Latest / The Thriving School Podcast with Jenni Awesome / Transforming Education: A Journey into Personalized Learning with Jenna Ditsch
Transcript
- Jenni Awesome: Hello, and thank you for tuning in to the Jennifer Awesome podcast. My name is Jenny Awesome, and we have a pretty phenomenal guest with us today. Her name is Jenna Ditch, an educator, writer, speaker, and founder of Bee House Collective, where she helps people discover their God-given identity, clarify their calling, and faithfully steward their gifts through meaningful work that serves others. With more than 20 years of experience in education, Jenna has served as a teacher, a curriculum developer, educational consultant, homeschool leader, learning experience designer, and a homeschool teacher herself. She's passionate about creating personalized learning experiences that honor each person's unique gifts and God-given purpose. Please join me in welcoming Jenna Ditch to the podcast. Welcome. Jenna Ditsch: Thanks, Jenny. Thanks for having me on today. Jenni Awesome: Yeah, I'm super excited to talk with you. So tell us a bit about yourself. Jenna Ditsch: Sure. Well, as you'd mentioned, I kind of just have lived and breathed in the space of education, performing many different roles. I started off teaching in public school. Actually, if if I'm going to be very honest, I started off in my basement with my younger siblings when they wanted to play and I said, we're playing school. I'll be the teacher. So Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: I've just I've been a teacher my whole life. It's just always been a part of me. so I've looked for every opportunity I I could to serve or teach in some way. so from my siblings in the basement when I was ten all the way up to my first job out of college working in the public school system and then i taught also in private school and i decided to jump the fence and get into the design space creating assessment and curriculum and then i realized that i really just wanted to do education differently than Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: like my the first half of my career, I wanted it to be very personalized and this came with becoming a parent. Once I saw what my kids needed Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: and they weren't getting it, I became very creative. I'm like, I have to find a way to give you guys the kind of education that you need. So that led me into the micro school space first. which is an individualized form of education. it's it's really kind of like homeschool in philosophy, but you're doing it together with other people in a classroom. So it's kind of like a hybrid. It's like school and it's like homeschool. just like a big family, a big multi-age Jenni Awesome: Okay. Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: family. And now last year and this year I am homeschooling my kids and I have a little pod. I have some other students that join us for some workshops. So that's that's me and I'm still writing on the side and yeah, doing entrepreneurship with students and I'm just on a grand educational adventure, I would say. Jenni Awesome: And that's wonderful. Like I know when I became a parent, it changed my perspective on education as well. So for you to be able to have the tools and step up and and do that for them, that's huge. And I know there's a lot of parents recently talking about how, you know, the the public schools aren't working for them. It's not providing what their kids need. And so you going out there and taking that next step to provide what your kids need. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Here. Jenni Awesome: I I I hope that more parents are able to connect and learn from you about how to take those steps and how to provide for your kiddos. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. And I would say like this has not been a easy, straightforward journey. So I feel Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: like that's one of the reasons I like to kind of share my story a little bit with others because I think sometimes people are hesitant to step in to the home school space thinking, Well, I I'm not exactly sure how to do this. Well, y you figure it out one step at a time. I I feel like Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: as a parent, when you have that that gut sense of like, I know what my children need, and they're not getting Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: it, I mean it's very cliche, but where there's a will, there's a way. I I think there's always a way to figure it out and it y you may not feel like you know what you're doing. And that's Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: okay. Like if you take the steps, I think the right people will come along and you will discover and figure it out. And you don't have to n know the next twenty steps in order to just take one. So that's it was kind of my journey. Jenni Awesome: And and that completely embodies the learning model anyways of if if we can go out there and show our kids, I mean, even as public school teachers, hey, I don't know everything. However, here's the steps I'm taking to facilitate your learning and to make this happen for you. I mean, just just think of how much greater our world could be if more people had those problem solving skills. Jenna Ditsch: Right. Well, and I felt like it was kind of an emergency situation for my daughter because she started having panic panic attacks in first Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: grade. because that's how hard it was for her to be in a traditional kind of classroom. Now, she was at a private school, she was at a a good school with Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: a good reputation. But she was still struggling because it was still a standard model and she was not moving as quickly as everyone else. She needed more time. She needed more individualization and she's also very sensitive. And the teachers, I mean, they're they're lovely ladies, but their their classroom management was not a helpful style for my daughter. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: She couldn't focus. There was just always too much going on in the classroom. And so Jenni Awesome: yeah. Jenna Ditsch: the the more she got behind just feel she she just felt like there was always chaos. And Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: the more she got behind then she began to believe lies about her like I can't read, I'm dumb, I'll never learn, what's wrong with me. And so That was concerning. I was losing my bubbly little girl who was always happy, joyful, always had a smile on her face. I felt like I was losing her. And once the Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: panic attacks began, I thought, no, I'm not no, I don't want this. And I'm a single mom working. So this felt impossible. I didn't I Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: didn't know how I was going to do it. I just felt like I had to rescue her out of an environment that was damaging her. It was, you know, fine for other kids, but it was damaging her. And I'm like, Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: I'll take you out and then we'll figure out the next step. And that's how our journey began. Jenni Awesome: That's such a wonderful journey. So it started with her in first grade. And what grade is she in now? Jenna Ditsch: She just finished third. Jenni Awesome: Excellent. So you've been doing this for two years with her? Jenna Ditsch: Yeah, yeah. We went to a micro school first. I worked there part time as a teacher and that Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: was just kind of our de escalation for her. We just had to get her back to a place of like calming her her nervous system, getting some Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: emotional regulation because she just her her nervous system was flooded with so much anxiety and and fear and different things. So we just had to give her a safe space where she didn't feel pressure, where she felt Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: like she was loved, where she could belong. And we really had to work on her like her heart and her attitude and her thoughts towards learning and education. before I could focus on moving her forward. So I I just stopped thinking about You know, the benchmarks. Well, by the end of first grade, all the students should be, you know, i in this Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: place and having an assessment background, I know benchmarks because I write tests for benchmarks. And so they're Jenni Awesome: huh. Jenna Ditsch: ingrained in my head, but I'm like, I it it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter when she gets there. She it matters how she gets there. And Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: that's what our focus was. Jenni Awesome: And and who she is when she gets there. And and that's you're you're bringing up a a point that, you know, schools are really focusing on social emotional learning, trying to find ways to squeeze it in. However, it's it's not getting the support and time that it really truly needs. Because I I think our schools need to be more about the kids that we're growing, the people we're growing, not just what they can. Can or or can't do. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. I agree a hundred percent. af after we spent the first year at the micro school, I actually ended up directing the year after. And a majority of our students came from either some some form of a traditional model of education Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: And they were either dealing with the similar things to my daughter where they just felt like behind and they like they they fell through the cracks and and no one was picking them up and helping them. They they just had to like hold on for the ride and hope they make it. And like who's who's gonna fill those cracks in? Like if you just keep going, you're gonna Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: have more and more cracks on a foundation. And then the other thing was students who had been bullied and so they came to us you know with with some challenges because a lot of times the kids who are severely bullied they don't trust the world and they themselves can become the bully without intervention and Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: a lot of what we did in that school was to train children on these social emotional skills and it's not a quick five minute mini lesson. Like you Jenni Awesome: No. Jenna Ditsch: have to allow yourself to be interrupted to meet the need. So if a child is having a meltdown, I don't just say, this is a behavior issue and now you're gonna have a consequence. It's you don't know how to regulate your big emotions 'cause no one ever taught you how. And you're freaking Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: out 'cause you don't know what to do. So we're gonna stop and we're gonna teach you those skills. And it was amazing that by the end of the year, some of the students that came on totally unable to have self control or regulate their emotions or work through conflict with peers were the ones who were helping train the other kids how Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: to do it. Because once they got her, they're like, I'm empowered. I know how to do this. I'm gonna help someone else. And it was the most beautiful thing to see them grow. Like, yes, we care about what they're learning academically, Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: but I think that's a very secondary as you were saying. We care about who they're becoming and the social the social skills that they have, it doesn't matter how smart they are, how much they know. If they don't know how to work with people, work through conflict, communicate well, manage themselves, Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: how how far can you really go? We're we're not setting s kids up for success. if we're not building in a holistic sense. Jenni Awesome: Yeah, and and I think that, you know, our society, if we had more adults that were able to regulate their big emotions or even just be able to name, Hey, I'm having this big emotion in the first place, like to to think that we're that you're doing that at the younger age and and seeing that change and that growth so young, they're gonna grow into these huge transformational leaders because they see things in a different way. They can recognize their emotions and because they recognize their emotions, they can accept feedback as a neutral event. And and that's just absolutely amazing. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah, I I made a decision that I didn't want my kids to have to go through their whole life not figuring the things out that I didn't start to figure out until I was in my twenties. Like, Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: if if you can avoid having to unlearn a bunch of things and I could just teach you as a foundation, Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: then you're like my ceiling is gonna be your your foundation. And that's Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: what I wanted to create for my children. Jenni Awesome: Think that's a beautiful way to put it, that your ceiling is their foundation. I love that. And what came up to me as you're talking about this isn't that like kindergarten through second grade, the primary years, didn't that used to be the purpose of them? Like you're getting to learn about community, about how to interact with others, kind of learn some of the basics on reading, math, like our our letters, how we communicate. And you're right, when they they came up with all these standardized tests that you must do this, this and this as a kindergartner. That's not how we act. That's not how we learn. Jenna Ditsch: No, th young kids need to play. And and older kids too. They they need room for imagination, for creativity, to slow down. you know, I I'm not a psychologist. I'm not an expert on ADD, okay. But I was diagnosed with it, my son was diagnosed with it, and almost every other child I know I feel like has been diagnosed. And I know there's probably lots of reasons why we, you know, w we could talk about the factors, probably more than one factor or thread. But I just had a conversation with a mom the other day that I I think environments make such an impact. And when we tell kids like, Okay, You have 20 minutes. Ready? Go. Okay, switch. Now you have 15 minutes. Hurry up and eat. Okay, now like we are creating environments where kids can't slow down and focus on. There's no time to slow down and focus. Jenni Awesome: Mm. Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: So we shouldn't be surprised when the environments we put our children in don't allow a slowdown or a still Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: moment or a quiet moment. Of course, they can't focus. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: Life has not ever taught them how to do anything except for run from thing to thing to thing. Jenni Awesome: And and then they don't know how to handle when something isn't happening or those quiet moments. And I know there's usually a push in the summer of let the children be bored. Let them go out there and figure out what they're gonna do with their time. But with our cell phones and our electronics, like that bored time is gone. Like they're they're still inundated with, you know, video after video after video, game after game after game. And Jenna Ditsch: It's tough. It's tough. Jenni Awesome: I also think I've I've always said and it's an unpopular opinion that A D D, ADHD, that's just being human. Like I I th I think that there is something to it and as someone who's high functioning with AD D, it's you're talking about the environment that we're putting people in. I it's not Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Jenni Awesome: the environment that we're meant to be in. Jenna Ditsch: I agree. And of course we're all different. But that's the beautiful thing. There there should be allowances in the environments that we create, for children especially, for Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: them to be different, to have different ways that they learn, different ways that they communicate, that they think, and in a lot of places it's just a pretty standard protocol. And some kids it works for, but then there's a lot Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: of kids that it doesn't work for. And that's what really breaks my heart. And I mean that that's just on on the learning side, but I mean There's there's a lot of students even who are graduating and not equipped to go into Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: the world as problem solvers and independent thinkers because of Jenni Awesome: yeah. Jenna Ditsch: the system that we put them through. which if to anyone listening, if you haven't studied the roots of education and where our educational model came from, it's a Very interesting study. and I would say it's not with the best interests of developing free thinkers in mind. Like that's not the Jenni Awesome: Yes. Jenna Ditsch: roots of our education system. So there's there's wonderful teachers. I I'm not gonna say everyone who's in a standard educational model. There there's great teachers. There's there's great principles and I I'm sure there's some great things happening in those classrooms. But I think the model itself is flawed and you can only do so much with a flawed model. So I'm a huge advocate of giving people choices. If that model's working for people, great they can stay in that model. But there's a whole lot of people That that model is not working for at all and they should have other options, whether it's homeschool, hybrid, micro school, so that they can feel that their children are seen for who they are. I think identity Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: is very important. We shouldn't be trying to put kids through some kind of cookie-cutter program where we say you should all come out looking the same. Absolutely not. We have different gifts. Jenni Awesome: Yeah, truly. Jenna Ditsch: So we sh we should be able to have the opportunity. Yes, like let's work on the weaknesses, but let's not focus on them. Like what are your strengths? What do you love to do? And if you're a creative and all the creative arts programs are losing funding and so there's no time or opportunity for you to develop the very way that you were created, like that's sad. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Yeah. I I was a very musically inclined kid. I can sing, play the piano, I was in bands, and I learned a lot of my leadership by being in in music. And I really don't think that if those programs were gone when I when I was in it in school, I would not be who I am today. I I would not have had those leadership opportunities and stepped up to the role that I've been playing. And and you're right, we need to find a way to fund what it is that interests our kids. I've worked in tribal schools and I worked in a rural school in Cleellum, Washington. And we got to do these big projects where it was like a quarter long project. It's based on something that's important to the community. And then we build in all the extra pieces of okay, so there's science, there's math, there's communication, how do you then share what you learned? And I really I feel that experiential learning needs to be individualized to each person because you're right, we all do have different talents, different gifts, different strengths. And continually saying, hey, this kid's failing, they need to be put on an IEP, which should not be a negative thing. A 504 should not be a negative. It's it's a an additional support. And quite frankly, I think most kids need an IEP because Of the way that the system is. You're right, it's it's antiquated. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Yeah, I agree. And I think what you just mentioned about like those real life experiential opportunities is very important because it gives meaning. Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: I used to tutor as well and I had many of my students that came to me hating school. They don't know why they have to learn this. having a lot of anxiety, like I I have to pass the test. And it's like, okay, for what? D are you even interested in what you're learning. No, I just need to pass the test. So like what are we creating when that is the focus? Or I don't want to get in trouble. I have to get straight A's or I'm gonna get grounded or whatever it is. It's so many of the motivations and reasons for learning I think are wrong. I think they're Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: wrong. They're they're not gonna create the best version. It it's like a little it's like a little seed. If you plant it in really good soil and give it what it what it needs, it will become what it's meant to be. The the DNA of that seed is in the seed. But it's not gonna prosper and flourish and flower and produce fruit if you put it in a tiny little box of dead soil, no sunlight, and don't water Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: it. And some of the systems that we're putting kids in are like that. It's it's not living. I do entrepreneurship with my kids because it motivates them. They love it. They love the idea of having a business, having a product, selling something, making their own money. I mean, come on, that's motivating. and my daughter who is struggling to read, w when it was reading time, when we when we were just working on our business And she wasn't thinking, now I'm reading. She was reading beautifully. And I called her out on it one day. I said, Do you realize that you're reading beyond the quote level that you're in? And she goes, my gosh, I am. Now I understand, first of all, why reading is important, because we need it to do our inventory. And secondly, when I'm not trying, it's not so hard. Like I'm just doing it. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: So those real world Opportunities give meaning to what they're learning. And if someone attaches meaning, it will stay with them, they will grow, and it will last. If we don't attach a meaning, I memorize it for the test, I take the test, and then I forget it. Jenni Awesome: Mm. It was I think my my junior year in college when I finally got up the nerve to ask a professor, why are we doing this? I didn't learn in that class because I didn't have that connection with it either. And that that's huge, making it connect and that's how we actually build lifelong learners because otherwise we have so many people they're like, school's not for me. I didn't do well in school. I don't learn well because of the way that they were taught. They weren't Jenna Ditsch: Right. Jenni Awesome: taught in a way that they can actually learn and acquire information that sticks and means something to them. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah and I mean information is only information. anyone can get information. We have access to it at our fingertips twenty-four-seven and more and more as each day passes. So if we just want students to access information, you know, put on a computer or a phone, they can access anything. You you you don't have to make information access the goal, but if we want them to analyze and evaluate and synthesize and think and compare and contrast, like these higher level thinking skills. Which yes. These existing curriculums and in assessments, I build them and I assign a cognitive level saying, we're we're doing it, we're doing a higher level thinking skill. Yeah, on a standardized test. What is that but how does that translate to to real life? If you get an A on this test with these higher level thinking questions, can you go in real life and actually apply it? I'm not against assessment. I I think there's a place for assessment. And it can be helpful a helpful tool if it's a tool, a little tool, in the midst of a much bigger body of data, like just anecdotal, just being with the student or your child and recognizing like I was at this entrepreneur meeting last night actually with my kids. I didn't go in with a checklist to assess them on what they were going to say at this meeting. I was Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: just listening to the questions they were asking the business owner and the ways that they were encouraging other students with their ideas. And at that moment the assessment part of me picked up and said, They've learned so much. I can tell just by the questions that they're asking how much they've learned. And so that was in my brain an anecdotal moment where I recognized how far they've come from where we've started. And it's Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: not just about building a business. It's about the ability to think deeply through something. It's harder to Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: ask a question than to answer a question sometimes. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. I the conference I was at this past weekend, one of the gentlemen whose presentation I watched, he was talking about how he uses AI in his college classroom and that he requires his students to use AI, but it's about the prompting that the student is using to get to AI, that it's not about answer seeking, it's about going through that thought process. And that's kind Jenna Ditsch: Great. Jenni Awesome: of what I'm hearing from you is it's what is how do we recognize the thought process by the questions being asked, the prompting that's going on. And quite frankly, our schools don't provide that. Like I remember teachers, it would be out of the norm for a teacher to say, Hey, okay, you write five questions for the upcoming test. What would that look like? But other than that, there weren't a lot of opportunities to ask questions and really Go through the full thought process. Jenna Ditsch: Right. Well and even just to become an independent learner, I feel like is important. Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: And that's a process a a student's not going to get there right away, but they should we we should provide a scaffolded environment and opportunity for them to learn how to Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: ask questions and how to independently try something and not to be afraid of they'll call it making a mistake or failing, but I rephrase it. You're learning. You're learning through trial and error. And especially with my daughter, it took so long and so much effort to get her to think differently about if she didn't do it perfect or didn't get it right. This is a part Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: of your learning process. It's totally fine. But she was programmed with only being in school for A year and a half. Kindergarten half of first grade. She was already programmed that she had to do it right and she couldn't make any mistakes. We're taking away Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: a lifelong ability to learn by making them anxious about I have to do it right the first way or I failed. That's not a good way to think about life. Jenni Awesome: No, it's not and and to hear that that happens it to a kiddo so young, like no wonder we have adults that act the way that they do. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Jenni Awesome: So if if let's say that one of our parents listening that they're recognizing this and their own own student, what would be some advice that you would recommend to them what what advice would you offer to that parent? Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Well, first I would say don't ignore that inner knowing. I feel like as parents, there's just sometimes we know something. We may not even be able to fully articulate it, but we just have like a sense or a feeling. and I think don't ignore that. And don't let other people who are not you, the parent, like God gave this child to you for a reason. Jenni Awesome: Yes. Jenna Ditsch: And don't let other people's quote expertise silence that in you. Don't worry Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: if you are like, well, I'm not an expert. I I didn't go to school for teaching. Well, they said this or no. You pay attention. No one knows your child better than you. And so I would start there. And then secondly, I would say, find support. For the step that you're on, if you're like me and you have no idea what to do next, but you do know that whatever you're doing is not working, take that step. Pull them Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: and then take the next step. Find support. Find a mom who's been homeschooling if that's the direction you're looking. S mom ho the homeschooling community is just full of moms that just love to help one another. Jenni Awesome: yeah. Jenna Ditsch: Someone will sit down with you, have a coffee, calm you down, help you work through whatever it is. And micro schools, another option, are on the rise. A lot of people d don't know that they exist, but you might be surprised if you just Google micro schools in my zip code. You might be surprised, like, my goodness, there's actually three within a half hour distance and just give a call. go Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: check it out and each each one will be different. That's that's fine. not everyone is gonna be the best fit for you. you could get a a homeschool coach or you could get a tutor. Like I said, I'm a single mom. I feel like if I can do it, I feel like anyone can do it because again, it's not this straightforward. Like I just stay home while someone else pays my bills like I'm trying to do it all. And Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: ha schooling at home doesn't have to look like what's been maybe ingrained into your head. Like start at eight and stop at this time and half Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: hour increments. It can look like whatever your family needs. We like to stay up late and so we start later in the day and it's fine. Like there's no truancy person knocking on my door saying, What are you doing starting school at 9 30? You should have started at eight. Like, fine, start at 9 30. and then I guess the other thing is I feel like a lot of people get super focused on curriculum. Like that's the first question they Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: ask. What what curriculum do I use? And it can be overwhelming because there's like a million choices and you'll Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: get advice from people Who swear that the curriculum they use is the best and it might be for their family. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: I always say don't start with where you have one million options. Start with just doing an assessment, like who is your child? Who are you? What is your situation? How do they learn Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: best? What do you need to be supported? Do you just want to open and teach curriculum where someone does all the work and all you have to do is read the script? That exists. Or do you want to piece it together and you you you're a creative and you kind of want to do a little bit of creating, like you can actually create whatever you need to fit not just the way that your student learns, but the way that you are as a teacher. And then there's other support out there too, you can do that. You can still find one. You can go to weekly meetings. I did that with my son, who had to have those services. We just went through a h a hospital system instead of the school system. We still got him the services that he needed. You can hire a tutor. I mean, the options are endless. So Jenni Awesome: yeah. Jenna Ditsch: I would say just go for it. Just take the first step. And then figure Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: out who can help you take the next. Jenni Awesome: Absolutely. It's that first step and and recognizing that hey, my kiddo is not succeeding at the level that they could be. And really taking the the time and say, No, I'm not okay with this. I'm going to stop. I'm gonna make this happen. So tell me a little bit more about the entrepreneurial things that you're doing with your kiddos. Jenna Ditsch: It's it's really funny because I didn't realize what we were doing when we began. Again, we just took the step that we were on and it was when I was at the micro school, I wanted to give all of the students kind of a fun end of the year culmination of all the things that they had learned. and then Create a product and present it. And then everyone will come and go shopping at your table, and you'll get to feel proud of yourself. And we turned it into a fundraising thing too. So my daughter created these little purses. And she called it Carrie Hope by Eva. Eva's her name. And we talk a lot about hope because we've gone through hard things. you know. me becoming a single mom unexpectedly when she was only two, that changed our lives. That led to a whole series of me I lost my job because I suddenly had no help I just moved out of state so I didn't have family nearby. So she felt some of that, like what what we went through. And the way that I framed everything when we were walking through that wasn't like, man, our life's horrible. What are we gonna do? I just said, my gosh, we're on an adventure with God. I've no idea how he's gonna solve this. But it's Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: really cool to like see how is he gonna do this thing that looks impossible. And we talked a lot about hope because the the perspective that you have can create whether you have h hope or not in this situation. And she wanted to take like that experience and give it to other people that maybe were feeling sad or alone or they were going through something hard. And in her little eight year old mind, that means a surprise toy and a purse. So Jenni Awesome: Ha ha ha. Jenna Ditsch: She put these little surprise toys in her little purses that she made. And her first ones were like velvet in a needle, like a huge sewing needle. And she would handwrite a little message and just something nice, like you're loved, or you're special, or you're smart, and put it inside. Well, at the end of that She said, Mom, this was fun. I know like school's the school year's done, but I don't want to stop doing this. Can we turn this into a real business? I'm not a designer. I don't sew. I know nothing about purses. But she was interested in something. And especially after everything I told you that we went through, I just said yes. Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: Again, I took the first step. I think this is the theme of the message here today. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: Take the first step. I said, Yeah, we'll we'll figure it out. We are gonna learn entrepreneurship together. So that's what we did. And we just started building one step at a time, creating designs using Canva and then finding someone to make to sew our designs while she's learning sewing. She's started taking knitting and sewing classes, but she can't put together an actual final product purse yet. But I didn't want Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: that to stop our process. So Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: she still designs the purses. She's still like we work together. It's the same model that we see Jesus using in discipleship. First he says, Hey, come with me. We're gonna be in relationship. And you're just gonna be with me and you're gonna watch and I'm gonna model how to do this. Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: And then eventually he's like, Why don't you give it a try? Here, you you do this part. I'm with you, you're not alone. And then it moves towards, you do it, I'm here with you. And eventually it's like, you guys go. You go out and you do it. And and that's the process I'm I'm doing with her. She's just along in relationship excited. I'm showing her and she's just taking on responsibility a little bit at a time. And now it's grown into where we have a website. we just talked to a boutique owner yesterday, actually, who Jenni Awesome: Yay. Jenna Ditsch: is interested in very possibly featuring her purses because it's grown as we've grown the the product Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: has grown. So now we have these purses that are actually so fun and so beautiful. We've grown in what we put. So instead of a little handwritten note on like a torn-off corner of construction paper, we turn them into art. And it's beautiful. And we're putting little things like we just did hope stones where it's these little like They're like butterflies or ducks, just fun little designs. And they're very smooth. And you can rub them and we put like Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: a little poem on with self-regulation. How to calm down. So point being, I had no idea what I was getting into. And I didn't need to. I just knew that we wanted to go on an adventure. that's how I think of life. I'm on many adventures if I don't know where I'm going or how it's going to end. But it's always fun. And yes, it's hard and it can be frustrating. But I feel like there's so much meaning back to what we talked about earlier. There's so much meaning Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: attached to that learning journey. And who better to do it with than your kids? Jenni Awesome: Yeah. And we learn so much from our kids and we become the people that we were meant to be as we help our kids succeed. And what really stood out to me in that is that you said yes. You didn't say no, it's not the chapter in the book, you're not you know, you're doing the wrong thing like our school system does. You said, Yes, I don't know how we're gonna do this, but we will figure it out. And and If more schools, if more parents, if more people out there had that mindset of, well, I don't know what it looks like, however, I'm going to put in my faith that Jesus has me on this, we are going to make it happen. We Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Jenni Awesome: may not end where we thought we were going to, but it's about the journey. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. I think that's huge how you just articulated that. Everything that we say yes to means we have to say no somewhere else to protect that yes. But everything Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: that we say no to means some yeses that we actually want for our kids. they don't get because we Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: let fear stop us. So I I would rather be a little messy, stumbling forward, figuring it out in my yes, than out of fear say no. And then th those things that I want might never happen because I n I Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: never pursued it. I feel like I I owe it to my children as the steward of their lives and their future to give the most important yeses. I'm not saying say yes to everything. You can't. You have to say no to protect the most important yeses. But This was an important yes, because she was excited, there was meaning attached to it and and it was healthy. And it's a bonus that it's turning into a real business that could actually be profitable. Like that's that's a bonus if that happens. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. yeah. And and this journey that like she's doing more than a lot of adults have done. And and she's already surpassed a lot of adults. and you said she's eight, like nine year old. She's not even ten. Jenna Ditsch: She's nine. She's nine now. But she was eight she was eight when she started. And you know, it's again, it's a holistic thing. some people say, Well, you know, my kids aren't interested in entrepreneurship. Maybe not, but they're interested in something. So where do they have an interest? And where can you help create opportunities for them to explore Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: and experience that interest? She may not be interested in purses in a year from now. And then we move on to whatever the next thing is. It's not about the purses and the product. It's about, like you said earlier, who she's becoming and what she's learning along Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: the way. And she went from being very shy and afraid to talk to people to in a room full of almost everyone being older than her in this this training event we went to last night, and she's like physically the smallest little person in the room Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: raising her hand and confidently not just asking her questions but like I said giving advice and helping other young entrepreneurial students. have you thought about this? Have you thought about that? And that's actually how the business owner of the boutique approached us. I think she had her eyes on her going Who is this nine-year-old that's talking like a little adult? I mean, because Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: she's had a year of trying it out and learning along the way. And her confidence has skyrocketed. Like, even if you never had a successful business, you can talk with confidence. You Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: can communicate well and you're you're not afraid. I mean sales, you're gonna get rejected in there. She had to learn how to not take that personally. So I just feel like there's a million lesson plans nestled in Jenni Awesome: yeah. Jenna Ditsch: to this opportunity in in real life. And I don't have objectives and standards next to them, but they're important and she's learning them and she's growing because of it. Jenni Awesome: she's meeting the standards because that's what she needed, those tools, those skills to be this successful. And and if schools, if more teachers were able to take this idea of project based learning and allow the kids to become entrepreneurs, because entrepreneurs, we get to go find the information that we need, not what's given to us. We go find what we need. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. Right. Right. Yeah. Jenni Awesome: that's so amazing. So you said you guys have a website. What's the website for the purses? Jenna Ditsch: Yes. so it's Carrie Hope by Eva dot com. you. my son has a little page on there also because he was not interested in entrepreneurship or purses for the first year. But Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: when she went to her first event and made some money, he said, Now that's what I want. I want to make some money so I can go buy instruments 'cause he's my musical boy and and artistic. Jenni Awesome: Okay. Jenna Ditsch: And so he has the ability to be a very great artist, but he wasn't putting enough time in. Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: until he found the meaning for him. I wanna buy instruments, therefore I need to find a way to make money. And so we are just launching him. He's on the webpage also, where he's drawing and he's a funny, witty little guy. And so his little drawings are now on like hats and t shirts and stuff. So he's getting his own page on the website so he's he's not gonna be left out anymore. But you can find both of us on there. Jenni Awesome: What what what inst what instrument is he most interested in right now? All of them. Jenna Ditsch: All of them. He wants to play all of them. and I'm like, please just learn one. Like, just learn what. And he thinks, like, after a few lessons, like, I know how Jenni Awesome: I don't know. Jenna Ditsch: to do this. I'm like, no, no, no. You know how to maybe like do this much. Like learn. Jenni Awesome: Yeah, you can play Mary Had a Little Lamb. Jenna Ditsch: And and again, it's it's like you have to practice. Like they just thought, I signed up for a class, therefore now I know how to play the guitar. No, it it doesn't sound great. Yet you have to practice. You have to put in time and effort Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: and your skills will improve if you put that effort in. So, he took guitar lessons last year for his first year. He was taking them again this year. But anytime he gets an opportunity to just play around with an instrument, I mean he did a lemonade stand trying to raise money for bagpipes. He's very Jenni Awesome: nice. Jenna Ditsch: sad that he only made like three dollars. He's like, I can't buy bagpipes for three dollars. so yeah, he he anything that makes a noise he likes. Jenni Awesome: Awesome. And you know, what kind of hit me when you were just talking about that is there is so much of our our current public school system that I'm in the class, therefore I learned the information because I got the grade or whatever and I got passed along. And that was an area that I've struggled with as an adult was taking the time to put in the effort, the work, the practice to make these things happen. Because I was able to just pass classes without a lot of effort. Yeah, so that's a that's another big area. Jenna Ditsch: That's huge. That's huge. that doesn't come natural to our humanity. We don't like that. We don't like to be patient. And again, especially in the way that this world has kind of trained us to have Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: everything instant gratification. You really need to work at patience to to actually Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: have it. Perseverance. To be able to make mistakes. I mean It's not gonna just happen naturally without you creating that context. Jenni Awesome: Yeah. And I I think that's why the Bible talks so much about God's time and and patience and rest and that doesn't mean laziness. That means, you know, you're Jenna Ditsch: Right. Jenni Awesome: you're taking the time that it needs for this stuff to grow because you know, a a tree you may not see the growth for a long time because it's building those roots. Jenna Ditsch: That's my favorite model is the seed and the tree and the fruit. I mean, it's all around us. If we want to understand how God created life, the principles that work, whether whether you believe in him or not, the principles work because he created Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: reality to to align with that. You can look at the sky, you can look in the water. It doesn't matter where you look in nature, you can learn something about how life works. Jenni Awesome: yeah. And you can look at it again in five minutes and learn something different too. Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: Right. That's true. Jenni Awesome: Well, Jenna, we're coming up on time. Was there anything else that you'd like to discuss or share with our listeners before we run out of time? Jenna Ditsch: I just want to encourage you to just take one thing that we talked about today. One thing that really stood out to you and ask, How can I do something with this? and then I encourage you to really reflect and to do something with whatever that nugget was for you and Jenni Awesome: Mm-hmm. Jenna Ditsch: be encouraged to take that step even if you don't know what's beyond that step. Jenni Awesome: Yep. It's all about that first step and just taking the risk and and putting your faith that it's gonna happen the way that's supposed to. Jenna Ditsch: Yeah. I told you about the website where My kids have their business, but I have my own as well, Jenna Ditch.com and it's J-E-N-N-A-D-I-T-S-C-H dot com. And on that website, I'm adding to it all the time. I have resources that I'm adding, really just for perspective. I have I have a coaching background, so if you want to go and you know ask me a question about homeschooling or education, please feel free to reach me through that website. but I also Have resources just to kind of help people reframe the way that they think about things because sometimes we live within limitations that we don't have to live within, and it's simply because of how we're thinking about it and the perspective. So I just love to empower people's perspective so that wherever they feel stuck, they can say, Wait a minute, I actually don't need to stay locked in this room. There's more space, I can go somewhere else. I maybe. Maybe I can do that thing that I've been wanting to do, but so far I've thought of all the reasons why I can't or I shouldn't. So if that's Jenni Awesome: Mm. Jenna Ditsch: an area where you're looking for support, please feel free to reach out to me on that as well. Maybe it's not about your kids, maybe it's about you. And you're like, Jenni Awesome: Yeah. Jenna Ditsch: I'm trying to write this curriculum or whatever it is and and I need help with it. Feel free to reach out for those purposes also. Jenni Awesome: And maybe you even think it is about your kids and you come to find out that no, it's actually about me and how I'm going to change and become a better person, fix my mindset so that I can support my kids. And there's nothing wrong with either of that. you're able to help everyone. Like plant those seeds and and let's grow. All right. Well, thank you, Jenna. It was wonderful speaking with you today on the Jenny Awesome podcast. Again, I'm Jenny Awesome. Thank you for joining us today. Jenna Ditsch: Thanks.