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The Curriculum Mistake That's Burning Out Homeschool Families · Homeschool Revolution

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Homeschool Revolution.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Rebecca Stromsdorfer, homeschool mom of five for over 20 years, and I've been coaching moms just like you for decades.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: I've done this messy, done it wrong, and figured it out as I went.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast is for the working mom, single mom, stay-at-home mom, and yes, dads too.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Any parent who is done with the old way and ready to raise creative, confident kids who actually changed the world.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: This isn't just homeschooling.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: This is a revolution.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Good morning.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Happy August.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_00: School's back in session for the world, guys.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have to be.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're still in session because we always have our classes.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And we will run our summer classes through the end of August.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Through the end of August.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Our new semester starts at the end or the day after Labor Day.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, like school used to do 20 years ago when I was a kid.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: But for now, this is how we're doing it.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So you still got summer going on.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to be bringing in a lot of people in the next month as their homeschooling starting.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: So this is going to be fun.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Ladies, thank you for being here.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to get right into a lot of the questions I've had over the weekend.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: I've had a lot of moms ask different questions.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm going to just get in, dive in, and start doing some tours.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: First things first, let's go over unit studies.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Beth.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Heather.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Hi.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, wait.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: I said hi to you, Heather.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was the other Heather, but we're thrilled to have you both.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Alida, welcome, welcome.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: First thing, pop in your questions.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: I love that you asked that, Naomi, because that's my next answer.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: So hold on.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And remember you guys stick out to the end, stick around till the end because at the end we do a drawing.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: And right now I'm giving away$25 gift certificates to homeschool Village t-shirts, so you can grab one.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So stick around to get one of those.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: We'll do a drawing.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, for now, unit studies.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Let me share my screen.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain what a unit study is.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I'll be honest, when I first started homeschooling, I didn't get what these were.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: You will find unit studies, first of all.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is the community, okay, where all mom things are.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: You go to the classroom and you can go down here to weekly unit studies.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: I actually have this in both though.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are in the so you can go up here and change the group you're in, as you can see, I'm in a lot of school groups.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you come here, either classroom will have unit studies.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: So what the unit studies are is we launch one full month.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: August will be updated today.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be in there.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: I we were just working on it.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Every month you get four unit studies or one per week, so sometimes five.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: In the unit study, you're gonna click this.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: You'll only have access to one month at a time, so don't overwhelm you.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: A unit study is where you can build your entire curriculum around one subject.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Isaac, that's my 20-year-old.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Enjoy.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, be safe, please.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to drive to ours to go pick up my niece from the airport.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So you're gonna come in and a unit study is, for example, National U.S.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Postage Stamp Day.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: In here, see the colored ones.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's where you're actually gonna get a unit study.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: These here are suggestions if you want to create your own.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but let's say we're gonna go in here.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: National U.S.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: Stamp Day.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: In here, you're gonna find there is an explanation.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: There's what you do for social studies, videos, YouTube videos for social studies, social studies, social studies.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, seriously, you can do on a day.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: This is like for a week, okay?
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Unit studies are for when you're just tired of regular curriculum and you want to do it this way, or when you need a break and to switch it up, or on Fridays or something, is how some people do it.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: There's science, and it's all based around Miss Hannah built these for us.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Look how much science there is.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then she even gives you how to do the math.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Look at all these videos, you guys.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: She works so hard on these.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Here's your language arts, language arts, reading list to go along.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is all to do with stamps, but you cover all your subjects under the one topic.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So you've got reading, reading, reading, reading.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Notice you can make this your whole week study if you want to take a break from our other curriculum stuff.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Art, art, art, physical education wrapped around stamps.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, she has ideas, life skills, stamp, project ideas, projects, projects.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So she um Hannah has gone through and she does this.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: You get a whole one every week, included with your subscription, no matter which one you did.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: You get this.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: So you can literally, I know a lot of families that only homeschool this way.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's all they do.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how do you do this with our other curriculum?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: You can do one or the other.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: You can do what we show you in those three days a week, right?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That list of the daily, and then use these for the other days of the week.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: You can use this to fill in space, you can use this during Christmas or holiday seasons.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: We always have holiday ones in here.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that's that's a unit study.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Does does that explain it?
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Let me find our chat here and see.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: Does oh hi Joanna?
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, questions on unit studies.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every so today, July will be hidden, and then you guys will, August will launch and you will see the August unit studies for you to apply at will.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's really just more to give you, it's part of our buffet, right?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: My homeschool village is a buffet for education.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: You come in, you take what you want.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: Some kids do better on unit studies, they just do, and some kids don't, and there's no right way.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So make this work for you.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's just another source, but don't try to do both and all of it all at once, and you'll go crazy.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that's our unit studies.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, August will be done by the end of the day.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, next question: how do I teach math English once or twice a week only?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_00: I've only ever done curriculums with 120 lessons.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let me explain.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: All right, number one, math.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: Math, I don't know how many of you knew this, but the entire 12-year curriculum of math from kindergarten through 12th grade can actually be taught in four years total.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: You do not need 12 years to teach all of math.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: It was expanded and drugged out for the sake of the public schools.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: But the entire math curriculum, and I'm talking about 12th grade up to 12th grade math, which is like, um, you're, what are we at here?
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: Somebody help me in 12th grade math, algebra two, uh, geometry, right?
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Even some of the upper levels can be done in four years.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I know homeschool kids who've done it.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So your first six years until sixth grade of math should not be daily assignments.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: It the whole point is to get them interested in math, show them why they need math, where you use math, mentioning it in your day, showing how you do it, giving them a calculator at the grocery store to be adding while you go.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's about showing how it's a part of their lives.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why I say generation genius is enough or Starfall is enough, because you're it's all about getting them interested so that at sixth, seventh grade level, and for some kids earlier, they're like ready to do it.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And when they get in, they can really pop it out.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for this reason, I don't always recommend things like teaching textbooks because it has so many, it has 120 lessons a year.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need 120 lessons a year to learn a math concept.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: I know some families that did math on Mondays and that was it, but they did it all day, like they learned a bunch, and then they didn't touch it again until the next Monday.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: It worked for their family.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: So, math, I give a very light math at the very beginning because children don't need daily repetition of math to learn it.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: Once they understand the concept and how to apply it, it's in their heads.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if they start to need to a little more help with memorizing the multiplication, things like that, you can do that and work on it until they get it.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: But all of math can be done in high school.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's about exposure, math gains, math application, when you need things, how you need things, talking about it, doing math together, and then and using Generation Genius and Starfall.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Then when they're older in sixth and seventh grades, then you can start the high school math.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to wait more, you can.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: If not, that's fine.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: But I recommend you use CTC.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: We have math inside Schmoop.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: It is in there and you can do it that way.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: If you want more daily, the only other uh math curriculum I ever recommend is CTC math because it will take that philosophy of just exposing your children at a young age and they can start where they need to start and it will go as fast as your child can learn.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of making them do 120 lessons before they advance, it says, oh, this child understands this concept, let's move on.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what homeschooling is all about.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why it's set up the way it is.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I put it two days a week because what I discovered was my kids' brains worked really fresh on Monday and Tuesday.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so we did really well.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And they would learn concepts and we would, and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday was a little harder to get to because we were running around and doing other things.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: But I often would still be like, maybe give them an assignment in there somewhere, or we would do math games on Thursday instead.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we were still doing math, it just wasn't necessarily 120 lessons.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: It was like, hey, let's go play, let's the math games we used to have around here when my kids were little, like the pile of math games we used to play.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, there's so many ways to put math in that they're still learning it, they're still going.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: If you want to put in more, by all means do.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: This is the whole point.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's up to you.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: You get to make this the way you want.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the whole point of the math.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, writing, actual assigned writing, honestly, reading, writing, math daily is okay.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I like to teach new concepts on Mondays and Tuesdays when their brains are fresh.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: And then if I put it in Thursday, Friday, then I will, or Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, it will be a repetition of.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it sticks, but it won't be a new concept.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: When you're doing new concepts every day, sometimes your kids can get burned out.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: So Monday, Tuesday, new concept, and I need to put this in the video, I apologize.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Thursday, um, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, repetition.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of why I put it that way.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: But remember, once again, if you have a mathematician kid who loves math, give them more.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a child who loves to write, by all means, do it every day.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like get the habit going.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: But this light schedule I gave you is for you to be able to teach your child to learn to love learning, not get it done.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: So the whole point of my homeschool village and everything I created in here is to help your child love to learn, to ease up on you and them, but not just love to learn, but love their life.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: If it's always about the next assignment, the joy in life gets killed real, real, real quick.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: So we're here to not just love, uh not just to learn, but to love it and to enjoy it and to make it a part of our lives instead of something we have to fight every day.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Does that help a little bit?
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh fall calendar was supposed to be to me today.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't have it.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm about to make some phone calls.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: I don't plan the fall calendar.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: I have the teachers are doing it, and um, and then I have a manager and our sweet Tony, who's been extremely busy, had had three different family tragedies happen and boom, boom, boom.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm afraid a ball got dropped, but um, yeah, we should have had that already.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I'll get on that.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: When you click, you when I click, I can't access it.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Never mind, it works now.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do not currently have CTC math as part of my homeschool village.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: I wish, but they want to charge us more than we can afford.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: If I if I go and sign up, I have to up your guys' monthly price to be able to pay for it.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um and we can't, I don't want to do that to you right now, especially when not everybody wants the CTC math.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want CTC math, it is one of the least expensive maths out there.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's like less than$100 for the year.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you can get like, I think I went, I went through several maths, it's like five kids in at that price.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it's really, really affordable.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: I like it, teaches math the best out of all the math curriculums I've tried and used.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Teaching textbooks I like, but older kids hate it because they feel talked down to.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So teaching textbooks for younger ages is good, but then it there's a change where your kids start going, mom is treating me like I'm dumb.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Then your kid wants CTC math.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what I have found.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: The younger kids prefer teaching textbooks because it's built for little kids, but they never made the shift to teenager and they're still talking to little kids at age in ninth grade.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what CTC math is better for that.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: CTC math, you mean?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's a big math program.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: I've actually had multiple conversations with them.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: We keep trying to add them into the village, but um, I gotta come up with so much money to get y'all in right away that it's it's not feasible yet, but we're working on it.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for explaining reading and writing.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: How do I teach grammar through my homeschool village?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, love this question.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, if your child is copywriting and reading anything they want, most of your grammar is covered.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, everybody, like not everybody, I've had a lot of people come at me on this, but I can honestly say I've watched all five of my kids.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: I tried the grammar books, and yeah, they did the work, and it was a checkbox, but I didn't see their grammar improve.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: The kids, my kids whose grammar did really, really well, wrote in a journal every day.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So you go from copywork to writing in a journal every day to then creating stories and books and whatever.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: So once my children who wrote every day and copyworked and then read as much as they wanted and did tea and did type C.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: So my 14-year-old just came to me and said, Mom, thank you for making me do type C.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Because when they're doing type C, it's also copywork and they're typing copywork, and that's where my kids learned the capitals and the periods and the commas, and that because type C is actually built for this.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if they're doing type C, you got you got grammar covered.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how far you want into it to go into it is up to you.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: But here's why I go light on grammar.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: When I started homeschooling a long time ago, 20 years ago, we were in a co-op, and I was in a co-op with a woman who had raised six children.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: They were all adults, and then she had a straggler who was the same age as my oldest, and they were babies together, and they went and did co-ops together.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_00: That her kids all had books in their pockets all the time.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: Her adults would come in and go.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: They all were completely unschooled for the for like this.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Was one hippie family, guys.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: It was awesome.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: They were totally unschooled their whole lives, but they read everything.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And she told me, she said, My daughter was just it, all her kids went to college, and she said her daughter was in college and got a letter from her professor, her language arts or writing professor, asking what she did as a homeschool parent to make her child so well educated.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Her child was getting the top grades in all of their grammar, language arts, writing classes, and this professor was blown away.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And he goes, What are you doing?
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: And she goes, I just let them read whenever they wanted.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Period.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: They read whatever, whenever, however, they read.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: And all their kids, constantly carrying books with them, read whenever they wanted and were taught and were testing top in their college classes in grammar, writing, reading, all of those things.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: So she said, I've never taught grammar ever.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: That blew my mind.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I gotta be honest, at the time, I'm like, no way, but I need grammar.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: My kids are gonna, and guess what?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: My kids that did grammar, I don't.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: I had one kid who I was like, do your grammar books, do your grammar books.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: In the end, all she did was learn to hate writing.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: My other kids went from copy work to journaling to writing their own stories and books.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: And most of my children right now are writing books on their own and stories, and and they went into it at later years and they wrote later, they did it later, but none of them hated writing.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: They love it.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: All my kids love writing, which shocks me because I grew up hating writing because I got tired of putting my heart and soul into a story, and then somebody turned it apart for grammar instead of looking at the story.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, Yeah, yeah, I may have forgotten the capital here, but did you read the story?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: No, they went over the grammar, and so I learned to hate it.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: So my whole goal as a homeschool parent was to, I just wanted to keep my kids loving to write.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: As long as they love it, they will pursue it on their own.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: So don't worry so much about are they learning grammar?
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: What you're asking, what you need to ask yourself is are they learning to love to read and write?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: If they learn to love to read and write, their grammar takes care of itself.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's a faith.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm asking you to have faith in my my experience and the experience of other moms I've seen.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's um any mom I've talked to who has homeschooled all the way through, eventually switched to copyright and journaling, and their kids are beautiful writers.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: So let me how's that?
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I there is grammar and in type C.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Actually, let me show you.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it's our focus here.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, they need educated.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna educate them well, but our focus here is to love the process.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: So all these other curriculums you guys have been using, teach concepts, make sure you get through them.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you are like burned out from a becca?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_00: The point is to get them to love learning, and that's what we focus on here.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Where do I focus on English?
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_00: Starfall, ages depends on your ages.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, once again, okay, English, grammar, reading, writing in the school system are four different subjects.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: In homeschooling, it's one, and this is how we do things in less time, and this is how our children do so much better.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: Because you cannot teach English without teaching grammar, without teaching writing, without teaching reading.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's one whole.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: So when you sit down with your children, if they've read a book today and did their copy work, they were learning English and they were doing their grammar because it is one whole.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: The only reason it's been split up by public school systems is because they were filling the time.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: That's it.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: So when you are working with like your children are reading every day.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I do, I've gone through phases, depends on their ages, where I have a required reading and a choice reading.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: As they get older, they get more required readings.
• 18:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I really want you to read mom picks a book.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: They pick a book when they're little, they just pick books.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: As they got older, I'd be like, Kate, we I want you to read this one this week.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: And it would just, this is something I think you'd be interested in, right?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: I would suggest books, I would add in books.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: But children can get more just from that.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: Reading, writing, like read a book every day, write every day in your journal than anything else.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, you can do all, you don't need a separate English curriculum.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: You don't.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Please talk about Minecraft.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: Do the kids stay on Zoom the entire class and then have Minecraft education running on a tablet?
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yes.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, so you're they they come on Zoom, and the whole point of Zoom is they're checking in.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: We know it's a kid.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: We are here to protect your children, and I don't know who's in whose homes, and I don't know what's going on on the other side, and I don't need to like come through your house or anything, but we got other kids going on here.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we need your child to come in, look at the teacher, hi, I'm here, and then get the code for the world.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, at that point, Miss Hannah, they say, Can I turn off my screen if they're not comfortable?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that's okay.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_00: If they don't want to, that's fine.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: If they don't want to talk, they don't have to, right?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but they have to check in.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: And if they won't check in, they will be kicked out.
• 19:56
  SPEAKER_00: We had two kids, we don't know who they were.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: We had to turn off because we kept saying, check in, you gotta check in.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: I have to let you go.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and they they'll have to get back out if they don't check in.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, big deal.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: And this happens with all classes.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't check in, we have to turn them off.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: This is a safety issue.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, as far as but but yeah, to have um they can be on Zoom on a phone, on a tablet, and then the computer runs the Minecraft.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: But they will get the code through Zoom.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's how we know.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's like check in, then we'll give you the code.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, how long does it get okay?
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Here's how long does it take to get sign-in info after you fill out the form?
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: Generally within hours.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: However, and I am so sorry about this.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Here is what has happened to us in the last week.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: Minecraft has logged me out.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, as admins, there's three admins on login, me, Trish, and Hannah.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: And for some reason, the mind, the everything in Microsoft has pushed us out, logged us out.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: We can't log back in.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: I can't go in and add people to our account, which gives you access.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: So we have been on Port Trish has been doing this for hours and hours.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: We have been emailing, calling, threatened to sue.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: We are like, because we've paid for this, like it has been.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we finally got it elevated enough that we have somebody in customer service.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see, is Trishan here?
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so sorry.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: I know your kids are wanting to get in there.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_00: Let me see, is Trishan here today?
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh don't see it.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Naomi and Naomi.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Two Nails.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Hi.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: Naomi Rincham made it.
• 21:38
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna answer your question.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, Michelle, you made it.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: A couple new people moved in or popped in here since.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, welcome you guys.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: So, so first of all, please accept my apology on Minecraft and your kids wanting to get in.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is the oddest thing ever.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, tomorrow night or tomorrow afternoon, if Minecraft still has us locked out, we're gonna do something else.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do a Geo game, which is coming in the fall anyway.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: So we will still have an activity for your children.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: Please have them show up even if they're not logged into Minecraft yet or have an account.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: We are we're testing, we've been testing a game called Geo.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: Hold on.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Let me have it in here.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Geo guesser.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many of you tried it.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um let me put the link in here if you want to go give it a little whirl here.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: And what it's gonna do is we're gonna divide the kids into two teams, the old or not teams like against each other, younger and older.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: And they're gonna go in and they get dropped somewhere in the world, and they have so many minutes to go around and tour where they're at to try to figure out where in the world they are, and then whoever gets within the closest miles um wins that round.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a geography game, it's fun.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: We've um as adults, we've been playing it together to test it out.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: We really like it.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_00: So one way or another, there will be something for them to do on Tuesday.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: But if we still have kids who are locked out, we're gonna do geo guess around Monday instead of Minecraft.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: Then um in the coming weeks, we're adding different programs.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll still have a Minecraft day, but we have so many kids that that leaves out because they don't love Minecraft.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start doing a Geo Day, a Minecraft day, and then we're working on our third one, which might be an engineering CAD day.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: That's we keep trying new ones.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we were gonna do a board game day.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: We found an online board game until we tested it, and people can private message your kids without us knowing.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, not using that one.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know how hard it is to find something that's online that everybody can play with, but can't reach your kids?
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm gonna have to just create my own, I've decided.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're working on.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's coming.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: So one way or another Monday, thank you, Beth.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's exciting.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, one way or another uh Tuesday, there will be an activity.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so if sometimes when when tech fails us, the still have your kids show up, we'll just do something else instead.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: The whole point is that our kids are playing together and getting to know each other and hanging out with other homeschool kids, right?
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we're working on.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: You're welcome, Naomi.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: I am I am a mama bear.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, that's one thing.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: You know how we're all mama bears for our kids?
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize how much more it would come when I became responsible for your kids.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: So if I thought I was a mama bear before, it has gotten worse as I became a grandma.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: And um, as my homeschool village has grown, I'm just like, these kids better be safe.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: They gotta be safe.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: Questions.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, how hi Karen, Naomi Renshaw.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you need oh, and I'm saying this out loud.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: I hope it's okay because I want other people to know this is totally fine to reach out for something like this.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_00: You said you need an acceptance letter.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: I just need more details on what that is, who it's for, and what information they need.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: So if you guys run into any kind of issues legally, I'm always happy to write up a letter.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_00: I have written up plenty of legal letters, um, whether for lawyers or whether for schools, or if you do get an issue or you need a letter from us stating that your child is with us, or whatever that might be, um, let me know.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to do that for you.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_00: Also, I did just add in, I did this today.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_00: You shared it.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if you go into, and I hope I'm not confusing.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_00: We have two groups.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_00: You guys are catching that, right?
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's the black background, which is the co-op.
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_00: This is where your kids can come in and talk to other kids.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_00: It has your name on it.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's unintentional.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_00: Go in and have them, have your child say, like if they're a friend, they're making a friend in here, they can message that mom and say, Hey, this is Becky's son Benny, and I'm looking for um Joey, so and so's mom.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how we have them communicate so parents can keep on track on top of the conversations.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: If you come over here again, and you can get them here.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: I think I bookmarked them.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna come to the classroom, um, and you're gonna come to the file cabinet.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how many of you have or have not seen the file cabinet.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_00: I just added a school withdrawal letter.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have not yet withdrawn your kids and you're nervous about it, you can go down here, download this, print it out, sign it, and send it in.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty standard.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_00: It may or may not fit your laws.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: Please check.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then in here we have um all kinds of tools in here.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is my I wrote a book.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_00: Don't know if you guys know it, but you guys can have have access to it here.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_00: It's been five years since I wrote it.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: I need to update it with my adult children now.
• 26:45
  SPEAKER_00: But here are here's your record book and put a picture in there.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, the cycle syncing planner, which this is if you want to change your homeschooling around your cycle, which I highly recommend if you don't do it yet.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_00: And when I say that, I mean put your heavier stuff on your good weeks and put your lighter stuff on your bad weeks.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like let my homeschool village do more of the caring for you on the bad weeks when you don't feel good, and let and then you do more of the work when you do feel good.
• 27:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's the whole point of cycle syncing planner.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then I have other planners in here.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_00: This one's um practice and job charts you print out, put on your wall if you're keeping track of that kind of stuff.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_00: So there's even a student ID card.
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_00: You guys can go in and create a student ID card um for your kids if you want, if they want that.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_00: Anyway, the reading lists, the first amendments.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_00: This one is scripture posters.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: If you want good quotes, cute ones to put on your wall, like high school transcripts and diplomas, all like pre-done right here.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: What else do I have in here?
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_00: Survival home remedies.
• 27:55
  SPEAKER_00: Did you guys know I have a whole library on herbs?
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: You this is where I really wanted to start.
• 28:02
  SPEAKER_00: So it's on survival home remedies.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, create your own apothecary, herbal journal, herbal home remedies.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_00: I really should put this somewhere.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: If you have a child who's fascinated, or you are with the healing herb powers, you know, not the education of herbs.
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_00: This this is all in here.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: It and this journal is so that your child can go in and just and see the journal.
• 28:30
  SPEAKER_00: Let me show you one of the pages.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Draw it.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's a writing assignment, you guys.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's English right there.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_00: Let them read about the herbal journal.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Get this.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_00: Read about herbs, fill out one of these forms on an herb.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: They've covered science, right, grammar, reading, English.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_00: One shot.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, sorry.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_00: Let me catch up.
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: Stop.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have five kids.
• 29:04
  SPEAKER_00: One is in high school, one is in middle school, three in elementary.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: How does this co- uh classes overlap?
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_00: So they um so the okay.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: The co-op classes they do several overlap, so you do need more than one computer.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we try to get it all in one section so that your family's not spread out through the day, so you can still get things done.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: So let me show you our co-op.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna come up here to calendar.
• 29:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm in the wrong one.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: See, this is the mom group, you know, because there's not as many meetings.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: Go back here and go to the dark circle, go to the dark side, go to the calendar.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is color-coded.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_00: Brown are little kids, kindergarten and under, blue are one to third grade, red is fourth to sixth, green is sixth and above.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this is, and then you can see several things overlap.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, right here, where are we at?
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let's do Thursday.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: Right here, you've got uh this class is called Heroes of Faith, where she actually teaches scripture heroes.
• 30:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this one is elementary Bible study.
• 30:25
  SPEAKER_00: So these are two religious classes if you want them, but you're all all of your kids should be in here.
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if it's orange, all everybody can go.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_00: So are so three more.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: You click there, so you can see Minecraft for younger and older run at the same time.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a two o'clock green, a two o'clock Lego club.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: We've got a one o'clock math for the youngers and a one o'clock junior high class.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: We've got a 12 o'clock.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_00: So you kind of come in here and look.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: This will shift slightly for fall, but to be honest, it's not gonna shift that much.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's gonna be pretty much what we've already got with the change of a couple of classes, and I'll have that for you.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: Did that answer the question?
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: Make sure I was clear.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now, for your high schooler, if you have a 14 or older, you might look into the Bonfire Academy, which I have.
• 31:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's specifically for 14 to 18 year olds.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_00: It will be one-on-one mentoring with me, and it will be business, finance, investment.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be how to become successful, cut successful principals, exercising, diet, things like that.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I'm only taking 10 kids.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're interested in something a lot more meaty for a high schooler, let me know.
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, just message me and I can send you the link.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: Did you ever see the Glenn Beck Torch program that has a whole history program and audiobooks and audio American history stories?
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I did see those.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Those are pretty good.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we did so I I use for um the history in here, I do the Prager You kids.
• 31:58
  SPEAKER_00: That's what my son's doing right now, and I love what he's learning.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: Short, sweet, good videos.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_00: I I did look at Glenn Beck and I am interested, but I have to be very careful not to overwhelm you guys.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that was gonna be a little more overwhelm than I was ready to give you guys at the time.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know, we might get into it eventually.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Right now I'm using the Prager, you kids, but by all means, you guys, if you like that, use it.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do we have to fill out onboarding questionnaire again?
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: I keep getting a I'm sorry.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so here's what happened.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: We had the onboarding form inside the co-op or inside the community where the moms were.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's where it used to be because people used to sign up through there and then upgrade.
• 32:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I needed, then we we had to switch it.
• 32:43
  SPEAKER_00: So now people actually sign up on the co-op page and they weren't getting the questionnaire.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: So we had to put the questionnaire over there because I had some back end issues I had to fix.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: So the questionnaire is over there, and yes, please fill it out.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_00: So what happened is anybody who didn't fill it out on the other side is getting it.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and it's good because Trish had like a hundred families.
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_00: We couldn't figure out whose kid belonged to whose family.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_00: And that's been one of the issues is that we need this form so that when your kids are in live classes, if we have a problem, we can reach somebody and we know who to reach because we only see their kids' names, if that.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that is to help us as teachers pay better attention to your kids.
• 33:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think we had we rarely have problems, but when we do, we really, really need that information and we couldn't get parents to fill it out.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_00: So it was either never get the information or make everybody do it again.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sorry.
• 33:38
  SPEAKER_00: But yes, you are good, your membership is fine.
• 33:42
  SPEAKER_00: This is for our records, so that we can make sure that we have all the right information.
• 33:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your records will not be shared.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_00: Any of this information does not leave Trish's computer or mine.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, only she and I have this access.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the only time they find out any, like the teachers don't even access this.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's if there's a problem, they call Trish and say, Hey, what's up?
• 34:00
  SPEAKER_00: And she'll help.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_00: What do we do with SPED kids?
• 34:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, okay.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_00: Can you be more specific?
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_00: We love them, we accept them, and they belong like everybody else.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, what else are you gonna do with a SPAD kid?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_00: Can you be more specific what you mean by that?
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_00: Because most of my homeschool village kids are SPED kids.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like every child needs a special education, every child deserves an IEP, an individual education plan.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so we treat every child as if they need an individual education plan and special programs.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now, when you say special programs, we don't because we don't work like a school, we don't, we're not the ones setting the standards for your child.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_00: So we don't need to remove them from those standards to meet different standards here.
• 34:51
  SPEAKER_00: You set your standards for your child.
• 34:53
  SPEAKER_00: So the special programs are the life classes.
• 34:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like go in there and find out.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's plenty of kids in there with um, we have kids of all over the spectrum inside these classes.
• 35:03
  SPEAKER_00: We have a 15-year-old who does the kindergarten courses because that's where she's happiest.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_00: And the kids, the kindergartners are fine with it too.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: So the SPED do the exact same programs as everybody else.
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_00: If you need help, if you need some more information, you can upgrade to um our SPED program.
• 35:19
  SPEAKER_00: Now, our SPED program is ran by we have a special needs specialist who was in the system, working in the system for 10 years.
• 35:27
  SPEAKER_00: She's now a homeschool mom and she's here part of the village, and she can work with you if you're looking for more like how do I make this work more for my child?
• 35:35
  SPEAKER_00: They have these issues.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_00: You you upgrade to that program, and then you get information from her and you can meet with her, and she can help you with that.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we are very inclusive.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: That and the day that stops, you let me know.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: We will make corrections.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: My Speed Kiddo does the same programs as everyone else and does great.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, good.
• 35:52
  SPEAKER_00: He just goes down a level on some classes.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: He should be in blue, but we do little learners, which is brown.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: Beautiful, perfect.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's exactly what should be happening.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, we are very inclusive.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know what?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's because these kids in here know some have been homeschooled forever and don't even know they have special needs.
• 36:13
  SPEAKER_00: Like I had a couple kids who didn't know they had special needs, they were just kids who just lived, and maybe we had to slow down on something for them.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_00: They never knew there was anything different, they just got along.
• 36:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so so yeah, it's it's beautiful here.
• 36:30
  SPEAKER_00: They're not labeled special needs here because every kid is at a different level wherever they're at.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_00: Like some kids are at high left, high math, low writing, and vice versa.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, this is how school should be.
• 36:43
  SPEAKER_00: The AI learning.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Joanna, here's here's what I have decided inside my homeschool village with the AI.
• 36:51
  SPEAKER_00: In order to get the AI class, you have to be 14 or up because it's a lot of work online.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I put it inside the Bonfire Academy only right now because AI, um, I am I now use it extensively on a daily basis.
• 37:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um needs to be older kids.
• 37:13
  SPEAKER_00: Even 14 might be a little young.
• 37:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm teaching my son AI.
• 37:16
  SPEAKER_00: My daughter and son are learning AI and and how to use it appropriately, but it requires a maturity level.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so the minimum is 14, and you must be a part of the Bonfire Academy to be in that class because I don't want to just throw them into a course and let them go.
• 37:33
  SPEAKER_00: I think AI can be good or bad depending on how it's used.
• 37:37
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be able to sit with them.
• 37:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so in the Bonfire Academy, I'm literally going to do a class, me, with them, and we're gonna talk about it, and we're gonna watch it, and we're gonna show them how to use it for good, not evil.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not going to make it a woo out there class for anybody.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_00: They have to be 14, they have to be in the Bonfire Academy.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, it's there, but those are the gonna be the requirements for now.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, can you show us how to find the family login sheets?
• 38:04
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, oh, oh, oh.
• 38:06
  SPEAKER_00: I realized I need to figure out how to explain that better.
• 38:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: All right, window.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right, you're gonna go to classroom.
• 38:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm in the co-op.
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna go to classroom.
• 38:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, okay, I do have this in two places.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_00: I have this under setup your kids.
• 38:29
  SPEAKER_00: And hopefully you've all done this anyway.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_00: You should have all gone through this.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: This is the first thing you need to do.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: Tools you need, scroll down, and it's in this record book.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: So click the record book and it's let's see if I can find it.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_00: Attendants are we live classes we took, books we read, epic reading, Starfile.
• 38:56
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, it's in here.
• 38:57
  SPEAKER_00: I just can't remember what page I put it on.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_00: All the generation genius videos to mark off in order.
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um all the science for generation genius in markov order.
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_00: Where is it?
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: Krieger, you kids, write down the videos they watch, keep track, type C where they're at.
• 39:17
  SPEAKER_00: You can see I've built this all around our stuff inside here.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 39:22
  SPEAKER_00: I know I put it in here.
• 39:24
  SPEAKER_00: I did, didn't I?
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: Guys, every once in a while I think I did something and I get a little confused.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: No, I had a sheet right here that you could print out and keep track of the login sheet.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: I had it.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_00: I must have accidentally let it go when I updated this.
• 39:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: You know what?
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do login sheets.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize.
• 39:56
  SPEAKER_00: I was sure it was in there because it was once.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: I will go in and I will get that up and put it in and I'll put it in separately because a lot of people are asking for those separately.
• 40:05
  SPEAKER_00: I will go in and put it in and I'll give you a link.
• 40:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'll post it later today.
• 40:08
  SPEAKER_00: I apologize.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: I was sure it was right there.
• 40:11
  SPEAKER_00: So I will um go find that and post it in.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm glad you asked.
• 40:15
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't realize I had accidentally deleted that.
• 40:17
  SPEAKER_00: I do that sometimes.
• 40:18
  SPEAKER_00: Don't know if you guys know this, but menopause is terrible.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: I use AI to keep my head on.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um okay.
• 40:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'll find it and naomi and I'll post it.
• 40:30
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry.
• 40:32
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes when I have really bad um when I have really bad brain days, my husband's like, and you're running a business.
• 40:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, oh, we have a team, and I use AI to keep my brain on.
• 40:44
  SPEAKER_00: And thankfully, Trish will be like, Becky, don't forget this, Becky, don't forget that.
• 40:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, yeah, brain menopause brain fog is real, and I am on um HRT and all kinds of things to keep my brain working as best as possible and not gonna be.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_00: But other than that, yeah.
• 41:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's right, Naomi.
• 41:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: All right, what else?
• 41:12
  SPEAKER_00: Let's see.
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, for those of you are the best.
• 41:17
  SPEAKER_00: All right, we did a little already for Heather's sake, so that's okay.
• 41:20
  SPEAKER_00: Alita, separate topic.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: Can you recommend another co-op or umbrella that do field trips or any in-person gatherings or low-cost support for kids?
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: What state are you in?
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, Courtney, so we're about four or five hours apart from each other.
• 41:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I got I got you.
• 41:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're in Maryland, Alita.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_00: Of course, the one state I might actually know something about okay.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I actually raised my kids the first 10 years in Maryland.
• 41:59
  SPEAKER_00: Where in Maryland are you?
• 42:03
  SPEAKER_00: Maryland has a lot of co-ops, and I you don't need an umbrella.
• 42:07
  SPEAKER_00: Umbrellas in Maryland specifically, you pay a lot of money, and they don't really when we were there.
• 42:14
  SPEAKER_00: I looked into umbrellas and then I looked into doing it myself.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_00: Umbrella schools are really just to you pay them to remove the fear, but they're not really doing much for you.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you still have to show, well, you don't have to show a portfolio, but showing portfolio is not a big deal, especially if you're using my homeschool village's stuff.
• 42:30
  SPEAKER_00: You're in Bowie! That's where I lived.
• 42:33
  SPEAKER_00: We were in Bowie for 10 years.
• 42:36
  SPEAKER_00: Over on La That's my mother's address.
• 42:39
  SPEAKER_00: Where were we?
• 42:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um Spruel Drive is where we moved to, and then we moved somewhere else.
• 42:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we were right outside of Goddard, right out of Greenbelt.
• 42:52
  SPEAKER_00: You're in Bowie, I know we GD.
• 42:54
  SPEAKER_00: So now it's been 10 years since I've lived in Bowie.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_00: No, just because I say it right, instead of Bowie, like the rest of the world calls it.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um here's what you do, here's what I recommend, and this is what I did when I got there.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_00: Go to the library and ask the librarian.
• 43:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, okay, if you go to the library, and I recommend this for anybody looking for live co-ops, go to your local closest library um during between the times of 10 a.m.
• 43:26
  SPEAKER_00: and noon.
• 43:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's when the homeschoolers are there.
• 43:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 43:30
  SPEAKER_00: Go and make some friends.
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_00: Go talk to moms.
• 43:34
  SPEAKER_00: Look at somebody with older kids and go, oh, you homeschool me too.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then ask them, what are you, where are you guys meeting?
• 43:41
  SPEAKER_00: What are going, what's going on in the area?
• 43:42
  SPEAKER_00: We used to form our own, but they never lasted more than a few years.
• 43:46
  SPEAKER_00: But I would recommend um go to the library.
• 43:49
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you're using green belt or buoy, but either way, make sure you're or hit both if they let you.
• 43:55
  SPEAKER_00: In Maryland, they let you go to any library, right?
• 43:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 43:59
  SPEAKER_00: So That's what I recommend.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Facebook groups.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_00: Type in buoy Facebook homeschool Facebook groups.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where you find a lot of co-ops as well.
• 44:08
  SPEAKER_00: But I find that the best co-ops aren't don't have an online presence.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're not known.
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like you meet somebody and you make it work.
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of micro schools out there and co-ops and stuff, like this one, but that are live.
• 44:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you gotta try one out before I'll and make decide for yourself if you like it.
• 44:30
  SPEAKER_00: I always find I always like them the first year and then they get big, and then I don't like them anymore.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: So I don't know if that helps.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_00: I hope that helps.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know areas enough, and good co-ops rarely make themselves known.
• 44:43
  SPEAKER_00: You have to get it through word of mouth.
• 44:45
  SPEAKER_00: So okay, I know peaceful world schoolers personally, actually.
• 44:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um Angela, right?
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_00: She's a great woman.
• 44:55
  SPEAKER_00: I will say she's a great woman.
• 44:57
  SPEAKER_00: Marilyn, though, you don't need an umbrella school.
• 45:00
  SPEAKER_00: You really don't.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Angela, I do like, I don't want to dislike it's up to you.
• 45:09
  SPEAKER_00: But when I was in Maryland, I didn't need an umbrella school.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna leave that up to you.
• 45:13
  SPEAKER_00: But as far as Angela herself, peaceful world schooler, she and I have actually had multiple conversations because we get along really well.
• 45:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um, and as far as her character, she's a she's a great woman.
• 45:26
  SPEAKER_00: She is.
• 45:27
  SPEAKER_00: So take it as you need.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_00: But and what I would ask, and I don't know this answer, is if signing up with her keeps you from having to do um the portfolio reviews, because they weren't bad.
• 45:41
  SPEAKER_00: They were a little stressful just because I had to think about it and I had to meet somebody and I had little kids I was trying to hold on while I was trying to show paperwork, right?
• 45:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that$100 a year might be worth not having to do a portfolio.
• 45:52
  SPEAKER_00: But if you still have to do a portfolio, you don't need it in Maryland.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_00: Maryland was a very easy state to homeschool in.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: Even one of the most hands-on I'd ever had, and they were still fine.
• 46:02
  SPEAKER_00: They don't have the manpower to come after you or anything.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_00: So they don't have the budget.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, other questions, thoughts?
• 46:10
  SPEAKER_00: Alita, are you nervous or worried about something about homeschooling?
• 46:14
  SPEAKER_00: The only time you really need legal backing like that is yeah, Prince George is counting it.
• 46:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it does actually, but we want to keep doing the portfolio.
• 46:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if you want to do the portfolio, why are you paying the hundred bucks?
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't what is she?
• 46:33
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what it provides.
• 46:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't mean to put it down.
• 46:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like I have not looked into her program thoroughly to find out all that it has.
• 46:39
  SPEAKER_00: I just know that if you're gonna do the portfolios anyway through Prince George's, the women I always had there had homeschooled their kids as well, and they were so sweet.
• 46:48
  SPEAKER_00: And it was the women and in Prince George's County, Maryland, that taught me that if I read scriptures with my kids, I could count that as reading as writing or as history and reading.
• 46:58
  SPEAKER_00: And if I cooked with my kids, I could count that as science.
• 47:00
  SPEAKER_00: And when I sat down and they wrote out something, right, is was to combo the topic.
• 47:05
  SPEAKER_00: She's actually, it was actually an um overseer who had homeschooled for like ever and then became a portfolio reviewer who taught me a lot of what I know about homeschooling.
• 47:17
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been 10 years, but hopefully the women I met there were so sweet.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_00: So don't fear it.
• 47:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you need the peaceful world schoolers or not.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: It depends on your situation, but you can do this.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_00: You can do this.
• 47:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's not hard.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, thank you, you guys.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you Wednesday for hangout if you want to do that and meet some of these moms face to face.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure you check out the other community classes for moms where you get to hang out, do book club and stuff.
• 47:45
  SPEAKER_00: Those are a blast.
• 47:46
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget, you matter too, moms, and we've got you taken care of.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we'll see you Wednesday.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.
• 47:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's the wrap for today.
• 47:56
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you're leaving with something real, something you can actually use.
• 48:00
  SPEAKER_00: This is a long game.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: You don't have to get it all right today.
• 48:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just show up tomorrow.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's enough.
• 48:06
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode helped you, share it with another mom who needs it.
• 48:09
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're ready for a village to do this with, find us in the show notes.
• 48:13
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep going.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_00: The revolution starts at home.