1 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: Hi. I'm Laura Vanderkamp. I'm a mother of five, an author, journalist, 2 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: and speaker. 3 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 2: And I'm Sarah hart Hunger, a mother of three, practicing physician, writer, 4 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,280 Speaker 2: and course creator. We are two working parents who love 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 2: our careers and our families. 6 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:27,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to best of both worlds. Here we talk about 7 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: how real women manage work, family, and time for fun. 8 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,360 Speaker 1: From figuring out childcare to mapping out long. 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:34,200 Speaker 3: Term career goals. 10 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: We want you to get the most out of life. 11 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 3: Welcome to best of both worlds. This is Laura. 12 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: This episode is airing in late April of twenty twenty six. 13 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:50,159 Speaker 1: I'm going to be interviewing Anandi Rahmen Kreith. We're welcoming 14 00:00:50,159 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: her back to the show. She's talked in the past 15 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: about her career in tech and the various different styles 16 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: of work she and her husband have both did in 17 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: their pursuit of the best of both worlds. But she's 18 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: going to be back talking about homeschooling while working. She 19 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: has two children and has done a few stints of 20 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 1: homeschooling while doing her various tech jobs over the years. 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: So I know that homeschooling is a hot topic and 22 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:20,760 Speaker 1: lots of people have looked into that, but we also 23 00:01:20,800 --> 00:01:23,920 Speaker 1: talk about people who generally are building their careers as well. 24 00:01:23,959 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 3: It seems like these things are at odds. 25 00:01:26,920 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 2: Yeah, I would think there's a lot of challenge to 26 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 2: doing both at once. Super curious if you've seen some 27 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 2: time logs of people successfully juggling these two possibly opposite forces. 28 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: Well, the thing is they don't have to be at all. 29 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,840 Speaker 1: I mean, people hear this and think that's impossible. Homeschooling 30 00:01:44,160 --> 00:01:46,880 Speaker 1: and working cannot be done at the same time. And 31 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,400 Speaker 1: so this has become a particular fascination of mine, not 32 00:01:50,480 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: because I am interested so much in homeschooling personally, but 33 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: because it is an exercise in showing kind of misplaced 34 00:01:56,880 --> 00:02:02,440 Speaker 1: assumptions about where the time goes. I mean, first school, 35 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: whether you send your kids to public school, private school, 36 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 1: It is not generally childcare. As a lot of people 37 00:02:08,600 --> 00:02:11,360 Speaker 1: who have kids have figured out, school is generally about 38 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 1: one hundred and eighty days a year, roughly six and 39 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 1: a half hours a day. That is eleven hundred and 40 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:22,280 Speaker 1: seventy hours. A work year is more like nineteen hundred 41 00:02:22,280 --> 00:02:26,000 Speaker 1: and sixty hours. So if you work full time, you 42 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: are going to need something else. Whatever that happens to be. 43 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,080 Speaker 2: And plus the school can like close on a whim. 44 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 2: You had an air conditioning outage the other day and 45 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 2: we receive this text that was something like, if you'd like, 46 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 2: you can pick up the kids, the air conditioning is out. 47 00:02:41,639 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 2: And of course, and they said pick them up like 48 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 2: after eleven or something. And of course this was an 49 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 2: absolute frenzy and some of my children were texting me 50 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 2: as if it was the end of the world. And 51 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 2: I took a walk at noon and was like, it's 52 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,919 Speaker 2: probably seventy two degrees out, not. 53 00:02:56,840 --> 00:03:00,079 Speaker 3: Really inside of an oven level at that moment. 54 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,640 Speaker 2: Correct, But it was a nice illustration that with they 55 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,480 Speaker 2: are not really under any obligation to I guess keep 56 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:09,720 Speaker 2: our kids, and things may happen. 57 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. 58 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: No, there's definitely been virtual days for snow for us. 59 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,440 Speaker 1: Various half days were the thing in the past. That's 60 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: we got rid of most half days this year, but 61 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:22,959 Speaker 1: that means we also have a lot of holidays off 62 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:24,480 Speaker 1: or teacher in service days. 63 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 3: So if you are thinking that. 64 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 1: School is your childcare and you're going to work full time, 65 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,200 Speaker 1: like you very quickly discover you probably need something else, 66 00:03:32,240 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: whether that's aftercare, before care, summer coverage because a lot 67 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: of schools are not operating in the summer, so you'll 68 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: need camps for your kids or a babysitter or something. 69 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: So all parents who work full time need some form 70 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: of childcare. School can be part of it, but it 71 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: cannot be all of it. And so if you are 72 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,680 Speaker 1: homeschooling and working, you will also need some form of childcare, 73 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 1: most likely for some of the time, but that might 74 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,920 Speaker 1: just be a different chunk of your hours than the 75 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: traditional one. So the homeschooling requirement and a lot of 76 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 1: states is also one hundred and eighty days. And the 77 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: general assumption is that you would have four to five 78 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,600 Speaker 1: instructional hours each day, right, so if you think about 79 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: a public school day being six and a half hours, 80 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 1: there's time for lunch, time for recess. They may or 81 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 1: may not count various specials like art and music against 82 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: your instructional requirement, time in the hallways, whatever else. There is, 83 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: but four to five hours of instruction a day is 84 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: seven hundred and twenty to one thousand hours a year. 85 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: If you multiplied by one hundred and eighty, so eighty 86 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: seven hundred and sixty hours and a year, there would 87 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: definitely be space to both work one nine hundred and 88 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: sixty hours and homeschool seven hundred and twenty to one 89 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:44,239 Speaker 1: thousand hours and. 90 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:46,480 Speaker 3: Not have the two overlap at all. 91 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: Right, You, again, you'd have to be creative about when 92 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,039 Speaker 1: it happened, either when you are working or when you 93 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: are doing the homeschooling, but there would at least theoretically 94 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,840 Speaker 1: be space for both of those without any overlap. Now, 95 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:01,599 Speaker 1: of course, they obviously ca overlap, and a lot of 96 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: the families who do wind up homeschooling and working, especially 97 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: if they have older kids. At least some of the 98 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: classes might be done online for specialized instruction, which means 99 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: that if a parent was, for instance, working at home, 100 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:19,279 Speaker 1: you could each be off in your separate office verus 101 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: school space. And if you're working flexibly, that can work 102 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: and you can overlap it at some of the times. 103 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: But I've seen a bunch of different versions of this. 104 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,160 Speaker 1: So one person I interviewed for Big Time, my upcoming 105 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,359 Speaker 1: book was working five to nine am most days on 106 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,039 Speaker 1: her own business. Then she would homeschool after that. She 107 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: also worked in a regular office job on Tuesdays, but 108 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: because they were a homeschooling family, her older kids were 109 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: able to just stay with the younger ones during that 110 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:50,760 Speaker 1: and they homeschooled on the other four days a week. 111 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: And if you spread that over a longer period of time, 112 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:56,480 Speaker 1: then you can do that. Right as long as you're 113 00:05:56,480 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: getting one hundred eighty days, you don't have to take 114 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 1: a traditional summer if you don't want to. I have 115 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:04,120 Speaker 1: also seen a time loog of someone who would homeschool 116 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: from eight to one on her one hundred and eighty 117 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: instructional days, had a nanny come around noon, transitioning over 118 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: the lunchtime, as she would generally do consulting work from 119 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: one to six pm while her kids were in this 120 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,880 Speaker 1: other childcare during that time, and that person could do 121 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:23,480 Speaker 1: a lot of the afternoon activity driving and come in 122 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 1: and be fresh blood at that point as well, and 123 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,479 Speaker 1: then could do full time hours if you wanted, with 124 00:06:29,520 --> 00:06:31,840 Speaker 1: working from home and older kids are more self directed, 125 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: or just work different hours, homeschool different hours than nine 126 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: to five at nine to three. Homeschooling doesn't have to 127 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: mean you do all the teaching. Some kids do virtual classes. 128 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:43,440 Speaker 1: There are more homeschool co ops these days, so I've 129 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: seen a number of situations where you have like four 130 00:06:46,839 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: families and some combination of the eight parents involved in 131 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: that take a day or take a couple of hours 132 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: to do instruction on something that they may have had 133 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: more space. And like, so if somebody who is an engineer, 134 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,840 Speaker 1: they might be teaching a math class, as somebody works 135 00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,480 Speaker 1: in a pharmaceutical company, maybe they're doing chemistry, and somebody 136 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,000 Speaker 1: speaks Spanish fluently, they might be doing language. So they 137 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:15,800 Speaker 1: can create a co op that way, and then each 138 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,880 Speaker 1: individual parent is not doing all the instruction as well, 139 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: and so that opens up a lot of time, especially. 140 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:24,360 Speaker 3: For flexible work, So lots of different things. 141 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: Like I said, bit of an obsession of mine, but well, 142 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,400 Speaker 1: I think it's something that people can consider if they want. 143 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 3: Sorry, you never have considered it, right. 144 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:36,280 Speaker 2: I am not patient enough. I love teachers. I am 145 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,960 Speaker 2: so grateful they do what they do because I would 146 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 2: not be good at it. 147 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:40,280 Speaker 4: Yeah. 148 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 1: I have not personally had any desire to do this either. 149 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: I wrote my senior thesis in college on homeschooling policy. 150 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,520 Speaker 1: But I am also not cut out to do it. 151 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: I mean, my kids could have done a co op 152 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: or something, but no. 153 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 2: I applaud people who do it. I mean I think 154 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:56,560 Speaker 2: it can be great and I think especially the more 155 00:07:56,560 --> 00:07:58,440 Speaker 2: people do it in a way it's better because then 156 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,240 Speaker 2: the opportunities for family is getting together and creating a 157 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 2: whole social structure around it are certainly there. I mean 158 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,480 Speaker 2: I live in Florida, it's very common to homeschool. Yeah, 159 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 2: I just personally don't have the the right personality. 160 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 3: Well, we saw some of this with COVID right with 161 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 3: the co ops. 162 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: People would do with that, like you have your pod 163 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: of like four kids and trade off, And it's certainly 164 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: a way to do it as well. There's lots of 165 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: different educational options out there. But Anandy and her husband 166 00:08:24,320 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: have made this work through several stints. They are not 167 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,000 Speaker 1: currently do it, but she's gonna tell us about how 168 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: it has worked in their life. 169 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 3: So can't wait to hear that. 170 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: So, Sarah and I are delighted to welcome Anandi Rahmen 171 00:08:35,600 --> 00:08:38,640 Speaker 1: Creed back to the show. So On and d please 172 00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:41,319 Speaker 1: introduce yourself again to our listeners. 173 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 4: Hi. 174 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 5: Everyone, I'm an Indie Rahmen Creith. I live in Phoenix, 175 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 5: Arizona with my husband, two teenagers and dog, and I 176 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 5: work as a project manager for a small software company. 177 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, and you've had a wide variety of tech jobs. 178 00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: That was sort of the topic of our last conversation, 179 00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: where you talked about the various different flavors of part 180 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,000 Speaker 1: time and full time and virtual work you've done. But 181 00:09:06,040 --> 00:09:07,600 Speaker 1: we wanted you to come back on the show to 182 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: talk about homeschooling while working. And we certainly know that 183 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:14,719 Speaker 1: a lot of people think those two things are sort 184 00:09:14,720 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 1: of incompatible, that it requires at least one parent to 185 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:21,400 Speaker 1: have stepped back from their career for a while to manage. 186 00:09:21,440 --> 00:09:24,720 Speaker 1: But you've done both at the same time. Can you 187 00:09:24,720 --> 00:09:27,080 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about when your family used this 188 00:09:27,200 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: as an option. 189 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 5: Yep, we used it for both kids at a couple 190 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:37,560 Speaker 5: of different times, so I believe in twenty nineteen, we 191 00:09:37,840 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 5: had moved to a kind of a rural part of 192 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 5: California where the elementary school you went to was your 193 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 5: neighbors school, and that was the only choice really in 194 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:48,719 Speaker 5: the area, and that wasn't meeting the needs of our 195 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 5: older kid, who was I think in second grade at 196 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:56,600 Speaker 5: the time, and we kind of let that year progress 197 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,000 Speaker 5: to see how it went, and it really wasn't working 198 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:02,080 Speaker 5: for her. They offered to skip her a grade over 199 00:10:02,120 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 5: the summer, so we took that, not kind of not 200 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,319 Speaker 5: having any other options, and as soon as we did that, 201 00:10:08,360 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 5: she wilted, for lack of a better word, like, she 202 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 5: stopped reading for fun, she stopped telling us things that 203 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 5: she had learned at school. And so when we went 204 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 5: to talk to the school about it, we found out 205 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 5: that she was basically spending about three quarters of her 206 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 5: day reading in the back of the classroom because she 207 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 5: had finished her work and there wasn't really anything else 208 00:10:26,400 --> 00:10:28,200 Speaker 5: for her to do, and so we kind of realized 209 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 5: we needed to change, and so we took a huge 210 00:10:31,720 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 5: leap of faith and pulled her out of school. At 211 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 5: the time, I was working part time remotely for Microsoft 212 00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 5: as a contractor, and so my schedule was fairly flexible, 213 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:43,400 Speaker 5: and so we figured out a way to make it work. 214 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:48,480 Speaker 5: Basically through the neighboring public school district had a home 215 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 5: school support program where they would assign you a teacher 216 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:54,680 Speaker 5: to meet with every couple of weeks, and then you 217 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 5: would go and talk to them about your plan to 218 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,880 Speaker 5: cover the major subjects that you needed to cover. The 219 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 5: state of California had requirements for that. You filled out 220 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,120 Speaker 5: a form every two weeks talking about what you worked on, 221 00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:07,240 Speaker 5: and we just took it from there. And figured it 222 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,079 Speaker 5: out as we went to be honest, with a lot 223 00:11:09,080 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 5: of help from the internet. 224 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:15,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, and so was that kind of were you teaching 225 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,800 Speaker 1: her or were there other courses you were using? 226 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:19,600 Speaker 3: How did that work? 227 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 4: So we were lucky at that time. 228 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 5: I think my daughter was almost nine, and so at 229 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 5: that time she was pretty self motivated. We used a 230 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 5: lot of for that half a year that we pulled 231 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:34,200 Speaker 5: her out of school. It was like a weird time 232 00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:36,199 Speaker 5: to enroll her in classes and things because it was 233 00:11:36,280 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 5: the kind of after the second semester had started. So 234 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:41,559 Speaker 5: we used a lot of workbooks that we got from 235 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:44,640 Speaker 5: our homeschool support teacher. She kind of recommended things for 236 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:47,439 Speaker 5: our daughter, and then we had a couple of online 237 00:11:47,880 --> 00:11:50,680 Speaker 5: classes that were shorter term, like things from out school 238 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 5: and some other online providers. It muddled through the rest 239 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:55,480 Speaker 5: of that year just trying to figure out what it 240 00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 5: was that we wanted to do and cover for that year, 241 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:02,240 Speaker 5: preparing for the next year to really enroll her in 242 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 5: actual online classes that were the whole academic year. It 243 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,160 Speaker 5: was basically outsourcing most of it right Either we sent 244 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:12,760 Speaker 5: her to classes locally. There were a couple of homeschool 245 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:14,800 Speaker 5: co ops that people had set up where you drop 246 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 5: off your kid, they'd take whatever classes you sign them 247 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 5: up for, and then you pick them up later. There 248 00:12:19,520 --> 00:12:22,199 Speaker 5: were online classes which she was pretty good at focusing on, 249 00:12:23,040 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 5: and then just self working through workbooks for a specific curriculum. 250 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: And so how did you manage your work schedule around this? 251 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:34,320 Speaker 1: Were you able to sort of i mean be in 252 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: like a virtual meeting while she was doing her stuff, 253 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:38,640 Speaker 1: or did you have to move your hours around when 254 00:12:38,640 --> 00:12:39,679 Speaker 1: she would need support. 255 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,080 Speaker 5: I didn't actually, so we were lucky. This kid is 256 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:47,080 Speaker 5: i don't know, like unusually focused for that, like for 257 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:51,480 Speaker 5: how young she was. And so my husband also worked remotely, 258 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:53,440 Speaker 5: so we were able to tag team a little bit 259 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:55,680 Speaker 5: if she had a question. He is a software engineer 260 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:58,360 Speaker 5: and doesn't have very many actual meetings, so she can 261 00:12:58,400 --> 00:13:02,240 Speaker 5: interrupt him and not didn't have too much impact on 262 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:06,280 Speaker 5: his work, so that was helpful too. But basically, we 263 00:13:06,320 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 5: would sit down at the beginning of the day and say, 264 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:09,960 Speaker 5: here's the things you need to get done for the day, 265 00:13:10,280 --> 00:13:12,480 Speaker 5: here's the class that you have at this time, which 266 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 5: we'll have to drive you to, that sort of thing, 267 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 5: and then she would kind of just crank through it 268 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,560 Speaker 5: until she had a question and either ask him or me. 269 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:21,480 Speaker 5: So I didn't change my work schedule at all for that. 270 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 5: I would occasionally have to duck out to drive her somewhere, 271 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 5: like at two PM or whatever, but other than that, 272 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 5: it wasn't really very different from my normal work schedule. 273 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 1: Interesting and so you did it at another point too, 274 00:13:34,720 --> 00:13:37,720 Speaker 1: I mean there was a later than homeschooling episode as well. 275 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 5: Yes, so my older daughter we homeschooled basically from twenty 276 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 5: nineteen through COVID obviously, and then she went back to 277 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 5: school in seventh grade, so she basically homeschooled continuously from 278 00:13:51,920 --> 00:13:54,839 Speaker 5: the middle of fourth through seventh So then we sent 279 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:57,400 Speaker 5: her to school and thought was fine and great actually, 280 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,080 Speaker 5: and then my younger kid obviously was home for the 281 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 5: COVID year, and I don't know if we can. 282 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 4: Really count that because that was a little bit of 283 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:07,679 Speaker 4: a disaster. 284 00:14:07,800 --> 00:14:11,760 Speaker 5: So my younger kid is we found out later much later, 285 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 5: is also autistic and so but was having like a 286 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,920 Speaker 5: lot of challenges with online school and also was just seven. 287 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 5: So we would get notes from the teacher during the 288 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 5: COVID schooling, which we enrolled this kid in a fully 289 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 5: online elementary school program, so it was like basically in 290 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,520 Speaker 5: school at home through ASU Prep Digital and they still 291 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:37,760 Speaker 5: do that and anyone can enroll in this. I think 292 00:14:37,760 --> 00:14:40,040 Speaker 5: it costs money if you're outside of this state of Arizona, 293 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 5: but it was free for us, and it was excellent, 294 00:14:43,240 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 5: like if you could get your kid to focus, it 295 00:14:45,600 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 5: was great, Like they covered it, the teachers were amazing, 296 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 5: the teachers had plenty of online teaching experience. It just 297 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 5: was a terrible fit for our seven year old who 298 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 5: had trouble focusing, like was playing Minecraft while supposed to 299 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 5: be in class and. 300 00:14:57,560 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 4: Things like that. 301 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 5: So we kind of muddled it again, muddled through that 302 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 5: year and basically moved that kid into our office. One 303 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,280 Speaker 5: of us basically took the kid for the day and 304 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,480 Speaker 5: they would do their work in our office so we 305 00:15:10,480 --> 00:15:13,520 Speaker 5: could keep an eye on them. That was not ideal 306 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,160 Speaker 5: and I would never repeat that particular scenario again. But 307 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 5: then as this kid got older, sent them back to 308 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:23,280 Speaker 5: regular public elementary. There was a kind of a transition 309 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 5: year for sixth grade where we felt like they needed 310 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:29,280 Speaker 5: a little more academic challenge before going to the same 311 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,920 Speaker 5: school that their sister was attending, So we pulled them 312 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:34,960 Speaker 5: out to homeschool just for sixth grade. We knew it 313 00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,320 Speaker 5: was temporary and that we would be sending them back 314 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:40,640 Speaker 5: to school, and that went so much better. Because they 315 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 5: were older, they were able to focus. We had a 316 00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,720 Speaker 5: different kind of schedule. It wasn't just a solid block 317 00:15:46,800 --> 00:15:49,400 Speaker 5: of morning classes where you're sitting at the computer and focusing. 318 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:51,680 Speaker 5: It was you might have a class twice a week, 319 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,160 Speaker 5: you might have another class once a week, but most 320 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:56,680 Speaker 5: of the time was either getting homework done from those 321 00:15:56,720 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 5: classes or in person, either extracurriculars or classes. 322 00:16:01,280 --> 00:16:03,720 Speaker 4: And it worked really well for. 323 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 5: That kid, even though they have executive function challenges getting 324 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 5: things done, but it was amazing academically for them. 325 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:11,920 Speaker 1: All Right, well, we're going to take a quick ad 326 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:13,880 Speaker 1: break and then we'll talk a little bit more about 327 00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:29,320 Speaker 1: homeschooling resources for families in this situation. Why I am 328 00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: back talking with Anundi Rahman Kreith, who has homeschooled while 329 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:37,680 Speaker 1: working with two children, different situations with the older and younger, 330 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: So they were not homeschooling simultaneously. 331 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 3: Then there were different times for both of them. 332 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:44,200 Speaker 4: That's correct. 333 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 5: So the only year they were together at home was 334 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,080 Speaker 5: the COVID year, and as we know, that was difficult 335 00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 5: in many realms, so like I wouldn't take that as 336 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 5: a typical homeschool year. Yes, so each of them had 337 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 5: our full attention for the other years that they were 338 00:16:59,160 --> 00:16:59,960 Speaker 5: being homeschooled. 339 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: And because you had flexible jobs that you guys could 340 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 1: work from home, you were able to incorporate that all. 341 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:07,080 Speaker 1: It's sort of into the family schedule. 342 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 4: Absolutely. 343 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:11,880 Speaker 5: Both My husband and I have been working remotely from 344 00:17:11,880 --> 00:17:17,200 Speaker 5: home for tech since like twenty sixteen, so it really 345 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:19,359 Speaker 5: does make it easier to do some of these things 346 00:17:20,040 --> 00:17:21,280 Speaker 5: a little off the beaten track. 347 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:23,680 Speaker 3: Well, let's talk a little bit about the resources for it. 348 00:17:23,720 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 1: I mean, a lot of people when they hear homeschooling, 349 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,240 Speaker 1: they assume that mom is sitting at the kitchen table 350 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:31,679 Speaker 1: teaching from some curriculum. I guess that you may have 351 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,439 Speaker 1: purchased or there's a lot of major publishers that do 352 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,000 Speaker 1: full curriculums, if people are interested in that sort of thing. 353 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,280 Speaker 1: But it sounds like you went a different route and 354 00:17:40,280 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: found in different resources. I'm curious how you went about 355 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: finding those resources to make sort of a hybrid schooling situation. 356 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 4: Yeah. 357 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:52,800 Speaker 5: I would say the homeschool charter program in California was 358 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 5: really instrumental for me and getting some structure around it. 359 00:17:56,560 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 4: They required us to report every two. 360 00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 5: Weeks what we had done in like math, science, ela 361 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,080 Speaker 5: pe and social studies, So we had to cover all 362 00:18:07,119 --> 00:18:09,399 Speaker 5: those things over the two weeks and talk about what 363 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 5: we did, and they filed that somewhere officially. So that 364 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:15,840 Speaker 5: really helped me kind of at least get a start 365 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 5: on what things we needed to cover. And the beauty 366 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,840 Speaker 5: of homeschooling in this way is like you get to 367 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,200 Speaker 5: pick the subject, you get to pick the curriculum, you 368 00:18:26,240 --> 00:18:28,760 Speaker 5: get to pick the level for each thing independently. Right 369 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,960 Speaker 5: you're not doing second grade everything altogether. You can pick 370 00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 5: different levels based on how your kid is doing. And 371 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:38,399 Speaker 5: so we discovered by accident that our first kid was 372 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,280 Speaker 5: like three years ahead in math, and we had no idea, Like, 373 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:44,600 Speaker 5: we just kept giving her the final year tests for 374 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 5: the curriculum she was already using at public school and 375 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:49,040 Speaker 5: found out that she was actually ready for sixth grade, 376 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:52,680 Speaker 5: and so we just started where she needed to start. 377 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 5: So for some of it, we just got the workbook 378 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 5: from the school curriculum and she just worked through it 379 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:00,640 Speaker 5: on her own. Math was not her face, so having 380 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 5: a live math class was not really adding value for her. 381 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,240 Speaker 5: She just wanted to get it done. But for other classes, 382 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,040 Speaker 5: we found online providers. There are a number of them. 383 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:14,680 Speaker 5: There's a place called Athena's Homeschool Academy. There are the 384 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 5: Davidson Institute has online classes that are taught by real 385 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:23,320 Speaker 5: teachers for gifted kids. There's out School which is amazing 386 00:19:23,359 --> 00:19:27,239 Speaker 5: because it has both academic things and fun classes. So 387 00:19:27,280 --> 00:19:29,919 Speaker 5: my daughter took a ton of drawing classes. Just you 388 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,199 Speaker 5: pay for one session, it happens at one time, and 389 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:34,000 Speaker 5: you're done, so she could try out a lot of 390 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 5: different instructors and do things that way. So there's a 391 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,920 Speaker 5: ton of stuff online if your kid is good at 392 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:42,760 Speaker 5: paying attention for online classes. But we also, like I said, 393 00:19:42,760 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 5: we had a homeschool co op, and most big cities 394 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:48,119 Speaker 5: will have a homeschool co op that teaches classes like 395 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 5: they hire teachers and they will teach different subjects and 396 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 5: you pick which ones you want. Our homeschool charter also 397 00:19:54,119 --> 00:19:56,160 Speaker 5: had a day one day a week where they would 398 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,120 Speaker 5: basically go there for the whole school day and take 399 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,760 Speaker 5: a bunch of mostly elect They also did hands on 400 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,399 Speaker 5: science projects and messy art projects, things you might not 401 00:20:04,440 --> 00:20:06,879 Speaker 5: always do at home, so she was gone one day 402 00:20:06,920 --> 00:20:09,959 Speaker 5: a week for those until COVID shut that down, So 403 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:12,680 Speaker 5: it was a nice experience to have both. She could 404 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:14,720 Speaker 5: be around other kids at least that one day a week, 405 00:20:14,800 --> 00:20:16,280 Speaker 5: and then the rest of the time she was doing 406 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:19,000 Speaker 5: stuff online or a few classes at. 407 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:19,320 Speaker 4: The co op. 408 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:21,399 Speaker 1: And with a co op, like, how does one go 409 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: about finding a good one one that you think is 410 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,760 Speaker 1: doing or at least it's like philosophically aligned with you too, 411 00:20:27,760 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 1: Because I imagine there's a mix of them that is 412 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:30,960 Speaker 1: very true. 413 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,119 Speaker 5: So there are a lot of religious ones and some 414 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:37,000 Speaker 5: of them are also you can if you have to 415 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:37,960 Speaker 5: do a little digging and. 416 00:20:38,000 --> 00:20:40,640 Speaker 4: Ask about it. I did a lot of Google. 417 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 5: Searching because I didn't know anyone. We had also just 418 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:45,400 Speaker 5: moved to California, so I didn't really know anyone who 419 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:48,199 Speaker 5: was also homeschooling until we actually started doing it, so 420 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:51,800 Speaker 5: a lot of googling. There are religious homeschool co ops 421 00:20:51,840 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 5: that their classes are not religious, so you can still 422 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 5: take them. They're happy and welcoming. It might be at 423 00:20:57,000 --> 00:20:59,520 Speaker 5: a church, but they're happy to have you. But there 424 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 5: are some require you to sign a statement of faith 425 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 5: before you send your kid to their class, and if 426 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,080 Speaker 5: that's not aligned with what you want, obviously you wouldn't 427 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 5: sign up there. There's also a really good Facebook group 428 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 5: called Secular Eclectic Academic Homeschoolers that I used, and they're 429 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:20,480 Speaker 5: like almost militant about the content that's shared there and 430 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 5: the online classes shared there being incredibly secular, like more 431 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,679 Speaker 5: than I would be worried about, and we were somewhat 432 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 5: concerned about it, but they are like really strict about that. 433 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:32,320 Speaker 5: So if that's something that's important, that's a great resource 434 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,040 Speaker 5: for those kinds of things. The Internet, Like I don't 435 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 5: know how people would have done this before the Internet, 436 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 5: but for us, like the resources online were amazing to find, 437 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 5: even local meetings and local groups that we could find 438 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 5: resources there. 439 00:21:46,040 --> 00:21:49,120 Speaker 1: And you mentioned that you'd had a variety of experiences 440 00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:51,640 Speaker 1: with virtual classes, and I think a lot of us 441 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: learned this during COVID, that some children do better with 442 00:21:56,000 --> 00:21:57,560 Speaker 1: that than others. And some of that is a function 443 00:21:57,600 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: of age, some of it is a function of their 444 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: executive function or how interesting they find the class, or 445 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,240 Speaker 1: other temperamental things. 446 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:05,560 Speaker 3: With the kids. 447 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: I'm curious how you think people should think about that 448 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: with their children, like whether they'll be able to do it, 449 00:22:11,080 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: or if they are, you need to take a virtual class. 450 00:22:13,040 --> 00:22:14,520 Speaker 3: If there's ways to make it better. 451 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,800 Speaker 5: Yeah, I think the best way is to try it 452 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:20,720 Speaker 5: and see what happens. Because I was actually pretty surprised 453 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 5: that my almost nine year old was like really receptive 454 00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:28,040 Speaker 5: and attentive and was like it worked great for her, 455 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 5: and we just jumped in and signed up for a 456 00:22:31,359 --> 00:22:33,800 Speaker 5: class that had a whole bunch of sessions. But I 457 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:36,080 Speaker 5: think out school is the perfect place to try this 458 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:38,840 Speaker 5: because they'll have like a one off session, pick something 459 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,639 Speaker 5: your kid is interested in, and see like, can they 460 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:43,840 Speaker 5: pay attention to the screen. Are they getting distracted by 461 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 5: other things? Like our second kid definitely, until they were 462 00:22:48,760 --> 00:22:53,919 Speaker 5: maybe nine ten would have incredible trouble focusing just on 463 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 5: the screen and what's going on there. So it's just 464 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,160 Speaker 5: I think you got to try it and see if 465 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 5: it works. Some kids are great at it and some 466 00:23:01,600 --> 00:23:02,040 Speaker 5: kids aren't. 467 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 1: Yeah, was there anything that you saw right away like 468 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:06,879 Speaker 1: this isn't working and we had to pivot? 469 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 4: Yes? 470 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:11,879 Speaker 5: Actually, And it goes against the topic of this podcast 471 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,639 Speaker 5: as far as working and homeschooling. So when we were 472 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 5: homeschooling our younger kid in sixth grade school starts here 473 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 5: in August, so we started all of our classes and 474 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:26,360 Speaker 5: things in August as well, and it was working okay 475 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 5: at the beginning, but then I would come to check 476 00:23:30,320 --> 00:23:32,280 Speaker 5: on the kid after a couple of hours of meetings, 477 00:23:32,320 --> 00:23:36,120 Speaker 5: and then nothing had gotten done. They were researching dragons online, 478 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:40,560 Speaker 5: completely unrelated to school. There was some minecraft happening, So 479 00:23:41,600 --> 00:23:44,160 Speaker 5: my husband and I were trading off each week who 480 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:47,280 Speaker 5: was more closely supervising so the other person could concentrate 481 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 5: on work, and one person was responsible for school that week, 482 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 5: and about like I want to say, two three months in, 483 00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,600 Speaker 5: it was not working super well. To be honest, I 484 00:23:57,640 --> 00:24:01,400 Speaker 5: think again it was the executive function challenges. Being left 485 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:03,720 Speaker 5: alone to get their work done was not working for 486 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:06,040 Speaker 5: this kid, and it wasn't going to help to just 487 00:24:06,080 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 5: like plunk them in our office like it did when 488 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 5: they were seven. So at ten and eleven, you need 489 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 5: a little bit of a different focus on that. And 490 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:16,400 Speaker 5: so I ended up, actually for other reasons also burn 491 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 5: out related in things, leaving my job to focus and 492 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:23,920 Speaker 5: help this kid basically like teach them how to set 493 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:26,240 Speaker 5: up a plan for the week. And it's interesting because 494 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,440 Speaker 5: I worked myself out of that job probably four months 495 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,480 Speaker 5: into it, Like eventually the kid caught on, Like at 496 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 5: the beginning of the week, we write in our planner, 497 00:24:33,280 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 5: we figure out all the things we're gonna do, and 498 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,520 Speaker 5: then we just do them. And it was really a 499 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,879 Speaker 5: good reward because basically, once they were done with their 500 00:24:40,880 --> 00:24:43,600 Speaker 5: school work for the day, that was free time for them. 501 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:45,720 Speaker 5: So if you finish by noon, you've got half a 502 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:49,120 Speaker 5: day to do whatever you want. And so that caught 503 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:51,960 Speaker 5: on pretty well. I didn't even really, I mean, I 504 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,399 Speaker 5: probably didn't need to quit. We probably could have muddled 505 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,639 Speaker 5: through that, and I had a lot of other reasons 506 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,480 Speaker 5: for quitting. But sometimes they need a lot of hands 507 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:01,679 Speaker 5: on support at the beginning, especially if a lot of 508 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,360 Speaker 5: it is independent work that's not in class being led 509 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:05,320 Speaker 5: by another teacher. 510 00:25:05,680 --> 00:25:09,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, although I'd point out that many times children with 511 00:25:09,119 --> 00:25:11,720 Speaker 1: special needs need a lot of parental involvement, whether you're 512 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 1: homeschooling or not. 513 00:25:13,200 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 5: Yes, yes, I'm still setting on assignments online. 514 00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: So yes, yes, exactly exactly. We're going to take one 515 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:34,480 Speaker 1: more quick ad break and then I'll be back with more. Well, 516 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 1: I am back talking with Anandi Rahman Kreeth about homeschooling 517 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 1: and particularly homeschooling as an option while you are working 518 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,359 Speaker 1: as well. Now, do you think there's any way you 519 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 1: could have pulled this off if one of you was 520 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: reporting to an office. 521 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,520 Speaker 5: I think if I were working part time remotely, yes, 522 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:52,159 Speaker 5: for sure, one hundred percent. I think the part that 523 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 5: was actually the most challenging was driving kids somewhere in 524 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 5: the middle of the day, because there were I mean, 525 00:25:57,920 --> 00:26:01,679 Speaker 5: as homeschooling has become more popular even since COVID, there 526 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,960 Speaker 5: are a lot of interesting classes that happened during the day, 527 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:09,760 Speaker 5: specifically for homeschoolers at local pe classes and other things, 528 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,400 Speaker 5: and so just getting them there was probably the bigger challenge. 529 00:26:13,560 --> 00:26:16,560 Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean, I think we could pull it 530 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:17,919 Speaker 5: off with one parent as long. 531 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:19,720 Speaker 4: As your job is super flexible. 532 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 5: You're not tied to a bunch of meetings or a 533 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 5: specific a lot of things that have to be done 534 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:25,560 Speaker 5: at a specific time. 535 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 3: Yeah. 536 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:28,399 Speaker 1: Although even with that, I mean there's people who like, 537 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: are a nurse who works night shifts or something, and 538 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: you could trade off with flexible slures as somebody else 539 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:36,080 Speaker 1: for instance. But that's funny that you say that it's 540 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: driving kids places is the thing that takes the time, 541 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,600 Speaker 1: and you need the flexibility for and people hear that way, like, wait, 542 00:26:41,640 --> 00:26:43,919 Speaker 1: homeschooling doesn't mean you're just staying home. 543 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 5: Right, Yeah, And for us, I mean the social piece 544 00:26:47,040 --> 00:26:49,280 Speaker 5: was also really important. I didn't want them to be 545 00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:53,240 Speaker 5: home eight hours a day or longer without seeing other 546 00:26:53,320 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 5: kids at all. Right, So we did definitely seek out 547 00:26:56,119 --> 00:27:00,359 Speaker 5: more extracurriculars and other social classes where they would be 548 00:27:00,359 --> 00:27:03,200 Speaker 5: in class with other kids in person. Because we were 549 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 5: doing so much of it online, we also wanted to 550 00:27:05,480 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 5: make sure they were still getting that same amount of 551 00:27:08,680 --> 00:27:10,680 Speaker 5: social time with other kids as well. 552 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:11,320 Speaker 3: Yeah. 553 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,399 Speaker 1: Well, certainly socialization is something people occasionally worry about with it. 554 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:16,159 Speaker 1: But it sounds like you were doing so many things 555 00:27:16,440 --> 00:27:19,040 Speaker 1: in community with other people that you almost might have 556 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:19,639 Speaker 1: too much of it. 557 00:27:20,240 --> 00:27:24,480 Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. I think that's a pretty common misconception. 558 00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:27,960 Speaker 5: I mean, there's so much social homeschooling stuff you could 559 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 5: sign up for that you would actually not get a 560 00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,720 Speaker 5: lot of academic work done. Like a lot of the 561 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:35,240 Speaker 5: co ops will have days where they go hang out 562 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:37,199 Speaker 5: at Like for younger kids, obviously they go hang out 563 00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:40,480 Speaker 5: at the park and they're there two hours, three hours, right, 564 00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:43,480 Speaker 5: And so you could find those little meetups and gatherings 565 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:48,080 Speaker 5: and then classes like fun extracurricular classes and really have 566 00:27:48,160 --> 00:27:50,680 Speaker 5: trouble squeezing in the academic stuff if you're not careful. 567 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 1: So you wound up transitioning both of your children back 568 00:27:55,520 --> 00:27:59,160 Speaker 1: into sort of more regular schooling situations. I'm curious why 569 00:27:59,200 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: you made that decision than after having made the homeschooling 570 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:02,960 Speaker 1: decision with both of them. 571 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 5: Yeah, So for us, homeschooling was always temporary. It was 572 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:10,320 Speaker 5: to fix or improve something that we saw that needed 573 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:14,240 Speaker 5: to be fixed in that time, like immediately in that time. 574 00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,199 Speaker 5: Like it was for us, we were never intending to 575 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 5: do it all the way through until they graduated. I 576 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:22,879 Speaker 5: think my husband for sure, was very skeptical of homeschooling 577 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,400 Speaker 5: in general when we started, so I think the fact 578 00:28:25,440 --> 00:28:28,800 Speaker 5: that he even came around to it was pretty surprising 579 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:29,880 Speaker 5: enough to do it. 580 00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:32,240 Speaker 4: We knew that we wanted. 581 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 5: Our kids to go back at the very latest in 582 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:36,960 Speaker 5: high school, just because I didn't want Like, it's a 583 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 5: little more complicated to you can do it, absolutely, people 584 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:43,320 Speaker 5: do it all the time, but homeschooling high school you 585 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:45,280 Speaker 5: have to make sure you get in all the requirements 586 00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 5: that colleges need, specifically in the state of California, they 587 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:50,680 Speaker 5: have really specific requirements that if you don't meet, you're 588 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:53,760 Speaker 5: not eligible to apply to the University of California system. 589 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:57,360 Speaker 5: So it gets a little more tricky around documentation and 590 00:28:57,400 --> 00:28:59,640 Speaker 5: making sure they've got all the classes, and you don't 591 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:03,160 Speaker 5: always have access to them, Like a lot of homeschoolers 592 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,480 Speaker 5: will have trouble finding AP exams they can take because 593 00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:07,240 Speaker 5: you have to take those in person, and not every 594 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:09,920 Speaker 5: public school will let you come and take the exam there. 595 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 5: So it gets tricky as they get older, And I 596 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:15,240 Speaker 5: think we just wanted them to like, we wanted to 597 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:16,680 Speaker 5: be able to find a school. If we had a 598 00:29:16,720 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 5: good school for them all along, we would have just 599 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 5: sent them to school. But we did eventually want to 600 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,160 Speaker 5: find a school for them that was a good fit, 601 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,400 Speaker 5: and we found a great one. I mean, that's partially 602 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 5: why we're here in Arizona. So they go to the 603 00:29:26,800 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 5: school and ideally they will both graduate from it, and 604 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:32,840 Speaker 5: it's been a great environment for both of them. 605 00:29:33,520 --> 00:29:36,120 Speaker 1: Is the school a little bit more focused on something 606 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: that's different from a normal public school. 607 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,400 Speaker 5: Yeah, it's a tiny private school on the campus of 608 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:46,520 Speaker 5: Arizona State University, so it's focused on gifted education and 609 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 5: letting kids basically when they run out of classes to 610 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:51,320 Speaker 5: take at their school, they're allowed to take classes at 611 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:54,840 Speaker 5: Arizona State, which is like the catalog for that is amazing. 612 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,720 Speaker 5: So it's just been a really good fit for both 613 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:01,160 Speaker 5: of them. It's also small nurturing, so it works for 614 00:30:01,280 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 5: my kid with some special needs as well, which is great. 615 00:30:05,800 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, do you miss homeschooling at all? 616 00:30:08,240 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 4: I do? 617 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 5: Actually, I still I've got friends who have been homeschooling 618 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:12,960 Speaker 5: the whole way. 619 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 4: Through, and I am a little jealous. 620 00:30:14,520 --> 00:30:18,200 Speaker 5: Like it affords a flexibility for vacations and things. You 621 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 5: can either take your work with you. You can decide 622 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 5: that you're not going to do some of that work 623 00:30:21,840 --> 00:30:23,720 Speaker 5: that week, like you can call into class and turn 624 00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:25,640 Speaker 5: in your homework, but everything that you're doing on your 625 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 5: own you can skip. There's a flexibility where you're not 626 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 5: tied to a school calendar that I really miss for sure, 627 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,800 Speaker 5: and just having the kids around it's difficult as that 628 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 5: COVID year was Like having them actually home altogether was 629 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 5: great and I do miss that, but also I'm happy 630 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:46,760 Speaker 5: for them to be at the school that they're at now, 631 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 5: So yeah, we would not trade it. 632 00:30:49,160 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, the vacation thing is totally real. 633 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,560 Speaker 1: I mean, we had to fill out the absence for 634 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:56,520 Speaker 1: educational purposes so I could get two days extra to 635 00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,040 Speaker 1: take my sixteen year old to our spring break trip 636 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 1: to Japan, and I was like, it would have been 637 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:03,360 Speaker 1: a longer trip if we weren't tied. 638 00:31:03,280 --> 00:31:03,960 Speaker 3: To the calendar. 639 00:31:04,120 --> 00:31:07,480 Speaker 1: For sure, for sure, So Ana, do you listen to 640 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:09,840 Speaker 1: the show? Of course, you know that we like to 641 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,320 Speaker 1: end with the Love of the Week. I'll go ahead 642 00:31:12,320 --> 00:31:14,360 Speaker 1: and throw one out that is homeschooling related that you mentioned, 643 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: the Davidson Institute, So if any of our listeners are 644 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:22,000 Speaker 1: curious about programs for children who need more academic challenge, 645 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: you should definitely check them out. You don't have to 646 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,360 Speaker 1: be homeschooling, though. They do stuff for kids who are 647 00:31:26,360 --> 00:31:28,600 Speaker 1: in regular schools or any other sort of school. But 648 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:31,640 Speaker 1: they do have a ton of homeschooling resources if you're 649 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:32,320 Speaker 1: interested in. 650 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 4: That, all right. 651 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 5: I would say mine is not homeschooling related, but my 652 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:42,120 Speaker 5: love of the Week is actually bullet journaling. I returned 653 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,440 Speaker 5: to it a few I think earlier this year instead 654 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:47,960 Speaker 5: of using an actual printed planner, and I just it's 655 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 5: working for me really well, and I should never have 656 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 5: left that method. 657 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:54,800 Speaker 3: The bullet journaling is awesome. 658 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,400 Speaker 1: Yes, well, Anady, if people did want to connect, where 659 00:31:59,440 --> 00:32:00,200 Speaker 1: should they go? 660 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 4: Yes, I have a substack. 661 00:32:04,360 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 5: It is not homeschooling related, but I think you can 662 00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 5: send me messages there or leave comments. It's on in 663 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:14,600 Speaker 5: d R C A N A N d irc at substack, 664 00:32:15,000 --> 00:32:16,960 Speaker 5: so you can find me there. 665 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:19,240 Speaker 3: Awesome, Anandi, thanks so much for joining us. 666 00:32:19,600 --> 00:32:19,960 Speaker 4: Thank you. 667 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:21,960 Speaker 3: Well, we are back. 668 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,320 Speaker 1: So glad to hear about how people make working and 669 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:28,680 Speaker 1: homeschooling work simultaneously. I know we probably have some other 670 00:32:28,760 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: listeners who have experienced with that, and so if you 671 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 1: have structured your hours in a cool way to make 672 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:36,640 Speaker 1: that possible, I would love to hear about it, like 673 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: I love collecting these, So email me Laura at Laura 674 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 1: vandercam dot com get send me your time log. 675 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:45,440 Speaker 3: I would very much enjoy seeing it. So today's question. 676 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,120 Speaker 1: This came from our Patreon community Best of both worlds 677 00:32:49,160 --> 00:32:52,760 Speaker 1: ever at Patreon. How do you handle parenting when one 678 00:32:52,840 --> 00:32:56,760 Speaker 1: kid requires more time and attention than another, or than 679 00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:58,760 Speaker 1: the others if you have more than two. In this 680 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:01,480 Speaker 1: particular case, it's because of a medical issue, but obviously 681 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:03,760 Speaker 1: it could be other reasons too, So Sarah, what would 682 00:33:03,800 --> 00:33:04,120 Speaker 1: you say. 683 00:33:04,960 --> 00:33:07,240 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean this is the reality for us, but 684 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:09,680 Speaker 2: I feel like the kid that needs more in our 685 00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 2: particular case, it varies. I just always feel like there's 686 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:16,840 Speaker 2: some kid who has extra needs, and the way we 687 00:33:16,840 --> 00:33:19,600 Speaker 2: get around it is just really paying attention to making 688 00:33:19,600 --> 00:33:22,200 Speaker 2: sure that the others who are not in that place 689 00:33:22,240 --> 00:33:25,560 Speaker 2: at the moment feel and notice they're one on one time. 690 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,160 Speaker 2: Because I think that the more that it's like, oh, 691 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 2: you have your special day and you talk it up 692 00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:32,560 Speaker 2: and you plan it and you do it, the more 693 00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:35,240 Speaker 2: kind of salient you make it, or the more that 694 00:33:35,320 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 2: it's like specifically for them, the more it means even 695 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,280 Speaker 2: if the time spent is not proportional. So I would 696 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:44,840 Speaker 2: say that's how we've done it. I also think this 697 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:46,520 Speaker 2: can be a really good kind of like divide and 698 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:49,600 Speaker 2: conqueror situation where if like one kid needs a lot, 699 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:51,720 Speaker 2: then one parent can focus on that and then the 700 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 2: other parent can shower attention on the others. 701 00:33:54,040 --> 00:33:54,640 Speaker 4: Yeah. 702 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: No, I mean we have some version of this, not 703 00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: because of medical issues, but just because one of my 704 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:01,560 Speaker 1: kids is so much younger than the others and so 705 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: he naturally requires a lot more attention. I mean somebody 706 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,799 Speaker 1: is like actively putting him to bed, whereas the other 707 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:11,640 Speaker 1: kids it's kind of more of a just send them 708 00:34:11,680 --> 00:34:14,640 Speaker 1: to their rooms and they manage that themselves. Or one kid, 709 00:34:14,719 --> 00:34:17,120 Speaker 1: I have to get him food, whereas the others are 710 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,120 Speaker 1: very much capable of feeding themselves if they need to, 711 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,640 Speaker 1: or showering themselves, dressing themselves. And the six year olds 712 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:27,480 Speaker 1: still needs assistance with all those things. So it's not 713 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: because of medical issues, because of the age. So what 714 00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,400 Speaker 1: we have done is I just try to make sure 715 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:34,799 Speaker 1: that I am getting one on one time with the 716 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:39,279 Speaker 1: other kids doing something that they find enjoyable, like entering. 717 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:41,439 Speaker 3: Their world for a while, whatever it is that they. 718 00:34:41,360 --> 00:34:44,400 Speaker 1: Happen to enjoy. Sometimes it's been trips. Sometimes it's just 719 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:47,480 Speaker 1: like taking a Starbucks trip, going to the library together, 720 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:51,000 Speaker 1: just driving somewhere in the car, getting driving hours practice 721 00:34:51,360 --> 00:34:51,959 Speaker 1: all those things. 722 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 3: And activity. If you can have only one kid in 723 00:34:54,800 --> 00:34:56,760 Speaker 3: the car to an activity, that's always like a bonus 724 00:34:56,880 --> 00:34:58,560 Speaker 3: treated as their time. 725 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:00,239 Speaker 1: If they might be on their phone, try to get 726 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: them to be the DJ, like have them choose music 727 00:35:02,480 --> 00:35:04,200 Speaker 1: for you all to listen to together as a way 728 00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:06,960 Speaker 1: to get them out of that. And then we've also 729 00:35:07,320 --> 00:35:11,360 Speaker 1: gotten extra care for Henry, like, so sometimes we have 730 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:14,880 Speaker 1: a babysitter just for him and do stuff with the 731 00:35:14,920 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 1: other kids. And I I'm sub love. I feel like, well, 732 00:35:19,080 --> 00:35:20,920 Speaker 1: he should be part of the whole family stuff too, 733 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:24,439 Speaker 1: But it changes the entire dynamic if he is part 734 00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:26,520 Speaker 1: of the family stuff. So we do it for some 735 00:35:26,600 --> 00:35:28,279 Speaker 1: things but not for all the things, so that the 736 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:31,880 Speaker 1: big kids can have big kid fun with their parents 737 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:34,040 Speaker 1: in a way that they would have if they didn't 738 00:35:34,080 --> 00:35:37,480 Speaker 1: have a much younger little brother. And I also figure 739 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:40,560 Speaker 1: he's going to be with me for years after they 740 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:44,280 Speaker 1: are gone, which means that even if I have extra 741 00:35:44,560 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 1: care for him now, I'm maybe getting some of that 742 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: time back when he's like age twelve to eighteen and 743 00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: most of the others are gone. 744 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:53,560 Speaker 2: It's a long time. It's a long time about that 745 00:35:53,600 --> 00:35:56,040 Speaker 2: time too, I mean, I'm looking forward to it. But like, yeah, 746 00:35:56,200 --> 00:35:58,400 Speaker 2: the last kid gets a lot of concentrated attention at 747 00:35:58,400 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 2: the endeah. 748 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:01,360 Speaker 1: Or will just be so tight that he'll raise himself 749 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 1: at that point. But we'll see, we'll see. 750 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 2: You'll certainly be available, that you will not be divided. 751 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, exactly. This has been at best of both Worlds. 752 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,319 Speaker 1: We have been talking about homeschooling while working. We will 753 00:36:13,360 --> 00:36:14,239 Speaker 1: be back next week with. 754 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,240 Speaker 3: More on making work and life fit together. 755 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,080 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. You can find me Sarah at the 756 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:25,920 Speaker 2: shoebox dot com or at the Underscore Shoebox on Instagram. 757 00:36:25,920 --> 00:36:29,880 Speaker 1: And you can find me Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. 758 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: This has been the best of both Worlds podcasts. Please 759 00:36:33,600 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 1: join us next time for more on making work and 760 00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:37,400 Speaker 1: life work together.