Latest / The BIG Home Ed Conversations | Home Education / Summer Home Education: Letting Go of the Pressure (and Trusting Real-Life Learning)

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Summer Home Education: Letting Go of the Pressure (and Trusting Real-Life Learning) · The BIG Home Ed Conversations | Home Education

• 0:14
  Hello everybody, welcome to another episode of the big Home
• 0:17
  Ed conversations. My name is Kelly Rigg, I'm a
• 0:20
  home educating mum of two and a qualified mindset and ADHD
• 0:24
  coach. I'm really passionate about
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  supporting parents and neurodivergent families as they
• 0:28
  navigate children not OK at school and ultimately then the
• 0:31
  transition from mainstream schooling into home education.
• 0:34
  I'm here together with my Co host Ashley Venerio.
• 0:37
  She's a fellow home Ed mum of three and a former primary
• 0:39
  teacher. We created the big Home Made
• 0:41
  Conversations podcast with what began as honest, heartfelt talks
• 0:45
  around the coffee table and has now grown into a space where
• 0:47
  hundreds of listeners now tune in for real, unfiltered
• 0:50
  conversations about alternative education mindset and
• 0:54
  educational philosophies. We cut through the noise and
• 0:57
  focus on what really matters to home educating families.
• 0:59
  As you hopefully know by now, this season we are sponsored by
• 1:02
  Strew. We have been really excited to
• 1:05
  be using this app. It is a home education logging
• 1:07
  app that was designed by a home educating mom and her brother,
• 1:10
  and they reached out to us asking us to honestly review the
• 1:13
  app, to use it and ourselves, and to come on and talk to you
• 1:16
  about it on the podcast. One thing which has been really
• 1:18
  surprising as we've now been using it for quite a while, is
• 1:21
  it's actually helped me to really start to recognize some
• 1:24
  of the kind of overarching themes of our home educating
• 1:27
  journey. So we talked last week about
• 1:29
  study points. It's like a little setting in
• 1:31
  there that you can put what kind of learning you do with your
• 1:33
  children. And it given me these different
• 1:36
  study point categories like literacy, maths, understanding
• 1:39
  the world, etcetera. And what's really interesting,
• 1:43
  and I got Woody to clarify that the points are 40 points per bar
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  to kind of one for each of the school weeks essentially.
• 1:50
  So actually what's really fascinating is I've only been
• 1:52
  using this for a few months. So we're already almost all the
• 1:55
  way there on all the bars actually, which is really
• 1:57
  fascinating. So literally just a couple of
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  months into our home a journey and I'm already like logging
• 2:02
  plenty of things every week that are ticking off going towards us
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  filling up these bars. But what's really fascinating is
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  obviously we come under a lot of pressure as a home educating
• 2:12
  community to make sure that our children are socializing and
• 2:17
  that they're working on their communication and language, that
• 2:19
  they're getting out and understanding the world, being
• 2:22
  kind of a part of the real world, as people like to put.
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  And oddly enough, those are our three strongest bars, which is
• 2:27
  making me smile because those are three targets that clearly
• 2:30
  we are well on track to actually doing.
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  And it's really lovely because I think we know this as a home
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  educating community. We know that this isn't real.
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  This isn't true about our kids, that we know they're social and
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  we know that they're really incredible people, so lovely
• 2:44
  with their friends and that they have such respect and interest
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  in all ages of people. But the point is that it's
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  really nice sometimes I think if you had family or whoever really
• 2:54
  in your world who was skeptical or worried about their homemade
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  journey, that I do feel also this could be a great tool for
• 3:00
  kind of going well, don't this, this kind of gives you an
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  overview based on everything that I've been logging that
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  we've been up to. Look how much literacy they've
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  done, Look how much understanding of the world
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  they're doing. Look how much physical movement
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  they're getting. Like actually, they're doing
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  great. And you can set it up to be the
• 3:14
  same as the key stage one, key stage 2 national curriculum if
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  you want to. So kind of like the same level
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  of targets that they'd be working to in school, which
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  would really help you to show other people actually like they
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  are well on track. They're doing plenty.
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  And I think for those who are quite worried about Hey, Med
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  from like in the beginning, this could be quite helpful to kind
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  of just ground you a bit and make you realize how much they
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  are already doing. I really like the insight it's
• 3:37
  provided to. I think that what's been really
• 3:40
  powerful to me is that as we're logging activities, I'm seeing
• 3:47
  how many topics they touch on. And I think that that's been
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  really helpful because I am programmed to see science as
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  science and math as math and history as history.
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  But I forget that sometimes history is also geography, and
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  it's also reading, and it's literature and it's grammar and
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  it's practicing speech and you're doing essays, things like
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  this that can come and touch on so many other kind of categories
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  of school, if you will. And I think that that has been
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  incredibly helpful to actually open my mind up a little bit,
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  like, OK, wow, we are. We could maybe even cut back on
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  some other things because we're doing it in other places.
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  And it can help you, I think, even realize where there might
• 4:33
  be some fatigue in your home school or where there might be
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  areas to lean into in just a way that you weren't expecting.
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  So yeah, I think that that's been really kind of important as
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  I look to plan and sort of even for our topic today is like
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  what's coming up in the summer and into the fall.
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  And this has been helpful for me to see where I might be placing
• 4:52
  some things. Yeah, no, it's been really
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  great. And so I mean, if you guys are
• 4:56
  thinking about giving it a whirl, do make sure you
• 4:58
  mentioned big home ad when you do sign up.
• 5:01
  And then that basically that code will just basically put you
• 5:04
  in our pile. So he knows where everybody's
• 5:06
  coming from. But yeah, it's it's obviously
• 5:08
  really lovely to be given this well and to obviously be
• 5:11
  supporting fellow home educating families as well who were just
• 5:14
  trying to make enough money to keep their home a journey going,
• 5:17
  frankly. So let's talk about what we're
• 5:20
  going to talk about today. Essentially, we've we've had to
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  have a small break. So we've got sort of bits of
• 5:25
  travelling going on and chaos in our lives.
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  So we thought we'd just come back with a nice little chit
• 5:30
  chat episode, really just to let you kind of get some insight
• 5:34
  into who we are a little bit have a bit of a chat about us if
• 5:37
  you don't know us well yet, if you haven't gotten to know us
• 5:39
  over these past years already. But also just to chat about our
• 5:42
  summer and what we've got planned and how we kind of keep
• 5:46
  rolling through these months. Kind of I think one of the
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  things which I'm quite aware of is that over the years that
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  realistically I don't see the year in school years anymore.
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  I don't see it in terms so much either.
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  Sometimes still use those phrases like terms as in like
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  meaning just like we're doing a topic right now that some sort
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  of categorization, I guess, because we're doing like
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  rainforest topic at minute, for example.
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  And I just like with this term, we're doing rainforest stuff.
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  And I don't really mean that it's going to go on for a whole
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  term. I just kind of mean that this
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  chunk of time. It's really for the future until
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  we're bored. Until we're bored, there's no
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  real defined time to it. But I do find myself using the
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  words sometimes. But anyway, I by the, by the,
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  the kind of fun things that I find myself doing this time of
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  year is, is really kind of, you see this sort of open sea of
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  time where things are going to be a bit busier.
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  A lot of our usual clubs and things will stop.
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  And I think sometimes it can feel a little bit too open for
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  me about this time of year. I start to feel a little bit
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  like, God, I've got a whole month to try and fail with play
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  dates and things to do, and it becomes actually a lot more
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  mental work. I don't know if you find that
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  kind of find yourself having to be like a bit more prepared, a
• 6:58
  bit more organized to make sure you're not just like festering
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  at home. I feel the total opposite.
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  When everything stops, I like take a deep breath and I'm like,
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  we get to relax. Because I've got I've been quite
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  good at strictly keeping our weeks quite chill the past
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  couple years. My youngest isn't able to cope
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  with an awful lot of pre planned activities.
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  So we do need to keep it quite light.
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  So realistically, I suppose you've only got like 2 to three
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  set things a week that happening every week that we have to kind
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  of try and get to. And so if when the summer
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  holidays come around, all of those stop.
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  And so really like, yes, OK, can be nice for a little while, but
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  actually then we end up being like properly housebound if
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  we're not careful and everyone else has got plans and they're
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  doing things and just like, hello, I need to come out.
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  Is anyone around? So I have to get more organized
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  now because otherwise I'll be like frantic what I'm doing.
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  Yeah, I definitely want to lean into some of the National Trust
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  sites. So we have the membership for
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  that now. And of course there were places
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  we wanted to go last week during turn time, which ours is a non
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  term time membership. So we're like Nope, which is
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  fine. I'm sure they would have been
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  crowded, but maybe not who knows.
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  So we can go anyway. So when we're doing a bit of
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  travel now, but when we get back, that is one of the things
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  where I think as we now have open schedules and the fact that
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  like sometimes we had stuff in the evening like swimming and
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  it's you always have to be like, Hey, how long is it going to
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  take us to get back and get changed and get ready for this
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  specific time? So it's not really worth driving
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  an hour and a half to this thing because it's a pretty long drive
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  and we won't have enough time to spend there to make it worth it.
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  And like all that calculation, right?
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  Like even I feel like calculating backwards into, you
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  know, how we're going to record this podcast.
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  Like there's so much time manipulation that happens as
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  like household manager, I don't want to say a mom because there
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  are dads that are doing this too.
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  But largely I feel like it is the women and that gets
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  exhausting. So for me to not have that
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  pressure in the summer when the things stop is amazing.
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  So I'm like, this is great. So we can drive up to reading
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  and do something and we have no pressure on when to be home.
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  And it just opens up the days because like, well, now we don't
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  have art class, so we can go somewhere on this day and not
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  have to. Yeah.
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  So I love it. I think I definitely feel at the
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  end, like, so last week when it was term time, we only had one
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  activity planned and they had their guitar lessons still.
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  But that meant that there and I was prepping to go on a trip.
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  So I was largely not helpful. And they had like open rain to
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  play. But there was a lot of like, I'm
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  bored. And I'm like, you know what?
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  Good, good. This was my life.
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  Like, you know, we didn't have anything when we were like that.
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  You guys have now. Like, there was no TV on demand.
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  There was no screens, like iPads in your room.
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  Not that they were allowed to do any of that, but like, none of
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  that. Like, turn the radio on.
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  Like, I don't think we even have a radio.
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  But yeah, like, be bored. Go play outside.
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  And they did. But every once in a while they
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  would come in and I found when they say they're bored it
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  usually means I'm actually hungry.
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  Yes, you know, I mean, it's, it is really lovely having that
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  freedom. And I think I guess it's
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  important to kind of recognize that our weeks need to be
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  sustainable, right? Because I think sometimes when
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  we take these moments on the half terms or the holidays and
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  we go, I needed that break that actually it's sometimes a bit of
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  a sign that our week to week is actually a little bit nuts and
• 10:29
  that maybe we do need to be a bit more gentle on ourselves.
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  But I also find it depends on your kids too, right?
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  Because I mean, so my eldest would be so happy if every
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  single day we were going somewhere and doing something
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  like 100%, he would live that life with the full energy that
• 10:44
  it requires. Yeah.
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  But my youngest is just, she gets really socially overwhelmed
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  and the longer we're out, the harder it becomes, The more
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  people we're with, the more tricky it is for her.
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  And so it is, it is a lot of work to try and make sure that
• 10:58
  she's happy in those different environments.
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  So we have to be really careful with how much we do.
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  And I find it, I find it's so difficult striking that balance.
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  And I'm sure lots of you will relate to that out there
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  listening, whether you've got one kid or multiple, frankly,
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  because you count 2 of you might have things where you really
• 11:13
  love doing lots or they really don't like doing a lot.
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  So it happens no matter what your family composition is.
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  But it's. Yeah, I mean, I look forward to
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  our plans, I guess for this summer.
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  I haven't got a lot at the moment, if I'm being perfectly
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  frank. We have our our brambles camp
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  that we go on every year, which I'm really looking forward to,
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  which is a massive group of home educators that we all go have a
• 11:33
  great time together, which I'm looking forward to a lot.
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  So I am looking forward to that. And I think I am taking my son
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  to Greece in September. So we're kind of getting prepped
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  and organized for that. I'm so looking forward to that.
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  And I did find a little me and cruises.
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  Honestly, I've got problems, but I happened to find one the other
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  day that I'm really excited for him for.
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  I'm really hoping I can make it work.
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  So it's a like it's a three night cruise, but it goes from
• 11:58
  Athens and it goes to like it goes over to Turkey and to
• 12:02
  Santorini and to Heracleion and a couple of other places.
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  So you do like 6 stops in three days or four days, which is
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  crazy. Like just like you're somewhere
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  in the morning that you're somewhere else in the afternoon.
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  Like it's really, really cool. So it's just like a much smaller
• 12:16
  ship. Like it's not like a big cruise
• 12:18
  ship. It's a little little ship, but
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  it honestly, it just looks epic. And so I might have to splurge a
• 12:23
  little bit and go a little bit more for that one because I
• 12:24
  think that would be really cool to get to see loads of different
• 12:27
  places. But yeah, anyway, I'm getting
• 12:30
  like completely sidetracked. I can't stop thinking about
• 12:32
  holidays. That's basically my problem is I
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  basically live. That time of year.
• 12:35
  On holiday, in my brain, somewhere else all the time.
• 12:39
  No, it's that it's that time of year.
• 12:41
  I think that's the thing. Like we again, because it takes
• 12:44
  so much mental space to, to plan for these things.
• 12:47
  And then once you book them, because like we are currently
• 12:50
  away from home and then we will be again, like we have a camp,
• 12:54
  the camping trip, we have a trip to my husband's family.
• 12:59
  And so all of this is like going into the calculation of like,
• 13:02
  OK, well, how much math will we get done in July?
• 13:06
  And like, it can, but also if it's good weather, then I want
• 13:10
  to go and visit this place or I want to, you know, get in some
• 13:14
  point. We got to get to hatred as well.
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  I don't know, like there's so many things.
• 13:17
  Yeah. So, yeah, so really trying to
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  like, it's nice to have that look to the next thing.
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  It's not something to be excited for, but there's also like the
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  work that goes along with it. But I just think it's that time
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  of year. We're coming out of winter.
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  We had really good weather in the UK, too good.
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  I was so hot and I think that just sprung everyone into
• 13:37
  holiday mode, like they want to go on vacation.
• 13:39
  Yeah, for sure. And I think what we have to
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  remember as well is when you think about how many weeks a
• 13:44
  year kids are out of school, I think it's it's more than 12 I
• 13:48
  think over the course of the year, plus all the inset days
• 13:50
  and all the rest of it. And I think and also weekends.
• 13:53
  There's a great article that was out I found when I first started
• 13:58
  home education that really helped to get my mind on track,
• 14:00
  which was a teacher. He was basically explaining how
• 14:02
  many actual hours are spent in a classroom learning stuff at
• 14:08
  school, and it worked out something like 45 minutes a day.
• 14:11
  If you spread it out over a full 365 days, that 45 minutes a day
• 14:16
  counted because that's as much as the kids were actually
• 14:20
  getting if they were at school. And I think sometimes as home
• 14:22
  educators, we are expected to provide, according to the local
• 14:25
  authority anyway, a full time education.
• 14:28
  And that that gets confusing. So it's like, what is a full
• 14:31
  time education? Should I be doing 30 hours a
• 14:33
  week? Like what is that?
• 14:35
  And the truth is that realistically it's it.
• 14:38
  And the way they phrase it is often that it's supposed to take
• 14:40
  up the majority of your child's time.
• 14:43
  Right. And that's a little nauseating,
• 14:45
  but OK, yeah. It's a bit worrying, isn't it?
• 14:47
  That kind of thought is a psycho supposed to literally be packing
• 14:49
  stuff into their brains every minute and every hour.
• 14:51
  Well, and to find the majority, is that like just over 50% or is
• 14:56
  that like 80%? Yeah, like what?
• 14:58
  What is the? Because that that is a
• 15:01
  qualifying piece that I would like to know, yeah.
• 15:03
  I guess there is no qualified piece legally.
• 15:05
  Yeah, there is no a set amount, which is why I'm so difficult.
• 15:09
  I'll take it though I'd rather have it loose than like than say
• 15:12
  9 hours and I'll be like Oh no. Yeah.
• 15:15
  So that's crazy. Yeah.
• 15:16
  Can't do 9 hours a day. That's nuts.
• 15:17
  But I think the truth is that we kind of, we think that children
• 15:21
  in school have got this rigorous 5 or 6 hours in school every
• 15:24
  every day. And it's, we forget sometimes
• 15:27
  that we're allowed weekends and we're allowed holidays and we're
• 15:30
  actually allowed to have like a whole month sometimes where not
• 15:34
  an awful lot is happening at all because you're busy and you're
• 15:37
  traveling and you're doing things and things have dropped
• 15:40
  off a little bit. And for a long time, I felt a
• 15:43
  lot of guilt or anxiety around this.
• 15:45
  Like we moved house, for example, a couple of years ago
• 15:47
  and I did for like for a couple of months, pretty much all mass
• 15:49
  my son was getting was how much weight should a box be to make
• 15:53
  it liftable? How many should you stack on top
• 15:55
  of each other before they fall down?
• 15:57
  Like I really felt like that was all we're doing.
• 15:58
  Like there's such precious little time to be doing proper
• 16:01
  sit down like academics with him.
• 16:04
  It was only very little back then.
• 16:05
  But ultimately it's really important to remember that
• 16:08
  actually the real world stuff that these experiences, these
• 16:12
  places we go and the things we do and the days out we have and
• 16:14
  the fun we spend together, that connection and real world
• 16:18
  knowledge and all the rest of it all counts.
• 16:19
  Every single second counts. And ultimately I guess what I'm
• 16:22
  trying to get to is I've noticed that I am no longer thinking
• 16:27
  that way. Like I don't actually tend to
• 16:29
  worry too much week to week. I have like little check in
• 16:32
  moments with them where I kind of notice certain skills or I
• 16:35
  observe certain skills or we we're playing a game.
• 16:38
  Me and my daughter were messing about with some little fraction
• 16:41
  magnets we've got which had different slices of fruits and
• 16:43
  vegetables and things. And she was just trying to have
• 16:45
  fun trying to line them up because they have to be going
• 16:47
  exactly right to make it look right.
• 16:49
  Otherwise the Kiwi looks really funky, like it's been chopped
• 16:53
  into 12 slices then put back together.
• 16:54
  So she was trying to make the pictures look right.
• 16:56
  And I just started playing around with trying to mix and
• 16:59
  match the fractions to still make a whole.
• 17:01
  So like using a third and then three ninths and then two
• 17:05
  sixths. This two sixths can't speak
• 17:06
  today. And she was like, what are you
• 17:09
  doing? I'm just like, I'm just trying
• 17:10
  to see how many different types of fractions we could still use
• 17:12
  and they could all still fit together.
• 17:14
  So like making little fruit salads and we just had fun for
• 17:16
  ages playing with it until I she was starting to use some of the
• 17:20
  language around the different fractions and blah, blah, blah.
• 17:22
  We ended up having a really great chat and it made me kind
• 17:24
  of realize, OK, this is roughly where she's at in terms of
• 17:26
  understanding fractions, that it's just an opportunity to just
• 17:29
  check in from time to time and for me to go, OK, fair enough.
• 17:33
  She seems to be grasping that. Or today we're drawing a number
• 17:35
  line and I was going to write, so I've got 0, then it's 10,
• 17:38
  then it's 20, what's the next one?
• 17:40
  And she was able to then carry on and tell me the rest of them.
• 17:42
  I was like, OK, good. She's definitely solidly
• 17:44
  counting in 10s. Like she definitely knows what
• 17:45
  she's doing now. And so I don't necessarily have
• 17:47
  to do big tests or assessments or sort of have to be really
• 17:53
  rigorous week to week to make sure that progress is happening.
• 17:55
  It is happening. It's a little sporadic, but it's
• 17:59
  definitely happening. And most of it is very led by
• 18:01
  them, which is exactly what you want ideally is for them to be
• 18:05
  engaged and wanting to do it themselves.
• 18:07
  And their brains are just constantly puzzling things and
• 18:09
  figuring stuff out. And I just think they're
• 18:11
  incredible little people sometimes that the things that
• 18:13
  they can come up with or understand, it just fascinates
• 18:16
  me. And so anyway, I just think it's
• 18:18
  really important to try and remember this time of year that
• 18:20
  we can sometimes feel a bit of a push to assess or to be like,
• 18:25
  what have we done this year, how much we achieved what we're
• 18:28
  doing next, like what goals they need to meet next.
• 18:32
  And that's OK if that's if it makes you feel a bit better to
• 18:34
  do that and to kind of get you some kind of grounding
• 18:37
  underneath you that's. Some people have to do it.
• 18:42
  So if you're in the States here, this is the time of year where
• 18:45
  you've already done probably it because we're, we're close to
• 18:48
  June now and you've already probably done whatever is
• 18:51
  required for the, the year in terms of a portfolio review or
• 18:55
  an online assessment kind of test.
• 18:58
  And that'll of course give you a good benchmark.
• 19:01
  But it's so funny, I feel like I've, I'm never surprised like
• 19:05
  on the times I've ever done like an assessment there.
• 19:08
  So for example, I'm we're switching our math curriculum
• 19:13
  that we use and I can just tell I can almost do the assessment
• 19:17
  for my children. Yeah.
• 19:19
  Like I can go through and be like, yeah, they can do that.
• 19:21
  Nope, they can't do that. Because like, as you're saying,
• 19:23
  when you're working with them all the time, yeah, you're very
• 19:26
  aware of their capabilities. It's not like I'm managing 30
• 19:28
  students and someone's going to shock me with like the fact that
• 19:31
  they studied all weekend. Like I'm very aware of her
• 19:34
  capabilities. And so I think that for me,
• 19:42
  because we don't have that requirement, I'm not, I've have
• 19:44
  given them assessments in the past just out of curiosity and
• 19:47
  just almost as like a way to say like see they are at this grade
• 19:50
  level or whatever. But right now I just to your
• 19:54
  point, I feel like if we are progressing in what we're doing,
• 19:59
  I'm not as worried about what that looks like on a scantron
• 20:06
  sheet or a. Online exam.
• 20:08
  Exactly, I think I'm, I am just feeling that as you say that
• 20:11
  because because when you're playing with them, you're doing
• 20:13
  stuff with them, You know them so well that realistically, you
• 20:15
  know where they're at, you know what their strengths and what
• 20:17
  the weaknesses are. You know where their resilience
• 20:19
  is struggling a little bit, where they're struggling to
• 20:21
  actually do a challenging element of their learning.
• 20:24
  You know why like you can you understand them so well.
• 20:28
  And I think as long as you're being, as long as you're present
• 20:32
  in their home, a journey, which a lot of our journey is, is very
• 20:35
  much learning side by side. It's like if we're going to
• 20:38
  learn any maths concept, chances are I'm going to need to brush
• 20:42
  up on it too. And so I try and just do it
• 20:44
  alongside them. Yeah, I try and remove as much
• 20:48
  as possible that kind of authoritative teaching kind of
• 20:50
  role. It does come out sometimes, but
• 20:53
  for the most part I much prefer a discussion.
• 20:55
  I much prefer us watching a video together, us having a go
• 20:58
  together, me showing them that sometimes I will make a mistake.
• 21:02
  I can't be trying to do something.
• 21:03
  I'd be like, huh, I think I might have that wrong actually.
• 21:05
  Hang on, like, let me read that again because actually I'm not
• 21:08
  sure I got the right answer there.
• 21:10
  And I honestly believe it's just so important to have that really
• 21:14
  collaborative learning relationship with them because
• 21:17
  it stops them. I don't know, that's, I much
• 21:20
  prefer to be able to sit down and just be like, oh, let's do
• 21:22
  this together. Let's have some fun.
• 21:24
  Like expanding on something you're talking to me about
• 21:26
  earlier. For example, my youngest brought
• 21:28
  up amphibians the other day and she was like, what, what makes
• 21:32
  them an amphibian? Like why are they not a reptile?
• 21:34
  And also I think it's this, this and this.
• 21:36
  And we looked it up together and we confirmed that it was.
• 21:38
  And there's a couple of other things as well.
• 21:40
  And she's been kind of interested in them a little bit,
• 21:42
  not heavily, but just a little kind of peak of curiosity.
• 21:45
  And it works really well with our rainforest topic.
• 21:47
  So we've done a little bit more on them this morning.
• 21:50
  And so sometimes I will in give like should we do some more
• 21:53
  about this today? But actually quite a lot of the
• 21:55
  time they are reading through a fact book about something and be
• 21:59
  like, oh, this is really interesting when we look at this
• 22:01
  and it will lead to a conversation about something
• 22:03
  else. And I guess I'll just go with
• 22:05
  the flow. I get all this waffle is to say
• 22:07
  that it's so nice sometimes to just go with the flow.
• 22:11
  And so I'm actually, I'm noticing I'm not doing an awful
• 22:13
  lot of forward planning right now.
• 22:16
  I'm kind of semi conscious of obviously their strengths and
• 22:18
  things that they're struggling with.
• 22:19
  So like I've noticed that my son is seeking a lot more
• 22:22
  independence right now. He wants more inputs.
• 22:25
  He wants different people, he wants different communities, he
• 22:28
  wants more friends, he wants more kids his own age, more boys
• 22:32
  specifically, I think mostly so that they can go around smacking
• 22:34
  sticks and chucking acorns and stuff.
• 22:37
  But he just wants a lot more kind of sort of boisterous play
• 22:42
  and sporty things and athletic things.
• 22:44
  He wants to test himself. He's, he's really kind of
• 22:47
  growing up. I mean, he's, he's getting older
• 22:48
  and he's starting to become a self aware and he's got more
• 22:52
  interest, which is really, really lovely to see.
• 22:55
  And he's starting kayaking. He wants to do archery and he
• 22:58
  wants to join our local like chess institute as well, which
• 23:01
  is really cool because he's really getting into his chest.
• 23:04
  I'm just loving seeing that kind of, I'm ready to take on a bit
• 23:07
  more of the world to kind of stake my claim a little bit more
• 23:10
  kind of attitude, which is wonderful.
• 23:12
  And I just love seeing that about him.
• 23:14
  And so obviously I'm absolutely encouraging it and creating
• 23:16
  those opportunities for him wherever I can.
• 23:19
  I think it's it's so important to just kind of in my world
• 23:22
  anyway. And the way that we do things is
• 23:24
  to constantly pay attention to what they are interested in,
• 23:27
  what they're leaning towards, where they're struggling a
• 23:29
  little bit, where they are having some trouble like
• 23:32
  accessing a certain type of learning or they're struggling
• 23:35
  to think, or they're struggling to, to focus, or they're
• 23:38
  struggling to communicate or whatever it is that they are
• 23:41
  they are having tricky moments with.
• 23:43
  And to do some research, right. And to support them with those
• 23:46
  areas. Because functionally I'm really
• 23:48
  just keen on making sure that my kids have got the ability to, to
• 23:51
  do those fundamental skills that allow them to then take on the
• 23:54
  world however they want to in the future really.
• 23:58
  But yeah, it's nice. I think I'm, I'm feeling quite
• 24:01
  calm. I guess that's what I'm getting
• 24:02
  at here is I'm feeling quite inflow.
• 24:04
  I feel like it's, it's going well.
• 24:06
  And so I guess it's a reassurance to anyone who's news
• 24:08
  home educating or even in the first couple years, sometimes
• 24:11
  can still feel quite hairy that I must be what, 5 or so years in
• 24:15
  now, maybe nearly 6, I can't remember exactly now.
• 24:17
  I think I've lost track. But I'm, I'm actually finally
• 24:21
  inflow. I actually feel genuinely at
• 24:23
  ease with what we are doing and achieving on a weekly basis now,
• 24:28
  on a monthly basis, yearly basis, whatever.
• 24:31
  Yeah, things for like they're on track, which is nice.
• 24:33
  They're both doing really well. Yeah, I mean that's all you can
• 24:36
  want, right And that's that's the goal.
• 24:39
  I think for us, we are a little bit more, well, we're probably a
• 24:44
  lot more into planning mode. And I think it sort of comes,
• 24:48
  I'm sure I've talked about this before that like this is when if
• 24:52
  you are doing like pre made curriculums or any kind of unit
• 24:56
  studies and stuff, they all kind of come on sale right now
• 24:58
  because this is when the new updates come out.
• 25:03
  And when everyone's starting to plan, especially in in the
• 25:07
  States, if you are in an area where you have to work towards
• 25:12
  like a portfolio review, they're going to want to see these
• 25:14
  things, what are you using etcetera.
• 25:17
  And so I think it's a lot more structured in that way.
• 25:20
  And it just tends to have this flow of like, now are the time,
• 25:23
  now is the time to be purchasing for next year.
• 25:27
  And there's the sales. And so then it floods Instagram
• 25:30
  and all of social media. And then you're just like
• 25:32
  feeling like, should I be planning now?
• 25:35
  And for us, cost is obviously important.
• 25:38
  So if we are going to purchase something, I am very interested
• 25:41
  in whether or not I can get at a discount.
• 25:43
  And so it is something that I've been looking at for the last
• 25:46
  month or so, potentially even longer.
• 25:48
  And gosh, there's so many things that go into it really is like
• 25:53
  consuming because that's one of those things where you want to
• 25:56
  say like, OK, who's creating this curriculum?
• 25:59
  What are their credentials? Is it like a one off or is it
• 26:01
  like a super big company that's been doing this for years and
• 26:04
  still even like what are who are the people that are creating it?
• 26:07
  And then is it secular? Is it not secular?
• 26:10
  And you know, all these things that go into every personal
• 26:13
  family's decision as to what they're doing.
• 26:15
  So I feel like I've been living in that world for too long and
• 26:19
  I'm ready to have decisions. And I had thought I had made a
• 26:22
  decision on science and then I saw something else and I was
• 26:27
  like, wait a minute, let me see, maybe I'm going to do that.
• 26:31
  So I'm nearly there. And then our plan is to, as
• 26:36
  these curriculums arrive, to start them.
• 26:39
  And so we are not doing much. We're kind of taking our summer
• 26:44
  break right now and traveling in this month and then we will have
• 26:50
  more to do in July and my kids are doing some camps in August,
• 26:54
  which is really exciting. We've not done that before.
• 26:57
  They're not sleep away, but they are doing a week of pony camp,
• 27:03
  which is pretty big. It's like 9 to 4 or something
• 27:07
  really long for five days. So that's going to be tiresome,
• 27:10
  especially depending on the weather that we have, because
• 27:13
  they just did A1 day pony camp from 9:00 to 4:00 last week
• 27:18
  during the really hot term time. And that night everyone was
• 27:22
  whining and they all had headaches and they didn't feel
• 27:26
  good. And even with all the sunscreen,
• 27:29
  I think just being outside for that long.
• 27:31
  Yeah, it's a lot. They had such heat.
• 27:33
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 27:35
  So I'm hopeful that in August it's not that way.
• 27:38
  I don't know. We could take five days.
• 27:40
  Yeah. And then they're doing like a
• 27:43
  drama week long class camp as well.
• 27:46
  So that'll be really fun, but it just means that obviously we
• 27:48
  won't be doing much schooling during the month of August.
• 27:51
  The amount they're going to learn during those windows,
• 27:53
  they're like stuff they'll get to do.
• 27:55
  The social skills. Yeah.
• 27:57
  Oh yeah, you're going to pick up so.
• 27:58
  Much it's so fun and like I think it's just a good time to
• 28:01
  do some different things, you know, again, because their other
• 28:05
  stuff isn't on. So we're not competing with
• 28:08
  already busy schedules. So I feel like that is that is
• 28:13
  good. And I also appreciate like the
• 28:16
  prepayment aspect of it. Like I love that they have this
• 28:20
  pony camp, but we've already paid for it.
• 28:22
  So like, when August rolls around, it won't feel like we're
• 28:28
  spending money on another thing and another because I feel like
• 28:31
  you spend more money in the summer.
• 28:34
  You and I don't know, like we do, you know, you want to go to
• 28:36
  London and go have a day out. It just gets really pricey.
• 28:40
  It does, yeah. So I feel like planning ahead
• 28:43
  can help also from just distribution of your payments.
• 28:49
  Yeah, no, for sure. I think that sounds really fun.
• 28:51
  I think they're going to have a blast of days and I think it's
• 28:54
  interesting, isn't it? There's so many cool things to
• 28:56
  do in this world and there's so many fun things they could go
• 28:58
  and join in with. And it's lovely when they've got
• 29:00
  a passion or an interest in something because it gives you a
• 29:02
  hook. It gives you a way to kind of
• 29:03
  really get them on board with going and doing something.
• 29:06
  I'm really hoping the same sort of thing starts to happen with
• 29:09
  the kayaking for my son because they do loads of like camp aways
• 29:12
  and regattas. And hopefully eventually he'll
• 29:14
  start to get to go away with them for the weekend from time
• 29:16
  to time and join in with the regattas and that obviously for
• 29:18
  the most part, I'll probably end up wanting to go to because I'll
• 29:21
  want to go see watch him and see him compete and stuff obviously.
• 29:24
  So I'll probably end up going as well.
• 29:26
  But that'll be really fun to do. And I think there's some real
• 29:28
  community there which sounds really fun, seem like really
• 29:31
  lovely people. Yeah, that's.
• 29:34
  Cool. But anyway, so yeah, so I think
• 29:36
  whatever stage you're in, guys, like, I guess it's hopefully
• 29:39
  this helps you to demonstrate like that me and Ashley both
• 29:42
  kind of operate similarly, but differently.
• 29:44
  Like we both definitely have the same ethos in terms of like
• 29:47
  wanting our kids to be completely engaged and happy and
• 29:50
  sort of following their interests and all the rest of
• 29:53
  it. We do have different ways of
• 29:54
  planning. We have different ways of doing
• 29:55
  things with both of them are just as wonderful as each other.
• 29:57
  And it's so regardless of how you do it and what you're kind
• 30:01
  of thinking, I just, I guess what I'm really hoping that you
• 30:04
  kind of get from this is, is to try and remember that you don't
• 30:07
  have to do anything a certain way.
• 30:09
  We're coming into the end of year, which can add anxiety
• 30:11
  about what you've achieved. It's going to start adding
• 30:13
  anxiety about what you're doing for next year.
• 30:16
  It's going to start making you want to probably reassess and
• 30:18
  see what you're doing and how things are going and how they
• 30:20
  are. And, and so if you are starting
• 30:22
  to feel any of those things, go to the beach, just go to the
• 30:26
  beach and just take a breath. Because ultimately we have a
• 30:30
  real wonderful opportunity as as a community, as of people who
• 30:33
  educate their children very differently to how it's done in
• 30:36
  school is to recognize that our kids don't stop learning just
• 30:39
  because the summer term has come to a close.
• 30:42
  They don't stop learning because we've gone on holiday.
• 30:45
  They don't stop learning because you've gone to the beach.
• 30:47
  In fact, the times when we get out of our day-to-day ritual and
• 30:50
  go and do new things is probably when they learn the most frankly
• 30:54
  and are the most engaged. But also, it just doesn't matter
• 30:58
  how it looks as long as they're enjoying themselves as much as
• 31:02
  possible and they're engaged with it because there is no
• 31:05
  summer slide when it comes to home ads.
• 31:07
  Like there is no forgetting all of the skills that they've
• 31:10
  picked up because they've been doing it.
• 31:12
  They do it all the time. And I mean, we tend to keep
• 31:14
  things fairly free flowing through the whole year and we
• 31:17
  don't tend to take really kind of intentional summer breaks or
• 31:19
  anything else. Sometimes we do take a couple of
• 31:22
  weeks over like Christmas, because I really do just want to
• 31:24
  have Christmas and just enjoy myself and not have to worry
• 31:26
  about anything. But I will often find myself
• 31:28
  doing a little bit of just gentle touch planning then and
• 31:30
  getting myself thinking about what topic we're doing next and
• 31:33
  that kind of thing. But for the most part, we just
• 31:36
  tend to keep things ticking over all the time because then I
• 31:38
  don't have to feel like on the days when we don't do a heck of
• 31:41
  a lot in terms of very intentional sit down stuff.
• 31:44
  Most days when we are doing intentional sit down stuff or
• 31:47
  proper learning as a proper learning with paper and pens.
• 31:51
  God, I do hear myself sometimes and just say that's not proper
• 31:54
  learning. Why do we call it that?
• 31:55
  There is no such thing. Yeah, traditional learning.
• 31:58
  There you go. School list kind of learning
• 32:00
  where you're sat down learning with a book and a pen and a
• 32:02
  paper. But sometimes we'll sit and
• 32:04
  we'll have like a really focused day when we'll do like 4 hours
• 32:07
  over the course of the day of loads of different things on a
• 32:09
  project. Or we'll go to a museum and
• 32:12
  we'll spend 2 hours there looking and talking about stuff.
• 32:14
  And every time we spend more than 45 minutes a day, I am
• 32:18
  banking time for the days when actually we don't get an awful
• 32:21
  lot done. But as I said before, days when
• 32:25
  we get we don't get an awful lot done.
• 32:26
  I'm doing so many little like finger speech marks here, as I'm
• 32:28
  talking are the days when my kids are role-playing together
• 32:33
  and coming up with great games like Oh my God, the other day
• 32:37
  sort of mid heat wave. I haven't been well this past
• 32:40
  week either. So I've been properly mostly
• 32:42
  needing to rest as much as humanly possible.
• 32:45
  I have not felt well at all. And they were squirting the cars
• 32:48
  with water guns out the front and got so into it.
• 32:52
  And I'm not sure now if I mentioned this on the last
• 32:55
  episode. I feel like maybe I did, but
• 32:56
  they they basically come up with this this whole business idea
• 32:59
  for cleaning peoples cars and they made leaflets and they went
• 33:02
  and knocked on doors and they started doing this whole.
• 33:04
  Business and this. You know, it's just incredible.
• 33:07
  They literally just completely by themselves.
• 33:09
  And I really intentionally didn't get involved because I
• 33:12
  wanted to see what they would do.
• 33:14
  And they, they asked me to make a leaflet on Canva and I said
• 33:17
  I'm, I'm sorry, I'm, I'm working.
• 33:18
  So you're just bear with me, you'll have to wait until I'm
• 33:21
  done. If you want to use the computer
• 33:22
  and make on camera. They're like, OK, they would
• 33:24
  have got a piece of paper and they rate out what they wanted
• 33:27
  to say on it several times to get it nice and neat and make
• 33:29
  sure it's all spelled correctly. They drew a cute little picture
• 33:31
  of a car. Then they started, they made an
• 33:33
  open and closed sign for out the front so they could make sure it
• 33:36
  was out when they were inside. They wanted to go and stick it
• 33:39
  up on lamp posts. And I said, well, you only want
• 33:42
  to do it today, right? And they're like, yeah.
• 33:43
  And I was like, well, you might want to go knock on people's
• 33:45
  doors then, because it's like Bank Holiday Monday.
• 33:47
  So people might not see it. They might not genuinely come
• 33:50
  out home having a BBQ or sleeping all day.
• 33:55
  And like, okay, so then literally I didn't even know
• 33:58
  that they'd got out the front door.
• 33:59
  It's terrible thing to admit, but they, they went off, we're
• 34:02
  in a Cauley sack. It's safe, it's fine.
• 34:04
  They know a lot of our neighbors.
• 34:05
  It's all good, but they went off up the road, they were knocking
• 34:07
  on doors, they chatted to people about what they're up to and
• 34:11
  they got a customer. They cleaned our cars so that
• 34:13
  they had something to show to other people that they could do
• 34:16
  a good job. They cleaned this other person's
• 34:18
  car really well. They they collected their money.
• 34:20
  They were so proud. And I really, really
• 34:22
  intentionally, just the only bit of advice I gave them was to, to
• 34:25
  not just stick it on lamp post. That's literally the only thing
• 34:28
  I said. Everything else they managed
• 34:31
  entirely. They came up with their pricing
• 34:32
  structure. They agreed that they were
• 34:34
  working collaboratively all day. I think I don't have ever seen
• 34:38
  them quite so focused on a task together before.
• 34:41
  And we're so proud of the £2.50 they each got at the end of the
• 34:45
  day from the one customer they managed to get.
• 34:47
  But it also showed some resilience because at lunchtime
• 34:50
  they hadn't had a customer yet and they were really upset that
• 34:52
  they'd done it all at work and they hadn't got any customers.
• 34:54
  They weren't going to make any money.
• 34:55
  I was like, guys, I'm an entrepreneur, do you think I've
• 34:58
  run businesses and then literally just like rolled money
• 35:00
  in that first same day? Like that's not how it works
• 35:02
  sometimes that you've got to work for it.
• 35:04
  Like what could you do differently?
• 35:05
  How could you try and get some more?
• 35:08
  And I said, did you have people who said yes?
• 35:09
  And I was like, they're like, yeah, we did have people say
• 35:11
  they do it. And I was like, do you know
• 35:13
  where they were? What number were they like?
• 35:14
  I don't know. I was like, OK, so you best
• 35:17
  don't have another little wander around and knock again and just
• 35:19
  say we've got a slot. We're free if you want to bring
• 35:22
  the car down and it will jog them to go and get in their car
• 35:25
  and bring it down to you. So like you've got to persevere.
• 35:28
  And they really did. And I was so proud of them.
• 35:32
  And so I think ultimately sometimes these long summer days
• 35:35
  that feel like they're just really empty and you haven't got
• 35:38
  anything planned or you're not well, or you've got boring stuff
• 35:42
  that you need to get done or you're working or whatever it is
• 35:44
  that has to still happen. It's incredible how much they
• 35:46
  will find to do for themselves if given enough boredom.
• 35:49
  So they will figure it out. But as I say, I can't remember
• 35:53
  what my original point was now, but they are really, I think we
• 35:56
  just have to trust sometimes that they will, they will start
• 35:58
  to kind of work on some skills that we maybe are worried about
• 36:01
  in their own time as well. Sometimes as well.
• 36:04
  Because they some of the things like them working
• 36:06
  collaboratively, the resilience of kind of getting over it being
• 36:10
  a bit disappointing and persevering is something which
• 36:12
  both of them really struggle with whether something is hard.
• 36:14
  Usually they will just get frustrated and stop actively
• 36:17
  writing something with a pen still trying to get them to
• 36:20
  actually engage with that, which is really hard work a lot of the
• 36:22
  time. So that's like a great lovely
• 36:25
  when they do it independently. So yeah, all these things
• 36:27
  matter. But if I was, I mean, I did sit
• 36:29
  and actually kind of when I logged it all into strew, I was
• 36:32
  really going through and kind of going right, OK, what were the
• 36:35
  things they did today? And it takes so many boxes.
• 36:39
  I mean, literally you've got literacy, numeracy, social
• 36:42
  skills, entrepreneurs and business running, like
• 36:46
  photocopying technology. Like there's so much that they
• 36:51
  learned throughout that day that that just, yeah, was just
• 36:55
  incredible as a self LED project.
• 36:57
  And so that helps you sometimes when you sit down, you kind of
• 36:58
  blog it all and you go, OK, great.
• 37:00
  This has ticked so many boxes. And honestly, most things do.
• 37:05
  Most things will take several boxes at once.
• 37:08
  And it's, it's activities like that that I know kind of we end
• 37:11
  up saying stuff like, oh, we should just do baking.
• 37:13
  That's maths, that's reading, that's whatever.
• 37:16
  And it absolutely can be like it can be a great source of
• 37:19
  activities. I think obviously we have to
• 37:21
  vary what that activity is. That can cover lots of different
• 37:23
  bases. But yeah, there's so many
• 37:25
  examples like that, like trips to the beach, hunting for cool
• 37:28
  things on the beach, like going and playing mini golf, counting
• 37:31
  up the scores, trajectory at angles like you can look for
• 37:34
  anywhere. And so sometimes live in the
• 37:37
  moment, have some fun with the kids this summer and maybe even
• 37:40
  use it as a bit of a challenge to sit back, not push, and then
• 37:44
  see what happens as well. See what actually they end up
• 37:47
  doing and log it after. Like when it's happened, think
• 37:51
  about it afterwards and notice a lot of the amazing things they
• 37:55
  actually ended up doing without us actually making anything
• 37:57
  happen ourselves at all. Like just ended up just doing it
• 38:00
  on the wall by themselves. I find that quite fun sometimes,
• 38:03
  especially when you go on holiday.
• 38:04
  Yeah, it's so, it's so interesting because we are like,
• 38:08
  my kids are either like really getting along or like just two
• 38:11
  are getting along and someone's left out.
• 38:13
  And like yesterday I just feel like we're battling some jet lag
• 38:17
  and that just adds another layer to things.
• 38:21
  And I mean, I said at one point I was like, stop pinching, like,
• 38:25
  and then at one point we were trying on shoes.
• 38:28
  I got like kicked in the face like because someone slipped and
• 38:32
  like the foot went up and my head was right there.
• 38:34
  And I'm just, I was like, guys, I've got to get it together.
• 38:37
  So when you do find the moments like right now they're playing,
• 38:41
  I can hear them and they're playing really, really well
• 38:43
  together. And usually it does involve
• 38:46
  horses of some kind, like playing horses in whatever
• 38:50
  location we're currently in, even a shoe store.
• 38:54
  But that's great because they're all getting along and no one's
• 38:57
  being left out. And I'm just going to, yeah,
• 38:59
  we'll see what comes. Yeah, exactly.
• 39:01
  I'm not disturbing that that could carry on just as it is.
• 39:04
  All day long, yeah. It's lovely, isn't it?
• 39:06
  And I think if this gives you any insight into us at all.
• 39:10
  So obviously one of the other things I wanted to kind of cover
• 39:12
  this episode is kind of who we are or what we care about and
• 39:15
  stuff. And hopefully this is giving you
• 39:16
  a good window into a bit more about our home Ed family lives.
• 39:21
  But yeah, we're honestly, I feel like this year has been a bit of
• 39:25
  a whirlwind. Obviously finishing my ADHD
• 39:28
  coaching qualification has been huge for me.
• 39:30
  I've started to get some enquiries coming through which
• 39:31
  is awesome. So I also, aside from supporting
• 39:34
  home, educating families and I also support ADHD kind of
• 39:38
  entrepreneurs, the people who are trying to start their own
• 39:40
  businesses or kind of building more fractional careers,
• 39:43
  etcetera, kind of working more freelance.
• 39:44
  So I've worked in a role similar as a sort of virtual assistant
• 39:48
  business strategist for about 9 years.
• 39:50
  And so the ADHD coaching has kind of already been a part of
• 39:53
  it for a long time. And now it's just official.
• 39:56
  Yeah, no, it's just official. But I, I've been really excited
• 39:58
  to have some inquiries coming through this week, people who
• 40:01
  are trying to get. Their brains in order kind of
• 40:03
  get their work style sorted out so they stop kind of fighting
• 40:06
  against their ADHD brains. So I've been, this is crazy the
• 40:10
  amount of projects we can be working on simultaneously.
• 40:12
  Like I've got a home Med stuff, I'm running my ADHD business, my
• 40:16
  virtual assistant business, obviously supporting my clients.
• 40:19
  I've got my podcast to say many things, so this.
• 40:23
  Isn't. It, it's, there's so many
• 40:25
  amazing stuff that we can be interested in in our day-to-day
• 40:27
  lives and stuff that we have to prioritize.
• 40:29
  So yeah, super grateful that the podcast is is going as well as
• 40:32
  it is. Our numbers are growing like
• 40:35
  hugely. We had our best month ever when
• 40:37
  we first came back in April, which is really awesome to see
• 40:39
  that instant uptake again of the podcast.
• 40:41
  So thank you all those loyal listeners who are still tuning
• 40:44
  in every week. Apologies for the last one where
• 40:48
  I accidentally forgot to hit publish after I finish uploading
• 40:52
  it all. So it didn't actually go out
• 40:53
  until about lunchtime, so apologies for that.
• 40:56
  It was already in there to go and I literally just completely
• 40:59
  forgot to press the same. Like walk away.
• 41:01
  I. Like trap, we're good.
• 41:03
  Never mind, you got it in the end.
• 41:04
  But yeah. So yeah, I say me in general is
• 41:08
  my lovely ADHD chaos. I have, yeah, 22 little
• 41:11
  whirlwinds myself and I am in chaos and just trying to
• 41:15
  prioritize something. So I've I've decided I'm going
• 41:17
  to get some T-shirts made, but just say just pick a thing and
• 41:20
  do a thing because frankly, everything in my life feels
• 41:22
  equally as important and shout to you at any one moment in
• 41:24
  time. So just try not to prioritize.
• 41:26
  I spend all my time planning and writing lists and I need to just
• 41:30
  go with the flow. So on some badges onto a
• 41:32
  blanket, just do a. Thing we need to get some some
• 41:36
  merch made for that. We've got so many little slogans
• 41:38
  that come up, we need to get some some stuff done.
• 41:42
  Definitely do. I mean, I've I've got my bumper
• 41:44
  sticker on the car for the podcast.
• 41:46
  Do you ever, have you ever see a car with a bumper sticker on for
• 41:48
  the podcast? That's mine, that's yours.
• 41:50
  I'm going to say hi but I need to get some made because I'm
• 41:53
  sure other people would love to have them too.
• 41:54
  But. It's expensive to do them.
• 41:57
  I have to bulk buy them people. So I have to have some
• 41:59
  commitment if I'm going to buy them.
• 42:00
  Everyone needs to buy them. You give them a way to subscribe
• 42:03
  it. It would be fun let more people
• 42:06
  know about it. But I have to say as well, I
• 42:09
  really need you guys to be rating and commenting on the
• 42:12
  podcast episodes when you listen to them.
• 42:13
  Pretty, pretty please. I'm going to do a proper
• 42:15
  personal request here because it'd be so nice to get some
• 42:19
  recent reviews on the podcast. So I think our latest like
• 42:23
  proper reviews like 2024. And I know there's lots of you
• 42:26
  listening every week. So someone has got to write us a
• 42:28
  review, please this week and be make my week.
• 42:31
  I want to get some up to date ones on the website because I
• 42:34
  know so many of you are listening.
• 42:35
  I get people Instagramming me all the time telling me about
• 42:38
  the episodes they've enjoyed by listening to and stuff.
• 42:40
  I'm just like, can you just write that on Spotify for me on
• 42:43
  Apple Music, just just quickly just go and just copy and paste
• 42:46
  just straight in there for me. Because the more you share it
• 42:48
  and comment on it and like it and rate it and review it, the
• 42:51
  more those platforms share it for.
• 42:52
  Which is? Yeah, exactly.
• 42:54
  And so they need to People will find you, find you, find us,
• 42:57
  don't find you. Don't worry.
• 42:59
  Right. That's me waffling over any last
• 43:01
  thoughts Ashley before we all the years.
• 43:05
  Lovely followers, I think, I think the takeaways were from
• 43:08
  were from this for Plan a vacation and Radar podcast,
• 43:13
  please, Yeah. Absolutely, and carrier listing.
• 43:17
  We'll have our topic challenge back again next week, so we will
• 43:21
  have hopefully gotten around to covering protest and social
• 43:24
  change with our kids. Ha ha ha, figuring it out.
• 43:27
  I've got some ideas. I haven't done much yet.
• 43:29
  Oh God, we must get on with it. I did.
• 43:32
  I have done some stuff too. I haven't brought it to the the
• 43:35
  little people, but I have I have gathered.
• 43:38
  Started your thinking. Well done.
• 43:40
  You're done. Better than me, yes.
• 43:43
  Yeah, but you like you said, planning is one thing, executing
• 43:46
  is another. Oh dear, find your friends
• 43:49
  people. Find someone who lost a plan and
• 43:51
  then just go to their house every day.
• 43:52
  It'd be fine. All right, guys, have a
• 43:55
  fantastic week and we'll see you again next time.
• 43:57
  You've been listening to the Big Home Ed Conversations podcast.
• 44:01
  Thanks for tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe, leave
• 44:04
  a review, and share with a friend.
• 44:06
  Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Big Home Ed Podcast
• 44:10
  for updates. Also check out our website at
• 44:14
  Big Home, edpodcast.com. We'll be back next week to talk
• 44:18
  about our experiences bringing the topic of protest and social
• 44:22
  change to our children. We hope to hear your experiences
• 44:25
  as well, so come talk to us about it on social media.
• 44:28
  Thanks for listening.