The Homeschool How To

#149: Homeschool OT Explains Reflex Integration, Picky Eaters & Kids Who Won’t Sit Still

• Cheryl - Host • Episode 149

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What happens when vaccine mandates, school regulations, and a mama’s intuition collide? In this episode, I sit down with Tiffany, a homeschool mom of almost-seven-year-old twin boys in West Virginia and an occupational therapist who now serves the homeschool community.

Tiffany shares how COVID, vaccine requirements, and a strong Christian conviction opened the door to homeschooling—not just for her twin boys, but for her stepkids too. We talk about co-ops, jujitsu, piano lessons, state requirements, and why “freedom” is the first word that comes to mind when she thinks of home education.

As an OT, Tiffany also dives into reflex integration—how primitive reflexes can affect things like handwriting, reading, attention, picky eating, emotional regulation, and why some kids “can’t sit still” no matter how hard they try. If you’ve ever wondered, “Is this just a phase, or does my child actually need help?” this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we cover:

  • Homeschooling energetic twin boys with totally different strengths
  • Navigating co-ops, church life, and daily rhythms in West Virginia
  • How vaccine mandates and religious convictions pushed some families toward homeschooling
  • The difference between classical education and programs like Classical Conversations
  • West Virginia vs. New York homeschool requirements (portfolio reviews, testing, paperwork)
  • What pediatric occupational therapy actually is for homeschoolers
  • Reflex integration 101 and how unintegrated reflexes can show up as
    • Poor handwriting
    • Trouble sitting still
    • Visual scanning issues when reading
    • Picky eating, chewing on clothes/pencils
    • Big emotions and meltdowns
  • Why it’s okay to ask for help and build your “village” as a homeschool parent

Connect with Tiffany:

Www.agapelove.com

Facebook: The Homeschool OT, Tiffany Parsons

Other therapy resources: 

Www.HomeschoolOT.com 

Facebook: The Homeschool OT, Sarah Collins

Harkla (parent trainings): https://harkla.co/?rfsn=8716597.365cfae


Learn more about Green Ember: Helmer in the Dragon Tomb—the new prequel book from S. D. Smith—and explore the companion video game now available on Steam: sdsmith.com/helmer 

Perfect for parents seeking meaningful, courage-building stories for kids ages 8–12.


📘 The Homeschool How To Complete Starter Guide
Thinking about homeschooling but don’t know where to start? Cheryl created this comprehensive guide, compiling insights from interviews with over 120 homeschooling families across the country. From navigating state laws to balancing work and home life — this eBook covers it all. Stop feeling overwhelmed and start feeling confident on your homeschooling journey.




 

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to this week's episode of the Homeschool House To. I'm Cheryl, and I invite you to join me on my quest to find out why are people homeschooling? How do you do it? How does it differ from region to region? And should I homeschool my kids? Stick with me as I interview homeschooling families across the country to unfold the answers to each of these questions week by week. Welcome. And with us today, I have Tiffany from West Virginia. Welcome, Tiffany. Thank you for being here.

Speaker:

Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1:

So how long have you been homeschooling?

Speaker:

So this is our second official year. I have almost seven-year-old twin boys in first grade. So homeschooling is fairly new to us.

Speaker 1:

Oh my God. I have one seven-year-old boy, and I cannot imagine him being a twin. Like I I was just thinking at the dinner table a moment ago, like, man, I wanted a boy so bad. And I mean, two hours ago, he like flew himself off of a swing that we have in our basement. I had a mat under it, but that it was not there. So we did something to it before that. Slammed his face onto the cement floor, the train that was sitting next to my blood everywhere. I'm like on a phone call. My can you imagine if there's two of them? Are yours tame or are they like absolutely insane like mine?

Speaker:

No, not tame. Um, and they they are like magnets to each other and they want to constantly fight and pick. So you can imagine how that is.

Speaker 1:

No, I can't even, I can't even. God bless you.

Speaker:

They are in jujitsu, and that helps tremendously.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that might be an avenue I should explore.

Speaker:

I keep saying that we're going to, but um, I'm a huge, huge advocate for that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, alright, awesome. So, what even got you into homeschooling in the first place? Did you always know that you wanted to do it?

Speaker:

Yes. Ever since I was pregnant, I just knew that I wanted to homeschool. And uh my husband wasn't always on board initially just because we went to public school and we turned out okay. But just the more, you know, that I just saw and heard from friends. COVID was really a big catalyst for homeschool, as you know. And I have two older stepchildren who were in private school at the time that COVID hit, and they were pulled and homeschooled, which we thought was gonna be temporary, and then it became just how how it was. They never went back. So when I had my twin boys, I was like, that's what I want to do when the time comes.

Speaker 1:

You know what I love about this story? Because so you said your stepkids, and I was just getting my hair done the other day, and the hairdresser, she was telling me that she's gonna homeschool her son, but her older daughter, who is nine, she said, I can't homeschool her because I'm not with the father anymore, and he doesn't approve of it. So I'm like, man, that would be so tough. Like I haven't really thought about that. I a couple people have mentioned, you know, being in the parents aren't together and trying to work it out, not work it out, but that's gotta be huge. So was it your stepkids, the mother wanted to homeschool, and your husband was like, okay, I agree with it. Or was there any pushback? Or are you guys thinking like this is a crazy idea?

Speaker:

No, it it was her idea to homeschool. And like I said, initially my husband was kind of like, Yeah, I don't think this was gonna be uh like a full-time thing or a or a futuristic thing. And then we just realized how beneficial it was, and just why not? When you actually think about it and think about when schools were developed and and what did people do for school back then? It just makes sense. And just over time, it was like, yeah, we couldn't imagine doing it any other way. And we are very blessed to have a wonderful co-parent relationship, but that is something that um both families have to be on board for. So I really couldn't imagine having that difference.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, that would be tough. That's definitely tough. What kind of differences did you see in the kids? Like as you started homeschooling them, you know, the older ones, like were there issues with social media or bullying or anything like that before?

Speaker:

No, not that we had experienced. And again, they were in a private Christian school before, but they were only in maybe kindergarten and second grade. So it wasn't, you know, they weren't that far along. But it just in general, I feel like kids are super tired when they get out of school. And, you know, if the mom's not working and it's like you're away from your kids, and for for what? You know, we're there and we're helping with school and doing all the things, but there's just so much valuable time that you're missing, and you know, for what? I I just now that I'm looking at it through the lens that I see it in, I can't even imagine it any other way.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So I'm with you on that when I hear people like complaining about the school did this and the school did that. And I'm like, Well, you don't have to put up with it, but it was never in my purview to homeschool either. So I mean, I I would have been the last person. I you know, I met myself 10, 20 years ago, I wouldn't recognize it. Absolutely.

Speaker:

Yes, for sure.

Speaker 1:

So, okay, so you decide to homeschool the boys, they are obviously very active. You have them in jujitsu. What other types of things do you do with them throughout the week? Because, like, I know my son, it's like we gotta be, we can't just be like sitting at home every day. What are what is your day-to-day look like?

Speaker:

Yeah, so we are involved in um co-ops. So we've got a co-op that meets twice a week. We do a lot of play dates, a lot of play dates, local parks, um, trails. We live in West Virginia, so there are lots of state parks, lots of outdoorsy things to do. And then I have I have twins, but they are completely opposite. While one is very into jujitsu, and I make them both do it because there's benefits, um, but the other one's not as into it as as as one. So his hobby is piano. So we go to piano lessons and just involved in a lot of church activities as well. So they have they get to get drug along with moms at choir practice and all the things.

Speaker 1:

So well, yeah, but that's great learning experience for you too. That's so awesome. And yeah, so all right, I guess like looking at academically, you've got two boys. I'm trying to think of like when I try to like get my son, he's at seven years old, and you know, that is the age that a lot of kids in school are reading. That's been a very big hurdle for us. Cause of course I started trying at like age four and five with you know a lot of pushback and or not even pushback, it's just like you didn't just didn't want to. It was just boring, you know? Or let's sit and read a book. So, how do you do that with the two boys? Have you like fallen into the totally unschooling approach where like we're just gonna get to it when you guys are ready, or have you diligently been trying to like make this seven-year-old reader happen?

Speaker:

So, like I said, they're totally opposite, whereas one's strength academically is reading and the other one's strength is math. I do try to be a little more structured versus unschooling, but it's hard when they're learning at different rates, even in the same grade. So, you know, as as easy as it would be to just do one school lesson for both of them, I find it more beneficial to work one-on-one with each one, depending on what we're working on at the time. So, yes, reading is coming along quicker for one than the other, but we try to make sure that we're reading every night before bed. Um, either me or my husband reading to them or having them read to us, because there's several benefits, even being read to. And uh I feel like, you know, we've gotten away from that as a whole. You know, we're all scrolling on our phones, so we make it a point to read a couple pages of a chapter book a night, and and that's been really fun for us.

Speaker 1:

And that's really important too. And I I was just talking on one of my podcasts the other day that I'm like, you know what, I felt like so overwhelmed with things that I wanted just something for myself. So I was like, okay, I'm gonna read before bed, but we all go to bed at the same time. So I was like, okay, what? What can we do? Because sometimes we like to watch Little House on the Prairie as a family, but then at that point, everyone's falling asleep on the couch, and we're just like, oh my god, I gotta get to bed. And then by the time I get to bed, I'm like, well, I could read a couple pages of my book, but it's hard because I'm like, I should be reading to the kids right now. And so I tried to make it a point, like, all right, let's I'm gonna read to them in the daytime when I know it's like not my time, you know. If they're this is my time to read to them, but it's funny because you know, I I guess I'm trying to think if people who send their kids to public school have this inner battle that like us homeschooling moms do, right? Because I'm like, we should be reading uh every single night together and making these, you know, memories like that. But I'm like, well, we are making other memories, but it's still right a battle. I mean, do you find that with yourself too?

Speaker:

Absolutely. Even the time that I'm spending doing cooking and laundry and cleaning, I'm like, oh, I should be spending more time with them doing this. But when in the grand scheme of things, when you look at it, it's like I'm I have so much more time with them, but you do want to make it count, make it, you know, something that they're gonna remember. And there's learning experiences, even in all of that. So I am appreciative of all that time that I've gained.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, and I try to, you know, balance it with that too. Like, okay, I am getting up early, I'm trying to get stuff done before they wake up, but somebody always wakes up early and lay with them asleep. And it's definitely hard, you know. It was yeah, it was almost easier for me in that aspect when I did go to work with a nine to five and I sent my son to daycare. I didn't have like the guilt of you know, I did read to him every night then because it was just kind of like that's the routine that we were in. Where now, because we do have like the leisure of the day, almost I find it I feel more guilty. But yeah, I think I had a post about that a while ago. Like, we have to let it go because the mom that you know works and sends her kids to school feels the guilt that she's not with them. The mom that doesn't work at all and is just with her kids all day long feels bad that she doesn't contribute financially to the house. The mom with 10 kids feels bad that she can't have one-on-one attention with her kids, the mom with one kid feels bad that she doesn't have siblings for the kids. So it's like there's a whole yeah, you gotta let the go go, right? Because like we're not we're not totally gonna send them all to therapy when they're older. They might just need you know, a couple doctors. I pray we don't. So, all right, how how do you work it out then when you're doing a lesson with one? How do you keep the other one occupied? And like, are you doing the same curriculum or do you actually switch up the curriculums that you do because their learning styles are so different?

Speaker:

Yeah, for now we're doing the same curriculum, but that's always an option in the future to try to switch it up. I think we can get away with it now, with them being, you know, so young, but definitely, definitely an option in the future. But yeah, like you know, one will go play piano while I'm working with the other, but that's a whole other thing. One is really sensitive to sounds, so he's got his noise-canceling headphones on because he doesn't want to hear his brother counting out loud when he's trying to do math or whatever it is. So sometimes we're we're all over the place. Sometimes he locks himself in the pantry to finish his worksheet or isolate himself. But yes, they are sent off to do something. I try to keep them together as much as possible just because that makes sense that we can just do it all at the same time. But it's nice to have that freedom to be able to pull one aside and focus one-on-one with them in that area and move on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, what curriculums are you using?

Speaker:

So I'm using Memoria Press. I've heard that one. Yes, yeah. And then um, like all about reading, all about spelling, um, Rod and Staff for math.

Speaker 1:

So I have not heard of that one. Rod and Staff? Okay, yeah. Why don't you tell us a little bit about the Memoria Press?

Speaker:

So it's a classical education. Um, I really like it because the creator had children of all abilities that she taught, some with special needs, some with disabilities. And so it is set up in a way that is very easy to understand, and it moves at their pace. So we don't move on until we have completed mastery in that area.

Speaker 1:

And what what subject is it actually?

Speaker:

Like phonics and reading. I'm trying to think what else. Phonics and reading, there's literature, there's art. Eventually, it gets into Latin and Greek. So it's really focused on, you know, historical art, classical music, things like that. So it is a really beautiful program, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. And I know I've heard the term like redeeming your education as a homeschool parent. And I feel like I'm getting that. Like in first grade, I'm learning why our grammar does certain things that I never knew before. I'm like, wow, this is amazing.

Speaker 1:

Do you remember any of them? Because I'm always curious. I, you know, I had that real with Gallagher comic that was like Dom D-U-M. No, D-U-M-B. And so then he framed another word, and yeah, and there's just like, who came up with these rules?

Speaker:

I know.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker:

So, like the one we're doing now is um like the soft and hard C. So a C is soft if it's followed by an E I or Y, like as in C T or Scent, like the coin scent. And then same for G, soft G, if it's followed by an I E or Y, like as in gym, going to the gym to work out. And then the other one um that we were working on are the different Y sounds. So if it's a one-syllable word ends in Y, it says I, like as in sky. But if it's a two or more syllable word, it ends in E, like in penny. I didn't know that. Yeah, I just memorized the words. I didn't know the rules behind it.

Speaker 1:

There is a formula. There's a formula, it's there.

Speaker:

We just were never told.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I was my son is actually learning that stuff right now with uh he's using Reading Horizons, and I I kind of threw him in the towel for teaching him to read because it was yeah, we tried everything and I'm like, all right, let's a podcast guest recommended Reading Horizons. It is online. I was like, let's give it a try. Whatever, it's a free trial. And he actually didn't like it. So I'll sit with him, or maybe I'll go get in the shower, wash some dishes, and he'll just call me when he needs help, or I'll sit with him and hear how it's going. And I'm sure it's not the best way to do the reading assignment. But my husband was working in a school the other day and he said, Yeah, it was like a first or second grade class, and the teacher says, Okay, everybody, look at the screen. And she turned on a video, and a video was teaching the kids in the classroom how to read. So I was like, Oh, I guess I don't feel too bad. Yeah. But yeah, they were teaching those rules too. So I was wondering if you had any like uh extras that I but that is good that this sort of stuff is and I wonder if he retained that. I should I should quiz him when we're done with this. Do you find that your boys are in competition with each other? Or do they just like they're like, I'm I'm good that you're a reader and I'm not, and I'm good that you can do math?

Speaker:

Yeah, yes and no. So it's usually like quit showing off, or I know you're better, but you know, leave me alone kind of thing. But I think that's to be expected and probably gonna be the rest of their life.

unknown:

Yeah.

Speaker:

But I try to tell them, I'm like, listen, you two have strengths in different areas. So if you work together, I mean you're gonna be strong everywhere. So hopefully, hopefully they'll learn that and and utilize it as they get older.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. So are you doing any of the homeschooling with the your stepkids?

Speaker:

So when we get um, sometimes we'll get like spelling lists, which my husband absolutely loves to help them with their spelling. They'll quiz us first to see if we know the words, and they're very difficult, even for like fifth grade. I'm like, I cannot believe you're already learning this. Now they use the Becca.

Speaker 1:

That's that's a very rigid curriculum.

Speaker:

Yes, yes. So um, yeah, they went a different route, but it's it's neat to see like the traditional homeschool versus the classical homeschool and just kind of how those are different, anyways. So, yeah, that's usually what they'll bring, or they'll bring a science or history book, but they're old enough to where they just read it on their own, and there's not much hands-on involved from us in that aspect. But I know they do a lot at home on their computer several uh hours a day. So it is it is pretty rigid, but they're they're doing great and they're excelling and it works for them. So I'm happy for that.

Speaker 1:

Oh, that's so cool. Now, West Virginia, do you are do you keep up with any of the vaccine stuff that's going on? Because I know like they they were, let's see, they had a rel no, they did not have a religious exemption, which neither do I in New York. And then like you had a new governor come in that gave the religious exemption back, and then it got ripped back from them, and they're trying to get it back. Like, do you follow any of that stuff?

Speaker:

Yeah, so um I don't follow it super closely, but I have friends who are affected by it. Um, in fact, someone had reached out to me regarding like our co-op, and um, you know, and they actually pulled their kids from public school over all of this because they um, you know, they originally had vaccines and then then decided with their younger kids they weren't doing vaccines, and their older one that was already in school had to have a booster to stay in public school, and they said we're not doing it, and their religious acceptance form was originally accepted and then denied. And so then they were at the standstill. He had already started school, established the relationships with peers and teachers, and and doing well, and they were like, We're not gonna do the booster, so you know, can you help us? Can you point us in the right direction of homeschool and co-ops and things like that? So that's when I was really even brought aware of the issues going on. And I was like, Oh my goodness, I had no idea. And I'm sure they're not the only family who went through that, but they had to make the decision to pull their children in homeschool. And I think that they're so glad that they did. Sometimes we need that little nudge just to to do it because we're you know, fearful of things that we've never experienced before.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, a thousand percent. I definitely lived that when I started going down that rabbit hole, and I was like, Oh, I don't, I don't think I want to get any more of these. And then it was like, we're in a we're in one of the five states that you can't use an exemption form. And I never even heard of that before. So it was like, what do you mean? What's an exemption form? What's a the religious exemption? What if I'm not religious? What if I am you know what religion do you have to be? How religious do you have to be? And it's but just thinking, I think we all kind of assume uh it's mandated that all the vaccines are mandated in every single state, and it's really only five that they are. And then it was like, okay, I guess I guess we're gonna have to homeschool, or we could drive them to Vermont. Maybe we're not too far from there. But now that we're homeschooling, I'm like, oh my God, that was just one small reason for like way more, way more reasons. And I mean, I can get into all of them. Like, even just, you know, the one that you never really hear talked about, but the shelter in place drills. I can't get over how traumatic that is. Like the trauma that that's giving a child to let it all have shelter in place, not because there might be a hurricane. I mean, that's scary enough as it is, but it's like yeah, but because your peers might come and shoot you, like that's freaking terrifying. Yeah. Like they have to do them all the time. I've had resource officers on the podcast before talk about like who homeschool their kids and they're like, Yeah, we have to do this in school, it's terrible. But yeah, and the food in the system. Did you have like any one reason that really stuck out to you before they all started snowballing?

Speaker:

No, no specific reason that I can think of that stuck out. But like you said, once you start researching and it's like you you gain that knowledge, you you can't unsee the things that you see. And it's like, like I said, I can't even imagine putting my kids in public school now. Um, yeah, it's just all the things like I don't want somebody else educating my child and telling them what to believe as far as religion does go about uh creation, about you know, that's my job, and I am, you know, just putting them out there for like spiritual warfare that they're they're not they're not supposed to do that at that age, you know. That's not school's not like the evangelism field for for a young Christian child. So just those religious reasons were really big for me. Like I wanted to protect my children and their innocence. And I guess one big thing would be just the access to um the internet that other children may have and expose my children to. Yeah. Um, that's that's a big one for me. That's something we didn't have when I was growing up.

Speaker 1:

Just so they could just be on the bus or at lunch time. Yeah, I agree. And yeah, that's a big even with family members, you know, cousins and stuff, it's like a thing, uh my son was at the neighbor's the other day, and I'm like, I don't even know. Like, I can't be a helicopter parent, but I don't know what they're doing there. It's it was a very weird feeling because at seven, I mean, it's kind of like the age where they want, you know, I'm going to the neighbor's house. It's right there, going in his house, and the neighbor comes here all the time. So it's like, yeah, why wouldn't I let him go? But there was that feeling of like, what is he getting exposed to? And yeah, exactly. And now it's it doesn't even have to be like, hey, we're going on to a nude site or anything. It's just an ad that pops up or the next thing you scroll.

Speaker:

Yeah, even not being in public school, it's happened to us from an ad that just pops up and you know, or a video that just rolls into the next one. Yeah, literally, yeah, cause them nightmares. And I'm like, my goodness, and you know, we're doing the best that we can.

Speaker 1:

Well, yeah, you make a good point because we watch Little House on the Prairie on the Peacock app, and it's like it's come on, this is a family show, and the first commercial on the commercial break is some horror movie with like, oh, the predator. It's not even just like a scary predator, it's like all these scary things in it with eyes gouging out, and I'm like, oh my god, my kids are shielding their eyes. Yes, it's like what is going on? And then every other commercial is just for a drug and all the symptoms that that drug is going to give you. Yes, that sums it up. It's it's interesting too when you brought up like being religious and sending your kids to school, because when I think about like what is acceptable in school today, too. I mean, you know, you can be a cat, you can be the opposite gender, yeah. Everybody will go along with it, everyone's sensitive to how you feel. But if you're a Christian in today's day, we can't talk about God. If we're gonna have Christmas stuff up, it can only be of like a reindeer or a snowman. It can't or no, not even reindeer, it can only be of a snowman, it can't be anything that is like Jesus, you know, representing. Why do you think that is? Like, what is going on?

Speaker:

Well, because the world is ran by the God of this age, lowercase g, and he hates the truth. So I feel like this target just gets put on us. Like everyone's welcome except Christians, and and that's you know, for anywhere, like at the school, at Starbucks. It's like, you know, we're all inclusive, but when a Christian comes in or speaks up, you're no longer included because we get tagged as exclusive. And there's just that misconception because you know, people don't like the truth, and you know, we're the only religion that's the truth, so it's tough. And I feel like when you're putting them out there in a in a world of you know, of mixed beliefs, that's only gonna make it worse. That target on you, it's hard to to stand firm when you're surrounded by by darkness. It's easier to be drugged down than brought up, honestly.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and when you think about your kids struggling with the questions of life and who they're around all day, they're around the teachers, they're around their friends, and you don't know what is going on in the homes of those kids. So it's like, what are they getting? And yeah, we really don't think about that a whole lot, but it's huge. That is huge, right?

Speaker:

Yeah, and my husband always says, we can't unsee what we've seen, we can't unhear what we hear. And if you think about it, seven, eight hours on a bus and uh on the playground at lunch, they're just being filled with, you know, who knows what. And um, you know, like I said, we went through it and we survived, but um, there's just so much evil out there, and uh, if if I can do anything to protect my children and I'm in a position to, I'm I'm gonna do that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, absolutely. So you were talking about how you did classical conversations and and um, or no, I'm sorry, a classical education, but that's different than classical conversations. Somebody explain that for me. Okay, so can you kind of you you did break down, you know, that it was getting into the Latin and the Greek and lots of art history and stuff, but how are the two of them different? The classical education versus like I know classical conversations is more like maybe a group that gets together and does a lot of people.

Speaker:

I believe so. Okay, yeah. Um, I so I looked into classical conversations. We never did go that route. It sounds like you do your own curriculum for major subjects, but there's certain ones that they cover when they meet. And yeah, I don't know the details to answer that question. They are different than what you're talking about. Yes, they are different. They they do learn. I think there's certain like tiers that you go through, and I think it's based on your grade. Um, but there's certain songs that they sing, there's lots of memorization, it builds on each other. It goes along with the classical concept, but um, yeah, it's it is a structured entity of its own that we never got into, but yeah.

Speaker 1:

Oh, nice. All right, so then what sort of reporting do you have in West Virginia for homeschool?

Speaker:

So we have to do a portfolio every year, but you only submit it after second grade, fifth grade. I can't remember the others. Or in those specific grades, you have an option to test. So then you have to test and send in the test results. So one or the other, you have to do a portfolio review through a certified teacher or do test the testing and send that into the board of education. But every year we get portfolio reviewed and we have to keep that for so many years, three. I think.

Speaker 1:

What do you mean you get portfolio? Like, do you you do submit it every year?

Speaker:

Um, you only submit it on certain years, like second grade and fifth grade, but uh we'll do one every single year and just have it on file in case we were audited, but we do not have to submit it until those certain grades.

Speaker 1:

Gotta love that. Do it in case you're audited. Yeah. Okay, so what does the portfolio look like? Like, is it literally everything you do all year long or is it a summary?

Speaker:

So um we I keep everything we do all year long because we have to prove that we completed 180 day days of instruction. So we keep all the worksheets, we put the date on them because again, if we were to be audited, we would have to prove that we did instruction for 180 days out of the year. So that's how I personally do it. And I just have three ring binders for each child, like the thick three-inch ones, and just any worksheet I have, I just whole punch it and put it in there. But some people like if you did a more unschooling approach and you don't have the worksheets, I think some people would take a picture of their science project or their artwork or whatever to have that available for their portfolio.

Speaker 1:

Gotcha. Okay. It's vastly different than what we have to do in New York, honestly, because we have to submit in the beginning of the year a letter of intent. I intend to homeschool, and then you have to submit your IHIP, which is an individualized home instruction plan. And you have to like kind of ask about what you plan to do for the year, and then each and what days you are going to submit your report. Then when your report is due every quarter, you have to kind of say what you did and how well they did in it. Are they progressing or need improvement? Um end of the year, you have to do a written evaluation of your child. I mean, it sounds more laborist, I guess, than it is. It's more remembering the dates. Like I I did mine this morning and I'm talking into Chat GPT, going through my pictures in my phone, and they're going through our library, like the app that says what books we've checked out the last three months, and reading that. I'm like, okay, this is these and and they actually write down like 17 subjects that we have to do. It's it's insanity. It's like some of them are like patriotism. I'm like, they don't even learn that in school. What are you talking about? There's a patriot in school, but uh mic safety, fire safety, and geography and US history, and like it's it's really bizarre. I'm like, where did I come up with this stuff? But and then at the there are grades that you will have to take a test at the end, or I think you can have a like a certified teacher, like you said, do an evaluation for those, but I think it's every other year in middle school and every year in high school that you have to start submitting test scores or that evaluation from a certified teacher. So they really try to not get you to homeschool, and yeah, and they take took away the religious exemption. So yeah, they don't want homeschoolers, but I think it's made more homeschoolers, right?

Speaker:

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's that's crazy. I didn't realize until I got started that every state had different regulations. I had no idea.

Speaker 1:

Some have nothing, some states you don't even have to tell the school that you're homeschooling, or that's all you have to do is just tell them, hey, we're homeschooling, we're alive, and that's it.

Speaker:

Wow, yeah. We did we did have to send a notice of intent upon entering kindergarten.

Speaker 2:

But that's a kindergarten too, huh?

Speaker:

Yeah. When they started, I sent the notice notice of intent, and that was it. Now I'd imagine if you pulled out from public school, you would have to do the same.

Speaker 1:

Thinking about homeschooling, but don't know where to start? Well, I've interviewed a few people on the topic, actually 120 interviews at this point with homeschooling families from across the country and the world. And what I've done is I've packed everything I've learned into an ebook called The Homeschool How to Complete Starter Guide. From navigating your state's laws to finding your homeschooling style, from working while homeschooling to supporting kids with special needs. This guide covers it all with real stories from real families who've walked this path. I've taken the best insights, I've had the best resources, and put them all into this guide. Stop feeling overwhelmed and start feeling confident. Get your copy of the Homeschool How to complete starter guide today and discover that homeschooling isn't just about education. It's about getting what you want out of each day, not what somebody else wants out of you. You can grab the link to this ebook in the show's description or head on over to thehomeschoolhowto.com. So, what are your long-term goals for your sons? Like, do you see them sticking with homeschooling the whole way? Are you thinking about like college and how would you prepare them for that in this ever-changing world of AI and all that stuff? Like, what does that look like for you? Do you do you think that they'll ever resent you for keeping them home?

Speaker:

No, they understand, even at, you know, they're six, there'll be seven this month. We're very open about, you know, the options of public school and you know, private school. And they're like, we are glad that we don't have to get up in the morning and we are, you know, at a certain time and be away from home for six and seven hours because we explain that to them. Oh, this is what it would look like if we didn't choose this route. And we love you so much that this is what you know we're gonna do. So yeah, they understand, but that's my goal is to have them homeschooled all through high school. And I think it's there's this fear in my mind, like I'm not gonna be able to teach them well enough, despite the fact that I have my master's degree and I went through high school and I went through, you know, all these things. But again, there's resources out there. There's, you know, there's online classes, even through like say Memoria Press. Um, they have a Latin school in Kentucky, I believe, and there's online courses, and same for college. And I'm not even going to push college on them unless they have a desire to further their education through college. But we see the benefits of knowing a trade and starting your own business. That is absolutely going to be an option because my even my husband said, I wish I would have learned a trade or something that would have been useful. He works at a hospital and he's an MRI technician. And even though, you know, that's a good job, it's it's just, you know, it's not practical, it's not something he can come home and do, run an MRI machine.

Speaker 1:

Like you're you don't have an MRI machine at home that's gonna break. And but yeah, you're right. No, you're definitely right. My husband has been in the trades for over 20 years, and I'm like, well, then you need to start your own business. That's beside the point. But I'm like, we should be buying investment properties to, you know, because you can fix everything. Because once you know one trade, you kind of know them all because they do all necessarily you don't excel in them all, but you're familiar with them all because they all integrate. And I'm like, We could like be flipping houses. He's like, Okay, you mean I could be flipping the houses and you're like telling me what to do. I was like, the world needs more of this.

Speaker:

Yeah, 1000%.

Speaker 1:

I agree with you. You know, I think the college thing is it's gonna look so different when our kids are 18 years old, people are waking up to it.

Speaker:

Right.

Speaker 1:

So, what else is going on? What um made you kind of wanna like come on the podcast and share your story with prospective homeschoolers, current homeschoolers?

Speaker:

So um, when I started homeschooling the boys last year for kindergarten, I quit working in my outpatient job. Um, I'm an occupational therapist. So then I switched gears and I felt like I have a lot of knowledge that would really help the homeschool community because oftentimes when you are homeschooling and your child needs help, we don't really see it. You don't have those extra eyes to say, so-and-so is struggling with sitting or with reading or whatever. Um, that's just how it is that you know, you make adaptions as needed at home, but you don't understand what is out there that could actually help them with their learning. So, anyways, I just I was like, you know what? I'm gonna be the homeschool OT and I'm going to um, you know, just help everybody. That was kind of my goal. I had big goals when I first started. And so as I started um my Facebook page and just putting things out there, I believe your podcast just kept popping up because we had that homeschool in general in our even in our names. So I was like, I think I might have reached out like before summer, and I know everyone's schedules are so busy. So that's you know, I've kind of just been out there trying to promote like what occupational therapy is because initially I thought I'm gonna treat everyone, and then I realized no one knew why they needed treat it. So I had to back up and switch gears and say, okay, now I'm gonna educate everyone on what OT is and how it can benefit. And, you know, hopefully something will take off eventually. Um, I do a lot of in-service trainings for parents at co-ops. I've actually popped into a lot of private Christian schools to educate the teachers on what they can do in a classroom setting to help students, but there's just limited resources for the homeschool community in general. So that's kind of been my goal. And even as a practitioner independently, I only do cash pay. I don't go through insurance because I don't want them to tell me how to treat the child. Yeah. So that's a whole nother thing in and of itself. But it's been really nice because I can, you know, be very flexible in my schedule. My main goal is to be home and to homeschool my children. But when I'm given the opportunity to educate someone on what occupational therapy is and how it can help um their child and their family, it is just it's so rewarding. And uh, I don't think I can ever fully give that up.

Speaker 1:

So, yeah, explain to me then like how would I know if my child needed occupational therapy? Because what I'm thinking of when you say that is okay, if I had a stroke, you would help me learn how to walk and talk again. Yeah.

Speaker:

Yeah. So there is that misconception oftentimes because you hear occupational, you think of a job or you know, daily living, like for an adult being independent. But a child's occupation as an infant and even as a toddler, it's to survive, it's to meet developmental milestones. And then when they get to school age, it's to be a student. And so if there's ever any struggles in anything that occupies your time, it would warrant occupational therapy. So if they're struggling with attention, with um sitting still, with uh being a picky eater, that's a big one I see with reading, writing, handwriting is always a big one. Those are all reasons why a child would benefit from occupational therapy. Honestly, I think every child should get OT. I think I need OT. There's, I mean, the possibilities are just endless. Um, and it's just it's a game changer, honestly, for for these kiddos. Even just little details that you could change about your routine or about a piece of adaptive equipment that helps, you know, school go better or emotional regulation. Yeah, every area of life literally can be affected and we can treat because you know, we look at a person as a whole. So yeah.

Speaker 1:

That's so interesting. Yeah, I mean, there there's definitely so many people probably that would never even think, you know, with the handwriting, especially, like well, it'll just come one day and no, yeah, maybe there's something you could do to fix it now, and then it would make everything easier. What are some like tips or tricks for the handwriting or even the sitting still?

Speaker:

Yeah, so I actually specialize in what's called reflex integration. So our reflexes are actually developed and formed in utero to help with the birthing process and then to help with survival, and then they help with meeting developmental milestones. And in meeting the milestones, you're maturing the reflexes, the primitive ones, lifelong ones. But if babies skip a milestone, sometimes they'll have an unintegrated reflex that later affects their visual scanning or their ability to cross midline to read and write. There's Reflexes on the back that if immature, they're sensitive. So the back of the chair or your clothing set them off. So now we're not able to sit still. There's reflexes in our hands that are directly tied in with our mouth. We see this because infants need the breasts to get milk. Okay. So if that reflex is immature, we see a lot of putting non-food objects in our mouth, chewing on pencils, chewing on our shirt. Those are the kiddos we see when they're using scissors. Their mouth will mimic what their hands are doing. So they're going, okay, we see speech delays when this reflex is not integrated properly. We see very picky eaters. There is just so much, so much. And um, yeah, I just want to tell the world.

Speaker 1:

So, what should we do if we have these concerns? Tell us where we can find you.

Speaker:

So I'm um on Facebook is probably the best place you can find me under the homeschool OT Tiffany Parsons. I try to post um just anything helpful. I'll share some local things here in West Virginia. I'll share tips and tricks that you can do at home. I am an affiliate for a company called Harkla, and they do a lot of education for parents as well as teachers and therapists, and that you can actually take the courses and learn about these reflexes and implement them at home. So you don't have to go to an occupational therapist if you don't want to. And so that's like a nice, you know, little educational thing you can do at home from your phone. If therapy's not a resource around you, obviously not everyone's going to feel comfortable and would rather go to a therapist. Even for me, I know that my own children don't let me treat them. I had to send them to my coworkers at the time. So I get that it's not ideal for everybody. But if you can find an OT in your area, especially one that specializes in reflexes, because when you address the reflex, you are addressing the child from the inside out. Your reflexes are the foundation to your central nervous system. It's the pathway in which we take in information and get a response. So when something's off, if there's a detour, something's blocked, we're gonna get reactions we don't want to see, which is not sitting still, which is big emotional outburst, things like that. So if we can address the inside, it will help them forever. Whereas places that don't look at reflexes and just treat you superficially, like you like to swing, we're gonna swing you, and it helps them, but they're gonna need swung again next week and the week after. That's more of a more superficial treatment because we're just we're giving the body what it needs, but we're not fixing why it needs that, if that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, totally. I never thought about that before. So now you've opened the door here. You've opened the game. Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I'm gonna put all of those links in the show's description so people can find you on Facebook, they can find the Harkla that you work with and be able to check that out on their own. So thank you so much. Is there anything else that you wanted to leave us with?

Speaker:

No, I just um I really encourage people to look into why they're homeschooling, the the why behind it, and just realize the freedom that they have behind it. That's just the word that comes to mind when I think of homeschool. The freedom to um just explore the world. I love going places in the middle of the day, and we have a whole place to ourselves. It's just so liberating. So, anyways, I just would really encourage people to look into that and don't hesitate to reach out if you feel like your child might need help with um something. If they're if they're having a struggle or challenge, it's okay. It's okay to ask for help because we all need a village and um there are resources out there. Sometimes you gotta look a little harder than others, but um, there are resources out there and there's people that are willing to help. So I hope that you know that that's an encouragement to somebody to to do that.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much, Tiffany. Thank you for being here today. Sharing meaningful information.

Speaker:

Of course. Bye.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the Homeschool How To. If you've enjoyed what you heard and you'd like to contribute to the show, please consider leaving a small tip using the link in my show's description. Or if you'd rather, please use the link in the description to share this podcast with a friend or on your favorite homeschool group Facebook page. Any effort to help us keep the podcast going is greatly appreciated. Thank you for tuning in and for your love of the next generation.