Latest / The Christy-Faith Show / Ep. 120 - Homeschool Moms Asked Me Their Hardest Questions. Here Are My Answers.

Transcript

Ep. 120 - Homeschool Moms Asked Me Their Hardest Questions. Here Are My Answers. · The Christy-Faith Show

• 0:00
  Christy-Faith: Hi, friends. Welcome back to The Christy Face Show. All summer long, I'm bringing you a special series from the archives. Episodes pulled from my live q and a sessions where I sat down and answered real questions from real homeschool moms just like you. Now, because these were recorded live, they're a bit more casual than your typical episode, but that makes it fun.
• 0:20
  You'll hear questions coming in and a little back and forth, and I think that's what makes them really good. It's me, you, and a bunch of homeschool moms figuring it out together. So welcome to the summer homeschool help desk series. In this one, we're gonna get into four big mistakes that can sabotage your homeschool year, plus whether it's ever too late to begin homeschooling. And you won't be surprised to hear, of course not.
• 0:42
  It's never too late. You can start homeschooling your eleventh grader if you want to. It's a great decision. Alright. Let's get into it.
• 1:01
  Hi, it's good to see everybody. Welcome. I am here with you tonight. It has been such a fun last couple of days. We had hundreds and hundreds of women at my workshops on the four mistakes homeschooling moms make.
• 1:16
  They can sabotage your homeschool year. Were you guys there? I wanna know. Hello. Hi.
• 1:23
  Hi, everybody joining. Do I have any friends here that I know? Welcome. Hi. If you have any questions about education in general, homeschooling, I'd love to know if you are a new homeschooler, if you, how you came across my pages.
• 1:39
  I would love to know. So curious. I'm on all the platforms. Platforms. I I have have a a podcast.
• 1:43
  Podcast. My name is Christy Faith. I wrote a book called Homeschool Rising. It's behind me. It's always weird with the cameras.
• 1:50
  It's behind me right here. My book is called Homeschool Rising. I have a podcast, The Christy Faith Show. And I am the founder of Thrive Homeschool Community, which is a place where we train you and we teach you six pillars that help you give your kids the best education possible. And I think it's one of the best things that's happened to homeschooling in the last decade.
• 2:14
  And it's pretty amazing. Do we have Thrive members here? Hi, Joanna. Yeah. Do we have a question already?
• 2:20
  Ask me any questions, any follow-up questions after the webinars that I did. I would love to know if you as you were kind of chewing on stuff, what were your takeaways? What, what are some things that you wanna change in your homeschool? I also wanna hear Hi Denise. It's so good to see you.
• 2:38
  Are you like surprised to see me live? You're like, isn't Christy supposed to be exhausted right now? I don't know. Am I? I have my water.
• 2:46
  I'm okay. Welcome everybody. I'm so glad you're here. We are live tonight to talk about homeschooling. If we have some bullies or naysayers in here, welcome.
• 2:59
  I would love to talk homeschool statistics with you. That would be fun. I love it when people are like, what about socialization? Right? Oh, I have the best story.
• 3:09
  Okay. So after my webinar today do guys wanna hear this story? After my webinar today, I went because my kids were at my sister's house. And I went over there to chill out. My sister has one of those Nespresso is it an Nespresso, Scott, with the tin can little roundy things?
• 3:27
  Good coffee. Right? So she has one of those. And I was like, Aaliyah, will you make me an iced coffee? Right?
• 3:33
  So and I was like, and make it a double. And so she made it in here, and then I've been filling it with water all day after that. But what is so cool okay. She went to a neighborhood party. Okay.
• 3:45
  I wanna hear if you guys have any experiences like this. So our topic right now is kind of homeschool naysayers. Do you have homeschool naysayers in your life? Skeptics, critics? I wanna hear your tea and tell me a story that you have.
• 4:01
  I wanna hear any stories you have about things that people have told you that are just so ridiculous. Anyway, so there's a neighbor that my sister that's in the neighborhood and not she's fine, but just not my sister's favorite person. And she's the lawyer. And so my sister was at this neighborhood gal's thing, and this lawyer was going on and on and on saying, oh, I have to put exclamation point. Like, she was kinda snobby.
• 4:28
  I have to put exclamation points, and I have to put emojis on all my emails. Otherwise, people think I'm a bee a bee, and then she said it. And what's so funny is when this whole event happened a year ago, that woman, when she found out that my sister homeschools, that one woman was, like, drilling my sister, like, skeptical, pretty rude. Right? And, you know, using her lawyer Jedi stuff on my sister.
• 4:59
  And and so what was so funny is my sister was just listening and quiet. By the way, you need to know, my sister is nothing like me. Aliyah, are you on right now? I'm so curious. Okay.
• 5:10
  So are you guys liking this story? Because I do want while I'm telling the story, ask me your homeschooling questions. I wanna know your biggest struggle right now in homeschooling. One, your biggest struggle because I wanna help you with it. But two, I wanna hear what you're most looking forward to this year.
• 5:25
  I really wanna hear that too. I wanna hear some good stuff. Yes. I'm here to help you and get you out of that feeling of overwhelm and and, the hard days. I have great tools to get you out of that, but I also wanna hear good stuff too.
• 5:39
  Okay. So back to the story. So this lady was at the party, and she was just complaining, oh, you know, and I have to act like this in order to relate and not be viewed as a bee. And the lady looks at my sister and says, is there anything that you have that about, that you have that feeling about? And my sister looked her dead straight in the eyes and said, homeschooling.
• 6:04
  I get really tired of constantly having to defend homeschooling for people that don't understand it. I'm asked about socialization all the time. So my sister I was so proud of my sister. And if you knew her, you would know that that is not how she typically responds. She is she was kinda known.
• 6:27
  So it's just the two of us. We're three years apart, and she's just was always known for being sweet, really kind and sweet. And so she was really proud of herself too. So because apparently this lady, you know, is what she is. So okay.
• 6:43
  Come on in, you guys. Oh, yeah. Oh, Rachel, you missed the four mistakes live event. If you registered for it and just missed the time that you were signed up for, you'll get a replay link and you can watch it. So welcome.
• 7:00
  I got a glitter badge. That's so exciting. Let me take any homeschooling questions that you guys have, I do want you to know, this is kind of really important. If you have been stalking Thrive Homeschool Community. Who has been stalking Thrive Homeschool Community?
• 7:16
  I hear this all the time. Oh, I've been stalking this. If you have been stalking it, you should join now because the doors to Thrive Homeschool Community close on Thursday night at midnight. We are closing our doors. We are getting our whole big group together.
• 7:36
  We're having an orientation Zoom on Friday, and we are getting you guys going. And we are so pumped. The team today, we've been boxering back and forth, making plans for what we're gonna do with you guys. And we're doing an eight week. We're doing a bonus for anyone who joins before Thursday night.
• 7:54
  It's worth $500, and you get it for free. And what the bonus is is I'm kinda known for this thing called the eight step homeschool success framework. It's incredible. It is so transformative. And we are giving you an eight week coached journey in a small group setting over Zoom every Monday night, a coach to journey through each of the eight steps over eight weeks.
• 8:20
  So you're gonna get to know all the women who've joined Thrive for this fall. You're all gonna be together. You're gonna be in this special place. You're gonna be on live Zooms with two Thrive Homeschool Community Mentors. And what's incredible is this is a $500 value that is completely free.
• 8:37
  It's just a bonus for you guys for just you know, I'm proud of you. I'm proud of anyone who joins for really you're you're making a step. You're saying, no. I really wanna give my kids a good education. And I know that I can't keep doing this on Instagram scrolling and Facebook advice that's scattered when I don't even know who's behind the screen.
• 8:58
  It's a it's it's a really brave thing for you to say, no. I really wanna I wanna get this right. I wanna do right by my kids. I might need some help with special needs. But for Thrive, if you're having any trouble, just email hello@christyfaith.com.
• 9:14
  And that email is on my website. We are let me tell you, we are on top of the emails. It will not get lost because we it's women who are wanting to join Thrive. So we are on top of those getting everybody in. Homeschooling for kids means I'm juggling roughly 24 different subjects at any given time.
• 9:32
  And a few years back during a particularly busy season, I hit a wall. I needed some serious help with the heavy lifting of teaching everything myself and managing schedules for four kids. That's when I found BJU Press Homeschool, and we've loved their courses so much that we keep going back. Some families use them for everything and love it. I use them for certain subjects.
• 9:52
  Either way, total mental load relief. Here's what my mornings look like now. Let us take science for example. My three girls do that one together. They fire up the lesson taught by a real teacher, well produced, actual teaching, not just click through busy work.
• 10:06
  And I sit there with my coffee, watch them, or make breakfast, and we discuss the big ideas. Every BJU Press homeschool course prioritizes critical thinking, a biblical worldview, and hands on learning. I just guide the conversation and pick which activity or pages or projects we want to do, and everything's already planned out. They have an online platform included for you called the Homeschool Hub, and it keeps everyone on track, both me and my kids, without micromanaging or nagging. And when I have questions, I call my Homeworks consultant.
• 10:34
  These people don't just help you get set up. They're available for you whenever you need them. It's like having a homeschool expert on speed dial. Go to bjupresshomeschool.com or click the link in the show notes to find out more. People are always curious what curriculum I use for my own family.
• 10:49
  And honestly, it changes. We've tried a lot over the years. Some work for a season and some completely miss the mark. But there is one that's stuck, CTC math. It's a full k to 12 online math curriculum and it's won oodles of awards for a reason.
• 11:04
  It's just that good. I use it for all four of my kids, and they couldn't be more different when it comes to math. Finding one curriculum that actually works for all of them, that's been nearly impossible. You know that pit in your stomach when you realize the curriculum that you just invested in isn't working again? Yeah.
• 11:21
  That was us until this one. The genius behind CTC math is that it's adaptive. The questions adjust to each kid's level in real time. So they're always challenged but never crushed. And mama, it does the teaching and grading for us.
• 11:36
  Yes. You heard that right. That's a homeschool mom's dream. Well, especially for me when it comes to math. I would think it's too good to be true if I hadn't been using it myself.
• 11:45
  And it's not just me. Here's why it's become the go to for thousands of homeschool families. Free diagnostics show you exactly where to start, access to all grade levels so your student can fill in any gaps or move ahead, short video lessons that keep your children engaged, automatic grading with instant feedback, and progress reports so you know exactly what's happening without hovering. Math used to be our hardest subject. Now my kids do it independently.
• 12:11
  Here's the best part. Our listeners get 50% off. Use the link in the show notes to do a free trial or to get that half off deal. Don't spend another year kissing math frogs. This one stuck for us, and I have a feeling it's gonna stick for you too.
• 12:25
  Okay. Welcome. I should talk about a couple of my freebies that I have that are really cool. I have my curriculum recommendations. It's a free download for you of really solid curriculum.
• 12:37
  If you're always people are always asking me, Christy, what curriculum should I buy? Well, I can't tell you that without knowing you, your kid, their learning profile, your goals. I can't do that. But what I can do is give you a list of a lot of curriculum that's reputable, that I trust. So that's what that download is.
• 12:56
  Okay. Yeah. Uh-huh. Okay. Should we go with the troll or the somebody who wants help?
• 13:03
  Okay. I wanna help her. She's two days postpartum with a gifted five year old. I wanna help her.
• 13:08
  Christy-Faith: Well, look, it's gonna take a minute.
• 13:09
  Christy-Faith: Okay. Alright. Alright. Where's my troll? Facebook, YouTube?
• 13:12
  Oh, no. Yeah. So you need to look at the statistics. Hey, Instagram, can you hear me? So I would highly encourage you to look at the statistics for homeschooling.
• 13:22
  So we score 15 to 30% higher than public and private school kids on standardized tests. So that means the same tests that other kids are given, we give our kids. In the state of Colorado, I have to give my kids tests. I have to report. And our kids are recruited by colleges.
• 13:40
  They have a higher college completion rate. 87 of peer reviewed studies demonstrate that homeschooled kids are healthier socially, academically, emotionally, and psychologically. And we have a higher SAT and ACT score than other kids. So when you say something like, we are giving a substandard education, we're not. We're not.
• 14:05
  And these are peer reviewed studies. So thank you for your opinion that's based in nothing. Appreciate that, but you're wrong. Okay. So Instagram, we have a poor connection.
• 14:17
  That is okay. Hi, TikTok. Do you have any questions? Okay. Good.
• 14:22
  You can hear me on TikTok. I am so glad. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. My goodness.
• 14:27
  We have hundreds of people everywhere. This is so cool. Welcome, everybody. I'm so glad you're here tonight. So file in, ask me your questions.
• 14:34
  We got hundreds of people on TikTok. We got hundreds over here on this platform. It's okay, Instagram. We'll come back to you when we can. And I so appreciate that you're here.
• 14:43
  Let's talk about a couple of things with homeschooling. Let's talk about some freebies that I have for you guys. So I have my five minute homeschool style finder. That is really cool. So if you guys don't know what a homeschooling style is or an educational pedagogy, this is really exciting because a lot of people don't realize that there are nine different ways in which you can educate a child.
• 15:10
  And you know some of them, you know Waldorf, you know Montessori. Traditional is what most public and private schools are doing. It's called the traditional pedagogy. And there are nine, and most of us are you we kind of align with one. Right?
• 15:26
  I kinda started out as a classical homeschooler, and and now I'm a little bit more eclectic. But if you don't know your style, it's a great place to start. It helps you choose curriculum. And I have a five minute homeschool style finder that is totally free. You can take it right now.
• 15:45
  In fact, something that I love people doing on my lives is when they go take the five minute homeschool style finder and then come back and tell me the style that you came out as. I love hearing that. It looks like we are back on Instagram, which is so exciting. Yay, Instagram. We have hundreds of women right now on these lives.
• 16:06
  I'm multi streaming on a ton of platforms. I wanna ask answer any questions that you guys have regarding homeschooling, education in general. I have been in education for over twenty years. I have read thousands of IEPs. I have been in meetings with principals, guidance counselors, psychologists, and parents.
• 16:24
  We used to get kids into Ivy League schools. We used to monitor and run the remediations for kiddos who were struggling, who have special needs. There isn't a diagnosis on this planet that not only have I not read about and know and read the IEP for, but then was responsible at our learning center to execute our own private individualized education plan with my specialists, and we got amazing outcomes. So a lot of people ask me like when they wanna join Thrive, is Thrive for kids with special needs? Absolutely.
• 16:59
  In fact, we have a Zoom dedicated every single month just for you mamas who are homeschooling children with special needs. Now there was a lady earlier, a gal earlier, and I hope you're still here. You said you're two days postpartum, and you have a five year old. And you said that you're worried about keeping up. Now the one thing that I wanna say about gifted children that a lot of people don't realize is giftedness is a special need.
• 17:27
  K? A lot of people don't think of it as that, and it is. And, actually, those kids are also high risk. So your child's five and you're postpartum. Here's what I wanna say.
• 17:39
  If you I don't know if you've been homeschooling preschool for a while, but if you haven't downloaded my how to homeschool guide, I want you to do that, and I want you to do some deschooling. And if you are currently homeschooling your five year old, I wanna invite you to join Thrive Homeschool Community. We have a special place in there just for homeschooling littles, preschool through second grade. We can get you on the right track with reading. We can help you with your daughter who is gifted.
• 18:06
  How do you navigate those challenges? How do you know when to stop, when to go, when to let her? How much time per day should you be having her do the work? We help you with all of that, and we put you on a really solid plan that you can feel confident in that you are giving your child everything they need now that is preparing them for a bright future. So, you know, I wanna hear in the comments right now, why are you homeschooling?
• 18:31
  Like, what what was the big thing that made you that compelled you to make the decision? I wanna hear your own individual answers. Please tell me, and I can't wait to see them come in. Because one thing that I think is really powerful is we know in our hearts that the system is not a fit for child development, and that is something that is so important to me is child development. What do our little kiddos need?
• 18:56
  And I feel like our schools treat our kids like mini adults, and they treat them like regurgitation robots. And what people don't realize is you don't create and I want you to hear this. You're not in master class right now. So I was about to say, write this down. K.
• 19:15
  You probably don't have a pencil or paper. But what people don't realize is that you don't make a healthy adult by treating a child like a mini adult. You get a healthy adult by meeting a kid's needs developmentally, socially, emotionally with that secure attachment with you in their childhood, And that is what sets them up for success. Right? It's kind of crazy.
• 19:42
  Like, we had a specialist come into Thrive last month, and she's an early learning specialist. Her specialization is preschool to seven years old. Fantastic masterclass. When you guys if anybody on here joined Thrive and you have a preschooler or in that age range, I cannot wait for you when you hop in. First, you're gonna take the finding your why workshop, which is, what I want you to do right away, and then you can hop over there and watch her masterclass because you have access to the entire masterclass library when you join Thrive.
• 20:11
  If you're curious, what's Thrive? Christy's talking about Thrive. Go ahead and ask, and I'll explain. I'll take a moment to explain in the comments. But it's really interesting because what studies have shown, and I'll don't worry.
• 20:23
  I'll land this plane. I'll land it. What studies have shown about early learning is that when you go hard on academics with little kids and little babies, it back fires on you in many ways, and this is well studied. But if you allow them to play, if your preschool is play based now we're not ignoring reading skills, early reading skills, early math skills. We're not ignoring that.
• 20:51
  But there is something about letting them play. It's developmentally appropriate, and it gives them all the academic skills that they need for future more bookie type academic success. So and so many homeschool moms out of our own insecurity. Right? Take a deep breath.
• 21:15
  How many homeschool moms in here are like, I just feel like I'm failing every single day? Yeah. I used to feel like that too. And it's it's real. A lot of that misalignment is when you don't understand what your child needs academically.
• 21:29
  You don't know how much they should be doing per day, where they should be. We often are comparing ourselves to what the kids are doing in the system, and then we're always in like that deficit mindset. And in Thrive, we get you out of that. We do something with you that's called deschooling, and we get you out of that. And we get you moving towards what your dreams are for your kids.
• 21:54
  And it is so cool. So did anyone ask about what Thrive is? Because I was just talking about it without kind of explaining it. Or do we have another question? Yeah.
• 22:03
  Yeah. Yeah. Someone just asked why is school just focusing on, like, information to pass a test? It's because so I talk about this in chapter three of my book, homeschool rising. If you're curious, I do a deep dive in the history of the compulsory school system in America.
• 22:21
  A lot of people don't know that I have a graduate degree in history. So I knew when I wrote my first book on homeschooling, I wanted to talk about the history of compulsory schooling in America because let me tell you, it is soap opera. It is Jerry Springer level stuff. Here's what I'll say. And you can read the details in my book, but here's what I'll say.
• 22:43
  When our compulsory school system was designed in America, it wasn't a bunch of dudes sitting around a boardroom table saying, I wonder what's best for children. That was that did not enter the chat at all. It was what's best for the state, and people don't realize that. So it was a model that was borrowed from Prussia. It was a model that was proven in, a certain country in Germany.
• 23:13
  I don't wanna get banned. Proven to be successful. Now successful is a quote. I'm using that in quotes. What they measured the success by was how they were able to produce a compliant workforce.
• 23:32
  To them, that was the goal. And in that particular country during a particular time that was a dark time in in history, it did that. It got compliant soldiers who were doing things that they wanted them to do. And then the people in America were like, oh, wow. We have a lot of free thinkers here.
• 23:55
  We don't want that. And poof, there was our compulsory school system. Now if you think that is like, Christy's exaggerating. No. I'm not exaggerating actually at all.
• 24:08
  So go ahead and re if you're curious about it, you can go ahead and read my book. Now here's the thing though is that I'll stop there because I don't wanna bore you with like a bunch of history. But if you are a history buff, you're gonna love chapter three in my book. Okay. I wanna answer any questions you guys have.
• 24:24
  I wanna say that my training community, Thrive Homeschool Community, it is where we help you give your kids a world class education. So if you have been on the fence, if you've been watching me on social media, you've known about Thrive, but you weren't sure what we're doing in there, please go visit the page that explains what Thrive is. You can click my face and you can see it right there. Okay. So any questions coming in?
• 24:54
  Christy-Faith: Retrice eight said, I miss everything.
• 24:58
  Christy-Faith: She missed everything? Yeah. Oh, no. How can we help you? Retrace eight.
• 25:03
  I love this. Why I chose to homeschool. Bullying was out of hand, and all my child was doing was learning to take a test. Absolutely. Who really struggles with the bullying that's allowed in the schools?
• 25:17
  Yeah. It's it's pretty bad. And I I think that it's the a word that I can't say because I don't wanna get taken down. And I think that it's accepted, and I think it's capital t trauma. I really do.
• 25:31
  I don't think any kid should have to be in fight or flight seven hours a day, five days a week for an entire year or more. I just don't think any kid should have to go through that. And they're not gonna come out unscathed. Anybody in here, were you bullied? Yeah.
• 25:51
  Okay. So we serve homeschool so who is Thrive for? Thrive is for all ages and stages of your student. So we recommend two and a half years old because it means you'd be starting preschool in you're in six months when your child starts three years old, all the way through high school graduation. And you're like, how do you do that, Christy?
• 26:13
  Well, it's so cool how we organize it. We have six live Zooms per month, and we separate you into those categories. So we have, like, one Zoom call just for supporting teens, moms of teens, one Zoom call just for moms of elementary students, One Zoom call for homeschooling littles. And the reason why we do that is because a mom who's working on her high school transcripts shouldn't have to sit through us having a conversation with an occupational therapist on pencil grip, right, or reading phonics. So that's why we kind of separate you guys.
• 26:47
  And then I have I bring in master class speakers, and we make sure that we're hitting on the different ages and stages all throughout the year so that there's always a masterclass that is gonna serve you. And then we then put that masterclass in the masterclass library. You have instant access to that entire library. If there's over a thousand dollars of of material in there for you, and you can pick the topic that you want, whether that's you're struggling with parenting right now. We have parenting trainings in there.
• 27:17
  You're study you're struggling with your preschooler and you don't know what to do. We have early learning specialists in there. You have a wiggly little kid, you know, maybe ADHD. We have trainings in there for that. Yeah.
• 27:29
  We have another question.
• 27:30
  Christy-Faith: Yeah. And how do they find it?
• 27:32
  Christy-Faith: Yeah. So you go to christy-faith.com. Someone can put the link in to the page for Thrive. Yeah. Okay.
• 27:39
  The link is in there for the page for Thrive, and you can go and check it out. And don't forget that we're offering a pretty incredible bonus, totally free worth $500. It's gonna be an incredible small group training experience. Yeah.
• 27:52
  Christy-Faith: I think it's doctor Reds over on Instagram.
• 27:56
  Christy-Faith: Hi, doctor Reds.
• 27:57
  Christy-Faith: Hi. Does Thrive help develop a rhythm for families for homeschooling?
• 28:00
  Christy-Faith: Yes. Yes. We help you develop a rhythm and a schedule. Yes, we do. We have an entire module in my fail safe homeschool setup for that.
• 28:09
  So we do a lot in Thrive, and when you go to the page, you'll see everything that we do. If you were to add up the entire value, it actually would be like over $6,000 of value per year that you get in Thrive. Of course, we don't charge you that. But it is when you go there, you will just see how robust it is. The comments that I get from moms who join, when they join and they're in and they start going through the stuff that we have in there, one, they don't feel like it's work.
• 28:40
  Right? This is not something that you add onto your plate. In fact, if your plate feels really full right now, that is why to join because we wanna get you out of that. We wanna help you to get more organized and get you out of that place that you're in. We want to bring peace into your homeschool.
• 28:58
  So it's not like going to a school or signing up for some sort of a a training program that's gonna take hours and hours. It's not like that at all. And what was the second question? I lost my train of thought.
• 29:08
  Christy-Faith: That was rhythm.
• 29:09
  Christy-Faith: Oh, yeah. The rhythm. Yeah. We help you set up really great schedules and rhythm, and I have some secrets to that. So, I have two major frameworks in Thrive.
• 29:20
  I have the eight step homeschool success framework that if you were to buy it alone, it'd be $300. We don't charge you that. And then I have something called the fail safe homeschool setup. This one gets you confident. It gets you to be proud of the homeschool that you're developing for your kids.
• 29:38
  We get you deschooled. You have you find your why. This one is incredible. It's transformative. But also, I know that you need to get through your day to day.
• 29:47
  Right? And so that's why I created the something called the fail safe homeschool setup. That is all the logistics, every single piece of logistic that you have for your homeschooling. And in there, I train you on how to set up a schedule that is flexible. Because the problem with schedules, especially with homeschoolers, is they're too rigid and you can't keep up with them, and then you end up scrapping it or worse, you keep it and then you're constantly reminded of how behind you are.
• 30:18
  Who's that? Who is that? Let me know in the comments. Like, I am always feeling behind. Yeah.
• 30:24
  So we we have a system where we get you out of that and we get you scheduling your your year, your months, your weeks, and your days in a way that's sustainable and works for your kids and your family. So that was a long answer. But are you a detail person? Yep.
• 30:44
  Christy-Faith: Retry Zayd, who's stuck with us through all the technical difficulties.
• 30:48
  Christy-Faith: Yay. Awesome. I'm so glad. You stuck with us. I love it.
• 30:52
  Christy-Faith: I'm looking for a curriculum to assist me preschool, first grade, and fourth
• 30:56
  Christy-Faith: grade. Mhmm. We got it. So first, if you're not in Thrive, and you know, I don't want to of course, I want you in Thrive, and then we can coach you through it because I have a lot of questions for you, like where your kids are, what they're like, what you want for their education, are there any learning issues, or do you struggle with anything? So I have a lot of questions, but I do not wanna ask you to marry me on our first date.
• 31:20
  That's totally fine. If you still need to get to know me, what I want you to do then is download my free download that is curriculum recommendations, and I have what you're asking about. I have lists on there. Now are these my recommendations for you? No.
• 31:35
  There's too many on there. What that list is, it's a it's a list of it's like a safe list. These are reputable. These are solid. Pick something off of here.
• 31:46
  If you want more targeted advice for your own homeschool and you wanna talk to experts about it, that's what you get in Thrive Homeschool Community. Okay. Because I don't know you. I can't do that here. Right?
• 31:57
  I can't do it on a live with, like, hundreds of women. Yeah.
• 32:00
  Christy-Faith: If one is outside The US as in moving into another country and wants to continue US curriculum for an eighth, ninth grader, and fourth grader, what do you suggest? Advanced placement for both kids.
• 32:10
  Christy-Faith: What curriculum do I suggest?
• 32:12
  Christy-Faith: Yeah.
• 32:14
  Christy-Faith: Well, I can't I mean, I can't recommend a specific curriculum for it's well, I know that if you're homeschooling overseas, you should be able to homeschool, and you can choose anything that you want to use. But we have a lot of moms, international moms in Thrive Homeschool Community, quite a few actually. And I think part of the reason why is they crave the community of other homeschool moms in there. So I although I can't tell you what curriculum to buy, I know it's like I I it hurts me that I can't satisfy you and just tell you buy this because there are so many to choose from, and I don't know you and I don't know your kids. It's truly not a cop out.
• 32:55
  If I knew you, I would be able to tell you. If I was if I spent time with you or my mentors did too, we would be able to help you build out a plan. So it's not a cop out at all. I it would be how do I explain it? I feel like if I just looked you in the eye right now and then said buy this, I think it would be I would be remiss, and it would be in conflict with what I know about education, child development, building out programs, and things like that.
• 33:25
  So and anyone that's gonna tell you what to buy who doesn't know you, I would question their credentials and their I'll stop there.
• 33:33
  Christy-Faith: So Brianna.
• 33:34
  Christy-Faith: I know. That's a little show in my cards. So I don't know if you guys know this, but one of the reasons why I came on social media is I got pissed off one day about really damaging homeschooling advice that I was seeing floating around on the internet. And I'm an educational expert. Right?
• 33:52
  And so I was like, who are the people in the homeschool space who are giving good advising here? Who are actually helping moms? Because this is damaging. And I was hunting and hunting, and I couldn't find anybody. And that's when Scott was like, I think it's supposed to be you, Christy.
• 34:10
  So if you're wondering like how did Christy-Faith even happen, that's how. I got pissed off one day and made a social media post and then it went like crazy viral. And so and here I am today with an entire robust training community. Because here's the thing, like, I feel like it's unfair to homeschool moms. Like, we're expected to get this perfect right out of the gate, like, with zero training.
• 34:32
  Any job has training, teachers, nurses, nail techs. You have training. Yet with homeschool moms, we're expected to white knuckle this thing. This is our children's education. I this is this is one of the most important jobs in the world.
• 34:52
  So to think that we don't need help or shouldn't need help is is crazy to me, but that's the expectation. It's so funny because when I talk about Thrive Homeschool Community, sometimes moms think of it as like self care, and it's like it's the care. Like, they think that a good homeschool is in finding the right curriculum. No. That's that's if you if you learn what I teach, that's one of the one piece of the six things that make you a powerhouse of a homeschool mom.
• 35:24
  And so it's just so hard for me that to see moms just jumping from, you know, homeschooling by trial and error and jumping from this curriculum to that curriculum to that curriculum thinking that's gonna fix her kids' meltdowns or their resistance or things. And it's it's just I feel sad. But here's what makes me sad. And I know there's a question. I'll get to it.
• 35:46
  But here's what makes me sad is not only are we expected to just do this by doom scrolling and Facebook advice from strangers and piece this thing together with all that scattered advice, but then society's like like the troll that you saw on if you guys were here, like the troll that you saw, you're giving your guy your kids an inferior education. And so I feel like society is side eyeing us, and I'm just sick of it. I'm sick of it. So that's why Thrive Homeschool Community exists. Okay.
• 36:16
  Before we go any further, I need to tell you about something that has saved our family a ridiculous amount of money. It's Summit HealthShare, my husband's company, and it is one of the most amazing organizations. Thank you for sponsoring this podcast. Now, if you're not familiar with health sharing, here's the short version. It's not health insurance, but it does replace it.
• 36:36
  What it is is a community of people sharing medical costs, and it's well established and safe. It's actually been around for over a hundred years. With Summit HealthShare, families who move over save between 4060% on what they were paying for traditional health insurance. And they have 98% customer satisfaction. And what's cool is you can see any doctor you want, even holistic ones.
• 36:58
  There are no networks, no permission slips. And there are different plan options depending on what your family needs, including just major medical only. On our plan, which is a little bit more robust, we get free prescriptions, free labs, and no co pays. And our family of six saves a thousand dollars a month. And I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's not.
• 37:17
  It's actually how health care should work. It's just not how insurance companies do it. So here's what to do. Go to summithealthshare.com. I'll put a link in the show notes.
• 37:26
  Take the savings calculator. You can do it in under two minutes, and it will tell you what you should be paying for the care that you need. And when you see that number and how much lower it is than traditional health insurance, you will sprain your ankle running to the phone. And when you call, they will walk you through everything. And please tell them that you listen to the show because I want you to have the VIP treatment.
• 37:46
  This podcast is also brought to you by The Christy-Faith List. Now hold up because I want you to know what this is. I'm really proud of what The Christy-Faith List has become. It started really scrappy just compiling recommendations because I was fed up with guessing which businesses and providers and doctors weren't gonna give me a hard time when I walked through those doors. And I had tons of friends and family members with nightmare situations where they felt like they were walking into an ambush situation just when they were trying to get help for their families.
• 38:15
  And I was sick and tired of the discrimination that homeschool families were getting. But since then, it has grown into a massive directory of colleges, businesses, doctor's offices, reading specialists, occupational therapists, homeschool graduates that are in business themselves now. You name it all in one place. Because why wouldn't we wanna do business with the people who share our values and actually want to work with homeschool families and not give us a hard time? It is completely free for homeschool families to search.
• 38:43
  And if you are a business owner or part of an organization that loves homeschool families and wants to reach more homeschool families and grow your business in that way, please sign yourself up. We wanna know who you are. It's the place where homeschool families support the people who support us. Go to the christyfaithlist.com today. Okay.
• 39:02
  Did we have a question?
• 39:03
  Christy-Faith: Doctor Redd's follow-up.
• 39:04
  Christy-Faith: Okay. Doctor Redd's. Yeah.
• 39:05
  Christy-Faith: Do you
• 39:06
  Christy-Faith: home I'm a little spicy tonight.
• 39:08
  Christy-Faith: Do you homeschool year round or pause during summer break?
• 39:11
  Christy-Faith: Okay. Such a good question.
• 39:12
  Christy-Faith: I've seen pros and cons for each.
• 39:14
  Christy-Faith: Yes. So no. There okay. So well, there's personal pros and cons. I love this question.
• 39:20
  Homeschooling year round versus taking the summer off. Of course, there's cons to taking a large break because you end up doing a lot of review when you come back. In my early years, homeschooling year round worked well for us. But as my kids get older now you remember, I have a high schooler now. My high schooler, it takes online live classes that are according to a school calendar.
• 39:46
  And so it doesn't work that well for us now. Also, because we are in sports leagues, like my son plays basketball for a nearby Christian school. We take him over there and he plays basketball. Well, that schedule is that school schedule. So, educationally, if that's what you're asking, like pros and cons in terms of kids development, well, you gotta remember that the why we got the summer break?
• 40:14
  The the summer break was created, you know, not for kids' best interest, but it's just stuck there in our society. I don't think it's damaging to take a a summer break. So we are now in a season, because my youngest is now nine, that we do follow a kind of a traditional school calendar. We go on vacations when the schools are on vacations, and and it's mainly because my kids are now older, and they're taking, like, foreign language live online in academies. So we do take the summer off.
• 40:47
  What I will say though, and I do recommend this when to the moms in Thrive, we still do a little bit of math every day. I just think it's easier to resume it. And we don't do a full blown thing, but we do pop in and do ten to fifteen minutes a day, a couple days a week all summer just because those juice is flowing. So
• 41:05
  Christy-Faith: It's zero five.
• 41:06
  Christy-Faith: It's nine zero five already? That went so fast. Yep. That's crazy.
• 41:11
  Christy-Faith: We should wrap up soon.
• 41:12
  Christy-Faith: Okay. We're gonna wrap up soon. Go ahead and ask any questions that you have. Before we move on, I just wanna say thank you for being here truly. And if you've gotten anything out of today's show, I can tell you the best way to support it, and it's completely free.
• 41:26
  Subscribe, hit that like button, and leave me a comment. And real talk, I recently looked at our YouTube stats, and over 90% of our watch time is coming from people who are not subscribed. So if you are one of those wonderful folks who keeps showing up but hasn't actually hit the subscribe yet, well, this is your official nudge. Why am I even asking? Well, subscribing tells those little robots behind the screen that this show is worth putting in front of more moms, and it helps us keep making these episodes for free to you.
• 41:56
  And if you really don't wanna miss the next one, tap that bell too because only a tiny sliver of you have notifications on. I see you. Maybe do three things for me today just because you love me. Subscribe, like the episode, and leave a comment telling me what part of this hit home. We read all of the comments and we love watching you show up for other homeschool moms in there.
• 42:19
  It really does make a bigger difference than you know. Thank you in advance, friends. Love you. Hi, Kendra. Hi.
• 42:27
  Awesome. Let me take a sip of water.
• 42:29
  Christy-Faith: Desi says, I had educators here in Texas telling me they left schools because of the no child left behind act.
• 42:36
  Christy-Faith: Yeah.
• 42:36
  Christy-Faith: Lots of children are getting edgy better education doing homeschool.
• 42:39
  Christy-Faith: Oh, yes. Absolutely. We're doing a great job statistically. A thousand percent. Okay.
• 42:47
  Come in and ask your last questions, and I'm gonna go I'm gonna have ice cream. Coffee Haagen Dazs ice cream, and it's gonna be delicious. And I'm gonna put sprinkles on it, but not the plastic yucky sprinkles from the grocery store. I'm gonna do good quality chocolate sprinkles.
• 43:03
  Christy-Faith: Has another question. Did you outsource outsource when there were subjects where they weren't your strong suit? I know it can be pricey with multiples.
• 43:10
  Christy-Faith: Yeah. So I have four kids. And it so what do you mean by pricey? I and by the way, I also work full time. So I have to source in a way where I'm not teaching every single subject myself.
• 43:25
  And we do a combination of all of those things. So I will say that, you know, people say, oh, you can homeschool for free. Yeah. I know the free homeschooling programs. I I don't love them.
• 43:39
  I do think it costs something to homeschool. If you are kind of insecure in a particular area, like I don't love teaching math past third grade. I did fine in math. I got straight a's in school. You if you guys know my history, I'm a complete perfectionist.
• 43:56
  But I just I started to feel, like, I think I wanna outsource this. And so we use a math program now that does the teaching and grading for me. I'm still I'm still a homeschooler. I'm still checking in. I'm holding my kids accountable.
• 44:12
  One of my kiddos struggles, so I'm sitting next to that child and being emotional support during the lessons. But, yeah, I think our powerhouse and our secret secret power, that's a good way to say it, in homeschooling is in our sourcing and how we do that. Because we have access to world class materials, classes, and curriculum that other people when you're in school, you're stuck to, like, that particular Spanish teacher or that particular biology teacher, that particular math curriculum. Like, hello, Saxon. Like, please, if you guys are doing Saxon, please stop.
• 44:52
  But I grew up on that. So we just have world class resources at our fingertips, and we can source so beautifully and put together an amazing program for our kiddos. Yeah.
• 45:03
  Christy-Faith: Renee wants to know what math program you use.
• 45:06
  Christy-Faith: Oh, yeah. So I use CTC Math. Here's a free shout out for CTC math. They actually sponsor my podcast. They do all the teaching and grading for you.
• 45:16
  They're a fantastic math program if you haven't tried them out. And are they a fit for everybody? No. But, and so there's some mamas that we recommend other programs for. So don't think that just because I use that, that that's my recommendation for you.
• 45:33
  But I will say that I absolutely love it, and it ticks all the boxes that are important to me for the most variety of learners out there. So alright. Okay. You guys, we're gonna head out. You can also email us at hello@Christy-Faith.com.
• 45:49
  So thank you so much for coming tonight. I'll see you guys later. I hope this summer homeschool help desk episode gave you a little encouragement and one clear next step for your homeschool. If we mentioned any resources today, you'll find them in the show notes. And if this one helped you at all, will you do me a favor?
• 46:06
  Send it to another homeschool mom who could use a little clarity this week. Now you know the one because here's the thing, friend. You do not have to figure this out alone, and you definitely don't have to build your homeschool off random Internet advice at midnight. I'm so glad you're here. I am cheering you on, and we'll talk soon.