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KindlED
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments. Powered by Prenda, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle curiosity, motivation, and well-being in young learners. Do you have a question, topic, or story you'd like to share with us? Get in touch at podcast@prenda.com.
KindlED
Episode 60: You Can Homeschool Your Way. A Conversation with Elan Page.
Discover how homeschooling can revolutionize your child’s education and fit seamlessly into your family’s lifestyle. This episode features Elan Page, the founder of Homeschool Our Way, who shares her inspiring journey from a lifelong learner to a trailblazer empowering families, especially families of color, to embrace homeschooling with confidence. Whether you’re new to homeschooling or looking to refine your approach, this episode is packed with practical tips and encouragement.
We explore critical topics like setting family goals, selecting the right curriculum, and managing work-life balance while homeschooling. Learn about valuable resources like educational savings accounts (ESAs) and how they can open doors for a personalized learning experience. From overcoming challenges to finding homeschool co-ops and expert support, we’ve got you covered.
At its core, homeschooling fosters student autonomy and creates opportunities for personalized, mastery-based learning. Elan highlights the importance of representation and community, ensuring every child feels seen and valued. Don’t miss this empowering conversation that’s full of actionable advice to make homeschooling work for your family.
More about our guest
Elan Page, a native of Dallas, Texas, is a lifelong learner who is passionate about helping other families of color access the freedom and fulfillment that homeschool offers.
After a brief return to traditional schooling, the Page family made the collective decision to embrace homeschooling as the future for their daughters. Elan then drew on her own learnings from starting the homeschooling process, and she created Homeschool Our Way to help other families of color avoid the overwhelm she had experienced in starting something new.
Homeschool Our Way offers a weekly podcast, an online course called the Homeschool Launch Blueprint and other resources to empower families of color to educate their children with confidence and clarity.
Connect with Elan
Homeschoolourway.com
Follow Elan on Instagram @homeschool_ourway
Also mentioned in this episode
Got a story to share or question you want us to answer? Send us a message!
About the podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments.
Powered by Prenda Microschools, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle young learners' curiosity, motivation, and well-being.
Got a burning question?
We're all ears! If you have a question or topic you'd love our hosts to tackle, please send it to podcast@prenda.com. Let's dive into the conversation together!
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I want to make sure that people understand that homeschool can be accessible, no matter what your family looks like. I have the benefit of working from home, but I, though, know plenty of moms and dads who don't work from home. Their full-time jobs take them away to a hospital or to like wherever they work, and so they're able to incorporate homeschooling as well, and so they're able to incorporate homeschooling as well, and I just I want people to understand that this is truly an education option, that, with understanding the, you know what's available to them that people can access.
Speaker 2:Hi and welcome to the Kindled podcast where we dig into the art and science behind kindling the motivation, curiosity and mental wellbeing of the young humans in our lives.
Speaker 3:Together, we'll discover practical tools and strategies you can use to help kids unlock their full potential and become the strongest version of their future selves. Welcome to the Kindled podcast. I have a secret to tell you all. I thought I would never ever homeschool and I hear parents talk about that too Like I could never homeschool. Katie, did you feel like that, Cause I know you started out homeschooling or did you feel like, from soon as you had that first baby, you're like I'm going to be a homeschool mom?
Speaker 2:I definitely didn't think so. I mean, I was a speech-language pathologist in public school, so I was eager to become a support in that system and network. And actually one of the main reasons I became a speech-language pathologist is because I thought it would be a good mom job. Reasons I became a speech language pathologist. Because I thought it would be a good mom job so that when my kids went to public school I would be there as a speech language pathologist.
Speaker 2:It would be cool if I like could be lunch with them or something it's like you know I would keep the same hours as my kids when they were in school so no, it was never my intention to homeschool and then started having kids and just started thinking about what I wanted for those kids and kind of reflecting on the time that I did spend in the school system and kind of like the attitudes about learning that I saw and the motivation and just felt like as a speech language pathologist, my job was just to bribe kids to do the things that they didn't want to do and they just couldn't wait to stop learning because they just saw it as this big chore and I'm like that's not how I want my kids to feel about learning, because they just saw it as this big chore and I'm like that's not how I want my kids to feel about learning and I know that's not something we're doing intentionally to kids, but it is the natural product of the system that we built for them.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately, and even though every educator goes into education thinking that they want to, like, help kids become lifelong learners, like it is not a reality for many, many teachers and for most students.
Speaker 3:So that's kind of what got me thinking to do something different, cause the system yeah, this, the system is definitely not set up for that and I kind of I mean, in a way, I got forced into homeschool. I was already minded, all the things like like-minded with you and what I wanted for my kids. I just didn't think it was possible until I sat in the parking lot of a small Christian elementary school and my child literally would not get out of the car. So it was like, what else do I do? Let's figure out how to do this, and thank goodness for ESA, we have a lot of funding to be able to homeschool him our way, which is a perfect segue into who our guest is today.
Speaker 2:Yes, Today we're talking to Elon Page, a native of Dallas, texas, a lifelong learner, who is passionate about helping other families of color access the freedom and fulfillment that homeschool offers. After a brief return to traditional schooling, the Page family made the collective decision to embrace homeschooling as the future for their daughters. Ilan then drew on her own learnings from starting the homeschool process and she created Homeschool Our Way to help other families of color avoid the overwhelm she had experienced in starting something new. Homeschool Our Way offers a weekly podcast, an online course called the Homeschool Launch Blueprint and other resources to empower families of color and I would say all families to educate their children with confidence and clarity. Let's go talk to Elan. Welcome to the Kindle podcast, elan. Thank you so much for coming on today. We're so excited to talk to you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me. I'm excited as well.
Speaker 2:Take us way back. Tell us about your background, how you came to the work you're currently doing. What's your big? Why? What change are you seeking to make in the world currently doing Like? What's your big, why? What change?
Speaker 1:are you seeking to make in the world the way way back? Well, so I guess I'll start with just a little bit about me. I'm a mom, a homeschool mom. I got two kiddos, ages seven and 10. And we have not always homeschooled. We have done a variety of different education options, but I think that part of this started with me. I actually took a test. It's called StrengthsFinders. I took this test a couple years ago and learned that I am a learner. That is my primary strength Me too.
Speaker 1:Samesies, yay For learners tonight. Yes, I love it. I love it. So it man, I'll tell you, you probably had the same experience in reading the little printout and kind of learning more about what it means to be a learner. It all began to click. It all began to make sense. I'm like oh, that's why I love learning in like every way, shape, form and fashion.
Speaker 1:And so, going back to my kiddos, I have always, since they were born, I have loved watching those light bulb moments as they are growing and learning, and I've always wanted to be a part of that.
Speaker 1:I was never one of those moms that just like sent the kids off to school, never thought about it again. I liked sitting down and doing homework with them, I liked taking them on educational experiences on the weekend and, you know, whenever I could that kind of thing. And so, as I again a couple of years ago, as I learned what makes me tick, then I began to see how I could really tie that in with my kiddos and I'm like I think it makes sense that I take on the lead for their education. I become their guide. It drives me, it is my passion to make them lifelong learners and lifelong lovers of learning, and so that's kind of how we got to the point where we are now, and then I'm homeschooling and then I was like, well shoot, if I love it this much, why don't I help other moms who are interested in getting into homeschool, but maybe they're not quite sure how? So that's how my business kind of became.
Speaker 2:That's awesome. And how did you start homeschooling? Tell me about that moment. What were the circumstances?
Speaker 1:When did you make that choice, okay? So, like I said, I was doing the nights and weekends type stuff right, like with the kiddos as they were in traditional school. During COVID, though, we, of course, all the we all experienced the kiddos coming home kind of all at the same time, especially those of us whose whose kids were in traditional school, and I was like I kinda I kinda like this, I kind of like being closer to the learning. I also noticed that my oldest daughter seemed to not go at the same pace, learning-wise, as the rest of her classmates. She seemed to finish her work a little faster. She seemed, frankly, a little bored at times, and so I was like oh well, this is when I can jump in. I can, I can, you know, I can start working with her one-on-one too.
Speaker 1:Also, as I'm, as we're kind of doing this that summer, so like there's the year that that the world shut down, right, that summer, in 2020, my husband says, hey, any interest in continuing this whole homeschooling thing? And I was like shut up, I'm in agreement. Like I think I like this. Are we on the same page with this? And we were, we were on the same page, so we homeschooled that next year, and it was a lot of work. It was a whole lot of work, but it was a great learning experience. We ended up actually sending the kiddos back to traditional school for a couple of years. That had more to do with the fact that I still work full time, and so it was just like I said it was. It was a lot, it was a lot of work, but some things shifted um work wise for me a couple of years later, and then we were able to get back to homeschooling, and so that's where we are now, that's awesome.
Speaker 2:And what was the response to your homeschooling, like in your family, in your community? Like, were people supportive or people like you're a crazy person, like what was that response?
Speaker 1:like so, I've been very blessed in that I have not had to deal with the naysayers, or at least not to my face. Nobody has said it to my face. Now. I get a lot of questions. I get a lot of well, how do you do it and what does it look like?
Speaker 1:And I think, though, that what actually makes it interesting with my friends and family is that they see the fruits of the homeschool labor, and that is truly what prompts them to come and ask me well, how are you doing this? And they might even ask me for tips and recommendations with their own kids, even if they're not homeschooling necessarily. They'll say well, what are some things that I can do? Because, like you know, my baby, like he, really loves math. What more can we do to make sure that he's very engaged in math, that kind of thing?
Speaker 1:So, and that, like I said, that is a function of my girls. They, whether they have been in traditional school or whether they are now homeschooled, they are still engaging, they are still bright, they are still there is nothing. You know, some of these things, some of these stereotypical like oh well, homeschoolers are weird. My children have never given that off. We, as a family, have never given that off, if anything. People look at our experience and they're like oh God, that kind of looks fun, like like how do you do that?
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1:Exactly, yeah, so that has been, that has been. I guess it's been a positive because we haven't, we just had, I just have not had to deal with, like I said, the naysayers.
Speaker 3:Yeah, what I love the way you do it is there are so many resources out there for homeschoolers. It's actually can be pretty overwhelming. However, most of the resources, at least that I found even the curriculum I use it's really tailored to full-time stay-at-home moms and this is their entire life. They are sitting at the kitchen table from 8 am to 3 pm, or at least that's the picture I'm painting. That might not be true, but that's what I see when I look at a lot of homeschool resources, whereas you provide opportunities to meet moms where they are because you have a full-time job and you're still a homeschooler.
Speaker 3:I have a homeschooler right now. He is meeting with his mentor on computers something I should probably get a little more involved and be more interested in learning that part and then his teacher gets here in an hour and she's going to do some subjects with him and then I will continue the education with him whenever I'm done working. So I love that about your work is that you're able to meet moms where they are and go. Hey, guess what? Homeschools for everyone, not just those that are at home full time with their kids.
Speaker 1:It's funny that you say that because my so the name of my business is homeschool our way. But initially and that came from my husband, so if you can't tell, my husband is the creative one, um in the in the family.
Speaker 1:I initially it sounds like very much so, very much so, um, but I had initially wanted to name the business. Homeschool is for everybody, and it's because, now, that would have been a goofy name. However, it truly is what you just described. I want to make sure that people understand that homeschool can be accessible, no matter what your family looks like. I have the benefit of working from home, but I, though, know plenty of moms and dads who don't work from home. Their full-time jobs take them away to a hospital or to like wherever they work, and so they're able to incorporate homeschooling as well, and I just want I want people to understand that this is truly an education option that, with with understanding the, the, you know what's available to them that people can access.
Speaker 2:I think, even if you're not, if you don't view homeschooling as a completely accessible choice to you, like in your current life situation, I think we can still do a lot in our parenting mindsets to own and like be a part of that education. Like I like to think of, um, any sort of educational. You know, like my kids go to micro schools, other kids go to brick and mortar, more traditional classrooms, like there's lots of different options, right, whatever you're hiring to help you with the education piece. Or maybe, like you know, you can think of that as kind of like outsourcing. I'm outsourcing this little piece of my child's, of raising my child, to be supported by this other entity or this um. You know, in the same way that you would like sign up for a soccer team or something like I want this to teach my kids soccer or teach them hard work or whatever.
Speaker 2:Like you know, whatever you're gaining from that thing you're signing up for or hiring into your child's life, um, but it's important that we don't lose the mindset that that is your, like the parents, ultimate responsibility, right, like we just want to get away from the mindset of, well, I can't influence, I can't be a part of cause, I just I have to work and I think even if you're sending your kids to full-time traditional school, you can have the mindset of a homeschooler and when they get home you know, be really engaged and involved and curious and to still be the leader of their education right and to have them see you as that authority and that like influence in their lives. So I think there's a lot you can do, even if you can't necessarily homeschool your kids right now.
Speaker 3:I was going to say I'm part of the MomCo. It's a community of moms and I'm on the leadership team and we just had a leadership meeting the other night and there's a mom and all of the moms on the leadership team except for me all have littles under the age of five, and the one mama she was like I think about it every day. My daughter's going to kindergarten next year. My husband, you know, thinks that we should homeschool. He's teacher. He just loves coming home to our family.
Speaker 3:I, I, I was a teacher. I think it would be great. She's like, but there's just this will she be normal Like? I think I need to send. She just had so much strife and she literally said she's spending every single day thinking about this choice that she needs to make. And I think it's because our culture has made it like oh, you just go to school, but school can look like so many different ways. I mean we have micro schools at Prenda. You know you can do homeschool, you can do unschool, you can send your kids to school, but I feel like it's a mindset shift of what education should look like for kids.
Speaker 1:Totally agree, totally agree. And I, katie, going back to your point about leading our kids' education, I always say that whether your kids are in traditional school or whether they are homeschooled, we as parents should be the lead, we should be the guide, and I think that once we can kind of get over that hurdle then, adrian, that it helps us with what you were describing, with the anxiety of thinking well, hold on, is it okay for me to have my kids step outside of what is the traditional education system? Well, heck yeah. If I'm the guide, if I'm the lead of my kid's education, I get to choose what it looks like. And so I completely agree with with both of your points, do you?
Speaker 2:find that you do a lot of work just empowering parents around that idea Because we've all been trained societally that like we need to trust the expert and if you don't have a degree or credential, like you're not qualified to do something which, as learners, we really feel like. That's not true. I've learned a lot of things without someone, like sitting in a desk, someone teaching me and giving me a certificate or like a prize for right, like that, like traditional schema of learning. It's not really fit. But do parents that you work with struggle with that level of like permission I'll call it to really step into that leadership role? Do they feel, do they come to this decision most of the time like disempowered? What do you say?
Speaker 1:Absolutely 100%. I think that I actually it's so funny I just did a podcast episode on mindset, and so this is extremely top of mind for me because I do think that, especially for those of us who are we grew up, you know, probably in the traditional education system we have a tremendous amount of respect and trust for educators. I think that we put them on a pedestal as well. We should write like we. They have earned, they have earned that place. But what I think we do wrong is that we disqualify ourselves as parents.
Speaker 1:We don't necessarily need to be the ones that teach all of the things, but we, as our children's parent, we are 1000% qualified to make the choices that are best for our kids. So, whether they are very small and the choices oh okay, well, I think they're ready to potty train, well, okay, well, that's a choice, right? That's a choice that we make because we are the ones closest to our kids and we can see when they're ready for something. We can see when they are in need of something, and it's the same thing with, in my mind, with education we for, for my, my big girl, who's 10, she loves reading and she loves writing, and so, in my mind. My job as the lead of her education is to lean into those things that she is already good at and that she already has a passion for, and so that might mean writing classes, that might mean being a part of book clubs. Those are things that I can guide her into to make sure that those, those natural talents and passions, are nurtured. I love that.
Speaker 2:Um, do you, do you also find? So I have homeschooled before we discovered slash, helped invent micro-schooling, not that that's. Uh. I know that small schools have existed for hundreds of years. We didn't just think of it in 2018.
Speaker 2:But so when I was homeschooling, I kind of felt like like I just heard you say you don't have to teach everything when you're homeschooling right, you can still hire other things to help you. But I feel like when I stepped into homeschooling, I felt like this was the Katie show, like I had to do all of it all the time, for all the kids, for all the years, and if I didn't, like I wasn't going to get my homeschool mom trophy at the end, you know. And I really felt like there's this culture in the homeschooling network, or like just communities and maybe this is just specific to mine or maybe I was just projecting this because it was a fear of mine, but it's kind of like, oh, like you're choosing to put that child back in school, like you lost, like you, you know, you, you, you failed. Or like, oh, you're hiring, like you're sending your kids to some classes, like you couldn't figure out how to teach fourth grade science, or like you know, there's just this like vibe of uh, if you can't do it all every year for every child, then you're, there's something. It's like.
Speaker 2:It's almost like the same idea of like empowerment and disempowerment taken to the extreme. It's like, okay, now I own my child's education and I have to own all of it forever for all of them, right. So it's like, but on both sides of the spectrum I think there's kind of overwhelming disempowerment, and so how do you help parents kind of come to a healthy middle where they're stepping into their leadership, but also not like putting it all on their own shoulders? You know, like what are those conversations like?
Speaker 3:Yeah, and can you talk about here? I think this is a great place to talk about your start method of homeschooling and how you walk parents through that and we can kind of dig deeper into the different parts of that.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. So. I'm going to say this real quick it's so quintessentially American for us to feel the need to want to do all of the things and not give ourselves a break. We work ourselves to death in this country, right, taking vacation can be seen as a weakness in corporate America, things like that and so we take that mindset into homeschooling and I think that, katie, that's part of what you're speaking to is putting all of the pressure on ourselves and saying I have to do all of the things.
Speaker 1:Now, if we look at, if we look at families in other countries, a lot of times they'll have a nanny, they'll have a housekeeper, they'll have a chef you know they'll have, they'll have help, and it is not seen as any sort of failure on the part of the mom. It is just seen as a part of the village, a part of the structure that keeps the family moving forward. If we can take that same model and it's hard right, because if we're talking to an American audience, it's not how we were brought up to see things but if we can shift that mindset, if we can look at, if we can look at our homeschool model as one of a village and one where we can outsource, like you were saying, in different places and different areas, to make sure that our kids have a well-rounded experience. That's okay. That is a-okay.
Speaker 1:And I also know, as a woman in corporate America, I lean heavily on subject matter experts in my work life. Why wouldn't I do that in other things as well? So, if I can tell you, reading and writing is my jam, I love it. But I can also tell you you mentioned science. Science is not. Science is not, but I'll bet you that there is a science teacher out there who would love nothing more than to pour into my two kiddos and probably countless other kiddos to teach them the things that they are passionate about, that the teacher is passionate about in science. And so why not? Instead of giving my kids a 25, 30% chance at good science teaching if I were to teach it why not give them the home run 100% chance that they are going to learn from an expert and they're going to love it? I think that's okay. I think that's okay too, but it took me a long time to get okay with that.
Speaker 2:In fact, funny story when I was homeschooling I met Kelly Smith, prentice founder, and like what? I went, I drove to his house, like happened to live 20 minutes away from him, sat down at his kitchen table, and like learned more about this idea of micro schooling. At the time he had seven kids that he'd, you know, done one semester with around his kitchen table and I was like this solves a lot of my problems as a homeschooler and I want to help you build this. But if I tell my homeschool community that I am building this, they will not invite me to mom's night because they won't see me as a homeschooler anymore. Like this is a different category and now I'm part of the like this out group.
Speaker 2:So I actually built Prenda for the first like almost a year, without telling any of my friends, because I was so worried about this. Isn't that sad? Like that. I like that's my support group. I was doing this really hard thing and continuing to homeschool and I was pregnant and I was preschool. I was like running a, like an in-home preschool too, like I was doing so many things and I'm like I have no support right now and so I just just never want parents to feel like that, if you're in a homeschooling situation, like everything is at your fingertips and like it's your job to curate and connect and just really doesn't have to be all on you, and I just feel like we shouldn't have to give up our entire social network and structure if we're gonna make a choice like this.
Speaker 3:Something Alon said at the very beginning was I wanted to be a part of their learning. That is key because that could be if they're still in traditional school, micro school, homeschool, co-ops, you as the parent, and we keep saying this can still be part of their learning and part of their education.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely agreed and, adrienne, I know I didn't quite get back to that start homeschooling method. So, and to your point, some of these things are woven into it.
Speaker 2:So if you don't mind, I can give you an overview of it. Yeah, go for it.
Speaker 1:Okay. So START is an acronym, right S-T-A-R-T, and the S is for setting your homeschool goals. The T is the rules matter, which just means just getting set on. What are the laws in your state. A is for all things curriculum, r is respect the whole child, because we want our kiddos to have a well-rounded experience. And then T is getting the support that you need. And, katie, we're just talking about that and how key that is.
Speaker 1:So I think that starting with the end in mind is really how I get started. I teach folks to set their long-term vision, set their mid-term vision and set their short-term goals. And setting that long-term vision keeps us on track. It gives us a North Star. It gives us a guide to say if, ultimately, I want my kids to get this out of homeschooling, I want my family to look like this by the time my kids, whether they're going back to traditional school at a certain point, or if they're graduating and heading off to college, whatever that might look like by the time that they get there, this is what I want our family to look like and this is what I want my kiddos to look like, starting there and then kind of being able to work backwards. Then you can set goals that will help you get to that place.
Speaker 1:I also think it's important because, katie, you just mentioned that there are so many resources out there for homeschoolers. This is not 30 years ago or whatever, when homeschooling had to look one certain way. But if you allow yourself, you can get overwhelmed with some of all of those resources. Right, because there's so many options, there's so many different ways of doing this thing, and so that's the other reason why I feel like setting forth your vision and setting forth your goals will keep you in line. Right, it'll keep you in line and you won't get distracted with this or that, which is not to say that you can't try things along the way, but it is to say, if your ultimate goal is that you want your kids to experience X, Y and Z, stay the course and make sure that, whatever the resources that you know come along, whatever the opportunities, the, the um activities, that kind of thing, that they align with the vision that you've set forth for your family. So that's why I always say start there.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but how much of the kids' input do you encourage parents to get so? Cause I'm hearing a lot of this is the vision you're setting, what you want your kids to look like. But where does choice autonomy? You know, I'm thinking of Ned Johnson and the self-driven child. That's actually how we found micro-schooling is. I had read that book and then you know my kids were not thriving in a very traditional environment and I just said, hey, do you guys want to check out this micro-school thing? You make the choice. So where? Where's that line of like, what your vision is and where do you bring the kids in?
Speaker 1:Well, I think it is such a good question. I think that there's two places where I really see that kind of plugging into this particular framework. The first certainly is that vision piece, because if we want to raise kids who can speak for themselves, who feel like they have a voice, who feel like they are heard, we want to make sure to do that in our own homes, right. And so I absolutely feel, like Adrienne, that our kiddos should be a part of that vision and goal-setting process. Of course, age-appropriate right, like our three-year-olds may not have the same voice.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 1:That's right.
Speaker 1:It's like, well, yeah, it's like well, let's scale that back, Maybe just on Fridays or you know whatever, but nonetheless, nonetheless, we want them to feel heard, Right, Because in creating a well-rounded education experience, you want to take into account your kids' likes, your kids' dislikes, you want to take into account the things that they want to learn more about, and then maybe the things that they don't even yet know that they are into, but you can kind of see like a little spark.
Speaker 1:So, for example, something like AI AI for consumers for us is a little bit newer, right, and so our kids might just be kind of starting to learn about it. But if they show a little spark of interest, but if they show a little spark of interest, then they have begun to lead the way and we can maybe find classes or activities or resources or something that will again continue to nurture that. So they have the voice right. We need to pay attention and make sure that we are listening to what they are saying, whether it is verbal or whether it's through actions, and I think that, again, that goes a long way in that concept of respecting the whole child.
Speaker 2:That's super powerful and I think you see this in all of the different types of like pedagogies and approaches people take in homeschooling. Like you can do kind of like a very structured, like classical education version of homeschool, or you could do you could unschool, which I'd put those things kind of at opposite ends of a spectrum, right, but, like, both of the parents in that situation have a specific vision for their family and for their kids, they have specific values and they're creating a plan based on those values and priorities that are going to move their family forward. And I think both of these things should be respected, embraced, encouraged, supported, um and both of those like I. So we have a goal setting process that we do at the beginning of every kind of like quarter or semester or whatever Um, and we have different categories that we set goals in and then I let my kids like completely set their own goals and then we've done this for like a year or two now and I just was like gearing up to do that for this, this start of the school year, and I just thought like we just need to change. Like I have this vision, like I, I know that my kids need to really focus on this and I'm actually going to like pull back, like I usually am very autonomy focused parent and I'm like, and I'm like I actually do have a vision that I want to like sculpt into these kids a little bit more in this area, and so I'm going to like lead out a little bit more and we're not going to do the goal setting. They have lots of other opportunities that in their micro school to set their own goals.
Speaker 2:So, like we pulled back on that and I just told them like we're going gonna have one family goal this is what it is and like, and then they had a ton of input. They're like, oh, could we do it like this and could we, you know, track it like this? And they were like building systems and things like that. So there was still even like when I was saying like hey, this is the vision, and like here's, here's the why behind the vision, right, and like got their buy-in um on that vision and the why, and we were in that, they still had a ton of ability to participate and to voice things and be part of that creative process.
Speaker 2:So I think that's another thing where homeschool parents are like well, I don't know, it's just a spectrum where some years, with some kids in some areas, we're going to fall over here on the autonomy spectrum and some years, with some kids in some areas, we're going to fall over here, and it really is like about parental attunement and you knowing, like what you're saying, this call to like a long term vision, and we do a lot of that work. I think we have an episode two. What's the real goal? What's what's your real role?
Speaker 3:it's like we even have a goal setting tool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's so important but it's like you really have to have to have that vision and then you have to know how to invite your kids into that vision. It's really um, it's a hard thing to know how to do it right.
Speaker 3:We're not trained to do that, so so have you found a lot of like common goals that parents come up with, or you know that, or what are some common goals that families might consider?
Speaker 1:I think that the goal piece is so deeply personal, not that it's secretive, but that it's so specific to you, your family, your kiddos, right. So, for example, a couple of my goals or they weren't just my goals, because again, I'm getting the kids input, I realize. I'm realizing, adrian, now that how much I say my, but just know that the kids are in there too and my husband at the tip top of like our goals, right, that had a lot to do with the fact that in our family so, number one, we live in Texas and it's advantageous to know English and Spanish. Number two, ilan, the mom.
Speaker 1:I study Spanish in undergrad and so one of the things that I felt is why am I? Why am I 18, 19 years old? I'm just now really getting started learning, you know, a second language. I'm not going to do this with my kids, so that was something that you know. Again, that really was one of my goals. Yeah, that was a lived experience. And so somebody down the road, you know, in Georgia or in North Carolina, they may not have those same goals because they may not have that same, like you said, lived experience. They geographically, does it even? Does it matter? Does it make sense Does it you know what I mean Like there might be other types of opportunities. So I think that again.
Speaker 3:that's like a subject goal, so everyone would have a goal around subjects that are going to be taught. Would that be a common goal?
Speaker 1:I do think subjects yes, subjects is important, I also think. I also think experiences are important, and so what I mean by that is whether we're talking about, like, the social aspect. So one of the goals that a family that I worked with back in the spring one of their goals was doggone it. We're going to find us a co-op, because they lived kind of on the outskirts and there weren't, you know, a ton of like just around me. There's probably like five or six co-ops that I had to choose from because I'm in a very urban area, but their experience not so much. So that was a goal, whereas that didn't really have to be a goal necessarily for me. So that was a part of it. But what one of the goals was actually?
Speaker 1:We didn't even start out this way at the beginning of the school year.
Speaker 1:I'm thinking about it as we went along, I'm thinking about it as we went along there was more and more opportunity for us to spend time together as a family and to learn together as a family.
Speaker 1:We didn't start out the school year with that goal in mind, but as we got into it just a little bit, I said oh, oh, we're just scratching the surface here, and so I made it a goal, in that I made sure that we had intentional family time to learn together, to spend time together, to visit museums together, that kind of thing. I made that a goal because I said to myself, if, for example, my kids go back to traditional school, we may not have these moments of opportunity like this in the near future. Or if, I don't know, even if something changed in our living situation, if we lived in another place, or if I got another job or my husband got another job, we may not have these same moments of connection and of learning together. So I was like I'm going to make it a goal that we are extremely intentional about family learning time together. So that was one thing that kind of came about.
Speaker 2:How do you suggest parents go about discovering their family values, like if they've never thought about, like what do we stand for as a family? Like what are our long-term goals? You know, sometimes we just kind of get swept up in just the way life is and our routines and things like that. We don't kind of pause to have these moments of like, vision and purpose.
Speaker 1:I think it's exactly what you said pause and take the time to do it. So one of the one of the very first things. So I have an online course called the Homeschool Launch Blueprint and it walks families through how to get started homeschooling. One of the very, very first exercises, katie, is to do exactly what you just said is to take time, and I'm very intentional. In that course I say, if you're watching this by yourself, make sure that you go in with your partner and that you get this, that you guys sit down and make these goals together. And it literally is I set a timer and I say write down all of the things that are important to you, and then we kind of go through an exercise of narrowing those things down and making sure that we're pulling out the themes that are important to us.
Speaker 1:But I think that you're right life goes so fast sometimes that it is necessary to stop and take a moment. Before we embark on this new journey whether it's a new journey of homeschool, or whether we just want to make some tweaks or whatever before we move forward, let's stop, let's take a moment, let's get aligned on our vision for our family. What do we want? What do we want it to look like? What are our priorities? Those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you really need to have, like a Cheshire Cat moment. Oh sorry, there's a lack. Yeah, we really need to have a Cheshire cat moment, because it really doesn't matter what you do if you don't know, like, where you're going. So that's really important.
Speaker 3:Okay, so then talk a little bit about rules matter. Katie and I are both in Arizona. There's not a whole lot of rules around homeschool. I have a friend who homeschools in Virginia. She's put a whole portfolio together. There's a lot of things that they have to do when they're thinking about homeschooling. And she said that you know the homeschoolers of Virginia fought so hard to make homeschooling legal so they don't even like want to. You know, rock the boat with programs like ESA and things. So can you talk about that and how you walk families through that? And then also like how can they stay informed on regulation changes or homeschool laws? You know as they change they can go through legislation.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I. There's a resource that I love. It is from an organization called HSLDA, the Homeschool Legal Defense Association. On their website. It's the coolest tool you put in what state you live in and it'll spit back out like what your homeschooling laws are for your state.
Speaker 2:So it's so easy to use. I always tell people to start there. Yeah, it's so great. I love that resource too.
Speaker 1:Yes, it's great, it's great. And then they have additional articles on their website that allow you to dive deeper into certain topics. So, for example, record keeping. You know what? What are? What are transcripts need to look like? What you know, adrian, you mentioned like portfolios, that kind of thing, what, what does that look like? Or how many hours a week you need to school? I'm like y'all, I'm in Texas. We just don't have a ton of rules, but there are states who say you must school for X amount of hours. It's important to know that. Is it important to know that on the front end, right? So I tell people to start there with that tool.
Speaker 3:It's just a super and how do they track that? How do you submit something like a stamp card or something right you like submit to the government.
Speaker 1:It depends on the state. I think that for some states you need to. There's a couple things. You need to record it right, like record, record it and send it ahead of time and say, okay, this semester we are planning, we are schooling from this time to this time, and that's what that looks like. Or if you have like an oversight body, so maybe an oversight school or an oversight, it's not called a mentor, but someone like a human being a person that you're working with.
Speaker 1:Exactly, then they can help track that and perhaps report that in, or perhaps you track it and then they'll sign off on it, those kinds of things. So it just depends on the state and it depends on what that looks like. Yeah.
Speaker 2:At Prenda our software actually is built to do that. We have an attendance feature where you go through and say these are my school days, these are the hours we school, and then it like keeps track of that, and you can just click everyone was at school, like you're taking attendance, and it's like, hey, it logs those hours, so then you can get a report to send to whoever needs to see that.
Speaker 1:So, um, it's a thing, it's awesome, because that just makes it easy breezy, right it's. You don't even have to, it's not one extra thing you have to think about. It is done for you, it's.
Speaker 2:you know that it's accurate and then you can just print that report, which, when you're homeschooling, you do not need one more thing to worry about. That's already a lot.
Speaker 1:There are also resources that are state specific resources, where you can dive a little bit deeper, and so I like here in Texas we have the, the Texas Homeschool Coalition, and they have a website that has more detail, more drilled down. It might even go like county level if there's information like that. So if you have a state specific organization that you can tap into, that that's even more helpful, love that OK.
Speaker 2:so the next part of Start VA is all things curriculum. So let's talk about curriculum a little bit. It can be overwhelming. What tips would you give parents for selecting the best resources for their child's learning, their learning style? How do you think about this?
Speaker 1:Well, I'd love to start there with learning style, so finding out what type of learner your child is, or your children are. So, are they auditory learners? Are they kinesthetic learners? Do they need to work with their hands? Are they reading writing learners guide you as you move down the funnel, as they say. One of the next pieces that I like for parents to look at is what are the different homeschool approaches that are out there? So I can't remember Adrienne or Katie, which one of you mentioned like the classical homeschool method. There's a number there's like probably about 10-ish Eclectic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yes, yes, oh. We just have a whole blog post on this that goes through like all the different approaches and like little summaries and, like you, might be this a good fit for this one, if you like these things. So just something we'll post in the show notes.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, absolutely. And that's awesome, because once you, let's say, you gravitate to a particular approach, there's probably resources that you can search according to that approach. So for example I mentioned my big girl is she's a. She loves reading, she loves writing that kind of thing. She's very big on literature. Charlotte Mason is a method that leans heavy on literature and it doesn't lean heavy only on literature, but I'm using that for this example. So Charlotte Mason is an approach that I don't necessarily have to use it as much for my younger daughter, but for my older daughter it makes sense. So sometimes when I'm looking for specific curriculum materials or learning materials, I might search Charlotte Mason as a starting point to then get me the things that make sense for her, because I've already identified that she's a reading writing learner and then I've already identified that Charlotte Mason leans heavy on literature.
Speaker 3:So it's one of those things I was doing your method without even realizing, because it's the same thing we do Charlotte Mason, because my son loves to read and he's always reading, or he would prefer to play video games, but we don't allow that. So then he reads all the time and Charlotte Mason has been the perfect fit for him. And but I don't think it would be a great fit if my older, oldest son, you know, was at home. So I'm like, oh, I already did this without realizing it. I read a book. I think this is a good tip, or at least what I did was I picked one book that like encompassed all the different styles, and so it was called homeschooling gifted kids, because he is gifted. So I started where he is like learning style. And when you were saying learning styles, I was thinking reluctant learners no, not necessarily, probably what you typically find, but homeschooling gifted kids it's by Cindy West, and she went through all the different types of homeschooling that I was like, oh, okay, I can do this. Oh, he likes to do this and this is the way he learned, so this.
Speaker 3:And then I kind of started listening to a Charlotte Mason podcast. There's quite a few out there, there's like the Mason jar and there's, you know, the, there's a different one too. And then I from there discovered Alvieri. And then from there I was like, oh, this seems great because I don't have to pick the living books, I don't have time to do that, so I can just print out all the curriculum and have another teacher help me educate my child. So I kind of took those steps. I started with one thing and then I just kind of built, you know, just went one step at a time to figure out what would be best. And we're on year three and we still use Aviary.
Speaker 1:It's just. It makes for a good starting point so that you're not just trying to pull things out of thin air.
Speaker 2:All right. So, finishing out the whole start framework, tell us about the R and the final T.
Speaker 1:Well, with respect, the whole child. We've kind of already talked about that right, like just making sure that we don't want our kids to be robots. They don't need to just learn just the academics and that's it. We want to make sure that they're doing the things and getting into the things that speak to them as human beings. So that really is something that kind of permeates all of the steps. But then also, with the support you need, it's not just about the support that the kids get, it's about the support that we as the parent can receive as well. So you know, I've talked about the fact that I am a working mom and one of the things that came up this was like not too long ago, just a few months ago, I had a meeting. I usually don't have a ton of like in-person meetings in the middle of the day, but I had that this particular day and I can't just call anybody out of the clear blue sky to make sure that, number one, they can watch my girls. Number two, that they can continue whatever my kid's learning is supposed to be that day, that they can continue on. But we are a part of a homeschool co op and in that, because of that I've become very friendly with a lot of the other homeschool moms there.
Speaker 1:I gave one of the moms a call. I said this is what I have going on. Can you cover for me for an hour or two while I have to run to the other side of town? She said absolutely, we'll be at the library anyway. Drop them off, we'll have a room, because I think my kids at the time had their Spanish class that they that they zoom in for. She was like we'll get a room, we'll have it set up, they can have their Spanish class. And you know, bada bing, bada, boom, we've got it covered.
Speaker 1:That type of support is so valuable and it doesn't always have to look like that. But that was just an example that just happened recently. Look like that, but that was just an example that just happened recently. If I, if I, if I, were to call any of my other friends, they'd be like girl, I'm working, like I don't have time to watch your kids, or whatever that might look like. But this homeschool mom didn't even miss a beat. She said bring them on and I'll take it from here. And it just was so, so valuable.
Speaker 1:The other piece that's very, so valuable. The other piece that's very valuable yeah, the other piece that's very valuable is, even in virtual groups, being able to share resources from mom to mom, whether it's hey, have y'all heard of Prinda? I think that you know this might be a good resource, you know, and being able to share like that kind of information. I might be on the other side of the country and I've never heard of Apprenda Microschool, but if somebody in Arizona shares it with me because we're in a Facebook group together, then all of a sudden I've got something new that I can utilize with my family and I didn't have to just scratch and claw and figure it out for myself. So the being able to share resources is the type of parental support that I think goes a long way to make this thing more helpful and move smoother for those of us who are homeschooling families.
Speaker 3:I can imagine how all of these tools that you give parents in your online course it really helps them with their mindset and then helps them just get started, because I think that can be the hardest part is just starting and something we need to wrap up. But something I want to mention, what you focus on as well is representation for Black families in the homeschool community, because I know even when I was looking, it was a lot of white families homeschooling, so I think that's really important too, and did you want to touch on that before we wrap up?
Speaker 1:I can. I think it's important for our kiddos. I speak to it from the standpoint of a Black family because we are a Black family, but whether it's that you're a Black family, maybe your kiddos are neurodivergent, whatever that looks like, you want to always make sure that your kids feel like they can see themselves in the groups that they're in and the surroundings that they're in, because what we don't want to create is our kids that struggle with isolation, kids that struggle with feeling like, oh, I must be the only one. We want community for our kiddos too, and so I think that that representation is so important and, again, whatever it is that your family resonates with that you make sure that your kids feel seen and represented.
Speaker 3:I love that so much and this is a question we ask all of our guests. Who is someone who has kindled your love of learning, curiosity, motivation or passion?
Speaker 1:I have never actually met this man in person, but I watch him every week on YouTube. I watch a lot of his content. He is a pastor in Atlanta, georgia, his name is Darius Daniels and he is. He's so brilliant. But I think that why I connect with him is because, in my mind, he is also a learner. He is also a learner the way that he teaches the information and how he presents it, whether he is preaching or whether he is teaching. He does a lot of like workshops and online courses and that kind of thing that don't just speak to faith, but that also might speak to entrepreneurship or they might speak to parenting, or they might speak to like whatever. Or they might speak to parenting, or they might speak to like whatever. I watch him and how he communicates and how he draws that love for learning out of the people that he is speaking to and I'm like, oh, I want to do that. I want to make sure that I do that too. So, yes, he is definitely one who has kindled my love for learning.
Speaker 2:That's beautiful. And how can our listeners learn more about your work? Well like.
Speaker 1:I said, I have a podcast called Homeschool Our Way and this whole start homeschooling method that I've talked to you guys about. That can be found on the website at homeschoolourwaycom backslash start. It's a quick and easy kind of little mini podcast series, but you can get all the information there and you can go back and listen to it as many times as you want to. So, yeah, I think that those are the two main ways to get in touch with me.
Speaker 2:Thanks so much for coming on the Kindle podcast.
Speaker 3:That's it for today. We hope you enjoyed this episode of the Kindle podcast and if it was helpful to you or any of this information that you hear on the Kindle podcast, please like, subscribe and follow us on social at Prenda Learn. If you have any questions you would like for us to address, all you need to do is email us at podcast at Prendacom. You can also go to our website, wwwprendacom and sign up for our weekly newsletter, the Sunday Spark.
Speaker 2:The Kindle podcast is brought to you by Prenda. Prenda makes it easy for you to start and run an amazing micro school based on all of the ideas that we talk about here on the Kindle Podcast. If you want more information about becoming a Prenda guide, just go to Prendacom. Thanks for listening and remember to keep kindling.
