Latest / The Christy-Faith Show / Ep. 129 - How to Set Up Your Homeschool Year: The Episode I Needed a Decade Ago (Part 1 of 2)
Transcript
- 0:00Christy-Faith: So it is now what time is it right now? It is 04:55. I was supposed to move you, mama, at 11AM this morning. That's the kind of day I've had. Have you had that kind of day?
- 0:09Have these cute new earrings. You're probably listening. That's okay. Just trust me that they're cute. And I got them on clearance at Dillard's, and then boom, I lose my backing.
- 0:17And then I can't get my hair right. And then I realized that my grays are growing in, and so I have to do the little touch up on the grays. It's every little thing today. Are you having one of those days? I just need to know that you relate.
- 0:29I have my iced coffee and then my creamer looks like it's curdling, but I just bought it and I'm drinking it anyway. So I think I'm okay. Check on me later. I am so excited to do this episode. It's episode I needed a decade ago.
- 0:42So here we go. Today, we are going to talk about how to set up your homeschool year. And this is part one of two because I had way too much to say about it from my own mistakes over the years. And I couldn't cram it into one episode, so we are making this two. And as I was writing this episode, I was thinking to myself, I want this to be the episode series that mama watches every July before the school year starts.
- 1:06So I hope I live up to that. But this episode might surprise you a little bit because when I sat down to write it, it kinda started out as some tips and tricks and hacks to starting your school year. And I just looked at the screen, and I'm like, this isn't me. I'm not really the type that delivers those things all buttoned up and ready to go, and that's not even what I'm about. It's like, where are the teeth in this?
- 1:29Where are the guts? My issues and my struggles with starting the homeschool year and how hard the starts of year have been for me over the years really have nothing to do with school supplies and pencils. And let's be honest, a list of tips you can get from any influencer with a label maker. No shade. I am an influencer, and I have a label maker.
- 1:48Love being both. It's okay. Big responsibility too. And I wanted to make sure that what I brought to you today was more of my heart and soul and not something that you could just research and get after twelve seconds with an online robot. And what you can't get from either of those is a big sister who's already ugly cried on the kitchen floor, so you don't have to.
- 2:07So that first draft got thrown in the trash because ultimately, when I thought about it, it was answering the wrong question. It was kinda like what to buy. It was about things. And I realized what actually torches the start of our homeschool year has nothing to do with the stuff. It's our expectations.
- 2:24Can I hear an amen? I hope you're like, say it louder for the back, girl. Those expectations that we load onto ourselves, onto our kids, and onto what this whole thing is supposed to look like. Does that sound familiar at all? So on the day that I was writing this episode last week, it happened to be the same day that we do our Zoom call for lifetime members only.
- 2:43That's a Zoom call with me and the Thrive mentors and the lifetime members of Thrive Homeschool community. They can get on there and they can ask us anything they want. It's an office hours. And we got on a little bit early to make sure all of our tech was working. And I was telling Marnie and Denise, mentors in Thrive Homeschool Community, you probably already know them, that, man, this episode just isn't working for me.
- 3:01I'm just not inspired by it. And Marnie was so sweet. So shout out to you, my sweet Marnie. She cracked it wide open. She said, well, what about the surprising things?
- 3:10The things underneath the things. And my brain went, ding ding ding. So the very next day, I threw that draft in the trash, and this is what you got and rewrote all of it. So we're not gonna be talking about which basket is best for morning time, what expo markers have the least amount of toxins. We're going deep, ladies.
- 3:26And the reason why I'm taking this approach to today's episode is because I want this life to be beautiful for you and for me. I want you to love it. And loving this life has very little to do with curriculum choice. So that sustainable, enjoyable homeschool year that we all want and love, it comes down to two main things, our expectations and our systems. And today is gonna be all about expectations, mindset.
- 3:52And then in part two, we're gonna go into systems, the July to do list that makes it all run. And we're doing it in that order because you can build every system on the planet, but if your expectations are broken or unrealistic, you still wind up on that kitchen floor in tears. So we're gonna fix the head first, and then we're gonna talk about systems. Whether you are in year one or year 15, this one's for you. Alright.
- 4:26Welcome to The Christy-Faith Show. This is the podcast for homeschool moms who take their craft seriously. On this show, we sharpen how we think about education, motherhood, and the life we're building. I'm Christy-Faith, twenty plus years in education, homeschool mom of four kids, and author of homeschool rising. I'm also the founder of my heart and soul, Thrive Homeschool Community.
- 4:46Thrive Homeschool Community is where moms come to learn how to homeschool well, give their kids what they need now to prepare them for a bright future, and Thrive Homeschool Community is not always open. So if that is something that interests you, please run right to the website right now. We'll put a link in the show notes and get yourself on the wait list. We open at just the right times. So when I say now might be a time to get on the wait list, I mean, wink wink, now might be a really great time to get on the wait list.
- 5:13I appreciate all those mamas who wait for Thrive's opening, and so I make sure to treat you really well. Okay. Let's start with mindset one. The realistic expectation that everything is hard at the beginning. Everything.
- 5:26And this isn't just for brand new homeschooling moms. I've been doing this for a very long time. I was homeschooling other people's kids before I started homeschooling my own. And before that, I was a teacher in the schools. The first days and weeks of a new school year are just hard.
- 5:40Everything takes longer. You haven't printed anything all summer, so you realize you don't have any paper. The label maker has no batteries. Lessons that honestly in October will probably only be ten minutes long are gonna take you an hour. Things aren't really running at a clip yet.
- 5:54Kids are asking you all day what's next. It's hard. And the one thing I did in the beginning is I expected a well ran school day from the beginning, which is absolutely crazy. I didn't give any of us a runway or breathing room to work out kinks. Well, I don't do that anymore, and I don't want you to do that either.
- 6:11I am the queen of piling too much on my plate. So the one practice that saves me every single year is in those first couple of weeks at the end of every single day, I plan the next one. And when I do that, I only let myself write down three things. Three things that we need to accomplish the very next day. So let me give you an example of exactly what a day is going to look like in my home then.
- 6:33Okay? So if we are setting up our science curriculum during that science slot, yeah, I'm literally gonna put teach the girls how to get into the portal. And our entire science lesson that day will be that. Then the next thing on my list might be take back to school pictures. And then the third thing might just be read aloud.
- 6:49Or it might be pick your first read aloud. Because I love my kids making choices in their homeschooling. So maybe I'll have five books, and I'll say, we're gonna read these. Why don't you guys vote on the first one? And then we read maybe only the first chapter, and that is it.
- 7:02That's the whole day. When we go into this expecting things to take longer and we plan for that, we're gonna feel more successful instead of buried. And I want you feeling successful in week one. And by the way, I am preaching to myself in this episode right now. I'm about to start my homeschool year.
- 7:19I am feeling very overwhelmed right now. I got a high schooler in a dual degree program. I got two junior high girls and an elementary, and the curriculum boxes are at my doorstep not even opened. It feels like a lot even for me right now. And I have been doing this a very long time.
- 7:33How do we eat an elephant, ladies? One bite at a time. Okay. Let's talk about mindset two, and this is crazy. This is gonna sound edgy.
- 7:40The first week of school, or maybe we should add couple of weeks, several weeks of school is the worst time to be focusing on content and teaching new things. You're like, wait a minute, Christy. This is homeschooling. This is school. They're supposed to be learning.
- 7:55Well, they are learning. Let's talk about this for a second. Let's start with a scene here that you probably know all too well. It's the first week of school, fresh curriculum, fresh schedule, everybody a little wired. And what do we do?
- 8:06We pick that exact week to also roll out every new expectation we've been saving up. New chores, new schedule, new routine, new sports. I mean, all sorts of new things all at once. At the very time in your lives at the start of a new school year where nobody really has the brain cells to spend on that stuff. And I did that for years.
- 8:25I'm so stubborn. This is bringing back memories. Memories of shame. But hear me when I say this, the first several weeks of school are the worst possible time to be teaching your kids anything new really. So the very first week of school or even a couple weeks depending on how old your kids are and what age and stage they are, is the worst possible time to be focusing on content to cover.
- 8:48Meaning, teaching your kids brand new content. All of your brains are already maxed just learning the new normal. Adding fresh systems is like handing someone a pop quiz on history when they're carrying boxes up the stairs. Mid move. You know what this means though?
- 9:01That calm, glowy week one that you were picturing? It's pure fantasy. At least the one that's full of your kids sitting there quietly learning all of the lessons. The last thing I want you to do is schedule the impossible. That's all.
- 9:14And when I realized this, everything shifted, and the beginning of our years started to go a lot more smoothly. So what this means for me is I start prepping now. I mean, we're not gonna start school for probably six weeks when I'm filming this, but I'm already starting to open up the teacher manuals, get into the portals, make sure the passwords are up to date, have your kids sit with you while you're doing this. Even if it's just ten minutes a day so that they're learning what it takes to do a very large project. Because ultimately, what homeschooling is is large project management.
- 9:45And then you can start having conversations about the things they will be learning, get them looking at the portals, watching you log in, doing things like that. Getting them exposed in little tidbits ahead of time is gonna go so far for you, I promise. So if the first week of school is the worst possible time to be teaching brand new content and expecting lessons to go smoothly, then what on earth are we supposed to be doing instead? What do those first weeks actually look like? That is exactly where we're headed.
- 10:10We are getting into our third mindset right after the break. I'll see you on the other side. Homeschooling for kids means I'm juggling roughly 24 different subjects at any given time. 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.
- 10:28That'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. Either way, total mental load relief. Here's what my mornings look like now.
- 10:42Let 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. 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.
- 11:03I 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. These people don't just help you get set up. They're available for you whenever you need them.
- 11:24It'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. I wanna talk about homeschool math for a minute, specifically CTC math, who I'm so glad is sponsoring this episode because you need to know about them. I'm picky about curriculum, and there are a few subjects I won't compromise on, and math is on the top of that list. CTC Math is what I use with all four of my kids, and it's an excellent k to 12 math program.
- 11:54Rigorous, thorough, comprehensive, everything I want my kids to have in their math education. But without all the stress, the tears, and me having to learn long division all over again. Here's what happens at our house now. My kids log in. A real math teacher walks them through the lesson four to nine minutes clear step by step.
- 12:14They do their lesson and finish up with practice problems. The program grades them, and I don't have to remember how to do fractions with unlike denominators or where exactly they left off last week, which means I get to be the mom in the room. I can sit nearby, listen in, encourage, fold the laundry, and watch math get done beautifully. Easier on mom? No sacrifice on academics?
- 12:37Yes, please. Join me and tens of thousands of homeschool families using CTC math for their go to math curriculum. Links in the show notes. Grab your free trial today, and you'll see why we love it for our kids. Alright.
- 12:51Welcome back. Mindset three is probably my favorite one because I laugh at this every year in my own life. We're gonna talk about schedules for a second. And mindset three is your July and August plan is supposed to fall apart. That's kinda the point.
- 13:06And a really great homeschool mom is willing to see that and is willing to pivot and work out the kinks. And sometimes that doesn't happen until Thanksgiving, and that's okay. See, every July, I build this gorgeous plan. It is an Excel spreadsheet. It is color coded.
- 13:20I have all the slots and the times set. It really is a work of art, I must say. And then every single year, by Halloween, I've redone it six or eight times. And for the longest time, I was reading that as evidence that I'm just bad at planning, and it turns out this is really baked into all of us. It's a documented glitch with a name, the planning fallacy.
- 13:42It's a thing. Fact check me. Humans underestimate how long things will take. They've researched it and found that it's about 30 to 50%, and basically always, and even experts who know better, even people who have done the exact same task before and know better. Our brains are just wired for hope, I guess.
- 14:01So when your beautiful July plan buckles in week three, that's just your very human brain running one of the most documented quirks in all of psychology. Showing up right on time in your kitchen when the chicken is not defrosted because the lessons took too long, which is exactly why setting up your homeschool year isn't about doing more. It's about setting your future self up. So these days, I still build that plan in July, and I fully expect it to change. I actually ask my kids input now, what's working, what's not working, what needs to change, and I give us room to breathe.
- 14:34Now if a blank planner is where you freeze every single year, I did make you something. I hope you know that on my website, I have free sample homeschool schedules, and I have them for every age and stage from preschool all the way up to high school. And my exact schedule pretty much is on there. You can just steal it. But if anything, it's worth just taking a look to see if one of those is gonna work for you or a version of it.
- 14:55And it kinda shows you how other homeschool moms set up their schedules. So make sure to grab that. I'll put a link in the show notes. But I wanna say something because I know homeschool moms really worry about schedule all the time. I can't talk about schedules without talking about margin and breathing room.
- 15:09So here's the thing. Please, please, please, whatever you do when you set your homeschooling schedule, if you don't want to constantly be feeling behind, you have to add margin in every single moment of your day. So if a math lesson is gonna take you thirty minutes, I want you to schedule forty five. If reading out loud, you scheduled for thirty minutes, I want you to put in forty five minutes. Otherwise, you are constantly chasing your day because real life doesn't work like that.
- 15:33You have to sharpen pencils. You have to wipe a poop for crying out loud. You have to run and fold the laundry. Life happens. And when you build a schedule with breathing room, you end up feeling on top of your days.
- 15:44Okay. So that schedule is free and it's in the show notes. Let's go to mindset four. And that is who you are as a person, a mother, a teacher, a parent. For years, I felt like they were different hats or they were supposed to be different hats.
- 15:57Like, right now, I'm gonna put on the teacher hat, and now I'm gonna put on the mom hat. And it took me too long to learn that there are no hats. It's just us learning together. It's a lifestyle. There's no flipping a switch and becoming a teacher with a capital t.
- 16:10It's the same you. These are the same relationships. These are the same kids, and the teaching just comes out. Think of when your baby learned to walk. You were simply mom cheering on, catching them when they fell, helping them try again.
- 16:23Reading and multiplication is just new terrain, but it's the same bond, the same encouragement, the same mama. I know. Society has conditioned us to think that a teacher thing is a teacher thing and a mom thing is a mom thing. Don't buy it. They created that.
- 16:36And I think that takes a whole layer of pressure off of our shoulders. We don't have to conjure up a stricter, smarter, different person at 9AM when school starts. Ting. Ting. Ting.
- 16:45Alright. Students sit down. You get to teach them as you, the person they already trust most. And that's the whole advantage right there. Right?
- 16:52Remember that famous quote? It's not about the homeschooling being better than the schools. The advantage of homeschooling is that it isn't a school at all. Okay. Mindset five.
- 17:00And this is that you were always the variable, not the box. We need to talk about the curriculum spiral right now. You know the one in June, you're 17 tabs deep comparing math programs, dead certain that if you just find the right one, your year will finally click into place. Place. The pressure is real and it is exhausting.
- 17:18Sometimes paralyzing, thinking I have to find the right curriculum for this subject or for this kid. Do you wanna know what finally let me free from that? Oddly, a study about corporate managers of all things. So Google combed through data on thousands of corporate managers to find out what makes a great one. And you know what landed dead last?
- 17:38Technical expertise. What actually mattered was the human stuff, the coaching, the communicating, the steady rhythm. Now hold that up next to us as homeschool moms. The curriculum is that technical expertise, and it matters for sure. Curriculum is the vehicle in which we deliver our education, a lot of it at least, not all of it, but it's not the thing.
- 17:59Do you know what the thing is? The thing is you. This is what I teach in Thrive Homeschool Community too. This is why I think it's so important for moms to invest in themselves to become the leaders that their kids need and deserve. So sit in that for a second because it's the exact opposite of what the homeschool Internet sells you all summer long.
- 18:18A calm, well prepared homeschool mom with a boring, perfectly decent curriculum will run circles around the frazzled mom holding the fanciest, most expensive box on the market. Every time, the magic is in you, and it has been the whole time. Every single year, every single moment, it's in you and in your relationship with your kids. So grab a solid, perfectly decent curriculum, close those 17 tabs, and go be the magic. And if you wanna know what some of those perfectly decent curriculum options are, I do have a free download of reputable curriculum on the market.
- 18:51It is free, and I will put a link in the show notes. All of them will deliver a great education for your kids. Alright. We're not done with mindsets. But real quick before the next one, if you are getting any value out of our show today, would you do me a quick favor right now?
- 19:04And that is engage with the show in some way. Whether it's give me the five stars if I've earned it, make a comment, send this to a friend, subscribe to the podcast. A lot of people don't realize that the way shows get pushed out to the moms who need to hear this message is through current listener engagement. And these aren't humans making these decisions. It's robots.
- 19:23And I am so thankful for my listeners and my Thrive members who tell me that every single show they do something, I love that so much. It makes a huge difference, and we do see it. So thank you so much. We see you. We love you, and we love that you're getting value out of what we're doing here.
- 19:38I know it's a little different, but that's kinda the point. Okay. Mindset six, go easy on your kids too. So so far in today's episode, we've been talking about the expectations we pile on ourselves, but there is a second stack. We hand straight to our kids, and they didn't ask for it either.
- 19:53Just like we're overwhelmed on day one, they are too. And not even day one, the first several weeks of schooling. If the schedule isn't working for you, it's not working for them either. And we put expectations on them that aren't realistic from day one. We do this so much, like sit still, focus, transition the second I say transition.
- 20:12When meanwhile, they just spent the whole summer gloriously feral, staying up late, swimming till their fingers pruned with not a worksheet in sight. And then when September lands, we expect them to just snap right back. If we're struggling with it and we are grown adults, imagine how hard it is for them too. We're rusty and they are rusty. And remember, attending is a muscle, and theirs has been on vacation right alongside yours.
- 20:35So hand them some grace, ask for their input on how things are going, how they feel about their schedule, and teach them what it is to prepare for a large project. The setup is key, and the setup takes time. And we gotta allow ourselves to have the time. You know, before I write books, I have an entire routine of certain books I reread, certain binders I get set up, and I give myself a good three or four weeks to get set up before I start writing a new book. I get my note carding system all set up.
- 21:03I to remind myself of my note card system because I'm rusty, and I give myself that space. In fact, I was putting so much unrealistic pressure on myself that I stopped saying like how many words did I write today, and I started saying, did I work on my book today? I had to adjust those expectations for myself. So just when you think that, oh, Christy has it all together, I am in this with you, girl, with all of it. Okay.
- 21:25There's one more mindset, and it's a tender one. The thing I misread as a verdict on myself for years until I finally understood what was really happening inside my own brain. We will uncover what that is right after this. Is your child struggling with attention, memory, reading, writing, or math? If you're experiencing this, you know how heart wrenching it is to watch them face these hurdles.
- 21:46You've poured love, time, and attention into their education, yet the struggle persists, leaving you feeling stuck and desperately searching for answers. You guys, I want you to know about LearningRx, a proven program designed to help your child's cognitive skills, enabling them to think faster, learn more easily, and perform at their best. I'm talking getting real long term help here with things like ADHD and dyslexia. LearningRx is backed by thirty five years of research, and their results are transformative. Use code HOME 50 for $50 off your cognitive skills assessment.
- 22:19Go to learningrx.com or click the link in the show notes. You chose to opt out of the conventional school system because you looked at it and how it measured kids and said, nope. Not for my family. Did you know that a lot of us can and have done the same thing with traditional health insurance? I wanna tell you about a different way to take care of your family's health care needs.
- 22:39And it's a way that's been around for over a hundred years, and it's saving families like mine a ton of money per month. For my family alone, it's a thousand dollars a month we're saving. So huge thank you to podcast sponsor and my husband's company, Summit HealthShare. So if you're not familiar with health sharing, here's the short version. It's not insurance, but it can replace it.
- 23:00What it is is it's a community of people sharing medical costs. With Summit HealthShare, families on average save 40 to 60% on what they were paying for traditional health and they have a 98% customer satisfaction. You can see any doctor you want, even crunchy ones. Love that. Love me some crunchy doctors.
- 23:18And there are different plan options. Maybe you just need major medical. They have it. If you want something a little bit more like me in perimenopause and I need a lot of labs, I'm on a plan that gives me free labs, free prescriptions, and no co pays. Sorry to get personal, but it matters.
- 23:32And I know it sounds too good to be true, but it's not. It's actually how health insurance should work. So if you are on traditional health insurance, just do this one thing for me. Go to summithealthshare.com and do the savings calculator. It takes you, like, two minutes because it will tell you what you should be paying for what you need.
- 23:48And when the result pops up and you spit out your water, you're gonna be spraining your ankle running to the phone to find out more. And when you call, they will walk you through everything. Tell them you listen to the show because I've told them that you need to get the VIP treatment. Go to summithealthshare.com. A link is in the show Okay.
- 24:04Here is the last mindset. What I wish someone had told me a decade ago. And this is that every single year, that first week of school levels me. I get so bone tired. It genuinely feels like I'm coming down with mono.
- 24:18And for years, I just judged myself for it. Why am I so exhausted? How am I gonna do this? How am I gonna do this whole year if I'm so exhausted right now and I'm barely making it to 3PM? Something's wrong with me, and I would panic.
- 24:30I mean, sometimes I even wonder if I'm cut out for this. Now there is a reason for this. And once I understood it, it was such a release. And it is this. Anything our brains haven't made automatic yet runs on the front of the brain, which is you can think of it as the expensive part.
- 24:48That handles all of our conscious deciding. And that first week, nothing is automatic yet. Maybe even the first couple of weeks. Every routine, every new login password, every kid needing us at the very same second, all of it running at full tilt is the priciest real estate in our skull, and it is all day long. So, of course, we're wrecked.
- 25:11The exhaustion is proof that our brain is doing hard, honest work, and that is all it is. And I think that's half the battle. Just realizing, no, this is hard. We're getting routine set up. Don't expect too much.
- 25:23That's what I hope you're getting from today's show. So I'm telling you right now and I'm telling myself, we are allowed to be flattened out those first couple of weeks and bone tired. We're allowed to cry a little if we need to, and we can still be a really great mom doing a beautiful, ferociously hard thing. Look. We didn't choose homeschooling because it was the easy way out.
- 25:45The easy way out is the school down the road, but most things worth doing are hard. If you carry one line out of this whole episode today, make it this one. Your expectations weigh more than your curriculum, so pack them lighter. The heaviest thing in your teacher bag was always the story in your head on how the year was supposed to go, so set that down first. This whole episode has been circling this idea that you are the variable, and it's really important that you take care of you, mama, and sometimes that means our expectations.
- 26:15And finding the right community. If you feel like you haven't found your people yet, I wanna invite you to check out Thrive Homeschool Community. It's more than a training community. It's like getting your degree in homeschool mom, but it's also where you find like minded people, other moms who care about this just as much as you do, and the training to execute it really well. And I'm talking from experts.
- 26:37If this show floats your boat, it's the type of thing that you like to chew on, then you will love being in Thrive Homeschool community. So make sure to get on the wait list if you aren't already so you get notified when we open. We do have limited spots, but I always promise the wait list there is a spot. So make sure you are on that. It's the training and community I wish I had over a decade ago, and it has turned into a beautiful community.
- 27:01So that's the mindset. Boiled down, everything's hard at the beginning. Even for us long timers, your plan is supposed to change over and over again, probably until Thanksgiving. You teach your kids as you. You don't have to put on some weird teacher hat.
- 27:14That's a made up thing. And you, mama, were the magic all along. And that bone deep tired exhaustion you feel in the early weeks, that's just your brain doing something hard and worthy. So that is a wrap for part one. I am so excited for part two because that's where we're gonna get our hands dirty and actually build this thing, including one particular system I cannot wait to tell you about.
- 27:35Before you go, drop a comment. Tell me one expectation that you are setting down this year, one that's been quietly wrecking your first weeks, and you're telling it, no. Not anymore. Expectation, you get a time out. And I know it might seem silly to comment, but let tell you, moms read the comments.
- 27:51New moms who are considering homeschooling, they're on the fence, they're not sure, they are looking at the comments. They are looking to you for advice and for help. So please do not hesitate. You are making a difference, and we love seeing you help one another in our community. Alrighty then.
- 28:06I will see you for part two.