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Welcome to this year's Verity Baptist Church homeschool seminar. What we're going to be going over tonight is reasons to homeschool, different ways to legally homeschool in California. We'll go over some legal resources, curriculum choices, the VBC homeschool group, and practical tips. So what we're covering first is 10 reasons to homeschool. Number one, the parent gets to train the child. The Bible says, train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it, Proverbs 22 6. So we are commanded to teach and to train our own children. And a lot of times, you know, the public school, you're going to be sending your child away from the home for sometimes anywhere from six to eight hours a day, and a lot of times they're going to be doing some training also, and a lot of it. That's a good portion of the day. So we know that we need to homeschool because we're supposed to train up our children. Number two, Bible devotions, memorization, and prayer can become a routine during your child's day. The Bible says, and these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, Deuteronomy 6, 6 through 7. So we can see that God was commanding us to be teaching our kids all throughout the day, morning, you know, afternoon, evening. And how are we going to actually be doing that if we're sending them to public school? Okay? And they're not going to be learning God's word there. Number three, the parent can ensure that the child will not be taught anti-Christian philosophies. The Bible says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction, Proverbs 1.7. So it's really our job to help protect our kids. And in the public school, they're going to be taught a lot of bad philosophies like evolution, same sex marriage. Right now, transgender is a huge one. And it's our job to be protecting our kids from all that. Number four, the child is not separated from the parent, which allows them to not be put in vulnerable situations. It's our job, like I was saying, to protect them. And, you know, in schools, we hear things of pedophiles, you know, that's like, you know, really, really common for these teachers to prey on them or coaches. And you don't want to, you know, have your children exposed to, you know, pedophiles or drugs. Or now we hear so often of school shootings, you know, that's a big one. And I can only imagine what it'd be like for me if my kid was stuck in a school on lockdown and I can't get to them because there's a school shooting. So it protects you from a lot of that. Number five, the parent develops a stronger bond with the child. So obviously, the more time you spend with your children, the stronger your bond is going to be. If you're the one who's sitting down teaching them all these things, you know, educational wise, you're building your relationship with them. Number six, the parent is more likely to discern problems and struggles your child is going through. If your child is, you know, struggling with lying, you're going to be able to pick up on it sooner rather than, you know, if they're in the public school and you're not around them as much. Does that make sense? And number seven, the parent is protecting the child's influence from their peers. And this is really serious, you know, peer pressure even happens in adults, but how much more to kids? You know, they're always trying to fit in and, you know, they're going to get pressured on things like drugs, alcohol, you know, pressure to view pornography or, you know, there's bad worldly music, bad language, there's, you know, also being exposed to fornication. So these are all things that we're trying to help protect our kids from. Number eight, the child receives one-on-one instruction. Studies show that this is very beneficial. We can see, I mean, there's, you know, parents, you know, they know when their kids need help, they hire tutors because there's something, you know, very important about that one-on-one instruction. Number nine, more schoolwork can be accomplished in less time. So a homeschooler's time is just more productive because you can focus on the things that they need more help on versus if they don't need as much review in an area, you can kind of just breeze through it. So it's more productive time. And number 10, you can focus the education on your child's strengths and interests. So you can take them, you know, to music classes or have art or you can focus it like on a foreign language. You're really in control of what they're learning, which is really nice. Homeschooling myths. Myth number one, my child won't be able to socialize properly with other children. This myth couldn't be further from the truth. Homeschool children interact with parents, family members, neighbors, friends, and people in the community. They do not stay cooped up in the home. They have the ability to go and socialize at church, parks, the library, field trips, PE groups, music lessons, and many other outside classes. In fact, the socialization children get during homeschooling is healthier, happier, and more productive than what occurs in most traditional schools. So and I feel like this is kind of dying down. I feel like, you know, the United States is growing in the area of homeschooling. We have a lot of homeschoolers now, so I feel like they are socialized. I don't really feel like this is an issue as much, but I feel like homeschoolers are better socialized. Like, I've seen them in church where they're talking to adults. They're talking to kids younger than them. They're not like public students who only feel comfortable talking to children of their same age. Does that make sense? So they're able to communicate with all types of people, which is very good. Myth number two, I'm not qualified to teach my child. And this is a big one, and we're going to talk about this later on. This is something that a lot of people will struggle with. They'll feel inadequate. But it says, we are commanded by God to teach and to train our children. God gave your child to you, and he has equipped you with all the things necessary to be able to teach and to train them. And you know, a lot of times when our kid starts fighting, like, oh no, I feel so inadequate to teach him. But you've already taught them so many valuable lessons. You've taught them how to use their manners. You've taught them to walk, to talk. You're daily instructing them. But somehow we get this feeling of inadequacy when we think, oh, we have to teach them to read now. But you shouldn't feel that way. And we'll talk about that more later on. Myth number three, very few people homeschool their children. That's a myth. More than two and a half million children are homeschooled in the US. So it's growing, and it's even really growing, especially here in California with a lot of the vaccine laws that have been passed, because a lot of people just want more freedom. And so they homeschool. So California, I think I was reading that they anticipate each year a rise to seven to 15% each year in just the state of California of more homeschoolers. So it's really growing. Myth number four, kids who are homeschooled will never get into college. It's actually the opposite. Just 74% are more likely to go to college versus 46%, which are traditional students in public school. They usually have higher GPAs. They test better on their SATs. So usually they're actually more educated. We're going to go into different ways to legally homeschool in the state of California. Compulsory education children who are six by September 1st of that school year to 18 years old must be enrolled in public school, charter school, private school, or tutoring. There are five different ways to homeschool legally in California. So number one, and this is how I do it, establish your own private school PSA. This is much easier than you might think. To start a PSA, you must establish and choose a name for your school. You are required to keep the following on file, a statement of qualifications to teach, a course of study for each child, health records, and an attendance register. And that might seem like, oh, wow, I have to keep all that stuff. But I'm going to show you later on Homeschool Association California. They show you samples of everything. It's actually very, very easy. And that's just to stay at your home. Nobody looks at that. The only thing that you are required to actually send over is you are also required to file a private school affidavit each year between October 1st and October 15th. And now you would only start this if you had a six-year-old, ages six to 18, okay? And all it is, and that HSC gives you a line-by-line instruction of exactly how to do it. It's very simple, takes about 10 minutes, and you're done, okay? So it's actually very, very easy. We have very low regulations when it comes to homeschooling here in California, which I'm thankful for. I choose this option, and the reason why I choose this option is because it gives me the most freedom in my home. I'm not allowing the government to come inside my home. I'm not meeting with teachers on a weekly or monthly basis. I do it this way because I feel more in control. Number two, the second way to legally homeschool your child is to enroll in a private school satellite program. Now these aren't too common here. I've actually never met anybody that uses this system, but I think they are more common in other states. Number three is to enroll in a public school independent study program. So what this is, my brothers and actually my sister did this, it's just where you meet about once a week at the public school, and you're assigned your homework, and usually you'll do testing there, things like that. So you are doing most of your instruction at home, but you're still using the public school curriculum. So you're going to have things like Common Core, you're going to have evolution type things, just be exposed to a lot of the things that public school are promoting, but at least you're not under their influence, you see, by their peers. Number four, enroll in a charter school independent study program. There are many charter school programs that cater only to homeschoolers. They offer funding for learning resources, which are chosen by parents and are not limited to state approved curriculum materials. They may include payment for learning activities, including music classes, martial arts, photography. A credential teacher meets with the parent and child approximately once a month. Learning samples and standardized testing are required. Now I feel like a lot of people might want to do this way because they're enticed by, oh, I get to, you know, put my kids in a lot of these classes and I get money. And something that my husband and I, we decided is that we will never make a decision based on money, okay? So we rather keep more of our freedom as parents and not allow the government into our home. So that's kind of our choice. There are families, and I haven't found any of the families in our church that do charter schools, they have not done this, but sometimes what ends up happening is when you do have your kids in the charter school, the charter school like keeps them so busy with all these extra activities and classes that they don't come to the homeschool ones that the church offers and they're with a lot of other, you know, religions, like more things that they just don't need to be around, kids that they don't need to be around. Okay. Number five, tutoring parents with a valid teaching credential can act as tutors for their children or they can hire tutors with a valid teaching credential. Again, never met anybody that did that. I'm guessing that's just for the famous people. Now we're going to be talking about legal resources. So the first one I want to talk about is Homeschool Association of California, okay? So this one is accessible to all. It protects homeschool freedoms, provides in-depth homeschooling information in a variety of ways. It promotes homeschooling in the media, and there's also a lot of special circumstances like withdrawing your child from school mid-year, homeschooling after divorce, homeschooling in custody. It gives you a lot of those things like, oh no, I just want to take my child out mid-year. What do I do? They walk you through the steps and they are helpful. Like I had to actually call them because, and I'll talk about that later, but I had an issue and they were on it. They had a representative within an hour calling me and they were very, very helpful. And this is free. They are free and they're here just to fight for our freedoms, for homeschooling. So they have a lot of volunteers and they're there for you. Any questions you have, they're very, very good. And then there's HSLDA and what HSLDA is, it's a homeschool legal defense association. And this one you do pay for. So basically they will represent you. It's a legal representation and anything homeschool related, say like you get a false accusation about your negligence on how you're educating your children. They will support you. It's a hundred, I think it's $120 a year. I do this. I'm not saying you do have to do this, but I like just that little assurance, especially since my husband's a pastor. I do like that. So it gives you kind of that peace of mind that if anything were to happen, you have lawyers that would be there to support you. And then we're going to get to heritage defense. Now heritage defense is like HSLDA, except for they take care of the things that are not related to homeschooling. So let's say they say that you're beating your children or something, something terrible, you have a false accusation and they're just saying these things, they will support you. That's 195 the first year, $145 the year after, and we have them ask also. So the nice thing about them is HSLDA, and I'm not saying it's needed, I'm just kind of giving the information, but HSLDA and heritage defense, the nice thing is that they send out these newsletters, they really try to keep you informed. It's just really helpful. And now this is from HSLDA, if you see the map up there. This is a guide that you can see of how hard or easy it is to homeschool in your state. So green, if you see all the green states like Alaska, Texas, Oklahoma, and there's many more, those are states requiring no notice. So you don't have to inform the government at all if you homeschool. You see the yellow, California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, there's many others that are states with low regulation, usually it's just you have to file something once a year. Then there's states with moderate regulation, they might have you do standardized testing or something. And then there's states with high regulation, and talking to Ms. Aurora, that was a lot of work, a lot of work that they would have to do to send in quarterly reports. It's a lot of work. So be thankful that we live in California, that it's not too hard to homeschool. Maybe you can look at that map if you ever consider moving, it kind of gives you the idea of what you're dealing with. Some states are so strict that they want you to have teaching credentials, things like that. So just keep that in mind. I think there's only a couple that actually want you to do that. Okay. So HSE position, California Senate Bill 277. So this is the Senate Bill that it basically took away the religious exemption. So before you used to be able to file a waiver that was for religious exemption and you could say, I do not want to vaccinate my children and they would allow that. So Senate Bill 277 took that away and they only allow for a medical waiver, but we are protected under that. And if you just go on to read and there's a lot more detail in your manual, anything you know, that's the five legal ways to homeschool. You do not have to comply with that. We do not have to immunize our children and that's what SB 277 is. And there's lots more information in your manual that we're just kind of, kind of skip over. Okay. But with that said, so when I said that I had dealt with homeschool association of California, I had made a mistake a while ago. When I was filing my affidavit, I had, it said, this was two years ago. So I think I had a third grader. So it says third grade and you're supposed to put the amount of homeschoolers or students that you have. So I put third grade one and then fifth grade I accidentally put five. Okay. So they recognized me as having six students. So about last year started happening around January, February, I was getting so many calls from these public health officials saying that they wanted my immunization records for my kids. And it didn't stop there. I was getting contacted by my school district. I was getting calls like all the time. So I contacted homeschool association of California and I told them what had happened. And I had kind of done my own research and I saw that six kids were, it was kind of like this magic number in the system of immunization records. But keep in mind, so it's six kids between the ages of six and 18. So most of you won't ever be there. I will be there eventually. So it's good that I got to this knowledge. And interestingly enough, they never had to deal with this. So this letter has to do with me. So it says HSC was contacted by one of our members recently who had accidentally filed the private school affidavit over a year ago claiming six children when she only had two. So two homeschooling, obviously I have more kids than that. So, and it just goes over like what I had to do. So by law, we are actually, this is what they came up. So she had to take it to several representatives. But after studying the law and asking a lot of different people, lawyers and everything, what she found out was this. We all are actually required to report immunization records, but the state of California does not even have the manpower to be able to do that. So what they do is only if you have six kids or more that you're homeschooling, they will get notified and you have to basically go to shotsforschool.com. And all you have to do is just tell them that you're a home-based school. You are not required to immunize and you just put in the amount of students you have. You're done. Okay. So it was kind of a scary time. I wasn't sure what I was going to do, but it's really easy and I'm glad I know ahead of time. So that is the law, the rule there. And they're going to continue looking into this because this actually took them by a huge surprise. So I don't know that they'll ever be able to have the manpower to be able to check up on all of us. I just don't foresee that happening. But just for you to know, if you have six or more students, you do have to go online and let them know that you do not immunize. Or if you do immunize, you know, you give them those records. Okay. So in your manual, it goes over what to do if contacted by CPS or a truancy officer. I do recommend that you kind of read that all at home, but I just have these five steps to follow. But before I get there, I feel like this is a lot of homeschool moms or just Christian's fear is that you get CPS called on you. Know this, that it is rare, but it can occur. And I don't feel like CPS is just 100% these evil people that are trying to take your kids away. I don't believe that. I believe, you know, most of them are good and they're just trying to do their job and they're trying to just close the case as best as they can and be done with the investigation. Okay. But in the meantime, so what to do if they show up at your house and you might want to post this on your refrigerator or just somewhere that you know what to do. Because you know, if you open up the door and surprise, they're there, you know, you kind of want in your mind what you're supposed to do. So number one, never allow them in your home without a warrant. Number two, do not allow them to have access to your children, see or speak to them. So let's say you open the door, your kids are around, you kind of close that door, say kids, you know, go to another room, okay? Because they can, let's say you have a bad CPS worker and they see a bruise on one of your children or they see something that is alarming, at that moment, they can try to do something. Okay. So you just don't want to have them access, see or speak to them. Number three, ask to see ID and get the business card of the social worker. Number four, find out what are the allegations. So by law, they have to tell you why they're there at the door. Now by law, they can't tell you who made the allegation, but they need to be able to tell you what the allegations are. And number five, tell the social worker that you will call them after you speak to your lawyer. And at that point you would, if you have HSLDA or heritage defense, you would contact them. If you don't have them, you know, contact another lawyer. But I feel like this is a fear that's put in a lot of people's heads. And like I said, a lot of times they're just doing their job. Somebody didn't like you, they said they're just trying to get you in trouble. A lot of times you'll meet with the lawyer, they'll tell you, okay, let's just meet at the park. Let's just sit there and observe your kids or something from afar, not even speak to them. So the lawyer kind of acts as a mediator to try to get the investigation to close, okay. So they're just doing their job. They're not all evil, okay. Different homeschooling methods. So we're going to talk about different homeschooling methods. You can read onto these. There's way more methods than these, but there's lots of different techniques that you can use. Christian book publishers. There's a lot of different ones. There's Rebecca Alpha Omega, Bob Jones University, Landmark Freedom Baptist, Rod and Staff, School of Tomorrow ACE, so that's ACE. Christian light education. So we personally only choose to use curriculum that use the King James Bible. There's a lot of so-called good curriculums out there. Like I know Apologia, everybody raves about their science, but me personally, I don't want to expose my kids to writing out or memorizing non-KJV Bible verses. So that's kind of my personal take on that. And that also doesn't include things like, obviously I use like Saxon math, but that math, there's nothing religious about that. That makes sense. Okay. How to save money on curriculum. So number one, buy used. Check for deals online through eBay, Amazon, Craigslist, thrift books and homeschool buyers co-op. So even though if you're doing something more like consumables like ACE, you can get answer keys, you know, used a lot of people are selling those, you get them on eBay. I know Ms. Victoria just got a really good deal on eBay for the score keys and she can pass those down to her kids. So it's, it really helps to buy used. Number two, combine curriculum, purchase one history, science, foreign language or art and use with multiple ages instead of buying separate curriculum for each grade. And this is something that I do more for my little ones. Like I might just do combine history and we'll do it together. It also makes it just easier for my time when they're not at the reading level. So that kind of helped too. Number three, save curriculum. Save your older child's books, teaching manuals and answer keys to pass on to younger children. I've saved all my books. So from the time Joshua was doing preschool, I saved all those manuals. And even if like some of the additions update, they're usually coincide maybe a day or two off. I know it so well because I've been doing it all along. It doesn't throw me off. It's very easy and it saves me a lot of money just saving all those manuals. Number four, attend homeschool fairs, conference and conventions. So this allows you to look before you buy. Sometimes when you're online, you can only see it within the book like three or four pages. Or if you go to these fairs, you really get to see what it's like on the inside. And I mean, I think the last homeschool fair I went to, I was able to see all of the Christian curriculums and it's kind of nice just to compare. So they offer discounts or free shipping. Number five, kingdom builder books. So this is local. This is in Roseville and I forgot to update this address. Now they are located in the same complex, but if you were to put this address in, you're going to go to a different location. So you just kind of drive around in the back and they're right there. But they offer new and used curriculum. And this is kind of like the homeschool fair. You can look at so many different homeschool curriculums and it's just so nice to see. Even if you're just looking for good books for your kids, they have a lot of good Christian books, you know, like novels that they can read on their own. So my boys love going there to look at the books. And they have a variety of Christian curriculum. And then something that's really good, let's say you have a really big gap or your youngest want, you know, you already know that you're not having any more kids or something like that. You can trade in old books for store credit. So let's say, you know, you're not going to use this curriculum again. You get store credit, purchase something there, you know. So it's really, really nice. Okay, next. How to earn a diploma while homeschooling. So it says, can my child earn a diploma? If you read in it basically by law, if you have a private school, home-based instruction like me, or if you have it, you know, just whatever, a charter school or private independent study, you can issue your child's own diploma. Okay. You don't have to have any special accreditation or anything like that. You can issue them a diploma by law. Then there's also what is the CHSPE. So California Education Code Section 48412 establishes the California high school proficiency exam as a means to earn the legal equivalent of a high school diploma. And so basically when we issue our child a high school diploma, it's not accredited through the state. Okay. Now most of their jobs are going to see it as a diploma, but it doesn't actually have the accreditation. It would be just like that of a private school, if we sent our kid to a private school, it's not going to have the state accreditation, but it's still recognized as a diploma. But let's say you just want to make sure, have all your bases covered, get them the California high school proficiency exam. Now this is mostly recognized by all states, but not all states. So then once they're, I'm sorry. So when they're 16, they can take this California high school proficiency exam. So this is what I'm going to do. I'm just going to kind of explain to you what I'm going to do. So let's say when Joshua graduates, I'm going to issue him a diploma. When he's 16, he'll take his California high school proficiency exam, which is also looks like a diploma that's recognized as a diploma. And then on top of that, there's a few states that may not recognize that. Then when he's 18 is when they can take their GED. They can take their GED, which is federally, everybody recognizes that as the same as a diploma. Okay. So what I'm going to do in the high school years, there's a good article on www.californiahomeschool.net. And if you wanted to, your, your child to take the SATs or things like that in order to get into college, they give you a lot of things that you can do, or even like what to do for a worker's permit, things like that. So check that out if you are there. Something else that I am going to also do is I would like to keep transcripts for my high schoolers. This is not required, but what I like about it, and this is just a example of a transcript. This is actually from Ms. Heidi for Garrett. And what I like about keeping the transcripts for them is it kind of shows them as a student, how they can work towards it and what they need. And if they want to, you know, strive to graduate early or things like that, they see what's required of them. So I will probably do the same. And then we are going to talk about Verity Baptist Church's homeschool group. Okay. So it says Verity Baptist Church is a homeschool friendly church that ministers to homeschool families through our church's homeschool group and ministries. We offer homeschool field trips during the school year. The field trips are free of charge to our homeschool families. The cost is covered by the church. And right now, because our homeschool group has gotten so large, we no longer do monthly field trips because so many places don't accommodate that large of a group. We switch to every other month, but it's still really fun. So we also offer a PE class for the homeschool children of Verity Baptist Church. The class is held every other week during the school year and is free of charge. The PE class covers a different sport each month, such as soccer, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, kickball, and many others. It also provides a class for younger ages, which focuses on beginning exercises and fun games. The homeschool group also offers a beginner level Spanish class for all ages. The class meets every other week during the school year. The class focuses on building the children's Spanish vocabulary by learning common Spanish words. The children also memorize the key soul winning and doctrinal verses of Spanish. And this is good because like I really wanted my kids to learn Spanish. So they have most of the gospel verses all memorized in Spanish, which will give them a head start if they do want to learn Spanish and be able to go soul winning, you know, to Spanish speaking people. And this year, I'm kind of excited about this, we're going to be starting this this year, we'll start a project fair. So this will be an opportunity for your child to choose a topic, research, and present it. The categories will include history, science, fine arts, and crafts and skills. And I just really wanted to do this because it'll give our children a way to be able to have to stand up in front of people and present their work. That's something that maybe some homeschoolers, actually, I got this idea from you, Courtney. So it gives you it gives them that ability to feel confident standing in front of people. I know I had to do a lot a lot of this in school and I want my kids to be able to stand before a group and be able to to present you know, to have a speaking abilities. And here's some pictures of our VBC homeschool group field trips. We have California Pizza Kitchen, they got to take a tour of the kitchen and then make their own pizza. Then we went to the IMAX theater, which was a Lewis and Clark exploration documentary that was a lot of fun. And then each year we have a Valentine's Day party where we do games, cupcake decorating, card making, and a card exchange. The VBC homeschool group holds a graduation ceremony for all the homeschool students who are graduating at the end of the school year. The requirements for VBC homeschool group is you must have a child who is age three or older, be actively homeschooling, and an active member of Verity Baptist Church. So when I say homeschooling, here's what I'm trying to say. What I'm trying to avoid is this, that you put your three-year-old into the homeschool group and then when he turns five, you put him into the public school, okay? That's not what it's designed for. It's designed for homeschoolers. Here's a picture, I think this was two years ago too, of all the homeschoolers or the kindergarten homeschoolers with my husband. Now we get into the practical tips. Okay, so it says, allow learning to take place all day, not just within the school day. Let your child discover and learn things that interest them, and take the steps necessary to provide the resources to further their learning. So for this, my kids love to read, well I want to further that, so obviously I'm going to buy them a lot of books so that they can keep up with that. You should just be striving to have a home that's always just learning, okay? So have a set place where you do school. We don't want our kids to just lazily do school on their bed laying down and just throw their books all over the place. It should be serious. You have to think about this. I'm training them to be these good adults that know how to work, okay? When they get to their job, they're not going to be able to act all lazy. Don't let them act lazy at home. Have your books and materials in an organized place. If you're like me, you want to keep using your same books, so keep them nice. Teach your kids how to keep them nice. Train them how to put them away nicely and things like that. Involve your husband. If he has a hobby or skill that he could teach your children, this can be done after he gets off work. Make sure you do not overwhelm your husband with the children's schoolwork. Your goal should be to get through the school day before your husband gets home. So don't overwhelm your husband when he gets in the door just and be like, oh, I didn't finish math and I didn't get to reading. You know, just let your homeschool day be done by the time your husband gets home so you can enjoy your family. Enjoy that family life. If you didn't get to it, just get up early the next day and get to it then. You don't want school to overrun your whole life. Does that make sense? You just want to be able to have your family time when you can have your family time and school time when you have school time. Consistently discipline your children. It is easier to teach a well-behaved child than an unruly child. So you shouldn't be, you know, working on disciplining your child and trying to teach them to read at the same time. They should already be past that. Teaching a bratty child to read would be so hard. They need to be able to learn how to sit still, how to pay attention already by the time they're four or five. Okay, so get that discipline and early help them to know how to obey and you'll have an easier time teaching them to read. Don't get tied down and overwhelmed with trying to get through your curriculum. Many complete curriculums are meant for a six to eight hour day, thus providing hours of busy work. For example, if my child has comprehension questions and is required to write them, I may change it and allow for a verbal response. So a lot of like curriculums, maybe like such as a Becca, they have like a lot of busy work or they call it seat work. You don't have to make your children do all that, you know, busy work. It's going to make for a really long day. Just cut some of it out unless they need it. If they need extra help in that area, then by all means, give it to them. But just remember, like it could be really overwhelming and tiring if they're just constantly in their desk. And it's a lot for you if you have to correct that work as well. So just do what needs to be done. Okay, have balance in your home. Don't over schedule yourself. Be practical, especially when it comes to outside activities. Try to be home most days of the week so you can stick to getting your school day done. Okay, so I just kind of want to warn you, if you're starting homeschooling, it can be tempting to take them to violin lesson, piano lesson, and to this class and this class and go here and everywhere. Okay, you're going to spend the majority of your time driving and you're not going to be at home where you need to be instructing them. So just make sure that you're not driving from appointment to appointment. You can be smart. Just think outside of the box, okay? Something that we just started Joel on is he does online piano lessons, and it's worked out great. He likes it a lot, and so that's worked out. Also, we hired Brother Evan to teach Joshua the trumpet in between church services. We're already here, so make good use of your time. If you want your children to be learning things, try not to schedule it within Monday to Friday where you're always just gone. Just try to think in other things, and use the internet. It's nice that we have these tools, utilize them. Developing confidence in your teaching ability. So realize that if God has given you children, then he has given you the ability to teach your children. So I know this is a big one. People feel so inadequate at times, but you are your child's best teacher. You've taught them so much. Realize that. You can teach them to read. It just takes consistency, which leads me to the next thing. So it says, remember, teacher manuals are designed to logically lead a child through the learning process. Follow the plan, and you will be fine. So you don't need special training. I think some people think, how am I going to homeschool? Do I need all this special training? You don't need special training. It's in the manual. It tells you exactly what to do. Let's say you never taught before. Just follow that manual to a T. It says, oh, introduce the letter A. A says, ah, ah, ah. It tells you a good sequence that's been tested and tried. It's been worked on many homeschool families. And just add another letter, then you do your plans. It tells you exactly how to do it, when to do it, and it works. Just stay consistent with it. It's not hard. It's just hard to be consistent. Does that make sense? It's not hard to do it. You just need the consistency. Don't compare yourself with other homeschool moms, okay? Most people tell you their success is not their failures. The Bible says, for we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. But they measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise, 2 Corinthians 10, 12. So people like to boast and brag, not people, some people. Some people like to boast and brag and tell you, oh, well, I do this with my kids and I do that. And they're just trying to make themselves feel good. They're not telling you, oh, yes, and my laundry room is overflowing and I didn't cook dinner last night and we had McDonald's two nights in a row or something like that. They're not telling you what didn't get done, okay? They're telling you what they're so great at, okay? So just don't listen to that. And try not to be around people like that, okay? They're not good for you, okay? Just realize that no one is perfect and we are not seen to their day-to-day life. What they put on Facebook, what they put on Instagram is not really what their home life is like, okay? That's just what they want you to see, okay? So yeah. And then on the contrary, on the other side, don't compare your kids to others, siblings or other homeschoolers. So kids learn differently, some catch on sooner and some take longer. God made your kids with different talents. Be content with the children God gave you and don't try to force them into what you view as the perfect child, you know? We wouldn't want to be compared, like that would just, that would really hurt me if my husband was comparing me to someone of their wife, you know? So don't compare your kids. You don't, you know, that'll really damage their spirit. Don't compare your kids. Just accept them for who they are. What is your child's dominant learning style? So you can take this learning style quiz from www.homeschoolon.com and it was really interesting so they're, basically they put it into three different categories. You can see other things online that might call it more right brain versus left brain learning. It's like more visual versus like auditory. Okay, so we'll just read. Visual learner says a learning style in which ideas, concepts, data and other information are associated with images and techniques. Okay, so that's how they learn. They're more called a visual learner. Then there's auditory learner. An auditory learner is in a style in which a person learns through listening. An auditory learner depends on hearing and speaking as a main way of learning. Auditory learners must be able to hear what is being said in order to understand and may have difficulty with instructions that are drawn. But if the writing is in a logical order, it can be easier to understand. They also use their listening and repeating skills to sort through the information that is sent to them. Okay, so the public school system is mostly set up like this auditory learning, okay. Then there's the kinesthetic learner. According to the theory of learning style, students who have a predominantly kinesthetic style are thought to be discovery learners. They have realization through doing rather than thinking before initiating action. They may struggle to learn by reading or listening. So it's going to be more like your hands on, okay. So that's actually what got me into studying all this was I started trying to teach Lydia and I just thought it wasn't working, you know, like number flashcards were not working. It was better that we actually do hands on things and count out objects, does that make sense? So I think I'm going to kind of more take like a little bit of a Montessori approach to her just because it's really hard. She's busy. She wants to be like constantly moving. It's hard for her to sit still in a desk. And I think if she was put in the public school, they would say, oh yeah, she has ADD. She can't sit still. I don't believe that. You know, I just think that God created her with a lot of energy and she's going to do something great with that energy. But it's my job as a parent to try to teach her, you know, the things that she needs to learn in a style that she will be able to learn. Now with the visual learner, I have a visual learner. So if you have a student and they're really struggling with math facts, let's say they've been learning their multiplication for years and still struggle with some of them, but yet they can do like an algebraic equation, just perfect, but they still might have to look at, oh, what is nine times nine again or something like that. You're most likely dealing with the visual learner. Okay. And this is like something that I was looking at. So think of this. So I have this, this little card, it says eight times three. Because what do they say? They say, oh, learn your facts by just going through flashcard after flashcard after flashcard. You'll learn it. Well, the visual learner thinks in pictures. He sees eight times three and he sees nothing. Okay. So in his mind, he sees eight times three. Oh, what is it? What is it? He doesn't know because it's not shown. Okay. Cause he's taking things in pictures. Now the auditory learner who learns by repeating, he says, oh yeah, eight times three equals 24 because he's learning through hearing and repeating. So he knows it. So these work great for auditory learners. Okay. And what would be better is if you showed them this side, eight times three equals 24. That's a mental picture in their head that they're going to get. Okay. So they'll, they'll realize, oh, 24 they'll recall a lot of times visual learners though a lot of times they'll look up to think, oh, what is that? It's because they are visually trying to find a picture in their brain. Okay. Another interesting thing with this is sometimes this isn't even enough. Okay. They need to see it in more of a picture form. And I, there's this lady online and she created these little stories for multiplication facts. And it was like the number eight, he was this little boy and he was scared. He was scared because there was this big bully, number seven, the top of the seven was these broad shoulders. He was so scared of this bully that he called his dog named 56. And so in the dog is this picture of 56. And so she developed these pictures because she had a child that was struggling. And so a lot of times visual learners, they'll associate through emotion, through pictures. That's how they learn. So, you know, that's just kind of helped me to realize, okay, this is maybe something that I need to implement. You know, having my son writing out his multiplication facts over and over and over is not going to work. This method is going to work. Or maybe even the picture method. I have one son. Yeah. He can just repeat them and he's got it. He's got it. He's good to go. Also with that said, like an auditory learner, they can just sit down with their workbooks and work through it and just be just fine. Like one of my sons, I don't have to help him a lot. He just finishes his work. Well, that's because he knows he's an auditory learner, which is exactly how the public school system is set up, which is why a lot of our kids are failing because people are not reaching in and trying to change things up with how different kids learn. Okay, something that I started implementing last year for my son that is more of a visual learner is he does Saxon math. Well, that is totally for an auditory learner, the way it's structured. But something that on YouTube, and this is good for any of you guys that do Saxon math. Something good is that YouTube, there's many different teachers on there and it will just coincide. It'll say lesson one, Saxon math, seven, eight, or whatever, whatever they're on. And there's a teacher there and she's explaining things with a whiteboard and they're drawing. So they feel like interaction. The visual learner needs interaction to be taught. They don't work just well with just opening a book and just reading through it, okay? And that's what I was finding. I was thinking to myself, wow, why would one of my sons, is he just able to go get a book and just fly through it? But this other one, I'm basically, the funny thing is I'm just reading it there with him. I'm just explaining it to him. I think to myself, but you can do this on your own. Well, he can't. In his mind, he can't. He needs that interaction. So in order to save myself some time, I just have him watch the five minute YouTube video of the instructing the new problem and he's good to go. So it really helps. So just try to find different things to help your kids if they're struggling in certain areas, okay? And there's lots more information and like I said, some people use the term more right brain versus left brain. Right brain is your more creative visual, left brain is more like logic, auditory learner. Managing different grades, toddlers, babies and tips. So for younger babies, invest in a comfortable chair. Say you're nursing your baby. Something I have in my school room is I have a little chair on wheels and I can kind of scoot on over to this kid, scoot on over to that kid because I feel like I'm nursing every other year. Okay, also utilize baby equipment where you do school such as baby carrier swings, bouncy seats and play mats. Babies want to be with their mom. So where you are, put your baby. Just put some toys if they're at age appropriate. Put some toys in front. They just want to see mom. They want to spend time with you. If you put them in a different room and you're trying to do school with your other ones, baby's going to cry. Just have the baby with you. They need that bonding. Even if they're just seeing you from afar, they think, oh, food source, comfort. There she is. So it'll make your life easier, okay? Older babies and toddlers. So small children need attention. Allow them to feel involved in the school day. This can be as simple as giving them a color book and explaining how to color. As they watch their older siblings receive instruction, they long for it as well. They enjoy having their own schoolwork to do. And this is important. So I started all my kids doing preschool. I've heard some moms say, no, don't do preschool. Kids just need time to play. They learn through playing. So when it was Lydia, remember, Lydia's my high energy child. So I kind of tested this out on her last year. I thought to myself, okay, beginning of the year, she wasn't really wanting to sit still. So I was just like, you know what? I'm just going to hold off. I'm going to just let her play. And I did. I let her play. Okay? But it was the opposite. I was having such a hard time. She was acting out more. She was making unbelievable messes, you know, because a child loves himself, you know, they're going to get into trouble. Okay? So I don't recommend this, but you know, here's the thing. Here's the beautiful thing. Do what works for your family. Okay? But just do what works for your family. For me, that approach did not work. What I needed to do was just change up her preschool day. So we just changed up her preschool day. So the preschool day would be, and Ruth, Ruth is more studious. She can just sit down. So she was always doing preschool with us. Our preschool day was this. We just go through our letters and sounds, took one minute. Go through some number flashcards, took another minute. And we would either read a book or we would do what was called a Molly story. And a Molly story is just where I would make up a story. They both think that they're Molly and the sister is Stinky. They think the other one is Stinky. And Stinky gets into trouble and Molly is like the good example. So through those, like little Molly stories, like I teach them just like little manners or I taught them how to call 911. Just like kind of what you would teach a kid like going through like a health and safety book or something. I taught them how to repeat their address. Things like this. Things that are fun but in a story format where they're enjoying it. Does that make sense? So just each kid is going to learn differently and you just kind of have to get through to them differently. So once I started implementing that little school and it was first thing in the morning right after our Bible time, I noticed that Lydia felt like, oh, I got the attention that I wanted. She got a lot of that one-on-one time. She felt important. And then she was good to go for the rest of the day and could kind of play here and there and then until nap time or quiet time or whatever. So I do think that kids need a lot of attention. And when we just tell, you know, moms, no, don't homeschool your preschool or just let them go on and play. They just need to play all day. A lot of times I feel like the kid might feel like they're getting neglected a little bit and they're going to act out. But like I said, do what works for you. Didn't work for me the approach. So I changed it up. Okay. So have go to activity boxes or bags. So have little things that they can do to keep them occupied as you're doing schoolwork with the kids. And I did this a lot when Lydia was like two because she is busy and she kind of always needs to be doing things. So I would have a lot of these just up in my closet in different containers and I bring them down. Right now Ruth and Lydia are just kind of little buddies and they just go off and play, you know, once their school is done. So but they that gives you a little ideas of things that you could have. Make sure it is age-appropriate and safe. The goal is to provide an activity to entertain them so you don't have to worry for their safety. Okay, different grades. Allow one-on-one instruction with one child by having another child play in a different location with a younger sibling. So let's say you really need to just be teaching something important. You know, it's going to take a lot of your time then just have another child interact with the others in a different location. So this is if you have like a lot of kids, okay, but just remember your main goal is to get your older children working independently as soon as possible. Okay. So step up your time. So an ACE is a great one for them to be able to work independently on. So I've actually started doing ACE and it's worked beautifully. Okay, also teach and train the older child to be responsible and have the right attitude when playing with younger siblings because they'll praise your children for helping, you know, it could be a lot of work to take care of them. But when you praise them and say, oh, you did a really good job. Thank you so much for helping me. They feel they feel wanted, they feel thankful like, oh, I did something I helped, okay. Have another older child read or go through phonics math flashcards with younger siblings. I don't do this whole lot. I know some families do I tend to be the one that likes to do it. It just avoids sometimes, unless there's a huge gap, you know, where they actually feel like and recognize they're like an authority over them, then I would recommend it. But if it works for you, then do it. Establish a consistent nap quiet time with younger children and babies and devote this time for more intense instruction for older children. So I know a lot of people like to do math first thing in the morning because they say their brains are sharper. I don't and for me that doesn't work because I like it to be while my kids are sleeping quiet time is math time for us so that I can help them more, okay, but just do what works for you. are really struggling in reading. So then use that quiet time more to focus on reading. Combine grades for certain subjects such as science, history, art, and foreign language that will help you to tips for managing the home. The more you plan, the more productive you will be. So when you plan your day, it will run so much smoother, okay. If you have no plan, you're going to be in chaos, okay, you need to stick to a plan. If you're a homeschooling mom, you need to have some sort of routine or order in your home. So make a schedule or routine and follow it each day. Things to be included in your schedule is Bible reading, prayer time, exercise, shower, chores, meals, school time, naps, and free time, and then post your schedule in a visible location. I have my schedule here. I'm just going to kind of show it to you. It's the same thing. I've used this system for like the four years now, and I love it. And so if you see, so this is from last year, I need to update it for this new school year. But if you see, it has Joanne and it has what I'm doing each day, Bible reading, breakfast, exercise, get dressed, get girls dressed, Bible time as a family, piano with boys, it just goes on and on, okay. And then we have Joshua. So Joshua knows, okay, you know, nine o'clock Bible time starts. I do my penmanship. They do a switch, then it's spelling. I know I'm doing spelling with the boys. They do that independently while I'm doing phonics with Elizabeth, you know, so it's just kind of helps you correlate. But what I love about this, let's say I wanted to switch out history and science because I needed more time with Elizabeth on phonics. I can easily just move this up, switch it out, okay. So this is what makes it so nice because each school year is kind of trial. You're kind of seeing, where do I need to be spending most of my time? And you can kind of easily just switch those out. Does that make sense? So that has really worked for me. This will be like my fifth year using it. I really like it. At the end of your manual, it kind of has a smaller version of that, but you can just get a poster board. So you can kind of write it in. If you just kind of want to write it in for you, maybe just stick it on your refrigerator. If you want to do the poster board idea, just, you know, just you kind of have your graph there. Kind of know what you're doing. And I just post it behind my homeschool door. Nobody sees it, you know, nobody can ever see it because that door is just kind of always is left open. So yeah, so that's kind of how I do it. So just make a schedule. So and when it's your schedule, when it's your routine, stick to it, okay. Put distractions away. Put your phone away. You don't need to be on your phone while you're supposed to be homeschooling. And kids know whether you have, whether they have your full focus. They know if you're looking at your phone and you're on Facebook or you're on YouTube or something. They know. They know that your mind is distracted, okay. Give your full focus to your kids when it's school time. Your day will be more productive. And this can be hard for me too because, you know, I'm in the ministry and so I'm getting calls all the time. There are times where I just, I put my phone on silent and I just put it on my counter and I'm just in my school room away and I don't even look at it. And I just know I will get back to them when I get a chance because, right, you know, my family is the most important thing to me and I need to focus on my family before I can focus on others. I need to take care of my home, okay. Meal planning. So use a meal chart to plan breakfast, lunch, and dinner each week. Make your grocery list while planning your meals. This will save you time and money. And on busy days, use a crock pot or instant pot for meals. It will help. I'm just going to kind of give you the rundown of how to do meal planning if you've never done it, okay, just because you need it. So for me, I do set breakfast and lunches Monday through Friday. My husband, he does not like leftovers so we don't do leftovers in my home. So I have to come up with a different lunch and a different breakfast. Now here's the thing. If I'm going through a really busy time, if I just had a baby, I'm not going to be getting all these breakfasts. It's going to be oatmeal and yogurt for like the next, for the first three months of the baby's life. Except for Friday, they know it has to be pancake day. So Friday is always pancake day, okay, but I might bypass all those others, okay. So just for different seasons of life, you can have different things, okay. So I know on Wednesday, I don't have to think. That's what I love about this. For every breakfast and lunch, I don't have to think about it. I just have these set meals. So in the middle of my homeschool day, I don't have to be like, oh man, what am I making for lunch? Oh, I'm running through my mind and get distracted. I know that, hey, on Wednesday, I'm doing waffles in the morning. And guess what? During lunch, it's beef tacos. Okay, so I'm already planned ahead. So that's easy, your breakfast and lunch. And they don't mind having the repeat breakfast and lunch as long as dinner is always different. Does that make sense? Okay. So for dinners, this is how I recommend you starting to do it. So this is for a four-week meal plan, okay. So just write out 28 different meals that you know your family likes, okay. So just write them out. Have all those recipes. A lot of them you just might have memorized, but have recipes if you need them accessible. And then you are going to divide them into week one, week two, week three, week four. And it just gives you so much freedom in your day when you don't have to plan this all out each day, okay. It really will save you time and it will save you money. So they know, okay, we're going to do hot wings, French fries and salad or whatever. So it just kind of goes thing. If you notice on Wednesday, I know that's a busy day. So think ahead when you have your list, so you have this list of your 28 meals, you have this list. I noticed I put Instant Pot or IP for all the Instant Pot meals. I knew that I was going to use Instant Pot meals on Wednesday and Sunday, okay, because those are my really busy days because of church. So I use my easier meals that day. So this will help you so much. You're going to eat healthier at home. You're going to save money and you're going to save grocery trips. So once you have this all divided, week one, week two, week three, week four, then you take your week one. So notice it says grocery list week one and you're going to sit down with those recipes that you had. And remember, back here for your week, okay, spaghetti, what do I need for spaghetti? You're going to have it all planned out, so you have it. And the beautiful thing about this is, okay, it starts over. I just print out from my computer, week one, grocery list, oh, done, and I have my week one meal plan. So it's so freeing. So just maybe this isn't for you. Maybe you're just on a whim, but for me, this is helpful for me. I like to be planned out. When you have a lot of kids or you're homeschooling, you're busy, the more you plan, the more smoother your life will be, the less chaotic. So it is a good idea to plan for meals. Chores. Make a list of chores that need to be accomplished each week and incorporate them in your schedule. So one of the first complaints I hear from homeschool moms is like, okay, yeah, I did good in my homeschooling, but my meals are not planned. Okay, so we just answered your problem there, meal planning. And the second one is, oh, my house is just a mess. So like I said, you need to have everything on your schedule. I do laundry, I do a load first thing in the morning, I kind of get that going, and then my kids have their set chores. So just implement planning. Make a list of chores that need to be accomplished each week and incorporate them in your schedules. Involve your children in the housework. There's no way that I alone can clean up after eight people. I will spend my whole day cleaning, okay? You shouldn't be expected to do it all. If they helped make the mess, they can help clean it up. Make a chore chart or list for your children. Now something that I do for my kids is I'm always updating their chore list like every three months because it gets boring, they get tired of it. And then when I get a new chore list, they're like motivated again, oh, let's do our chore list. And on their chore list, I include like everything. I include their Bible time, their, you know, brushing their teeth in the morning and doing all these things. On their chore list, it's not just doing housework, but I'm trying to get them to develop this routine in their daily life so that when they're adults, they don't wake up and think, oh, should I read my Bible now or later? They need to be trained to do it first thing in the morning. It is vital for parents to teach and train their children to work. This will avoid raising self-centered lazy adults. Children who are taught to do chores are more likely to become hardworking adults who focus on others. So this whole principle of, oh, well, if I just, if they just see me constantly serving, you know, they're going to serve others. No, they're not. They're going to grow up to adults that expect to be served. That's in reality, that's what's going to happen. If they're constantly being served as kids, you're training them. They will want to be served as adults. So do your future daughter-in-law favor. You know, help, help, or future son-in-law favor. You know, help them to have a joy in learning how to serve others. And that leads me to another thing. Some people will have this idea, well, my boys don't do household chores. Here's the thing. My boys do household chores because I don't live on a farm, so I don't have tasks for them to do outside other than picking up the dog doodoo every other day. They're not kept busy. They will do household chores because I want to implement hardworking into their life. They need that, okay? So my boys do, that's a personal family, you know, decision, but my boys, you know, one of them vacuums, one of them sweeps, they do garbage, they take out the garbage. Joshua's great at helping me in the laundry room. I mean, they can do these things. They can be taught to do these things. Okay, next, have the right attitude. So it says, you and your children should get dressed and ready for the day. Don't stay in your pajamas. How you dress will affect how you feel. If you want to feel productive, then dress appropriately. So get dressed for the day and teach your kids to get dressed for the day. Dress nice. You know, there's a lot in how you look and how you perform, how you act, okay? Same thing goes with your house. If your house is in chaos and unclean, you're going to feel like just your mind's going to feel cluttered and you're not going to be able to focus on your homeschooling the way you should because you're going to see the dishes piling the mess everywhere. So sometimes on Monday morning, it might be a later start in my home because I'm trying to get my house in order before I can homeschool. But guess what? I know this, that when my house is in order, my mind is in order and I'm more productive, okay? So dress appropriately. Okay, strive to have a joyful home. Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be and that's true. Being happy is just a choice. It's a choice to just, I'm going to smile even though I might have a migraine, I might be tired, the baby might have kept me up all night. I'm going to try to be happy, okay? It's just a choice. Make school fun and enjoyable. People rarely succeed at anything unless they have fun doing it. It doesn't always have to be, oh, so boring, you know? Try to make things fun. Do a science experiment with your kids here and there. I'm not saying every day because obviously we can't do those things every day if you have a lot of kids, but do things here and there, fun with your children. Smile at your children. People who smile tend to manage, teach, and raise happier children. There's far more information in a smile than a frown. That's why encouragement is a much more effective teaching device than punishment and I'm not talking about some toddler throwing a fit. Usually they need to be disciplined, but I'm talking about your child, they're just not getting that concept that you're trying to teach them. Don't get mad and angry and flustered at them. Just try to encourage them and if they don't get it that day, that's okay. They can do it tomorrow. If you're ever feeling so stressed and so upset that you're going to lash out your children, just put the books away, get to it tomorrow because it's not worth ruining your home over having a bad attitude, you know, just to finish that lesson plan. That's not the goal. That's not what God wants from us. He wants us to have a good, happy, joyful home. Okay, sing with your children. You know, music is powerful. My kids love to sing and music is just, it's really uplifting. It helps you. It brings joy to the home. My kids are always just like singing, all happy. It's good. Let them sing. It's normal to feel burnt out from time to time. Try to do things that will encourage or motivate you, such as talking with another homeschool mom, reading a book, or watching a video from another homeschool family, you know, and learn from other moms. Learn from other moms. They will help you. You know, if you're feeling discouraged, ask them, oh, what would you do in this situation? Or I'm just really burnt out. It helps to talk. Never feel like you have it all figured out and nobody else can help you. Something that I love is, you know, Miss Joyce used to be a pastor's wife. So I'm always saying, okay, Miss Joyce, what wisdom do you have for me, you know, today for service? And she will. She always has something to give me. And I love that. Just never think that you've arrived and that you can't learn from others. We always can learn from others. One book that I really like that's kind of motivational of having the right attitude, I try to read it like almost every new school year, is Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit by Terry Maxwell. This is how I got the this idea from, you know, the little this idea from. And it's really good. And it just teaches you that we need to be meek and quiet in our homeschool life and in our home that, you know, it's just it's just really motivational. So that's one of the things that I do to kind of motivate me. But you find your own motivational. I'm more introverted. So I'm going to turn to a book. You guys might want to turn to a person, you know, to do that. Also memorize Bible verses for times when you are frustrated or upset, such as a soft answer turneth way of wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. OK, so sometimes homeschool life can get really, really hard. Your toddler's making a mess here. You're teaching long division to this one. They're not getting it. This one's not getting, you know, it's just failing in their spelling or whatever. And you can get so flustered and feel like you're failing. You want to get angry and use those words, but just don't. It's not going to help the situation. It's not going to help. OK, so just say that in your mind multiple times. Say it all day long. OK, if you need to. And like I said, sometimes a homeschool day just needs to be done. Sometimes it just needs to be done. You just need to put those books away, get some rest and go on the next day. That's the that's the nice thing about homeschooling. It is so flexible. I can put a half day of school work in and then double up the next day when I do feel I have the energy. OK, so it's very flexible. Just because you homeschool does not ensure that you're you will raise your kids to become godly adults. You should purpose to have a home that uplifts the Lord. Make sure you are leaving your kids with memories of a loving, joyful mother. OK, here's the thing. Just because I go to a good church and I homeschool, that does not mean my kids are going to turn out for God. If I do everything like a checklist, oh, I got this done, got this done, got this done. But I have a miserable home and I've got a miserable mouth and I'm always just mean with my words and not uplifting at all. I'm going to ruin my kids and my kids are going to have a bad taste in their mouth and they're not going to want to have anything to do with the Christianity. So make sure your home is a joyful home. And that's what I love. I know I'm like really promoting the Maxwell's tonight. OK, that's what I really like about this book. So it's keeping our children's hearts. And this is such a good book because that's that's basically our goal is to be keeping our children's hearts. And so basically when a baby is born, you already have their heart. When their toddlers, their toddlers are loving to try to please their parents, they want to make you happy. Even when they're five, six, they're saying, Mommy, look, you know, you have their heart. But here's what happens. And we see this often as they get to the teenage years, they no longer care about pleasing their parents. They want to please their peers or whoever they look up into in their life. And so what I really like about this book is how to ensure that you are going to keep your child's hearts. You know, that might mean that they don't that they don't play on sports teams. You know, that might mean that, you know, they don't get to go to this thing or that thing. It might mean that, you know, there's going to be decisions in your life that you have to make because you're looking out for your child's best interest. OK, so just keep that in mind. Try to keep your child's hearts and try to keep them away from influences that you know that their heart is going to be towards. Because if you don't have your child's heart when they're 17 or 18, if you can't say to them, hey, you know what, that girl or that boy is just not good for you and you don't have their heart, they're not going to listen to you. OK, so make sure you keep your child's heart. And remember, you're you're leaving memories. OK, you're leaving memories. Everything that you're doing right now, I mean, I'm hoping my kids just remember all the good and all the bad. But, you know, everything that you're doing right now, we're leaving memories for our kids. And if you can just get that in your mind, oh, how do I want my kids to remember me? Do I want them to remember me as always lashing out and they were never good enough and they, you know, oh, you never do this right? Or was I uplifting? Was I praising them? Was I saying, oh, you did good and encouraging? OK, you will have happier and healthier kids if you can learn to control your emotions. And that's what it is. It's just controlling your emotions. Here's the thing. A lot of times when we do get mad and upset, you wouldn't act that way if you had your friend over, you know, or if you took a phone call, you know, you change your ears, you're yelling at somebody and then you're like, oh, hi, how are you? You know, it's you know, just act like, you know, God sees us, God sees everything that we're doing, you know, so he knows when we're being fake, you know, so don't just keep your emotions in check and just remember that our end goal is not to homeschool, to raise the most educated kids so we can show them off and be, oh, look at how amazing he is. Our end goal is to raise kids that love the Lord and go on to serve him.