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BIG Home Ed Book Club: Our Review: 'The Four-Hour School Day' by Durenda Wilson · The BIG Home Ed Conversations | Home Education

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  Hi everyone, you were listening to the Big Home Ed Conversations
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  podcast. I am Ashley Venario and I'm here
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  with a special episode today. This is one of our book club
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  episodes and we are going to discuss the Four hour School Day
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  by Dorinda Wilson. And let me start by saying I
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  didn't know much about this before diving in.
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  Honestly, I was interested in it because the title was on trend
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  with other books out there. All these books about the two
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  day work week, the four hour work week.
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  And this book takes that same approach where less is more and
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  you can be efficient in what you're doing at home in a way
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  that you can't enter traditional school setting.
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  Overall with this book, I will say I was pleasantly surprised.
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  I was surprised by how encouraging it was and I think
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  it offers practical advice for those who are new to home
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  education. Now before I get too far, I do
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  want to give you a heads up. This book is very faith-based.
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  The author writes openly from her Christian perspective.
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  She quotes the Bible, she talks about her relationship with God
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  and that's really woven throughout.
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  I didn't realize that going in. And I know for some people
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  that's going to be a selling point, while for others it might
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  be a little off putting. But here's the thing, even if
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  you're not religious, there is still so much in this book that
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  applies to all home educators. You can skip the faith parts or
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  adapt them to your own worldview because the core message about
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  homeschooling is incredibly relatable.
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  The author is a homeschooling mom of eight, so she is
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  definitely in a position to share her expertise here.
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  Her youngest was 12 when she wrote this, and her oldest was
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  30. So she's lived through every
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  stage of home schooling, from babies to toddlers, all the way
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  through high school and launching kids into adulthood.
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  And that expertise really comes through.
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  She's not speaking in theory. She's sharing what actually
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  worked for her family, what she struggled with, and what she's
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  learned along the way. One of her first big points that
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  she makes, and I loved this, is about the amount of time
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  homeschooling actually takes. So many of us, especially when
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  we're new, feel like we have to recreate school at home.
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  You know the 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM grind sitting at the table
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  plowing through subject after subject.
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  But Dorinda reminds us that learning at home is way more
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  efficient. You are not managing 30 kids.
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  You're not spending half the day on classroom management.
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  You can actually tailor the learning to your child, which
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  means you can get more done in less time.
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  And that's where the whole 4 hour school day idea comes in.
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  But she's clear that this doesn't mean parents should be
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  hovering over their kids every second.
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  Home schooling, in her view, isn't about control.
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  It's about creating an environment where our kids can
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  grow at their own pace. They become independent thinkers
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  and really just discover who they are.
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  I found that reminder so refreshing, especially in a
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  world where it's just easy to get caught up in comparison,
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  social media, Instagram, all of that or, you know, or to feel
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  like we're not doing enough, which is also, my gosh, so easy
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  to to kind of fall into. And of course, no conversation
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  about homeschooling would be complete without that one
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  question we all get. But what about socialization,
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  right? I loved her answer.
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  If you read anything, read this chapter, the one about the
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  sacred cow in her book. OK, I would quote it if it
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  wasn't copyright infringement, so go go look it up.
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  I loved her answer. She makes this distinction
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  between socialization, which is usually about fitting into a
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  peer group, often through conformity, and socializing,
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  which is about actually knowing how to interact with people of
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  all ages. And let's be honest, homeschool
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  kids get tons of practice with that.
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  They're in the world with us. They go to the dentist, they're
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  talking to the neighbors, they're chatting with the person
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  at the post office, they're asking questions at the grocery
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  store, right? They're not confined to one room
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  with 30 kids. They're exact same age.
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  I just thought the way she framed it was really helpful,
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  especially if you're looking for a kind and approachable way to
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  answer that question when it comes up.
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  Another theme she keeps coming back to is slowing down.
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  Not cramming our schedules so full that there's no room to
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  breathe. Not letting comparison drive our
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  choices, instead focusing on building consistency, creating
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  rhythms our kids can count on, and most importantly, nurturing
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  our relationships with them. I personally found this really
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  helpful when she just underlined that rhythms and a dependable
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  schedule is really core to creating security for children
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  so that they can then launch into their passions and explore
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  and ask questions because they have this really solid
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  foundation. Because I personally like to fly
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  by the seat of my pants. I like to last minute go to the
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  museum or last minute join that group for what were outing there
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  doing that day. And I often will do that at the
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  sacrifice of the schedule. And so I think that her focus on
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  respecting the place that you are at currently in your
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  homeschooling journey and really just understanding that that
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  consistency and rhythm is important that that just hit
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  home for me. That was a big reminder for me.
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  It was a big take away. She talks a lot about not
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  letting school work steal the joy out of family life, which I
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  know is something, again, I'm reminding myself of often,
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  right? Family comes first.
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  The book itself is organized in a way that makes it pretty easy
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  to pop in and out of. She starts with the why behind
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  homeschooling, but then she moves into the practical early
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  years, middle years, high school, and even college and
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  beyond. She shares stories from her own
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  kids who each took different paths.
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  Some went to college, some didn't, and she's really honest
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  about how those choices played out.
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  Again, I found this really encouraging.
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  Each kid followed their own path and seemed very fulfilled and
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  happy with where they are in their life and careers.
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  Another thing I also appreciated is how she talks about following
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  your child's passions. Even if your child is obsessed
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  with something, whether it's history, art, science, something
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  totally niche on, let them dive into it.
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  That interest might turn into a career, or most likely it won't.
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  Either way, it's building focus, confidence, and a love of
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  learning. She also admits that, like any
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  of us, she doesn't remember much of what she learned in school,
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  whether that's in science or history.
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  You know, despite getting good grades, I got straight A's and
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  can barely remember what I learned in high school science
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  and history. It's only my postgraduate self
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  education self learning that has stuck with me.
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  So why do we force kids to memorize content they'll forget?
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  Instead, help them to learn how to learn and trust that
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  curiosity is going to lead them deeper when it matters.
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  And I know it has for me. So I feel like that's that's
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  just some proof right there. I think one of the reasons this
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  book works so well is because the author is just so
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  encouraging. She's not wagging her finger.
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  She's not telling you you're doing it wrong.
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  She's saying here's what works for us.
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  Here's why you can trust yourself and here's why you
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  don't need to panic. If you're home schooling doesn't
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  look like someone else's, stop looking at Instagram.
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  It's the kind of book that if you're just starting out, it
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  will give you confidence. And if you've been at this for a
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  while, it's a great reminder to just breathe, to step back, to
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  revisit your focus, your why, what matters to you as a family
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  and go from there. I also think it's the kind of
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  book that I would recommend giving to a skeptical family
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  member. It's not harsh.
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  It's it's very approachable and when you have a relative or
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  someone you're close to, I mean, don't just give it to strangers
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  on the street, but like if it's someone you're close to and they
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  tend to ask the questions about socialization always.
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  And if your kids are ever going to go into college, are you
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  going to home school and high school, right.
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  This book is written so kindly that it will help to gently
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  answer those questions without you having to do it one more
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  time because we all know we're old pros by this point.
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  But most importantly, you don't get defensive because I know I
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  sort of shut down anymore at this point.
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  Like if someone's asking me about socialization, I
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  immediately am annoyed. And I think it's just the nature
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  of being asked so many times, right?
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  It's just, it is what it is. So let this book say it for you.
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  At the end of the day, I'd say that the four hour school day is
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  not so much a step by step guide on home schooling, but more of a
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  really big, encouraging cup talk.
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  It's definitely inspiration. It's part practical wisdom.
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  It's part challenge to trust yourself as a parent.
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  The author really makes the case that you don't need a teaching
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  degree, you don't need to know it all, and you definitely don't
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  need to run yourself ragged to give your kids a solid
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  education. What you need is time with them,
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  consistency, and the courage to let them learn in a way that
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  fits who they are. And that's hard.
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  It's really easy said, not easily done.
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  OK, to wrap this up, I was really pleasantly surprised with
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  this book. It's one that I will be keeping
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  on my shelf and definitely recommending to anyone who's
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  either curious about homeschooling or feeling a
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  little bit shaky about their decision to start homeschooling.
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  If you've read it, I would love to hear your thoughts.
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  Please, please share them with me.
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  If you had a chance to read it, I want to hear it.
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  If you just want to comment on some of the things you heard
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  from this podcast, I'd love to hear that as well.
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  As I look to our book for the next book club book, I am going
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  to read Hunt, Gather. Parents, what ancient cultures
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  can teach us about the lost art of raising happy, helpful little
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  humans. It should be good.
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  I'm going to aim to have another short summary podcast like the
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  one we've heard today. I'm trying to get these out
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  weekly, but life gets in the way.
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  So these bonus episodes are just going to come when they come.
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  So hang on. Hopefully this gives you a week
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  or two to catch up or or read it if you want to.
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  Thank you for sticking with me, especially since we did not have
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  Kelly here. For a little variety for your
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  ears, a little back and forth. Thanks for listening to me
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  explain why I think you should read the four hour school day
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  and I look forward to hearing your feedback on this book and
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  on Hunt Gather Parent. Thanks everyone.
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  You've been listening to the Big Home Ed Conversations podcast.
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  Thanks for tuning in. Don't forget to subscribe, leave
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  a review and share with a friend.
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  Follow us on Instagram and TikTok at Big Home Ed Podcast
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  for updates. We'll be back again soon for
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  another book club episode, but don't forget to check out our
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  special summer episodes. Get your head straight to Home
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  Ed, See you soon.