An Unexpected Journey Into Homeschooling with Tina Hammer

As the first in a group of episodes about education and how we make choices for our families, Sarah and Mary Beth chat with Tina Hammer who has been homeschooling her three children for 23 years. Tina shares her unexpected journey into homeschooling, the practical challenges and immense joys she’s experienced, the importance of community, flexibility, and creativity, and how God has guided her family through it all. Whether you're a seasoned homeschooler, considering it, or just curious, this conversation is full of encouragement, wisdom, and real-life insight.

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0.640000 3.600000 This is Trustworthy.
3.600000 7.120000 Hi, I'm Sarah, and I'm Mary Beth.
7.120000 9.760000 Join us for Conversations in Community
9.760000 12.560000 established by a Trustworthy God.
12.560000 22.440000 Well, hello there, Tina Hammer.
22.440000 24.240000 - Good morning.
24.240000 28.600000 - Good morning, and Mary Beth, of course, is with us
28.600000 31.200000 in our virtual Zoom studio.
31.200000 32.360000 - Good morning, y'all.
32.360000 34.680000 - For this very special occasion,
34.680000 37.160000 where my dear friend, Tina Hammer,
37.160000 40.440000 is joining us on the Trustworthy podcast.
40.440000 41.680000 - Yay.
41.680000 42.680000 - Cue the applause.
42.680000 44.560000 - The balloons, the confetti.
44.560000 45.760000 - Yes.
45.760000 46.800000 - We're glad to have you, Tina,
46.800000 50.040000 and I've heard a lot about you from Sarah,
50.040000 52.360000 so it's nice to actually be able to have a conversation
52.360000 53.600000 with you.
53.600000 54.600000 - That's pretty cool.
54.600000 56.720000 I am very excited to be here.
56.720000 60.320000 After having been asked by Sarah to join you too,
60.320000 62.600000 I have been doing a lot of thinking
62.600000 67.600000 about the past 23 years of this topic in my life,
67.600000 70.120000 and I'm just really excited.
70.120000 71.200000 - Awesome.
71.200000 74.920000 Yes, so you are here today because you have been homeschooling,
74.920000 77.440000 and thank you for that number for 23 years,
77.440000 81.800000 which my brain can't even really quite wrap around that.
81.800000 83.840000 I feel like I just got out of high school to,
83.840000 85.120000 well, okay, it was longer than that.
85.120000 89.240000 But anyway, you've been at this for some time.
89.240000 92.160000 So when Mary Beth and I were thinking about this topic,
92.160000 95.000000 of course, you were the first person that came to mind.
95.000000 97.840000 This is something that I have always respected about you.
97.840000 100.200000 I feel that you have done it effectively.
100.200000 101.680000 Obviously, you've not been fired.
101.680000 104.200000 - Not fired yet.
104.200000 106.200000 There's still time.
106.200000 110.280000 - Okay, so Mary Beth,
110.280000 111.880000 I think you have a pressing question
111.880000 113.560000 that you would like to ask.
113.560000 117.440000 I do, I have a lot, but we'll start with this one.
117.440000 118.920000 How do you two know each other?
118.920000 121.200000 Tina, what's the backstory?
121.200000 123.520000 - A long long time ago, I don't know how long it's been,
123.520000 126.720000 maybe 18 years ago, something like that.
126.720000 130.600000 My sister was living down in Florida and was up for a visit.
130.600000 135.160000 She had said a couple times that she wish she could live near us,
135.160000 136.680000 and I said, you can.
136.680000 139.400000 And I took her in the newspaper and I said, find a job.
139.400000 144.000000 So she found somebody that was interviewing in her field.
144.000000 145.880000 She called them up, they made an appointment,
145.880000 146.960000 and she came back with a job.
146.960000 150.600000 So she moved up here and moved to Raleigh.
150.600000 153.240000 I had an apartment there and after not very long,
153.240000 158.200000 she saw this lovely creature we call Sarah moving in across the way,
158.200000 160.760000 and she went over and introduced herself.
160.760000 164.360000 And a great love was born.
164.360000 166.320000 We've all just been really grateful
166.320000 170.160000 and thankful to have Sarah in our lives and in Jill's life
170.160000 173.080000 'cause she's been such a great wonderful friend
173.080000 178.080000 and a wonderful presence and always with wonderful attitude.
178.080000 181.240000 And a great way of seeing the light.
181.240000 183.360000 - Love that.
183.360000 186.320000 - Wow, Sarah, what's your side of it, Sarah?
186.320000 187.120000 - Gather yourself.
187.120000 188.400000 - Yes, I will.
188.400000 193.400000 - Yeah, actually, it'll be 21 years ago in January.
194.440000 199.440000 So that long ago, when we were both 18.
199.440000 204.040000 And, okay, anyway.
204.040000 205.600000 - I'm just 17 right now.
205.600000 207.440000 - Okay, I don't know what you're talking about.
207.440000 210.400000 - So before you were born, Tina, anyway, you know,
210.400000 213.640000 but I had moved, I just needed a change of scenery
213.640000 216.160000 from Lancaster County and so I moved to Raleigh
216.160000 220.520000 and I was letting the moving truck into the apartment complex
220.520000 223.160000 and your sweet sister was leaving in her car.
223.160000 224.440000 And she rolls her window down.
224.440000 226.920000 Are you moving out or moving in?
226.920000 228.000000 - I was like moving out.
228.000000 229.480000 She said, "I moved in last month."
229.480000 233.200000 And so we exchanged numbers and yeah, 21 years later.
233.200000 235.800000 - Wow, that's amazing.
235.800000 239.400000 - And the funny thing is is that your family
239.400000 240.960000 just took me in.
240.960000 243.240000 You're one of three sisters and you've got
243.240000 245.160000 the most amazing mama in the world
245.160000 247.320000 and y'all just took me in.
247.320000 251.120000 And so, even though I lived in the South for 18 months,
251.120000 253.960000 I've always had this family connection with y'all
253.960000 256.760000 and just visiting, you know, not every year,
256.760000 258.720000 but at least every other year I've seen you
258.720000 262.080000 and spent time with you and I've seen your sister more often.
262.080000 263.800000 But yeah, it's been amazing.
263.800000 265.520000 So I've seen, I guess I was there,
265.520000 268.280000 like just in your third year of homeschooling,
268.280000 270.640000 when I met you, you had just kind of started
270.640000 273.680000 with your daughter, who's your oldest child.
273.680000 275.960000 So I've definitely seen this journey.
275.960000 278.640000 I've seen how your kids have developed
278.640000 283.480000 and just the amazing young people that they've grown up into.
283.480000 285.040000 I'm not their parent.
285.040000 288.240000 I'm only like their ancillary auntie from the North,
288.240000 290.720000 but I'm just so incredibly proud of them.
290.720000 293.480000 So yeah, that's our story, Mary Beth.
293.480000 296.720000 - So it sounds like we really wanted to talk to Tina
296.720000 299.400000 to ask her, how do we get better
299.400000 301.560000 at doing this thing with our children?
301.560000 303.240000 - Oh, wow, that's a big question.
303.240000 305.040000 - Yeah, I won't make you answer that one.
305.040000 307.760000 - Yeah, just to be clear, Mary Beth and I
307.760000 311.800000 currently, both of us, we send our children to public school.
311.800000 315.600000 So this is a topic that we have explored and considered,
315.600000 318.120000 but not ever done for ourselves,
318.120000 320.760000 but we have many friends and family and listeners
320.760000 322.400000 that do homeschool.
322.400000 324.960000 Yeah, so we just wanted to really talk to you about that,
324.960000 327.320000 find out what to do, what not to do,
327.320000 331.040000 and just how to build community inside that decision.
331.040000 333.520000 - And I will say, Tina, just for context,
333.520000 336.360000 I was homeschooled kindergarten first and second grade,
336.360000 340.200000 but this was way back in the early to mid '80s
340.200000 342.680000 when there weren't as many people doing it.
342.680000 346.120000 So I would love to kind of get a snapshot of,
346.120000 347.440000 how does it work now?
347.440000 348.680000 - That's very cool.
348.680000 350.600000 - Let's dive in though.
350.600000 354.520000 So first question, how did you reach your decision
354.520000 356.000000 to homeschool your children?
356.000000 360.320000 - All right, well, I used to think homeschooling was weird
360.320000 364.680000 and didn't understand the,
364.680000 367.760000 not going to a job thing.
367.760000 371.800000 In fact, when I was going on maternity leave with my daughter,
371.800000 373.680000 who was my oldest as Sarah said,
373.680000 375.960000 I wondered what I was gonna do for six weeks.
375.960000 380.120000 And the joke was on me.
380.120000 383.560000 It's like six weeks was nothing.
383.560000 386.600000 I just wanted to keep being with her.
386.600000 389.480000 At the time, I was excelling in my career
389.480000 391.480000 at a biotech company,
391.480000 394.080000 and I had gotten a promotion the year before,
394.080000 395.400000 I was up for another promotion.
395.400000 398.440000 I was also a little concerned about being out
398.440000 401.960000 and that affecting that, which it did not.
401.960000 405.720000 But I did go back to work at the end of maternity leave
405.720000 408.760000 and was excited to be back to work.
408.760000 413.760000 And a daycare center opened around the corner from our house.
413.760000 416.200000 It was brand new and we had,
416.200000 418.440000 I had spoken with the owner of it.
418.440000 420.280000 We had kids that were the same age
420.280000 423.000000 and she welcomed us in.
423.000000 427.040000 We went to take our daughter the first day that they opened
427.040000 428.960000 and it was chaos.
428.960000 434.120000 Not only did the adults not know the babies,
434.120000 436.160000 but they didn't even know each other.
436.160000 439.040000 And I don't mean it was chaos in a bad way.
439.040000 441.400000 I just mean they didn't have their system up
441.400000 442.600000 and running and everything.
442.600000 446.080000 So actually, both my husband and I stayed there
446.080000 450.320000 for half the day, helping them care for the babies.
450.320000 452.960000 There were 10 or 12 in that room.
452.960000 457.240000 It was very hard to leave impossible to leave our child there
457.240000 460.200000 when we could see that it was,
460.200000 462.320000 they didn't have it all together and everything.
462.320000 466.520000 So that very day, we actually decided,
466.520000 468.840000 I looked up at him one time and I said,
468.840000 471.120000 I don't want to leave my baby here and he said,
471.120000 472.120000 neither do I.
472.120000 475.600000 I said, well, let's go out to lunch and talk about this.
475.600000 479.360000 So we did and by the time we were finished with lunch,
479.360000 483.040000 we had decided that I was going to wind up staying home
483.040000 485.480000 and keeping with her.
485.480000 490.480000 It was literally an instantaneous shocking decision
490.480000 496.240000 because that is not at all the path I ever thought I would be on
496.240000 498.440000 or that our family would be on.
498.440000 501.040000 So that's when she was weeks old.
501.040000 507.200000 So staying home with her when she was about two and a half,
508.000000 511.360000 we were at the playground and I was pushing her on the swing
511.360000 516.360000 and I saw this little group of kids and moms sitting on a blanket,
516.360000 520.680000 maybe about five or six families and the kids would get up
520.680000 524.160000 and run around and they came over by the swings
524.160000 526.040000 and I said, are y'all out of school today?
526.040000 528.400000 Getting together with some friends and they said,
528.400000 532.000000 no, we're a home school and I was like, what?
532.000000 535.440000 And I thought, my first thought was, I want that.
535.440000 537.600000 I want that what they're doing right there
537.600000 541.280000 because it looks really nice.
541.280000 544.800000 I know y'all talk a lot about community on your podcast
544.800000 548.040000 and I'm here to tell you I have found
548.040000 552.440000 in multiple realms of my life, community is everything.
552.440000 555.560000 So I went over and talked to the parents
555.560000 558.880000 and I asked how they found each other
558.880000 561.920000 and they told me about a local organization.
561.920000 564.720000 And so when I got home, I looked it up on the computer
564.720000 567.000000 and there was a phone number and I called the phone number
567.000000 571.080000 and I talked to the president, was invited to a parent's night
571.080000 576.080000 that they had monthly and went to that and joined the group,
576.080000 578.920000 came home and I told my husband about it
578.920000 582.200000 and I said, I joined the group because I want to be equipped
582.200000 585.680000 to make an informed decision by the time our daughter goes
585.680000 589.480000 to the kindergarten of what we will do.
589.480000 594.280000 And by the time it was kindergarten time,
594.280000 595.600000 there was no decision.
595.600000 597.720000 There was no like what should we do?
597.720000 599.880000 It was just, this is our life.
599.880000 602.560000 And it's just been that way ever since.
602.560000 607.800000 - I liked that answer because it gave a real picture
607.800000 611.160000 of what your life was like before this
611.160000 616.160000 and how it was just such a sudden decision.
616.160000 620.240000 But once you made it, there was so much confirmation
620.240000 621.480000 right along the way.
621.480000 624.840000 Like you said, by the time she was ready for kindergarten,
624.840000 625.960000 this is what we're doing.
625.960000 627.720000 You felt good about that.
627.720000 631.440000 - Yeah, we've had our ups and downs, big ups and downs.
631.440000 635.920000 And with three kids, there's plenty of opportunity for that.
635.920000 639.440000 But it's, they are always pointed in the same direction.
639.440000 642.440000 - Well, maybe you could talk a little bit about that.
642.440000 644.960000 What have been some of the challenges
644.960000 648.240000 and on the flip side, some of the pros that you've experienced
648.240000 651.400000 from making this kind of educational choice for your family?
651.400000 654.480000 - There are so many of both.
654.480000 659.480000 I have to say, the blessings always outweigh the challenges.
659.480000 661.040000 Sometimes it's pretty close.
661.040000 666.440000 But so far, they've always outweighed the challenges.
666.440000 670.680000 For me and my husband, one of the immediate big challenges
670.680000 674.040000 or pretty immediate was the loss of an income.
674.040000 678.000000 I had a pretty sweet income and just walked away from it.
678.000000 680.600000 And I think there are a lot of people that do that.
680.600000 685.000000 And then maybe return to their career, our kids,
685.000000 687.040000 we have as an almost eight year gap
687.040000 688.880000 between our second and third kids.
688.880000 692.560000 So they are spread out a good bit.
692.560000 695.720000 And so that's why we've been homeschooling for so long.
695.720000 699.800000 But I guess I thought at some point I might go back
699.800000 703.000000 and then after not too long, I thought,
703.000000 704.360000 no, I'm not gonna go back.
704.360000 708.640000 And then I have had some of my own little businesses
708.640000 711.520000 along the way that have not actually helped our family
711.520000 715.920000 and come at all, but they've been good outlets for me,
715.920000 718.440000 good ways to find community from, you know,
718.440000 721.000000 in the creative realm and things like that.
721.000000 724.880000 So they have been helpful, not only in supporting me
724.880000 729.200000 as a mom who is no longer in the workforce,
729.200000 733.000000 but also in helping the homeschooling
733.000000 736.120000 because they've been of a creative nature.
736.120000 737.920000 - Yeah, maybe that actually brings a different,
737.920000 740.480000 maybe more specific question to mind.
740.480000 743.520000 I mean, it sounds like you were not in the realm of teaching
743.520000 745.720000 before you started doing this.
745.720000 749.840000 So what has that been like for you having to take on
749.840000 751.680000 teaching at every level and, you know,
751.680000 753.760000 what's been the challenge there
753.760000 755.560000 having to take all that on?
755.560000 759.000000 - Well, for me since I started when my kids were very young,
759.000000 762.240000 it was a gradual build up.
762.240000 765.480000 And learning about homeschooling and how to do it
765.480000 768.440000 was, it wasn't an emergency.
768.440000 771.560000 It just grew as we all aged.
771.560000 774.720000 And I'll tell you when my daughter was little
774.720000 777.160000 when we first started this and we would go out,
777.160000 779.360000 people would ask, you're not in school, you're not in school.
779.360000 782.440000 And I told her, I said, don't tell people we are in school.
782.440000 783.920000 I just want to go to the grocery store.
783.920000 787.440000 I don't want to crusade and I don't want to have to defend
787.440000 789.000000 what we're doing and stuff.
789.000000 791.280000 And it was that way for a few years.
791.280000 794.040000 And the reason I think is because even my family
794.040000 796.320000 was like, what are you doing?
796.320000 797.880000 You know, I have you lost your mind.
797.880000 801.840000 You're gonna deprive your kids of all these things.
801.840000 804.760000 Other people I knew that were teachers kind of said
804.760000 809.360000 the same thing and they all, every single one
809.360000 811.640000 has come back around and said, you did the right thing
811.640000 812.960000 and you did it well.
812.960000 817.120000 So that is gratifying, very gratifying.
817.120000 820.120000 Mary Beth, what was your question again?
820.120000 821.360000 (laughing)
821.360000 824.160000 No, just how do you develop the skills?
824.160000 826.440000 Yeah, like what were the challenges for you?
826.440000 828.680000 You know, you don't have an educational background
828.680000 829.520000 in teaching.
829.520000 831.920000 So what's kind of been your experience, yeah?
831.920000 835.040000 I do have a strong science background.
835.040000 837.760000 I'm not a literature person, but the other parts
837.760000 842.760000 of English, I'm strong in social studies, not so much.
842.760000 847.480000 So literature and social studies are not my thing so much.
847.480000 850.280000 But I've developed interest in them
850.280000 852.960000 and have learned about them while learning,
852.960000 855.040000 learning with my kids basically.
855.040000 857.680000 So I'll tell you, let me back up and say,
857.680000 861.240000 the state that you live in for homeschooling matters.
861.240000 864.120000 And there are some states where the law says
864.120000 867.320000 that you have to use the curriculum
867.320000 870.320000 that your local school system is using
870.320000 873.560000 and some even say that I don't know if it's just testing
873.560000 877.600000 or what, but that has to be submitted for review
877.600000 880.480000 by the system and things like that.
880.480000 882.200000 Where we live is not like that.
882.200000 885.640000 The laws are pretty loose, they're very loose.
885.640000 887.960000 And you can choose whatever method you want.
887.960000 890.480000 You can choose whatever curriculum you want.
890.480000 892.400000 You can change it whenever you want.
892.400000 897.400000 You just have to be in session in school for 180 days,
897.400000 900.480000 which I think is the standard throughout the country.
900.480000 904.360000 You have to do annual testing,
904.360000 909.400000 the annual standardized testing from age seven to 17
909.400000 910.560000 and a couple other things.
910.560000 914.680000 And it's just not restrictive in our case.
914.680000 920.200000 We have had times where we've been very Lucy Goosey
920.200000 922.240000 in terms of curriculum and times
922.240000 926.040000 where we have found that curriculum doesn't work for us,
926.040000 929.520000 mainly because whichever kid's learning style
929.520000 932.480000 is different from the one that that curriculum uses.
932.480000 936.560000 I'm a big, big proponent of learning about learning styles
936.560000 938.600000 and trying to embrace them.
938.600000 943.600000 And then I'll also say a lot of people think it's a challenge
943.600000 947.720000 because they start homeschooling when their kids are very young
947.720000 951.600000 and they want them to learn at the pace
951.600000 955.120000 that is being taught in the school system.
955.120000 957.560000 And you just don't need that, you don't need it.
957.560000 960.840000 It's like the early years, it's tempting.
960.840000 964.000000 And yes, we started out that way,
964.000000 967.400000 but it's just best to embrace play
967.400000 970.000000 and embrace being together and learning together
970.000000 973.840000 and teaching how to be a person and how to grow
973.840000 978.840000 and then bring in the more serious academic stuff as you go.
978.840000 984.840000 So that's one thing is I didn't have,
984.840000 986.560000 even though I do know how to do the things
986.560000 992.240000 that a first grader learns and pretty well how to teach it,
992.240000 998.920000 you don't have to jump in like that and hit the ground running.
998.920000 1002.200000 When people move to homeschooling as kids are older,
1002.200000 1005.320000 that can be a bit different.
1005.320000 1009.880000 One thing is over the years, a lot more resources
1009.880000 1012.160000 have become available.
1012.160000 1017.720000 When we first started, the law here was that the homeschool parent
1017.720000 1022.320000 or homeschool family was responsible for every aspect of the education
1022.320000 1024.160000 and you couldn't farm it out.
1024.160000 1028.840000 Now they can take classes with other parents,
1028.840000 1032.560000 with certified teachers or however,
1032.560000 1035.200000 and the parent, as was always the case,
1035.200000 1040.480000 can decide what to do with the outcome of that.
1040.480000 1043.120000 A lot of people who teach other people's kids
1043.120000 1046.640000 don't assign grades, they leave that up to the parent.
1046.640000 1048.840000 So there are just many, many opportunities.
1048.840000 1053.640000 If you don't feel comfortable with teaching a particular subject,
1053.640000 1058.480000 you can hire somebody to do it, you can join a co-op,
1058.480000 1062.960000 you can form a co-op, you can learn along with your kid.
1062.960000 1064.760000 There are just many ways.
1064.760000 1069.600000 And I have started co-ops, I've led co-ops,
1069.600000 1072.720000 I've co-led co-ops of different natures,
1072.720000 1079.760000 I've taught officially and just many, many different things.
1079.760000 1083.080000 I've done many different types of homeschooling
1083.080000 1087.560000 with different groups and different communities over the years.
1087.560000 1090.240000 Yeah, and I was just going to say just for our listeners,
1090.240000 1092.320000 who might be curious, what state are you in
1092.320000 1093.720000 just so they have a freedom of reference?
1093.720000 1095.320000 We're in North Carolina.
1095.320000 1097.680000 OK, thanks.
1097.680000 1101.680000 I want to say that from an outsider's perspective,
1101.680000 1104.720000 I can remember when your daughter was,
1104.720000 1106.560000 well, I guess I would have met her.
1106.560000 1109.400000 She was pretty young, so under five, maybe,
1109.400000 1112.680000 maybe before kindergarten, or kindergarten time, I'm not sure.
1112.680000 1118.120000 But she explained in detail at age three or four
1118.120000 1120.640000 where rain comes from, you know?
1120.640000 1122.440000 I remember the clouds get saturated.
1122.440000 1124.640000 And I'm like, OK, so yeah.
1124.640000 1127.880000 So you say that, oh, it's just being together in play,
1127.880000 1131.200000 but there was definitely some learning going on in your house.
1131.200000 1132.200000 Oh, absolutely.
1132.200000 1136.640000 And I just also want to say too that I remember her taking classes
1136.640000 1139.800000 very early, college classes, maybe even before she could drive.
1139.800000 1140.840000 I'm not sure.
1140.840000 1144.000000 And I think she graduated ahead of schedule for her age,
1144.000000 1145.520000 flew through college.
1145.520000 1148.480000 And your son, I think, started his own business.
1148.480000 1151.200000 I don't even know how old he was, but definitely before he could drive.
1151.200000 1155.480000 I think that your kids are just a testament to what you've been doing
1155.480000 1158.880000 and that it really does work and work well.
1158.880000 1159.680000 It's kind of cool.
1159.680000 1162.320000 I say this about this topic for numerous reasons.
1162.320000 1164.160000 But it's kind of cool to have three of them
1164.160000 1165.760000 where you can see the differences,
1165.760000 1168.720000 like the differences of personalities and interests
1168.720000 1173.640000 and decisions on how to do things and learning styles, of course.
1173.640000 1177.000000 But yeah, there's a something called, historically,
1177.000000 1178.480000 it was called dual enrollment.
1178.480000 1181.280000 Now they call it career in college promise,
1181.280000 1184.640000 where high school students can take college classes
1184.640000 1186.320000 at the community colleges.
1186.320000 1188.320000 So that's what you're talking about.
1188.320000 1191.640000 And daughter started when she was--
1191.640000 1194.760000 I think it was her second semester of her junior year.
1194.760000 1200.840000 And then our older son started first semester of his senior year.
1200.840000 1203.720000 And they took very different paths.
1203.720000 1207.600000 She went after she graduated from homeschool.
1207.600000 1211.120000 She went to UNC University.
1211.120000 1214.560000 And she did graduate early from there
1214.560000 1220.000000 because of the courses that she had taken at the community college.
1220.000000 1223.360000 And then our older son, he decided to stay
1223.360000 1226.480000 at community college for two more years
1226.480000 1228.840000 after he graduated from homeschool.
1228.840000 1231.240000 And he took all of their welding classes.
1231.240000 1233.480000 So he became a proficient welder.
1233.480000 1236.240000 Then he was interested in architecture.
1236.240000 1237.920000 So he took those classes.
1237.920000 1239.960000 And then he went to university.
1239.960000 1245.480000 And both of them have since graduated from university.
1245.480000 1249.920000 And the youngest one, he's sophomore this year.
1249.920000 1253.160000 And he knows what he wants to do in college
1253.160000 1254.360000 and where he wants to go.
1254.360000 1259.200000 So it'll be interesting to see if he follows along that path
1259.200000 1262.720000 that he's decided on for himself.
1262.720000 1268.080000 I wanted to talk about a word that is one that so many people
1268.080000 1271.200000 bring up in conjunction with homeschooling.
1271.200000 1275.280000 And every time somebody starts to bring up this word,
1275.280000 1277.200000 I anticipate it, and I just laugh.
1277.200000 1279.960000 And the word is patience.
1279.960000 1282.840000 People so often say, how do you do that?
1282.840000 1285.080000 I would never have the patience.
1285.080000 1287.440000 And here's the thing.
1287.440000 1289.480000 Very few people have the patience.
1289.480000 1292.640000 It's something you have to work on.
1292.640000 1297.520000 What is worth more to us than our families and our children?
1297.520000 1302.280000 There are many times when I started to say something
1302.280000 1303.720000 to one of my kids.
1303.720000 1306.360000 I can remember my daughter climbing up.
1306.360000 1310.520000 I think it was even right here behind this climbing up
1310.520000 1312.600000 to get something in that cabinet.
1312.600000 1319.680000 And I said her name, and I was like, and she says what?
1319.680000 1323.200000 And right in that instant, instead of saying
1323.200000 1325.720000 what I was going to say, which is like, what are you doing?
1325.720000 1326.800000 Get down.
1326.800000 1329.920000 I said, do you need any help up there?
1329.920000 1331.640000 You know, I just changed my course.
1331.640000 1334.680000 And I feel like it changed what was going to happen
1334.680000 1337.200000 in such a better way, and it changed me.
1337.200000 1340.440000 Actually, in that moment, it changed me.
1340.440000 1344.600000 And I was like, this is developing patience.
1344.600000 1348.720000 And people have it in them that they don't realize.
1348.720000 1351.880000 You just have to slow down, and take a breath,
1351.880000 1356.640000 and remember how important what you're doing is.
1356.640000 1358.840000 Those are some words of wisdom, because I
1358.840000 1363.960000 feel like listeners that we have, that are homeschooling,
1363.960000 1366.840000 that are feeling overwhelmed, especially if they're
1366.840000 1370.720000 in those younger years, where kids are climbing up into covers
1370.720000 1373.800000 or doing the things like, take a breath, slow down,
1373.800000 1377.520000 take a breath, and remember how important what you're doing
1377.520000 1378.560000 is.
1378.560000 1379.920000 And as a great advice.
1379.920000 1386.080000 And when they ask you why it's raining, you tell them.
1386.080000 1387.560000 Because the clouds are saturated.
1387.560000 1388.880000 And you tell them what it means.
1388.880000 1389.480000 And they learn.
1389.480000 1392.120000 And it doesn't have to be, let's sit down
1392.120000 1396.960000 and do a worksheet about it, although I love worksheets.
1396.960000 1400.200000 Daughter did not, but I do.
1400.200000 1403.720000 There are so many things like that, where we took the time
1403.720000 1407.800000 to explain why or what when they asked.
1407.800000 1413.560000 And if you hold their curiosity and helped to grow them
1413.560000 1415.960000 to who they are.
1415.960000 1418.440000 And that's one of the great blessings of homeschooling
1418.440000 1421.360000 is that you can do that throughout the day,
1421.360000 1423.880000 and it's learning.
1423.880000 1425.880000 If you want to make some cupcakes,
1425.880000 1429.200000 you can teach them how to cook along the way.
1429.200000 1430.240000 Anybody can do that.
1430.240000 1434.640000 But there are a lot of opportunities when you're homeschooling.
1434.640000 1438.040000 You'd mentioned when we first started talking about that
1438.040000 1440.320000 idea of community and how important that was.
1440.320000 1444.960000 So for your children, I'm curious how you've
1444.960000 1448.680000 helped them find community outside of the traditional school
1448.680000 1450.280000 setting.
1450.280000 1451.160000 Yeah.
1451.160000 1453.120000 Well, the organization that I mentioned
1453.120000 1456.120000 when we first started talking was and has
1456.120000 1458.400000 been a big one for us.
1458.400000 1461.080000 It's grown over the years.
1461.080000 1463.280000 I think it was one year old when I joined it.
1463.280000 1465.560000 And there have been times when it's had,
1465.560000 1470.040000 I think, 300 families in it from this area.
1470.040000 1472.000000 We used to communicate via email.
1472.000000 1475.080000 Now we have an app that is very easy to use.
1475.080000 1480.760000 And anybody can host activities and things like that.
1480.760000 1484.680000 So I just made sure to stay connected in that community
1484.680000 1487.400000 and search for others and see if there are others that
1487.400000 1490.000000 were appropriate for us or not.
1490.000000 1493.520000 And some have been and others have not been.
1493.520000 1498.440000 And keep my feelers out for opportunities for classes
1498.440000 1501.880000 and co-ops and other organizations.
1501.880000 1506.520000 We spent six years actually heavy duty in speech and debate
1506.520000 1508.280000 and moot court.
1508.280000 1511.960000 And my oldest was the one that was really interested,
1511.960000 1513.920000 became interested in that, I'll say.
1513.920000 1518.360000 After I made her do a semester of debate.
1518.360000 1522.200000 And her reason that she got really interested was the community.
1522.200000 1525.440000 She found kids that she really liked being with.
1525.440000 1530.000000 And oh, she's married to one of them now.
1530.000000 1534.560000 And he was also homeschooled for his entire education.
1534.560000 1537.720000 And within the local homeschoolers group
1537.720000 1541.800000 that I was just talking about, at different periods
1541.800000 1545.440000 throughout our kids homeschooling years,
1545.440000 1548.960000 I've been a leader in different capacities in that group.
1548.960000 1554.920000 We have a 0 to 5 age group, a 4 to 8 age group, a 7 to 11 age group.
1554.920000 1556.520000 They all overlap.
1556.520000 1558.880000 And then a twin group and a teen group.
1558.880000 1562.600000 And I've been the leader of multiple of those groups
1562.600000 1568.120000 over the years and help start different co-ops.
1568.120000 1569.800000 We've done so many different co-ops.
1569.800000 1573.880000 Where different parents take turns teaching
1573.880000 1577.840000 or just arranging activities for the kids to do.
1577.840000 1580.680000 And I've had courses at my house.
1580.680000 1586.240000 We did a character building course for a semester here one time.
1586.240000 1590.600000 We did a magic school bus co-op where we took turns teaching
1590.600000 1594.760000 and watching magic school bus together.
1594.760000 1598.640000 We did a one called a day in the life of when my daughter
1598.640000 1606.560000 was a teenager where we did a monthly visit to different businesses.
1606.560000 1608.840000 Our goal wasn't, what does this business do?
1608.840000 1612.360000 It was, what do the people who work here do?
1612.360000 1615.480000 So not only like, what does the leader of the place do,
1615.480000 1618.520000 but what do the different people that work here do?
1618.520000 1626.480000 So they were becoming aware of different potential career options.
1626.480000 1629.400000 And we did learn a lot of cool things along the way
1629.400000 1631.400000 about the thing that was happening at the place.
1631.400000 1635.320000 For example, there's a fabric printing place here
1635.320000 1638.320000 that we went to in its early days.
1638.320000 1642.040000 And we learned about what the different people they are doing,
1642.040000 1645.680000 what kind of education they have to have to do what they're doing.
1645.680000 1650.680000 But we also learned a lot about that product, which was very cool.
1650.680000 1656.400000 I was going to ask you, Tina, what is one experience
1656.400000 1659.560000 that you've had, either with all three of your children
1659.560000 1661.880000 or anyone who was one experience you've had
1661.880000 1666.960000 or for these last 23 years that you would never have been
1666.960000 1669.360000 able to have with your children had
1669.360000 1670.640000 they been in traditional schooling?
1670.640000 1676.240000 We have a brand new answer for that.
1676.240000 1680.480000 We just spent three and a half weeks in Italy in the fall.
1680.480000 1685.280000 And our 15-year-old went along with us.
1685.280000 1688.280000 Our 23-year-old did not wish to go.
1688.280000 1692.480000 And her husband, they live across the country,
1692.480000 1697.080000 but they were also planning a trip at the same time to Italy.
1697.080000 1701.160000 We didn't know each other was planning this trip for some reason.
1701.160000 1705.960000 And so we arranged to meet at one place for a few days.
1705.960000 1708.520000 And then we wound up meeting in another place as well.
1708.520000 1713.280000 But our 15-year-old would never have gotten to go to Italy
1713.280000 1717.520000 in the fall if he were in traditional school.
1717.520000 1719.880000 And we made that work by--
1719.880000 1724.880000 he takes one class in person right now
1724.880000 1731.560000 that has also offered simultaneously online.
1731.560000 1733.640000 And the teacher makes a recording of it.
1733.640000 1738.080000 So he was able to either join the class
1738.080000 1743.040000 or watch the video later if he wanted to.
1743.040000 1745.120000 I mean, he had to watch it.
1745.120000 1746.480000 Right.
1746.480000 1748.240000 He had to either be there or watch it.
1748.240000 1750.640000 So we were able to do that.
1750.640000 1754.240000 He's in another class right now that only meets online.
1754.240000 1759.480000 And since we were going six hours ahead by going to Italy,
1759.480000 1762.760000 it made it so it was actually convenient for him
1762.760000 1765.960000 to be present in the classes because it
1765.960000 1768.560000 was like 9 o'clock at night.
1768.560000 1771.920000 So we just had to be back at the place we were staying by then.
1771.920000 1774.520000 I didn't have him take lots of other stuff with him,
1774.520000 1776.720000 but he could.
1776.720000 1778.840000 We didn't have to make special arrangements
1778.840000 1780.880000 or anything like that.
1780.880000 1783.800000 So that was really cool.
1783.800000 1789.040000 And I look forward to hopefully doing that sort of thing again.
1789.040000 1792.520000 He and I also do take some smaller trips together
1792.520000 1795.360000 throughout the year, at times when he would normally,
1795.360000 1800.640000 if he were going to public school, he would be in school.
1800.640000 1802.120000 But that was a big one.
1802.120000 1803.480000 That is a big one.
1803.480000 1806.600000 And there's a lot to learn in Italy.
1806.600000 1810.840000 There's a difference between learning from textbook
1810.840000 1814.760000 and learning in person, experiencing
1814.760000 1816.840000 the things that are written about him.
1816.840000 1821.240000 And it moved him to start taking Italian lessons on his own.
1821.240000 1822.480000 He was doing a long line.
1822.480000 1826.800000 And he did a lot of them before I even knew he was doing it.
1826.800000 1830.360000 And I think that's really cool because he's soft motivated.
1830.360000 1833.040000 Not in all the ways.
1833.040000 1836.120000 I think with all of our kids in the teenage years
1836.120000 1841.280000 we have found, whereas they do have a lot of growing
1841.280000 1846.040000 independence that can make it a little difficult sometimes
1846.040000 1848.000000 because they independently decide
1848.000000 1850.080000 they're not going to do what you want them to do.
1850.080000 1856.080000 But the upside is they independently
1856.080000 1857.920000 decide to do some things that are good,
1857.920000 1860.920000 like take Italian lessons.
1860.920000 1864.800000 It's very cool, really cool.
1864.800000 1868.480000 I was curious just in your personal experience
1868.480000 1872.120000 as the mom and the teacher and all those things,
1872.120000 1875.080000 what conversations or advice do you have
1875.080000 1877.280000 when other parents are considering
1877.280000 1879.240000 how to educate their children?
1879.240000 1881.000000 What's kind of one thing you feel like you're always
1881.000000 1884.960000 telling people what we say that is?
1884.960000 1889.600000 Yeah, well, I mentioned the patient's thing.
1889.600000 1890.840000 You do have the patients.
1890.840000 1892.440000 It's buried within you.
1892.440000 1899.600000 There may be the occasional person that just can't make that work
1899.600000 1901.400000 for herself or himself.
1901.400000 1904.120000 But in general, it is there.
1904.120000 1906.760000 You just have to tap into it.
1906.760000 1909.120000 What about people that are trying to decide?
1909.120000 1911.080000 They're like, OK, we're having kids.
1911.080000 1913.920000 We don't know if we're going to do public school, private school,
1913.920000 1915.880000 home school.
1915.880000 1920.640000 What advice would you give about that decision-making process?
1920.640000 1926.720000 Yeah, I think number one, a lot of times,
1926.720000 1930.200000 the experiences that we have change what we decide
1930.200000 1932.240000 we want to do moving forward.
1932.240000 1936.920000 So realize that whatever decision you make, it can change.
1936.920000 1938.160000 And that's OK.
1938.160000 1940.520000 I've always said, we're going to homeschool for as long
1940.520000 1942.400000 as it works for our family.
1942.400000 1945.320000 And if there's a compelling reason to change what we're doing,
1945.320000 1946.680000 we will.
1946.680000 1949.480000 And so far, there has not been.
1949.480000 1952.560000 So just realize that you can change your course.
1952.560000 1955.840000 You are not locked in forever.
1955.840000 1958.960000 A lot of people, I think, feel like they
1958.960000 1962.360000 have to have their kid ready to go into school
1962.360000 1966.120000 at any given moment, up to speed at their grade level.
1966.120000 1972.280000 So that can be a reason why people push for the goals
1972.280000 1975.920000 that would be in a public school system or a private school
1975.920000 1976.960000 system.
1976.960000 1982.600000 But knowing your state's laws, do that research first and foremost
1982.600000 1986.360000 and see if whatever the laws are in your state
1986.360000 1991.040000 are something that you're willing to run with.
1991.040000 1994.400000 And if they're not, and you really want a homeschool,
1994.400000 1995.600000 can you move?
1995.600000 1997.840000 I've actually met people who have moved here
1997.840000 2001.960000 because it gives them the more freedom to homeschool.
2001.960000 2003.640000 The way that they're comfortable with.
2003.640000 2007.160000 Some people would be fine with abiding
2007.160000 2010.920000 by really strict states, requirements,
2010.920000 2012.600000 and then others are just not.
2012.600000 2015.520000 We got very lucky that they are what they are in the state.
2015.520000 2018.120000 I'm not sure how it would have happened.
2018.120000 2019.960000 How things would have played out otherwise.
2019.960000 2022.760000 But learn about those rules.
2022.760000 2026.120000 Know that a lot of people don't hit the ground running.
2026.120000 2028.400000 You just-- you have to settle into it.
2028.400000 2030.040000 You have to find what works.
2030.040000 2036.240000 You need to find community, not only for the kids,
2036.240000 2038.360000 but also for the parents.
2038.360000 2044.760000 You need somebody to pass memes back and forth.
2044.760000 2046.040000 And you need that.
2046.040000 2052.280000 You need somebody to walk along the journey with and be
2052.280000 2053.520000 able to check in with.
2053.520000 2055.720000 And it helps you know how you're doing.
2055.720000 2060.160000 It helps you in terms of your own feeling of,
2060.160000 2062.560000 am I doing things well enough?
2062.560000 2066.800000 The resources.
2066.800000 2068.960000 There are so many resources available.
2068.960000 2071.960000 And it's growing all the time.
2071.960000 2074.520000 I had mentioned that in the beginning,
2074.520000 2077.040000 we didn't really talk about homeschooling a lot.
2077.040000 2080.760000 Now it's like, oh, your homeschool, that's the most amazing thing.
2080.760000 2083.440000 And one of the reasons is there are so many resources
2083.440000 2085.360000 that other people have gotten involved.
2085.360000 2087.800000 There are the homeschool communities.
2087.800000 2090.920000 There are stores that cater to homeschoolers in terms
2090.920000 2095.600000 of curricula and activities and all kinds of things like that.
2095.600000 2097.240000 There are online courses.
2097.240000 2098.680000 There are local courses.
2098.680000 2100.640000 There are the college courses.
2100.640000 2104.720000 There are books that are amazing about homeschooling
2104.720000 2110.720000 and even about the high school years and developing transcripts
2110.720000 2113.200000 and all kinds of things like that.
2113.200000 2116.320000 There are so many resources.
2116.320000 2119.800000 Lack of resources is never going to be the reason
2119.800000 2123.840000 somebody can't homeschool ever.
2123.840000 2127.760000 There was something else that I wanted to say.
2127.760000 2132.120000 Taking time off when you need to, sometimes you just need to.
2132.120000 2136.240000 And it's not fall break, winter break, spring break, summer break.
2136.240000 2137.680000 Sometimes you need to take a break.
2137.680000 2139.040000 Take the break.
2139.040000 2140.440000 Take a breath.
2140.440000 2145.080000 And figure out if you want to change what you're doing and then
2145.080000 2148.200000 start again.
2148.200000 2152.600000 There are many different things that you can have running
2152.600000 2157.320000 in the background when you're taking your breath.
2157.320000 2161.800000 That can keep kids up and running.
2161.800000 2165.800000 And you can take your breath and not skip a beat, honestly.
2165.800000 2167.360000 And then if things aren't working out for you,
2167.360000 2168.880000 change what you're doing.
2168.880000 2172.040000 When my oldest was doing algebra,
2172.040000 2174.720000 I think we did five different curricula
2174.720000 2177.600000 because this one isn't working.
2177.600000 2178.640000 This one isn't working.
2178.640000 2181.920000 And it may not be the curriculum, but the learning style
2181.920000 2186.000000 and the decision to hang in there.
2186.000000 2188.560000 When my second oldest, he got to a point
2188.560000 2191.480000 where he needed to finish algebra and degeometry.
2191.480000 2194.920000 So I took two of the algebra curricula that we had.
2194.920000 2197.880000 And I knew these curricula pretty intimately.
2197.880000 2201.560000 Took them and a geometry one.
2201.560000 2206.720000 And I went through the whole curricula
2206.720000 2210.720000 and made my own curriculum based on those
2210.720000 2215.920000 so that I was teaching what he needed from both--
2215.920000 2217.320000 sometimes you need some algebra.
2217.320000 2219.160000 Sometimes you need some geometry, right?
2219.160000 2221.040000 And then I took what I made to somebody
2221.040000 2223.560000 I knew was a math teacher and tutor.
2223.560000 2225.280000 And I said, please go through this and see
2225.280000 2226.360000 if I'm missing anything.
2226.360000 2228.920000 So he did, he's like, nope, you've got it.
2228.920000 2231.600000 We were able to just finish that way.
2231.600000 2236.120000 It was actually pretty fun for both of us.
2236.120000 2238.080000 I like the idea of combining them.
2238.080000 2240.880000 When I was in school, I took a sequential math.
2240.880000 2242.760000 And it was like three levels.
2242.760000 2245.200000 And you learned all of it, the basics of all of it
2245.200000 2248.800000 at the same time, which I thought was reasonable.
2248.800000 2249.720000 Yeah.
2249.720000 2251.440000 And it's funny.
2251.440000 2253.400000 My 15-year-old has done algebra.
2253.400000 2254.280000 He's done geometry.
2254.280000 2255.800000 He's doing an algebra two right now.
2255.800000 2259.240000 And I'm like, it would have been fun to teach him that way.
2259.240000 2262.400000 But he needed to be in a class to get what
2262.400000 2264.240000 he needed at the time.
2264.240000 2266.280000 I think that's interesting, kind of holding
2266.280000 2269.960000 your plans loosely because your kids are different.
2269.960000 2273.400000 And what might work for one doesn't work for all.
2273.400000 2274.920000 I think that's another piece of advice
2274.920000 2276.600000 that I'm getting out of this for our listeners
2276.600000 2279.840000 is don't throw in the towel if something isn't working.
2279.840000 2282.240000 Don't think, oh, I'm failing at homeschooling.
2282.240000 2285.040000 Well, I'll just have to send my kids to private or public school.
2285.040000 2286.280000 No, try something different.
2286.280000 2287.560000 Go back to the drawing board.
2287.560000 2289.200000 It sounds like with your daughter,
2289.200000 2292.600000 you said it was four or five different algebra curriculums
2292.600000 2293.560000 that you tried.
2293.560000 2295.440000 Most people would have given up at three,
2295.440000 2297.520000 but you're like, nope, you just keep trying.
2297.520000 2300.920000 And then obviously, you just found one that worked.
2300.920000 2302.920000 Yeah.
2302.920000 2306.200000 One thing I think a lot of us do, its human nature,
2306.200000 2311.960000 is we teach the way that we like to learn.
2311.960000 2313.760000 And that doesn't always work.
2313.760000 2316.600000 So you need to be willing to realize that
2316.600000 2320.880000 and then adapt to what your kid actually needs
2320.880000 2322.640000 and what works for them.
2322.640000 2325.160000 And sometimes that's heartbreaking.
2325.160000 2327.920000 Because it's like, I have this interest.
2327.920000 2329.200000 I want to share with you.
2329.200000 2331.520000 And then you're not interested.
2331.520000 2335.240000 Or I have this perfect curriculum
2335.240000 2340.280000 that is arranged just the most comfy way for me.
2340.280000 2344.320000 And it does not work for the kid.
2344.320000 2347.200000 Adapting is the best thing you can do.
2347.200000 2351.880000 And another thing is kids can be so incredibly
2351.880000 2354.560000 straining sometimes.
2354.560000 2358.920000 Not just other people's kids, but your own kids sometimes.
2358.920000 2363.200000 Because they don't want to do what you want them to do.
2363.200000 2364.880000 Or maybe they're struggling in a way
2364.880000 2369.320000 that you don't necessarily know how to get around it.
2369.320000 2371.320000 And one thing that I've done over the years
2371.320000 2376.280000 is try in those instances is change my mindset
2376.280000 2382.400000 and try to and pretend that that's not my child,
2382.400000 2386.080000 that it's somebody else's child that I was hired to teach.
2386.080000 2387.760000 And then your whole attitude shifts.
2387.760000 2389.720000 And you're not going to roll your eyes at them.
2389.720000 2391.560000 You're not going to grow with them.
2391.560000 2395.280000 You're not going to sigh at them and things like that.
2395.280000 2398.240000 You're just going to find a different way to do it
2398.240000 2399.520000 and help them.
2399.520000 2401.680000 Yeah, I think it's about managing expectations.
2401.680000 2404.400000 Because your expectations as a parent of your own child
2404.400000 2407.760000 are different than the expectations you have of a child
2407.760000 2408.760000 that you're teaching.
2408.760000 2410.560000 That's a great piece of advice also
2410.560000 2413.480000 just for parenting in general.
2413.480000 2416.040000 Yes, very good.
2416.040000 2418.720000 It comes in handy in many different ways.
2418.720000 2421.000000 It does.
2421.000000 2423.120000 I want to just briefly touch on something
2423.120000 2425.520000 that you mentioned earlier.
2425.520000 2428.600000 You walked away from a career and you said
2428.600000 2431.680000 that you had a couple of businesses over the years
2431.680000 2435.840000 that ended up being creative outlets that were good for you.
2435.840000 2439.200000 They may not have come in to help pay the mortgage,
2439.200000 2442.760000 but they were good for you and that you needed to do.
2442.760000 2446.520000 Can you just briefly maybe speak a sentence or two
2446.520000 2449.680000 or a couple of words about moms who are out there
2449.680000 2453.560000 that are putting everything they have out for their kids,
2453.560000 2457.560000 doing the homeschooling, meal planning, running the household.
2457.560000 2460.520000 All these things, what advice do you have for these moms?
2460.520000 2464.760000 How can they take care of themselves in these ways?
2464.760000 2470.560000 Oh, well, with my creative business
2470.560000 2474.000000 that I used to have, which is card making, paper crafting,
2474.000000 2475.360000 doing lots of things with paper.
2475.360000 2480.280000 I think you've seen some of my work that I've done over the years.
2480.280000 2484.800000 My slogan over time or my tagline became
2484.800000 2487.360000 let your creativity out.
2487.360000 2490.720000 I've taught card making and paper crafting
2490.720000 2494.600000 to many, many hundreds of people, adults and kids,
2494.600000 2499.360000 and I've encountered many that have said I'm not creative.
2499.360000 2502.320000 And I always say you are creative.
2502.320000 2505.760000 You may not have a history being creative in this way.
2505.760000 2508.680000 This may not be your thing, but you are creative.
2508.680000 2510.480000 And the best thing you can do for yourself
2510.480000 2512.720000 is let your creativity out.
2512.720000 2516.080000 Because it helps us in so many ways.
2516.080000 2518.240000 It helps our self esteem.
2518.240000 2521.440000 It helps our minds free up.
2521.440000 2524.520000 It's always nice when somebody comes in and says,
2524.520000 2529.320000 you made this and says how much they like what you made.
2529.320000 2533.080000 And even if you don't make the most beautiful thing
2533.080000 2535.680000 in the world, making a handmade item
2535.680000 2540.880000 and giving it to somebody else feels very special to the recipient.
2540.880000 2543.200000 And so doing something like that.
2543.200000 2545.320000 And then teaching other people to do it,
2545.320000 2550.240000 including homeschool kids, homeschool moms, homeschool dads.
2550.240000 2554.040000 We have dads in the community that do the bulk of the homeschooling
2554.040000 2555.000000 for their kids.
2555.000000 2557.880000 That's a really important thing to do for ourselves.
2557.880000 2561.000000 And there have been times over the years in my life
2561.000000 2565.600000 that I haven't spent any time doing this creative work.
2565.600000 2570.600000 I realized that it was affecting me very negatively,
2570.600000 2571.840000 not to be doing it.
2571.840000 2573.440000 So I've pulled it back in.
2573.440000 2576.920000 I have different avenues for that, personally.
2576.920000 2580.280000 But being creative doesn't have to mean doing a craft
2580.280000 2584.400000 or doing an art, you know, being an artist or anything like that.
2584.400000 2587.400000 It can be the way you cook.
2587.400000 2589.880000 You can feed your family creatively.
2589.880000 2592.080000 You can set your table creatively.
2592.080000 2593.640000 Pretty much anything you do,
2593.640000 2599.000000 you can find a creative way to do it without even realizing it.
2599.000000 2601.960000 Because we all have our own way of doing things.
2601.960000 2606.280000 And to me, that equals creativity that makes any sense.
2606.280000 2607.440000 It does.
2607.440000 2611.360000 Yeah, I often thought about the fact that God is creator
2611.360000 2615.120000 and we're made in his image so that when we are being creative,
2615.120000 2619.960000 we are living in the way that he's made us to be.
2619.960000 2622.600000 The glory of God is manfully alive.
2622.600000 2623.440000 And I just--
2623.440000 2624.280000 Absolutely.
2624.280000 2627.480000 Yeah, and actually, I think it was 2023.
2627.480000 2632.760000 I was the lead of a committee for our women's retreat
2632.760000 2634.360000 for our church.
2634.360000 2636.480000 It's funny because when I was asked to do it,
2636.480000 2639.120000 it was the kind of thing where the person leading
2639.120000 2641.040000 at the retreat I was at was saying,
2641.040000 2642.280000 we need a leader for next year.
2642.280000 2643.960000 And she was staring me down the whole time
2643.960000 2645.800000 and I was like, it's not happening.
2645.800000 2647.240000 It is not happening.
2647.240000 2648.400000 It's not happening.
2648.400000 2651.760000 And I got in my car to go home after the retreat.
2651.760000 2653.320000 And I was like, there is just no way.
2653.320000 2656.240000 She is crazy.
2656.240000 2658.040000 Maybe I could do it.
2658.040000 2659.040000 But what would it be?
2659.040000 2660.240000 I could never think of a thing.
2660.240000 2664.080000 And then I thought, created to be creative.
2664.080000 2665.080000 Yeah.
2665.080000 2668.880000 I actually thought of two different themes at the time.
2668.880000 2670.840000 And the theme of the retreat turned out
2670.840000 2673.480000 to be created to be creative.
2673.480000 2677.520000 And we spent the whole retreat around that theme
2677.520000 2681.600000 and did many different types of creative things.
2681.600000 2682.280000 I love that.
2682.280000 2683.560000 That's beautiful.
2683.560000 2684.520000 Yeah.
2684.520000 2688.360000 So Tina, you mentioned earlier how meaningful community
2688.360000 2690.960000 has been to you in many areas of your life.
2690.960000 2694.800000 And especially in homeschooling, it seems to me basically
2694.800000 2697.840000 from what you said that it would not have been the experience
2697.840000 2700.480000 it has been without the community.
2700.480000 2705.480000 How have you seen God working in your homeschool community
2705.480000 2708.160000 where you are?
2708.160000 2710.920000 Oh, there are so many ways to start
2710.920000 2714.200000 with showing me and my husband showing us
2714.200000 2721.280000 a different path for life where I got to be who I was
2721.280000 2724.280000 and didn't know that that's who I was.
2724.280000 2727.440000 I had a great career, as I mentioned before.
2727.440000 2731.200000 I loved what I did, but my heart wasn't in that particular--
2731.200000 2733.120000 like, I love the science, but my heart
2733.120000 2736.560000 wasn't in that particular avenue.
2736.560000 2739.120000 And I didn't know how I was going to find that.
2739.120000 2742.120000 But after I started homeschooling, I found
2742.120000 2745.080000 that that's where it was, and that's
2745.080000 2747.440000 where I was supposed to be.
2747.440000 2751.640000 Building relationships, both within your family
2751.640000 2755.880000 and with the other people in that community
2755.880000 2759.320000 is just a great blessing.
2759.320000 2764.600000 And I feel like I was led to homeschooling to begin with
2764.600000 2769.400000 and then to different aspects of it
2769.400000 2774.440000 that we journeyed through throughout the years.
2774.440000 2776.880000 One of the things that we've been able to do
2776.880000 2781.800000 because of homeschooling is find time during the day
2781.800000 2784.600000 and during the week to help other people.
2784.600000 2786.840000 Doing service has always been something
2786.840000 2790.080000 that was important to me and teaching my kids that.
2790.080000 2792.560000 And doing service together with my husband
2792.560000 2795.880000 as a family has always been something
2795.880000 2797.280000 I wanted to do a lot of.
2797.280000 2801.320000 And I feel like I've seen God at work
2801.320000 2804.280000 pushing us to do that and allowing us to do that
2804.280000 2809.760000 and giving us many different opportunities to do that.
2809.760000 2813.200000 One that's happening recently that my husband
2813.200000 2815.560000 and both of my sons have been involved in
2815.560000 2822.280000 is a lot of work with the food bank and with our church.
2822.280000 2825.160000 Our church has a feeding program.
2825.160000 2827.000000 We actually have several different means
2827.000000 2828.200000 of distributing food.
2828.200000 2830.600000 One of them is, you go there and you eat
2830.600000 2832.040000 at certain times of the year.
2832.040000 2833.440000 One of them is a food pantry.
2833.440000 2836.960000 One of them is a drive up and get boxes of produce
2836.960000 2838.400000 put in your car sort of thing.
2838.400000 2843.400000 So my husband and then the boys have also helped do that.
2843.400000 2847.280000 Go get massive amounts of food
2847.280000 2851.160000 and then bring it back to be sorted and handed out.
2851.160000 2853.720000 That's something that happens during the weekdays.
2853.720000 2856.560000 And if we weren't homeschooling,
2856.560000 2861.120000 there is no way that my homeschool aged son
2861.120000 2863.000000 would be able to do that.
2863.000000 2871.000000 Another thing, which no, I'm going to cry, but I'll try not to.
2871.000000 2872.680000 But it's OK, you can cry in the podcast.
2872.680000 2873.280000 We do all the time.
2873.280000 2875.240000 Another thing.
2875.240000 2877.560000 Another thing that's been a really great blessing
2877.560000 2880.000000 about homeschooling is that our youngest
2880.000000 2884.240000 was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes several years ago.
2884.240000 2890.720000 And it really took a lot for us to get settled
2890.720000 2894.800000 into that new aspect of life.
2894.800000 2899.280000 I just can't imagine how that would have gone for us
2899.280000 2901.240000 if we weren't homeschooling.
2901.240000 2907.240000 I know that a lot of people manage it with their kids in school
2907.240000 2910.200000 and with themselves at a job.
2910.200000 2913.520000 And for some, it goes, goes OK.
2913.520000 2915.960000 For some, it does not go OK.
2915.960000 2919.480000 It's very difficult.
2919.480000 2924.040000 I'm just really grateful that we don't have to navigate that.
2924.040000 2927.320000 Also that-- and this is a tangent--
2927.320000 2930.840000 but that introduced me to another community
2930.840000 2933.920000 that I am deeply involved in now.
2933.920000 2937.920000 And my son has been as well.
2937.920000 2942.440000 And that's the type 1 tech community.
2942.440000 2946.960000 So there's a lot of intertwining and a lot of leading
2946.960000 2950.200000 from one to another and everything.
2950.200000 2954.760000 And then I guess lastly, I'll add.
2954.760000 2958.720000 I didn't mention that my daughter is married to another
2958.720000 2959.680000 homeschool kid.
2959.680000 2963.520000 And there is absolutely no way we would have gotten our son
2963.520000 2966.720000 love if it weren't for homeschooling.
2966.720000 2971.720000 I can't imagine how she would have met him
2971.720000 2976.320000 and how that all would have come to be.
2976.320000 2980.160000 There is not often that you meet such a darling young couple
2980.160000 2984.680000 that's so well-cited to each other from my outside
2984.680000 2986.640000 or perspective.
2986.640000 2991.440000 And just wow.
2991.440000 2992.920000 Well, thank you.
2992.920000 2995.880000 Thank you for that.
2995.880000 3000.000000 It's beautiful to see in all these different communities
3000.000000 3003.360000 that we have sort of peered into this season,
3003.360000 3005.200000 how God is at work.
3005.200000 3010.880000 In some of the same ways in these different communities,
3010.880000 3014.960000 helping us fulfill our purpose, helping us take joy
3014.960000 3018.760000 in the work of our hands, giving us a chance
3018.760000 3023.320000 to emulate his image, and binding us together
3023.320000 3026.600000 with other believers and other people
3026.600000 3029.800000 that we can work together towards a common goal.
3029.800000 3035.800000 And again, those are things that make us fully the human
3035.800000 3039.320000 beings that God wanted us to be.
3039.320000 3043.080000 And just a foreshadowing of the life
3043.080000 3044.800000 that we will have someday.
3044.800000 3048.160000 Yeah, well, this has been so great.
3048.160000 3052.240000 It's all love based on love.
3052.240000 3054.920000 We love because he first loved us.
3054.920000 3056.640000 That's right.
3056.640000 3059.320000 And I think we have one final question.
3059.320000 3064.360000 I do want to add, in the Blessings Department,
3064.360000 3071.400000 another thing is that when my father was dying 10, 11 years ago,
3071.400000 3077.520000 I was able to be with him and be involved in his care
3077.520000 3081.880000 to the degree that I was, which was a lot only
3081.880000 3084.080000 because we had him school.
3084.080000 3087.760000 If we didn't have him school, I would have been at work.
3087.760000 3090.600000 And he would not have lived as long,
3090.600000 3094.000000 and it would not have turned out the way it did.
3094.000000 3099.680000 And as I think you know, his Alzheimer's is a terrible thing,
3099.680000 3103.760000 but his Alzheimer's was a blessing for our family.
3103.760000 3108.400000 Because it brought people closer in our nuclear family
3108.400000 3109.520000 in different ways.
3109.520000 3115.360000 And my sister got a lot from him that she never would have.
3115.360000 3117.040000 That's always been something.
3117.040000 3122.480000 And that was very, very hard on my family that time,
3122.480000 3125.720000 very hard on the people that live in this house.
3125.720000 3129.000000 In part, because I was pulled away so, so much,
3129.000000 3134.880000 and on a daily basis. But it was such a blessing.
3134.880000 3138.920000 And it also was an opportunity to see that something
3138.920000 3145.320000 that is hard and terrible can also be a great blessing.
3145.320000 3146.680000 Yeah, yeah.
3146.680000 3150.040000 I think that that sounds like a blessing that you experienced.
3150.040000 3155.840000 But I feel like that would be a controversial subject
3155.840000 3159.360000 to say that there's blessings that come with Alzheimer's.
3159.360000 3161.720000 But in your family's case, there was.
3161.720000 3164.520000 Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
3164.520000 3166.680000 And I have to think you're not the only one again.
3166.680000 3169.640000 No, no, no, let's not sign up for that.
3169.640000 3171.120000 No, no, thank you.
3171.120000 3174.640000 No, on course, please.
3174.640000 3178.200000 I feel that I have gotten as much as I want or need out
3178.200000 3181.560000 of that sort of experience.
3181.560000 3184.560000 We need to be careful, though, because we never know what God
3184.560000 3186.680000 has in store, or what life has in store.
3186.680000 3190.040000 But I will say that God, God is always there.
3190.040000 3192.320000 He's always there.
3192.320000 3197.160000 So Tina, do you have any final thoughts
3197.160000 3199.640000 that you would like to share with us about this topic
3199.640000 3202.320000 or anything we discussed today?
3202.320000 3203.840000 Absolutely.
3203.840000 3208.320000 I guess I can sum it up by saying the days are long.
3208.320000 3210.360000 This is my experience in homeschooling.
3210.360000 3214.640000 The days are long, but the years are short.
3214.640000 3220.600000 And as many years have gone by since we started this journey,
3220.600000 3223.680000 this project, this wonderful family experience,
3223.680000 3228.480000 and the fact that we only have a couple years left doing it
3228.480000 3234.440000 with our kids just shows me how short the years really are,
3234.440000 3238.080000 and how very worth every moment I've
3238.080000 3239.920000 spent in this time with them is.
3239.920000 3245.120000 If somebody is on the fence about homeschooling,
3245.120000 3248.440000 I would say do your research, and pray about it,
3248.440000 3252.800000 and figure out if that's something that you can do,
3252.800000 3257.160000 and sign right up if it is.
3257.160000 3259.960000 And knowing, too, that you can make a different decision
3259.960000 3261.600000 for a different time.
3261.600000 3262.960000 Absolutely.
3262.960000 3263.480000 All right.
3263.480000 3265.160000 Thank you.
3265.160000 3266.200000 Yeah.
3266.200000 3270.280000 Well, I have just enjoyed so much this time together,
3270.280000 3274.240000 and also just getting to introduce two dear friends of mine.
3274.240000 3275.800000 That's always fun.
3275.800000 3277.720000 And it doesn't escape me, Mary Beth,
3277.720000 3281.880000 that this is now the second guest that we've had from the South.
3281.880000 3284.400000 Your friends were Aaron South Carolina.
3284.400000 3285.360000 So all the johns are.
3285.360000 3285.840000 I know.
3285.840000 3288.560000 And then now the team is here in North Carolina.
3288.560000 3289.920000 Are we moving our way north?
3289.920000 3292.080000 Do we need to find a Virginia interview next?
3292.080000 3292.600000 I don't know.
3292.600000 3293.120000 We could do that.
3293.120000 3293.960000 I used to live there.
3293.960000 3295.880000 Yeah, we could make that happen.
3295.880000 3297.200000 No, but Tina, this has been great.
3297.200000 3300.520000 And it's honestly been interesting to see
3300.520000 3302.320000 it's been happening in my mind as you've been talking,
3302.320000 3305.880000 because it's bringing back some of my own homeschool experience
3305.880000 3307.080000 that I haven't thought about in decades.
3307.080000 3308.080000 Oh, that's awesome.
3308.080000 3308.600000 Oh, yeah.
3308.600000 3309.720000 That is awesome.
3309.720000 3311.240000 Yeah.
3311.240000 3313.320000 Thinking about what we're going to talk about today,
3313.320000 3315.480000 really brought a lot back in my mind,
3315.480000 3318.960000 and it's lifted me up a lot, too.
3318.960000 3320.320000 So I'm glad to hear that for you.
3320.320000 3321.160000 Oh, that's great.
3321.160000 3321.760000 Thanks for, yeah.
3321.760000 3323.080000 Thanks for sharing with us.
3323.080000 3325.240000 And I'm sure that your thoughts are
3325.240000 3326.840000 going to help other people process, too.
3326.840000 3328.600000 I feel like there's a lot to think about
3328.600000 3330.280000 and process from this discussion.
3330.280000 3331.640000 A lot of good advice.
3331.640000 3332.840000 Yes.
3332.840000 3333.640000 I hope it will.
3333.640000 3335.600000 Thank you so much for the opportunity.
3335.600000 3337.960000 It's been really great talking with both of you.
3337.960000 3341.200000 I feel like I went off the path a couple of times,
3341.200000 3343.960000 but we can do that when we have school.
3343.960000 3345.320000 Yeah, well, and there's no--
3345.320000 3346.960000 There's no great blessings.
3346.960000 3347.480000 Yes.
3347.480000 3349.480000 And we've also found with our podcast
3349.480000 3352.160000 that there's no off the path that God is directing
3352.160000 3354.680000 these conversations exactly where they need to be.
3354.680000 3356.880000 So somewhere there's a mama that needed to hear
3356.880000 3358.960000 one of those rabbit trails.
3358.960000 3359.960000 All right.
3359.960000 3362.240000 Well, thank you again, listeners.
3362.240000 3365.640000 We hope you've enjoyed our interview with Tina.
3365.640000 3368.560000 And until next time, I'm Sarah.
3368.560000 3370.000000 And I'm Mary Beth.
3370.000000 3370.920000 And I'm Tina.
3370.920000 3373.920000 And this is Trustworthy.
3373.920000 3377.120000 [MUSIC PLAYING]
3378.080000 3386.920000 Hey, y'all.
3386.920000 3388.440000 Mary Beth here.
3388.440000 3390.160000 Sarah and I are so glad that you chose
3390.160000 3392.120000 to listen to our podcast.
3392.120000 3395.720000 And while we think that we're awesome friends to have,
3395.720000 3398.200000 we just wanted to clarify that we are not mental health
3398.200000 3400.920000 professionals, and want you to know that this podcast should
3400.920000 3404.280000 not take the place of any paid professional advice.
3404.280000 3406.080000 Mm-hmm.