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Lies We Tell Ourselves as Homeschool Moms with Katie Hedrick [#133]

June 14, 2024

Click below to listen to “Lies We Tell Ourselves as Homeschool Moms with Katie Hedrick:”

Listen on Apple Podcasts | Listen on Spotify | Watch on YouTube

Key themes (lies!) discussed in Lies We Tell Ourselves as Homeschool Moms:

Lie #1: I’m not qualified to teach my children
Lie #2: My kids are falling behind
Lie #3: I’m too busy too…
Lie #4: I’m not doing enough or I am not enough

In this episode of Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast, Kelsey along with fellow life coach and homeschool mom, Katie Hedrick host of the Joy At Home podcast delve into the misconceptions and self-deceptions that homeschool moms often face. Their conversation provides support and empowerment to homeschooling moms, acknowledging their fears and doubts while uncovering the truth behind the lies they tell themselves.

Kelsey, a former teacher and current homeschool mom, and Katie Hedrick, a fellow homeschool mom, shared their initial doubts and fears about being unqualified due to their different experiences. However, they emphasized that formal teaching qualifications do not necessarily dictate one’s ability to homeschool. Homeschooling exists in a different setting, allowing for a unique approach to education. The message here is clear: homeschooling doesn’t demand that parents have everything figured out from the start. Rather, it entails seeking support and resources, embracing mistakes as part of the learning process, and recognizing that qualifications can be gained through the journey itself.

One benefit of homeschooling is to be able to let go of the constraints of standardized testing and traditional school structures. Homeschooling offers the freedom to tailor education to individualized learning styles and interests, breaking free from the one-size-fits-all approach. Homeschool can all you to embrace flexibility and creativity in crafting an educational experience that truly caters to the unique needs of each child.

For the person who feels like they are not qualified to homeschool, Kelsey and Katie emphasize the theme of self-reflection and personal growth, encouraging homeschooling moms to look back on their journey and anticipate future progress. They urge moms to celebrate their accomplishments and recognize the continuous learning and growth inherent in the homeschooling experience.

Katie will be speaking at Educate & Rejuvenate Summer 2024! Her presentation will be about how to make the transition from traditional schooling to homeschooling. Make sure to get your ticket!

By addressing the common lies homeschool moms often tell themselves, they can recalibrate their mindset and approach their journey with confidence and purpose. Homeschooling doesn’t require perfection, rather it’s a dynamic, fulfilling journey of learning and growth for both parents and children.

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Katie:

Visit Katie’s website
Follow Katie on Tik Tok- Katie Hedrick | Joy at Home (@katielynnhedrick)
Follow Katie on Facebook- Katie Hedrick – Joy at Home
Subscribe to the Joy At Home Podcast

Connect with Kelsey:

Welcome to episode 133 of educate and rejuvenate the podcast, lies we tell ourselves as homeschool moms with Katie Hedrick from Joy at Home. If you’re a homeschool mom, we recorded this co hosted episode just for you, and you do not want to miss it. Welcome to educate and rejuvenate, the podcast to help you revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. I’m your host, Kelsey Sorensen, a former teacher, current homeschool mom, published author, and certified life coach. Whether you are a teacher in a traditional classroom, homeschool from your kitchen table, or anywhere in between, I am on a mission to help you not only survive as an educator, but thrive. Get ready to up level your skills with incredible insights from guest experts and discover the missing piece, rejuvenating yourself. Are you ready to both educate and rejuvenate? Let’s go. Hello again, my friends.

Speaker A 00:01:05 – 00:01:40

I’m so, so excited for today’s interview with Katie from the joy at home podcast. She is a certified life coach turned homeschool mom, and she is presenting at educate and rejuvenate this year on our homeschool track. And she’s gonna tell you more about her session and more about herself in this interview. And what we did today is we really just picked different lies that we tell ourselves as homeschool moms. We had, like, a list of ones that we brainstormed together before we came together for this episode, and it was Katie’s idea. She reached out. She was like, I had this idea. What if we record an episode? It may air on your podcast and on my podcast.

Speaker A 00:01:40 – 00:02:09

And I was like, yeah. Let’s do it. So super excited to be sharing this with you today. This co hosted episode, it will have aired on joy at home just shortly before it airs here on educate and rejuvenate the podcast. Now if you love what you hear today, make sure that you also join us at educate and rejuvenate so you can hear Katie’s session where she’s sharing all about for anybody who’s wanting to transition from public school to homeschool. And again, that is not going to be everybody here. I know a lot of you are teachers. You’re probably like, this may not be for me.

Speaker A 00:02:09 – 00:02:45

And you could probably still glean some things from it. We talk about the lies we tell ourselves and how we need to rewire those, and you can probably still apply some of it to yourself. Or if you’re just interested in hearing a little bit more about my homeschool journey and about Katie and what she does, you can definitely check out today. But I do love that we have a special episode today specifically for our homeschool moms because I feel like we don’t have as many of those. And we do have quite a few where it’s about classroom management or about, for example, last time creating boundaries where it was very teacher geared towards admin since that’s Barb’s experience from last week’s episode. So I do love that we get to have a special episode today for the homeschool moms who listen. I am here for you too. I love you.

Speaker A 00:02:45 – 00:03:13

I see you. I love helping educators of all kinds, whether you’re teaching a traditional classroom, at your kitchen table, online. We and we talk about it in this episode today. We’re all more alike than we think. We all have the same goal to help kids grow and learn and thrive. And that is what we love to do as educators. So, without further ado, I’m really excited to get to today’s episode for you, the homeschool mom is here, the lies we tell ourselves. So let’s get to it.

Speaker B 00:03:18 – 00:03:41

Hey there, friend. Katie here. I am the host of the Joy at Home podcast. I am also a homeschool mom to 3 awesome kids. I have a daughter, age 16, and then 2 sons, age 13 and 10. So as you can imagine, we’re always on the go, go, go over here. Life is really full, but it is really, really good. Just a quick little backstory about me and my kids.

Speaker B 00:03:41 – 00:04:47

Our family was one of those families that was thrown into homeschooling during that crazy season of COVID in the year 2020. And so 2020 found us homeschooling by circumstance, whereas 2022 really found us homeschooling by choice. After that crazy COVID season, I did send my kids back into the public school system for a couple years, and all the while, I just kept feeling this tug in my heart to step into homeschool. And so we finally did that in the fall of 2022, and we have not looked back, and it’s been so, so good. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of learning and growing experiences, but today, we’re in a really good place, and we are so excited about the future. My kids and I believe that the best is always yet to come. And so, on the side, when I’m not homeschooling my kids, I absolutely love helping other moms step into homeschool. I offer a bunch of free resources over at teach me to homeschool.com, so you can definitely head over there and see what is available for you.

Speaker B 00:04:48 – 00:05:03

All that being said, we are so thrilled to dive into today’s episode. My sweet friend and I are gonna be talking all about the lies that homeschool moms believe. But before we jump in, I’m gonna send it over to Kelsey and let her introduce herself to you.

Speaker A 00:05:03 – 00:05:36

Alright. I’m Kelsey Sorensen, and I’m so excited to be here today and happy that Katie invited me to to do this episode together, and we’re kind of co hosting it. We’re going to be conversational. It’s going to be a lot of fun. We connected because Katie will be presenting at my upcoming educate and rejuvenate event, and it’s so fun. And we just get to hang out and chat altogether. So so fun. I am the host of the educate and rejuvenate events, like I just mentioned, and the educate and rejuvenate podcast, and the upcoming book titled, you could probably guess it, educate and rejuvenate.

Speaker A 00:05:37 – 00:06:05

We are in the process of rebranding my company that I started 10 years ago. It was called wife teacher mommy, and that name is still near and dear to my heart. I named it that because when I started my company, I had just had my oldest child, and he’s 10 now because that was 10 years ago. But I was so excited. I’m like, I’m a wife, and then it was a teacher because I was a school teacher before I was a homeschool mom. Actually, well, before I was a homeschool mom. So at that time, I had just, decided to stay home and substitute teach. So I did that after teaching 3rd grade for 1 year.

Speaker A 00:06:05 – 00:06:36

I substitute taught for 4 years with well, I had my first child, and then 2 years later, I had my second child. Called it wife teacher mommy because that described me, and we were helping teachers with their sub plans and everything. But then in 2019, we decided to homeschool, and it was actually a really hard decision for me. For my husband, it was not he was like, oh, I wanna homeschool. We should homeschool. But, of course, it was like I was gonna be doing more of it at that time, which has now changed. We’ve actually we do it together now. It’s I could do, like, a whole episode on that and how that’s changed over the years too.

Speaker A 00:06:36 – 00:07:00

But with that, we decided to homeschool, and then I was really glad when COVID hit because our routine didn’t get thrown off. We were, like, we were already homeschooling, so we just got to keep doing what we were doing. So after that, I was like, okay. That was a blessing. Like, I’m glad we, like, did that. So we were able to just keep things consistent for our kids, so that was good. I’m a homeschool mom. I love supporting both educator like, all types of educators.

Speaker A 00:07:00 – 00:07:32

I like to say whether you’re in the classroom or homeschooling your your kitchen table or teaching online, that’s really who I serve with my company. It’s really, like, just basically anyone who teaches anyone anything, I would call a teacher. So that’s who I love to serve over at Educate and Rejuvenate, the podcast, and what I do. I’m a certified life coach like you are, and just love supporting those who teach it to find themselves outside of that role as well. So you can make sure that you take care of yourself and take care of the kids that you teach.

Speaker B 00:07:32 – 00:08:40

That is so fun, and the work that you do, Kelsey, is so important. And I also just have to say, homeschool mom to homeschool mom, it is so fun and refreshing to connect with other moms who are in the same season that we are in, and it is such a thrill to co host this podcast episode with you. It’s so much fun. So we’re gonna dig into the lies that homeschool moms are telling themselves and believing, and I just wanna kind of preface this conversation by saying that brain science says that the brain will believe what you tell it to be true, and the brain will actually look for ways to back up the things that you are telling it. And so all these things that we’re saying and thinking and believing are really affecting our life more than we probably know. So it’s important to grab a hold of these lies and pull them out at the root before they grow into these nasty weeds in our life. So I just wanted to start the conversation by saying that that that this is a really important conversation, that we need to expose the truth about the lies that homeschool moms are believing. And I think Kelsey would agree with me that this is something that we struggle with too.

Speaker B 00:08:40 – 00:08:42

We’re both certified life coaches. Right? For sure.

Speaker A 00:08:42 – 00:08:46

Like, we still have a human brain. Yeah. Exactly.

Speaker B 00:08:46 – 00:09:06

We know this stuff. We know better, but it’s something that we still wrestle with too. And so the very first one that I wanna jump in with, I think it is it’s such a big one, and it’s probably the number one thing that’s even out there. And that is the lie that says, I am not qualified to teach my child. What are your thoughts on that, Kelsey?

Speaker A 00:09:06 – 00:09:50

Okay. So I definitely have thoughts on this because, as I mentioned, I was a teacher before I was a homeschool mom. Right? And yet I still felt like, oh, can I homeschool my child? And I had all the qualifications to do so. So So it shows that no matter what, it’s not the circumstance of whether we have a piece of paper that says we can teach our child or not because I have that. And yet I still felt like, oh, well, can I do this? Because there were all these other things too. Like, are they actually gonna get everything they need? All the the rumor of they’re not gonna get the socialization or all those things. And, also, am I good enough to teach all the subjects all the way through high school? I was starting to think big picture. Am I qualified to do all of this instead of just, like, can I teach my son kindergarten? Which is what I’m here to focus on right then.

Speaker A 00:09:50 – 00:10:43

I feel like sometimes we really think we need to know everything when really it could be something we learn along with our child. And you also have to remember, I can share from the background of a teacher as well. Yes. There are a lot of things we learn in teacher school that help us to educate in a classroom setting where you have, like, 30 students, and a lot of that is classroom management and classroom organization and things that when you’re homeschooling, it just looks a lot different. And you don’t need to have that same background in having a teaching degree or whatever to homeschool your kids because you actually know your child better than that teacher does, and they are trying to differentiate to me 30 plus kids in a classroom, which I can tell you is a challenge. It’s its own challenge that they’re focused on, and you are really yes. Well, you may not have the same teaching degree or whatever, you get to spend that time 1 on 1 with your child or with your depending on how many kids you have. But, again, you probably still get 1 on 1 with each child, right, which is so much more.

Speaker A 00:10:43 – 00:10:56

Like, for my daughter, I now know. I was worried about it, but I now know she’s thriving so much more that she’s getting that 1 on 1 attention than she would if she only had that classroom experience. So I don’t know. That’s my initial just thoughts on that.

Speaker B 00:10:57 – 00:11:07

Yeah. I love the perspective that you bring to the table on that. And I have have heard that some people coming from the teaching world and then stepping into homeschooling that actually that it can make it a little bit harder because you kinda have to unlearn

Speaker A 00:11:07 – 00:11:08

Yes.

Speaker B 00:11:08 – 00:11:57

All these things that you have learned and the whole just being qualified to teach in the classroom and the good, bad, and the differences between that and then, you know, teaching at home. I think you make such a good point too, Kelsey, and I just I wanna bring that back up. You don’t have to have it all figured out. You know? When you’re just getting started and you’re homeschooling a kindergartner or a preschooler, you don’t have to know how to create a high school transcript yet. And I think that we get so hung up on that and that we feel even more unqualified about what we do not know, and we’re putting all these additional stressors on ourselves, and it doesn’t have to be that way. Yeah. This is one that I really wrestled with because my kids feeling not qualified to teach my children because my kids had been in the public school system for 8 years. So my daughter was in 7th grade, finished 7th grade when we pulled them out to start homeschooling, and I was public schooled.

Speaker B 00:11:58 – 00:12:29

And so I really, really wrestled with, man, I am not I am not gonna be qualified. And, in fact, that’s what held me back. Between 2020 and 2022, that is honestly the one thing that held me back, was I just kept saying, like, I can’t. Like, I I don’t know how. I’m not qualified. And people began speaking truth into my life that people have been home educating their children for 100 and 100 of years. Mhmm. If you are an honorable, productive adult who knows how to read and write, you are capable of educating your children.

Speaker B 00:12:29 – 00:13:05

If you know how to do basic life skills, because, honestly, that’s what really matters. Like, your kids need to know how to manage money, how to cook, how to do laundry. Yes. They need to know the basics of, you know, reading, writing, and math, but there are things that are far more important than the little minuscule thing that I I think sometimes that we focus on. One tangible thing that you can do to to smash this lie or this belief that you’re not qualified is you can plug into some great resources, like Kelsey’s educate and rejuvenate conference that’s coming up is a great resource. Hslda.com is a great resource.

Speaker A 00:13:05 – 00:13:05

There are

Speaker B 00:13:05 – 00:13:10

podcasts out there. Right? You can go to my website, teach me to homeschool.com. And it might

Speaker A 00:13:10 – 00:13:14

that domain, by the way. Like, how perfect is that? Like, teach me to homeschool. There you go.

Speaker B 00:13:15 – 00:13:23

Right. Like, it’s, like, a great starting point. I was thinking when I grabbed that domain, I was thinking back, like, what would I be wanting to type in that would make me feel like a

Speaker A 00:13:23 – 00:13:26

googled, like, please help me. I don’t know how to homeschool.

Speaker B 00:13:27 – 00:14:06

We’re always googling, yeah, how to homeschool. So you can go check out that website. It might take just a little bit of reaching out for support, but I promise you that there are some great resources out there. If you will just go to some of those basic ones that I mentioned, those are great starting points. And someone else told me at the beginning of our homeschool journey that the truth is there are people out there less smart, less capable, and less qualified than you are who are successfully homeschooling their kids. Like, they’re figuring it out. And I’m like, if they’re figuring it out, I can figure this thing out. And I also wanna say that, most likely, you’re doing a much better job than you’re giving yourself credit for.

Speaker B 00:14:06 – 00:14:42

And the fact that you’re even concerned about being qualified to educate your children, it shows that you’re a great mom. And you just have to know going in that you’re gonna make mistakes, and it and you’re still a great mom, even when you’re making those mistakes. You live and learn and grow as you go. I remember our first day of homeschool. I made a rookie mistake of not even cracking open our curriculum for our language arts. And the one that we had chosen, it started out it’s like, okay. Circle all the prepositions. And I was like, what the heck is a preposition? Right? So I made some rookie mistakes along the way, and we look back at it now and we just laugh.

Speaker B 00:14:42 – 00:14:47

I mean, you’re gonna make mistakes, and it’s gonna be okay. You just you go and you grow as you go.

Speaker A 00:14:47 – 00:15:05

And you learn together. You can always wake, oh, when they ask a question. And this happens whether or not you homeschool. Your kids will ask questions you don’t know the answers to. You’ve been doing this all along. Right? When your kids are 3 and 4, they’re like, why this? Why that? And you’re like, oh, I don’t know. Maybe we should go to Google and look that up. You know? And that’s what you can do when you’re homeschooling as well.

Speaker B 00:15:05 – 00:15:14

For sure. It’s it’s such a redemption of your own education as the mom. I mean, the things I have learned, it’s been really enjoyable, honestly, learning right alongside my kids.

Speaker A 00:15:14 – 00:15:34

Yeah. And I will say there were even times in the classroom where students would ask a question and be like, I don’t know. And have you been talk to other teacher friends, like, students will ask something. You’re like, let’s look that up together and learn together. So, I mean, that’s part of it, is learning with them. As a teacher, whether you’re homeschooling or in a classroom, you don’t all of a sudden know everything. Right? That’s that’s so good.

Speaker B 00:15:34 – 00:15:50

And I’m glad you bring up that point because I think, as a homeschooling mom, I think that we think that public school teachers know it all, that they honestly, legitimately know it all, and then we’re like, well, I don’t know it all, so I can’t homeschool. And that I mean, that’s not true. You just shattered that right there. Nobody knows it all. We’re all

Speaker A 00:15:50 – 00:15:50

Right.

Speaker B 00:15:50 – 00:15:51

Learning and growing.

Speaker A 00:15:52 – 00:16:31

Yes. We’re all learning and growing. And and the other thing I love too is they think, like, people and this isn’t even on our list, but, like, some homeschoolers will be like, how do you work with both homeschoolers and teachers? Aren’t those, like, opposing each other? But I actually don’t think so because, one, you talk to any teacher, and there are things they hate about the public school system, like, 100%. I feel like we’re a lot on the same page. We our goal is whether we want kids, like, and for when we’re homeschooling us our own kids to have the best education they can. And so I think it’s not like you’re saying, oh, I don’t support my friends. I thought people would think I was judging them when I was homeschooling. Especially, I’m like, oh, well, I help teachers.

Speaker A 00:16:31 – 00:16:38

What are they gonna think when I homeschool? But it hasn’t been a problem at all. So I think we can really just learn from each other too.

Speaker B 00:16:39 – 00:16:45

Such a good point. Yeah. I think we all have way more in common than we realize. What’s what lie do you wanna jump into next, Kelsey?

Speaker A 00:16:45 – 00:16:55

Let’s jump into another lie. The one that I feel like comes up a lot and came up for me at the beginning of my homeschool journey too is my kids are behind or I’m failing my kids.

Speaker B 00:16:56 – 00:17:40

Oh, that’s a good one. That’s a good one. Okay. So I think on this one, I think the comparison game is something to really watch out for on this one. Again, I think that we have to take into consideration what really, really matters. Whose standards are we holding our kids to? Who are we comparing them to to say that they’re they’re falling behind here or there? And perhaps they have giftings and talents in this area, and maybe this other area just simply isn’t their strong point. One thing I love about homeschooling is that we have the freedom to investigate those things that they’re interested in and passionate about and really help develop those skills. And what is that gonna do for their future? If that’s something that they’re passionate about, it might be a good idea to sort of pursue that path.

Speaker B 00:17:40 – 00:18:20

Cover the basics, but let them pursue the things that light them up. I think sometimes we want to check all the boxes and make sure we get through all the, you know, standard subjects in our homeschool day, and then that’s part of what causes us to feel like they’re falling behind or or or failing or, like, why don’t they like this or that subject? Do what you have to do to meet your state’s requirements, but Mhmm. Give your kids the freedom and allow yourself the freedom and the grace to kind of follow what they’re interested in. Core core subjects are important. Yes. But I feel like there’s so much more to it, and so this comparison standard and them falling behind, I definitely feel like is a lie.

Speaker A 00:18:21 – 00:18:49

I agree. And I love what you mentioned about how we are able to help them develop what really lights them up. I do feel like that’s one of the huge benefits of homeschooling is we can, yes, cover all those core subjects, but then you have more time in the day to explore. Let’s say they’re really into singing or acting. I mean, that comes up because that is my daughter. And we have time for her to really explore more of that too because she’s not in school for as long every day. I do love that about homeschooling. And so you can look at, like, what are the benefits of that they’ve been homeschooled.

Speaker A 00:18:49 – 00:19:32

My answer to that question too would be that, again, who says what behind means? If we were gonna if I were coaching someone on it and they’re like, oh, my kids are behind a big, well, what does that mean? What does it mean to be behind? And believe me, I know. I know because I’ve been a teacher that, yes, there are these standards that exist. Oh, well, in 3rd grade, they’re supposed to be able to do all these multiplication tables and different things like that. Right? But, again, that’s just a guideline more so than every kid needs to do that because even if they were in a public school, how many kids are not quite hitting that standard? So many. And more than ever right now because of COVID. So it’s prevalent no matter whether they’re homeschooled or they’re in a traditional school. But, really, it’s like, yeah. That’s what the standards are.

Speaker A 00:19:32 – 00:20:07

It would be great if they did that. But, also, are they going to survive? Are they gonna have a calculator in their pocket unlike my math teacher told me all growing up? Yes. They are. Right? They’re gonna have their phone on them if they need to do that multiplication table. It’s not the end of the world. But every kid is moving at their own timeline, and even Christina Kuzmic in her podcast interview I did with her, she’s our one of our keynotes at educate and rejuvenate. She told this story about how her son, he was focused on his mental health. Right? He was going to I don’t know if rehab is the word, but where he was, like, getting help and everything, and he wasn’t graduating, quote, on time.

Speaker A 00:20:07 – 00:20:52

Right? And so she sees another mom, and that other mom is like, oh, what are you doing for graduation and talking about it and everything. And she’s like, oh, he Luca isn’t graduating right now. And then that other mom is, oh, like, so embarrassed and everything. But it’s like, who said that he was graduating late? He graduated 5 months later, and it was right on time for when he was supposed to graduate. And that was his journey, so we can’t expect that every child’s journey is going to look exactly the same. It might not look like the standards in school. And guess what? If they’re being homeschooled, even better because they’re not going to have that pressure, and they can really just blossom on their own timeline. So I I have been I feel, like, really successfully been busting that myth for myself right now because I’ve had that one that I carried for the first probably 3 years of homeschooling.

Speaker A 00:20:53 – 00:21:04

So, again, don’t feel like that overnight you’re gonna and, again, that’s having gone through life coach school and everything. But I feel like I’ve been able to bust that and be like, no. I’m not feeling my kids. They’re not behind. They’re right where they

Speaker B 00:21:04 – 00:21:42

need to be. That is such a good motto. That’s just a good life motto to adopt as a homeschool mom. And it is such a beautiful thing that we could do this individualized customized learning for our kids. I mean, honestly, they’re they’re not getting that in the public school setting because there are it’s like 1 teacher to 30 kids, and and that teacher only has so much bandwidth. So, again, I just come back to who’s who are you comparing them to? What are the standards you’re comparing them against? And just what a blessing it is to be able to teach them 1 on 1 and to be able to help them pursue the things that that they’re interested in. And you made such a good point, just allowing them the space to finish on their own time. We’re all unique individuals.

Speaker B 00:21:42 – 00:22:04

It’s like kids develop differently from from the get go. They walk at different times. They crawl at different times. All these things. And then I don’t know why they get to be a certain age, and it’s like, okay. Times table’s in 3rd grade. Cursive, 4th grade, whatever it is. Let’s let’s develop them how they’re meant to be developed and just figure out how we can best support them and meet them where they are.

Speaker B 00:22:04 – 00:22:05

I love that. That’s so good.

Speaker A 00:22:05 – 00:22:31

Yeah. And it’s been, like, one, I think the reason it was so hard to bust for me is actually because I’d been in that traditional classroom and after that, writing curriculum based on the standards. So I knew them probably for all the grade levels more than even just your average teacher. I knew them intimately. Still still do. But I feel like so trying to unweave that, it goes back to what we were talking about at first. It might be better if I didn’t have all that background information. I could just teach my child where they’re at.

Speaker A 00:22:31 – 00:22:37

So those of you who are like, I don’t have that background. Trust me. There are benefits to not having that too if you’re going to be homeschooling.

Speaker B 00:22:38 – 00:22:48

I can totally see that. The state that you’re in, Kelsey, is is standardized testing required for homeschoolers in your state? I don’t believe so. My my kids kids are technically in a homeschool charter.

Speaker A 00:22:48 – 00:23:00

They do administer the test, but you can opt out or do whatever just like you would in public school. So we haven’t done the affidavit and everything that most homeschoolers do, but I don’t believe it is required here in Utah.

Speaker B 00:23:00 – 00:23:32

Yeah. I know every state and every which way you homeschool has their like, their different requirements. Even here in Iowa, there are 5 different options for homeschooling, and some do require testing and some don’t. The way that we homeschool, we actually utilize the local homeschool assistance program. So we’re actually dual enrolled through the public school even though we do all their educating here at home. They just, like, they participate in sports and the homeschool group there. And so the way that we homeschool, standardized testing is not required. I do have them do an end of the year assessment, but it’s not to compare them or to hold them to some certain standard.

Speaker B 00:23:32 – 00:23:43

It really is just to show me as the homeschooling mom, individually for my kids, okay, what what do we need to work on a little bit more next year? Yeah. So that’s how I that’s how I view that. Yeah.

Speaker A 00:23:43 – 00:23:51

And I actually I let I don’t opt my kids out. I have them do it, but I just know it’s one data point. It is not the data point. And any good teacher will tell you the same thing.

Speaker B 00:23:52 – 00:24:14

Yes. Yeah. There are so many factors to being a a well rounded individual. It goes so much deeper than beyond the standardized testing, for sure. Let’s jump over to the lies that we tell ourselves about time and how much time we don’t have and how we’re always so Oh, yeah. Crazy busy. There’s not enough hours in the day. It felt like there was 27 more hours in the day.

Speaker B 00:24:14 – 00:24:26

We don’t have enough. I don’t have enough time for this or that. I don’t have enough time for myself. I don’t have enough time to get the homeschooling done. I don’t have enough time to run a business and homeschool too. What are your thoughts on that, Kelsey?

Speaker A 00:24:27 – 00:25:05

Oh, I mean, for one, I could just say, I think we can all relate to all of those thoughts because I think we all have them time and time again, and they even pop up again for me even today because I’m recording podcasts before. I’m like, oh, I’m not gonna be in the office for 2 weeks because I’m gonna be doing a vendor booth and then going on a trip. But then I notice it. Right? And I redirect because I’ve learned how important it is to not be so in the I am busy. I’m so overwhelmed all the time. Because what I found is a lot of times when we’re thinking I am busy, we’re just perpetuating that. That thought is optional. We don’t have to keep repeating I am busy because then how does that make us feel? It makes us feel overwhelmed, and then it makes us, what, more effective at doing the things? Probably not.

Speaker A 00:25:05 – 00:25:39

Right? It makes us maybe put it off, maybe do it, like, all frazzled, and then realize, like, oh, I did it this way, and I should’ve done it this way or whatever. I think really what it takes is just telling ourselves, like, okay. Like, may for 1, I like to say when I talk about time management is neutralizing it a little bit. Like, okay. I have so much to do. Let’s actually write the things down. Write all the things your brain is telling you you need to do, and one that need to do is a thought. Right? Because a lot of the things that we tell ourselves we need to do, it’s like, well, do I actually have to do that? And then realizing whatever it is you’re, like, doing is because you’re choosing to do it.

Speaker A 00:25:39 – 00:26:08

It’s so much more empowering that way. But then also realizing what are you telling yourself you need to do that maybe you don’t, or maybe it’s like, okay. Yeah. But I don’t need to do it right now. Or, oh, where could I delegate this? Maybe, oh, I could just have Walmart plus bring my groceries instead of dragging all my kids to the store, which takes way longer. Right? So I feel like it’s just actually taking some time to look at that list because, honestly, usually, it’s less overwhelming than we’re making it out to be in our brains. We’re like, oh, there’s so much. There’s so much.

Speaker A 00:26:08 – 00:26:46

I can’t do it all. But when we really analyze it, it’s really not as bad as we are making it out to be. When we add the drama on top, it makes it worse. And I’m not saying that you don’t have a lot to do because chances are, like, if you have kids and you’re homeschooling and you’re running a business, you probably have quantifiably some things on your list. Right? But it’s just our perspective behind it, our prioritization. I’ve talked all day about time management. So I’m trying to figure out, like, what exactly we wanna hit on this lie exactly. But I think when we just say, I don’t have time and that’s why I can’t homeschool, homeschool doesn’t have to be 8 hours a day, like, at all.

Speaker A 00:26:46 – 00:27:07

It probably shouldn’t be. Ours is, like, you know, the actual school part is 2 hours. That’s it. And then they have that additional time to explore and everything. And for me, it’s a little bit different because my husband helps as well. We trade off with the homeschooling. We have, like, our days and our subjects that we do, but it hasn’t always looked that way. At the beginning, it was all me.

Speaker A 00:27:07 – 00:27:37

Then for a while, I was like, I need you to do it for a bit while we were doing our 1st year of educate and rejuvenate. I was like, I can’t right now. So he did it for a bit, and then now we’re to this, like, balance where we’re spreading it out. I think it’s really just figuring out what works in each different season for you as well. And I know other people, they’re like, oh, well, my husband couldn’t help, but I have a friend who she actually has a tutor who comes and helps. She homeschools her 10 kids, and she has somebody who comes and helps, and that’s also an option. So, yeah, just thinking outside the box too.

Speaker B 00:27:37 – 00:28:09

I think you hit on so much gold there, and so much of that resonates with me. And this is the one that I have wrestled with, honestly, just admitting, just like you. I have to catch myself when I’m saying this to myself and somewhat break up with it and stop identifying with it because, again, when we’re telling ourselves that we’re crazy busy, things are popping up that are making us crazy busy. And you hit on so many great things there, Kelsey. Delegation, I love that one. I love that you and your husband kind of work it as a team. We had chatted before we hit record. My husband is super supportive of homeschooling, but it’s just it’s definitely not his strength.

Speaker B 00:28:09 – 00:28:26

So we both are working in our strengths at work from home, and he’s he’s doing that. He’s supporting us, and then I’m working in my strength. But like you said, the the groceries, the if you need to delegate getting your house cleaned, so be it. I think delegation is key. I think also that the truth is that we waste a lot of time.

Speaker A 00:28:26 – 00:28:28

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker B 00:28:28 – 00:28:56

Yeah. A lot of times with my life coaching clients, I will have them for 48 hours track their time every hour. At the end of every hour, they’re writing down exactly what they spent that hour doing. And sometimes they’re shocked to see how many hours in the day that they’re wasting it. So I think track your time to gain some awareness around how you’re actually spending your time. And then Kelsey sort of hit on what I call urgent versus important. Yes. You you have this to do with all

Speaker A 00:28:56 – 00:29:00

things that you want to do. The urgency matrix. Yeah.

Speaker B 00:29:00 – 00:29:14

Yeah. Yeah. And and so many times, it’s like instead of tackling the important thing that would actually help us move forward in whatever area of our life, we just keep racking up these little things on top. You know, call the dentist, run a load of laundry, blah blah blah blah blah. Urgent.

Speaker A 00:29:14 – 00:29:17

I have to get it done right now, but it’s not actually moving you forward.

Speaker B 00:29:17 – 00:29:37

Yeah. Yeah. And then at the end of the day, we’ve done, like, 27 urgent things, but but nothing that was actually important. Right? And so all the important stuff is still left. So I think gaining awareness around that. I mean, I feel like there is such a handful of things that we can do as moms to set ourself up for success from the time tracking to the realizing what actually is important, what actually matters

Speaker A 00:29:37 – 00:29:37

Mhmm.

Speaker B 00:29:37 – 00:29:59

What actually needs to get done to help us and our kids move forward towards our goals, you know, planning ahead. Little things like lesson planning for the next week instead of starting the homeschool day totally frazzled. I think there are so many just simple things like that that we can do where we can really help ourself debunk this live and we don’t have enough hours in the day.

Speaker A 00:29:59 – 00:30:19

Yeah. For sure. And I love the urgency matrix that you mentioned too. It was one thing that I was like, oh, I don’t know how much time do I have to talk because then I could just talk forever. But I do find that it’s so helpful to just see what is the urgent and important. We wanna make sure we’re getting those done. Right? I have it in my book. So if anybody wants to see more about it that’s coming out, you probably have something on it too.

Speaker A 00:30:19 – 00:30:24

And then, of course, Stephen Covey, who had that in his book too. So it’s very helpful.

Speaker B 00:30:24 – 00:30:28

For sure. I Kelsey, I think we have time for one more lie. Which one do you wanna dive into?

Speaker A 00:30:29 – 00:30:33

Oh, okay. Let’s pick 1. Let’s do I’m not doing enough or I’m not enough.

Speaker B 00:30:33 – 00:30:34

I feel like

Speaker A 00:30:34 – 00:30:35

that’s a good ending one. Right?

Speaker B 00:30:36 – 00:30:59

I am not enough. Yeah. Okay. So I think that this one somewhat comes back to the comparison game. I don’t know why as human beings, we just we just don’t feel qualified sometimes, and we have so much self doubt. We pick up so much of that, what I call, imposter syndrome. And, again, the truth is you’re a really good mom. The fact that you’re worried about it means that you’re a really good mom.

Speaker B 00:31:00 – 00:32:00

So, again, let’s take a look at the things that actually matter most, the things that your kids wanna pursue, the things that they’re interested in, and above all else, raising your kids to be honorable, productive humans. Right? Adults that that know how to function well in society, that know how to take care of their self, that that know how to provide for their self, and I rank very high on that list of important relationships. Teaching your kids how to build and develop good relationships, that really, really matters. I mean, communication and relationships, I would argue, are probably the most important things to be teaching your kids. So when you’re feeling like you are not enough, you’re not doing a good enough job, just keep in mind the really important things, what really actually matters. And I also want to stress to you that doing things little by little by little really matters. And so every day, you’re doing these little things, all these days that you’re feeling like you’re not enough or you’re not doing enough. If you’re doing a little something, you’re doing a lot because the little by little by little, it adds up.

Speaker B 00:32:00 – 00:32:12

You’re pouring into your kids. You’re building up your kids. And at the end of the school year, you will be shocked and amazed at all the things that they have learned. This year, for my kids, I had them memorize an entire chapter of the Bible, Colossians chapter 3.

Speaker A 00:32:12 – 00:32:13

Oh, wow. Good for you.

Speaker B 00:32:13 – 00:32:33

Yeah. And yeah. And so it’s 25 verses. And so at the beginning of the school year, my kids were like, mom, we can’t do that. We cannot. That is so much. It’s so much. Right? And it looked overwhelming, but I was like, guys, we’re gonna break this down little by little by little, and we’re gonna learn and memorize about a verse per week or, you know, a verse every 1 to 2 weeks.

Speaker B 00:32:33 – 00:32:50

And at the end of the school year, man, they have the whole thing memorized like that, and we had a little end of the school year program and they recited it. They knew it like the back of their hand. So I just wanna stress that what you’re pouring into your kids, what you’re doing every day, little by little by little, it really matters, and you’re doing a lot. You’re doing a whole lot.

Speaker A 00:32:50 – 00:33:41

I love that. And, yes, I love how just little by little, like, a whole chapter of the Bible. Like, how cool is that? But it was done, like, one line, 1 verse at a time, not, like, all at once. And I think that so often because progress is so little by little by little, we don’t always notice it, and so we just keep saying, oh, I’m not enough or, oh, I’m not there yet. Like, even when we get to where the there was before, we just compare ourselves to the new there where we want to be instead of actually looking back and noticing how far we’ve come. So, for example, depending on where you are in your homeschool journey, like, if have a year under your belt, look back and see how much you’ve learned. Or if you even if you’re just researching homeschooling or if you’ve been homeschooled for 20 years, no matter where you’re at, look back and see how far have you come from when you first started or first decided to do this or even first had your kids. You’ll be amazed at, like, oh, wow.

Speaker A 00:33:41 – 00:34:10

I am so much more patient than I used to be, or we’ve got really got our routine down, or, oh, we found the right curriculum fit. And whatever it is, you have done more than you realize. And we tend to just write those things off and think that they don’t matter anymore rather than owning those wins and be like, yes. Look how much I have accomplished. Look how much me and my kids have accomplished together. Instead, we just look at the lack. We look at, like, where we want to be. And this is actually a concept I learned from Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy’s book, The Gap in the Gain.

Speaker A 00:34:10 – 00:34:11

Have you read that one?

Speaker B 00:34:11 – 00:34:13

I have not. It is really good.

Speaker A 00:34:13 – 00:34:31

So it’s when we’re in the gap, we’re looking at that gap between where we are and where we wanna be and comparing and not in a good way because we can look at where we wanna be and, like, aspire to it. That’s great. But we wanna do it from that place of seeing, oh, I if I came this far, then I can do that. But when we just look at, oh, I’m not there. I can’t do that. That’s terrible. And we just completely forget about how far we’ve come. We’re in that gap.

Speaker A 00:34:31 – 00:34:47

We’re just in always in the gap that just keeps moving, that moving goal post, where instead we can look at, oh, the gain, how far I have come. And that’s so much more powerful, and it gives us so much more momentum to get to where we want to go from that place of I am enough.

Speaker B 00:34:47 – 00:35:17

Yeah. I love your thoughts on reflecting back, and I think that we don’t allow ourselves the space to do that nearly enough. Because if you look back, truly at the clear big picture of where you were and where you are and even excitedly anticipating what’s yet to come, I think you’ll really see, again, that little by little concept and how far you truly have come. So, yeah, I think that’s really important too, Kelsey. Let’s close out today talking about the educate and rejuvenate event that is coming up. Kelsey, tell us all about it.

Speaker A 00:35:17 – 00:35:33

Yes. I’m so excited. I wanted to share about the event. And then since this will also go on my show, I want you to share about what you’re going to be teaching too So For sure. In your session. So the educate and rejuvenate event, what I love to say is that it’s professional development meets personal development. You might think, oh, I’m

Speaker B 00:35:33 – 00:35:33

not a professional, but it’s just your teaching,

Speaker A 00:35:33 – 00:36:22

up leveling your teaching, how you teach reading or writing or math or STEM or learning those up to date teaching research back topics. So if you’re if you so if you’re feeling like, oh, I’m not qualified to teach this, you can actually learn some of that stuff at this event. And, again, it’s not because you’re not qualified, but it’s because we love to learn how to do it, how to teach better. So it’s a great way to do that, to learn those skills, but, also, we have lots of of certified life coaches, like you and I, both presenting and sharing ways to destress, to, manage our emotions, to time management, things like that that help us with our homeschooling as well. So we have a full panel of homeschool presenters. Like I mentioned, I started my company working with teachers. We have a full teacher track. But then last year, I was like, I really wanna get the homeschoolers in on this.

Speaker A 00:36:22 – 00:36:44

So last year, we added the homeschool track, and it was really successful. So we’re keeping it. We’re doing it again, and I’m so excited because I love like, that’s what I do now. Since 2019, I’ve been a homeschool mom. I haven’t been in the classroom for quite a while, so I’m really excited that we have all these homeschool sessions too. And the great thing is you can pick sessions from either track. You don’t have to avoid the teacher track. You might wanna learn from some of those school teachers.

Speaker A 00:36:44 – 00:37:18

They’re amazing. And learn what they have to share and apply it to your homeschool. And then we also and, I mean, I’m jumping all over, but it’s just because there is so much of this event. We start each day with either a yoga class or we have a dance class on the other day. So we start by energizing your body because I feel connecting with our bodies and our feelings, our emotions help us to be able to apply all this better. It’s just really looking at you holistically as a homeschool mom so you can take care of yourself so you can better take care of your kids and teach them. Have more fun teaching them. Learn new strategies you can try.

Speaker A 00:37:18 – 00:37:42

It’ll make you excited. If you take a break for summer, for us, we’re actually we still do a little bit during the summer because it allows us to just when we go on trips during the year, we don’t stress it and we just we do what we do, you know? But it allows you to be, oh, here’s some new things I can try for the next school year. So it’s a lot of fun, basically. And we have a lot of lives. We will have the whole homeschool panel. So you’ll wanna make sure to join that one. It’s gonna be fun.

Speaker B 00:37:42 – 00:38:21

I am so excited to participate in this, Kelsey. I know that you and your team have worked really, really hard to put a wonderful top notch event together for all of our families, and I’m just absolutely thrilled to be a part of it. I know both of us will link up in our our show notes or our blog wherever where listeners can go grab a ticket for that event because it is gonna be the don’t miss event of the summer. And like I said, I could not be more thrilled to be a part of it. So the talk that I’m giving is actually geared specifically towards homeschool families, and I’m gonna be sharing our full story of our journey going from public school into homeschool. And so I’ll dive into that.

Speaker A 00:38:21 – 00:38:23

I love that. I’m gonna tell

Speaker B 00:38:23 – 00:38:57

a really funny story about our pet turtle, believe it or not. We have random things over here, a pet turtle. We have chickens now. But so, anyway, you don’t wanna miss that story because it is absolutely hilarious. It will shock you, so tune in for that story. And then I will be sharing the 3 simple steps that you can take to easily transition from public school into homeschool because, truly, it doesn’t have to be scary. It really can be simple, and so I’m excited to share with the audience, Kelsey, about that topic. As we come to a close today, I’m gonna share all the places that you can find me, and then I’m gonna hand it over to Kelsey to to close this out.

Speaker B 00:38:58 – 00:39:28

So, again, Katie Hedrick. You can find me on social media. Mostly, I’m on Facebook and TikTok, actually. I love to post over there. It’s so fun. It’s so much fun. Tons of homeschool content over on my TikTok and the joy at home podcast, of course, and then you can go grab and check out all my homeschool resources over at teachmetohomeschool.com, and I look so forward to connecting with you. With that, I’m gonna hand it over to Kelsey and let her sign us off for today.

Speaker A 00:39:28 – 00:39:41

Alright. Thank you so much again, Katie, for reaching out for us to do this episode together. It’s been such a fun time. Also, I can’t wait to hear that turtle story. You got me intrigued. I’m like, oh, gotta hear about this turtle now, so gotta make sure to watch Katie’s session.

Speaker B 00:39:42 – 00:39:45

Don’t miss it. But you can find me like

Speaker A 00:39:45 – 00:40:05

I mentioned, we’re actually in the process of rebranding. But by the time this episode airs on both podcasts, the website should be educateandrejuvenatedot com. You can also find me on Instagram at educate and rejuvenate, Facebook at educate and rejuvenate, the educate and rejuvenate podcast, and then my upcoming book, Educate and Rejuvenate. Pretty much just search for Educate and Rejuvenate, and you will find me.

Speaker B 00:40:05 – 00:40:13

It has been such a joy cocreating this podcast episode with you. I just really wanna personally thank you for sharing your time and expertise with us today.

Speaker A 00:40:13 – 00:40:33

You too. This has been so much fun, and this will be a great episode to go on both shows. So whichever one you are listening to, if you’re on educate and rejuvenate the podcast right now, be sure to go subscribe to joy at home if you enjoyed this episode and vice versa. If you’re listening on joy at home, make sure to pop over to educate and rejuvenate the podcast. We would love for you to have both of us supporting you in your earbuds each week.

Speaker B 00:40:34 – 00:40:42

Yes. And be sure to grab your ticket to educate and rejuvenate, and Kelsey and I will see you there this summer. For now, we’re signing off with

Speaker A 00:40:43 – 00:41:20

joy. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next one. And if you’re hungry for more, be sure to check out the book that I wrote. It’s called Educate and Rejuvenate, a 3 step guide to revitalize your teaching, renew your spirit, and reignite your passion for life. It is scheduled to be released in the summer of 2024. This book takes all the life coaching skills we talk about here on the podcast and puts them together in one easy to understand guide. Plus, when you pre order, you’ll receive a PDF workbook and additional resources to deepen your understanding and application of the concepts we’ve covered on the book and on this podcast. You won’t find these resources anywhere else.

Speaker A 00:41:21 – 00:41:34

0:01 – 41:34

Visit the link in the show notes to join the wait list and be the 1st to know when the book becomes available for pre order. Let’s continue this journey of growth and rejuvenation together. Until next time.

More about Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast

Being an educator is beyond a full-time job. Whether you’re a teacher or a homeschool parent, the everyday to-do list is endless. Between lesson planning, grading, meetings, and actually teaching, it probably feels impossible to show up for your students without dropping the ball in other areas of your life.

Educate & Rejuvenate: The Podcast is the show that will bring you the teacher tips, practical strategies, and inspiration that you need to relieve the stress and overwhelm of your day-to-day. Your host, Kelsey Sorenson, is a former teacher and substitute turned homeschool mom. Tune in weekly to hear Kelsey and her guests cheer you on and help you thrive as a wife, teacher, and mommy. Because with a little support and community, you can do it all. For access to every single Wife Teacher Mommy resource, join the club at educateandrejuvenate.com/club.

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