Introducing Us

It's the homeschool mom survival guide Welcome to the show. My name is Amy Lucas And I'm joined with my partner in crime Lisa Jorgensen. Sup y'all We are live and in living color coming to your ears Yet we'll have video eventually. Yes, we haven't figured out how that works. Yeah, we're not that high-tech And the theme song will probably be different too because I just made this up. I don't know. I don't know that we can do better than that. That was Pretty good. That was kind of like us Turned into a song sometimes the best moments in life are those impromptu. They are They are I feel like that might be our new Song our new intro song. You know what? Um, I will only charge a fee of three cents per Yeah So today we're going to talk about really important stuff I Don't know what we're talking about we're gonna talk about really important stuff though So, how about maybe we start by introducing ourselves and Describing what we're going to be doing on this channel. That's a great idea And how we came to Do a podcast in the first place Excellent to crazy chicks from the west side coming together. Where it's the big bird. Oh All right, would you like to go first? I think I hear your story first. Okay. How long have you been homeschooling and Yeah Well, I am Lisa and I have four kids only homeschooling this last one the first Three all went through public school and then we had the opportunity to homeschool Our youngest so we jumped at the chance and I started homeschooling him when he was two We didn't do anything serious, but I wanted to have Those first few years. So if I screwed anything up really bad, it was before his education really mattered too much That's a good way to go about it. Yeah. Yeah. How about you mrs. Luke we've gone by I Call on you on here. Well, I gave our real names. Okay, we're not gonna do our I don't know I I was about to call you by your real name and I was like, wait, did she give her real name? I can't remember So I am Kitty Wampus Our tailgater, yes And those will be the real names that we go by although if we become super famous like, you know, we predict I'm pretty sure our real names are gonna end up coming out. Oh, yeah, that's true. But I think about Kitty Wampus if you want me to Most things that I say do um, so my name is Amy Lucas and I started homeschooling officially in 2017 And If you're hearing that noise, that is a very crazy cat that is making noises in the background like I said, we are Filming live or maybe that was the dog. I don't know anyways, I started homeschooling in 2017 my My two boys. I do have three children one daughter is an adult and That's a whole nother story there but my other two My son Morgan had gone through Kindergarten and first grade and my son Bailey went through kindergarten and it came to The last conference for my son Bailey for kindergarten and It was Amazingly evident that they had not in the slightest prepared my son for moving on to first grade and Little backstory on me I had been sick for quite a long period of time Gone through treatment got better and I wanted to spend more time with my boys, which I was doing already, but when I Bailey was testing in the state tests well above grade level of kindergarten first and second He tested like second or third highest highest in the school So he was incredibly intelligent. He just was really struggling to Stay seated Like many other children who end up having gifts like ADHD autism If they are not Appropriately prepared they will struggle and I do believe that those which we can deal in with and dive into later, but I believe their gifts They're not Not really diagnoses So it was evident to me after a few situations that happened and that meeting when I had asked how they intended To prepare Bailey she said she really didn't care as long as he kept testing the way that he did That's all she cared about so We made the decision Actually the day The Friday before he was to start first grade. We made the final decision and pulled the boys from public school and That's definitely a problem with public schools is they're very test oriented and everything is about What's on a piece of paper? They're not as concerned with actual Learning at least in my experience. They're not as experienced or they're not as focused on preparing the kids for the real world and Making sure that the kids are actually learning and learning how To think critically. They're more concerned with them being able to pare it back a list of facts that will be seen on a test so that the numbers look good and That's definitely one of the biggest reasons that we wanted to homeschool as well. We just didn't With our other what our other kids having gone through public schools or being in public schools when our youngest was born it was definitely not a Not a trend that we wanted to continue with our youngest we wanted to have the freedom to Teach him in a way that he could learn and be able to explore his full potential and Learn in his own environment versus The little cookie-cutter way that public schools are forced to teach because of the classroom sizes and things like that You just don't have the ability to offer individualized Lessons things for the kids. So yeah, but I one thing I think you said that I really really loved is that things like ADHD and autism are gifts and not just a diagnosis or a disability or anything like that that they're a gift and I think that's a very Unique and a very positive way of looking at a situation that is a lot of times frowned upon and Treated as something bad with them our youngest being diagnosed as ADHD we have run into a lot of people who are very impatient with him and My youngest is also a very large kid. Like he's much bigger than The average eight-year-old and So he looks a lot older than he is. So people expect him to act a lot older and when he doesn't they become very fed up with him very quickly and The ADHD does not help him to sit still and Behave the way some some adults have felt that he should So that's another huge positive for being able to homeschool is that Sebastian is able to be himself and if we need to run around in the middle of a lesson, we have the freedom to do that and He can learn in the way that fits him and whatever kind of day he is having so you know People Older people I see older because I'm in that category Many have been going back and they've been getting tested and diagnosed themselves wondering Because when I was a child, they didn't they didn't do that kind of testing there. You didn't you didn't hear anything about this ADHD didn't hear about autism You didn't hear about these Disabilities, you know, I had a friend down the street Where I used to live and her son was diagnosed with dyslexia and He came down to our house right after he was diagnosed and Like he did with most things just plain as day blurred it out. I went to the doctor and I'm dyslexic and these are the these are the things that I struggle with and I Very quickly turn it around and I said I think you kind of have that a little bit wrong um Dyslexia is actually a superpower. It is not something that you have wrong with you all that simply means is you see things and learn things in a way that others don't and it's been proven that people most people with dyslexia also are able to kind of See things dimensionally They can They see it in their head in dimensional ways and It's different than other people. And so if you can figure out Regardless regardless of a diagnosis if you can figure out how your child sees and learns the material They can tap into their own intelligence and then they can thrive and I don't think that that's anything new I think God designed us to be that way that we are all different we all have equal opportunity to learn the same materials, but how we go about it might be a little bit different and I do agree that the schools Have kind of gotten away Um Kind of lost their way I worked in a charter school system for a charter school company. I won't name it is a national charter school and During my time there or rather near the end of my employment that I left working in 2014 I noticed a very dramatic shift in the way They were doing things Teachers at the end of the year or during the summer. I remember they got the actual letters But based on test scores at the end of the year every single year They would receive a letter Inviting them to come back the next year and teach again Um So it never was guaranteed that the next year they were going to have a teaching position It was all based on these state tests for these state tests They've made them so that the schools that's how they get their funding based on the tests And those tests are super important to the school. It's just like count day You've got two two different days during the year That you have count days and your funding your per pupil funding gets generated based on those count days and I don't you know, there's there's nothing wrong with that. But when you start putting in These state tests and you make every part of it hinging on Whether or not a school gets additional funding or whether or not a teacher has a job the next year or She gets an increase in her income What ends up happening is you lose? You lose that core of saturation of material and replace it with just quick memorization To pass a test and I could be a little off on this. I'm Just disclosure, this is my personal opinion This is what I observed and this is what I no longer agree with because I have witnessed My two boys and You know year after year constantly as most parents do you don't feel like you're doing enough, you know, you don't know if you're really succeeding or failing homeschool or not and What I always like to say is it really? It shows the work that you're putting in how your children behave around other people so when you're not around and they know you're not looking and They either start spouting off material that they learned in school or they start You know, they they open the door for someone or they Offer someone struggling to help them get their groceries to the car or You kind of get a real sense of how your children are learning and the type of humans they're going to grow up to be and I Homeschooling for me has been the greatest gift I've ever had in my whole life. I Agree definitely I Told that it was a superpower. Yeah, he went home and he told his mom Mrs. Lucas told me that dyslexia is a superpower and he went to church and he went to public places and he would randomly tell people that he actually had a superpower and I got a phone call from her and She thanked me she thanked me because instead of him Now seeing something as something I Have like a disability something I have to overcome it turned it into Something that he has that nobody else around him has Yeah, and it's not that he has to overcome it. He just has to learn how his powers work Learn how to wield his powers correctly. Yes. Yeah. Yes That's a lot of fun, I wish people would tell you that when I was younger it's somebody to sit down and shut up. Yeah They never told me that having no attention span or thinking outside the box was a superpower Maybe you should be working as a teacher in the public school. Oh, no, I'm just kidding. That would be awful Maybe you should just go into the public school classroom and start telling people stuff. Just walk in I'm not certain in this day and age. That would be smart I Don't think you'd get them front doors in most of the school. They're locked. This this might be a Sensitive topic, but I I don't even like to call them public schools anymore. They're just government schools is what they are Government schools that want to teach and promote government agenda. Yeah, and We will stick with biblical agenda, yeah in our home. Yep You know even watch the kids how they interact I I Don't know the acceptance That I have found within the homeschool community. Oh, yeah No bullying. Nope It's it's amazing I you know, I I wonder sometimes when my children leave our home Will they be at a disservice if they have to go into the workplace? and experience that kind of Social separation Yeah that we don't have or will they will they be Or will they walk into the workplace and Be the light for other people that they have Seen exemplified for them over all those years. I mean, they're gonna stick out like sore thumbs I think they'll be the light but I think they're gonna I think they're gonna be in for a real Wake up, it's gonna be disheartening. Yeah, I think I think I think that At least in our household. I think that our kids are exposed enough to The Secular Way of life Through the sports and things like that When we're not in a Christian organization or when some of the kids are in the Christian organization are not necessarily Christians They've just joined the team because it was a good team and they wanted to it was what was available But we had a lot of interactions Specifically Fashions had a lot of interactions with kids who are not necessarily from Christian homes and things like that so he he does get to see a lot of the Of The the not so nice side of things at times and He he'll speak out on it too. We were at a baseball We were at a baseball practice and there was a kid who was struggling to To hit the ball and he swung and he swung and he swung and this poor kid had swung Probably ten times and he had missed every single time and Another one of the kids started yelling some not very nice things at the boy and Instead of yelling not nice things Sebastian chose to yell words of encouragement and actually Spoke to the boy About the fact that we're all on the same team. Why would you choose to not encourage your teammates? Instead of Why would you why would go why would those be the words that you would choose to you? So I think that Even being homeschooled and kind of being in a bubble I think that still there's enough of that outside influence that they're still exposed to and witnessing That when they see it when they're adults and they see it in the workplace or wherever it is that they are Closed to it. I don't think it'd be too much of a shock but I think that it will be I Think we'll be able to handle it. I think that it won't be as Shocking For them. I would actually almost like it to be a shock like to be able to keep them like maybe encapsulated and just in a bubble So they've never had to experience it You know One of the things that I say to my boys often is that Christian should not be something that you call yourself It should be something that people call you exactly So your behaviors have to mimic What you would want other people to perceive What a Christian would be yes, and I know there's a lot of people out there that have been hurt By churches or hurt by people It's sad to me, it's not something that I have ever had to experience but I hear stories And letting them understand that you know, we're all human for all sinners Nobody's perfect. Yeah, if anybody thinks that I came to be a Christian Because I was all good and polished You couldn't be more Off that couldn't be farther from the truth But now that I am there I do take it very seriously and I take the way that I treat people very seriously But it doesn't you know, it doesn't change the fact like just yesterday I had to have a conversation with my son Morgan About arrogance He was a little bit of a With my son Morgan About arrogance He He is my child that was born understanding sarcasm he is my child that 90% of things he walks up to he's actually good at it doesn't mean that he's great at it He actually has a flaw where he struggles to put work into something if it doesn't come easy right at first Even if he enjoys it it frustrates him it right off the bat. He's not good at it But sometimes he comes across is super arrogant in thinking that he's better than someone else and we had to have a real heart-to-heart yesterday about It's okay to be good at something it's okay to think that you're good at something but if God gave you a special gift Or something comes natural to you. You should be encouraging and sharing that gift with other people So instead of saying how much better you are than someone else What you should be doing is helping them and encouraging them to be better and do better Because at the end of the day Because at the end of the day It's not going to generate more Competition or make somebody better than you per se But it's gonna it's gonna be something positive that you're saying to people and if they really enjoy it you're gonna push them Push them to be better Absolutely, absolutely. I think encouragement is huge. I think that when Like you were saying our children Not just our children everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ should be Acting like Christ they should be I mean people should see them and know that something's different even if they can't identify Specifically what it is that's different They should be able to look at your life and say you don't you don't look like the rest of the world does why don't you look that way and We talked about that in our house about the fact that if Sebastian goes to a playdate and he is Not being kind and he is Being selfish or you know playing too rough with somebody else's toys And he breaks them or something like that If he does he look Like Jesus or does he look like the world and If we go to a playdate and he walks away from the playdate and the person was asked Was that kid a Christian? They should be able to to identify yes correctly versus well him having to say that he's a Christian because if you have to say it then You're not doing it. I guess you have to say it. Yeah So I definitely I agree that you know the whole encouragement thing is a huge part of it and Just watching the way you speak and watching the way you act and It's a heavy burden though. Like it is it is definitely challenging especially for kids Because they don't have the emotional control yet. I mean half the adults I know don't have Emotional control if we're being honest here It's a lot to ask your eight-year-old or your eleven-year-old or your thirteen-year-old or you know any kid to Show a level of control that they're not even seeing Displayed by many of the adults around them. A friend of mine shared out the other day yesterday Maybe maybe day before Mm-hmm when something like Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion. Yeah, I think I don't know that's exactly how it was worded But it was something like that. Yeah, I Think a lot of times we're guided by our emotions Rather than what we know to be true If someone asks you or has to ask you are you a Christian? Maybe your response that should be Well, you've spent enough time with me Do I behave that way and let them answer? Yeah what they think and if they say well, no, I don't I don't think you act like a Christian You know, you can get to the conversation but wondering why you know, what is their their version or vision of what a Christian? Should look like or act like Should look like or act like yeah, maybe some self-reflection will be needed after the conversation as well I am not perfect. Yeah, I feel every day exactly every day. I feel in the eyes of God I think that's one of the things that I did wrong with my first child Is I forgot? To recognize that and I forgot to tell her That I'm not perfect either, you know all the mistakes that I've made and I make them daily I'm still learning every single day. Absolutely and I'm thankful for God's grace that you don't deserve but it's given freely to those who seek it So, I'm curious what what we probably need to tell people what our goal is, what do we want to get out of this on a weekly basis daily basis, whatever We're going to end up doing here. Well Hopefully we will be able to Encourage other moms to Families who are in similar situations to us or Talk real words Were you gonna say and answer questions and ask questions and it kind of got split together I don't I was gonna say answer questions that people may have I don't know what came out of my mouth, but it wasn't that It was supposed to be answer questions that people have Who maybe aren't homeschool of families yet or are just getting started or even families who have been doing it for a while, but are stuck on Something I Have found the homeschool community has been Such a huge help because there are so many things that I didn't know and so many things I didn't know that I didn't know that I think that I Think it could be really helpful for other People who are wanting to homeschool or getting started or who just want to listen to us Say dumb things And we do that often. Yeah, I think this was probably the most Serious I have seen either one of us be yep Ever in the history of knowing you that's because we're knowing this. That's probably it too because I have forgotten what I was going to say. I don't know how many times so far. She's never at a loss They don't always make sense and sometimes they're not even real words, but I've always got something to say yes you know the other side that I I wanted to touch on is that um, you know, there are other areas that We've talked about bringing to the table like home studying You know, the world is changing and There's a little different, you know different thought processes and beliefs of what's going on and A lot of people you witness are hunkering down and Looking to be more self-sufficient and not relying on You know other people and so hopefully Our fault. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep Lisa is a Lisa is a homesteader Working on it. Yes. I can't actually grow stuff yet, but I got 62 chickens out there That are all still alive. I mean Fifty eight of the 62 Actually, there's 62 of the 66 because they told us we bought 62 But when you're putting them up the other day, we had 66 out there and we've had four die so Apparently, yes, there's 62 out there. So apparently we had 66 to begin with Yeah, they told us when we bought our layers that we got 14 and we ended up with 13. So It's very possible, yeah But those are meat chickens. They look a little different. Yeah, then what we've got. Yeah so we just we kind of hope that will be a joy and Serious but laughable and We will We definitely want people to leave comments and questions and topics and things that they would like to see covered absolutely, yeah, and we are working on setting up all of the social media and the email and everything like that, so we will very soon be releasing the How to find us on all those places Yes, so if you have any questions, or if you have any topics you would like to see discussed then let us know and Yeah, if not then we will be recording every well we will be trying to release an episode every week and We just hope to reach as many people as possible and we hope you enjoy Listening to us and we hope that our next episode is a little bit smoother and But consider the homeschool mom's survival group survival guide Sorry Launched officially launched. Yes. So like a nuclear weapon. Yes exciting time. Yeah All right, so are you ready to sign off I am until next time all right, we love you guys and we will See all of you. No, we won't see you. We'll talk to all of you. You'll hear us next week. Yes