Well This Wasn't The Plan!

10. Thinking About Homeschooling? Here's What You Should Know!

• Carson and Teran Sands • Episode 10

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We share two months of homeschooling as two full-time working parents, the choices that made it doable, and the mindset shifts that dissolved our fear. From co-ops and Outschool to reading habits and life skills, we explain how short, focused days create more learning and happier kids.

• why two hours of focused homeschool beats eight hours of school
• large co-ops vs small groups for real socialization
• being first in the family to homeschool and winning support
• reading strategy: audiobooks, graphic novels, assigned levels
• curriculum control and skipping busywork
• energy returns: sports, hobbies, and calmer evenings
• siblings as friends and everyday joy in learning
• practical tools: Outschool, checklists, free resources
• progress over benchmarks and no degree required
• confidence grows with routine and iteration

If you know someone who is like homeschool curious or needs some help with getting started, please send them our podcast
If you have a direct question, make sure to do it on the fan mail!


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SPEAKER_00:

So if you're thinking about homeschooling, our biggest advice here is just don't let the fear of it stop you. You can do it. You absolutely can do it. It can be one of the best decisions that you ever make for your family. I really believe that now, after having done it for two months, that it's something that is one of those things that if you can do it and if you can commit to it, it will be one of the best, most difficult, but most rewarding thing you can do. We are two full-time working parents who just made a crazy decision.

SPEAKER_01:

After four years in public school, we're homeschooling our three kids and documenting the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Never in a million years did I think we would be homeschool people.

SPEAKER_01:

Welcome to, well, this wasn't the plan podcast.

SPEAKER_02:

I'm slate, and school's in the kitchen now. I'm Scotty. We says Scott when I say so. I'm Sailor, and this whole podcast was my idea.

SPEAKER_01:

This podcast is our real-time journey, unexpectedly juggling homeschool, jobs, parenting, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_00:

Follow along each week as we document how it's going and share the good, the bad, and the ugly. Because we know some days are going to be ugly, and we're not holding back.

SPEAKER_01:

We're learning to expect the unexpected. So let's get into it.

SPEAKER_00:

Let's go. So we've been homeschooling for two months now, which seems like a big feat to me.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, we made it this far.

SPEAKER_00:

We made it two months. It really feels like it's gone by really quickly. So I wanted to have an episode about like what we would tell people if they were considering homeschooling, because that's the most common question I'm getting on Instagram. So I wanted to have like a whole episode. But first, let's do a quick recap of this week. What do you have?

SPEAKER_01:

Well, we're in a pretty good routine now, so there's not a lot of change over the last week.

SPEAKER_00:

One thing I wrote down was that so we went into Friday co-op and we both were like, we don't want to sign up again. Then everybody went, and when they came back, they wanted to sign up again.

SPEAKER_01:

Sailor made a friend and and they're liking it better, and so I think we needed to give it some more time. So it's one where, you know, we've mentioned before the parents have to be involved because they don't pay teachers or anybody else. We're the teachers. So, you know, that's not always the most fun, especially when you're busy. Uh, but I think it might be good for the kids, so we might, you know, backtrack and sign up for it again after all.

SPEAKER_00:

I'm not really looking forward to it. I know Carson isn't, but we sign them up just thinking like it's a good place to make friends and take some elective fun things, get them out of the house, all of that. But it's been a little bit different than we thought. I think because it's a large co-op, it's been harder for them to make friends. And Slate actually told me when he was explaining like why he maybe didn't want to do it next time. He was like, Well, it's almost impossible to make friends whenever you sit down in your class and immediately the teacher says, Don't talk. And, you know, you go through whatever the teacher has planned for the day. And I'm like, absolutely, that makes complete sense. How would you be able to make friends in a setting like that? Not very easily, honestly.

SPEAKER_01:

Right. It's a huge group, and there's, you know, there's chaos between classes. You're just, I mean, you're being walked from one class to the next by your teachers, so you don't have a lot of time to make friends in that little window. And then, you know, from there, it just I don't know. I could see why it would be hard.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and I was like, that kind of makes a whole point of socialization for homeschooling because people are always like, How do you socialize? Well, look, school really isn't the ideal setting to socialize properly. Think if you've ever been into an elementary school, especially, it's kind of like drill sergeants, like, stand in line, be quiet, do this. So you're always they're always moving through these processes all day. It's kind of hard to like sit down and get to know someone, especially for like Slate, who is kind of shy and has more trouble making friends like that. It takes time. So I am glad they made friends. I I was a little bummed that we're gonna have to try it again. But you know, it's getting us out of our comfort zone. It might be good for us. So we're I guess we're gonna do it again. But there was a lot of questions about our co-op. And for co-ops, if you're looking for co-op advice, I just think that it depends on what you're looking for, but in general, you might have to try a couple to see what works best for you. And we're not looking for something that's gonna offer a curriculum, but there are co-ops that offer a curriculum that kind of help you with teaching. We didn't want that. We also didn't want one that met a lot because it does even feel like a lot going once a week. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_01:

It does. I mean, I think it's just because Friday was our day off from homeschooling because we only do Monday through Thursday, but now I feel like it's a harder day than the other four days because co-op for me feels harder than just homeschooling.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, there was another homeschool co-op that we met with and we liked, but they ended up being on the same days and it was like a nature one, and it's every Friday, but you don't have to be there, you can go whenever you want. It's a small group, and it's like an active thing. So, you know, that might work better for some people. I think me personally, I would like that better. But that's about all the advice I have on co-ops is that it's kind of like finding a church, like you just kind of have to like shop around and see what fits and what feels best and what you're looking for. So it's not a one size fits all. Also, this week I shared that we were the first people in our families that homeschooled. And a lot of people found that interesting, but also found it very inspiring because maybe that's a reason why they don't want to, because they know their family is gonna be not on board. Someone asked me how my family felt about it, and I said, Well, initially, I think they thought we were batshit crazy and that it was a horrible idea, but I'm kind of like the weirdo of my family, so I just take it like my family usually gets on board at some point, and I feel like okay, they're finally on board, they're okay, they just need some time to like digest this. But it really is because no one in my family, and no one in your family has ever homeschooled, and so it's like so radical.

SPEAKER_01:

Right, radical, which is funny that people look at it that way because this is how education began. I mean, it has its roots in this type of education, this setting, and this formal industrial public school style is is really actually the radical thing, and it's what's it's what's new and different. So it's just funny that people look at it as different, but that's okay. We don't mind being different.

SPEAKER_00:

No, but I can see why that would be scary. And if you have all of these people that are your people doubting you, it can kind of make you feel like, oh, well, maybe what I'm doing isn't a good decision.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, for us, there had been several other things like that in our lives that we've done that people have been like, oh, that seems weird and weirdos, and that seems impossible, and we've done anyway. And so by the time we came around to doing this, it really wasn't gonna affect us. But yes, I can see how if this is the first thing like this you're doing, a first, the first big, you know, out-of-the-box thing that you've done, and everyone's telling you no, you can't do it, or it's impossible, that that could probably shake your confidence. But I mean, I think you can.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. And to give you hope, this week my mom said, I think it's great, whenever that was not how she felt initially. And Carson's dad said last night, he said, I had my doubts, but you know, you guys are making it work and it's great. So people can change their mind. It is something that is becoming more popular, but you might be the first person in your family to do it, and that's a little scary. So we had some more fan mail come in.

SPEAKER_01:

All right.

SPEAKER_00:

I know the podcast is actually growing very quickly. So if you know someone who is like homeschool curious or needs some help with getting started, please send them our podcast. And if you have a direct question, make sure to do it on the fan mail. So the first one was what books do your kids like to read? And do you stick with classical literature or do you go to the bookstore and let them pick? What do you do with reading?

SPEAKER_01:

That's a great question. So all of the above, we have bought the classics for them, whether it's through the YOTO cards on which are audiobooks, or whether it's, you know, the actual books. We've done both. Uh our daughter read Anne of Green Gables, or actually listened to that one on audio, which is a classic. And there's a few other classics that she's gone through. We also let them pick any books that they want. We're pretty much going to buy for them, even if it's, you know, regardless of what reading level it is. But if it's not at reading level or above, then that's something they need to read at night for entertainment. We do have assigned reading time during the day that has to be done at their reading level or higher.

SPEAKER_00:

The key to getting your kids to love reading is to find out what they enjoy. And unfortunately, it's generally not the classics. That's something that maybe they'll appreciate later on. It's not something that they're gonna probably like initially.

SPEAKER_01:

But there's exceptions. I mean, Anne of Green Gables is definitely a classic, and Sailor loved that. So, and I was glad because I really like liked it as well.

SPEAKER_00:

And there are a lot of those types on the YODO, which is just an audiobook player. So that's kind of like a gateway drug to reading. If you want to get your kids interested in stories, listening to an audiobook is like phenomenal for your brain. So you don't have to feel bad about them listening to an audiobook over reading if you're trying to get into that hump and you're trying to build good readers. So for us, we are like, if you want a book, we will buy it for you. You want a toy, buy it on your own. But a book, we want to have three phenomenal readers who just love to read. And so we do many things to make that happen. And so that's why we do audiobooks, we do graphic novels, we let them buy a book if we're at the store and they see one that they're interested in. Our Amazon cart is always full of books. We go to the library and pick out books. So I think anyway, if your kids showing an interest in one thing or another, go with that. We have another post that is from Santa Cruz, California, and she just says, My husband and I work full-time in homeschool. We are crazy, just like us. And I just found your podcast, keep doing what you're doing. We are in this together. Which I want to end on that one because that's perfect for this episode. We are going to be talking about what we've learned in the last two months and what we would tell you if you are thinking about homeschooling and you're a little nervous. Here's the advice we would give you.

SPEAKER_01:

First of all, we would tell you that you can homeschool and work. We've been doing it for two months, and a big part of that was during one of our busiest times of the year, and we did it just fine. There's days that have been a little bit difficult when we're really busy with work, but but we made it through, and it's not a problem. And I promise most people are not working as many hours as I am currently working for tax season.

SPEAKER_00:

You can homeschool in less time than you actually think. Two hours of homeschooling is completely sufficient, maybe even less if you have only one child. And there's a lot more of why in our previous episode, if you want to check that out.

SPEAKER_01:

If you have one kindergartner or one first grader, you can probably do it in an hour and a half every day, or maybe even one hour.

SPEAKER_00:

I saw a study this week that they released, and it was talking about how homework assigned in elementary school does absolutely nothing for them. Like it is actually just a front. It makes us feel better, but they get no benefit out of it.

SPEAKER_01:

It's just for parents. I've I've heard that and read that as well. It's just silly. I mean, they've already been at school eight hours. How much more can they really learn after that?

SPEAKER_00:

So adding more time shouldn't make you feel better. No, you can do it in two hours.

SPEAKER_01:

And do you need a teaching degree? No, we don't have one. And we do have college degrees, but you don't need one. You don't really need to know every single thing. You don't need to be an expert in biology or calculus. Your kids can take those courses through many of the options that are available, and the teaching from those will be sufficient.

SPEAKER_00:

Not to mention, every single parent is a teacher. You taught your child how to crawl, how to walk, how to eat, how to get off a bottle, how to do all of these things. Every parent is a teacher. You already have the skills that you need. You don't have a formal teaching degree, and that's fine. You don't need that to teach your own children.

SPEAKER_01:

Just remember that teaching degrees are for people who are going to teach other people's children in groups of 20 to 30, and that's a very different situation.

SPEAKER_00:

Your kids will absolutely thrive. You might think that you need all of this time, and like we've said, you don't in this type of setting, with one-on-one attention, being able to tailor their learning to what they need and how they learn, they will learn faster, they will retain more, and they will get individual attention.

SPEAKER_01:

They won't fall behind. And first of all, behind compared to what education is flexible. Focus on progress, not arbitrary benchmarks. There won't be standardized tests. And in reality, though, if you do compare them to people doing standardized tests, usually the homeschool children perform better.

SPEAKER_00:

There are outliers, guys. I'm not going to say that there's not Susie who pulls her kids from public school and doesn't really do what she's supposed to do. Absolutely, there are those people. But if you are listening to this podcast and you're putting in the work and you're worried about your children's education, you will do just fine. All you have to do is show up every single day and do the work. And if they say do lesson one today, do lesson one on day one, do lesson two the next day, take tiny steps every day. All you have to do is make sure that your kid does it every day. We told our kids that they have a choice on how they can be educated, but they do not have a choice on whether or not they're getting educated. So our goal is just to be the guide and make sure that it happens. Your kids will be less tired. There will be no more rushing to school, no more long days sitting in their desk, and then them complaining that they don't want to go back the next day, and they'll have so much more energy for their hobbies, for sports they do, activities, for family time. And not only that, but you as a parent will be excited to take them to those things because the result is you're at home with them during the day, you get family time in, you get their schoolwork done, and guess what? Okay, now it's time to get out of the house. Go interact with some people. You have seen them, you don't feel like you're just picking them up and then taking them straight to sports. You feel like you have time with your kids and everybody loves the activities more.

SPEAKER_01:

We have kids that love basketball and love gymnastics, and when we were taking them to those, they were not wanting to go, even though they love those sports. It's like we're not those parents that are forcing our kids to do sports because we're trying to live vicariously through them. We actually, it's a lot of work for us, but they love it. Why do they not want to do it? Because they spent eight hours at school all day. They're tired, they don't want to go. Now they're dying to go. I mean, they love gymnastics day and they're begging us to sign them up for other sports because they have that extra energy. We're right, we're having to send them outside to get extra energy out because they have so much extra energy, which ties in with their next point. They're going to grow closer to their siblings. That's who they're going to be around. And I think that building those relationships, I mean, these are people that you're going to be friends with for your whole life. You think when you're in school, you're going to be friends with your best friend for the rest of your life. And sometimes that happens. When it does, it's beautiful. They almost become like a sibling, but a lot of times that's not the case. Your siblings are your siblings for life. So if they can be some of your best friends, that's really great. And that's, I think that can lead to a really happy life.

SPEAKER_00:

Another thing that surprised me because it wasn't on my list of things of reasons to homeschool, was being able to watch them learn and watch them when they're doing school. Because we didn't get to see that. The traditional public school now is very shut off. You have to go through a bunch of hoops to actually go into their classroom. And then if you're working, then that just doesn't really happen, right? It's a very disconnected feeling for a parent when you send your kid to school because you don't really get to see what they're learning. It's hard to gauge their progress. And obviously, you don't get to see them learning in action. And then when you do homework or review with them at the end of the day, you're not getting their best. You're getting their worst. So you don't get to see that. And I wasn't looking forward to that. I I felt like that was kind of like a frou-fru thing, you know, like, oh, I get to watch my kids in delight. But no, I like I have teared up multiple times working with our kids, seeing them do something because like they're happy, and then they're like, Did you see that I did that? And then I'm happy. And I like I love it. And it was some not something I was expecting.

SPEAKER_01:

I've noticed that as well, just realizing that before I mean they send the schoolwork home once a week, they send report cards every six weeks, and and all I'm doing is a mental checklist. I'm not experiencing any of that joy or the fulfillment of your child growing and learning. I'm just looking at the paperwork going, yep, they got A's. Check, check, check, okay, moving on. That's it. Or maybe I say, good job. You know, like that's it. I don't really yes, disconnected was a really good word for that because that's exactly how it felt before. And now it's almost joyous when they do have something they struggle with because they they are grasping most of this stuff pretty easily. But when they have something that's hard and you sit down and work through it with them, and then it finally clicks for them, it does feel very fulfilling.

SPEAKER_00:

Absolutely. Slate was having a hard time with his language arts because it's two grades ahead, and it just seemed like a lot, and it was because that was a lot of expectation for a seven-year-old. But now you've been doing it a couple of weeks, and it's not like he is doing so well with that part of it, even though it's really hard. And he realized that this week. I'm like, look at you, you're doing these great. And it it was just like an awesome feeling to see that he accomplished something that he didn't think he could do because he thought it was too hard.

SPEAKER_01:

That was amazing, and now it's just it's almost like everything was before for him. He's just kind of like, oh, okay, just knock it out real quick and move on.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, he's sailing through it. I'm like, look at you. And he is proud of himself, which is amazing to see.

SPEAKER_01:

So another thing that you'll love is being in control of their education. I mean, how many of us complain about common core and how stupid that is, but we just okay, well, that's just the way it is. Well, that's not the way it is when you're in control. Or, you know, again, I always make the Johnny Appeseed joke that they're spending so much time on that at school and it just annoys me and cracks me up. But, you know, we don't really learn about Johnny Appleseed here, so and and any subjects that you don't like. You know, if if you think cursive is stupid and pointless, then you don't have to do it. And if or if you think it's the best thing that's ever happened and them taking it out of education is criminal, well, great. Make your kids learn cursive. You get to pick.

SPEAKER_00:

I do love being in control, which I love being in control of everything. So no, I absolutely love it. I felt like I was just along for the crazy ride at school and had to do whatever they told me to do and do it their way. And we had a few talks with the teachers on how I thought the math was ridiculous. And so now I feel like it's freeing. It's freeing to get to decide how you do it, when you do it, where you do it, how long they'll do it for, all the things. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

How Madd I was whenever I was trying to explain to the teacher that three times four and four times three is the same thing.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and it's the properties they were learning about, yet she still got it wrong. And we were like, This is ridiculous. And she's like, I'm teaching to the test. I know it's ridiculous. Another thing you'll absolutely love is to see them discover things that they love. Because the beauty of all of this is that you have more time, you have time to do other things that they enjoy that may not fall into that normal school, like cooking, drawing, science, a sport, swimming. There's so many things. And I felt like at first we were a little overwhelmed by oh my gosh, there's so many things they actually could do with their time. And little by little we've been figuring out what each kid wants to do. Like Sailor started Spanish this week, she did a drawing class, and she was drawing like really good portrait drawings, and she has always loved art. So she's had time to actually do that, and then they've all always loved cooking, getting in the kitchen with us, and that just wasn't something that we had enough time to do consistently, like we just would do it here and there, but we were always in a rush, so now they're making their breakfast every morning, and that has turned into them helping us with lunch and dinner. So they're here all the time when we're making meals, so we've used that as like a teaching opportunity, and then the other morning, Sailor and Scotty just was like, Oh, we'll just make some scrambled eggs and make this big breakfast, and they did it all by themselves. They did not have that skill two months ago, so I'm really, really impressed and so excited that we can explore other things that they love.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't know how to make scrambled eggs when I was like 18. So our 10-year-old is just making scrambled eggs. I know it's every a lot of people are probably like, oh, that's easy. And if this was pioneer times, it'd be like, Yeah, she should have been killing the chickens herself and cooking chicken. But I mean, in this day and age, I doubt there's very many teenagers even that could make scrambled eggs.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, not only that, but she cooked and cleaned up and unloaded the dishwasher. Like, damn, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

And that ties into the other thing. The life skills they're learning is it's amazing because you have time to teach them those things. I mean, another one is packing their own bags. Taryn let them do that for our little trip to FIMFO, and they did a really good job.

SPEAKER_00:

It was a game changer. I kept being like, I must have forgot to do something. Like, no, we can't leave yet. Like, there must be something I'm forgetting because usually it takes me a lot more time to do all of this. And it was the fact that I only had to pack my own bag.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, full confession. Once I started dating Taryn, when we started going on trips together, she always packed my bag for me, so I never could do a good job of it. But she did because I I would do a terrible job and get there with things that you know, without things that I needed. So she finally stopped doing it when she had to start packing for the kids because she was like, okay, you at least have to pack for yourself. So I mean, just the fact that my kids are already packing their own bags. And yes, they did use Taryn's checklist, but I'm just trying to imagine myself, even with a checklist at, you know, as a child being able to pack my own bag, and I don't think it would have been able to happen.

SPEAKER_00:

I am going to do it because I keep saying I will and I forget. But in the show notes, I will link my stand store and all of these things that we talk about, like the checklist for packing. I have one that helps them make a balanced meal. All of these PDFs that we use to help the kids do their chores and everything, those are all free on my stand store. So if you hear us talk about something that we use like that, they're just tools to help teach them things, they're free. So I will put the link in the show notes this week. So you can check that out. Anytime that I come up with a new one, I will add it there.

SPEAKER_01:

And really free, not like where you know you put in your credit card and we charge you next month instead, but like actually free, no credit card.

SPEAKER_00:

Free.

SPEAKER_01:

Free. Another thing that you have to remember is that you don't have to do it all yourself. That's something that any prospective homeschoolers need to know. There's so many resources. There's out school, there's co-ops, there's online curriculums, which can have, you know, teachers either through pre-recorded videos or actual teachers. Those ones are a little bit more expensive, but they exist. And there's community support. So there's so much, there's so many free options, there's so many inexpensive options. And yes, there's some things that are probably really good that are pricier, but there's everything in between. So you don't have to just tomorrow wake up and like, okay, I gotta build a curriculum, I gotta write a textbook. You don't, you don't have to do that.

SPEAKER_00:

No, I think so many people start with that question of, well, I don't know what fourth graders need to know. I don't know all the things to teach them. You don't need to know all of that. There are so many things that you can pick from for a curriculum. So that's where you start. You find one that you love, listen to our episodes where we talk about the ones that we tried and why we like them and why we didn't, because everyone's gonna have one that works for them. And you can get ones that are super, super inexpensive. You can spend a lot of money and have a teacher actually teach your kid. Carson was talking about out school, and Sailor took a few classes on out school this week just to try it out. She took Spanish and drawing, and there's a legit teacher on the other side talking back and forth to her, looking at her drawing, making sure she's saying the Spanish words correctly, and that's phenomenal. You can do that and take like supplemental classes, but out school also has a full-blown curriculum. So you could, if you're like, no, my my kid needs a teacher, I'm not gonna do it. They can sit down and do that. There's a curriculum for that. So there is something that will help you make this work. There's too many tools out there for you to feel like you can't do this by yourself.

SPEAKER_01:

And just to be clear on the outschool thing, you know, that was in addition to our standard curriculum. We did our standard day, and then Sailor chose to do these extra classes Spanish and art. And when she was done, we were like, okay, do you want to keep doing it? We're not gonna make you this is not part of your school day. Oh no, she wants to real bad.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and did you know she took another one this morning?

SPEAKER_01:

No, I didn't. I was working.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, she did a drawing one this morning. And for working parents to have something like that, if you don't want to do the full curriculum in out school, it's that's something they can do without your help. So when she did it the other day, I was answering emails and catching up on work, and she absolutely loved it. So she did three of them in one week and wants to do more. And so I love that as a parent. And there's if you have it in the budget, there is like a Lego building one, there is book clubs where they go through Harry Potter and read those. Like, there's just so many things on there. Those are the types of things that you can get other people to do. You don't have to know about life science, and you don't have to try to find a way to make it fun. There's other things out there for you. And as always, people say, teaching doesn't just happen when we're sitting down with them doing the curriculum, it doesn't just happen when she's on here without school. Teaching happens every day, all day long with your kids. You're a teacher. And if you'll change your mindset to that, it definitely helps me because if we go to the grocery store, or if the other day we're making muffins and Sailor was like, is this the one-half cup? And then I also need a three-fourths cup and I need this. I didn't help her. I was like, Let's think through this, let's look at it, let's make sure that we know what this is. And we worked on fractions. So you are learning all of the time, and you are teaching all of the time. That's the beauty of homeschool.

SPEAKER_01:

It is. I mean, just on the way to go swim, I didn't realize the swim place was 28 minutes away, so that was 56 minutes of driving. I didn't realize we were gonna have. But luckily, it worked out because on the way home, Slate had so many questions. We talked about the government. I didn't bring it up. I know Terrence giving me the side eye.

SPEAKER_00:

Carson loves to talk about the government.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't bring it up, and no, it wasn't like a political discussion. It was just literally like, why are why is there a mayor and a governor and a president? If the president's in charge, why do we need a governor and a mayor in the city? And, you know, how do they get into those jobs and all these things? I mean, we talked about for the whole drive. We talked about why they're there and how laws get made at the local level, at the state level, at the federal level. And some of the questions, I was like, we're gonna have to look that up because I actually don't know the answer to that question. And, you know, in that field, I'm more knowledgeable than most people, but uh still, I mean, it's just crazy the kinds of questions that he had. And so, and he'll probably remember all of that. One last thing to know you know, we've been in it for two months, so we're not experts by any means, but your your confidence will grow. And it has already. I mean, I was already I felt pretty good about it. I feel like we can do anything we set our minds to that kind of, I'm that kind of person. But I still had, you know, my my reservations or my doubts about not that if we could do it, but how hard it was going to be to make it happen. And now I just feel so confident about it. It just feels pretty smooth, pretty easy in a lot of ways for me.

SPEAKER_00:

So yeah, we feel like we're the type of people that are like we can do anything, but that doesn't mean that you want to do it, right? Yeah. It might be too much on you. It's just not a decision you want. Like, okay, I can do anything anyone else can do. I have a very good attitude about that. But I thought that it might be too hard and that we would say look it's just not worth trying to juggle this and work. I thought maybe we would be snapping at the kids more. Maybe it would feel too stressful and it wouldn't be worth the stress that was putting on us. But I'm so pleasantly surprised. It feels easy. We are in a good routine. I know we're doing a damn good job at it. Like we are doing all the lessons the kids are learning. They're making progress I can see how much progress they're making compared to how much they were making in public school in two months. So yes I am confident in our decision and that is not what you would hear if you listened to the first episode. We were scared. We were scared that it was not going to go well and we would have to tell our family like yeah you were right didn't go well we would have to go back to the school and be like hey can we reenroll we were just absolutely scared and we shouldn't have been so if you're thinking about homeschooling our biggest advice here is just don't let the fear of it stop you. You can do it. You absolutely can do it. It can be one of the best decisions that you ever make for your family. I really believe that now after having done it for two months that it's something that is one of those things that if you can do it and if you can commit to it it will be one of the best most difficult but most rewarding thing you could do.

SPEAKER_01:

And if it doesn't work for you it's pretty easy to get right back into school. If things don't work out it's real easy to jump back into your local public school.

SPEAKER_00:

Sometimes you just have to ask yourself well what if I do fail and what's the worst that could happen? The answer is it's not really that bad. You could say look we tried it it wasn't for us the kids are going to go back to school. Not the end of the world right that I mean we knew that was a possibility and we were okay with that. We just don't like to admit when we're wrong.

SPEAKER_01:

So luckily we haven't had to but one of these days when we're wrong we'll be the first ones to admit it.

SPEAKER_00:

If you love this episode please please please share it with a friend and if you have a specific question please leave it on the fan mail because we're going to be starting every episode checking those and answering those questions. So that's the best way to get like a specific question answered. We also love compliments because that keeps us going if you don't follow me on Instagram then you don't know but we also have another podcast and we're homeschooling and we're working and I'm an influencer so that's a lot of jobs. So any praise and like keep doing it would be greatly appreciated.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes please well that's all for this episode until next time thank you so much for listening to what this wasn't the plan podcast we will work on this podcast.

SPEAKER_02:

Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss a single podcast episode. Thank you have a good day