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10 Years of Homeschooling: What Actually Matters · Making Everyday Magic: The Podcast

• 0:00
  Okay.
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  I've been talking a lot recently about how this is our 10th year of homeschooling.
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  And I've been sharing for six years here on this channel.
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  And I just think it's a really, really good time to pause all of the back
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  to school content.
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  All of the here's the pieces before we get to the first day.
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  Before I get to sharing our first day, I think it's really important
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  that I share what I think actually matters.
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  Now that we do have ten years, ten years of homeschooling under our belts.
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  So this video is going to be
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  all about what actually matters in homeschool.
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  And I can say this because I'm entering my 10th year of homeschooling.
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  I've got the experience to back it up and this is my list, okay?
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  This is what actually matters after ten years of homeschooling.
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  Welcome back to Making Everyday Magic. My name is Shanna.
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  If you are new here, we are a home schooling family of four
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  and we are entering our 10th year of homeschooling in.
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  Today we are going to talk about what actually matters.
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  As a homeschooler of ten years, two kids.
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  Let's go!
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  Before we go any further, please scroll down and hit the big red subscribe button.
• 1:11
  Turn on the bell for notifications and give this video a thumbs up.
• 1:14
  As always, you can find me right on down in the comments for over an Instagram
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  at Making Everyday Magic, I need you to add to my list, okay?
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  Because a lot of us have a lot of experience doing this,
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  and sometimes you don't even need a lot of experience
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  you have in a ha moment in your first day, and it is worth sharing.
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  So build our list.
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  What actually matters in homeschool?
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  Okay, because people think it's a lot of things that don't really matter.
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  Socialization doesn't really matter because if you're doing a good job
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  as a homeschooler, you are out and you are social.
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  Expensive curriculum doesn't matter.
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  But here's my list. Okay, so don't let me get ahead of myself.
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  Let me know what you think
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  actually matters or something that you thought would matter.
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  That doesn't matter, because that's what I want to know.
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  These are in no particular order.
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  So don't I think there's like 11 of them.
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  There's not even like a specific number.
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  Number one, I why did I do that?
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  The first thing that I want to share is that learning styles really do matter.
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  Okay.
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  I really think that if you can play into the style in which your child learns
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  or the things that they enjoy, or play it the way they want it to go,
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  find a way to teach best to your learning style.
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  Those are the things that matter, so it matters.
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  My kids love love learning things from videos,
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  and so when I can, I'm going to do that because it works well for them
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  and they enjoy it and and learning things from games.
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  I'm never going to have my kids sit down and do a literature based curriculum,
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  because that's not going to serve them.
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  That's not something they would enjoy,
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  and we wouldn't make progress because that's not their style.
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  And learning styles really matter. Okay,
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  if it is
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  free or if it is low cost, that does not mean it's bad.
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  It really doesn't mean it's bad.
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  Khan Academy is meaning and it's great.
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  Open education resources also really great core knowledge.
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  Amazing.
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  Just because it is free or low cost does not mean it's bad.
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  It doesn't mean it's not valuable.
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  It doesn't mean it's not good.
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  It doesn't mean that you should look down on it, because you could instead
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  spend $200 on this math program.
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  That doesn't make it better. It really, really doesn't.
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  So don't discount something just because it's free or low cost.
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  Something that is so important. Guys,
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  after ten years, something to remember every single time, every single day.
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  No two homeschools are alike, so it doesn't.
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  I can stand here all day long and tell you what works for us
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  and how it is the best thing that has ever happened to us.
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  But guess what?
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  That doesn't mean diddly squat to you.
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  Other than maybe hearing about the thing and doing your own research,
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  that doesn't mean it's going to serve you,
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  and it doesn't mean it's going to serve anybody else.
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  I come here and I share what I'm doing to hopefully help
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  you feel like you've found a fellow voice out in the homeschool world.
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  It is by no means to ever tell you what you should or shouldn't do,
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  because I just don't think it's going to serve everybody.
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  This works for me.
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  Adapted things, things like that.
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  That works really, really well for me and for my homeschool.
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  Because no two homeschools look alike.
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  I'm going to say it again co-ops are overrated.
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  We put so much energy into trying to socialize as homeschoolers that we forget.
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  And again, this is a hill I will die on.
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  This is a really big deal to me.
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  I am convinced that your kids find their friends, their friend group
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  through common interests, not through forced associations
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  the same thing as public school. And that is not socialization.
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  I have a lot of feelings on it and a lot of videos here,
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  so if you want to circle back and go through any of those,
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  feel free to search it up right here on this channel.
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  But co-ops are overrated.
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  Can they serve you? Absolutely. Can they be perfect? Yes. Wonderful.
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  Can they do great things?
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  Absolutely. Is group landing important? Sure.
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  But co-ops are overrated.
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  Okay. We put so much energy and investment in that.
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  No, they should not have the power to make or break your homeschool
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  or your vibes or your.
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  No, no. Co-ops are overrated.
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  Listen to me.
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  Listen to me is the point.
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  This is the point with like, at some point, it's like the same point.
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  Consistency is your top priority. Why?
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  Why is consistency?
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  Because I don't care what you're learning to do.
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  You got to do it.
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  And if you're not going to do it, the best thing.
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  It just doesn't matter.
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  Consistency is the most important thing for consistency.
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  Consistency. Consistency. Consistency.
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  How do we stay consistent?
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  We make enjoyable and fun.
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  Okay, so if it is like a 50 step process to get the first thing done
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  every day, you're not going to be consistent.
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  That's untenable.
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  It is not possible for you to maintain.
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  So the way that you get consistent is by making things fun,
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  by making things enjoyable.
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  Am I making things palatable?
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  By making things possible? Okay.
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  But consistency is your top priority.
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  How you get to consistent.
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  That is what you need to be focusing on. Okay.
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  How you get to consistent.
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  Because consistency is your top priority. And
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  trust me okay it is.
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  Every single curriculum piece is customizable.
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  How do I know that?
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  Because I
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  have customized every single curriculum that has ever come into this house.
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  I am a huge fan of you paid for it.
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  You bought it. Maybe that is yours. You do with it what you want to.
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  And there are many things like the Michael Thompson program that we use.
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  It is like 15 books every level.
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  So many.
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  But if you actually read the instructor section
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  at the beginning thing, before you start,
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  it tells you, please don't do all this is too much, this too much.
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  Do not do all of this.
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  What they want you to do is they want to give you.
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  And every good curriculum company should give you
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  ten options of things that you need, but only reasonably expect you to use 3 to 5.
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  Like, I mean, come on. Yes, I want you. I'm paying for it.
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  I'm paying good money.
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  I want you to give me every possible thing that you think
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  could possibly benefit me, but I do not want you to expect me to do any of that.
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  Okay.
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  So every single curriculum piece is customizable.
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  You just haven't figured out how yet or how it's going to best serve you.
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  But every single piece is customizable.
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  I promise, every single one.
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  Everyone I know, somebody out there is like, no.
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  Yes it is that one, two, that one.
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  You're thinking about this.
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  Not yes, that one too, especially.
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  Okay, let me know down below. I'll help you if you need it.
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  I have said it before and I will say it again.
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  Homeschool is for everyone, but not everyone is for homeschool.
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  Okay? You can find a way, you can find a plan.
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  You can find a path to allow you to homeschool,
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  to make homeschool work for you. Absolutely.
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  But not everyone is willing or able to do what needs to be done to get there.
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  So homeschooling 100% is for everyone and every situation.
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  However, not everyone is for homeschool and that's okay.
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  This isn't for everybody, and I get that.
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  I really, really do.
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  There is nothing more sound to me though,
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  when people talk about how it just doesn't work.
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  It does, but not everybody
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  is meant to homeschool and I think that that is okay.
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  It really, really is.
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  We've had friends start and stop or go into school or come out of school
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  and guess what?
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  That is such a wonderful thing to do.
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  Find what works for you and do it.
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  And if it doesn't work for you, don't.
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  But I do think there's a way that every single person who truly wants
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  it and is willing to work for it can find success in homeschooling.
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  I really do believe that this is another one, guys,
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  and this is about improper unschooling
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  and people who just kind of do it wrong, and I have big feelings about it.
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  You guys know, we've talked about it a lot.
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  There are tons of ways to learn.
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  There are tons of ways to learn.
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  You can learn games, video games, reading,
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  doing videos, fractions and baking.
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  You can do all kinds of things.
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  There are tons of ways to learn, but
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  but every single one takes effort.
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  And if you think that something like unschooling
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  is just releasing them into the wild, and you think that all learning
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  is just going to inherently happen, it's not okay.
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  Yes, there are kids who teach them selves to read.
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  That's great,
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  but they are like such a small amount that never should you be relying on that.
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  Okay.
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  And if anything, unschooling is more work.
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  If you're doing things well and you're doing things right,
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  tons of ways to learn and they all take effort, okay.
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  They all take work on your part. If you think
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  if you pull your kids out of
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  school, you're using a K through 12 online program, whatever, whatever.
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  And you stick them in front of the screen and then you never check back in.
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  Nope.
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  Tons of ways to learn.
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  And they all take effort. They all take effort on your part.
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  Every single one of them takes effort on your part.
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  I have big dealings about this.
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  Okay.
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  Something that has definitely been made more prominent.
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  The older that my oldest kid gets.
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  Traditional college is absolutely an option.
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  It's on the table and it's an easy or path than you would think it
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  to be to go from homeschooling to the traditional college route.
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  It is not off the table.
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  My kids will go to college if that's the path they choose.
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  Like, it is this wild notion that is impossible
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  that mainstream schools aren't going to like it.
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  I mean, we we know friends who go to Texas A&M who have been homeschool.
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  I mean, it's no, it's like it's great, it's heaven.
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  But there's, you know, people think that you can't, but you can, okay.
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  There is nothing
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  that compares to the freedom that you have when you homeschool.
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  Because one of the reasons it is so incredibly efficient.
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  Okay.
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  So we can have our entire school day done in 2 or 3 hours
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  and have the rest of the day for piano lessons and Girl Scouts and art classes
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  and all of the other million and ten things that my kids want to do.
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  Not to mention there is no homework.
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  It is the freedom vacations when we want to.
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  All of the things that we want to do in life are possible because of this
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  wild amount of freedom that we have, which is glorious.
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  Which is why it's hard to stay consistent.
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  But it is glorious because it is so much freedom and it is so incredibly efficient.
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  So we're not replicating a school day. We're not doing this for eight hours.
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  We're getting in.
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  We're doing what we need to and get out, and then we're going to do fun stuff.
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  And I think that's amazing.
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  So freedom and efficiency.
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  Jessica's wonderful.
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  And probably the biggest lesson that I have learned,
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  because I have made the mistake myself and I have seen other people
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  make this mistake.
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  It is so important, after ten years of homeschooling
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  that you remember home first, homeschool home first.
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  So first and foremost, my kids need to be in a good space
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  and our home or schooling isn't going to be able to happen.
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  It's just not.
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  I need to remember that first and foremost, I am mom before I am teacher,
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  and so sometimes that means making the hard choices of
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  changing your educational path because your kids need to go somewhere else
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  and you need to not be teacher.
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  And that's okay because your mom mom is your job or dad.
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  But first and foremost, home.
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  Okay, home is your main priority when you are homeschooling your children.
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  Okay? And I'm not saying that you sacrifice their schooling.
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  I mean, that's not what I'm saying. Don't.
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  Somebody is going to be like, how can you find anybody?
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  That's the wrong message.
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  That's not what I'm saying.
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  Okay. Here.
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  What I'm saying, what I'm intending to say.
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  Home.
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  Your relationship with
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  your child is first and foremost about your home.
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  Okay.
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  Parent relationship before teacher relationship.
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  Got it?
• 12:16
  You got it.
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  Somebody's going to yell at me. Somebody's always going to freaking yell at me.
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  You understand what I'm saying?
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  If you don't, maybe,
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  you know, just bite your tongue and assume that other people do, okay?
• 12:27
  Just. Okay,
• 12:29
  guys, I hope that you found any of this helpful, entertaining, informative.
• 12:32
  If you did, please scroll down.
• 12:33
  Please hit that big red subscribe button.
• 12:35
  Please turn on the bell for notifications and give this video a thumbs up.
• 12:38
  While you are down there, you find me down in the comments
• 12:39
  or over an Instagram at Making Everyday Magic.
• 12:41
  Let me know what would you add to my list?
• 12:43
  Some of you've been doing this longer than me.
• 12:45
  Some of you haven't been doing it as well.
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  What would you have done? My list or which one are you like?
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  Oh, what a crazy idea! I love it.
• 12:51
  I would gladly accept that too by sharing.
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  Sharing is caring and together we can keep making everyday magic by.