MAGGIE: You have people who are, that you’re seeing, right? Who’ve brought work home —
JUNE: Yeah.
MAGGIE: For the last several months now. They’ve been schooling at home
JUNE: Is this what homeschooling is?
MAGGIE: …and they, yes. And I think that’s actually a really, that’s a really important question to answer. I don’t think that every homeschool family would necessarily answer it the same way. Some of those homeschooling families may be doing more of a school at home type of atmosphere. And if it works for them, that’s fine. I think for families who are really enjoying having their kids at home or wondering if they can continue doing this, is this the only way it looks?
JUNE: Right.
CHRISTINA: Yeah.
MAGGIE: ‘Cause this is not working for me. But maybe I know or I’m hearing from child’s school might be closed in the fall. I think, “No.” that does not how it has to look. You can-You know, there are a lot of methods for you to pick. And I think, to me, one of the biggest reliefs about homeschooling is also realizing, like you said, You know, you’re the visionary, but you’re also in charge of the schedule. And so suddenly third grade blurs a little bit. And you know where your child needs to be or where you need to be spending more time, or maybe they’re really strong here. And so we can maybe slack off on that and build up some of those weaker spots. Suddenly it’s not just this crisp, clear cut. Well, we’ve done all the third grade curriculum. So now we’re in fourth grade and it’s freeing to do that. And I think that it’s actually a benefit to your child
CHRISTINA: Sure.
MAGGIE: To be able to do that in terms of their longterm just success as a human being. If we’re going to talk about it academically. Like in the fall.
CHRISTINA: It has to be free from the competition or having to reach a certain standard and be tested on it. I think just learning at the child’s pace can really benefit them as far as just confidence in what they’re learning and enjoyment of what they’re learning without the stress of, you know having to finish by a certain time or something like that. I think just sparking that joy of learning and reading and… Yeah, just being free to kind of move at your own pace and not feel that pressure.
JUNE: Yeah.
CHRISTINA: Because I grew up as a child in a kind of high pressure school where I stayed up at night with my stomach hurting cause I had a test the next day. I was a little child.
JUNE: Yeah.
CHRISTINA: I should not have felt that way.
JUNE: Yeah.
CHRISTINA: So in homeschooling you have a parent there who loves you and is patient with you most of the time.
JUNE: Yes.
CHRISTINA: And, you know, just wants you to succeed and enjoy what you’re doing. It’s very freeing. And so much anxiety can go for the child. You know?
JUNE: And I mean, I’ll dovetail on that because I think, you know for me, I have some schools that I look at that I really admire. I’d love to have my child in that school, but I don’t want my child to be in that school until like high school. You know? Because I want, it’s so funny, cause I can kind of every year I have this barometer of like, “How are they doing?” “This child needs a more lot space in reading this year.” “This child it’s time to push into math.” And last year we had to back off.
CHRISTINA: Right.
JUNE: And so there’s this like fine tune to where, You know in a school, the principal, you have to have five people talking to each other to understand what’s best for that child. But if you’re paying attention as a parent, you know how to push and pull. And when–
CHRISTINA: And when to adjust real quickly.
JUNE: And boy, this year we have done things so gently. And I felt like this year around this table it was like, it’s time to have an hour where we sit and this certain skill of listening. You know, it’s just it was a different year. But you, What is homeschooling? You have, You really can change things in your homeschool on a dime. So if something’s going wrong with math, you can change it. So, I mean, and that’s not technically the definition.
MAGGIE: And I would like to also say
JUNE: That’s more what we’re going to talk about in the benefit
MAGGIE: And you don’t have to be expert in math to know that you need to make a change.