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Families across the US are embracing alternative education models · Cultural Wars | America Out Loud News

0:06
Welcome to the unto take a deep breath.
0:11
Take the higher roles.
0:13
It's what they always say.
0:14
Let's see if they know the way.
0:16
They won't take it from me.
0:20
But don't ever done self-whits wrapping just a
0:22
dream.
0:24
You made your own so kid can scream.
0:29
With a never ending force.
0:31
You never have the chance.
0:33
So watch with four friend.
0:37
Cause this is whole.
0:44
It's time at this one.
0:56
Welcome to the Nurses Report on America Out
0:58
Loud.
1:00
I'm your host, Ashley Capito, registered nurse, functional
1:03
medicine practitioner, mom, wife, and somebody who just,
1:05
like many of you is trying to figure
1:08
out how to build a healthier, more intentional
1:11
life in a world that honestly feels increasingly
1:14
difficult to navigate.
1:18
Today we're going to be talking about two
1:20
things that are hitting families hard right now.
1:23
Feeding your family on a budget and homeschooling.
1:26
And before anybody tunes out and thinks that
1:29
this is going to be some unrealistic social
1:32
media version of homesteading where everybody's milling wheat
1:35
berries at sunrise, raising goats and matching linen
1:37
outfits.
1:40
That's not what this is.
1:42
This is real life.
1:44
This is trying to buy groceries without feeling
1:46
physically ill when you look at the total.
1:49
This is standing in the produce section wondering
1:52
how healthy food somehow became a luxury item.
1:55
This is trying to balance work, children, exhaustion,
1:58
rising cost, and still wanting better for your
2:01
family.
2:04
Because I think a lot of people feel
2:06
the shift that's happening right now.
2:08
Families are tired.
2:10
Parents are questioning everything.
2:13
They're questioning the food system.
2:15
They're questioning health care.
2:17
They're questioning education.
2:19
They're questioning why everybody feels anxious, burned out,
2:22
disconnected, overstimulated, over medicated, and chronically exhausted all
2:26
the time.
2:29
And parents are starting to realize that the
2:32
lifestyle we were sold isn't actually working well.
2:36
We were told convenience would make life easier,
2:38
but somehow we became more disconnected from our
2:41
food, more disconnected from our kids, more disconnected
2:43
from our communities, and honestly more stressed than
2:46
ever.
2:49
And look, this isn't about perfection.
2:51
I'm not here pretending my kids never eat
2:54
chicken nuggets, or that every meal in my
2:56
house is organic and beautifully prepared from scratch.
2:59
Sometimes dinner is simple, sometimes life is messy,
3:02
sometimes you're just trying to survive the week.
3:06
But I do think families are hungry for
3:08
something deeper right now.
3:10
People want to slow down.
3:12
They want healthier homes, they want to know
3:14
where their food comes from.
3:17
They want their kids outside more and on
3:19
screens less.
3:21
They want family dinners again.
3:23
They want peace again.
3:24
And for some families, that's leading them towards
3:27
gardening, cooking from home, simpler living, and even
3:29
reconsidering whether traditional schooling is the right fit
3:32
for their children.
3:35
So today we're gonna have a real conversation
3:36
about all of it.
3:38
How do you feed a family healthier foods
3:40
without going broke?
3:42
What actually works when you're trying to stretch
3:43
groceries?
3:45
What are practical ways to simplify life?
3:48
Why are more parents looking into homeschooling?
3:51
And how do we stop chasing perfection and
3:53
start building sustainable, healthier lives that actually feel
3:56
good again?
3:58
Because I truly believe a lot of families
4:00
are waking up right now.
4:02
And maybe the shift isn't happening that's happening
4:04
isn't a bad thing.
4:06
Maybe it's families reclaiming what we were never
4:09
meant to outsource completely in the first place.
4:13
So today I have Amy Whitlock again with
4:14
us.
4:16
Welcome to the show, Amy.
4:18
I'm glad you're here.
4:20
It's a topic near and dear to my
4:22
heart.
4:23
Yes, I am really excited about this topic.
4:26
And I know you know, you and I
4:29
talked about um, we kind of need a
4:32
mental break from all things, medical health care
4:35
insurance, and all of that.
4:38
So this was like a fun topic that
4:40
we can talk about, but I think it's
4:41
something that's really gonna relate um to most
4:43
families out there right now, whether you have
4:45
kids or not.
4:47
I mean, this is just something on everybody's
4:48
mind.
4:50
I agree, I agree.
4:52
Um, and I think as parents, it's important
4:55
to realize that we can control the narrative.
4:58
Like we control the narrative, what's in the
5:00
home, what comes in the home.
5:02
We can control the narrative who's seeking life
5:05
or negativity into our children.
5:08
Um, and so I love this topic.
5:10
And I think not only should we be
5:12
eating healthy, but I think homeschooling's a way
5:14
to support the mind and make the mind
5:16
healthy.
5:19
And like I said, we control the narrative.
5:22
Yeah.
5:22
And I um, so this is my first
5:24
year.
5:25
You have experience.
5:26
You've homeschooled your boys.
5:29
Um, this is my first year homeschooling.
5:33
And I tell you what, like I've listened
5:35
to homeschool podcast out there, and I'm really
5:37
glad that we're talking about it because a
5:39
lot of them are practical and they understand
5:42
the ups and the downs, and they do
5:44
talk about it.
5:46
But they also seem so perfect in in
5:48
what they're doing.
5:51
And I'm I feel so unperfect with um
5:53
homeschooling.
5:56
So maybe we can talk about that a
5:58
little bit first, homeschooling, and then we'll we'll
6:00
jump into food.
6:02
But um, because it kind of goes hand
6:04
in hand too, you know, because you got
6:06
to feed your children now, they're home for
6:09
three meals a day and unlimited snacking.
6:11
But um we had a conversation the other
6:14
day about how you feel like maybe you're
6:17
failing your children, you're not doing the right
6:19
things, but ultimately I think you're probably doing
6:22
more than you think.
6:26
Um, it doesn't have to be so structured
6:27
because that's that's what you're getting away from
6:29
anyway.
6:31
Right.
6:32
Yeah, we have homeschooled for 21 years.
6:36
So we have four boys, and uh our
6:39
last one.
6:43
Um, and I say 21 years, but you
6:45
know, our our last one's he's been sick,
6:47
and so we're just filling in the gap
6:49
with him.
6:51
He's basically graduated, but um, you know, we
6:54
still have some gaps that we want to
6:56
address that the illness took from him.
6:59
Right.
7:00
But the thing about homeschooling is you don't
7:00
But the thing about homeschooling is you don't
7:03
see how it unfolds until it unfolds.
7:03
see how it unfolds until it unfolds.
7:05
And so I'm on the other end of
7:05
And so I'm on the other end of
7:07
it, and you're just getting started.
7:07
it and you're just getting started.
7:09
And I can tell you, yeah, we have
7:09
And I can tell you, yeah, we have
7:11
we have to be efficient with our timing,
7:11
we have to be efficient with our timing
7:13
and we do need to be schedule-oriented.
7:13
and we do need to be schedule oriented.
7:16
But life happens.
7:16
But laugh happens when you homeschool, you're not
7:18
When you homeschool, you're not just the the
7:19
just the the mom anymore.
7:19
mom anymore.
7:21
You're the you're the teacher, you're the school
7:21
You're the you're the teacher, you're the school
7:23
nurse, you're the lunchroom lady, you're the person
7:24
nurse, you're the lunch room lady, you're the
7:26
in charge of planning every activity, the school
7:26
person in charge of planning every activity.
7:28
play.
7:31
Because let's face it, my kids, they lived
7:33
in a school play.
7:36
I mean, they wanted to school in their
7:38
pajamas, or if they wanted school in their
7:40
Superman costume, I didn't care because they were
7:42
still learning.
7:44
And you know, I think they're when they
7:46
get older, like I mean, I think that
7:48
structure is important.
7:50
Wake up, get your bed made, be it
7:52
breakfast on time, it's time for devotions, you
7:55
know, be it your seat on time.
7:58
Those things, you know, those things are called
7:59
more than they are taught.
8:02
But when they're younger, you know, it's about
8:04
that connection and it's about growing family and
8:07
you're learning and growing each other.
8:11
And I think those early years, that's just
8:13
as important of a lesson as it is
8:15
to pull out, you know, the the core
8:17
academics.
8:20
Yeah, and I, you know, the kids learn
8:23
by playing early on.
8:25
And I think we forget that sometimes.
8:28
Um, my kids always surprise me because I
8:31
will go to teach them something and they
8:33
already know it.
8:36
And then I think to myself, I'm like,
8:37
where did you learn this?
8:39
You know, but they learn through play, and
8:41
then things start to make sense when you
8:44
go when you do turn to the book.
8:47
Um, and I remember I was so excited.
8:50
Well, I put weeks of probably more than
8:52
weeks of um thought and effort into which
8:55
program I was gonna go with, what books
8:58
I was gonna get.
9:01
I actually merged two different um curriculums and
9:03
I bought books from each, and then they
9:06
came and I was so excited.
9:08
I had them all laid out.
9:10
I had a whiteboard with our schedule planned,
9:12
and this is just life was gonna be
9:14
great.
9:17
And day one was good.
9:19
The kids were excited, day two was okay,
9:21
and then we got to day three, and
9:23
everything went wrong.
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We're crying, they didn't want to, you know,
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I'm hungry, I'm tired, I don't want to
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do this right now.
9:33
Can we just do it later?
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And I'm like, no, the schedule, we have
9:36
to do the schedule, you know.
9:38
And I was I had to let that
9:41
go a lot because I was doing what
9:44
I took my kids away from, right?
9:47
I didn't boys especially cannot sit still and
9:50
focus for very long and they get diagnosed
9:53
with ADHD all the time.
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But I think it's just it's it's boys.
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Boys are like that.
10:00
They need movement, they need interaction, stimulation.
10:04
They can't just sit and look at a
10:05
book.
10:06
So I really had to shift gears, and
10:08
it took a lot for me to realize
10:09
that.
10:12
Kind of let it go.
10:13
Um, because I had everything planned out so
10:15
perfectly.
10:17
And now we I use the book as
10:20
guidance, but for instance, like our our science
10:23
book, I'll see maybe what a lesson's about,
10:25
and then we go outside and I don't
10:28
even read from the book.
10:31
We just explore, we find rocks, we talk
10:33
about the layers of the earth or whatever
10:35
it might be, and we never do the
10:37
book work, and that's really worked out better
10:39
for me.
10:41
Um my son's friend that they he previously
10:44
went to school with.
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I see pictures of her online, and she
10:49
sits at the table and she does her
10:52
book work and she colors and does art
10:55
projects and that works for her.
10:57
So I think we have to look at
11:00
finding how your child learns and cater to
11:02
that as well.
11:04
Right.
11:05
Yeah, and what you're describing is known in
11:08
the homeschool world as classical approach to education.
11:11
So uh yeah, Charlotte Mason, she pioneered this
11:14
salt, and she has um, and I say
11:18
pioneered, like she's this was this was years
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ago when like I'm I mean like decades
11:24
ago, not years, decades ago.
11:28
Um, so she pioneered this thought, um, just
11:29
like you're doing.
11:31
She would study the curriculum, but actually take
11:34
her classroom outside.
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And it's our job as the parents, as
11:38
the homeschool mom, you know, to look at
11:40
those lesson plans.
11:43
You know, we can't just flippantly, you know,
11:45
just or I don't think we can flippantly
11:47
just go through without having a template.
11:50
I mean, that template is our God.
11:52
And I want to make sure that we're
11:54
not creating gaps, but um, you know, it
11:56
doesn't take long just to to look at
11:58
the the teacher's edition and and and make
12:00
those lessons out the door, take them to
12:02
the library.
12:04
I mean, we I like to say we
12:06
lifed school, we didn't homeschool.
12:09
We we lifted school.
12:11
Um we had two of our four boys
12:14
were were in speech therapy and um they
12:16
were, you know, back in those days, 20
12:19
years ago, they were they were very, very
12:22
they were very much on the spectrum.
12:25
And so, you know, I had to accommodate
12:26
for everyone and we would we would take
12:28
school on the road.
12:30
We would um we would do school on
12:31
our excursion.
12:33
It's funny that a couple of years ago
12:35
we had to to get a different vehicle,
12:37
and I cried because the excursion held so
12:40
many memories.
12:42
Like we kept that thing until it fell
12:44
apart, but I raised our kids in that
12:45
thing.
12:47
Like we had so many homeschool lessons, it
12:49
had this little cool built-in clipboard, you know,
12:52
behind the front um passenger and driver's seat,
12:54
and we clip paperwork in there and um
12:56
you know, we didn't get to take all
12:59
of our books on the road, but you
13:01
know, we had a system, a method that
13:03
worked for our family, and it worked.
13:06
And you know, my boys thankfully they're they're
13:08
successful, they're grown men and um they're they're
13:11
running their own businesses.
13:13
And our oldest son recently told me, he
13:16
said, had you not have homeschooled me the
13:18
way we did, probably would be doing as
13:21
well as the am because you know, not
13:23
only were we focusing on curriculum, but he
13:26
was also learning how to manage life, a
13:28
very mantic, hectic life.
13:31
Yeah, he was watching from afar, and I
13:33
really never understood that until he was already
13:35
older and handling.
13:38
I mean, it takes a lot out of
13:39
you to run your own business as we
13:40
both know.
13:41
Yes.
13:42
But it's you know, it's it's those it's
13:44
those life lessons that he that he caught
13:45
along the way.
13:47
And um, I don't know if you want
13:51
to talk about different curriculums, but now our
13:55
core curriculum was a Becca, and um I
13:58
really love their grammar program, their language, their
14:00
Their grammar program, their language, their spelling, like
14:02
spelling, like everything is to me, they have
14:04
everything is to me, they have this Charlotte
14:05
this Charlotte Mason classical approach built into um
14:08
Mason classical approach built into their phonics program.
14:09
their phonics program.
14:13
So predominantly stuck with that with all of
14:13
So predominantly stuck with that with all of
14:15
the boys.
14:15
the boys.
14:16
We deviated some on math.
14:16
We deviated some on math.
14:19
We would use different things like Saxon math,
14:19
We would use different things like Saxon math,
14:22
um, teaching textbooks.
14:22
um, teaching textbooks, that was good.
14:24
That was good.
14:25
But with math, I think with with boys,
14:25
But with math, I think with with boys,
14:27
like I don't think there was this hard
14:28
like I don't think there was this hard
14:28
set.
14:30
set fast rule that it has to be
14:32
this curriculum because they learn so differently than
14:35
girls, and they need to be hands-on and
14:37
they need to be active, and it's just
14:39
how God made a boy.
14:42
And so yeah.
14:45
Yeah, and even um between my two boys,
14:49
you know, they learn so differently and they
14:52
enjoy things, you know, for my oldest math
14:55
really kind of stresses him out.
14:58
He can get really emotional about it.
15:01
Um, he's very hard on himself if he
15:04
gets something wrong or doesn't know something, and
15:07
we're not, but he's very hard on himself.
15:10
I'm not sure where that comes from, but
15:12
we're working on that.
15:14
And then my younger, he just with math,
15:16
he catches on right away.
15:19
And it's it blows my mind.
15:21
I'm like, I I don't understand how you
15:23
know how to do this.
15:24
He came up to me the other day
15:26
and he was like, Mom, did you know
15:28
five plus two is seven?
15:29
Like, well, yes, I did.
15:31
And that's really good, you know.
15:33
But uh, and he's he's five, you know,
15:35
and um my older if if he doesn't
15:38
do math in his head, he has to
15:40
see it laid out.
15:42
And I don't think he's behind or anything's
15:45
wrong, but he it's different.
15:48
And I we have so much time, like
15:50
he'll cut, you know, it'll be okay.
15:53
I have to keep telling myself that.
15:55
And we um so since you were talking
15:58
about curriculums, we went with a curriculum called
16:02
master books and um the good and the
16:05
beautiful, and so I I struggled with that
16:09
one a little bit because and I think
16:12
this was with any homeschool program.
16:16
If you start going down the rabbit hole
16:18
and looking at reviews, you can talk yourself
16:20
out of any of these curriculums.
16:22
Oh, yeah.
16:23
You almost just have to look at it
16:24
and say, you know what, let's go for
16:25
it and try this one.
16:27
Um, and with the good and the beautiful,
16:31
there was a lot of talk about the
16:34
religious aspect of it, that it was more
16:37
Mormon based than Christian based.
16:40
And so I struggled with that a little
16:42
bit.
16:43
But we went with masterbooks, which is kind
16:46
of an offshoot of it was someone who
16:49
worked with the good and the beautiful, and
16:52
then she wanted it more Christian based, so
16:55
she left and created her own.
16:58
The problem I have with master books, it's
17:01
very similar to the good and the beautiful,
17:03
but it is very easy.
17:05
So you almost have to go levels up
17:08
and follow their recommendations when they say maybe
17:11
take a placement test instead of skipping it
17:13
like I did.
17:16
You probably should because the math and a
17:19
lot of the stuff, like it was way
17:21
beyond where my kid was, or I mean,
17:23
way below where my kid was.
17:26
So we kind of struggled with that because
17:29
he was very bored with the content.
17:32
So um, so now like you said, I
17:34
just kind of use the books as a
17:36
template, a guide.
17:38
That way you're not so all over the
17:40
place with your curriculum.
17:43
So, you know, like one day you're talking
17:46
about the earth, and then the next day
17:49
you're talking about like you know, something completely
17:52
not related, which is fine, but when it's
17:55
cohesive, I feel like they learn better.
17:58
So we would focus on a certain subject
18:00
all week until we kind of mastered it
18:02
and then we would move on, but then
18:04
they all kind of connect.
18:06
So um, but I tell you what, there's
18:09
times we're outside, and um, you know, my
18:11
son's like, mom, can we learn about lizards
18:13
today?
18:15
And I'm like, sure, why not?
18:18
You know, it's not on the lesson plan,
18:19
but let's go.
18:21
We um, of course, you know, when our
18:23
oldest is 25 years old.
18:26
So um, like when he was little and
18:28
he wanted to learn about stuff like that,
18:29
we would just hop in the minivan and
18:31
go off to the library.
18:33
We had a really cool library when they
18:35
were little and they actually had these book
18:37
bags, and you could check out the book
18:39
bag and take it home.
18:41
They had their own space, they had one
18:43
on geology, they had one um on like
18:45
on ocean and the sharks.
18:47
Like he was fascinated with that one.
18:48
Um they had a really good idea.
18:52
Yeah, I mean, that's something that we as
18:54
parents can even adapt and bring home.
18:57
Um, I haven't yet to find a library
18:59
that fascinating.
19:01
It was it is still a coolest library
19:03
in the world, but I think they were
19:05
so geared towards homeschoolers because we had we
19:07
didn't have a huge community of homeschoolers, but
19:09
those that homeschooled, like they homeschooled, they utilized
19:12
library.
19:14
So I think the I think the librarian
19:16
just called on and she was, you know,
19:17
she was just great like that.
19:19
But um, but you know, I mean, getting
19:21
back to what you were speaking about earlier
19:23
about, you know, we don't want we want
19:25
homeschooling to be different.
19:28
I didn't want to bring the classroom home
19:29
necessarily.
19:32
And some of these curriculums are designed and
19:34
built around a classroom of 30.
19:37
And I will say a Becca is one
19:39
of them.
19:40
Um, but I I chose them because mainly
19:43
because the Lord just opened the door wide
19:45
open.
19:48
Um, we had a a a dear saint,
19:50
and I'll call her a saint because she
19:52
was such a help to me over the
19:55
years, and she she reminded me, she's like,
19:57
I want to tell you, and this was
19:59
after her kids had graduated.
20:01
She said, I want to remind you that
20:02
you've got 12 years to fit it all
20:04
in.
20:06
And even during my homeschool years, I would
20:07
call her just, you know, like, I don't
20:09
think I'm doing it right.
20:11
You know, I I'm I'm missing something they're
20:13
not catching on, and she's like, You got
20:15
12 years to fit it in.
20:18
And um, she had saved all of her
20:20
teachers' editions for Mebecca.
20:22
I have some of the teachers' editions as
20:24
far back as the 70s.
20:27
Oh wow, they are the coolest books.
20:30
I love them.
20:32
And I understand, like a lot of people
20:34
will say you need a new edition every
20:36
year of the teacher edition.
20:39
No, I don't, you know, it's my template.
20:41
It's not I didn't use it as my
20:44
instruction guide, you know.
20:46
And if I had an issue, I would
20:47
call her.
20:48
I I would call like a Becca's helpline.
20:51
There's so many things that we can do
20:52
as homeschool moms, but we don't have to
20:54
spend a lot of money.
20:56
Well, I know a family that I mean,
20:59
they spend at least probably three thousand dollars
21:00
At least probably $3,000 per year on their
21:01
per year on on their children, and they
21:02
children.
21:03
don't have a they don't have a slew
21:05
And they don't have a they don't have
21:06
of kids.
21:07
a slew of kids.
21:09
And I'm just like, you don't have to
21:09
And just like you don't have to do
21:10
do that.
21:10
that.
21:11
Like you you can reuse your teacher editions.
21:11
Like you can reuse your teacher editions.
21:14
I mean, I it makes sense that you
21:14
I mean, I it makes sense that you
21:15
buy a new workbook for the children every
21:16
buy a new workbook for the children every
21:16
year.
21:18
But things like your history books, history is
21:18
year, but things like your history books, history
21:20
not, you know, you don't you don't go
21:21
is not, you know, you don't you don't
21:23
back and change history.
21:23
go back and change history.
21:26
If you've got an old history book, you
21:26
If you've got an old history book, you
21:27
better hold on to it because chances are
21:27
better hold on to it because chances are
21:28
something happens.
21:29
something has been pulled out of it.
21:31
Yeah.
21:32
And then newer editions and we re reused
21:35
our science books, our help books.
21:38
Um Becca back in the 70s and 80s,
21:41
they had these huge phonics flashcards, and now
21:43
they're just CD Beauty.
21:46
I have the really big ones.
21:48
And you know, and I am so proud
21:50
to say I get to pass on my
21:52
curriculum.
21:55
Like if if our older children chooses to
21:57
homeschool their young like their children, I can
22:00
pass it on because I know they'll be
22:02
okay with it uh because these teachers' editions,
22:05
yeah, they do update them, but they don't
22:07
necessarily change.
22:10
So I guess where I'm going with all
22:12
of this, like you don't have to spend
22:13
a ton of money.
22:15
You don't have to reinvent the wheel and
22:17
bring the the classroom home.
22:20
You can do things around the table, you
22:22
can reuse things.
22:23
I think the most we spent on four
22:25
children.
22:26
Um the most we spent, and this was
22:29
just one time because we were also buying
22:31
therapy supplies for the home.
22:34
I think one year we spent 1200, but
22:36
just across the board, the most I ever
22:38
spent on books in a single year was
22:40
700.
22:42
And it was because one of our children
22:44
was going into high school at that time,
22:46
and I just needed a little bit extra.
22:48
Um, and it wasn't so much academic curriculum
22:50
things, it was just other stuff that we
22:52
would need.
22:54
Um But I mean, you don't have to
22:56
spend it, and I had four boys, like,
22:58
and I mean that was just one year.
23:01
And some years I didn't spend anything, um,
23:03
other than like crayons and pencils and papers,
23:05
the obvious things.
23:07
So you don't have to spend a lot
23:08
of money.
23:09
Um I want to say I spent a
23:14
little over 200, maybe three, maybe 300 on
23:19
books for my seven and my four-year-old.
23:25
And um, with the four-year-old was preschool, so
23:28
he needed a little different um curriculum, but
23:32
some of the things he could still share
23:36
with his older brothers.
23:40
So there were there were some subjects that
23:42
were appropriate for both of them, and we
23:44
do lessons together.
23:46
So you have to think about that too.
23:47
If you have multiple children, some of the
23:49
things just because they're on different levels doesn't
23:51
mean that they can't learn.
23:53
Of course, if you have somebody in high
23:55
school and somebody in kindergarten, that's gonna be
23:57
a little bit different.
23:59
Um, but they were able to share some
24:01
of their books, and then I did have
24:03
some preschool books and then some first grade
24:05
books.
24:07
But overall, I didn't spend a lot of
24:09
money at all.
24:12
And what I also realized was you don't
24:14
have to buy everything up front.
24:18
You know, because if you buy seven different
24:20
subjects and um electives and all this stuff,
24:22
there's no way you're not getting to it
24:24
all.
24:27
You think you might be able to, but
24:28
you're probably not gonna be able to get
24:30
it all.
24:31
So you can even break up your time
24:33
and say, okay, we're gonna focus on these
24:35
subjects for this many weeks, and then you
24:38
could purchase different books.
24:40
So you don't have to make that expense
24:42
all up front.
24:43
And I think that can be overwhelming for
24:45
families.
24:47
But one thing, and I'm gonna try to
24:49
find some of the links, and I will
24:51
put them in our show notes.
24:53
But there are so many, so many free
24:55
resources out there.
24:58
Right.
24:59
And um, my kids use ABC Mouse, which
25:01
that wasn't free, but I think you got
25:04
like three free months or something like that.
25:07
But they they used ABC Mouse from last
25:10
year until we started homeschooling.
25:14
It was just something to kind of they
25:16
could play on and use in between.
25:18
And then we um Kabada is another uh
25:22
app that they have on their tablet that's
25:26
free that I feel like they learn so
25:29
much from Kabbalah that I will go to
25:33
do their lesson and they've already done it.
25:37
Yeah.
25:37
On their tablets.
25:38
Um there's another program, and um, I was
25:40
trying to look it up on my phone
25:41
to see if it's still available that I
25:42
used.
25:44
Yeah, it's still available.
25:45
So it's called Khan Academy case A.
25:49
Oh, you know what?
25:49
I think that was okay.
25:51
Y'all forget what I just said.
25:52
I think Kabata is some, but I think
25:54
it was Khan Academy that they have on
25:56
their tablets.
25:58
Yeah, that's free too.
25:59
It is, and it's amazing.
26:02
Um, and there's videos, like you can literally
26:04
go in and like if you if your
26:06
child's having issues with a division, you can
26:09
go find the division.
26:11
There's even placement tests and the younger grades,
26:13
like it's really cool because they can earn
26:15
all these prizes and you know, or it
26:17
used to.
26:19
They would throw bullets up on them.
26:21
Yeah, no, they still do.
26:22
Okay.
26:23
It's fun.
26:23
Yeah, my kids actually have fun with it,
26:25
but they they learn really well with that
26:27
program.
26:29
And there's another one called um I IXL.
26:33
That one's a paid subscription, but they do
26:35
have a family subscription, and that one's pretty
26:37
amazing.
26:39
Um, and I find many of these resources
26:41
typically line up with any curriculum that we
26:43
choose.
26:46
And you know, getting back to the point
26:48
of what you were speaking about, don't buy
26:49
everything at once.
26:51
You can actually get on most curriculum websites
26:53
and look at their scope and sequence, and
26:55
you you can kind of discern, like if
26:57
you're familiar with the company, discern, hey, is
27:00
this the scope my kids are in right
27:02
now?
27:04
And um, the reason I never bought huge
27:07
bundles is because like sometimes my children would
27:10
be on a more advanced math.
27:13
Sometimes they would be less a less advanced
27:15
reader.
27:17
And so, you know, it it's nice when
27:19
you have four kids by the time you
27:21
you're teaching that third one, you've basically got
27:23
everything.
27:25
Um, and it's really cool to reuse your
27:28
books because you see their you see the
27:30
siblings' notes and you sing, you know.
27:32
And um we're gonna um and I hate
27:34
to interrupt you, we're gonna jump right back
27:35
into this, but we do have to take
27:37
a quick break.
27:39
Already, I know, I know.
27:41
Time flies when you're having fun.
27:43
But we'll um we'll come back from the
27:44
break, we'll wrap up homeschooling and then we'll
27:46
jump into food.
27:47
But there's a couple other things that I
27:49
do want to talk about homeschooling um before
27:50
we change subject.
27:52
So you guys hang with us, we'll be
27:53
right back.
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All right, welcome back to the Nurses Report
30:48
on America Out Loud.
30:50
I'm your host, Ashley Caputo, and today I
30:52
have Amy Whitlock with me.
30:55
Um if you guys were with us before
30:58
the break, we were talking all things homeschool.
31:00
Um we're talking about how homeschool doesn't have
31:03
to be super expensive, and that's kind of
31:05
where we left off.
31:08
So I was gonna pick up there because
31:10
um there are a lot of free resources,
31:12
y'all.
31:14
And I will try to go through and
31:17
I will put some in the show notes
31:20
um in case anybody's interested, but you can
31:22
start looking um for resources and you you
31:25
really do find a lot that can be
31:28
helpful, and in addition to whatever curriculum you're
31:30
using.
31:33
Um, I do use Khan Academy with both
31:35
my kids, and they don't feel like they're
31:37
doing school.
31:39
Um, I have to remind them to use
31:42
it, but it's fun, it's interactive, it's it's
31:45
not intense where they feel like they're they're
31:48
being forced to sit down and do school.
31:52
So they really enjoy it, and they actually
31:54
really uh retain the information that they're getting
31:57
from the Khan Academy.
31:59
So I do love that one.
32:01
There's some other free things out there.
32:03
Out school can be kind of cool.
32:05
We did a farm um like a farm
32:07
lesson, and you you pay, you can do
32:09
monthly or you can pay as you go,
32:11
but you do some of them are free,
32:14
some of them you pay for, but the
32:16
out school that we recently did was on
32:18
all the different farm animals, and so it
32:20
was really cool.
32:24
So um, so my kids really enjoyed that
32:27
one because I think sometimes you have to
32:30
think about what your kids are really interested
32:33
in and geared towards that, and maybe even
32:36
um, you know, we we have chickens, so
32:39
we talk about the lifestyle of or the
32:42
the stages um of the chickens going from
32:45
egg and into the adult, but we also
32:48
use the eggs for math, and they don't
32:51
know that they're doing math.
32:55
So sometimes you just have to get a
32:57
little creative um because we'll say, okay, so
33:00
you got three chicken eggs today, and you
33:02
got two duck eggs.
33:05
How many eggs did we get today?
33:07
And little do they know they are doing
33:08
math.
33:11
Um so sneaking stuff, and you get creative
33:13
as you go.
33:15
You do you know, start to learn um
33:18
how to cater to what your kids need.
33:22
And and I think the mothers need to
33:23
hear this.
33:25
Go by your instinct.
33:26
God's giving you a gut instinct about these
33:28
things.
33:30
And um, I feel like homeschooling is probably
33:33
a calling, but um I see more and
33:35
more people navigating towards that because you know,
33:38
let's face it, there's a lot of and
33:40
before I say what I'm gonna say.
33:43
I I know some wonderful public school teachers.
33:47
Yes, yeah.
33:48
And I so wish they could duplicate themselves
33:50
and just like be more of who they
33:52
are.
33:55
Like, um, but there are some issues.
33:57
Um I know just where we live a
33:59
few years ago, like we had some some
34:02
major issues in the community, and I was
34:04
so thankful that our kids were not in
34:06
public school at that time.
34:09
But I think the mothers need to understand
34:11
that God will give you an instinct and
34:12
he will lead us.
34:14
It's not the curriculum, it's not us, it
34:17
is God's leadership, and he will help us
34:19
create the narrative that our children need.
34:22
And he's God's given you those kids to
34:25
guide and lead and instruct.
34:27
And and if as their spiritual uh leader.
34:32
I think we have to remember that um
34:34
You know, the Holy Spirit's guiding us, and
34:36
he's gonna let us know what they need.
34:38
Um which I think is a great segue,
34:40
getting back to you know, to where what
34:42
you were saying about just using life in
34:44
general as your curriculum.
34:46
And if this is leading us to our
34:48
to our next discussion.
34:50
So when we had a garden, every year
34:52
my boys would chart the germination of the
34:54
seed, and they could tell you how long
34:56
it would take for the squash to sprout,
34:58
how long it would take you for that
35:00
How long it would take you for that
35:01
tomato to bloom.
35:01
tomato to bloom.
35:03
I mean, you know, and we were doing
35:03
I mean, it, you know, and we were
35:05
handwriting, we were doing art because they were
35:05
doing handwriting, we were doing art because they
35:07
drawing the plant.
35:07
were drawing the plant.
35:09
Um, we would be outside playing in the
35:09
Um we would be outside playing in the
35:11
dirt and learning.
35:11
dirt and learning.
35:12
Um they we would turn, you know, let's
35:12
Um, they we would turn, you know, let's
35:14
say if they misspelled tomato, we would turn
35:15
say if they misspelled tomato, we would turn
35:17
that into a phonics lesson and pull out
35:17
that into a phonics lesson and pull out
35:19
the phonics cars.
35:19
the phonics cars, and it just it was
35:21
And it just, it was just it was
35:22
just it was the I don't know.
35:22
the I don't know.
35:24
If I could go back to those days
35:24
If I could go back to those days
35:26
and relive it, I so would.
35:26
and relive it, I so would.
35:28
It's always here.
35:30
Yes, you always hear that the days are
35:32
long, but truly the years are short.
35:34
Yes.
35:35
We've only got 18 years, 18 summers, and
35:37
it's just like I'm gonna start crying.
35:40
But well, even um yesterday I was outside
35:43
with the boys, and I was struggling getting
35:46
them to do any kind of lesson, and
35:49
then all of a sudden I we got
35:52
the hose on their clothes were off, they're
35:55
running around the yard naked.
35:58
Thank goodness we live in the country, right?
36:00
Um, they're running around playing in the hose,
36:02
and I just I stopped and I looked
36:04
at them and I was like, this is
36:06
okay.
36:08
Like they are are having fun, and I'm
36:10
gonna cherish this moment, and I'm not gonna
36:13
freak out and want them to come inside
36:15
and start a homeschool lesson.
36:18
We're just gonna go with it.
36:19
And they just had an off day and
36:20
fun.
36:22
And that bring I wanted to bring up
36:25
this point real quick before we switch, and
36:27
then we can um go into like food
36:30
and it, you know, all the all the
36:32
things because I think that's important too um
36:34
with homeschooling because it it all kind of
36:37
interrelates because obviously the foods that we eat,
36:39
they help us learn, they affect our behavior,
36:42
our attention, all the things.
36:45
But one criticism that a lot of kids
36:48
and parents get with homeschooling um is that
36:51
they don't get socialized.
36:55
So yeah, there's um, yeah.
36:58
So many studies actually show homeschool students participate
37:02
heavily in community activities, sports, church church groups,
37:07
volunteer work, co-ops, and mixed age social settings.
37:12
Research doesn't support the stereotype that homeschool kids
37:15
are are typically socially isolated.
37:19
Some research and educational reviews suggest homeschool children
37:22
may experience less exposure to bullying, peer pressure,
37:25
and toxic school environments.
37:29
So that stereotype's not real.
37:32
Again, it's important to control the narrative.
37:35
Um when they come at us and say,
37:37
Oh, your kids aren't socialized.
37:39
I come back at them and say, you
37:41
know, to what degree are you referring to?
37:44
Are you referring to me socializing them in
37:46
a setting, you know, where violence is taking
37:48
place?
37:51
I mean, how many school shootings have we
37:52
had this year?
37:53
And I will say by far, I think
37:56
I think as a whole, homeschool children are
37:59
a little bit more mature because they are
38:03
being socialized, maybe not by the school system
38:06
standards, but they are being socialized.
38:09
Typically, it's around older adults, it's mature older
38:12
children.
38:15
And I always say my kids have an
38:17
old soul, but maybe it's not that.
38:19
Maybe it's just because we socialize them, you
38:21
know, around mature.
38:24
Um, you know, people that I felt like
38:27
was probably the better influence.
38:30
Um we control the narrative, we want to
38:32
make sure that our children we're responsible.
38:35
If we're responsible for what we put in
38:37
our children and we're responsible for taking them
38:39
to the pediatrician when they're sick, and you
38:41
know, why can't we be responsible for who
38:43
we let influence them?
38:46
I don't understand why people get so agitated
38:49
at homeschool parents for and it's not micromanaging.
38:52
It's it's it's not.
38:53
We are we're planting seeds for who they
38:56
will become, and even so more the boys.
38:59
Like I wanted to raise men, I didn't
39:02
like my boys are independent men and you
39:04
know, they care for their families and they
39:07
they're they're full of you know chivalry, like
39:09
they're I mean, they're they're on the front
39:12
line, and you know, it's not below them
39:14
to stop what they're doing and take out
39:17
the garbage and help their wife.
39:19
And you know, it's just I could go
39:22
on and on and on about it.
39:25
And um I feel like I said from
39:27
the beginning, I think we have the blessing,
39:30
especially the state that we live in.
39:33
We have a a very good homeschool state.
39:37
And if you're not in a state that
39:38
you're unsure of about the homeschool laws, please
39:39
check those out because we do have these
39:41
things legally.
39:43
We're not just flying under the radar over
39:44
here by the pants.
39:46
Um, but like in our state, we have
39:49
very good, currently very good homeschool laws.
39:52
And you know, we're required 180 days, but
39:55
they're not consecutive days.
39:58
If you've got to have an off day,
39:59
take the day off.
40:00
We personally homeschooled the whole time year round,
40:04
and we we took off on Fridays because
40:07
it was my husband's schedule at that time.
40:11
We wanted to spend time with him too.
40:13
We, you know, we wanted to bring Dad
40:14
in on the picture.
40:15
And so, you know, his off days were
40:17
on Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays.
40:19
So we we chose to homeschool four days
40:21
a week, and I needed that extra day
40:24
to focus on the house or to focus
40:26
on the family or to do planning.
40:29
You do have to to work towards you
40:31
know the goal and study your scope in
40:34
sequence, but um, you know, there's there's no
40:36
hard and fast rule how you have to
40:38
do it, you just have to do it.
40:41
Yeah, you've gotta your family and you know
40:44
do it the way you need to.
40:47
And I will say, um, just for example,
40:50
I have a um a teenager in our
40:52
family.
40:55
I will keep it kind of discreet, but
40:57
we have a a teenager in our family
40:58
and that goes to public school, which is
41:00
fine.
41:02
Everybody gets to choose what they want to
41:03
do.
41:04
But it's funny because they're very critical of
41:06
us homeschooling that our kids are gonna be
41:09
socially awkward.
41:12
But let me tell you about socially awkward
41:15
because teenagers these days, a lot of them
41:17
are just socially awkward anyway, because they spend
41:20
so much time on devices.
41:23
Um so this teenager in particular, he's 16,
41:26
will be 17 soon.
41:30
And most of his friends are online and
41:33
um he is very awkward uh socially, not
41:37
any fault of his own, but because that's
41:40
kind of how he's been exposed and been
41:43
raised.
41:47
And he's in public school.
41:49
And he it's it's very I so you
41:51
know, and then he has been bullied along
41:53
the way.
41:56
And that's something that my children aren't gonna
41:58
have.
42:00
And now, not to say that some kids
42:00
And now, not to say that some kids
42:01
not gonna bully them at the playground.
42:02
are not gonna bully them at the playground,
42:03
You know, you you you come across situations,
42:04
you know, you you you come across situations,
42:06
and I think it's good to prepare and
42:06
and I think it's good to prepare and
42:08
teach your children, use you know, use that
42:08
teach your children, use you know, use that
42:10
as almost like a learning experience.
42:10
as almost like a learning experience.
42:13
But um, I I think the the whole
42:13
But um, I I think the the whole
42:16
socially awkward thing is really just tone deaf.
42:16
socially awkward thing is really just tone deaf.
42:20
When you look at the kids in public
42:20
When you look at the kids in public
42:22
school now, because you there's always a phone
42:22
school now, because you there's always a phone
42:24
or a tablet in front of them, even
42:25
or a tablet in front of them, even
42:27
in school, they're not making online.
42:27
in schools, they're not making online.
42:30
Yeah, they're not being socialized.
42:31
And I think socialization is part of the
42:33
training process.
42:35
So there's there's training.
42:37
We have to train our children, train up
42:39
a child and the way he should go.
42:41
Um, that's biblical.
42:42
And um, the other piece that I love
42:46
about homeschooling when you were talking about socialization
42:49
is when our boys were 15 and 16,
42:52
um, two of them weren't were offered jobs.
42:56
And so as a homeschool mom, I was
42:58
able to let them do that.
43:00
They would work in the morning hours and
43:03
we would homeschool in the evening hours.
43:05
And because of these early skills that they
43:08
learned, you know, we counted that as what
43:11
I what I would have called when I
43:14
was in school, like their exploratory classes, their
43:17
extracurricular classes, they learned welding, they learned construction,
43:21
um, you know, and they were getting socialized
43:24
to at 15 and 16 that they were
43:27
they were with very capable men that were
43:30
teaching them a skill.
43:33
So you know, by the time they had
43:35
to be in the in the real world
43:38
and have their own job, they didn't have
43:40
problems getting a job.
43:42
Um, and I think as our children are
43:45
going into the world, I think that is
43:47
I think that alone is something that is
43:49
just as important as the curriculum we're using
43:51
in first grade.
43:54
Because if if we do not prepare them
43:56
to be in the world and to push
43:59
through and to be like this this man,
44:02
like not just a not just a boy
44:05
just trying to to leap out and see
44:08
what he can do, but like you're preparing
44:11
them for manhood.
44:14
Yeah, I think that is just as important
44:16
as day one.
44:18
And um, our boys, like in it, and
44:20
it's not us, it's not what we did
44:22
as parents.
44:24
It was the complete total reliance on the
44:27
Lord and the grace of God because I
44:29
could not have done it without those very
44:32
early, very fresh, very new mercies every single
44:34
day because we had a lot coming at
44:37
us.
44:40
We had two in therapy.
44:42
We had one that was sick.
44:45
It was it wasn't it wasn't the easiest
44:47
thing, but I am so grateful we did.
44:49
Yeah.
44:50
On those very hard days, we would just
44:51
press pause and we would just reassess and
44:53
reset.
44:54
And I'm now that they're grown and they're
44:56
out of the house, and you know, we've
44:58
got our oldest is grown and married, and
45:00
he's got children, and our uh one of
45:02
our other ones just recently moved out in
45:03
February.
45:06
Oh miss him.
45:07
But you know, just to see them be
45:08
okay.
45:10
Like I have these amazing adults, they're still
45:12
my babies in my mind.
45:14
When when my always six, three, you know,
45:16
muscle men hug me.
45:18
I I still I still see him as
45:20
my little boy.
45:22
And um, but I'm so proud of the
45:24
adults they are.
45:26
And I had a very small piece, like
45:29
a very small portion of that.
45:32
And um, I I give credit all the
45:34
Lord because like he filled in so many
45:36
gaps.
45:39
He honestly did like it's it's the grace
45:41
of God that my boys are who they
45:42
are.
45:44
But I think homeschooling was a large contribution
45:47
of who they have become and what they're
45:49
able to do.
45:52
And um, you know, I I'm not bragging,
45:54
but yet I mean they're like they're capable
45:56
and they're running a business and like they're
45:58
doing they're doing well, and they're the protectors
46:01
of their family and they're leading their homes,
46:03
and you know, not just like I'm not
46:05
talking about like they're they're just providing food
46:08
and they're just no, I'm meaning it's more
46:10
than that.
46:12
Like I see our oldest son biblically trying
46:16
to direct this little boy and you know,
46:19
biblically trying to find God's will for his
46:23
family, not just the curriculum.
46:26
It's it's it's it's way more than this.
46:28
It is like we are creating we are
46:30
creating men and women to be able to
46:32
be in the home and to lead and
46:34
to guide the next generation.
46:37
And it's it's so it's so much bigger
46:38
than the curriculum.
46:40
Yeah, it is, and it's I I can't
46:42
even I can't think that far ahead of
46:44
seeing my children grown and moving out of
46:47
my house.
46:49
Yeah, and you don't until it happens, like
46:52
the homeschool years are unfolding, like there's so
46:55
many years, and then when it's done, you're
46:57
like, oh, that was the big lesson.
47:00
Like I stressed over common denominators when I,
47:02
you know, and that wasn't the lesson that
47:04
the big I don't think you ever look
47:06
back and you say, Oh gosh, I regret
47:08
homeschooling.
47:10
I wish I had never done that.
47:12
But I can see if you're in public
47:14
school, you could look back and be like,
47:16
man, I wish I'd homeschooled my kids.
47:18
Right.
47:18
And I don't want to have that regret.
47:20
So if if you have that itch, if
47:21
you want to do it, just give it
47:22
a try.
47:24
You can always go back to public school
47:26
and um, you know, it's just something you
47:28
don't want to look back and wish that
47:30
you had done.
47:32
And some of these curriculums, and a Becca
47:34
is one of them, they have an academy,
47:35
they have an online academy.
47:38
And you can go through their academy and
47:40
like you're you're at home with your children,
47:42
you're still the template, you're still the guide,
47:44
but you know, you are doing the academy,
47:47
and you know, you're not teaching them per
47:49
se, you're just like facilitating and admitting and
47:51
they're they're getting their lessons from the online
47:53
teacher.
47:56
So there's a lot of different platforms, right?
47:59
You know, you can pick what's gonna work
48:00
for you.
48:01
And even if um, you know you don't
48:04
need that many hours.
48:07
So even if you have a job, you
48:08
can still try to work it out if
48:10
it's something that you're really passionate about.
48:12
Yeah, and our state you're only required four
48:14
and a half hours per day.
48:17
And 180 days a year.
48:19
So yeah.
48:22
Now let's switch gears to to food.
48:25
And I think um food can be a
48:27
part of homeschooling because they can help you
48:28
prepare and cook the foods and all that
48:30
thing.
48:32
But right now, yeah, families are faced with
48:35
um high gas prices, high grocery prices.
48:38
We've been dealing with that since what the
48:41
Biden years, um, groceries became unbelievable.
48:45
I think my grocery bill doubled um from
48:47
what I used to pay.
48:49
And so, and you know, prices go up,
48:51
they don't usually come down.
48:53
Although I think egg prices did come down,
48:55
you know, finally, because that was that was
48:56
a little crazy.
48:58
Thank goodness we had chickens.
49:00
Um, but how if they're eating at home
49:00
Um, but how if they're eating at home
49:03
all um every day, seven days a week,
49:03
all um every day, seven days a week,
49:06
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and kids love to
49:06
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and kids love to
49:09
snack.
49:09
snack, how are we feeding them without breaking
49:12
How are we feeding them without breaking the
49:12
the bank and feel like we're still feeding
49:14
bank and feel like we're still feeding them
49:15
them good foods?
49:16
good foods?
49:19
Yeah.
49:19
Yeah, I still struggle with this.
49:19
I still struggle with this.
49:20
Yeah.
49:20
Yeah, I mean, I would always just keep
49:21
I mean, I would always just keep the
49:23
the staples, and I still do like you've
49:23
staples, and I still do like you've got
49:25
got flour, you've got eggs, you've got milk.
49:25
flour, you've got eggs, you've got milk.
49:28
Um, you know, when the kids
49:28
Um, you know, when the kids were very,
49:30
very young, I would keep powdered milk or
49:32
canned milk in the pantry just because we
49:34
would always run out of milk.
49:36
So um, I would just keep the staples
49:38
on hand.
49:40
And um, we we didn't really have the
49:43
luxury of buying boxed snacks.
49:47
Um, for us, like groceries have been uh
49:50
an issue for many, many years.
49:54
Um, I mean, I remember even back in
49:56
the Obama era, Obama era.
49:59
I mean, things got extensive then.
50:01
I think our grocery prices now are you
50:03
know exponentially higher.
50:06
But um, like we've always we had four
50:09
boys to feed around the clock.
50:12
Boys eat so much the older they get
50:13
too.
50:15
I I don't even know how I'm gonna
50:17
I can barely feed my kids now.
50:19
They eat, I I underestimate how much they're
50:21
gonna eat.
50:22
Yeah, you know, yeah.
50:24
So I mean, we um, and I've done
50:26
this for years, so we've always cooked a
50:28
large Sunday dinner.
50:30
So I make a three-day menu, and that's
50:32
it.
50:34
That's every week, and we have leftovers, and
50:37
I fill in the gaps with homemade cookies
50:39
or you know, we have chickens too.
50:41
So if they may want an egg and
50:43
mayonnaise sandwich, um, many times for lunch, that's
50:45
what we would do.
50:47
We would just have egg and mayonnaise sandwiches
50:49
and we would have fresh sliced cucumbers and
50:51
tomatoes.
50:53
Um, you know, there was they went through
50:55
this phase where they really wanted junk food,
50:57
and you know, sometimes I would buy it,
50:59
but that was more of a luxury.
51:01
So like we literally would keep things like
51:03
banana bread and um cinnamon rolls, like cinnamon
51:06
rolls was was a big deal.
51:08
You could throw the dough and the and
51:10
the bread machine, and like you can make
51:12
this huge pan, and we'd have leftovers.
51:14
Um, it's a lot of preparation and a
51:17
lot of cooking, but you just you just
51:19
kind of find um kind of on your
51:21
groove and you know like you make sourdough
51:23
bread.
51:26
I'm sure it's rising in the kitchen right
51:27
now.
51:28
It is actually.
51:29
I did it this morning because my they
51:31
they go through a loaf of bread.
51:33
So last night my kids wanted butter toast,
51:35
and I mean, so that's that's what and
51:36
they wanted eggs.
51:38
So that's what we did.
51:40
Okay, that's perfect.
51:41
And and I I think people get overwhelmed
51:42
with the end picture because they don't know
51:44
how to start.
51:45
And yes, and it it's just it's just
51:47
staying ahead of the game and just you
51:49
know, making sure you put your bread in
51:51
the bowl at night, make sure it's rising.
51:53
Um meal planning, and it doesn't have to
51:55
be a seven-day menu.
51:57
We do a three, sometimes a four day
51:59
per week menu, and we have we have
52:00
leftovers.
52:02
And I know um last week I didn't
52:05
get to the store, but in the freezer,
52:07
I had like a broth and some leftover
52:10
meat from um a roast that we had
52:13
had.
52:16
So I pulled it out and I just
52:17
added potatoes to it and we made beef
52:18
stew.
52:20
You know, added a can of tomatoes to
52:22
it and some rotail, and we had beef
52:23
stew.
52:25
And it it was very simple and straightforward.
52:28
There's just things that we can do.
52:30
Um, and I know we're running out of
52:32
time and I could talk all day about
52:34
you know, preparing things, but honestly, I think
52:36
we have to, it's more of a mental
52:38
preparation than it is a physical.
52:41
And I think as moms, we get so
52:42
hyped up of oh gosh, I've got so
52:43
much to do.
52:45
When you see all the Instagram moms posting
52:48
and they make it look so easy and
52:51
all it doesn't have to be so overwhelming,
52:54
you don't have to be so perfect.
52:57
I mean, for instance, I bought a whole
52:59
chicken and I was just not like I
53:02
I had so much going on, I was
53:04
like, I can't even think about, you know,
53:07
moms, you you get um, I've been struggling
53:09
lately with just feeling overwhelmed with things that
53:12
shouldn't be overwhelming me, right?
53:14
Like I think moms kind of go through
53:16
that sometimes.
53:17
And so I got a whole chicken, I
53:20
roasted it in the oven.
53:22
It was um it was easy, it was
53:27
it was um you know good.
53:33
The kids, the kids loved it, and uh
53:37
they'll eat chicken all day long, right?
53:40
So um they had they love the the
53:42
legs, the bone chicken, they call it bone
53:43
chicken.
53:45
So we cook that.
53:46
So whatever leftover chicken I had, then I
53:49
threw that in a big pot with some
53:51
water and some carrots and some leftover veggies
53:54
I had in the freezer.
53:56
I save all my veggie scraps, yeah, the
53:59
broth and I threw it all in a
54:01
pot and I made a big pot of
54:03
chicken broth and I saved some of it
54:06
to just have broth because I used that
54:08
to season things, but then I took half
54:11
of it and the chicken that had kind
54:13
of fallen off the bone, and I made
54:16
a chicken noodle soup.
54:18
And then um I had also saved some
54:21
other like part of the chicken breast, I
54:24
made chicken salad.
54:27
So out of one chicken that cost me
54:29
12 dollars, and yes, it was organic, but
54:31
it was at Costco and it was coming
54:33
up towards its expiration date.
54:35
So you know, they had marked it down.
54:37
So I paid 12 dollars for this chicken.
54:40
I had dinner roasted chicken one night for
54:41
dinner.
54:43
We had chicken salad for lunch, we had
54:45
chicken noodle soup, and I made chicken broth.
54:48
It's amazing.
54:49
It's amazing.
54:49
That was 12 bucks.
54:50
Right.
54:51
And um, I have a stepson that he
54:53
will go to the store and buy all
54:56
this pre-packaged stuff, and he never has enough
54:58
money to like really, you know, feed himself
55:01
all that he'll make he'll get like sandwich
55:03
stuff or or ramen or all these things.
55:06
And I'm like, I really don't think you
55:08
understand that if you buy whole foods, they're
55:10
gonna fill you up.
55:12
Yes, they're gonna last you longer.
55:15
And in the end, it's more it's it's
55:18
cheaper because maybe that when you go to
55:21
the grocery store, you spend X amount of
55:23
dollars, but that food's gonna last you where
55:26
if you go and you buy a bag
55:28
of Doritos, Oreo cookies, don't get full on
55:31
those things and you blow through them really
55:33
quick.
55:36
Right.
55:37
Junk food's way more expensive than whole food.
55:39
Right.
55:39
And when you're talking about feeding your children
55:42
and you're homeschooling them, you absolutely need things
55:44
that's going to feed their brain and not
55:46
you know, spike their glucose and I mean,
55:48
some kids you give them sugar, they're either
55:50
gonna be hyper or they're gonna pass out
55:53
on you.
55:55
And you don't need either of those.
55:57
So, like I love to keep pumpkin seeds
55:59
on hand and mixed nuts.
56:00
And mixed nuts.
56:01
Um like my kids loved to just snack
56:01
Um, like my kids loved to just snack
56:04
on an apple while they were doing math.
56:04
on an apple while they were doing math.
56:08
Yes, I let them eat while they were
56:08
Yes, I let them eat while they were
56:09
schooling.
56:09
schooling.
56:10
I mean, it's no mine do too in
56:10
I mean, it's yes, no, mine do too
56:11
homeschool.
56:11
in homeschool.
56:13
And so I think it's important to keep
56:13
And so I think it's important to keep
56:15
those healthy fat options on hand.
56:15
those healthy fat options on hand.
56:17
Um, you know, keep things visible, the healthy
56:17
Um, you know, keep things visible, the healthy
56:20
snacks, so that they're just grabbing the orange,
56:20
snacks, so that they're just grabbing the orange,
56:23
they're grabbing the apple, they're grabbing the nuts.
56:23
they're grabbing the apple, they're grabbing the nuts.
56:27
Um with that said, God bless all of
56:27
Um, with that said, God bless all of
56:28
you.
56:28
you guys.
56:30
Thank you so much for joining us on
56:32
the Nurses Report today on America Out Loud.
56:39
It's time at this one.