
and then they would also take a family trip to
go to the beach to do a marine biology experience
because they could and the stuff that they were able
to do with their kids and did it in a
way that was fully educational and that you know, worked
for their family.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I loved it. I mean I absolutely loved it. My
daughter was like, I do not want to homeschool. She
was like adamant, she wanted to go to school. So
here we are.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
But I'm thrilled that my son and his wife are
doing it and Casual. What a great advocate for this
you are. And I put the link to your website
on the blog today and that's check CCHEC dot org.
If you want more information, you can check it out
there upun Intended and.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Find out more.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
But is it too late, like here's the thing. Is
it too late for people that start this school year already?
Is it too late to make the shift right?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
No? And we see that a lot. Actually, there's families
that start school and.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
They're like, wow, I wasn't really happy last year, but
we're just gonna go ahead and do it, because I
think people just get stuck. They get in that mindset
and they're like, well, this is what we do because
this is what we've always done. So we will see
a surge in homeschool interest even the first month after
the school starts, and then in January. A lot of
times families are like, that's it. So you can start
homeschooling year round anytime. And that is one of the
(14:22):
things that we help families do all the time is
figure out how to navigate withdrawing your child from a
public school system. I always advocate for a deschooling period
when you do that, because the paradigm is so different.
Schooling is not doing school at home, and you kind
of have to shift.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
I mean, you you just.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Gave some great examples of some of the things I
love about homeschooling and traveling and doing educational activities and
building around all these fun things that you can do
that you don't have the time to do when your
child is in public school.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
And that's one of the things that I hear families.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Who did public school who start now or private school
even is they just can't believe how much time they
lost with their kids in school, and they just get
to redeem that because instead of them getting on the
bus and then coming home, you can get school done
in like four hours, and they can pursue other interests
and other activities, whether it be sports or science or
reading or music or whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
It can be so life giving and so enriching.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
But I just want to go back to your comment
too about the double income and can people afford it.
We have an outreach that we do called the Castleline Fund.
It was named after the family that started it. But
it's a single mom's outreach. So I know so many
moms who are single who are also homeschooling, so this
is completely attainable. I mean, these single moms have to
(15:39):
work full time, and many times they have like a
remote job, or they have a small business where they're
doing school in the place of business that kind of thing,
or they have family that they're relying on. But this
is attainable, it can be done. It's really fun.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
I won't lie. I think homeschooling is hard.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
It takes dedication and commitment, but I think it's totally
worth it.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And I love that the movement is growing.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I think people are waking up to the possibilities and
it's beautiful in my mind.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I do And if you need more information, or do
you want any of your other questions answered, just go
over to the check dot org website c h EC
dot org. And I also put a link on the
blog today right at the top. Kaja, you are just
such a wonderful advocate for this. I really appreciate you
coming on and I'm sure you've got the wheels spinning
for some of our some of our listeners out there,
so I appreciate so much today.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
That is Kaja Davis.
In this hour we're going to talk about you know,
I love educational options. I love giving kids and families
the most opportunities to have their kids succeed. I have
known children who have gone to private school, public school,
charter schools, homeschool, Christian homeschools, I mean every kind of
schooling that you can imagine, And I love having options.
(00:21):
And joining me now to talk about one of the
options that I could to guess that this particular option
has been around maybe the longest out of any of
your non public sort of school traditional pathways, and that
is Christian homeschooling. And joining me now Keaja Davis. She
is the outreach director for the Christian Home Educators of
(00:42):
Colorado Association.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Keja, welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
First of all, I thank you, Mandy. I really appreciate
you having us on.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Well, it's great to hear from you.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
Am I accurate because I feel like when I was
a kid at you know, back in the seventies, like
the only people that homeschool did so because they were
Christian homeschoolers. So I feel like you guys are like
like the original gangster of homeschooling.
Speaker 4 (01:05):
Ah, that's true.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
It's funny that you said that, because I feel like
there's a modern movement of homeschooling that started maybe in
the seventies eighties when it really became legal.
Speaker 4 (01:15):
But I would.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Argue exactly what you just said. It really is the
oldest form of education. It's what we did from the
beginning of time, parents trained their children. Our idea of
modern education really was like the nineteen hundreds, right, It
totally evolved and changed here.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
So yeah, I agree, and today.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
The homeschooling movement is completely being transformed. It's not as
largely just a Christian movement. We're seeing families and that's
why I emailed the radio station. It's back to school season,
but we're seeing a lot of people who are saying,
I am done, I am out, and they're coming to
homeschooling because they're sort of fleeing.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
What they're seeing in the public education system.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Will I was talking about this earlier. I feel that
there are there are Christian homeschoolers that use a curriculum
that is rooted and Christian principles. They use Bible as
a reference point, you know, more often than not. And
then there's this secular homeschool movement that doesn't really have
any of those components, but is still parents taking control
(02:14):
of what their kids are learning and how they're learning. Yeah,
So are you saying they're like they kind of blend
together in the middle or are they distinctly different And.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
If so, how are they different?
Speaker 3 (02:26):
Well, I definitely think that they're different, obviously different motives,
and yet at the same time, they're similar because the
motive is really they want what's best for their kid, right, right,
They're trying to take an education system because I mean,
I think the studies of families that are not happy
with the education system, it's like sixty plus percent are
saying that they're not happy with the education system. So
(02:47):
we're seeing that and the reason the number one reason
in these same studies that people choose homeschooling, they're citing safety.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
So it might not necessarily be biblical.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Values, but we're hearing We just had our introduction to
homeso seminar. We do several of these trainings throughout the year,
but in just the last one, it seemed like half
of the group was citing the governments think they own
my children. I'm tired of the woke ideologies, and we're
seeing that in Colorado. I mean, look at Fight thirteen twelve,
that the rally of all the parents that came out
(03:18):
of the woodwork, the groups that were activists fighting against.
Speaker 4 (03:21):
That to defend those rights. And I love that. So
in my mind, I'm like, come on, come at it,
let's go.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
We have different theologies, we have different reasons that maybe,
but I think what we're united in is what we
want best for our children, what we think is best
for our kids.
Speaker 1 (03:37):
So let me ask you a few questions, because you know,
I've worked as part of the school choice movement for
a long time.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
I believe in charter.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
Schools, I believe in traditional schools, and I you know,
and I mean it when I say I want every
kid to have access to whatever is the best educational
opportunity for them, right, whatever that is. But ultimately you
get the same kind of objections. And one of the
things that I hear when you talk about homeschooling Christian
homeschooling regularly, well, the kids don't have any social they don't.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
They end up being the weird kids.
Speaker 4 (04:08):
And my personal.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
Experience with homeschool kids is the exact opposite. They're the
most social and outgoing, and you know, can talk to
anybody kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Is that what you see as well?
Speaker 4 (04:21):
Yeah? I do.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
It's funny because it is probably the first common objection,
but it's the most ridiculous objection because if I were
to flip that around and ask you, well, where in
your life outside of K through twelve.
Speaker 4 (04:33):
Are you going to be in a room with thirty
people who.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Are all your same age, who are all living the
same life? Right? That never happens. That's not real socialization.
So homeschool that's a myth. Are there weird homeschoolers?
Speaker 4 (04:46):
Yeah? Are there weird public schoolers? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Are there weird private schoolers? I mean there are weird people.
We're at diverse human race, right.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
So yeah, I laugh at that objection because it is
very silly.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
What about people who say, you know what? What? What
you know?
Speaker 1 (05:00):
How do you think you're smart enough to actually teach
your own children?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
How do you think?
Speaker 1 (05:05):
I mean, teachers go to college and they get degrees
and they learn all kinds of stuff.
Speaker 2 (05:09):
How are you smart enough to do this?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
It's so funny. I mean I have kind of two
thoughts on that. One.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
One of the fastest growing demographics in home education are
actually teachers because.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
They're and they feel ill equipped, which is hilarious.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
But what they're learning for education is really classroom management,
behavioral things, and that doesn't apply in a homeschool setting.
It's completely different. It's not doing school at home. But
then I like to turn that on somebody's head and.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
Say, well, did you go to public school?
Speaker 3 (05:36):
So are you telling me that public school education didn't
equip you enough to teach your.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
Kid to read? I mean, it's just funny to me.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
So but the answer, the best answer for that being snarky,
really is that there's curriculum.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
You don't have to be an expert.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
I like to say it's not my quote, but somebody said,
you know, homeschooling is rad You need two education set once.
So as a homeschool mom, you can learn with your
student because the curriculum is written differently than the.
Speaker 4 (06:02):
Public school books that have a teacher manual and a
student manual.
Speaker 3 (06:06):
A lot of times, the curriculum is written so that
you're doing this as a family together.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
It makes it much more attainable. So rest assured you
can do this.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
And I like to joke that I was like the
smartest dumb person ever because I was brilliant in school.
I got like full ride scholarships for college. But then
tell me, ask me about it later. I went to
school for chemical engineering, and by the time we got
to chemistry. When I was doing homeschool with my kids,
I looked at the periodic table of elements, which I
at one point had memorized, and I said, I have
(06:36):
never seen this before in my life. And that is what.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Traditional education is doing.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
Is teaching us to regurgitate, to memorize. It's not creating
critical thinking.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
It's not. So my job is to engage a community.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
I want a revolution. I want to see more parents
embracing education. I think the more that they are involved,
the better. So clearly, in my mind, homeschooling is.
Speaker 4 (06:57):
The best, but I don't really care. I want parents
to just jump in get involved.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
You are equipped, and the fact that you think you're
mad equipped is kind of telling to me and kind
of points to the fact that we need to do
something different.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Right, Absolutely, I mean I think that's a great point.
I mean, you don't think you're equipped because you just
got a public school education that you're about to send
your kids to. That's a pretty compelling argument. I just
got this text message most people can't afford to homeschool
because both parents have to work. I mean, that's an objection,
that's a timing objection. But what would you say to that.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
That's a great objection, and I would say it's a
valid objection.
Speaker 4 (07:35):
I totally understand.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
However, schooling homeschooling is not schooling at home, so you've
got to kind of think outside the box. I think
we've been conditioned to think, well, homeschooling is you've got
to sit at a desk, it's from like seven thirty
until three.
Speaker 4 (07:48):
Or whatever, and it's absolutely not that.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
You can be much more efficient with your time, and
you can think outside the box and think creatively as
a homeschool mom. Myself, I did stay home with my children, but.
Speaker 4 (07:58):
I never didn't.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
I also, we were entrepreneurs, we had our own business,
we did side things, so we worked in non traditional
ways in non traditional times, so you don't necessarily have
to do it when all the kids are going on
their yellow school bus.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
You can do it outside of that.
Speaker 3 (08:15):
And then there are other I mean, there's some great studies.
It's not really in my wheelhouse, but there's a lot
of information about how that second job really is costing you.
So it's evaluating and reassessing your priorities. And these are
some of the things that we like to talk about
at check because you know, Christian Home Educators of Colorado,
we're here to support homeschooling, to lift up their hands,
(08:36):
to point them to resources, just to strengthen them.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
And that's a real life objection. So how do you
do that?
Speaker 3 (08:42):
And we want to give them some tips and some
blog posts and some encouragement from real life homeschoolers that
just talk about those real things to help you think creatively,
not the way it's always been done, because there is
a there is a way.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
Well, and I will say that the rise of remote
work has all also been very helpful. Both my son
and his wife work, but they work remotely so they're
able to homeschool my grandsons because they can balance that
very very easily. So what kind of support is there?
Because I'm aware I have a lot of friends who homeschooled,
and to your point, most of them are former public
(09:18):
school teachers or even private school teachers, and they've left
the field to stay and teach their own kids. But
what kind of support do you have or are their
homeschool groups like yours, or how can people find the
community that exists.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
Yeah, that's a really good question too, because yeah, homeschooling
is not being a little hermit inside your box, inside
your bubble. You really do want community, and you need
the right community to support you and help you.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
Especially, as you said, a lot of people do need to.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Incomes and trying to think outside of the box, and
that does require probably support and community.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
So again, check dot org is our website, and we do.
We have a.
Speaker 3 (09:59):
Whole directory of homeschool groups that are from support groups
to co ops to enrichment programs and I'm on and
on the list goes. But basically you can kind of
find a community where you can get around that other resources.
I mean, if you think of a homeschool need, we
have it from encouragement too.
Speaker 4 (10:18):
We have a podcast that is all about.
Speaker 3 (10:21):
Talking to homeschool moms and helping them tell their stories
so other people can be inspired in other ways.
Speaker 4 (10:26):
So there is a plethora of it's almost a little
bit too much.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
So I'd like to help navigate people because every homeschool
family is different, and you said that at the beginning,
Like I want to see families embrace what they need
for their home, and they're going to have unique needs
because they have unique children, right, And that's what homeschooling
affords is the opportunity for them to customize and to
have a really specific education plan that is that incorporates
(10:53):
everything holistically.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
So do not have do you.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Have any data on the college readiness or college attainment
of homeschool kids versus the general population of other kids.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, I don't have it memorized necessarily, but I do
know that the statistics on homeschool students and standardized testing
is like an average of twenty five points higher, twenty
five cotage points higher, which is amazing, and that's always
been the case on standardized test comparisons. So that's really encouraging.
And I do know I've heard anecdotal stories of schools
(11:28):
pursuing college college is pursuing homeschool graduates. So yeah, there's
no data that suggests that there isn't that college path.
Speaker 4 (11:36):
In fact, the opposite.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Well, this texture just said, Mandy, don't forget about ask,
don't forget to ask about going to college. My son
graduated from Colorado's School of Minds. They love homeschoolers.
Speaker 3 (11:47):
Yes, a lot of times I hear that. That's why
I said anecdotally, I hear college admission people talking about, Oh,
they're great because they're independent learners. They know how to
be critical thinking, they know how to do something more
than just what they're told.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
Right when people are thinking about this, you mentioned a
few things that are on your website. I want to
find out, like you said, enrichment, what does that mean?
Speaker 4 (12:09):
So when we have different classes and co ops that
you can do.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
So a co op would be families coming together and
kind of sharing the work and teaching.
Speaker 4 (12:17):
Maybe Susie teaches art and Sero teaches science, that kind
of thing.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
An enrichment program is where you kind of all akart,
pick some supplemental things.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
So you might want to.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Do a lego robotics class, but you don't feel like
you could do it. So an enrichment program would be
a great resource for.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
You where you can just pick the activities that are
going to really enrich your homeschool. All right, does that
make sense?
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Yeah, that makes perfect sense. I just wanted to clarify
so if people understand. And that's the thing I think
that when people initially start thinking about homeschooling, there is
also that fear of loneliness, not just for the kids,
but especially if you have an only child. And every
family that I have known, and again I've known so
many that have homeschooled, Their kids have played sports because
the district that you're in can accommodate that they have
(13:02):
done after school activities, They've done all these enrichment plans,
and then they would also take a family trip to
go to the beach to do a marine biology experience
because they could and the stuff that they were able
to do with their kids and did it in a
way that was fully educational and that you know, worked
for their family.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I loved it. I mean I absolutely loved it. My
daughter was like, I do not want to homeschool. She
was like adamant, she wanted to go to school. So
here we are.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
But I'm thrilled that my son and his wife are
doing it and Casual. What a great advocate for this
you are. And I put the link to your website
on the blog today and that's check CCHEC dot org.
If you want more information, you can check it out
there upun Intended and.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Find out more.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
But is it too late, like here's the thing. Is
it too late for people that start this school year already?
Is it too late to make the shift right?
Speaker 4 (13:56):
No? And we see that a lot. Actually, there's families
that start school and.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
They're like, wow, I wasn't really happy last year, but
we're just gonna go ahead and do it, because I
think people just get stuck. They get in that mindset
and they're like, well, this is what we do because
this is what we've always done. So we will see
a surge in homeschool interest even the first month after
the school starts, and then in January. A lot of
times families are like, that's it. So you can start
homeschooling year round anytime. And that is one of the
(14:22):
things that we help families do all the time is
figure out how to navigate withdrawing your child from a
public school system. I always advocate for a deschooling period
when you do that, because the paradigm is so different.
Schooling is not doing school at home, and you kind
of have to shift.
Speaker 4 (14:37):
I mean, you you just.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Gave some great examples of some of the things I
love about homeschooling and traveling and doing educational activities and
building around all these fun things that you can do
that you don't have the time to do when your
child is in public school.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
And that's one of the things that I hear families.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Who did public school who start now or private school
even is they just can't believe how much time they
lost with their kids in school, and they just get
to redeem that because instead of them getting on the
bus and then coming home, you can get school done
in like four hours, and they can pursue other interests
and other activities, whether it be sports or science or
reading or music or whatever.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
It can be so life giving and so enriching.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
But I just want to go back to your comment
too about the double income and can people afford it.
We have an outreach that we do called the Castleline Fund.
It was named after the family that started it. But
it's a single mom's outreach. So I know so many
moms who are single who are also homeschooling, so this
is completely attainable. I mean, these single moms have to
(15:39):
work full time, and many times they have like a
remote job, or they have a small business where they're
doing school in the place of business that kind of thing,
or they have family that they're relying on. But this
is attainable, it can be done. It's really fun.
Speaker 4 (15:55):
I won't lie. I think homeschooling is hard.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
It takes dedication and commitment, but I think it's totally
worth it.
Speaker 4 (16:00):
And I love that the movement is growing.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
I think people are waking up to the possibilities and
it's beautiful in my mind.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
I do And if you need more information, or do
you want any of your other questions answered, just go
over to the check dot org website c h EC
dot org. And I also put a link on the
blog today right at the top. Kaja, you are just
such a wonderful advocate for this. I really appreciate you
coming on and I'm sure you've got the wheels spinning
for some of our some of our listeners out there,
so I appreciate so much today.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
Thank you, Thank you.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
That is Kaja Davis.
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