Sunny & 65 with Madi Schultz
Join Madi Schultz as she imperfectly pursues Jesus and emphatically encourages you to do the same. Through scripture, conversations, and testimonies— Madi's prayer is that you would walk away from listening to each episode with a greater affection for Jesus + experience the freedom He has for you in deeper ways.
| madi@sunnyand65.com | @madelinschultz_ | @mackandbenj
Sunny & 65 with Madi Schultz
Episode 75: Hybrid Homeschooling | Year 1 Debrief
We survived (and might I say thrived...well, some of the days!!) our first year of homeschooling! And I kind of loved it. A lot. Yes, I was someone who said they would NEVER homeschool. Well, God always does something with our "nevers" doesn't He!
We are currently doing a hybrid homeschool classical education model with our oldest, Zan. We are just a mere one year in! There is no expert status here! (nor will there ever be!) In this episode I walk through what the classical education model is (7:01), what hybrid homeschooling is (22:30), how we found ourselves homeschooling (26:47), what our day-to-day looks like homeschooling (34:38), rhythms we have implemented (that now are just a part of our life!) (40:58), and at the end I answer some questions you guys had about it all (54:12)! Ultimately, my prayer is that this episode and information is helpful for you as you're sifting through with the Lord what direction He may be specifically leading you + your family in!
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FROM THE EPISODE:
#SA65Bookclub Book of the Month for September: Secret Place of Thunder: Trading Our Need to Be Noticed for a Hidden Life With Christ by John Starke
An Intro to Classical Education by Christopher A. Perrin
Rod and Staff (Math)
Telling God's Story: Year One
The Story of the World
Pray for the Persecuted PDF
The Voice of Martyrs
Unreached of the Day Website/App
OTHER FUN THINGS:
MADISCHULTZ.CO
My Favorite Things
Glory Presets
MUST-READ Books
30% Off Lifetime Subsc. to Dwell Bible App
The Daily Grace Co.
Hey friends, welcome back to the Sunny in 65 podcast. I'm your host, maddie Schultz, and in this episode I'm talking all about our first year of hybrid homeschooling, why we chose to do that, what our rhythms, what our day-to-day looks like and, ultimately, I'm praying this episode frees you up to follow the Lord's lead in whatever he might have your kids' education look like. Enjoy. Today we are talking about all things homeschooling. Well, I am a mere one year into technically hybrid homeschooling in our case and I'm excited to share all about it why we chose what we did, how the Lord led us to that, what was awesome, what was hard a bunch of different things. But I am just a mere one year in and so I am definitely no expert, but I'm praying that this episode is helpful, as maybe you and your family are sifting through which direction the Lord's leading you guys, specifically for your children's education. So here is what this episode is not. This episode is not me telling you that homeschool is the best way, that homeschool is superior to all other options. That is not what I'm saying. This is not a black and white topic, and so many things in our lives are not black and white topics, and I pray that, in any topics that we talk about on this podcast, that you would never leave feeling as though words that I said or the tone that I said it with made you feel like you had to do this specific thing. That is pride and spiritual pride, and, gosh, I pray, if I ever make you feel that way, that you would email me so I could repent and turn from that. Email me graciously, though, because I would never want to make someone feel that way. The Spirit is leading. If you are in Christ, if your faith is in Jesus' death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins, gosh, you have so much freedom and the Spirit is convicting and guiding and leading each family, each person differently, specifically on these areas that are not black and white in the Bible. There are some black and white things in the Bible. This isn't one of them, and so I pray that you would receive the information that I share, and maybe some of the I'm still going to share, just some honest questions that I sifted through with the Lord, but that you'd even hear them and you might sift through those same questions with the Lord, and the Lord guides you a different way to public school or to private school or to full homeschooling, and the Lord guides you a different way to public school or to private school or to full homeschooling. And so I pray that, yeah, you would not feel any judgment or condemnation, because, as I'm going to say multiple times in this podcast, the Lord could lead us to do this this, last year and next year. God might say put them in public school or put them in private school. The Lord's leading you in the same way that he's leading me, and so we'll continue to both separately, seek his face, seek his words, seek wisdom, seek wise counsel, and he's going to be guiding all of us.
Speaker 1:I think we hit a dangerous, it's a dangerous place for anyone to feel as though their way is the best, best way and there's no other way. And that can be for a plethora of things, and I know that the Lord has to restrain my heart in for even other things where I'm like. You know, I can tend to feel like no, this is the best way, and God's like no, you know, God's like I'm leading other people too, and this is not a black and white situation. Whatever it is, I know that my tendency can go that way. It makes me think of a Jackie Hill Perry quote.
Speaker 1:That is something along the lines of the only hill I'm willing to die on is Calvary, and so I don't want to die on any other hill but the gospel of Jesus Christ and even then gosh. There's primary and secondary and tertiary doctrine. There's going to be other doctrine that I don't agree with, with other Christians that I respect and that I know are saved and love God. But I don't want to die on any hill except the hill of Calvary, of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I will die on that hill, but I don't want to die on any other ones, including homeschooling, and I always like to remember that I went to public school K through 12, and the Lord decided to save me in college, and so that always like frees me up of, like God is going to be God and I can trust that God's going to save his people.
Speaker 1:And I like to hold that with like a responsibility, not a crushing pressure, but the responsibility of it's an and God's going to be God and not a but God's going to be God. And I want to hold this responsibility that I have been entrusted these children and, as in Proverbs says, I want to train up a child in the way they should go, so that they may not depart from it. I want to be seeking the Lord. I want all the decisions we make for our children, I want the umbrella over it to be. We're longing to show them who the person of Jesus is, what it looks like to follow him, how good he is, why we need him. I want that to be still the umbrella. So there is still this encouragement to hold this responsibility of sharing the gospel with our kids and training them up in the way they should go. All that to say, there's so much freedom and Romans 8, 1, there's now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. So my prayer is that this episode encourages you, that the information is helpful and, ultimately, that you would turn to the Lord and seek wise counsel from him through his word, through prayer, through wise counsel that he's put in your life and he is going to guide you and your family specifically in the way that he wants you to go, and I'm excited about that.
Speaker 1:With that being said, a little layout of the episode. First, going to be talking about what is classical education, what is the classical education model? Secondly, what is hybrid homeschooling? What does that look like. Then I'm going to be talking about how did we end up homeschooling, just some different thoughts and things that I sifted through and how the Lord ended up leading us there. And then, what does our homeschool days tangibly look like? And some different rhythms that we've incorporated into our homeschooling and, honestly, just rhythms that then we've incorporated into our lives, again just a mere one year into homeschooling. And then, lastly, I'd posted on Instagram a Q&A, a question, sort of thing, on my story, so I'll be answering the questions that you guys asked at the end.
Speaker 1:Lord, I pray that the spirit of this episode would be a humble one. God, I'm still learning, I'm not a homeschool expert at all, but, god, I pray that it's helpful. I pray that this information brings clarity, maybe stirs up whoever's listening their heart one way or the other. God, you are leading each one of us, but, god, I pray that we would seek your face, seek your voice and then be obedient to what you're calling each one of us to do, whatever that looks like for each family. God, you love us and you're guiding us in your precious name, amen.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what is classical education? What Zan is in is he's in a hybrid homeschooling model of a classical education model, and classical schools were actually the norm. Classical model is not new, it's really old, and that was the norm for thousands of years, until the Industrial Revolution in the early 1900s, and so this is not a new thing. This is how our great great grandparents were educated, and so I want to encourage you to go do your own research on the classical education model, because I'm going to probably poorly explain it to you, but what I do know is that the more that I learn about it, the more I'm going to probably poorly explain it to you, but what I do know is that the more that I learn about it, the more I'm just like sold on it, that I'm like, oh wow, this is really awesome. And I think in my head even I even went into this thinking in my head like, oh, I could see us doing this with our kids till high school, and then I could see us possibly sending them to a public high school. I say that also knowing that God could do whatever he wants and that could not happen and we could go another way. I don't know that that will actually happen, but the more that I learn about classical education, the more I'm like gosh, this sounds awesome for all the way through high school. But all that to say, I don't know what the Lord's going to do Next year could hold something different. So I just want to. I don't know what the Lord's going to do Next year could hold something different so I just want to hold it with open hands to the Lord. But the classical education model I'm going to share some different tools and things that you can listen to and read in the show notes. So go listen and read to those. But I'm going to kind of read what Zander's school on their website, what they've written about it and kind of explained it the way that they've kind of explained it.
Speaker 1:So, with Jesus Christ at the center of our curriculum, we integrate classical teaching methods which focus on a systematic study of subjects. This study is accomplished through a three-part training process, known as the trivium, which is taught in a multi-day university model. And so there's three different phases of learning in the classical education model. So there's the grammar phase, which is kindergarten through fifth grade. There's the logic phase, which is grade sixth through eighth, and then there's the rhetoric phase, which is ninth through twelfth. So during the grammar phase, I'm reading from the website. During this phase we take advantage of the child's natural strength to memorize. Young children thrive learning songs and rhymes that provide the basic grammar of our students. They are challenged to memorize substantial subject matter. For example, in math students memorize timetables, while in science they learn the parts of a cell and the various categories of living things. The grammar phase creates the knowledge or subject grammar used as foundational building blocks for the next two phases. So in kindergarten through fifth it is all about memorizing, memorizing, memorizing.
Speaker 1:I just had my homeschool training for the year this last weekend and one thing that they said is what we repeat, we remember. And so in this classical education model it's so much about repetition, repetition, repetition. And in the classical education model there's three cycles, so you go through one cycle each year and then you go back to the first cycle and you go through it again, but learning maybe. So maybe Zan was in cycle two this last year. In three years he'll be back to learning the specific stuff in cycle two, but at a deeper level. But it's all about repetition, repetition, repetition. So he has what is called memory work. And also I just want to say that in the classical education model there's a complete homeschool model called classicalations. So I'll try to find that and link that. I have multiple friends that do fully homeschool and they do the classical model. It's called Classical Conversations.
Speaker 1:So one thing is that with the classical education model we have a lot of memory work and with that they are in song form. So every week there are new songs that Zan is memorizing and it's from math, science, bible. They're from math, science and Bible. I might be missing one, but they give us those songs and then we're playing them Anytime we're in the car. We're doing our memory work. I'm just I connected it over to my Spotify and we're playing it whenever we're in the car. And it's so cool because Shay's even memorizing them and I'm already seeing, as we already know, kids are such sponges Like, the more that I learned about the classical education model, the more I'm like this just makes sense.
Speaker 1:I don't remember anything essentially that I learned. Granted, obviously I learned how to read and I learned how to do two plus two and multiplication. I did learn things. But when I think back to the ways, all the other things that I learned, we memorized kind of like the week of or for a couple of weeks. We learned about it, then we memorized it, then we took a test on it and either you were good at it or you were bad at it. The classical education model is all about growing your child's love for learning and them growing at their speed, and not just taking a standardized test and saying, oh, you're good at math or you're bad at math, and that's another thing that I love about it. But with all of the memory work, with this specific phase of learning, the grammar phase, kindergarten through fifth at my training they've compared it many times to we're making a pegboard as they're memorizing so many things, these first, kindergarten through fifth grade You're making a pegboard so that later on we can hang information and they'll be able to take in more information. And you're hanging information on this pegboard because they already have memorized different things about what they're about to learn.
Speaker 1:So, for example, in the classical education model, another thing is that they learn Latin, which is another huge part of the classical education model, and knowing Latin is helpful because many, many, many English words come from Latin roots. So knowing Latin, you're able to decipher new words quicker, therefore being able to take more information in quicker because you're able to not get stuck on a new word, but you're able to look at it and at that point you know what the Latin roots mean. So you're able to look at it and at that point you know what the Latin roots mean. So you're able to make an educated guess and then figure out what these words mean, then making it easier for you to take in new information. So even this last year Zan was learning some of his songs were about Latin. His English songs were about different Latin things. So one of the songs is first, declension, noun ending singular. I can't remember it, he can remember it, but like this whole thing about what he's going to learn in Latin, he didn't learn it in kindergarten but he's going to learn it, you know, in third, fourth or fifth grade or something, and he's going to have memorized, he's going to have that song in the back of his head, so then he's able to learn it quicker and hang this new information on these pegs Even this last year.
Speaker 1:One of the songs this year and the cool thing is is that the Memory Work songs are the same at the school we're at and maybe in Classical Conversations too. They're the same for all of the grades. So let's say we did cycle two this last year. In three years, when Shay is also in school, we are listening to the same memory work, where both of my kids are memorizing the same exact song. So, for example, this year too, one of the songs in the math songs that we memorized was A times B equals B times A. A times B equals B times A, a times B that's the song. Obviously, zan doesn't even know what he's singing, what he's learning, but he has that memorized right.
Speaker 1:A couple months ago, alex, it was some sort of life situation I have no idea. I can't remember what exactly it was, but it was like a math problem in real life and Alex was explaining to Zan do you see how, if you had two sets of three of these two times three, it would be the same as having three sets of two of these three times two. Both of those would be the same. Both of those would be the same. Both of those would equal the same thing. You could flip the numbers around, but the sets, if you times them by one another, they're the same. And Zan goes oh, like, a times B equals B times A. And we're like yeah, like it was just so cool to already see that come to fruition in something he was able to connect, hang information on a peg that he already had in his brain. So, oh my goodness, the memory work.
Speaker 1:And one thing that they said about the memory work this last week at training. They said memory work isn't extra credit, it's a feature of the classical education model. So the memory work is a huge part of it. And gosh, having my younger kids listening, I mean Shay knows half the songs already too and it's counting by ones, twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, sevens, eight, nines, tens, elevens. I mean it's learning about animal cells, all the science songs, like it's just so much information that you're packing into their brain. But it's repeat, repeat, repeat. I mean you guys, you know those theme songs or those songs that you learned in middle school that you can still sing every single word to. We know that these little jingles, these little music, these little songs, we memorize them and we often memorize them forever. So that's like so cool to already see Zan memorizing and then, of course, the best part, him memorizing scripture and my kids, us all listening to these together. And heck, I'm learning. I don't know half of this science stuff. I don't know any of this either. So that is the grammar phase, kindergarten through fifth grade. That's what Zan's in now.
Speaker 1:The next phase is the logic phase. So during I'm reading from the website during the middle school years, children begin to think independently and understanding the why of what they're learning becomes important. In this phase, students begin to understand the relationship of cause and effect and how the world is organized. Building upon the subject grammar learned in the first phase of learning, students are taught how to organize facts to form rational and logical ideas and arguments. The study of subjects begins to refine the ability of a student to build logical thoughts from the truths being taught. For instance, in language arts, a student is now learning how to combine the various structural components and grammar rules into sentences, paragraphs and essays, while in science they learn the logic of testing a hypothesis. In math, the introduction of more abstract concepts in algebra and geometry build upon the rules of mathematics learned in the grammar phase. Students are encouraged to think critically and make rational, fact-based arguments built upon the mental library of knowledge and facts they have acquired. So in the logic phase grades six through eighth kids are starting to ask wait, why, why is this? They're starting to ask those questions and so they're starting to give them the tools. They've already given them the pegboard, and now they're hanging the information on it and with the pegboard again, they're able to take in more information because they already have this base layer of all this information they've memorized and have in their minds already. So the rhetoric phase is ninth through 12th.
Speaker 1:Rhetoric is the art of communicating well and with mastery. Once a student has obtained the knowledge of the facts, grammar, the grammar phase and developed the skills necessary to arrange those facts into organized arguments, logic, the student is equipped to master subjects and communicate their ideas in an original manner. In the rhetoric phase, students are prepared to think and articulate concepts to others. So one thing, another thing that I love is and I'm obviously not an expert or pro on these my kids are not in either of those last two phases and I'm learning. I'm also learning about those phases.
Speaker 1:But one thing that I love that they told us about like rhetoric, the rhetoric phase is basically raising up humans that can argue tastefully why they believe what they believe. I feel like that's like a lost art. I mean, with even the technology and different things, you just memorize and you take a test. We're not teaching kids how to communicate effectively what they believe. And so rhetoric is. The rhetoric phase is all about, like I said, the art of communicating well and with mastery in science, what they learned or their faith, to be able to defend it respectfully and tastefully and winsomely. And so one thing that they had told us about in the training and I obviously have not experienced this yet, but that in their rhetoric phase there's different times in classes where they have to teach their class the curriculum, they have to know it and then they have to communicate it to their class, which I loved. And even in the grammar phase of classical education they're already doing presentations quote unquote if you will, where they're having them. In kindergarten, zan was already getting up in front of his class sharing his name and what his favorite thing. He did this last week. But they're growing these muscles of public speaking, of being comfortable speaking, and so that by the time they get to rhetoric it's no big deal to them that they have to teach their peers and their class. They've already been growing these muscles since kindergarten. So that's another thing.
Speaker 1:And then, like I kind of mentioned before, the cycles of learning. Classical mastery of subjects depends on repetition. This is done in three yearly cycles that are repeated. As a result, a child that has gone through the grammar phase has covered each cycle two times and is well prepared for the logic phase, which will cycle only once. So with the since grammar is K through fifth, they'll have gone through the cycles already two times. So by the time they get to logic gosh, they're going to be taking in information and the things that are learning so much easier, since they've gone through the cycles twice. With the rhetoric phase they're wanting to send young men and women into the world able to communicate effectively and to be able to argue their point and their case well.
Speaker 1:And I just I think and love that. So again, this classical model the more that I learn about it, the more that I'm just like super sold on it. I'm gonna again attach some different information that you can look more into it And'm going to again attach some different information that you can look more into it. And then at Zan School, theirs is a Christian classical education model. So Jesus is at the center and their main concern is forming our children, teaching our children about Jesus, forming them in the likeness of Christ, teaching them about the ways of Jesus and leading by example and making that the center of everything, of all of the subjects, bringing Jesus into everything. And so, yes, I'm going to add more information about the classical education model that you could read and learn more about it.
Speaker 1:And then, what is hybrid homeschooling? So the school that Zan goes to? It is a hybrid homeschooling, which means he is in school for two days and he is homeschooled for three, and so the school is coming alongside parents as we homeschool essentially. So they say that we're still their primary educator, but they're coming alongside of us, and so Zan is in school Monday, wednesday, and then he is homeschooled Tuesday, thursday, friday.
Speaker 1:And so just a reason that I loved this model. I mean, there were many different reasons. One, I loved that I still got to have him home for three days, but I loved that he still got to go to a school. The whole school is like this, so it's not just like I'm pulling Zan out for three days. The entire school is this model, so his entire class. Right now it's pre-K. The school is pre-K, through, I think, ninth grade, and they're adding a grade every year currently, and so the whole school is like this. And there are I know that there is a school I'll link it in the show notes in Des Moines like this there are two different ones here. There's one in Kearney I believe Zan's school just opened one in Kearney. There's one in Illinois, I'm sure there are more. I feel like it's becoming more and more popular, and so Google in your area.
Speaker 1:Hybrid homeschool model. But yeah, so Zan goes to school Monday, wednesday, home Tuesday, thursday, friday. But I love that he still gets to go to school. It feels it just feels like the best of both worlds, like I didn't want. I still wanted him at home primarily, but he still gets to go, get a school experience. He's under the authority of a teacher, he's getting to see other adults follow Jesus and teach them about Jesus, and so it's a normal length school day Monday and Wednesday, and then he's home Tuesday, thursday, friday.
Speaker 1:We are given the curriculum that we do, which was another pro for me. I don't want over choice. I'm like someone I trust. Tell me and I'll do. That Sounds great. It's kind of one of my toxic traits, but I have loved the curriculum that we've done so far and I'm just going to kind of share a few of them, even in case you want to do it for your if you're fully homeschooling.
Speaker 1:But for language, for English and learning to read. We've done Logic of English and we'll do Logic of English again this year and, I think, a couple more years to come. And actually Zan is learning cursive first. There's apparently some study behind learning cursive first. I can't remember exactly what they said about it, but so Zan's learning cursive first and we have loved Logic of English and the way that they teach our kids to read just makes sense, like it's not sight words, apparently sight words, which it makes sense after you think about it. It's not helpful for them to just learn these sight words before they're learning how to decode the words and read them. And I've found the Logic of English so so, so helpful, highly recommend.
Speaker 1:And then we do Rod and Staff for math and I've loved that too and all of these are just super. If you get the curriculums, they're super self-explanatory and the teacher's guide is just super helpful. It's self-explanatory in the sense that the teacher's guide is helpful and tells you exactly what to do For Bible. This year and last year we did Telling God's Story. There's an instructor texting guide and there's a student guide and activity pages and then, with Classical Conversations. They learn, they are learning the Classical Conversations timeline song from kindergarten through forever, which is basically is a super long song that's teaching them about history and they're memorizing it again repetition, repetition, repetition. I'm going to learn so much through this song and it's so helpful because they're also getting to learn where in the Old Testament oh, does this come into play? It's at the same time and making all of these connections. It's just so cool and so helpful. So, yeah, I've really enjoyed the hybrid model and it has so far been a really sweet fit for our family.
Speaker 1:So how did we end up homeschooling? Why did we make that decision? So, first of all, I will just rewind all the way back to the many, many, many times that I said I will never homeschool. My kids will go to public school. I went to public school, I loved public school. My kids will go to public school K through 12. And, as we all know, never say never with the Lord. But the sweet thing is is that it was totally the Lord that, slowly but surely, was changing my heart to align with at least the current path that he has for us and our family and our children.
Speaker 1:So rewind back to me meeting my best friend, angie, which maybe you've heard me talk about on this podcast if you've listened to other episodes, and she homeschooled her four girls. She is a season or two ahead of me. Her oldest kiddo is a junior in high school, her youngest is in first grade, and so I remember being around them and them homeschooling and still thinking, thinking, wow, this is so amazing, getting to see how their family got to be together so often, but still thinking I'm definitely not ever going to homeschool. And another thing I think is important to say and this is important, I feel like in all of my life it's really easy for me, and maybe you too, to say that I will never do something when I don't know other people's situations I'm not in.
Speaker 1:When I don't know other people's situations, I'm not in that current situation. So it was really easy for me to say I will never homeschool when I wasn't having to think about my child going to school yet. And so the tides kind of turned when oh, my goodness, that's getting closer and my five-year-old am I going to be sending him to school? Is he ready? He's still so young and moldable, informable. But all that to say, I just like to remind myself always that I can put a stake in the ground and say I wouldn't even want to put a stake in the ground and say I will now never go to public school. I don't know what situation or circumstance or how the Lord's going to lead us that we might go to public school and that can look like all sorts of different things.
Speaker 1:I remember before I was a parent, you know, thinking I will never do that with my kid. When I see someone doing something and it's like I don't know their specific circumstance and I've never been in their shoes, we've never been in anyone else's specific, unique shoes. So all that to say, large, large caveat. But I don't like to say now the Lord's humbled me and shown me that I don't want to ever say like I'll never do something with my kids because I might be put in a situation where he guides me and I like need to do that or that. Yeah, something's going on in our lives and yeah, just just, there's so much grace and there's so much freedom and so, yes, I had said we'll never homeschool, but the Lord totally was softening my heart and as my son got older I just started to ask those questions about and I had said that I was going to share some honest questions and, after thinking about and praying about it, there's a few that I'm not going to share.
Speaker 1:If I'm ever in person chatting with you or you would like to know what those questions were, I'd love to share them with you. I just I don't want to make anyone feel like they have to go a certain way or they have to agree with my questions, and I don't want anyone to feel judged by these questions. So I decided that actually some of these weren't helpful to share in here. But one of the things with almost sending our like thinking about oh, are we sending our child to school? One of the questions that I just asked was that I like just seeing that he was still super young and super moldable and formable and if you have a five-year-old, you then realize how young that really is and entrusting them to someone else for most of the week, just wrestling through that with the Lord and again, the Lord. In your specific circumstance and situation, the Lord might lead you to sending your child to a school five days a week Amazing. He's leading us all in different ways, so, but that was just definitely something that I sifted through and seeing even my friends, family, them getting to be all together, their siblings together. I was. I knew that I longed for Zan.
Speaker 1:As of right now my kids are three years apart and then pretty much 2.75 years apart, and I wanted them to still get time at home together. Again, caveat me and my siblings. My parents cultivated a family of closeness and importance and we all went to school and we're still really close. So I totally believe that we, as the parents and the leaders of our family, we get to cultivate if our family, if our relationships, are important. So that's not to say that that can't happen if you don't homeschool or hybrid homeschool your children, because me and my siblings are super close and we all went to school and we're in a lot of activities. But my parents totally fought to get us to have a spend time together and form these relationships between us.
Speaker 1:But thinking about thinking that through and then wanting to be his primary discipler, wanting to just get more time with him in these young, moldable, formable years, I really wrestled through that with the Lord and so I really feel like there was a point where it kind of actually came down to it was either a private Christian school or this hybrid homeschool model. I felt like with my personality too, the hybrid homeschool model, the full homeschooling, felt overwhelming to me. But the hybrid homeschool model felt like such a sweet in-between and so just was praying about it and was just asking the Lord to bring clarity. And I can almost remember the day I'm sure it's in my journal somewhere where I literally woke up and felt like God was like this specific hybrid homeschool, the one that we were praying about, like that's what Zan's going to do, and I remember thinking, because you have to go through a process and stuff and an application process. And I remember even the Lord putting the thought in my mind like if Zan doesn't get in, then we'd homeschool fully this first year of kindergarten and go from there.
Speaker 1:And all that to say. I mean we always talk about with all things in our lives, like we are taking things day by day. I mean that is the beauty of life, guys, and a beauty of life in Christ. We are free, we are not married to anything. We have so much freedom. So even in this hybrid homeschooling model, we're still taking it day by day, child by child. Each child is going to be different, so there's just so much freedom for you to change your mind about something, and so that's another reason I never want to put put a stake in the ground, because I don't know what the Lord might do or if a different kid might have a different need, if that makes sense. So, kind of sifting through yeah, a few of those questions and honestly just seeking wise counsel, seeking God's word, seeking God, seeking the Lord and praying about it, I felt like he slowly but surely made me excited for this hybrid homeschooling and I would have never thought that possible. And it's actually really funny.
Speaker 1:As I'm even thinking about this, I remember when Alex and I even were dating and then we were engaged and married and just many times I would say I will never homeschool, I could never homeschool. Like our kids would know nothing. I remember telling Alex, and Alex would always joke. Well, alex would always joke back and say he would always joke back. He would always say back like we'll see what the spirit does, like you pray about that, we'll see. And I remember being like, oh, how dare you? Like, no, you know, and then he'd also joke slash, not joke back that well, our kids would be able to talk to other people and that would be basically good enough for him and I was like, all right, well, yeah, they will be able to do that. And then, sure enough, the spirit does soften and the spirit does align our desires with his as we ask him to do that. And so it's just super exciting that he did that and it's crazy that I'm excited about it and I've been loving it, and that's just God's kindness.
Speaker 1:So what does it day-to-day, changeably look like for us on our homeschool days? So I would say, funny enough when we first started our first couple weeks of school last year. So Monday, wednesday, zan's in school. Tuesday, thursday, friday, he's homeschooled and it's very like he did lesson one on Monday at school, lesson two's at home, lesson three was on Wednesday, lesson four is on Thursday, lesson five's on Friday, like they lay it out for us so we're not wondering what we have to do. It's like very laid out and I personally love that. That's probably a difference of like homeschooling fully, where you truly get to go at your speed and your pace. I think I enjoy having a little keep it going, because I'm already finding that I am a pretty lax homeschool mom.
Speaker 1:Well, I wasn't the first couple weeks, so rewind back, we are the first couple weeks of homeschool and I got you know the desk and everything and I'm going to, we're going to have like, do this exact start to homeschool every day and we're going to do this and this and this and this and well, you know what. It just doesn't happen with that neatly tied bow that you want it to right With your children and with yourself and my son and his son, and so all that to say, the first couple of weeks I was like I just wanted him to sit perfectly, you know, for an hour and a half. Two hours is realistically how much time it takes for the kindergarten homeschool stuff, sometimes even less than that, but I wanted him to sit perfectly. I was like getting frustrated, you know, and sinning against him honestly and kind of getting snippety that he wouldn't sit and get this done at this desk perfectly, you know doing this, that he wouldn't sit and get this done at this desk perfectly, you know doing this.
Speaker 1:And the Lord one was just sweetly convicting me and showing me my own sin. Like hey, there's never an okay time to speak rudely to your son or to get super frustrated with him. There's never an okay time. So, convicting me of that and having me apologize to him. And then the Lord just saying this is literally why you're homeschooling, so that your five-year-old boy doesn't have to sit here perfectly for two hours in a row. This is literally why you're homeschooling so that he can get a little bit of work done and then probably go play, run around, be outside, and then we can come back to it and your days can be flexible, like this is why you're homeschooling, not so you can act as though you're in school every single day and force him to be sitting here for two hours to get everything done. So that was really kind of God to show me in the first couple of weeks, one where my sin was coming into play very blatantly and just, yeah, leading me to repentance and showing me that quickly so that I could honestly leading me to repentance and showing me that quickly so that I could honestly I was. He was showing me too that I have I have really high expectations for myself, and then I have really high expectations for my children. So just kind of the Lord, oh, just saying give your son so much grace, give your son so, so, so much grace. And so I was so grateful he showed me that in the first two weeks, because it felt like then we really took a turn, which was really sweet and trying to figure out okay, how does Zan learn best? He's going to be different than every single. Each of my kids is going to be so different. So, okay, how does Zan learn best? Okay, zan likes a challenge, zan likes a little game. Zan likes some competition.
Speaker 1:Okay, our routine actually ended up being so we would have slow mornings, time with God, make breakfast, have some devotionals at breakfast. I've heard many moms say this before, so this is nothing new. I got it from them of like, feed your kids the word when they're getting fed food, because they're more likely to sit there and actually listen and pay attention because they're such young ages right now. So actually I'll link a little morning, two little different morning devotionals that I'll read to them when we're at breakfast. And again, we don't do this perfectly 100% of the time. If you hear anything from me too today and hopefully on past episodes, it's like fight to be intentional, but you're not going to do things 100% of the time and that's okay. There's so much grace. So I hope you hear me say that, that we're not perfectly doing our devotions every single day during breakfast. But just having it out there out on the table, I'm more likely to grab it and us do it, and both of them are like quick, quick little things. Okay. So then it ended up being after breakfast.
Speaker 1:Zan would want to go play with cars, do his own little thing play. And then I'd usually say hey, buddy, before lunch or before we go to this place, I need you to get your math done. And again, he's in kindergarten, so it's like super doable, it's two pages of work, and he would find a comfy spot and get his math done, type of thing, and I totally have to maybe write him hey, buddy, got to get that done. And then sometimes he'd have these days where he'd want to surprise me that he did it without me asking and I'd pretend I had no idea he was doing it. And then we'd also have the days where I was pulling teeth and I'm like Zan, you got to get this done, you've got to get your math done, come on, big dog.
Speaker 1:And so let me just say that I don't think I've said it yet here, but homeschooling is hard. It is hard, it is a sacrifice, it is, oh my gosh, it's so sanctifying the Lord, sanctifying and trying to grow fruit of patience as we abide in Him, and only he's going to grow that fruit in us as we abide in him and fill our minds with scripture and we're in prayer consistently. So, yeah, there were those days and I'm like come on, come on, big guy, and I'm like Lord Spirit, intervene right now, give me some patience, lord help. And so it's not, it's so not all butterflies and roses, but it has been so sweet and it has been so worth it.
Speaker 1:But he'd get his math done on his own and then, usually in the middle of the day, when Shay was either in her quiet time and Zoe was down for a nap after I had Zoe that is when we would do his logic of English, so his English and his reading and his writing, which kind of took a little bit more effort than math in these kindergarten years. So that ended up being our routine. Then, after we did his English, we would end up doing his geography. They learned their states and capitals in this last year and some other like continents and stuff, and then they did this thing called blobbing, where they draw the maps like super imperfectly. So that kind of ended up being our routine. I know a lot of people have like baskets and a bunch of different little things.
Speaker 1:The other little things that we added in to our homeschool days is that and I was inspired to do this by Angie, my friend that I mentioned earlier um is one pray for the persecuted church. So we actually have a map printed out, um, that is up by our kitchen and we, actually that's not necessarily just a homeschool thing, but, um, we, we just turned that into. Whenever we look at it, if we're sitting at the table, hey, let's pray for this country quick, it has, like, countries highlighted that are persecuted, and so, um, that's really helpful. We just have it hung up by our table. So when we're sitting just trying to create a rhythm of, oh hey, let's pray for Sudan quick. Oh, hey, let's pray for the people, the Christians in Algeria.
Speaker 1:And so just teaching our kids that following Christ does come with a cost. It comes with a big cost and getting to pray for Christians around the world and reminding our kids they're being comforted by Christ and reminding them, and when we pray we say Lord, help us to be bold, like them for the gospel, and so that's another little routine. Along with that, I found an app called Unreached of the Day, and so we pull up on our homeschool days. Again, not 100% of the time, but probably 75% of the time. We'll pull up our app, unreached of the Day, and it shows a picture. Shay's always like pull up the thing with the picture, pull up the thing with the picture, and so we'll pull that up and it shows on the map where this Unreached people group is, how to pronounce their people, uh, shares a little bit of information about them, and then we bow our heads and we each pray for the unreached.
Speaker 1:So just teaching them, uh, that we want to have heart. We want to have hearts and this is convicting for me too I want to have a heart that cares about the unreached, um, it cares about the gospel going forth. So we just each, uh individually me, zan and Shay, will pray and say the name of this unreached people group and ask God to send messengers, send them dreams and visions. God, if it's us, send us. But, god, would the gospel reach these people? Would you save these people? And so that's been a really sweet rhythm that carries on even when we weren't in school all summer that I've super enjoyed, and then another rhythm that we have and actually it's really sweet.
Speaker 1:I just went to training last week and they are doing this now at Zan's school but we did a hymn one hymn a month and all that would look like was me just like playing a hymn on repeat. I want to saturate my kids' lives with these hymns that have just deep scriptural truths in them, and so it was so sweet. I just literally play them on repeat all the time. And then it was so sweet to randomly hear you know Shay's playing and you just hear her start singing. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus. So some of the hymns we did this last year were tis so sweet. Blessed assurance, and it was really sweet. Oh, my goodness, I forgot about this During the month that we did Blessed Assurance. We actually bought and started reading this book about Fanny, who actually wrote Blessed Assurance. So it's so cool because now every time Blessed Assurance comes on, shay's like Fanny wrote this, fanny wrote this. Let's see what else did we do? We did Great is Thy Faithfulness.
Speaker 1:I can't remember the other couple, but just was a super easy, super easy way to be saturating scripture and truth into your kids' minds. Gosh, I just can't encourage you enough to be playing scripture-filled songs, scripture-filled songs, scripture songs. I will link so many of the kids, um, uh, scripture songs that we listened to that we've been shared with by whether someone on Instagram or a friend. Uh, slugs and bugs a friend shared with me. We listened to a ton of slugs and bugs, but just scripture. Rich songs, shane and Shane, um, different hymns. I just want to be filling and forming my kids' minds with scripture while they're young. I mean, I'm pretty kind of relentless about it if you ask my husband. And then, lastly, another thing that is a part of our rhythm is asking them to share the gospel out loud with me, and I bribe those kiddos with chocolate chips all day. Listen, I am like, okay, both of you can share the gospel with me for chocolate chips. And having them share the gospel with me, so that becoming part of our routine, so that they are able to explicitly share the gospel with their mouths, and having that building that muscle of sharing the gospel boldly.
Speaker 1:And I would say the last rhythm that we have with school I'm sure I'm forgetting some is that each day on our way to school, and really on other days on our way to anywhere, we are praying for our day. We will each pray out loud for our day me, zan and Shay and pray for their day at school If we're on our way to school. Pray for our days in general, and then we will also. We also I'd shared this, I think, in the 15 rhythms that we've done with our kids. I also say every day on the way to school, after we pray for their days, I have Zan and now Shay she just started preschool this week repeat back to me just a plethora of things, and so essentially what I say every day before school is Zan, zan and now Shay repeat back to me. They say I will listen to God's voice and obey him, and then he'll repeat back. I will listen to God's voice and obey him, and then I'm going to just say him and I have him repeat them, but I won't repeat it back to you. I say I will listen to my teacher's voice and obey them.
Speaker 1:I will include others. I will be a leader. I will keep my hands and my feet to myself. I will listen and ask good questions. I will stand up for others. I will boldly share the gospel. I will help clean up. I will serve those around me. I will put others before myself. I will speak life. I will have integrity and do the right thing. When no one is watching, I will be joy-. I will have integrity and do the right thing. When no one is watching. I will be joy filled because I have Jesus. I will smile lots and I always end it with and I will love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and love my neighbor as myself.
Speaker 1:We always say that pretty much together at the end, and so even just saying those things and declaring those things out loud with them, reminding them what the expectation is for today, what our purpose is, our purpose is to boldly share the gospel, to put others before ourselves, to love others like Jesus, and those I like mix. I add in and take ones out all the time, but I essentially am. I say a lot of them each morning and Zan repeats them back out loud and so, gosh, we've done that since Zan was in preschool and we just I continue to add more in there, and so do your own. Maybe it's just a couple, just start out with a couple, but wanting to encourage them that, yeah, they can hear God's voice and they want to first obey what God's telling them what to do and to go and be bold warriors for the gospel in the places that God has them. And so I'm sure I'm forgetting some of our other rhythms, but all that to say like we don't have super rigid rhythms, those are just some sweet, intentional things that are sprinkled in to our homeschool days and now sprinkled in to our lives and have been sprinkled into our lives. So hopefully those little things that we do are helpful and encourage you and maybe those spark a new idea that you're going to do. Maybe you don't even homeschool, but maybe those will spark a new idea for you to be intentionally sharing about Jesus with your kiddos. And then memory work. Again, we have, like I mentioned before, he has memory songs, memory work songs every single week, and so I'm just playing those in the car all the time when we're traveling. So I really don't even play those in the house, we're just always playing those in the car over and over and over again.
Speaker 1:And then other little things that we do, tangible things, that I've found helpful, again, in my just first year of homeschooling. A little kindergartner, zan, personally loves games and loves competition. So making things into games, competitions, we break things up and I'm like, hey, let's finish this and then we'll go outside and play. There's been a few different times and I felt like we were really like in a slump, maybe for homeschool. And then it'd be like, hey, we're going to take our homeschool to this coffee shop that doesn't have a lot of people and has a lot of space. We're going to take it to this coffee shop and you get to do your school here. We're going to go to the park and you can do part of it here, but just making it fun and different. We'll go on adventure and nature walks for science and I'll write out on a piece of paper things that we're going to find and we put them in a bucket. I mean, there's so many easy, fun things and there's so many awesome and helpful people on Instagram and on the internet that have so many awesome ideas. So if you're looking for ideas, we can definitely find them.
Speaker 1:Listen, I'm not above bribing with some chocolate chips. I have a friend that just shared that she went to the dollar store and got a made a little treasure bin with from the dollar store so that when her son gets a certain amount of stickers, he gets to pick something from the little treasure bin from the dollar store, and so there's so many, so many different ways to be helpful making it fun, making it like a game. And then there's also card games and we play this game called Quirkle all the time, which is like super strategic. Those little things are teaching our kiddos too. So don't feel like one, you have to do it like other people do it and two figuring out like what your kid loves and then going like towards that, moving towards that and making it fun so you can have fun yourself. You don't have to be rigid. You have so much freedom too.
Speaker 1:So often when we're starting to get stressed when I'm personally starting to get stressed or starting to sin, it's usually pride and a lack of patience and love for my child, and I need the Lord to convict me. Help me repent and step back and say okay, I want to love my kid well over everything, regardless if this school gets done or not. I want my kid to see the love of Christ through me, through my language, through my demeanor, and because I want him to know who Jesus is first and foremost, and I need the Lord's help to do that. Okay, I'm not doing that perfectly at all and I don't do all the things that I just listed perfectly either, but our schedule or our homeschool rhythms just are super easy, I would say, and so don't put a lot of pressure on yourself. Like, just love your kiddos, walk with Jesus in front of them. They're monkey, see monkey, do creatures, show them what following Jesus looks like and then be pleading that God would save them. So, yeah, hopefully some of these ideas spark and encourage you to create your own little rhythms and intentional things for your homeschool days. But, oh my gosh, there's so much grace, there's so much freedom. Don't feel like you have to do a trillion things.
Speaker 1:I think I started out, you know, feeling and thinking okay, I need to do all of these things, so many of these things, so many of these things, and I was excited about it too right, like it wasn't, like. It was like oh my gosh, I want to do this and this and this, and some of them just didn't happen and a lot of them just did not happen and don't happen, and so it was sweet to figure out. Okay, what works for us. I want to do things that are actually doable. I want to get it up in front of our faces that we're reminded to do it. And I want to. Like the hymn thing is so easy. We'll just play hymns over and over and over again. So just fight to be intentional, but find your little things, your one or two little things, and fight to do them consistently and well. And there's also so much grace and you can always add things, you can always get rid of things, but there's so much freedom and there's so much grace.
Speaker 1:Another thing I'm grateful about at the hybrid homeschool model is that there's just so much community. They're so wonderful about helping us, about coming alongside us. They have a thing called E3, which is they provide brunch and childcare one time a month and we get just poured into by other homeschool moms that have gone before us, just encouraging us in truth and in scripture, and then getting to know the other moms that are homeschooling their kids and getting to just have this community where we can ask questions at any time and just have so much help from the women that have gone before us and our side-by-side moms. So that's just been super, super, super sweet. So, yeah, essentially. Oh, and then a last thing on our homeschool days, the school provided a like it's a calendar and a clock and like the temperature that day in whatever city you live in. And so basically, with a dry erase marker which that goes back and forth from school and home every day, zan's filling out that it's Tuesday, september 13th, 2024 or whatever, and then they're writing on the clock what time it is and he's figuring out what the temperature is and he's writing that in. So that's another thing that he does every single day at school and at home, and we've missed a few at home too. I mean, like there's just so much grace and I've loved it and I'm learning so much. God's sanctifying me and freeing me up and equipping me to do this for my kids and with my kids and with him ultimately, so okay.
Speaker 1:Lastly, I'm going to answer a few. I had put out a little um Q and a thing on Instagram and so I'm just gonna answer a few of your guys's questions. Um, let's see what's your least favorite part. Least favorite part. Um is probably like nothing came, like jumping off the page at me, but the thought is that, like, my least favorite part is that it's not easy, you know, like it's a sacrifice and it's hard some days. But then another person. That same person asked what's your favorite part? Well, my favorite part is that it's awesome. I love that we have that I get to do this with Zan, that we have the flexibility to go here, go there With this specific school. We have every five or six weeks we have a week off of school. So just like so much flexibility to do things as a family to be together. So just like so much flexibility to do things as a family to be together. It is so fun to get to teach Zan and to learn how he learns best. And yeah, so I mean so many different favorite parts. But like it is hard, that's probably my least favorite part, I guess.
Speaker 1:Do they still incorporate play learning or is it like traditional public school? It is not like traditional public school. They incorporate a lot of like, especially when you get into the logic and rhetoric, like group learning together and different things. Specifically like even in you know Zan's kindergarten teacher, they incorporate a lot of like moving and they know that they're. They don't expect them to sit for you know seven hours they're. They're playing and they're dancing, and they know that they're. They don't expect them to sit for you know seven hours they're. They're playing and they're dancing and they're moving, uh, but again, they're just in that school for two days a week, but, um, yeah, and then they also another thing I forgot to mention as in school they have chapel every Wednesday morning, uh, and so they have chapel with the whole entire school and the parents are invited too.
Speaker 1:So they sing worship, which is led by, like the older kids, which is so sweet, completely led by them, like a call to worship, and then a few worship songs, and then a different local pastor comes in and preaches, like a five to 10 minute message to the kids, and then they catechize the kids every Wednesday, which is so sweet. They ask him who am I? And there's a whole thing like I am a child of the most high God. I wish I had Zan here, literally so sweet. This summer, a few random times someone said who am I? I don't know why, it was just random. And then, without missing a beat, zan goes I am a child of the most. He just starts reciting it. You know, because our kids I know we've talked about this before on episodes just catechizing them and asking them question and answer repeated back and forth. So they ask who am I? The next question is what is true about me? That may be wrong. And then, how do I pray? And then, and then they repeat the Lord's prayer. I pray like this. So that that's been super, super sweet.
Speaker 1:Okay, is the curriculum easy to follow? Yes, in the sense that, gosh, I mean. It tells you in the, in the teacher's guide. It tells you exactly what, even to say down to the language to use. It's so helpful. Schedule at home and at school. I kind of said that already. The the schedule at school is 9 to 3. I'm trying to remember we're just about to head back 9 to 3. And schedule at home I'm pretty lax and it changes day to day and we have slow mornings and I'm sure that will even change as I have more kids in school and maybe, depending on Zan's age, as he gets more independent, I'm sure it'll continue to change.
Speaker 1:But as of now, what made you choose hybrid versus full-time, homeschool versus public school? I kind of mentioned that throughout the whole episode, but hybrid just felt like the best of both worlds. I wanted to homeschool, but I didn't know that. I wanted to homeschool the full five days. I wanted him to be in a setting with other kids and with an adult, but I still wanted him home. I didn't want him gone five days a week. And then the verse public school. I would say just my convictions and thoughts around how formable they are at five, this young and in these early years, and longing for them to be being saturated with God's word and learning about Jesus as much as possible, especially in these formative years. Did you enjoy it as much as you thought I would? I enjoyed it more than I thought I would Seriously like. The more that the year went on I was like this is just such a blessing, having this hybrid model, like I just was so grateful to the Lord for the community, for the help, but still getting to be Zan's primary educator and discipler. I loved it so much.
Speaker 1:Is there sports teams? If not, will your kids opt for the club route? Join another school's team? That's a good question. There are not sports teams. I know that there's homeschool like a homeschool club. In Omaha there's a few, I think, homeschool teams. There's not a sports team for his specific school. That's a great question. I honestly don't know. I feel like we'll take that year by year because it you know it could change. Next week it could change. Like I said before, we don't know if he'll be going to this through all of high school, or he could be, you know. So asking the Lord for wisdom and what that looks like Right now he's just in like random little teams. He's in flag football and soccer through just random little teams. So we'll see how that goes as it comes. Let's see how can I get one here in Cedar Rapids. That's a great question. I have no idea, but you should start one yourself. It's so awesome. Okay, and then is there one in Des Moines. Yes, there is one in Des Moines. It is called Two Rivers Classical Academy. So if you're in Des Moines, they do have one.
Speaker 1:The other thing that I feel like is important to mention I guess this was maybe my least favorite part, now that I'm thinking about it, since he was only in school two days and at home three days. It took just a longer time, at least for Zan. I don't know how it was for other kids or if it'll be the same for my other kids. It just took him longer to transition. It just felt like a slower. It took longer for him to adjust because he'd be at school and then he'd be home. You know, thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, and he's such a homebody. So it was like, oh, I don't want to go to school. And it just took so much longer to adjust.
Speaker 1:And I definitely gave him the time to adjust, you know, and I wanted to. I didn't want to just jump to conclusions of like, oh gosh, he was really struggling, not wanting to go to school. I didn't want to jump to conclusions because I knew it would take a while to adjust and but I knew that when he came home, like he loved it, he loved his classmates, but I think he's I mean, you know, he even this whole summer. Why do I have to go to school? Why do I have to do school? You know, I and uh, finally, alex and I were like it's the law, like you're you, just, you have to learn and it's the law. So, but yeah, that was that was probably the hardest part was like, oh, my gosh, uh, is he sad to go to school? Should I keep him home full time? But he totally adjusted. It just took longer because he's not there five days a week so he can adjust quicker. It just took longer. So it was a slower transition, which was hard on my mama heart, but he has grown to like it and just would rather stay home and play cars and ride his bike. You know what I mean. So I get it. I get it Okay. So hopefully that all of that information was helpful.
Speaker 1:If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I'd love to chat with you about them. Look up more about the classical education model. I seriously can't say enough good things about it. Again, classical conversations, I think, is the like full homeschool model, like a classical education model. Can't say enough good things about it. But yeah, reach out. Hopefully this is helpful, but hopefully you're leaving this with just good questions. Oh, another question someone had asked are there qualifications to homeschool? Like, do I have to register anywhere when they're five? At least in the state of Nebraska I don't know where you're at when they're five. He didn't have to register yet, but for first grade, after he had turned six, we did have to register as, like, a homeschool family. So we're technically, to the state, a homeschool family, if that makes sense. Praying, this information was also helpful. Please feel free to email me if you have any more questions. I'd love to chat about it.
Speaker 1:Praying that you left with, you're leaving with just information to pray about and sift through, and I pray that you leave this episode freed up to know that you might not go this route. You guys might not homeschool, you guys might do public school and like that's okay. God is the one leading each one of us, but regardless of what the ways that he's leading us, he for sure is wanting us to train up our children in the way they should go. So my prayer is that we keep intentionally doing that, whatever it looks like, whether you're the one schooling them or not, just in our homes, with our families. That that would be the most important thing. But I pray that you take all this information and that you genuinely seek the Lord about it and trust that he's going to be the one to bring you wisdom and guide you in whatever is best for your children, for your family. So I'm just going to pray for all of us. Maybe you don't even have children. Maybe you have children and you're not sure what to do. Maybe you're currently homeschooling. Maybe your children go to public school. I'm going to just pray for all of us right now.
Speaker 1:God, we just oh, we're just grateful One that we have a lot of different options. That's just wild, god, that's a gift, so thank you for that. God, thanks for stirring up our hearts to raise up these kids in the way that they should go. God, show us what that looks like. God, would we hold that responsibility? That's a weighty responsibility, god. We can't save them, but we want to hold that responsibility and take it seriously, lord. But, god, we plead that you would save them. You're gonna be the one to do it, lord, would you bring us wisdom about what is best for each of our children, lord? Lord, would you bring up questions that we should be asking God? Would you bring up scripture to guide us? Lord, you are going to guide every single person listening to this Differently, god. So I pray that we would follow your lead, that we would be obedient to the things that you are calling us to and you're calling us into, even the hard things, god, we trust you in that and we pray that you would continue to equip us as we abide in you and your word alone. God, lord, refresh the soul of every person listening with yourself this week and would they take the weight off of themselves to be a perfect homeschool mom, or to be a perfect mom, or whatever it is, and when we lay it at the foot of the cross. Would we trust that, as we repent and believe the good news, as moms, as we give grace to our kids and we lead them in the way that they should go, god, we trust you ultimately with these kids, because these kids are your kids and we're just so grateful that you've entrusted them to us. So, in your precious name, amen.
Speaker 1:Friends, if this episode is helpful to you at all, would you consider leaving a review or rating? Wherever you listen to your podcasts? Would you share this to your social media spaces or with your friends and family? I would so appreciate it. For more resources, check out maddyschultzco. That's M-A-D-D-I-S-C-H-U-L-T-Zco. As always, I would love to connect with you. You can reach me at maddie at sunnyand65.com. That's M-A-D-I at sunnyand65.com. Friends, go, be bold and love big, and we will see you next time.