Latest / The Christy-Faith Show / Ep. 108 - The Truth About Homeschooling Disadvantages — What the Research Actually Says

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Ep. 108 - The Truth About Homeschooling Disadvantages — What the Research Actually Says · The Christy-Faith Show

• 0:00
  Christy-Faith: Will my homeschooled child fall behind academically? What about socialization? Can I homeschool if I'm not a certified teacher? And is homeschooling worth it financially? Isn't it expensive?
• 0:10
  If you're seriously considered homeschooling and just googled any version of those questions, you are exactly in the right place today. And if you've been homeschooling for years, this one's for you too. Because I went digging into the research, fresh, up to date developmental science, and what I found, it's going to put serious wind in your sails. I'm gonna start today off with such an embarrassing story. As many of you know, we ran a boutique learning center and consulting firm in Los Angeles.
• 0:34
  And one day, a mom came into my office. This was years ago. Her son was struggling. He was misunderstood, falling through the cracks, you know, the way certain kids do when the system just can't figure out what to do with them. And she was exhausted, really starting to lose hope, and she wanted to know if our learning center could homeschool him.
• 0:53
  Of course, I said yes. But in the same breath, I told her that it would be a great temporary solution just until we found him the right placement. Of course, she agreed completely. A kid's gotta be in school. Right?
• 1:04
  Now the person sitting behind that desk, well, that was me. The teacher and teacher trainer who had spent nearly two decades in education. I was running one of the most prominent learning centers in Los Angeles, working with kids from over 20 public schools and 30 private schools. And I was the expert. I spent my days in meetings with principals, psychologists, IEPs, specialists, admissions counselors.
• 1:28
  And at the time, we even ran a homeschool pod out of our center before they were even called pods. But the students there, they were child actors, pre professional athletes, or kids in transition. It was just one of the things that we did. I had a clear framework for when homeschooling made sense, which was kids whose career paths had already made traditional school impractical or kids who needed a temporary solution. While something better came together.
• 1:52
  For everyone else, you needed to find a real school. And of course, this boy, he was in that second category, temporary, a bridge. I never questioned it once. I was so sure of myself. It's almost funny now if I wasn't so embarrassed about it.
• 2:07
  But here's how the story comes full circle. Okay? Then I have my first child, and I remember standing in the center one evening holding him on my hip, watching the kids file in with their dinners because they had been at school since seven in the morning and wouldn't even get home until after seven at night, and this was just another stop in their really busy schedule. Parents would drop their kids off at our center and wave at us and say, just call us when they're done. And we'd say, great.
• 2:32
  We'll do. And that's what we did. But that one day, I looked around at all of it. This place that Scott and I had spent seventeen years building with all these kids that we genuinely cared about. And I thought, is this the future I want for my son?
• 2:46
  This grind. Are these kids even having a childhood? Do they love learning? They're so busy. That was the crack.
• 2:52
  And once you get a crack like that, good luck patching it. It was my red pill awakening. Now I didn't have answers yet, but I knew that I needed to find them. But I stood in the center of my center that day, and I looked at this entire thing that we had built like a stranger would for the very first time. From that day forward, what I saw, I just couldn't unsee.
• 3:11
  See, this is one of the reasons why I tell the mentors in Thrive Homeschool Community that, yes, we are a leadership training community for moms, but ultimately, we're also child advocates. We wanna redeem childhood. But I digress. So after that moment, the questions came flooding in, and they were the same questions that you're probably asking right now. Will kids who are homeschooled fall behind academically?
• 3:32
  What does healthy socialization actually look like? And are homeschooled kids getting it? Because I didn't think they were at the time. And am I actually qualified to do this? And if I do do it, isn't it super expensive?
• 3:44
  You have to buy tons of curriculum. What I did is I went looking for answers, which is probably what you're doing today. Yay. I'm so glad you're here. And what I found didn't just change my mind, it changed everything I thought I knew about what kids need and which environment actually gives it to them.
• 4:02
  Something is happening right now, you guys. Parents everywhere are starting to ask questions about education that nobody was asking even ten, twenty years ago. And if you're here, you're probably one of them, but totally freaking out right now because you never thought you would even consider homeschooling. That's for weirdos. Religious wackos.
• 4:21
  Well, welcome to The Christy-Faith Show. We are a little wacky, but boy, do we want you to be good at this job. I'm Christy-Faith, homeschool expert with over twenty years experience in education. Today, we're gonna look at the disadvantages of homeschooling that everyone worries about and follow them all the way down to the root. Because at least for me and what I wanna show you today is that underneath every fear on my list was an assumption that I had about what kids need.
• 4:46
  And my assumptions were wrong even though I was a professional educator for my entire career. And today, we're gonna look at what the research actually says about homeschooled kids, about child development, about healthy socialization, and what children genuinely need to thrive. Now, this show is for both you mamas. If you're considering homeschooling, you're gonna get real answers today, not a runaround. And if you've been at this for years, I think this is gonna remind you exactly why you made the choice and give you some fresh takes and some wind in your sails.
• 5:16
  At least that's what it did for me. So let's answer all those questions that are gnawing at you. Okay. Before we go any further, I need to tell you about something that has saved our family a ridiculous amount of money. And since we're literally going to talk about the cost of homeschooling later on in this episode, the timing couldn't be better.
• 5:45
  It's Summit HealthShare, my husband's company, and it is one of the most amazing organizations. Thank you for sponsoring this podcast. Now if you're not familiar with health sharing, here's the short version. It's not health insurance, but it does replace it. What it is is a community of people sharing medical costs, and it's well established and safe.
• 6:04
  It's actually been around for over a hundred years. With Summit HealthShare, families who move over save between 4060% on what they were paying for traditional health insurance, and they have 98% customer satisfaction. And what's cool is you can see any doctor you want, even holistic ones. There are no networks, no permission slips. And there are different plan options depending on what your family needs, including just major medical only.
• 6:28
  On our plan, which is a little bit more robust, we get free prescriptions, free labs, and no copays. And our family of six saves a thousand dollars a month. And I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's not. It's actually how health care work. It's just not how insurance companies do it.
• 6:43
  So here's what to do. Go to summithealthshare.com. I'll put a link in the show notes. Take the savings calculator. You can do it in under two minutes, and it will tell you what you should be paying for the care that you need.
• 6:55
  And when you see that number and how much lower it is than traditional health insurance, you will sprain your ankle running to the phone. And when you call, they will walk you through everything. And please tell them that you listen to the show because I want you to have the VIP treatment. Okay. Next, super important to talk about that is totally free to homeschooling families, massive value is the Christy-Faith list.
• 7:15
  Okay. So you know how when you meet another homeschool family, you end up talking for like an hour? Swapping recommendations, sharing what's working, telling them about the pediatrician who actually gets it, or that you go and see this speech therapist or that OT. That's just how we are. We love to take care of each other.
• 7:30
  That's the whole idea behind The Christy-Faith List, which is entirely free for homeschooling families. It's a directory of colleges, businesses, doctors, reading specialists, any kind of business, you name it, who share our values and want to work with homeschooling families. All those recommendations that you're always passing around, now they're all in one place. And if you're a business owner or part of an organization that loves to work with homeschooling families and wants more business from us, sign yourself up. We wanna know who you are, and we wanna support you.
• 8:00
  Search the Christy faith list today and find the people who know you, get you, and want to work with you. Let's support the people who support us. I will put a link in the show notes. Okay. I love those two resources.
• 8:12
  I have the best podcast sponsors. Oh my goodness. Now let's talk about the reason why we're here today. Those fears. Let's just name them right now out loud.
• 8:22
  Because if we're gonna talk about the truth about homeschool disadvantages, we have to start by taking those concerns seriously and not brushing past them. Concerns like, will my kids fall behind academically? That's a big one. What if my kid ends up with gaps? What if I miss something critical?
• 8:37
  What if they get to high school and I somehow cost them something that we can't get back? And then the fear right behind all that is socialization. And now I have a lot to say about this one, so stay with me. Maybe too much to say. But we ask ourselves, will my kids struggle to make friends?
• 8:51
  Will they fall behind socially? Are they gonna end up weird? Where do I even find homeschool groups near me? Well, hopefully, the answer is on the Christy faced list, but I digress. You're also asking yourself, am I qualified to teach my own children?
• 9:03
  Is this even legal? I don't have a teaching degree. What if I'm the bottleneck? Most newer homeschoolers tend to stress about all the things that they know they don't know, and I get it. And then for a lot of families, it's the money question.
• 9:16
  Is homeschooling worth it financially? Can we actually make this work maybe even on one income? I'm not gonna stand here and tell you that none of those are real. They are very real considerations. But what's exciting about today is I'm going to tell you what the research doesn't say that most people assume it says.
• 9:33
  And in some cases, the cases that matter most, it says the opposite. So let's get to the actual answers. First up, socialization. Okay. The socialization question every homeschool mom gets asked.
• 9:46
  Drink every time someone brings it up at Thanksgiving. Well, actually, don't. You'll never make it to dessert. But you know question. Someone tilts their head, could be your mom, your pediatrician, your neighbor, your sister-in-law who means very well and they say, but what about socialization?
• 10:02
  And what they really mean is, won't your kids miss out? Won't they fall behind? Won't they end up weird? Now I wanna answer that question, but before I do, I need to ask a different one. Because the question everyone is asking is will homeschooled kids get socialization?
• 10:16
  And what I'm interested in is what nobody is asking, and that is what exactly is healthy socialization, and what environment delivers that? Because if we don't define the standard, we can't measure anything against it. So let's define it. I think it's important. One of the most foundational child development researchers who ever lived, Lev Vygotsky, spent his career studying how children learn and grow socially.
• 10:40
  And what he found was this, children develop by interacting with people who know more than they do. More knowledgeable others like adults, older kids, or people further along than they are. That's the environment where social and cognitive growth happens. So we're talking about kids learning from people who are ahead of them, adults, other kids, mentors, people who actually can show them something. That's what the research says healthy socialization looks like.
• 11:04
  Now let's look at what we've actually built with the school system. Take 30 kids, make sure they're all exactly the same age even within twelve months of each other, from the same neighborhood mostly, same developmental stage, same social anxieties, and the same need for belonging. Put them all together for six to eight hours a day, and then limit the adult guidance. The ratio is what it is. One teacher, 30 kids.
• 11:28
  And most of the actual socializing, the hallways, the cafeteria, the playground, happens with basically no adult in the room. And what society does is they call that preparation for the real world. And I'll give it this, it is absolutely socialization. It's just that nobody ever stopped to ask what kind of socialization or whether the conditions we built happened to be the exact ones that researchers have flagged as the most likely to produce the opposite of what we're hoping for. Jori Bronfenbrenner, another titan of developmental psychology argued that the concentration of same age peers is a major factor in a high incidence of aggression and antisocial behavior in American society.
• 12:10
  Let that one land for a second. This isn't some fringe voice. This is one of the most cited developmental psychologists in history, and research published in peer reviewed journals consistently shows that same age classrooms produce more social rejection, more aggression, and more isolation than mixed aged settings. And the one that floored me, it was about withdrawn and neglected children. Did you know that they actually show more pro social behavior when paired with younger kids than when paired with same age peers?
• 12:39
  I know. Now stay with me here because I gotta deliver the receipts. Let's briefly talk about Thomas Disheon from the University of Oregon. He spent decades studying what actually happens when you cluster same age kids together without strong adult guidance. Wanna guess what he found?
• 12:54
  Kids don't look to each other for their best behavior. News flash, What they look for is social cues about what's bold, what's cool, and what gets a reaction. Think middle school cafeteria. You already know exactly what I'm talking about. Kids don't correct each other's risky behavior.
• 13:10
  They actually reward it. Attention, laughter, it flows towards the kid who pushes the boundary. He named this deviant peer contagion. Talk about a triggering phrase. I know.
• 13:21
  And he published all about this in the annual review of psychology and replicated it across multiple studies. He documented this from age five through adolescence, linking it to increases in aggression, risk taking, and depression over time. And I can guarantee you that not one person who has ever tilted their head and asked you, but what about socialization? Has read a single one of those studies, yet we're stuck defending ourselves. Okay.
• 13:47
  So the next time someone asks, but what about socialization? Feel free to answer them, exactly. What about socialization? And I know some homeschool moms whose answer to that question is socialization is exactly why I homeschool. Okay.
• 14:00
  So we just talked about socialization. That was a biggie about what the research says and what healthy socialization actually requires and how we've built a system that literally cannot deliver it. But there's something underneath that and something bigger. And once you see it, it reframes every concern that you have about homeschooling. When we come back, I'm gonna show you the one piece of developmental science that reframes every single fear on today's list, academics, socialization, qualifications, all of it.
• 14:27
  It changed the way I see everything, not just homeschooling, but what kids actually need at the deepest level. And we will get into that right after the break. Homeschooling for kids means I'm juggling roughly 24 different subjects at any given time. And a few years back during a particularly busy season, I hit a wall. I needed some serious help with the heavy lifting of teaching everything myself and managing schedules for four kids.
• 14:50
  That's when I found BJU Press Homeschool, and we've loved their courses so much that we keep going back. Some families use them for everything and love it. I use them for certain subjects. Either way, total mental load relief. Here's what my mornings look like now.
• 15:03
  Let us take science for example. My three girls do that one together. They fire up the lesson taught by a real teacher, well produced, actual teaching, not just click through busy work. And I sit there with my coffee, watch them, or make breakfast, and we discuss the big ideas. Every BJU Press homeschool course prioritizes critical thinking, a biblical worldview, and hands on learning.
• 15:24
  I just guide the conversation and pick which activity or pages or projects we want to do, and everything's already planned out. They have an online platform included for you called the Homeschool Hub, and it keeps everyone on track, both me and my kids, without micromanaging or nagging. And when I have questions, I call my HomeWorks consultant. These people don't just help you get set up. They're available for you whenever you need them.
• 15:45
  It's like having a homeschool expert on speed dial. Go to bjupresshomeschool.com or click the link in the show notes to find out more. People are always curious what curriculum I use for my own family, and honestly, it changes. We've tried a lot over the years. Some work for a season and some completely miss the mark.
• 16:03
  But there is one that's stuck, CTC Math. It's a full k to 12 online math curriculum and it's won oodles of awards for a reason. It's just that good. I use it for all four of my kids, and they couldn't be more different when it comes to math. Finding one curriculum that actually works for all of them, that's been nearly impossible.
• 16:22
  You know that pit in your stomach when you realize the curriculum that you just invested in isn't working again? Yeah. That was us until this one. The genius behind CTC math is that it's adaptive. The questions adjust to each kid's level in real time.
• 16:37
  So they're always challenged but never crushed. And mama, it does the teaching and grading for us. Yes. You heard that right. That's a homeschool mom's dream.
• 16:46
  Well, especially for me when it comes to math. I would think it's too good to be true if I hadn't been using it myself. And it's not just me. Here's why it's become the go to for thousands of homeschool families. Free diagnostics show you exactly where to start, access to all grade levels so your student can fill in any gaps or move ahead, short video lessons that keep your children engaged, automatic grading with instant feedback, and progress reports so you know exactly what's happening without hovering.
• 17:14
  Math used to be our hardest subject. Now my kids do it independently. Here's the best part. Our listeners get 50% off. Use the link in the show notes to do a free trial or to get that half off deal.
• 17:26
  Don't spend another year kissing math frogs. This one stuck for us and I have a feeling it's gonna stick for you too. Welcome back. Okay. What we need to talk about is attachment.
• 17:37
  Attachment theory, which is different than attachment parenting. Attachment theory is the science of how human beings are wired to develop. And this might be the single most important thing that I ever talk about on this show. And I know that sounds dramatic, but it's so huge, especially as a child advocate. So let me introduce you to John Bowlby, a British psychiatrist who happens to be one of the most influential developmental psychologists of the twentieth century, and he spent his career asking one question.
• 18:06
  What do children need in order to thrive? At the most fundamental level, what does a child's brain require to develop into a healthy, confident, emotionally regulated human being? Someone who's resilient. And his answer was simple, and it's never been overturned. Secure attachment to a primary caregiver.
• 18:24
  That's it. That's the foundation that everything is built on. If you want a healthy kid, this is what they need. Think about it this way. A child who has a secure attachment, a relationship where they know deep in their bones that their person is available, responsive, and not going anywhere, that child develops what Bowlby calls a secure base.
• 18:44
  And that is the LaunchPad. A securely attached child doesn't cling. They're free to explore. They take risks. They try hard things.
• 18:52
  They recover from failure faster. They're not scared to fail because they know that there is someone to come back to who loves them unconditionally. So what produces confident kids? The answer might surprise a lot of people. It's deep, consistent, present connection with the people that they're attached to, and from that safety, courage grows.
• 19:12
  Mary Ainsworth, a psychologist who researched and validated Bowlby's theory, designed the studies that proved it. She put toddlers in rooms with their mothers, observed what happened when the mother left, and documented their reunion. The securely attached children, they were upset when mom left, which is healthy, and they recovered quickly when she returned. They used her as a base to go and explore the room. Any toddler mom listening just went, yep.
• 19:37
  That's my church nursery experience for you. Right? Same science. Now, the insecurely attached children in her studies, they either shut down emotionally or became anxious and they couldn't explore at all. So stay with me on this because this is where everything connects.
• 19:52
  That secure base doesn't stop being necessary at age five or eight or even age 12. And I know we act like it does. We even praise kids for being independent. Like, we act like there's some magical age where kids just don't need us anymore, and there isn't. It looks different as kids get older, but they still need that healthy attachment even through the teen years.
• 20:13
  Gordon Neufeld and Gabor Mate wrote extensively about this very thing. Children are designed to orient towards their primary attachment figures. And when you remove a child from proximity to those figures for the majority of their waking hours and replace that connection with a room full of same age peers, the child doesn't just adjust, they reorient. They start looking to peers for their cues, their safety, their sense of self, their attachment. And peers, as we just established, are not equipped to provide any of that.
• 20:44
  So now let's ask ourselves the question that nobody seems to be asking. Attachment is the foundation. If everything we know about child development says that proximity to a present responsive caregiver is what produces emotional health, social competence, academic courage, and resilience, then which environment gives a child more of that, school or homeschool? And it's crazy to me because our society is so busy asking, but what about socialization? That we never stop to wonder why we built an entire system around separating children from their secure base for the majority of their waking lives and then called it normal.
• 21:20
  The research is there. It's just nobody listens. Alright. Let's talk about a big concern that homeschoolers have, even ones who've been homeschooling a while. Will my kids fall behind academically?
• 21:31
  I know what that fear actually sounds like at two in the morning. It sounds like, what if I miss something and I don't even know I missed it? What if they get into eighth grade and there's a hole so big that we can't fix it? What if I'm the reason they struggle later? If that's you, I need you to stay with me for the next few minutes because I went looking to the answer for this, and what I found changed everything.
• 21:51
  Back in my skepticism days when I started researching homeschooled kids and academic outcomes, I expected a mixed bag. I figured there'd be some encouraging data and some cautionary data, and I'd have to sort through all of it. That's not what I found. Brian Ray at the National Home Education Research Institute has been tracking this for over thirty five years, and homeschooled kids consistently land between the sixty fifth and eightieth percentile on standardized achievement tests. The national public school average is fiftieth.
• 22:19
  I remember reading that for the first time and thinking, wait. What? That can't be right. So I kept digging, and it kept holding up. And the crazy thing is that holds regardless of the parent's education level or household income.
• 22:31
  Now I wanna make sure you heard that. Those of you who struggled through algebra or whether or not you have a college degree, what the data says is that your kids are going to do well. Okay. But why? Well, this is the part that I couldn't let go of.
• 22:44
  How are moms with no teaching credentials producing these amazing results? And homeschool moms are doing it every single day, and we don't even think about it. What we're doing is we're watching our kids' faces. We notice when they're confused. We slow down when they need more time.
• 22:58
  We speed up when they're bored. We skip what they've already mastered, and we circle back to something from three weeks ago because we can tell when it doesn't click. Educators have a name for that. It's called responsive teaching, and this is what research says produces the deepest learning. And a classroom of 30 kids can't do it.
• 23:15
  The teacher is moving at the speed of the group, and that's all that the teacher can do. But you, you're doing it at your kitchen table in your pajamas, and you didn't even know it had a name maybe, but it does. So if some of you just sat up a little bit straighter, good. Now college. Even if your kid is six, you're thinking about it.
• 23:31
  Did you know that homeschoolers score above average on the SAT and ACT? One university study found homeschool freshmen carrying a 3.37 GPA compared to three point o eight for their peers. And colleges aren't just accepting homeschoolers, they're actually recruiting them because our kids know how to learn. And that's why gaps don't really matter as much. And a lot of us are concerned about gaps.
• 23:54
  Oh my goodness. What if my kid has gaps in their learning? Well, I just wanna lovingly challenge that question. Because underneath this gaps question is an assumption that education is content, that it's a checklist, that your job is to pour a specific set of information into your child's head, and if you miss anything on that list, you've failed. Now if that's where an education is, then yes, you should be absolutely terrified because the list is infinite and you will never cover everything.
• 24:23
  Nobody can. And the school system doesn't either by the way. But what if that's the wrong definition of an education? What if education isn't about content coverage? It's about building a person who knows how to think, who knows how to learn, who can encounter something they don't know and have the tools and the confidence and the curiosity and love of learning to figure it out.
• 24:43
  Because that's what we're actually building here at our kitchen tables. We're building learners, and a learner can fill their own gaps for the rest of their life. A kid who memorized the content for a test in April just to forget it by June, that kid needs someone to reteach it to them every single time. So if you are stuck thinking, ah, state standards, and that education is content and you gotta cover all this stuff or else, please become a regular listener of this podcast. Because together, we gotta dismantle that assumption.
• 25:12
  And I encounter homeschool moms every single day who've been homeschooling that way and they burn out and they quit. And they're missing out on what this beautiful homeschool life can be. Okay. Last one. This might be the one that hits closest to home.
• 25:26
  Am I qualified to teach my own children? Because after all, teachers are certified and you need a credential. So what makes me think that I can do this? You're probably thinking, I struggled through algebra. I don't know long division, or I barely remember what a dangling participle is.
• 25:39
  How am I supposed to teach it to my kids and do it well? Well, let me reassure you that most adults can't define dangling participle, and most of us turned out okay. But I totally get it. A teaching degree trains you to manage a classroom of 30 kids to deliver a standardized curriculum on a fixed timeline and assess students you barely have time to know individually. That is a very real skill set, but it's a skill set designed for a system.
• 26:06
  And you're not running a system. You're educating your own child or your children. The skill set that you need looks completely different. The type of skills that you need are how to choose a curriculum that fits your kid because the best curriculum in the world is the wrong one if it doesn't match your values. You need to understand your child's developmental stage so you can stop expecting a six year old to sit still for forty five minutes and then wonder what's wrong with her if she can't.
• 26:30
  Nothing is wrong with her. She's six. That's what six looks like. You do need to learn how to structure your days in a way that actually works for your family instead of recreating school at home. That's one of the biggest mistakes homeschoolers make by the way, building a little tiny school in their living room and then wondering why everyone's miserable.
• 26:46
  We try to get mommas out of that so quickly and thrive. And the subjects that intimidate you, like upper level math or science that you forgot, the writing that you were never confident in. There are tools for that. The most successful homeschoolers source well, and there is amazing curricula out there for everything. And not just curriculum, there's co ops, tutors, online courses.
• 27:07
  What your job is is to know your child well enough to find the right resources and put it in front of them. That's the job of a homeschool parent, and you can learn how to do it. And just listening to my show is a great first step. I hope you're a subscriber because this is why I built this podcast. This is what we talk about every week here, how to actually homeschool well for the parents who take this craft seriously.
• 27:28
  Which reminds me, if you're new here and you're listening to this and you're thinking, okay, I still don't know where to start. Start by subscribing and come back week after week because this is the place where we teach you how to homeschool well. Okay. Before we move on, and I got a lot more for you. Of course, you know that how I'm able to deliver this every single week, which I absolutely love doing, it's made possible by our sponsors.
• 27:50
  So thank you so much. Please click those links. But the way that this podcast actually reaches other moms, it isn't up to me at all. It's actually up to algorithm robots. They count everything, every subscribe, every comment, every share, and that's how those robots decide who gets to see this show and if it gets pushed out or not.
• 28:09
  So if this episode is landing at all for you, if you've even have one small takeaway, please engage in the show in some Subscribe if you haven't. Drop a comment. Ask us a question. Just say hi. We read every single comment by the way.
• 28:23
  And if you know a mom who's struggling right now and you know this show will encourage her, go ahead and send it to her. It's just a personal ask from me to you and it would mean the world to me. Alright. Three concerns down, one to go. After this break, we're gonna tackle the money question, and then I'm gonna wrap all this up and tell you exactly where to go from here.
• 28:41
  Hang tight. Is your child struggling with attention, memory, reading, writing, or math? If you're experiencing this, you know how heart wrenching it is to watch them face these hurdles. You've poured love, time, and attention into their education, yet the struggle persists, leaving you feeling stuck and desperately searching for answers. You guys, I want you to know about LearningRx, a proven program designed to help your child's cognitive skills, enabling them to think faster, learn more easily, and perform at their best.
• 29:09
  I'm talking getting real long term help here with things like ADHD and dyslexia. LearningRx is backed by thirty five years of research, and their results are transformative. Use code HOME 50 for $50 off your cognitive skills assessment. Go to learningrx.com or click the link in the show notes. Think homeschooling means doing it all yourself?
• 29:28
  Let me stop you right there. If you're looking for a partner you can trust, one I trust with my own kids, check out True North Homeschool Academy. They're Cognia accredited and offer live online classes and flexible self paced options for grades six through 12. Your teen can pursue a dual degree track or a tech and trades diploma all with teachers who share your family values. Small classes, college ready rigor, real world skills, and it all fits your schedule in a faith friendly environment.
• 29:58
  Ready to learn more? Head to truenorthhomeschool.academy or click the link in the show notes to explore courses and get started today. Welcome back. Okay. The money question.
• 30:08
  And I don't wanna brush past this one because for a lot of families, this is the one thing that stops them. Can we actually afford to homeschool? Isn't curriculum expensive? So first, let's talk about what you're already spending because people think public school is free, and it's just not. School supplies, activity fees, sports fees, fundraisers, so many fundraisers.
• 30:29
  The wardrobe pressure, and yes, it starts younger than you think. Before and after care. Summer camps to cover the childcare gap. Gas for carpool, packed lunches or cafeteria charges. Add it up sometime.
• 30:41
  The number might make you feel a little bit better about the curriculum budget that you've been stressing over. Now, homeschooling can cost a few $100 a year or a few thousand. The range is enormous. Libraries are free. Many curricula are affordable or free.
• 30:55
  You can mix and match. You're not locked into one expensive program. So I do want you to know that. And there really is a way to make almost any budget work. And I'll tell you right now, the families that are doing it beautifully on a tight budget are not the exception.
• 31:08
  There are a lot of them. And then there's another question, and this is real for many families, and it's not about the cost of curriculum, it's about income. Can we live on less? Can we make this work if one parent steps back from their career? That's a real sacrifice, and I'm not gonna pretend that it isn't.
• 31:25
  And there is one assumption that we do need to tackle real quick, and that is often people hear homeschooling, and they picture the mom sitting from 8AM to 3PM in front of a white board, and that is not how we do it at all. And frankly, I don't think anybody should be homeschooling that way. Talk about burnout. Homeschooling does not take seven hours a day. It takes a fraction of that because you're working one on one, you're not managing an entire classroom, and you're not wasting time on transitions and crowd control.
• 31:50
  I was a classroom teacher, and it still amazes me how much of my day was just transitions and crowd control. And then don't forget, there are a lot of us out there working and homeschooling. I'm one of them. Can you work and homeschool? Yes.
• 32:04
  A lot of us do. And the moms who make it work tend to have one thing in common, flexibility, like flexible hours or remote work or part time work, freelancing, or a business built around their family's schedule. And even for the families where it does mean a tighter budget for a season, I want you to ask yourself what the cost is on the other side. What's the price tag on your kid's mental health, on their love of learning, on the years you won't get back, on the mornings with margin instead of chaos, on a childhood that runs on your family's rhythm instead of a bell schedule. Those things have value too.
• 32:35
  They don't just show up on a spreadsheet either. And sometimes, the can we afford it question isn't really about math, it's about permission. Is it okay to want this even though it means less money? Or if you're like I was, the good little Christian feminist in my twenties and women shouldn't throw away their careers, is it okay to prioritize my life differently than culture tells me that I should? Is it okay to do what I know in my gut is the right thing for my family?
• 33:00
  Well, from the other side, I can tell you, yes, it is. I love our homeschool life. And the way things are going nowadays, I will say most moms I know are working in some capacity. Some full time, some side hustles, but most every mom I know is doing something. Alright.
• 33:15
  Let's take a breath. We covered, will my kids fall behind? What about socialization? Am I qualified? Can we afford this?
• 33:22
  Those were the questions today, and I hope I helped you get a little closer to an answer or at least a more educated decision for yourself and your family. Now, am I biased? Of course, I am. I think there's no better place to educate a child than in a loving home with a motivated parent. Of course, I want you to home school and keep homeschooling.
• 33:39
  But I don't expect you right now to be as confident as I am, at least not yet. Okay. So if you're the mom right now that's decided, okay, I'm doing this and your very next thought is, but what curriculum do I use? I have a free download of my curriculum recommendations. So make sure you run to the show notes and grab that.
• 33:55
  It'll save you weeks of stress and hunting. And if this episode resonated, I've done other shows that go even deeper on some of these topics, like episode 66, the biggest myth about homeschool socialization, episode 71, does homeschooling shelter your kids too much, and episode 51, do you meet the qualifications for homeschooling? The links for those are in the show notes too. So those resources are great, and they will get you started. And don't forget, if you're interested in joining Thrive Homeschool Community, now it's not for everybody, but the best way to guarantee your spot when we do reopen is to get yourself on the wait list.
• 34:27
  Thanks for listening today. I'll see you next week.