What If Your Teen Never Needed Traditional High School?

In this episode of HOMESCHOOL REVOLUTION, I sit down with veteran homeschool mom Kelly Crawford to discuss one of the most misunderstood topics in homeschooling: high school. Together, we challenge many of the assumptions parents have about diplomas, transcripts, college admissions, curriculum requirements, and what truly prepares teenagers for adulthood.

We share why the high school years should shift away from traditional academics and toward mentorship, life skills, financial literacy, work ethic, entrepreneurship, trades, college preparation, and helping teens discover their unique strengths and passions. Rather than forcing every child down the same path, we explore how homeschooling allows families to customize education around the individual child.

In this episode, we also discuss:

• Why traditional high school may no longer be necessary for many students
• Early college and trade school opportunities for homeschool teens
• The difference between education and curriculum
• Why transcripts matter more than diplomas
• Helping teens prepare for military, college, entrepreneurship, or trades
• Teaching financial literacy and real-world life skills
• Why employers value character and work ethic over credentials
• Homeschooling gifted, artistic, and non-traditional learners
• Sports, music, theater, and extracurricular opportunities for homeschoolers
• Raising independent learners who take ownership of their education
• The importance of delayed academics and play in the early years
• Trusting your parental instincts when making educational decisions
• Understanding homeschooling through different developmental stages

We also answer live questions from parents about military pathways, high school transcripts, college admissions, homeschooling special needs children, extracurricular activities, curriculum choices, speech therapy concerns, autism diagnoses, and navigating state homeschool requirements.

This episode is a powerful reminder that homeschooling is not about checking boxes or following a predetermined system. It’s about raising capable, confident young adults who know who they are, understand their strengths, and are prepared to build meaningful lives on their own terms.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Homeschool Revolution. I'm Rebecca Stromsdorfer, homeschool mommified for over 20 years, and I've been coaching moms just like you for decades. I've done this messy, done it wrong, and figured it out as I went. This podcast is for the working mom, single mom, stay-at-home mom, and yes, dads too. Any parent who is done with the old way and ready to raise creative, confident kids who actually change the world. This isn't just homeschooling. This is a revolution. Let's get into it. Okay, welcome to my homeschool village. Rebecca here, homeschool mom to five kids for over 24 years now. And I'm here to help you with your homeschooling high school. Been talking to homeschool parents about homeschooling high school, and it's not as complicated and difficult as everybody seems to think it is. Um, you don't have to remember what high school was or to be taught there. And if anybody can't remember what happened in high school, that's the whole reason you should be homeschooling high school in the first place, because you don't even remember what you were being taught in high school. So obviously it was an awesome education. Uh, so as a homeschool parent to five children now, I am about to put my fourth through the high school age. Now, I've got a lot of opinions on this and a lot of knowledge on um high school and how high schools become completely pointless. It is there's no reason to even do high school anymore. Let me explain. Number one, colleges have dumbed down their colleges because high schoolers have not been able to keep up. And so what they've done is they've actually lowered what is happening in colleges to accommodate the lazier generation. And so now college education is actually what high school education used to be 10 years ago, and so everything's been dumbed down. So your high school is now like a junior high level. They've slowed it all down for the slowest learners, and in the meantime, anybody who wants to go faster, well, you can if you learn how to do it. Okay, let me back up. All of what is taught in the 12 years of public school curriculum can be taught in four. Okay. The reason it's 12 years is because they're set up to daycare. They're not set up for education. Now, the education, actual education that is created, can be done in four years, which means from the age of eight to twelve, it can be done. Or I like to do it eight to fourteen, give them a little more time to get it done. But your children can get all 12 years of school done between the ages of eight and 14. So you give them more of a childhood at the front end, you let them play more, you let them just be kids more, you make sure they have a good childhood. At eight, when they're starting to get more interested in real learning, you really start to dive in and you dive in and you attack till 14. By 14, your children are figure out who they are, what they want out of life. And at 15, they can be entering in. Hi, Jessica. They can be entering in uh trade school, they can be entering in college level classes. Now, don't let the word college level intimidate you or your child because it's actually now high school level. So you can do online college with your teenagers at the ages of 15 and 16. Most universities, except your children at that age. Hi, Sonia. Welcome. Sonia's one of my members here in my homeschool village, and I have missed you. So, your child, if they want to do a trade, can start at the age of 15 in most of the trade schools. Sometimes at 16, it depends on the trade school. Um, so let your child go on the path they need to go. Get them started early. Now, I do not put them on the campus. My kids do online at home instead of high school, they do college at home. And then at 18, when they're ready to go out with their peers, they can go to college if that's what the path they want. But they're with their other 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds at the same time, right? I don't want my 15-year-olds on college campus with 20-year-olds. But they're in their master's, not their bachelor's. Okay. I'm bringing in Callie. Callie Crawford is another homeschool mom. Also homeschooled 11 children of her own. And so you can ask her and I questions about high school, what it looks like early college, early trade school, um, entrepreneurship, online learning. There are so many options for your high schooler. You don't and should not be wasting their time on a high school curriculum. Okay. April, how are you? Welcome, welcome, my friend. Haven't seen you in a while either. So, guys, come on in. We're talking high school. What are our options? I've had so many questions lately on high school and what we do. And the more I talk about high school, the more I feel deeply about a high school curriculum is a waste of time. I have been coaching a lot of moms lately. I have many moms who are saying, um, some from Canada, by the way, you Canadian mamas, lots of Canadians saying, I need my child to have an American college or American diploma. And I'm asking them why. I mean, I think to them it's like their ticket to get into American colleges. I don't know internationally if it is or not. And so they're saying, well, I need a diploma from America. So we've been having conversations, and I am not sending them to get accredited curriculums, you guys. I you do not need to put that kind of stress on your kid. Hi, Heather. Okay. Hi, Jesse, Rebecca, Kelly, two longtime homeschool moms, five kids here, 11 kids there, both of us, what, 24-ish years homeschooling. Um, and let's give you the full take on high school. Should kids do a high school curriculum, Kelly.

SPEAKER_00 5:50

What are your thoughts and opinions? Should kids do a high school curriculum? We don't. I mean, I have always said this, it's curriculum is not bad. And so I think that there are so many factors. Number one, some kids thrive on curriculum, they just want the structure. And for those kids, I say absolutely find what they love and dive in because we have so many resources. However, it's not necessary for a full orbed education because I think that you can't replace just reading good books and immersing yourself into all the resources that we have around us. Just living in the world, reading good books, um, communicating, you know, being in situations where you're just doing real-world things. I don't think a curriculum can replace that. So, again, curriculum is the tool, but it's not the end-all of an education for any aged kid. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Yeah, no, I agree with you 100% on that. Um, let me do a quick shout out here. We've got Alana, who is my homeschool village remember. Welcome, Alana. How are you doing? Nicole's here. Hi. Hi, Rachel. Sonia says her son has been taught you about being a diesel mechanic. Sonia, remind me how old your son is. Did you know? I was actually talking to our mechanic, literally about this, because I have a daughter who wanted to be a diesel mechanic. And um, she's a mechanic. She's worked on cars until she got injured, and now she's behind a desk. But uh diesel mechanics make ding. Did you know we actually have a mom inside my homeschool village whose husband runs a diesel mechanic company, and they're so busy they can't keep up because there's a shortage. So not only should he become one, but he should also get some business classes to go with it and run his own company because there is a huge shortage and mega money in it. So there's a company, I can't remember the name of it. There is a school in Wyoming. It's one year for regular mechanic, two for diesel. I think you go, it's only mechanic, you go, you live there for one year, you get it done, and you come out of mechanic. And they're not like college where you have to do all the other classes. We were looking into it for my son because he wanted to be a mechanic and it's in Wyoming. All I remember, it was in Wyoming. It was, I think, one year for regular mechanic, and then for diesel, it was like another 18 months, maybe, or another six months. Anyway, it was a little bit longer for Diesel. It was like in, out, done, license, get a job. So look into that one if that's really where he wants to go. Because that now, the one thing my mechanic was telling me is a diesel mechanic had a really hard time getting the oil off the weapons. He was like, You just can't sold the market. Yeah, that's true. Me and Martina. Oh, he's 14. I would look into it. I think it starts as 16. I call Jamie uh Flowers. Very cute name. Welcome to my homeschool village, Rebecca here, homeschool mom to five kids for over 24 years, and I am here to answer your homeschool questions. So we're talking about high school, homeschooling, high school, getting them into college, all those things. Um, but if you do have children who are younger and you don't need to worry about that right now, you're welcome to pop in any questions you have about youngers as well, because it's a completely different world. There's three sections of homeschooling. There's the early years where you're teaching them to read and write, there's the middle years where you're really into it thick and you're teaching the main stuff. And then there's the later years when you're working more on their passions and their interests. And so homeschooling is a three-section process. And what I find is most homeschoolers, when they're moving from one system to the next, they don't know this is happening. So your kids start to do kind of a little rebellion on you. It doesn't seem to work as well. Um, you can't figure out why what you were doing isn't working. Now, well, the truth of it is it's because they've moved to the next phase. You just haven't kept up. And so I'm here to help you understand those phases of homeschooling. There are three phases of homeschooling: the new, let them play, teach reading, writing, math. Let them play, reading, writing, math. That's eight and under. Eight to fourteen is dive in. You do those 12 years that can really be done in four, and you get those done then. And then 14 and up is about who are they? Who do they want to be? How do we get to where they want to be? What are their talents, their interests, those types of things. Hi, Lara. Um, so there's the three phases. And so I like to talk about different phases of homeschooling. And today we're focusing on the homeschool or the high school phase, what that looks like, because everybody thinks that a kid needs high school or they can't move on in life. Okay, Alana says, dive deep. Hashtag dive deep. All right. Rachel Ann Reed, hi, welcome. I know Alana's got a kid about that age, right? You're more than welcome to disagree with me on any and all of this, and we can like debate it. That'd be fun. But so far, Kelly and I tend to agree on just about everything. And and most homeschool parents who've been in it as long as we have, I have found we all have found the same thing. And that to me is refreshing. And it's just to show that all kids do this. So you have your three homeschool phases. You have your early phases, eight and under, you're reading to them, they're playing a lot, you're play-doh, you're cooking, right? That is homeschool. Then you have your eight to 14 where you're diving into the subject, reading, writing, math, science, history, geography, all of those things. And then you have the later years, which is 14 and up, which is more like mentorship. Who do you want to be? What are your skills? What are your passions? What are your drives? What moves you? And let's dive into those things.

SPEAKER_00 11:31

Yeah. Yeah. That sounds great to me. No, yeah, I do agree with that. And and those ages can vary depending on the kids, you know, some earlier, some later. But yeah, I agree. And we said it before, you know, the 12 years of instruction, it's not necessary. It's really not. I mean, you get that foundation pretty quickly. And after that, the just to release them to study what they love, pursue their interests, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

Yeah. All right, you put some thoughts in my head while you're doing that. I was like, home. Um, yeah, tell us how some of your kids, hi Lynette, tell us how some of your kids have gone in at um because you've got 11, you've still got five at home, but two of them are heading towards high school or ages, as I say.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

I've got one that technically graduates this year, and then the next would be graduating, I think, next year.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

So tell us what that looks like for your high schoolers. Or when I say high schoolers, I mean age.

SPEAKER_00 12:34

Um, the oldest one right now at home is 18. Very little subject instruction this year. She did a lot, she worked a lot. Um, you know, one of the things we try to focus on toward the end, the high school ending years, a lot of financial literacy because they're about to grow into adulthood. They're about to have to face those questions of, you know, managing their money. And somebody said the other day, you've probably seen the meme on social media, but I'm so glad they taught me parallelograms now, tax season. But trying to get some of those real life skills practiced up on before they leave home. Um, but yeah, just saving money. I mean, this is their adults now. I, you know, our 18-year-olds are pretty much adults. And so, no, they don't sit and do school for hours a day anymore at home. I might still have them doing some of their reading and basic stuff, but they're adulting now. And so while they're still at home, we're helping them transition into adult type skills where they can still be under our oversight, but figuring it out for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

This is how children actually work better, you guys. This is like the system has so messed with our heads on this. Yeah. Um, Jesse Dill says, My little is four. We get started next year. She already reads better than a friend daughter in third grade. You must be spending time with her. Imagine that, right? Rachel says, I'm looking to homeschool my son, nine to twelve, nine through twelfth grade, I assume. Not positive which direction to go in, but he has his heart set on the Air Force, specifically commissioning and becoming a pilot. Now, there is a slight difference for military. So, but I have good news for you. Okay, before I go there, what information do you have on military?

SPEAKER_00 14:17

I mean, they require a transcript. That's gonna be one of the big things. What do you mean specifically? Are you Well, do you have any kids who've done it? Oh, yes. I have a son who is in his fifth year. He's wrapping up as a Marine. He'll be graduating, retiring as a Marine this December. Um, and so yeah, he, of course, they have to take the ASFAB, which I loved this so much. So, my son, he was the first child that really started me on the journey of seeing education completely differently. And what I mean by that is we were going through the traditional stuff and we got to the higher math, and not even higher math, honestly. If I'm being honest, we got to like algebra. And he was just like, he just couldn't comprehend it. And my previous, I was a teacher before I started homeschooling, and all I could think of was, you know, you've got to do this. This is what they require, and you're gonna not succeed in life if you don't have anyway. Long story short, I finally just stopped. I was like, I'm not doing this. We're not crying every day over math. We stopped what we were doing, started Dave Ramsey's financial literacy, like I said before, personal finance. And you know, all the while thinking, am I doing him a disservice? What's gonna happen? Is he gonna be able to? He passed the ASF with flying colors. He did fine. Um, they required a transcript. When it came to the math, I put personal finance in the math slot. No trigonometry, no calculus, no algebra. They accepted his transcript. He has thrived and it's all good.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

There you go. I love that. So I will tell you, um, Rachel, my homeschool village has partnered with a program. And this is for those who are going on that kind of path. Because as we know, the Asbab is now help me with this because I don't have any children in the military. I only have friends who've done it. But we actually have the two women who helped me run my homeschool village, we're both in the military. So they actually can help you and your child do what needs done to get them there. But we have a company who came to us, approached us. Um, their specialty is getting your children to score higher on the ASBAP so that when they're going in. Now, tell me if I'm right. So the higher you score, the better the position you get when you come in, right? Like if you score low, you're like front-end soldier and you score high and you get to be put up in offices. Yes. Am I right? So you want your kid to score as high as possible because their pay immediately is higher. They're well, so the company that we have contracted with, which is that you get full access to through my homeschool village, actually has proven test scores way high ASVAB. SAT, ACT, and ASVAB, that's their specialty. And so if your child's going into that and that's where they want to be, you can sign up for my homeschool village. You can get in there, you can use our curriculum, you can use all of our stuff, and then you he can take that ASVAB. And I don't know if you can do it earlier. Obviously, you got to be 18 to be getting into the military. So going in early is not really that option. But if you wanted to do early college and put that on towards his transcripts for that as well, it's a possibility, all of which can be done through my homeschool village. So if you want to go check that out, but we have partnered with this company and they are across the country. Kids who are taking their courses and then taking these classes are like their scores are like going way, way up. That's awesome. Uh yes, 9 through 12. He has been in public school until now. My husband is prior Air Force, but he went in enlisted. Okay. Well, so if you are looking at homeschooling him to get him further, go sign up with my homeschool village and we'll help you out with that, especially because I've got the two moms that Trish and Tony, who are my left and right hand arms inside my homeschool village, have both one was army, one was uh marine, and both women can help with that and help get him there. They're very good at that.

SPEAKER_00 18:06

I would have loved to have something like that when my son was thinking about it. Of course, I will say he decided after he was moved out of the house. So in our situation, it would not have necessarily been a thing, but it's a good resource to know about.

SPEAKER_01 18:21

So make sure you're sending them over. Yeah, these women are the ones who went and found it. And I was like, all right, whatever this means, it's a new thing for me. But yeah. But even then, you don't have to finish official accredited high school. You don't need, you do the transcripts. Inside my homeschool village, I already have the transcript, like an entire editable transcript that you can go in, fill it in yourself and print out. I even have instructions on how to submit them. And then I even have a diploma you can print out and turn and so you it's all done for you. You just go put in your information and have a video on there on how to do it. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

And I know that you I've heard you talk about this before, and and I get this question all the time about well, how do they get a diploma? How that we've never been asked for a diploma, ever, ever, ever. You don't have to produce a diploma. No one, your employer is not gonna ask for a diploma, his the military didn't ask for a diploma. It's just a piece of paper, so that when you go through a graduation ceremony and your parents and grandparents come, they have something to hand you.

SPEAKER_01 19:20

Yes. And you know what's interesting? Um is the world knows that just because so passing schools become just another trophy, a participation trophy. And everybody knows that now. At one point, passing high school meant you didn't get held back. You know, they used to hold back kids. They used to, and so passing was like a real right. Whereas now most kids they'll pass anybody because it looks bad on their records, and so everybody gets passed. And the employers know this. Employers know that everybody gets passed, so your diploma means zero. And so they're looking for character, they're looking for hard work. One actually one school for my daughter asked for a diploma. It was for um, she wanted to become a massage therapist, she applied to the school, and we paid out of pocket. It was like 14 grand for the year to get her in. And they asked for one. And I was like, She's homeschooled. Well, we have to, it's it's policy. So I made it and sent it. And they go, Well, we don't, they could see what was happening. And so I actually had a conversation. I was like, just give me the owner's name and give me a who do I need to talk to? And so I got on the phone with them and I'm like, let me explain. Okay, and I literally gave him that speech. A diploma means nothing. My kid's been homeschooled, works hard. She will be your top student, guaranteed. Finally, he was like, Okay, but she has to be 18 when she graduates because she's working on human bodies. I'm like, deal. So he's like, I'm not giving her a license until she's 18. I'm like, I think that's more than fair. And and they did. And when she was done, he was so impressed with her as a student, he started to personally seek out homeschool kids for his program because they were a better student.

SPEAKER_00 21:02

I think that we need to revisit the work ethic thing. How much more important that is than anything they do subject-wise. So there's three kids that come to mind. This has happened with every single one of my kids, every single one who goes into the workforce. They come home and they're like, Mom, if somebody will just show up and put a decent effort in, they would thrive because the workforce is so bad. And I hear these stories over and over and over. I've got a son who just started work for a company and he's about to be um promoted. He's been there four months. There are guys who've been there for years, and he's like, they don't work, they don't care, they don't try. And it's so easy to advance if you just have a little bit of a work ethic. And so I think we underestimate that as homeschool moms. Like You can just remember that part, then you don't get so hung up on all the other parts.

SPEAKER_01 22:04

Yeah. Teach the workout. Everybody's focusing on the things that don't matter because they don't see what really does. And I actually, my brother owns a company and they needed a front desk, somebody to run the front desk, be customer service. He said they interviewed like 20 kids. He said, I hired the first one who didn't take his phone out during the interview. He was like, I was so disgusted by the people who couldn't even put their phone down to talk to me, the owner. He was like, and they're gonna treat my customers how? He was even then, he said it was really hard to find somebody that wouldn't put their phone down during the interview, but then wouldn't stay on their phone while they were at the front desk. So the first guy who stayed and didn't live on his phone and actually did his job, he goes, We gave him a raise and we'll do whatever we gotta do to keep him. He didn't have any more um expertise than anybody else, right?

SPEAKER_00 23:01

Absolutely. And Elena says, and how to talk to people, so important.

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Yeah. How to talk to people, which I think should be done in the first eight years of their life.

SPEAKER_00 23:11

Yeah, we call it humanology at our house. We call it living life and having conversations, yeah, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:18

It's called you did not just talk to your mother like that. Don't you ever, right? It's like it's about being a mom and not letting your children be raised. Yeah. Yeah. Badly, I was gonna say to be idiots, but that wasn't very nice. Um my mom told me once because I was going through a phase where my children were driving me crazy. They were little, and I remember my mom came and visited me, and I can tell she was absurd. And I thought, oh no, here it comes. She was right, she goes, you know, Becky, if you raise your kids so that you don't like them, no one else ever will either. And I was like, I don't like my kids, and she goes, No, you don't. And it's obvious and it's your fault. And I was like, Whoa! And so after that, I was like, Okay, I'm gonna raise my kids so that I like them. I know how a lot is laughing. I want to like them. And now I, oh my gosh, we have so much fun. I adore them, but now so does everybody else, and I have to share.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

Yeah, yeah, you're right. It's so true.

SPEAKER_01 24:18

Uh Rachel says, I'm also concerned on extracurricular. He's big into playing music bands, so we're hoping he can at least do that, but it isn't something the school has to require. Where are they? Still allow sports participation. He's not into typical sports, but has gotten into archery and he's still allowed to do that, thankfully. So, yes, schools do that. Now, I have children who are in the same boat, and we actually pay for music classes, and there is a band there, and my kids are going and doing a band. Um, and then they're also doing archery, and there is a co-op that has an archery team, and then there's another team here in Alabama that is just a homeschool team. So many states require that homeschoolers still have the ability to attend any team, anything, any electives. There are a few states that don't. Like we lived in Maryland and they would not let my kids on campus. It was like, you gotta be kidding me. But that was the only state that we ever had trouble. Everywhere else was like, yeah, they can. So you should still be allowed to do that in most states. And if not, in the states that don't allow it, the homeschool has already got together and created it. You just gotta get on Facebook and find it. Yep. And if they didn't, you create it. It's there's a hundred moms looking for what you agree.

SPEAKER_00 25:28

So true.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

Okay. Did your kids do any electives in high school, Kelly? Electives like like what you're talking about, yeah, like go and do a sport or like play soccer or all my kids.

SPEAKER_00 25:44

Yeah, all my kids have played sports. I have very athletic kids. I had four that did gymnastics. Um, they were really, really good at it. And then I had four or five that cheered, and then four that played football. So I've got three that still play football. They're very gifted and they love it, and so many opportunities for homeschooling. I mean, and we have a band that they could join. I don't have any that have joined it, but actually, our church has a little, we did a concert last night where we have a lot of music um opportunities for them there. They're just they're everywhere. But yeah, mostly sports is what my kids are into and piano lessons, that kind of thing. See, voice lessons.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

I did not raise sports kids, I raised theater kids. My kids are in theater. Yeah. And band and art. But they were able to do it at charters. We would do a charter and just take electives only, or anyway. We've done different things with different kids at different stages.

SPEAKER_00 26:41

Yeah. And I have several that are very artistic. Um, have a lot that are artistic in a lot of different ways, but I have two that are very, you know, art like what you think of art. I can draw lifelike portraits, is what I'm trying to say. And we started an art class here years ago for that, and that was very helpful and fun. And like even last night at our church has a co-op and they did a silent auction for the art, and one of my son's pieces was getting a lot of attention, and there was a bidding war and all this stuff. So lots of opportunities for you know, yeah. No, I want to see it. What did it eventually go for? I think it went, it was just a little, like very small, $30. Yeah, but bidding war. Yeah, it's amazing. It was his first uh pointalism piece, and it was an eagle, and it was absolutely amazing. If I knew how to share it on here, I would.

SPEAKER_01 27:35

So see, all kinds of options. Uh Rachel says, Good to know. We recently moved states, so we're still getting to know everything, but we live in the middle of nowhere. What state are you in?

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Thank you. Oh wow. So it's all just made of dots. Oh my god, it was patience. I know, right? That's what everybody was saying. Like, how do you have the patience for that?

SPEAKER_01 28:02

But anyway, the patience and perseverance alone in that picture.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

Yeah, that was pretty impressive. How did he learn that though, as a homeschool kid? YouTube. See, you don't have to pay a lot of money for a class. I have kids who've learned instruments on YouTube as well. Yeah, he's never taken a class. Wow. Yeah. And in my homeschool village, we actually have partnered with a company called Creative Bug, which is a Joanne partnership. Um, and there are hundreds of art classes because I don't want my some of the kids I don't want on YouTube for obviously reasons, right? Whereas Creative Bug is basically a YouTube of arts, crafts, DIY life skills. And so it's part of my homeschool village. So when you join my homeschool village, you get access to creative bug. And it's got herbal remedies, it's got how to make your own teachers, it's got how to garden, how to sew, how to knit, how to draw, paint, all of that. And so your kid can like, I like it because my kids can go in and play without me spending money on this, then this, then this. They can just go in and test it, like not my thing, and come out and find something else without me having to spend more money.

SPEAKER_00 29:16

I'm going straight there after this. You judge. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

There's things in there I want when it comes holiday time, you're like, I just want to craft, and you're playing with Pinterest, go to Creative Bug because it'll actually give you the list of what you need, how to do it. And then some things are like classes over months, and some are just a one-time deal, and you just pick what you want.

SPEAKER_00 29:34

That is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 29:35

I didn't even see that in there. I know it's my most underused program because it's just, I don't know why. Because I don't push it enough. I guess I don't explain it because everybody's looking for reading, writing math. But we forget how important the arts are. Like, and the reason is because we need to be creators. Yep. Our happiness comes from creation.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Well, and I talk about that with my sons. My Marine son is also a brilliant artist, and he was the one that struggled with you know certain subjects. If he had been in school, um, he would not have been recognized for his genius, right? Because we have this little, you know, our little measuring sticks are if you're good at math, English, science, whatever, that makes you the good student, the smart kid, whatever. And then we've got all these geniuses walking around out here that are not recognized, and it's just as important. And you just should be recognized more. And so that's the other benefit when you're homeschooling, then you don't have that. Um, you can hold them up the same.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

I well, I agree. And you know, I love that you said that because I have a nephew who is the most hardworking, he's actually hitting like national records right now and running. He's a runner, and his best friend is the fastest high school runner right now in the country, and he's like number three. My nephew is killing it in high school. He's about to graduate, and he and I are talking, and he's this hardworking, brilliant kid. And he goes, I just don't know what I want to go to college for because I don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer or you know, and he listed off like 10 things that they tell you you can be in school. And he goes, So I don't know what I want to do. And I said, Hold up, that's your only options. And he writes down for me his options for school. And I said, Why is that? Why are those your only options? He goes, Well, what else is there? Like he has no clue. So he and I sat down and I was like, Well, let's go over your options. So we sat down and talked about his skills, his loves, what does he enjoy? He's like, so I start sending him books and he's starting to read them. He's like, Yeah, Becky, guess what? I'm reading. And we're back and forth because he had no idea the possibilities for his brain. And I'm like, just to open their minds to the possibilities.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

Right. Yeah, that's huge. What are your top favorite books like that to recommend to kids who are not sure what they want to pursue and to help them see what more options they have?

SPEAKER_01 31:58

Um, one I actually have been reading recently. There's one called Outwitting the Devil. I don't know if you've read it. Um it is by Napoleon, is it Napoleon Hill who did it? Or was it there's these two writers? There's Think and Grow Rich. You've probably heard of that one. Yes, he there's also a three-book series there, Think and Be Great. Think and Be Success, something like that. Anyway, I'll have to, but I have them on a list. It's actually a PDF that I I give away. And there's top like 20 books that I recommend. And I personally think that if a kid just read those books, their potential, their brains would open up, their finance, business, possibilities, how to basically create the life you want to create, kind of books. And I do have that list. Um, you have to comment teens, and I can on my socials if you comment teens, I'll send it to you automatically. Or um you can go message me, private message me, and I can give it to you guys. Is that in the village anywhere? It's also in the village under the file cabinet. Okay. Teen book list. And they're and I've read every book on there. I didn't put it on there if I haven't read it myself. Because I grew up from poor parents who were very limited in their thinking, didn't believe that if you weren't born to be rich, you were never gonna be, you know, kind of very limited. And it just I felt trapped. So when I became an adult and started discovering things, I just one book would lead to the next, which would recommend the next, which would recommend the next. And so over the last 25 years, I've read a hundred books. I don't know, and it just changed my mindset, my brain, which is what I want my kids to have. Yeah, I love it. Oh, Celeste in Utah. I just moved from Utah. I used to be in Spanish Park, and now I'm here in Alabama. Uh Amelia says, How does homeschooling go for kids and teens in Illinois? As good as anybody else.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Yeah, I don't know the difference. I get a lot of questions about specific states.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

I'll have to just do a quick search and see what the laws require, but oh, she said teens, and my automatic messaging system just sent her the DM for my teen book list. Perfect. Sorry, hope you want it. It's set up. We're working on redoing that now. My VA is helping me redo all those because you said teens, you just got sent the teen book list in your DMs. Yeah, you can't. But Illinois is a good place to do it. They actually have a lot of homeschool teens out there.

SPEAKER_00 34:24

Now, I did hear lately there were some scary laws that were being proposed. I don't know if they were passed or not, but I know I got some emails from some moms in Illinois that said please pray for our state. So maybe somebody can enlighten us.

SPEAKER_01 34:39

Yeah, if you go to the HSLDA.org, because I've been here in Illinois in the news for homeschooling. Yeah, I know they're trying things. Whether or not they're succeeding, I don't know. But if you go to the HSLDA.org and scroll to the bottom, there's a place that says bills were watching. How to vote? And you can go in and and yeah. I love that little site. But yeah, I've had friends who've homeschooled out there, and there's a lot of homeschoolers. Yeah. Okay, more questions for us, guys. I'm sad. I am waiting to see if we get the funds from the state, or else I would have jumped on with the discount for the program. Oh, Celeste! Yes, those lovely Utah funds. Um, and we used to be an approved vendor, and then they changed all of their everything. And so I'm not an approved vendor anymore. Uh I have to go back in and figure out boy, it's a mess on the back end, and they keep changing rules on us. And so is vendors. It's really hard to keep up as we're trying to do it with all the other states. Other questions. Now remember though, when you do join my homeschool village, like it covers everything. So you're not gonna have to buy another program here, another program there. You're not gonna have to go in. So it will save you a ton of money by getting in there because of all the things you will no longer have to buy. Because I even provide digital planners. Like, you don't even have to buy a planner if you join my homeschool village. I've got five different ones. Pick the style. Do you want one that goes with your menstrual cycle, or one that's for your kids, or one for your teen, or one for you? So I love it. One stop shop. It is. That's what we're trying to do to a point. Sometimes it gets a little overwhelming. My son is five, and we are doing another year of the busy toddler playing preschool. Have you heard of this program? I have not. No. Um, that's cute though. Never heard of it. Are you liking it? Oh, Rachel says, when I say middle of nowhere, I mean Amish country, beautiful southern Ohio, but it takes 30 to 45 minutes to get anywhere. Same. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 36:48

Tell where you are. You know where I am. I'm in the middle of nowhere as well. She is.

SPEAKER_01 36:54

So we are both in Alabama. And when I moved to Alabama in January, then we decided to meet up and I drove down. And yeah, it's two and a half hour drive down there, and there is not a lot in between me and her. Except three. Yep. Yeah, I'm sure your son I love Minecraft education. And the kids get in and they're playing, and then some kids get a little overwhelmed by the noise and the banter and whatever. And so we do if you use the chat only day, turn off your sound, and you can only type, which is really good for their spelling. Um, we are actually going to be going down to one day a week of Minecraft so that we can do some other gaming type fun things inside because the kids enjoy playing together, but a lot of kids aren't loving Minecraft. So we'll have a Minecraft day. We're working on like a Mario Brothers Day where the kids can get in and play different games. So we're working on that. For those of you who live out in the boondops in the middle of nowhere, this is where my homeschool village really comes in handy because the afternoon classes give your kids friends without you having to drive 30 minutes to the next buddy. So Less wants to know how she can help. Is this your five-year-old? We both bash heads.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

That was yours. Oh, I knew you were gonna say that. Um, so I'm curious about what you would be bashing heads over with your five-year-old. If you're talking about anything school related, stop because they're five. So I am a huge proponent of delayed formal learning because they're already learning so much. And playing like just unhindered playtime is so foundational for their learning later on. So if you're trying to force your five-year-old to do anything, stop. There should be no bashing of the heads at this point over that.

SPEAKER_01 38:38

What you're gonna do is you're gonna shut them down.

SPEAKER_00 38:40

Yeah, I wait as long as possible to start anything formal, and even then, it's very minimal. You know, we do some copy work and reading and some basic math. If it's not coming natural, then you might want to reevaluate what you're doing and how you're doing it. And so, uh, yeah, when they're young, most of everything can be done in just a real natural, like the way you've been doing all these years before now.

SPEAKER_01 39:05

Yeah. It's like you don't, you know, you wouldn't force a one-year-old to be potty trained if they're not ready. Yeah. And it's just easier on the ready in math. It's like we try to force it down their throat and then they hate it and then they fight us. Whereas if you let them come to you with it, they'll embrace it faster. It's about, and remember, this is like this needs to be tattooed on every homeschool mom's forehead. It's about the person, not the curriculum. It's not about the subject, it's about the child. Keep the relationship first. If it's hurting your relationship, let it go.

SPEAKER_00 39:38

Yes. So she said it's with counting or working with numbers. Yeah, don't do it again next year. There is so he's learning how to count if you don't do anything deliberate. He just is. I mean, and you can even do it like you know, when you're doing your thing, you can count out loud. How did he learn the English language? Answer me that question. Did you sit down with him and do a formal program for his to teach him English? Answer me that.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

If he is nine to twelfth grade, he shouldn't be doing anything. He's old enough to take control of his own life and take control of his own education. If he wants to be somebody, he's gonna be somebody. If he doesn't want to be somebody, there's not a lot you can do about it, but you raised him right. This is the phase where you go, I raised him right. I need to trust that I did, and I need to let him now find his own path. And you check in, you manage, you should not be doing it all. So you should be able to have plenty of time working with your special needs child because a child of ninth grade or above should be mostly independent now working on their own.

unknown 40:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:54

Oh, he doesn't want speech therapy, says Celeste.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

So did he have to have speech therapy? Is there an issue? Because the reason I asked that question, you're one of the few moms on the planet. If you did a specific program or curriculum with your child to teach him how to speak the English language, it's the same thing with accounting. You know, I always crack up if you see um see curriculum from a kindergarten school, you'll see things like pick which one is the opposite, or there's all these like worksheets about opposites and in and out, and these are things that our kids learn naturally. So we should not be teaching those things um unless you just want to keep your kid busy, because that's what they're for. All of those things are they're gonna learn unless you lock them in a dark closet somewhere, they learn all of those things naturally. So let's say let your five-year-old be free.

SPEAKER_01 41:53

Let him be five.

SPEAKER_00 41:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 41:55

Now, speech therapy if he's got a list. Yeah. If there's something actually wrong, right? Um, but I do, I do think that we have been taught to jump into therapists sooner than we really need them. Usually it's a time thing. I had a doctor, pediatrician. I'm sitting in the doctor's office with my fifth child with all five kids. So they know I have, and it's a brand new doctor, and my 12-month-old isn't walking yet. And she turns to me and she goes, I think we need to get a therapist in to teach your son to walk. And I laughed out loud. It was like guff all. And I she looked at me shocked, and I realized it came out extremely rude. And I said, Why would I need a therapist to teach my son to walk? The other four are fine. I said, Is there something wrong with his feet? Well, no, he's just not on. And she was telling me he's not with his peers. I said, I don't care what his peers are doing. The boy will walk what he wants to walk. He has no problems with hips, knees, legs. He's fine. She was like, Let me give you the name of a therapist you can call. And she went to hand it to me. And I was so fed up with her by then, I wouldn't even take it out of her hand. And she goes, You're not gonna take this, are you? I said, No, don't waste my time. I fired her. Never go back to that doctor again. I'm like, I'm a mother of five children. You don't think my child's gonna, I have to get a therapist to teach them to walk at 12 months? Guys, well, it's not over therapy. Now, I'm not saying that's what you're doing, Celeste. Ask yourself, what is my instinct telling me? Is my instinct telling me this is good and helpful? Then do it. If your instinct is like, what am I doing? Then don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 43:21

I fired my pediatrician too, and I think it's a good point. Be very careful with taking recommendations from your doctors. Yes. They were being ridiculous about several things.

SPEAKER_01 43:35

Yes. Do not be afraid to fire a dentist, an orthodontist, a pediatrician. I only had one that I loved, we had for 10 years and then moved. And his whole idea was, You're the mom, what do you think? Before he would give me any help advice, he would say, You're the mom, what do you think? That and brilliant. Oh, I love 10. But um, I have yet to find it. It's been 10 years. Since we've had an actual pediatrician, I'll take my kids to on a regular basis. I'm still skipping when we need any or visit, we go. Otherwise, forget it. Because I'm so sick and tired of the crap they're pushing on us. And the the last time I took a kid in, they tried to push all kinds of meds on her. I'm like, no. I lose more faith in the medical system every time I walk through those doors. So if they don't have a broken bone or something that seriously scares me, we're not going.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Same here.

SPEAKER_01 44:28

Okay, I'm gonna let you answer this one, Kelly. How do you fire the pediatrician? You don't go back. That's how you just there have been times I'll walk in and go. I literally, it felt so empowering to stand up, look him in the eye, and go, you're fired, and walk down. All that's empowering. But you don't have to do that.

SPEAKER_00 44:48

You don't have to be all controversial. You just never go back. Still go. Yeah. And after that, we didn't have a pediatrician anymore. And so, like you said, if my kids are sick, I took them to the local family doctor. Like you literally, one more of those status quo things, like you have to have a pediatrician. You really don't. And if you find a great one, good. But it's not one of those things you have to have. This particular pediatrician, she sent several of my kids to have test after test after test. Same thing you were talking about. She she looked at my son's leg and he had a dimple in his thigh, and she sent us to a specialist to make sure something was not aligned or whatever. And when I went to the specialist, of course, it's money, money, money, money. He looked at me, he's like, Why did she send you here? And he laughed. Um, she did a spinal tap on my three-week old in the office because her fever was like a hundred point, whatever the 100.4, like one point above what anyway, just freaked me out and put her in the hospital.

SPEAKER_01 45:49

It was just so we can't and follow your mama gut. I was like, yeah, God speaks to women, especially mothers who are trying to protect children. And there have been a lot of times where I would just be like, something's wrong, and we would just leave. And I the more I trusted that, the more I would get that. Sometimes I would walk into a doctor's office and just be like, and I'm literally, I pray before everyone, Lord, if this is good, tell me to go with it. If this is bad, tell me to go with it. And we have had some serious surgeries my kids have had to have, um, and some serious things we've had to watch, and we've had some you're leave us alone. And it was my gut that told me every time. And I followed it. And that's when my kids did okay. Um, Celeste, I love this question. I'm wondering if he's on the spectrum. How do you help those on the spectrum? I want to hear your opinion on this, Kelly.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Well, you know, every time I ask this, I don't have a lot of opinion or help because I don't have one that has dealt with autism or anything like that. I do think that we have an overdiagnosis of things in general. And I think we're all on some spectrum, right? And so I think we have to be careful because there are times when it's legitimately something that we're gonna need to approach differently or whatever. But there's also times when, I mean, I have friends that joke with me about they call me neurodivergent for a number of reasons. I probably am, whatever that means. How about we're all just different and we all have, you know, so be careful with that assumption. Um he may be, but I do think there's a huge epidemic of children being overdiagnosed for things. But as far as like, I don't know, the age, like what do you need help with? Like how the question being, how would you homeschool a child on the spectrum? If they're truly dealing with autism, I would have to reach out to get help for that.

SPEAKER_01 47:42

I have a point of view on this that I think is a little uh interesting because my husband and I grew up were raised. Sorry, we lived in Maryland for 10 years, and where we lived, so my husband's a NASA engineer and he's a little on the spectrum. I'll be honest. Now, did I know that when I married him? No, I didn't even know what that meant. He was just socially a bit awkward, but he's brilliant. Sweetheart and a half, but boy, does he miss social cues that we're explaining all the time. Okay. Well, I went to a Christmas party at NASA with guess what? Every person in that room is on the spectrum. I'm not kidding. Like all of them, you guys. And then at church, so where our church was, like on this side of the church, two miles this way was the NSA, and on this side was Goddard. Okay, over here were all the government workers. So my church, every person inside that room was on the spectrum. All of them. I met the most amazing people in that church, and they were so heavily on the spectrum, but everybody was, and it was just normal in that area. I was the awkward one because I didn't get it, and that's okay, but I loved these people and they were so wonderful. But what I learned was the more the spectrum, the more the genius. So the people that were really weird socially were so genius, they were the ones that are currently protecting our country because of their brains. And their kids were just as weird, but they were like focusing in on things. So a lot of times they'll focus in deeper in one area. What you do is you just customize their education to their strengths and weaknesses and quit trying to make them be like everybody else. There is a place for them in this world. It might be in the NSA and it might be at NASA, but all you got to do is show up to a NASA party to find out where all the spectrum kids are hanging out.

SPEAKER_00 49:29

Like, I mean, they're there. Isn't that the same exact thing that we're talking about when we're talking about all these kids who let's say they're mechanically minded, but we put them in school, and school is trying to make them be all academic and they're not academic. I mean, isn't that kind of the same thing if we would just let them thrive where they're good? Because we have to have all of these different people to operate. We need the people on the spectrum that are super intellectual, we need the mechanics, you know, and so yeah, that's my mission with homeschooling moms, is helping you see, stop trying to put everybody in the school box. That's the name of my thing. Think outside the classroom. We are all different. So find their genius and let them at it.

SPEAKER_01 50:18

Yep. So Nicole wanted to say something. Nicole, you're always welcome to say something. Nicole has actually been a SPED specialist and homeschools. And so it's Nicole, you always have. You want to pop in live or you want to just list it here. Nicole has some feedback on that, Celeste. Celeste, also, if you want to like message Nicole in there and you two message each other. I'm hoping Nicole will be joining us very soon and helping more moms with these questions inside my homeschool village. Rachel says this is and still is something I struggle with. And everyone to push that diagnosis, even though it wasn't fitting for her symptoms. Come to find out she had a rare syndrome. As far as homeschooling, we are doing at-home instruction. So I teach her, but the teacher she had helps with curriculum. She is 12, but learning on a first grade level. So I'm not sure what the future looks like moving forward or what the state will require. Well, actually, the state will require nothing. There's no requirement for a child, honestly, on any children. You they're required reading, writing, math. They're not required grade level anything. So watch your laws. It's very careful. I mean, it's very interesting. People go, well, what I need to keep my child who's on a spectrum at grade level. No, you don't. There is no law in the US that states your child must be at grade level. There's a law that states you must educate your child. So please pay attention to those words. You don't have to have any child on a grade level. I don't care what they're learning. And people say, well, if I have an IEP, that gives me legal right to not have my child at grade level. No, there's no law that states you have to have a child at grade level. Go ahead, Nicole. Hi, Kourtney Ann. But yeah, that's one of those things that drives me crazy is this idea that somebody's coming after us if our child isn't up to par. And I'm thinking, this public school system does not put children up to par. They are so behind.

SPEAKER_00 52:09

Well, I had a lady yesterday, she said, um, I have to have my kids tested. I'm in Georgia. And I say, you have to have your kids tested. Give me more information about that. And she sent a screenshot of the homeschooling law required, and it said something about um it says, have your child tested, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. You do not have to submit these tests to the school district. And I was like, sweetheart, that's for you. It's if you want to. There's nothing in that that says you have to submit tests. We've never had our kids tested. Um, there are a few states, I'm sure, that you do have to submit those tests, but many of them you do not. So parents just get under this. I mean, even reading that, I could see it, and it's like she was all hung up on having her kids tested.

SPEAKER_01 52:54

Panic, fear, fear is controlling us. Massachusetts is telling parents, I think it was Massachusetts, is telling parents, um, if you're gonna homeschool, that's fine, but sign this registry. Guess what? You don't have to sign, you have to file a thing that says I'm homeschooling. They're asking them to sign the registry, and the parents think they have to sign the registry so that there is a homeschool parent registry, your kids, your names, your address. You don't have to provide that. You just say, I'm homeschooling. I don't want to sign your registry. And you can walk out, but parents are so scared. This reminds you they're controlling us with.

SPEAKER_00 53:30

I bet you do the same thing, Rebecca. When I walk out of Walmart with a big item in my cart, do you show your receipt to the lady at the door? I don't. I feel like such a rebel. They're like, Man, see your receipt, ma'am. I'm like, no, thank you. And they don't know how to take it. But I heard somebody say that's just one example of how we train the masses to comply. And people just don't even know they have the option. Like, you're not required by law to show your receipt. I have not done anything wrong. You don't have evidence that I've done anything wrong. You know, anyway.

SPEAKER_01 54:06

I know, and it's becoming more of a passion for me lately of showing the parents the law versus the reality. Like I spent a lot of time on HSLDA four parents and on their behalf, going, Who told you that? Well, the principal said, Okay, did you look it up yourself? Did you go in? Did you and it amazes me how many people don't check the authorities authority? Um, and I'm such a pet peeve now, it's getting worse. Nicole says, There is no better teacher for your kid than you. There is no better individual education plan, IEP, than that, what you, the parent, will create. God gave you and only you, those kids, because you can. They don't need a diagnosis to homeschool.

SPEAKER_02 54:45

Oh, amen.

unknown 54:47

Did you feel?

SPEAKER_01 54:48

There you go. There you go. Amen to that, Nicole. Thank you. And that is what we're teaching here. You just need a mom or a dad or even grandmas. Just you just need someone who loves them and is like, what should we learn today? Hi, Marion Weaver. So it's we've been on here for an hour. We're gonna go. But guys, in the meantime, make sure you're following Kelly. It's at the classroom. Make sure you're following Kelly, especially if you're looking for how to finance homeschooling. If you want to work from home in very few hours a day, guys, very few hours a day. Make sure you're following Kelly because Kelly shows you how to make money from home. And then if you're looking for an online curriculum and a program and co-op, go make sure you're following me or joining my homeschool village, and we help you with that. Lindsay, you're welcome. And then you're welcome to message either one of us with either any questions that you have as you're homeschooling. That's what we love to do. We've been doing this a while. Alana, thanks for being here. Yeah. Thanks, everybody. Okay. All right, you guys have a great week and happy homeschooling. That's the wrap for today. I hope you're leaving with something real, something you can actually use. This is a long game. You don't have to get it all right today. Just show up tomorrow. That's enough. If this episode helped you, share it with another mom who needs it. And if you're ready for a village to do this with, find us in the show notes. Until next time, keep going. The revolution starts at home.