#157: Standardized Testing Starts at 4? A Former Teacher Explains What Parents Should Know

Cheryl sits down with Katie Vieira — a former 4th grade teacher turned homeschool mom — to talk about what surprised her most when she stepped outside the traditional school system. They unpack how early academic pressure has changed, why many kids feel burnout younger than ever, and how standardized testing and school accountability can shape what happens in the classroom (and the stress teachers carry).

They also dive into the real-life side of homeschooling: finding community, handling seasons where screens sneak in more than you planned, keeping reading and learning positive when kids resist “lessons,” and the ongoing challenge of balancing motherhood with creative work and personal goals. Katie shares about her children’s book “Into the Field: Tennessee Summer,” inspired by shifting away from screen-heavy days and toward outdoor adventures, confidence-building, and learning through experience — plus what’s next in her planned series.

In this episode, we cover:

• Katie’s path from certified teacher to homeschool mom
• Why kindergarten/early elementary standards feel so intense now
• Standardized testing pressure (and how it can impact teachers)
• Lockdown drills, school anxiety, and what parents weigh in their choices
• Screen time seasons, outdoor resets, and the “thousand hours outside” idea
• Homeschool balance: work, creativity, and family rhythms
• Colorado homeschool options and one-day-a-week enrichment programs
• How to keep learning positive when kids push back

Links & resources mentioned:
Katie Vieira + Into the Field: Tennessee Summer

Katie's Instagram

 🎹  Have your kiddos learn piano from this amazing resource, check out: Simply Piano. We love it!  🎶 

Cheryl's ebook: The Homeschool How To: Complete Starter Guide

🎁 Free resource: Grab my free 30-day homeschool quick start guide at thehomeschoolhowto.com

Cheryl's book:🚨 Let's Talk, Emergencies! 🚨on Amazon!

Transcript

Meet Katie Vieira

SPEAKER_00 0:02

I didn't plan to homeschool. I started asking hard questions, realized how little control parents actually have, and made the hard decision to leave a government job to homeschool my kids. Now I interview other homeschooling parents to learn how this all works. I'm Cheryl, and this is the Homeschool How-To podcast. Let's learn this together. Welcome, and with me today, I have Katie Vieira. Katie, thank you for being here. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. I am too. Um, I still sound a little nasally, so I apologize for that. We've been we've had the flu in my house for like two weeks. It's been awful.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Tis the season. I feel like we're on this roller coaster ride where one will get sick, and then as soon as they're better, the next one gets sick, and it's just a constant up and down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

But you know, I'm waiting for someone to say to me, Well, did you get your flow shot? No, we did not. We didn't either.

Why Homeschool Took Root

SPEAKER_01 0:55

All right, so Katie, you're a homeschool mom? I am a homeschool mom. So I have a second grader, technically, I guess, you know, if we're going that route, and a kinder, and I also have a toddler. Uh, I was a certified teacher. I have my master's degree in education, and I never, ever in a million years expected to homeschool. And when I stayed home, you know, to raise my babies, because financially as a teacher, that just made the most sense. We just kind of caught this wave somewhere along the way. And I learned that homeschool is so much more than I ever imagined it was. And I unlocked these communities that have been so much fun to meet and develop at in the different places that we've lived. So it's been a lot of fun. And I'm so glad that we've found this path.

SPEAKER_00 1:44

Awesome. Well, all right, why don't you walk me into that a little bit more? Like you were staying home with the kids to save money because daycare costs so much. When did it even present itself to you to homeschool?

Let Them Play, Not Cram

The Testing Treadmill

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Honestly, it was during COVID. So when I had one at the time, and we were starting to tour preschools for her to be in like the three-year-old classroom when COVID came around. And when we decided, okay, that's not a good idea. We're just gonna, you know, continue to keep her home, which, you know, makes sense for a three-year-old anyway. But, you know, that wasn't our line of thinking at the time. I was already in some Facebook groups for uh Tinkergarden. I was a Tinkergarden leader at the time. It's like a nature local community class. And I was doing some like Tinkergarden. Yep. I loved teaching Tinkergarden. So we met a lot of different groups on Facebook for that reason. And when we decided to stay home, I was like, okay, I'm gonna try and find these different communities. And within that, I was seeing like homeschool group doing this, because another Tinkergarden leader in the community was homeschooling. And the classes that were popping up, the science lessons they were doing, the unit studies they were meeting up at parks to unravel. I kind of sat back and was like, this is so much different than I ever imagined it was. Cause I guess growing up, not that I ever really thought much about homeschooling, but in the back of my mind, I guess there was a little bit of a stigma that, you know, that's not what we do. We just go to traditional school and homeschooling wasn't ever on our radar. But when I was starting to see how expansive it was and all of the things that we were able to do and how little time you actually need to spend doing all the things that I was doing with my students in school, it just made sense. And then we were actually moving her kindergarten year. So I, you know, that kind of cemented it. I'm not gonna put her into school to take her out and then, you know, have her leave her friends to go move to another state. So I was like, I'm just going to unschool that year, you know, just transition to the new place and figure out our bearings there and kind of giving her that space to be a kid and to take that time to be passionate about things and not necessarily shove information down her throat because there were definitely times as a teacher, I'd be like, okay, honey, we're gonna sit down and do our alphabet or whatever it might have been. And she would just reject it. Like, I'm not gonna do that, mom. And I had to take a step back and be like, well, I'm not gonna force you because I'm not homeschooling you so that you have this negative connotation with school, right? So trying to find that balance of, okay, one of my big motivators for homeschooling in general was let them play, let them be kids. As a teacher, I was seeing so much of how the standards were shifting and the rigor was getting harder and things were being pushed down from the upper grades down to the lower grades. And I know we hear it all the time, but like the kindergarten standards now are the first and second grade standards of, you know, 10 years ago. And it's just unacceptable in my mind that when we were in school, we were napping in kindergarten. We were playing house in kindergarten. And there's no time for that anymore.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Yeah. And when I was in kindergarten, they it was still half day. And now it's mandatory full day. And now they have what's called here in New York, universal preschool. So the like a preschool aged kid is actually in the regular elementary school and on the buses with all of the rest of the kids. So they are actually taking our kids earlier on. It's pretty crazy. Um, I find it funny though, that they are making kids do like the first and second grade level in kindergarten. But yet, are kids graduating with any more knowledge when they are graduating at 18 years old?

SPEAKER_01 5:57

No, if anything, I think it's having the reverse effect because we're pushing these kids so hard at these early elementary grades that they're essentially burning out by the time they get to third, fourth grade because either they took off with reading in one way or another, maybe they were memorizing words or whatever it may be. And then when it comes to uh more challenging schoolwork or more challenging text, they're starting to see that failure and they're kind of crippled by it essentially. So these kids that were maybe doing well, maybe pushed really hard, once they start taking those standardized tests, once they start feeling that anxiety, they they burn out and our dropout rate is higher because of it. What grade did you teach? I taught fourth grade. Okay. And so I had all the standardized testing, the writing and the reading and math.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

I was just gonna ask that. When do they start standardized tests now in the school?

Stress, Context, And Fairness

SPEAKER_01 6:55

Okay, so this actually blew my mind because when we were living in Florida, they had a voluntary pre-kindergarten year where it was federally funded for four-year-olds to go to this preschool setting. And again, we kind of toyed with that idea and we decided against it. And I found out that year that standardized testing began for four-year-olds. They were pushing it down to that level. It wasn't as high stakes as the standardized testing we typically hear about, but it was driving teacher performance standards. So these teachers are getting either dinged or rewarded based on how these students are doing. It's computerized. So they're putting these four-year-olds on computers and asking them to navigate all of that on top of trying to figure out alphabets? I don't know. That's wild.

SPEAKER_00 7:51

Yeah. I just remember, I mean, I don't remember much from school, but I remember being in like, I don't know, maybe it was fifth or sixth grade and taking Iowa tests or something like that, and just making designs in the bubbles down the scantron sheet. Like I was not reading what the question was. Because I was like, what happens if I do bad? And I think they probably said, oh nothing. So I was like, okay, I'm just gonna make a little flower in this. Oh, I was gonna make a little, you know, circle, a little rectangle in that one. And like, I'm thinking there's probably some teacher that was like fired because I did so bad on them. But I mean, it's just crazy to me. And I we think about the funding, and it's like, okay, well, the majority of your kids did poorly. So we think, like, all right, maybe that school doesn't get the funding, which it should really be an all-reality opposite. Like, if they're the kids are not doing well, they probably need more funding and more resources. But it's not only tied to the school, but it's tied to the teacher too. So like teachers will actually get reprimanded if their students don't do well.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

I don't know how it is in every state, but when I was teaching in Florida, and again, this may have changed because I left the classroom 10 years ago. But when I was teaching, we had this performance standard uh evaluation every year. And half of it was the principal coming in and observing you and like your actual teaching. The other half was your students' test scores. And if your two to if your students tested well, then you got bumped up and got more money. And if your students did not do well, you did not get a raise.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

No, you're joking.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

I swear to God. I swear to God. So when you put that kind of stress on the teachers, automatically they're no fun. We are not having any fun. We have got to do scantrons. That's what it becomes. I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_00 9:40

And I've I've talked to teachers about funding before and whether they just, you know, didn't know or or it's different in every state. But that is wow. I mean, I get it because it's like you need some way to measure because these kids are there all day and they're using that as like a measurement for what is going on all day long. But there's so many factors beyond a teacher's control to what goes on in the classroom. It just isn't like fair.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

I distinctly remember there were two years. One year our air conditioning went out in the room the morning of the state test. So, right there, I mean, we had to go to a different room. The, you know, our whole schedule was all shifted, and that could have impacted every single student's, you know, focus and concentration that day. There was another year the little girl lost her sweater that morning, and she was distraught. Like she had just crumbled because she lost her sweater and she was like worried her mom was gonna be mad or whatever it may have been. But it she might have just been nervous. And that one thing, you know, threw her off. And like, who who knows? I don't remember how she did it on the test, but well, I wouldn't.

Safety, Drills, And School Climate

SPEAKER_00 10:49

And then you think of it right. You think of it in terms of that, like, oh, that's just so silly. It was uh it was a sweater. But when you are thinking about like inner city schools or, you know, kids that are their parents are going through a divorce, maybe, or I I have my friend I always talk about her, she's a teacher in Albany, and she's like, uh Cheryl, I have kids in my class that literally watched their sibling get murdered last week. Um, I have ones that, you know, they they're molested at night, like from mom's boyfriend. You know, they're writing this and or telling me, like the one girl, I remember, oh God, I remember the little girl's name too. The little girl would like tell her because it got a shock out of people when she said that whatever the mom's boyfriend did to her. And so she actually would say it. And then it was to the point where I was like, okay, is this really happening? Because you're you want to tell people because you like that you get the attention and everybody's like, oh my God, and this and that. So then, like, is she taking it too far? But obviously, it something happened because kids don't just come out with that sort of stuff. And my friend who was a teacher, like, obviously, she was a mandated reporter, so it was reported, but she's like, it's so impossible to get a child taken away from a parent. Like, you literally have to witness it happening, at least in New York, to remove a child from the home because there's just this whole investigation that has to happen, and that takes months. And you know, you're questioning this person and questioning that person and questioning the child, and it's like it just doesn't happen overnight like you'd think it would, right? And so she's like, I'm dealing with this stuff. None of these kids have normal upbringings, and then you're throwing 30 of them in a classroom all together, like forget your sweater being lost.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Like, well, it's when you put when you put all of that into perspective, curriculum, you know, like your standard, rigorous, whatever it is, is not the priority, you know. Social, emotional, having them feel safe, making sure they're fed, priority.

SPEAKER_00 12:51

I know. And I just made a post today of my kids watching TV. And I'm like, of course, because we've been sick too, and like we just we watch entirely too much TV here. Like I regulate what they can watch, but I'm like, I'm like, oh I gotta shut this thing off. I'm like, you know what? Cheryl, okay, they are safe, they are loved, they are well fed. If at seven and three years old, like creature cases is on too much. I mean, is that the worst thing going on? Because then I think back now, as I'm saying my friend's story from when she was a um, I mean, she still is a teacher, but you know what she told me, it's like, yeah, all right, creature cases isn't the biggest, it's not going to make or break their life's success.

SPEAKER_01 13:33

No, and there's seasons for those things. And that's actually where the inspiration for my book came from because we were, I was six months pregnant and we were moving from Florida to Kansas City the week between Christmas and New Year's. So it was just mass pandemonium, as you can imagine, packing up and Christmas trees and presents and and you know, hormones and everything else.

SPEAKER_00 13:54

After three years of interviewing homeschooling families, I realized how overwhelming it can be to piece everything together. So I took the best advice, tips, questions, and resources that I've learned along the way and put them into one practical ebook. If you're looking for a clear starting point, you'll find the link in this show's description.

Teaching Emergencies At Home

SPEAKER_01 14:15

I think my kids, my then two and four-year-olds, probably watched Cocoa Melon like eight hours a day. Cause it was like, guys, we need to pack. You guys need to just stay in one spot and not hurt each other.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

Yeah. There are seasons, and that's okay. Yeah, absolutely. And and it's funny now because my son, I mean, it's so cold here in New York, but he still wants to get outside all the time. Like he is just never one that's like, oh, I'm gonna sit around and watch TV all day. The three-year-old, it's a little bit harder. Yes, I would like to just be reading books with her all day long, but in a perfect world, I think I would gouge my eyes out if that's what I would do too. Um, you're right. It is, it's it's not like this when it's nice out and when we're all healthy. But yeah, it's like, all right, so they're they're not on a bus with someone showing them something inappropriate on a phone. They're not having a shelter in place drill. Those are are a big thing for me too, a big deterrent for school. And I don't think people put enough emphasis on that. What was that like as you were teaching?

Screen Time To Trail Time

SPEAKER_01 15:14

So when I was teaching, it was right at the same time as Sandy Hook. And I remember being terrified, like in tears as a teacher to these, you know, young kids and knowing that those were some of the things that were happening in the world. And that's when the lockdown drills really started. And I remember we were in outdoor school. And I remember they would like train us as teachers, like to put construction paper in the window of the door and turn the lights off. And we had to put all the kids in like a closet in the hallway in between the classrooms. And it was wild to try and downplay it to the kids, but also like, guys, we're playing a game. Like, we're gonna be quiet in here. Like, I want a snack. So yeah, and it's interesting because we're in Colorado. And Colorado is an amazing state for homeschooling. They are so, there are so many options for homeschoolers, and a lot of them are uh funded by the state where you could do like a one day a week program in all sorts of different things, whether it's like a nature school or a traditional school or a classical school. And the school that my girls go to one day a week, they have a lockdown drill. And they came to me and they kind of talked about it and was like, well, what happened? What did you do? They're like, I don't know, the teachers turned off the lights and we sat under the desk and it was weird. And then it was done. So it's it was, I guess, a trade-off because that's definitely something that I didn't want my kids exposed to. But I do love this program very much. And I think it balances out our homeschooling world very well. So hearing them recount their experience with it made me feel a lot better that they didn't feel like something bad was happening and they weren't scared about it. So I think it is a lot how it's handled at the schools. My daughter was more scared of a fire drill. Yeah, which I accidentally did.

SPEAKER_00 17:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

And I did a fire week.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

And I well, I think at home, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:21

I was like, this is our homeschooling. We're gonna do like a fire, like, we're gonna learn all about like firemen and what fire drills are and where the fire alarms are in the house. And I like played a YouTube video of a fire alarm sound. So they like knew what it was. My five-year-old was traumatized. She woke up thinking the house is on fire for a week. I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to.

SPEAKER_00 17:42

That's what I wrote a children's book about that, about how to talk to your kids about emergencies. It's called Let's Talk. I need to read that because apparently I'm just yeah. And you know, I have to bring it out now because like since I've written it, but like I haven't brought it back out in a while, but it's like all of that stuff, how to safely do that. So it's not, but I mean, I didn't actually play an alarm in the house. I mean, maybe that's a good idea. I, you know what I did though? I had it, I tested it. I was like, this is we're just gonna put the tester on so you guys know what it sounds like.

Inside The Book’s Adventure

SPEAKER_01 18:15

Yeah. And it wasn't even like the whole house, it wasn't even like the tester, like loud one. It was just on my phone, and she was still, she didn't like it. But I feel like it's an important conversation that you do have to have.

SPEAKER_00 18:27

It is, and that's why I wrote a book about it because I couldn't find anything on it. And I'm like, geez, we are so worried about like teaching them how to read and write, but what about like their first and last name? What about mom's cell phone number? Yeah. What about how to break into a phone to call 911 if like grandma has a stroke or something?

SPEAKER_01 18:47

Yeah, no, it's interesting because I never really thought twice about it. And then a friend of mine whose husband goes away for work often, who had two girls about the same ages as mine, she was telling me how she was like training her older one how to call 911 and when to and why, like if mommy doesn't wake up or whatever. And I was like, that's something I'm supposed to be doing. Like, I didn't know that. So yeah, it was my first wake-up call.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

Well, I'll send you a book since you sent me your book. I will send you mine. Now tell me about your book because it is so cute and it was like, it's so cold here. Although today was 36. So it was actually really warm today compared to negative 18 the other day. But um, your book is all about getting out into like nature, and I love that it comes with the little pack with the water, and I got to teach my son, no, my husband got to teach my son how to use the compass. It was so cute, and it just made me want springtime so badly. So, can you tell me a little bit about like what inspired you to write this book?

Writing While Homeschooling

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Of course. So I definitely released it the wrong time of year, but maybe it is an inspiration. So it's into the field, Tennessee summer, and it was inspired right in that time that I was talking about where my daughters were spending a little bit more time on screens than I ever imagined that I would ever allow. And I started to actually see signs of screen addiction, which we all see a little bit, right? When we turn off the cartoon and there's tantrums and they're so mad at us, no matter how many warnings we give of like, okay, five more minutes or last show, and then we're gonna turn off. They became unhinged. And they started to like, they would prefer to be inside than being outside and like all of those things that started to make me go, this isn't, this isn't right. We need to be spending more time outside and taking more risks and really tapping into our senses outside of just TV, right? When we're inside, everything is overstimulating, but when we're outside, it's relaxing, right? So in that shift, when we were living in Kansas City, we started doing the thousand hours outdoor challenge and those benefits and seeing them kind of shed that screen addiction, essentially, and they were building their confidence, they were making friends and willing to take risks, it was amazing to see. And I was reading this book called Um Glow Kids. I don't know if you've ever heard about it, but it takes that screen addiction. Yes, such a good read. It takes that screen addiction to the extreme. And the author gives these anecdotal records of children that are playing, you know, Minecraft or Call of Duty or whatever the video game is for like 16 hours a day, all through the night. And they they actually become catatonic. They're like unresponsive to the world at times because they're so their brain is so wired into what's happening in the game. And they actually have to work through this in like sessions. So I took that idea of these extreme cases, and that was where that the character George in the book is born. And he is a video game. Game kid, and he's trying to tell his friends, the other two characters, about this new game that he just started playing. And they ask their mom, Oh, mom, can I play this, you know, new video game my friend was telling me about? And in the essence of balancing screen time, because that's what it is, it's a balance. The mom gives them permission to play, and they actually get transported into the game. And this game is a hiking game. So throughout it, they have to use their hiking skills, use their experiences in the thousand-hour outdoor challenge and teach their friend George how to work through these obstacles on the trails and in nature in order to pass the level and make it home. So throughout that, they're learning teamwork, they're learning survival skills. And I try to embed a lot of educational things in there so that the kids are learning. They're learning state names, they're learning animals and all sorts of different things, compass skills, tricks when you are lost in the woods or whatever it may be, without them really knowing, right? Because that's what homeschooling is all about, being a little sneaky with what you're teaching them and letting them unlock those passions and what they're excited about. So I try to really embed that in and allow kids to explore different things that they love about nature or whatever it may be. And what ages is this book perfect? So I would say, depending on readability, it's gonna be like four to 10 years old, going from like maybe reading it aloud to a four-year-old, but they're gonna be really excited about it to a 10-year-old who's still reading it that the their shorter chapters, but still a little bit more complex language than maybe like a magic treehouse, which I kind of relate it to a lot in that readability, but slightly more challenging and complex language and literary skills. Okay, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 23:47

Have you had you um been a writer before? Or was this just a new endeavor that you tried out?

SPEAKER_01 23:53

This is a new endeavor for me. I taught writing when I was a fourth grade teacher because you know, I had to teach FCAT writing at the time. But I always wanted to be a writer. I can remember being a little girl on my bed, you know, typing on the laptop, telling my mom I wrote a story. But this is the first time that I finished a story and took it all the way through to fruition. And it has been so fun to not only experience that for myself, but also to see my daughters, and I mean my son too, but he doesn't really. He's still little, for them to see for them to see what I'm going through and that I'm working towards this goal. And they are so proud. It's really inspiring to me to keep going. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

So how do you make that work with the balancing? Because I know that's a hard part for me with having like the podcast and running the Instagram page. And then when I, you know, I did write the children's book and then I wrote an e-book based on what I've learned from talking to homeschooling families. And I really struggle with like finding that balance because in my mind, too, it's like, okay, the kids are still so young. We don't have to spend a whole lot of time on book work or anything. But then you do kind of fall into these like pitfalls where like, oh, okay, well, it's still yucky outside, it's still cold, or you have the sniffles or whatever. And I mean, we do do a lot of things outside the home as far as like, you know, groups that we meet up with and um like ukulele lessons, gymnastics, dance, that sort of stuff, wilderness class, biking. So I guess like it's in there, but it's still a hard balance, right? Like, how do you find a good, healthy balance? Do you have a lot of help from your husband or how do you make it work?

Real Days Over Instagram

SPEAKER_01 25:35

I am still trying to figure out how to make it work. But my husband is very supportive. Um, and he works from home. So we're able to kind of tag team a lot where, you know, our schedules kind of align. But this is a little bit of a new juggle for me. I finished the book in, I don't know, like October, November, and started the Instagram page and started promoting it and started working towards, you know, scheduling interviews and book signings and different things like that to um to spread the word. And it is taking way more of my time than I ever expected. And my husband and I have had to have a couple sit-downs of like, okay, this is exciting. This is, you know, a journey for you, and we're working towards this goal. But homeschooling our kids is still the priority, right? So I'm working on that balance of not letting this become a full-time job because I never imagined that it would be. But like in my mind, I still have all these to-dos that I'm like, this could definitely sit down on my computer at 8 a.m. and work until, you know, five. But I try to schedule like a 9 a.m. start time for our lessons when we do have to, you know, get specific things done each day. And like you said, having those scheduled outings that we go to as far as like meeting up with their co-op or, you know, going to the space foundation or different things that we're doing as well. Uh I try to get most of it in in like either after bedtime or like that first hour after coffee, because getting my kids to sit down right away after breakfast is not gonna happen. Yeah. So it kind of works out that they go play for like an hour, get kind of get those wiggles out, and I bang out as much as I can in that time. But it is, it's a juggle. And I felt really good about it at first, like, oh, look at me, I'm doing all these things. And then I started seeing things slip, and I'm just like, this is hard, but we could do hard things.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Yeah, it is. And then, like you said, your kids look at you and they're so uh like proud of you and inspired by you. And I and that teaches them stuff too, right? Like, you know, because I am here to take care of you and homeschool you, but I also have passions and creativity that I'm, you know, want to work on and develop. So it definitely isn't because because they them seeing that it's gonna spark something in them someday. Quick thoughts to share something that's been a great fit for our homeschool. My son, he's seven, and we butt heads if I am teaching him directly. So his reading and math are done mostly independently, and I'm just there to support and correct when needed. I really wanted him to learn music too, especially knowing how closely music and reading are connected in the brain. That's why we started using Simply Piano. He's learning to read music and play piano on his own, using songs he already knows and loves, and it feels more like a game than a lesson. It's been amazing to watch his confidence and skills grow. If you want to check it out, grab the link in the show description. So it definitely is a hard balance.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

It is. And I have definitely let motherhood, I'm gonna go ahead and use the word consume me for the first, you know, seven years of it. And it was really nice to find something that I was excited about outside of that. It it almost made me feel like I was finding a little bit of me again. You know what I mean? Like that, that pre-mom me. I don't know. Yeah. You know, it's it's it's balanced.

Long‑Haul Homeschool Plans

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Yeah. And um, you know, I don't think there's ever a right answer. I I talk to many parents who like they work from home and they still homeschool, but it's not that they have, you know, the eight hours during the day free to just entertain their kids either. So it is, it's like you're weighing you're weighing what uh makes sense for you guys, especially like in the season and in that. But that's been a hard thing for me as well. And, you know, I I I keep saying, like, okay, well, it'll get better in a couple of months when, like when I get a schedule going, when I get past this project, and when I can get a little routine of what I need to get done, you know, and it always seems like that part doesn't come. But, you know, I I look at my children, my seven-year-old son more so because he's the one like kind of out there like doing his own thing. And, you know, we do like today we were bowling and then he had ukulele lessons and he went to a friend's house for a little bit after. And, you know, he we didn't sit down and do any reading, writing, or math yet. I'll read to him um before bed. I that's something I definitely struggle with too, like making sure we get in that reading time. But, you know, I I don't know, I just think about like what what what was my life like when I was seven? You know, and I definitely did not have parents that read to me at night. My mom was like, law and order is on, get upstairs, go to bed yourself, you know, probably with her cigarette in her hand. Um, you know, I school, just like I said, I don't really remember. Like they would give me a test, and I'm like, I don't feel like reading this. This is a lot of reading. I'm just gonna make designs in the Scantron. So it's like we can compare, I guess we compare like what we see on the Instagram pages. Like, oh my gosh, look at these women like reading to their kids all day long. Their children are are reading in Greek by the time they're eight. That's probably not the reality though.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

I'm thinking I'm gonna go out on a live and say it's not the reality. I do love that shift in Instagram of seeing a little bit more of that real life, you know, seeing, you know, messy houses and kids being crazy. And I I try to participate in that with my Instagram page because again, I'm kind of new to Instagram. I mean, obviously not new, you know, completely, but my husband would scroll more than me. And like I use Facebook for just like homeschool groups, but I never really dipped into social media like I did now. And it it has been kind of fun. A little content therapy, I used to call it, or I guess I still do, uh, where it, you know, as a say a home mom, as a homeschool mom, it can be really lonely and comparing yourself, like you said, to, you know, other moms you're seeing. So it's really nice to see moms that you can connect with and feel like, okay, they're in the same boat, or okay, like this feeling is not unusual to feel overwhelmed or, you know, doubt yourself or whatever it may be, and to just find that community in there has been kind of fun. Yes.

Enrichment And Fit In Colorado

SPEAKER_00 31:58

And especially for like the reading, you know, my son's seven. I think you said you have a second grader as well. Yeah. So yeah, she'll be eight next week, I think. And for him, like the reading took it took until he was seven. He's now just getting the hang of reading. And for a while, I was like, Oh my gosh, like I'm not doing enough. And then, like you said before, you try to sit them down and do stuff, and they're like, I don't want to do it. And then you're putting the bad connotation around it. Uh it really is hard. And I I try to step back and say to myself, like, listen, I'm getting stressed about it because I care. And like, if I didn't care at all, then that probably would be the problem. I think realizing that they're all gonna get there in their own time, they're all just individual kids. Sometimes girls read earlier on than boys, they just want to be out running around. It's like synapses in the brain that have to make the connections before, you know, or else you are you are making it a chore for them and they're not going to actually enjoy reading. And even now, my son will say, I can't wait till I don't have to do schoolwork anymore. And I'm like, You shouldn't want to learn.

SPEAKER_01 33:04

It's it's I know, and I tried to avoid that. It is. And like I mentioned, I tried to avoid that so as I I tried so hard to make sure that there was always this like positive light on like sitting down and learning. And I have failed at that too, because that my daughter will come to me and be like, it's Saturday, we don't have to do school. And I'm like, Well, this is why we homeschool, because we didn't do school like Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday this week. So yeah, I mean, having that flexibility, but you know, it's it's they're having to do something they don't want to do.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Yeah. Right. So that and that's what I never heard it like put that way is the human condition. Like anything that you are forced to do, you probably don't want to do, right? Like you might love cooking, but when you have to cook for people three times a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, and then most of the time they turn around and say, I don't want to eat this. You're like, ah, you just don't want to do it anymore. So yeah. Were you gonna say something?

SPEAKER_01 34:04

Yeah, my I remember my sister when she was looking for a job, she loved music. And she was moving to LA and she had a choice between should I pursue like a movie career or a music career? And she was like, I'm gonna go for the movie career because I love music too much. And if it's my job, I might not love it anymore. And I'm like, that's totally true. Once it comes into the movies, it loses a little bit of fun. Well, she's working with movies, but she's not in movies. So yes, she is she's a publicist for Disney. Cool, very cool.

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Oh, that's exciting. So, okay, why don't we we uh talk a little bit more about like what are your plans for the future for your book? What have been some of the feedback that you've gotten so far? It is uh so cute. My son and I started reading it, and like I said, it just made me want to get outside and like be warm out. Like, please, please get over 40 to smell the snow, go play.

SPEAKER_01 35:00

So that is that is my goal with it. That was my intention. I wanted it to kind of spark that fire for kids to want to get outside and play. So this was the first book in what I hope to become a series where each of the books travel to a different state. So throughout the series, the kids are gonna be learning a little bit more about the United States and geography. And I don't know, maybe it'll go international one day. But I'm already about halfway through the second book, which is gonna be Colorado Campground. So my daughter still asks me just about every night or every day if I am gonna work on Colorado Campground. And I'm like, one day, honey, I will get back to it. One thing at a time.

SPEAKER_00 35:40

Yeah. Oh, that's fun.

SPEAKER_01 35:41

So are where you're in Kansas City right now? So we moved from Kansas City to Colorado. So it was a wild three years. We lived in three states in three years. So we are settled in Colorado now, and that is where we will. And yeah, I bet the camping there is awesome. It is. It's amazing. The last time we went camping, my daughter and I went for a run. And as we're, as we're going, she's giving me all these ideas. And she's like, when you write this book, you need to make sure you include this. And then when you do the fourth book, you'll have it be like this. And then when you do the fifth book, they'll do this. She's got the whole thing mapped out in her mind. It is the cutest thing ever. And I mean, I really should have listed my daughters as additional authors because they inspired so much of this story. And I would, after bedtime, I would write out a chapter based on, you know, whatever hike we did or inspired by something that was going on in our life at that time. And then I would read it to them the next day and they would give me input on, you know, well, I don't think the I don't think Claire would say that. I think she would say it like this, mom. Or I think Claire should be wearing this. So they they had some really cute input. That is adorable.

SPEAKER_00 36:54

And that is like, you know, just I don't know. That's so cool for them. They can see that this can be a real career of theirs someday too, you know. I love that. I love the the whole, it's just full circle. So what what do you see long term for your kids for homeschooling? Like, is this something you plan on sticking with long term? What if they come to you one day and are like, mom, I really want to go to school? Have you thought about that?

SPEAKER_01 37:17

Gosh, I'm so guilty of using going to school as like a threat. I'm the worst. I'm so sorry. I know I'm not supposed to do it, but I more than once have been like, honey, if you're not gonna sit down for this lesson, you're gonna be going to school six hours a day. So it's so funny because when we started homeschooling, we were just like, oh, you know, we'll just homeschool the early years and then by like second grade, we'll send them to traditional school. And then our reasons to homeschool kind of evolved from that, you know, let them play, let them be kids, they're pushing them too hard. And now it's, you know, body image and building friendships and what are you being exposed to in schools? And, you know, we think about that projection as we move forward. And like it just seems like there's a new and very valid reason to homeschool at every grade level. So as far as we're concerned, we're in it for the long haul. And I mentioned um the program that we're in actually has a middle school, like college pathways program where starting in, I forget if it's sixth or seventh grade, they they actually become dual enrolled at the local college and they like start building their schedules and figuring out where they're gonna go and what they want to learn about. And it just is a really great opportunity for them where we're at. And we love that balance. So we're in it.

SPEAKER_00 38:44

And do you guys have funding available in Colorado for homeschoolers?

SPEAKER_01 38:49

Yeah. Not for the families, but for those programs. So depending on which program you choose, there's like whether you want to do a nature school or a Charlotte Mason school or a Waldorf school, there's there's different options that are funded. Do you have all those school options for homeschoolers there? When we were moving here, it was that time of year where you're supposed to be like enrolling your kid in whatever like homeschool enrichment program they call them that you wanted to. And we were living in Kansas City and I remember being like panicked, like, I can't pick one from so far away. And we made a trip specifically to like tour different homeschool enrichment programs. Cause me at the time, like I would enroll my kids in anything and everything. Like you said, like ukulele class or gymnastics or music class. And I was like, it's a free class. We need to, I need to be enrolled in this. Like, I need to make sure they're taking advantage of this. And I toured the nature school and I was like, we're gonna be, she's gonna be outside all day. Like, it's gonna be awesome. And she hated it. She was like, absolutely not. I'm not going there. And then she toured the traditional school where like she has to wear a uniform and like say the Pledge of Allegiance and sit in a desk all day. And I was like, I don't know, I don't even think we should tour this place. Like, this is crazy. And she loved it so much to the point where I was like, honey, what do you love about it? She was like, Mommy, I'm gonna have a desk.

SPEAKER_00 40:07

I was like, that's like literally we're looking for that's why I'm homeschooling you.

SPEAKER_01 40:15

Are we doing this wrong? I don't know. But it's one day a week. I can get you a desk, honey. But it's yeah, and it's one, it's one day a week. And um, they just teach language arts and like art music, PE. So they like have all the specials that a traditional school would have, and then they just teach like writing and language arts. And I was like, that's kind of awesome because I don't like teaching phonics, so they can kind of take that off of me and we'll do like all the experiential, like touring restaurants and going to the firehouse and like doing all of that cool stuff. They could do phonics.

SPEAKER_00 40:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:50

Phonics is nice.

Where To Find Katie’s Book

SPEAKER_00 40:51

I'm ready to offload. I did we do an online program for reading right now. Uh, I've done the the stuff where I physically teach him, and this just seems to be working better. Katie, I am going to link all of your the references to your book and your Instagram page in the show's description. Why don't you just tell us real quick where people can find you if they want to check out your book right now?

SPEAKER_01 41:14

Okay, so uh Into the Field, Tennessee Summer is on sale pretty much anywhere books are sold online. So Amazon, Barnes Noble, just when you are typing it in, Into the Field Tennessee Summer. You have to start typing in that Tennessee Summer because Into the Field is just a little too popular. I didn't think it all the way through. But I'm also in the middle of a little bit of a virtual book club on my Instagram page. So every Friday for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to release extension activities that can be done with the book. So all of the homeschoolers out there are gonna love this. I know I love stuff like this. Uh, we once you read like chapter one, it's going to have discussion questions, comprehension questions, science, social studies, art, life skills, all tied up in a little bow. Like chapter one, one of the activities is making mud pies outside, which we're not doing right now because it's 36 degrees. But those will be released every Friday for the next couple of weeks. Chapter one is already out.

Closing And Resources

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Cool. All right, so all everything is linked in the show's description. Check that out. Katie, thank you so much for being here today. This has been so much fun. I loved being here with you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for listening to the Homeschool How To Podcast. If today's episode helped you, please be sure to follow the show and leave a review. It's the best way to support the podcast. And if you're just getting started or need a reset, head to thehomeschoolhowtu.com and grab my free 30-day homeschool quick start guide. Until next time, keep learning, keep questioning, and thank you for your love of the next generation.