#166: How Homeschooling Her Only Child Turned Him Into a 9-Year-Old Author & Stock Trader

Most parents ask, “Can I homeschool if I still need to work?”

Laresia and her family didn’t just ask that question—they built a life that answers it.

In this episode, we talk about what happens when you choose homeschooling before you even become a parent, and how that decision shaped everything—from family connection to raising a child who is already thinking like an entrepreneur.

Their 9-year-old son isn’t just learning at home…
 He’s writing and publishing books, learning stock trading, and building real-world skills most adults were never taught.

We also get into:

•  What homeschooling an only child actually looks like (social life + community) 
•  How Classical Conversations works in real life 
•  Why creativity and imagination often get shut down in traditional school 
•  How they approach raising a child without a fixed path
•  The mindset shift that allows families to “level up” without pressure 

And if you’ve ever wondered how families actually make working + homeschooling work…
I break down the patterns I’ve seen from interviewing 200+ families and how you can apply them.

If you’re thinking about homeschooling—but feel stuck on the how—this episode will open your mind to what’s possible.

Find Laresia & Family: https://kidpreneurconnection.com/

- https://www.youtube.com/@areeson2love

- https://corelife365.com/

🎯 Ready to learn how families are actually working + homeschooling? Cheryl has interviewed 200+ homeschool families—and put a step by step process together for how to work and homeschool (even as a single parent!) Check it out below!

👉 How to Work & Homeschool (Even as a Single Parent!)

Transcript

Why We Chose Homeschooling

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 us today I have Laresia. Welcome. How are you, Laresia? Thank you for being here. I'm good, Cheryl. Thank you so much for having me. I'm good. Are you from the South? Yes, I'm a Southern girl through and through Memphis, Tennessee. Fun. Much warmer than it's here in upstate New York.

Deciding Before Becoming Parents

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Oh goodness, yeah, definitely. I'll probably say so. Yeah, it gets hot here very quick. We have up and down weather, but yeah, heat is our thing. Awesome. And do you guys homeschool? Yes, we homeschool. We have a nine-year-old son, and he's been homeschooled since the beginning. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Alright, so what made you make that decision? Because that sounds like it was probably before COVID or around that time.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yes, before COVID, uh, so 2016 for him. And it's so funny because we decided to homeschool before like even him even being thought of. Like we were just, I was helping. I had two friends that were school teachers that I graduated from high school with. They were school teachers, and they were, I was just so interested in the school system at that time and how things were going because I was a youth pastor. So I was working with these youth of ages probably preteens to younger teens. And so I was just kind of seeing some habits and ways, and I'm like, well, you have good parents. Like, what is this other outside influence that's just driving you all kind of crazy? Like, like, what's happening? And so I kind of at that time, before I was a mom, started doing my research and noticing things and started asking them questions from their job and from their work. And so before our son Josiah even was thought about, we were like, I think we want to homeschool. We want to have him home. We want to be the biggest influence in his life.

SPEAKER_00 2:02

Yeah. Aw. And how did your husband take that? He was okay with that.

SPEAKER_01 2:07

He was he was okay with it. Um, it was so funny how easy it was because I initially thought he wasn't going to be, because he was just the education to do. He finished college, everything, just his parents were real, like good grades, go to school, all these things, public school. So I thought he was going to be like, wife, I love you, but that's not that's not happening. But he was like, okay. So he surprised me with that answer, but he was he was okay with it. He was.

SPEAKER_00 2:33

Did you get pushback from like any family?

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Well, uh, not when we were planning initially before him, but when we kind of got and they were like, is he gonna have any social issues? And then it was so funny because like he was so smart, like when he got older, like he was so smart he needs to be in school. I was like, Well, if he's smart now, right now with us, and we're and we're doing these great things. So it was just I think it was just the understanding, like really, like I think them just being proud of what he was accomplishing and what he was able to do, and you know, just being used to the the way that they grew up and thinking this needs to be in a structured place like school so we can make sure that he continues to advance. Yeah.

Only Child Social Life And Community

SPEAKER_00 3:17

And people think like, Oh, you're not gonna be able to offer him all of the things, right? But but that's because they weren't they don't homeschool, so they don't really even know what's out there. Exactly. Yeah. Alright, so how what have been some of the harder aspects to homeschooling an only child? Because I know like some I do get that question a lot, like, oh I I want to homeschool, but I only have one kid. And I'm like, well, actually, I feel like the opportunities are more open because you can just up and go.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

So that's true. I see it both ways. And excuse me, I am y'all gonna get that southern charm, so yeah, I have that southern accent. But that is true, like we saw it both ways, like having him at home with us and being able to homeschool him and him having that individual attention because he wasn't only child. Um, but at the same time, we still thought he needed some type of other, you know, young people and community around him because he had cousins, but they weren't his age, they were all older than him at the time, where they were babies at the time. So he was like right in the middle where he didn't have a lot of cousins around him that were his age. So we did kind of notice that, and so we went the route later of joining classical conversations. So a bunch of you his age, he had an opportunity to have community with them. They have different activities he can participate in, but yeah, initially two-sided, having him get all the attention that he needed and uh just from both parents, and then him like, okay, I need other people my age because he was doing everything with mom and dad and always around adults, right?

How Classical Conversations Works

SPEAKER_00 4:50

Yeah, all right. So, why don't you tell us a little bit about classical conversations? I've had a few conversations with parents and kids actually who have been in that program, and some love it, some hate it, because I think it is definitely for a certain kind of person. So, what does that look like in your day-to-day?

SPEAKER_01 5:07

So, we started Classical Conversations August 2025, so very recent. I was just teaching him. I used um the good and beautiful curriculum beforehand, and when we um just to go back a little bit, and before we got started with the good and beautiful, and I was doing it just with him on my own, we went the Tennessee public school online route, like for kindergarten. Like, can you believe that for kindergarten I thought he needed an online school? Because I wasn't confident, I wasn't even though I had in my head that we were gonna do this before he was even born. I wasn't completely confident in myself that he was going to get everything he needed. So at kindergarten, I thought he needed to be in a school, just be with me. So we so we did do Tennessee Online Academy in kindergarten after that, just fate would have it. They canceled out for grades one through fourth, and so they didn't even have it the next year. So we were like, Okay, what I'm gonna do, I'm scrambling. And I was like, Lady, just do it yourself, just you do it. So I was homeschooling him, and then my cousin, I we had a cousin in California, she homeschooled her son, also from um I think seventh grade, and he graduated with classical conversations, and she gave us all the information about it how good it was, and that even with their busy schedule, he was an actor, and so even with their busy schedule, they were able to do classical conversations and his fit his schedule, and they loved it. And so I finally and she had told us this for probably maybe three or four years, and I was like, I'm not convinced yet. I'm not convinced yet, but when that option came along, I was like, okay, I'm gonna try it out. So we've only been there. This is our our four almost our full year coming up, so I'm loving it. He seems to be loving it, it is structured, and I like the way they have these cycles, so it's like a repetitive course, like for the essential, they have like different programming levels, essential foundations, and so you start when they're just really kind of simple and easy. We you're just doing memory work, so our day-to-day is maybe 30 minutes to an hour of songs and memory, like everything they put everything into a song, and it's so fitting for our family because we're not professional singers, but we're like stage play actors around here in musicals, we're making up songs and making up raps, and so they kind of fit with us as far as having the music and having the songs, and sometimes even though he likes songs, he'll like, I don't want to sing the song, so he'll have his days, but it's only like 30 minutes to an hour that we're having just to do that memory memory working. You kind of set your own schedule with it. They have all the curriculum for you, they have all the videos for you. So it's like it's just it fits, it's convenient and it's it fit for us. You can go on the go. They have cards, flashcards, you can use them in the car, use it while you travel, it's mobile, so it worked for us.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

Now, do you meet like once a week with the group?

SPEAKER_01 8:08

We do. So we do. They do have an uh an assigned day that you can meet with them. Ours is on Friday for our um community group is on Fridays. Right now, as foundation, he does nine to nine to twelve, and then when he goes to essentials, that's like a level up when he goes to essentials, and then he'll do nine to three. So he'll do like a school day, but it's only like that once a week, and then they have like activities and things you can participate. You can choose to participate during the week if you want to.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

So you're like, okay, we have to get this work done by the day that we meet, or else you'll be behind the ball. So there's some accountability there.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

It is, it is some some accountability, but it's so easy going. But like you, like you want for your child, and then sometimes your child can be an overachiever themselves, and they they want to be like, okay, if they know the songs, then I want to know the songs, if they know some of the work, then I want to know the work because I want to sing along with them, and I want to do the activities with them, and they have group activities, and I like I want to know that with them, so it doesn't, it's no pressure. So I like that. Like, you want to keep up, but it's there is no pressure, like you learn at your level. Like, what if your child is like they can't read at this level yet, then you're fine. We're just singing songs, we're just here together, and so you do have a tutor in class, they call him a tutor, so you have a volunteer parent that goes over some of the work with you, and then you can go back over their work the week before or a week later, just so you can see how you can apply it at home. So it's a really good model.

Family Benefits And Health Perspective

SPEAKER_00 9:36

Yeah, so cool, so cool. All right, so what have been some of the things that you like about homeschooling? Like, what has been easy? What has or or surprising? Like, I I knew I wanted to homeschool because I didn't want to turn out like the crazy kids and youth group, but I didn't realize we'd also get this.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Yeah, um, I think the connection, I would definitely say the connection, like not missing anything, just being able to see him grow and be a protector for him and be the biggest influence in his life. Like, that has really been amazing to just watch that and that we know we're not missing any of those special moments, and that um we can be the disciplinaries, like we don't have to hear about somebody else, you know, saying anything wrong to him or you know, just all those things that you might experience at school. Like, we're we're we can regulate at home, right? We can have that those talks with him at home and and regulate that. So that's been the connectivity with the family has really been great for us, and what he's been able to do and accomplish with that has just been amazing.

SPEAKER_00 10:40

Yeah, do you feel like you have to add in any other like curriculum or different lessons or sports or anything on top of the classical conversations?

SPEAKER_01 10:50

So far, so far I would say no, because I would say we our family is really business oriented. So before so when he was born, after before he was born out, we were we're entrepreneurs, and so with his homeschooling also is work. So we don't want to add a lot of things on to that. Like, so he's already he's an author, he's a nine-year-old author, he's written two books. So goodness. Yeah. So he already has these extra things. And um, what just to go back a little bit to confirm like our desire to want to homeschool, he was born with a kidney disease diagnosis. So he had a hard time when he was went right from the womb. He had a hard time. He went right over to ICU. I didn't get a chance to hold him or anything like that. I know it was just like ah crushing. So he he was in the Nikki for probably a little over two weeks and just to you know get everything right. So it was just confirming for us, like we didn't want to waste any time with him. Like we didn't, it was it was like a no-go on missing or wasting any time, any precious time that we had for him. It was just confirming of what we wanted to do. So, so that was amazing. So he's just been able to do some great things with that. So he doesn't really do any sports because we're kind of like we don't know about the sports thing with the diagnosis, so yeah, he's gotten into golf a little bit, so he kind of enjoys that. So we'll see if he stays consistent with them. We don't pressure him, but we have a friend who's into golf, and so he's kind of gotten him into that. But other than that, we're just really business oriented, he's writing books and doing stuff with stock trading, so he's able to do so many things, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Wait, you say he's nine? He's nine, he just stock trading. What? How does he get into that? What are your businesses?

Working While Homeschooling Resource

SPEAKER_01 12:37

So we our business, so we have a 501c3, and then our business is tech and consulting. So we have a tech and consulting business, and the stock trading was on the side, it was just something that first dad wanted to get into, and so we had been doing it for a while, and then Josiah was just looking, of course, because they're at home with you, and we have a we have a very inquisitive child, and that's what happens with a lot of our uh kids who ask them questions about what you're doing with your work.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

I used to think that you couldn't work and homeschool, but after interviewing over 200 families now, if you've been a listener for that long, yes, that's actually how many it is, I realized that it's not true. People are working and homeschooling, it just looks different than we expect. I started noticing the patterns, the resources, the schedules that people were using to actually make homeschooling while working at work. And I put everything that I've learned into a course called How to Work and Homeschool, even as a single parent. Yes, you heard that right. Even as a single parent. If this is something that you've been trying to figure out and would really just like it laid all out for you, check out the link in the show's description.

SPEAKER_01 13:43

And so he was seeing Dad um do trading, and so he got interested in it, and dad was just excited about it, so that made him excited about it. And so he was been paper trade, he was paper trading, probably starting at seven, just watching over dad's shoulder, and we got him a um think or swim account. That's one a freak account. So we got him a think or swim, and he was just paper trading and making money in the think or swim account, and he like would tell you stock facts at seven and eight years old. He would like go down the whole list who created it, who did this, and give you all the facts about it. And we're like, I think this guy really enjoys this. And so now at this age, him and dad are just buddies, they're best friends, and they compete about who makes the most money, like who's who's earning the most. So does he have like real money invested in it now? Well, his dad invests the money for him, so he's not he's not doing the investing on his own with the real money right now. He's still doing paper trading. Yes, he's still doing paper trading. But he's learning the real stuff. Oh, yes, he knows, sure. He can he knows it better than me. I could not tell you A through Z at all, like how that works, but he can get in front of you and tell you he could teach you how to trade. Like he could he can do it. Like if you're okay with me.

Turning Stories Into Published Books

SPEAKER_00 15:00

I will take him up on that. That is just amazing. Another thing that they don't teach you in school because they don't want us knowing their secrets, you know. They don't want us knowing about credit card interest and how you know you're paying interest on top of interest if you don't pay it off every month, and they don't want us knowing about how to trade stocks. They might tell you a little bit about what it is, but nothing real. No, I mean that's amazing. He could and what made him want us write a book?

SPEAKER_01 15:27

So he was so he's always writing these stories, like he's writing little short stories, and what's so ironic about that is he didn't like to read. So this is so funny again. Well, he likes he did not like I don't know what was happening. Like, I love to read, like, he did not like to read, so he would get books sometimes. Well, he kind of made a transition that first when he was younger, he would get books and he would read them, and then he had this like middle stage where he was just like, No, I don't like to sit down and read books. He's a boy too, so I don't know that might fit into it. Like, no, I don't like to sit down and read books, but he would want to write, he had such a big imagination, so it's just like freedom with your imagination, and so he would just write stories. So one night he was before bed, he had wrote a whole short story, and he brought it in, like, Dad, I wrote a story, dad. I wrote a story. And my husband got it and he's like, son, this is pretty good, this is pretty cool. So we should turn this into an IPA because he was like, That was IPA, he says income-producing asset. I mean, you can do it one time, it just constantly brings in money. He was like, Oh, I'm okay with that, I'm okay with that. And it was so funny because again, imagination, he wrote a story about a cat that goes on adventures, and we don't have a cat, so we don't know where the cat, we don't know where the cat came from. We don't have a friendly neighbor cat that we know of, but he somehow a cat named Max came into his imagination and he started writing stories about him, and that's how his first book came about. So he just went from there.

SPEAKER_00 16:56

Okay, so I've written a children's book. It is no small feat. So, like, how involved were you like it sounds like oh we wrote a story, yeah, but it's like by the time you get the illustrations and the ISBN numbers and where to sell it, and how much of that did you guys have to learn to help him out? Everything.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

So everything after that. So that's one big thing. Like, we were really invested in to just seeing what he was good at, what he fell in love with, what he desired, and we just got in our minds as a family that we wanted to make dreams come true. That was like in our mind, like we didn't want to have these moments where we would just like when we we were younger, like I wish I had a like what if I had a learned or what if I had a dead, like we didn't want to have that for him, and so because we didn't want to have that for them, for him, we had to do it for us, we had to make it a thing in the in the house, in the environment. So we were just like, okay, so if that's what he wants to do, we have to learn how to do it ourselves. We have to get out there and do the research and see it. Um, fortunately for us, we had also taken on some coaching at the time before that. The coaching, it was so funny. The coach person had already written a book and he gave us some insight on writing the book. So we're like, oh, this is like so on time, so fitting. You're talking about a book, and Josiah just wrote a book. And so all he did was he wrote all of what he says story down, and then I just took it, of course, used AI tools and did the editing, like act as a professional editor and edit his his grammar and things like that, and put it in. So we just did that and we just self-published. So everything that was so challenged, we just like removed the challenges and just moved forward with it.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

I don't know. I self-published it, I found it challenging still.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_00 18:44

It was definitely it was definitely still challenging because I was like like sometimes like getting everything to fit just right on the page and you guys do like uh AI or I don't know what it's called for like the illustrations and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 18:59

Well, no, my husband went through somebody, so he's already like again, he was well versed in in website and um images. And so he used right, well, not illustrations exactly. So he used to like do work up and images and websites, so he knew the connections and the people to go to to do the ill to do the illustrations part. So he had the connections with those websites to reach out to those people, so that it just kind of fit in with that part because we already knew that. So yeah, like you say some of those things was like I gotta figure this part out.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Right. Well, and that's what I found. It was like, no, this is what I envisioned on this page, and I had a woman illustrate it, but it's like their vision for the page might be different than yours, and it's like, hey, I know you just spent a lot of time working on that. It's not what I was thinking, and yeah, that was hard, or like, hey, you did that, but I need the text to go there, and you can't see it anymore. And there was back and forth little things like that. Yeah, what a great learning experience for him and for you, even though you might not have ever wanted to know. No, I didn't I didn't plan to know. But that is so cool. Like, if somebody asked me tomorrow, like, how do you publish a children's book? I'm like, I don't know, I I blocked that off from my I couldn't handle any more. Don't just leave that there. Oh, that's so cool though. But I just love that he is already thinking, like, how can I make money? How can I take an idea of mine and put it out into the world to actually make money? So, and I will I will link it too in the show's description. So if anybody wants to check it out, they can just click on there and buy it or whatnot. And you said he wrote two books?

SPEAKER_01 20:33

Yeah. So the second book was about stocks because it's like he's that's what he's so involved in right now. So so so he we were able to merge the story. So he went from Max had this big adventure, so he said he wanted to write a series like right from the jump. He was like, I want to write a series. I was like, Oh my god, we haven't even done the first book. What do you mean? You know, you know, series means more than one. Okay, so okay, so he already knew he wanted to write more than one book. So he started off with the Max Dreams big The Jungle adventure. I don't know why the cat wanted to go to the jungle, but for some reason the cat wanted to go to the jungle on the first book, and so he went from that to him learning to trade stock, and it just all merged because Max has these big ideas, and he would tell you that Max has nothing to do with him. Yeah, right. So, but Max has this big imagination, he dreams big about doing these things that seem impossible, right? And just learning things and figuring them out. So that's what he kind of took and went with the second book, Max and the Big Stock Market Adventure, and he wrote that one.

Raising A Kid Without A Fixed Path

SPEAKER_00 21:39

I just love that. That is just so cool. Um, and I just think back to like my days in school. And I don't know, like I'm trying to think of did they even push entrepreneurship at all? Like, I remember like a make I remember in like first grade or second grade trying to sell like friendship bracelets, and I think they kiboshed it. They're like, you can't be so. Telling stuff in class and I got in trouble. So, like, that's what the public school, that's what the public school does to entrepreneursh the dreams. Oh, that is so amazing. So, what are your goals for him? As you're homeschooling him, and you're thinking to like him turning 18 and graduating from your homeschool. Like, what are your goals? Like, is college on the table? Does it need to be on the table? Do you have strict laws in Tennessee that you have to meet?

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yeah, so we have no idea what he's gonna do. We have no idea what he's gonna be, and it's so awesome. It's so awesome. I love that. It's like because everybody looks at him and say, like, oh my god, he's he's so presidential, and um he's got he's writing books, so is he gonna be an author? He's gonna be a businessman, and then we know he's really into trading stocks. Is he gonna um is it gonna be trading stocks? And we're like, we have no idea what God's plan for him is. We are just setting an amazing environment that we're cultivating an area where anything is possible. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_00 23:03

I love that. It's not like, nope, we need to get your SAT prepping.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

No, it's really the main things we are teaching him are principles, so it's like stewardship, be a man of your word, right? You know, just these principles that we're instilling so that way, whatever he decides to do, whatever the Lord leads him, he'll be a success in that area because he figured that out, he listened to God, he followed that plan, and now he knows where it takes him. Like sometimes we ask him, like, hey son, um, you have an idea kind of what you want to do now, or sometimes he'll say maybe architecture, because he he draws a lot and he builds things. I'm like, okay, because you know, whatever you want to do, we might move to that area. If there's not a schooling that has that type of thing or training, we'll move to that area and let you go to that training program. And or like that's what homeschool allows for. Like, we're not stuck to a place. Like, so whatever you decide you may want to, you know, do and and explore, like, let us know when you see that. And if you're serious about it, we see that you're serious about it, and something that you really want to pursue, we'll pack up and and do what we need to do. So it's just like really having that open door and environment for him to kind of figure it out. Like, there's there's no stress, like you said, with the money and things like that, like there's no boundaries that are gonna hold you back, right? You're gonna have challenges, things are gonna come up, things are gonna happen. We're gonna let you know there are there are really no boundaries that you can't come up against. And if it doesn't go exactly the way you want it to go, you still can be a success somewhere, somehow, in some area.

When School Stifles Creativity

SPEAKER_00 24:37

That's awesome. Now, when you look at like the kids from the youth ministry and like what they were going through, what do you think that they were experiencing? Was it more like things on the bus that you know they'd see or hear, or was it a rebellion? Was it something going on in the schools?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

When I think about it now, I think it was just I think the the creativity, the getting the imagination was stunned. Like it was like you kind of said earlier when I was trying to sell bracelins of like, no, don't do that. You you can't do that here. So I think just the the flow of imagination and creativity was not there wasn't a cultivation in that area. So it's like this is this is a set thing that you need to do. We have to meet these requirements, we have to set these things in place. So that's where the focus needs to be. That's where the focus needs to be on on um passing these tests, um, doing the the required things, and then hey, you you you can try to make something happen outside of that, but because your mind is already so stressed out, which I think it was a lot of pressure, but because your mind is already so stressed out, there's already pressure that's happening that you're having to meet these requirements that you don't really full, really feel that you're you're meeting the standards. It's like it's like I always trying to meet the standards. Like I'm trying to meet the I'm trying to make sure that I'm being taught the same way as everybody else is being taught, but I'm not learning that way. I'm a different type of learner, so it's not really, you're not catering to those different types of minds and and how they think and how they function. Like I'm seeing it now because we still work with schools without a 501c3. So I'm seeing a little bit more of that kind of ink into their and ink into it now, like them championing entrepreneurship a little bit more. I'm like, yes. And then we have a program that actually accepted Josiah's stock program. So, like, yes. So they're like in some cases, you kind of see them kind of edging that way, but it's so slow, um, that just because all of the things that have to be met with the requirements of the state, so it's happening so slow by the time those things are put into law and accepted, like the kids have just gotten drained and bogged down, or they've graduated and moved on, and it's it's late for them to kind of get all these things. So, with the youth group, definitely I think it was just like a stunning in the creativity and the imagination and not a real big focus in that area.

SPEAKER_00 27:05

Yeah, and as you were saying that, it was making me think about like, you know, your son was learning how to write a book, how to publish a book, and how to do stocks because that's what his interest was. And in that, he was learning to read better, learning grammar, learning how to write, learning, you know, lessons of the different vowel sounds and like the little tips and tricks, but it applied to his life, and he learned math, he learned all sorts of things with the stocks, so it was like relevant to what he wanted to know. And I I had Dr. Peter Gray on my podcast a couple weeks ago who wrote the book Free to Learn, and he did so much research on child-led learning and just letting them learn things that are relevant to their life when they have an interest in it. Yeah. And above and beyond that, is there anything else people really need to know? I mean, do we need to know Pythagorean's theorem? I don't know. Um, or a date of this war that we still don't like if you asked me today who was in World War One, like I still wouldn't be able to tell you, you know, the who is on what side, and I'm 42, but and I made it this far in life. I'm doing okay. I'm doing okay. Yeah, so it that just I think that's what those kids were probably lacking, and then when your creativity can never be like you were saying, when your creativity is never allowed to be expressed, you kind of just go to other things to numb your senses. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 28:29

Yeah, yeah, that was that was a huge stamp. And I continue to see it because after I was wasn't I was I was no longer youth pastoring, and I went to a national youth organization and just still seen like, okay, like it's it's such a difference in what's unlocked inside of a child, right? Like those things that are able to be unlocked inside of them and them being able to see this great potential that they can that they can experience because sometimes you still see it and they're just not confident in what they're able to do. And I'm like, man, and I don't want to compare them at all. I'm just like this nine-year-old, like he has no fear of speaking in front of adults, he has no fear fear of telling you how he feels, what he what he feels, because none of that is is kind of blocked off from him. It's just like it's open and it's relevant, like you said, to what he's experienced and what he knows, and then it's just blocked off and it's not unlocked for them yet. So a big thing is us trying to unlock that potential in them so they can be confident in who they are.

Level Up Without Pressure

SPEAKER_00 29:28

That's everything, right? That's everything that school just can't do that because they have one teacher to however, you know, when they're in elementary to 30 kids, and it's um I they reach some, I'm sure, but how do you know your kid's gonna be one of those? So what a gift to homeschool. I mean, it it is just awesome. All right, what else did you want to make sure that you like got across to parents today? I don't want you to leave here saying, I didn't say that. What tell us?

SPEAKER_01 29:56

Well, it's already been so awesome. Um, the questioning just led to so many open doors and so many great things. Just maybe a last thing I would just say is just, oh my god, it's so great to be content but not comfortable. Like it's always a a way to um level up in the area. And when I say that, when I say level up in the area, I'm not like you just gotta be pressure and do this and do that, but like level up in the area as for us, what more can I do to increase this environment for my child? What more can I do to increase this environment for my family? And that looks different for everybody. Don't be afraid to explore because we have such we have that freedom as homeschoolers, like so. Don't be afraid to explore those different options of what I can do, what I can accomplish, because I've been, like you said, given this gift of homeschooling, given this this uh this space for for uh creativity and this space for connection and the space for imagination. And so, what how far can I take that? So we don't want to ever feel like we can't take that space to a higher level, a higher level, and realize that for our child, like there's like let it be no pressure, just just okay, hey, what can we do today as a family to level up even more than what we're already doing?

SPEAKER_00 31:17

All right, so where can we find you if we want to follow you or your family or your son? And like I said, I'll put all of the links in the show's description too.

SPEAKER_01 31:26

Okay, so a really good link would be for Josiah, kidpreneur connection.com. And so that's a long name, but that's his stock trading site. So you can go on there and he has a full-on story. Again, he wrote another short story. He's made heroes and everything for his stock trading because it has to be story. It's kind of like story-driven financial literacy, like it's just like in a whole experience. So Kidpreneur Connection.com, they can go on there, they can like learn how to do different things. He has games him him and they have created on there. So he's just been a big part of like what can I do to make sure that it's exciting, that it is engaging, and that you're learning at the same time. My goodness. Yes, I would say that's the best site, kidpreneurconnection.com. You can get on there, you can contact us if you need to contact us. If not, just get on there and just have a good time, just have some fun, learning the stock trade and just having some fun with the story.

SPEAKER_00 32:23

I want to see what this kid's doing in 10 years. I'm really excited. I'm very excited to see at 19 years old what he has accomplished. If he's already accomplished this. So cool. Well, great job, mom, on raising such an entrepreneurial-minded child. Thank you. And for telling us about your story today. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Larissa, for coming on today. Thank you so much.

Where To Find Them And Closing

SPEAKER_01 32:46

I appreciated my time. I loved it. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 32:49

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.