HOMESCHOOL EXPERTS & INFLUENCERS // Who should we really listen to?

// WELCOME //

New here?? I would love to get to know you better!
I'll go first:
I'm Kaela, a Homeschool Graduate turned Homeschool Momma. My husband & I have 3 girls, with another on the way.
We are a Latino family, living our best life in a little 1930s fixer-upper in South Central Texas.
Although we are a family of faith, we typically stick to secular resources in our homeschool.
I love homeschooling, pretty books, dance breaks, and turning my humble abode into a home.
Oh, and a lot of coffee!
I hope you'll stay awhile 🧡

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// DISCLOSURE //
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[OdetoAbode]

👀👀👀 I would love to know, what's the worst or best homeschool advice you've received or seen being given online?

[jainaerin]

I heard once there can be a kernel of wisdom in the words of a fool. I'm a former school counselor turned second generation homeschool mum whose parents were extremely not engaged and so I played a very active role teaching homeschool elementary to a range of kiddos growing up. But despite my experience and confidence I still find it helpful to listen and look for new solutions and advice as well as reassurance. We can always learn new things from talking and listening to others as long as we don't let the words of those others become mandates! Thanks for your reminder of that.

[michellegf]

Great video! I really appreciate you talking about knowing when to step away or unfollow a channel. Being mindful as a viewer how a particular person or channel is making you feel is really important. At the same time I think influencers need to be mindful of the social responsibility that we carry. What we say matters. Transparency is important.

[mamainthewoods]

According to these definitions, I’m very much an “intersectional” homeschooler. I am not quite a veteran, but we’ve been at this now for 6 years so definitely not a newbie. I’m a former public school teacher where I taught K-5 for a decade. And I’m a 2nd generation neglected homeschooler. All of that forms a unique perspective, I think.

For one, as an educator, I can name 100+ things that public schools are getting wrong. But also I can name a lot of things that they get right and that homeschooling cannot replicate. A lot of focus is on what needs to change in public schools. That lens should often be turned the other way and homeschooling “advice” and norms, I would argue, should sometimes and often be put under the the microscope. Both are full of good and both are full of bad. Which is why I really like this video pointing out that not all advice is good.

Lastly, I was homeschooled. And by homeschooled, I mean left at home with a binder of schoolwork, removed from school to be shielded from the “evils of the secular world”, or in today’s language “the radical left woke people!”. Anyway, I was a determined student who fought my way to college with a neglected education through A TON of remedial classes. I have a BA in Education and a MA in Curriculum and Instruction, not because of my homeschool “education” but in spite of it.

I adore homeschooling my own kids. And I do it because I want to spend as much time with them as possible and at least right now they feel the same. ❤️

[ProjectHappyHome]

Loved this video so much! There is so much to be learned from each other, regardless or perhaps because of our varied experiences. So long as you come prepared with your sifter and with your grains of salt! 😂

[HeatherAnne]

Aww you called me an expert! 🥰 I was a public school teacher, turned stay at home mom, turned now homeschool mom. I don't know that it's necessarily bad advice, but one thing that I hear a lot in the homeschool circles is all about unschooling, making things easier, and super relaxed/unstructured learning, no agenda or lesson plans, etc. I'm a big believer in there being a time and a place for everything. Yes you should support and lean into unstructured in-the-moment learning! But I think some rigorous structured learning is also necessary and beneficial. I guess I would just preach balance. I believe in doing rigorous curriculum on a picnic blanket on the floor, and/or unstructured arts and crafts in a classroom or at a table. Mix and match, but both are important I think. 😊

[OurHomeschoolCastle]

I love your videos Kaela ❤❤ I love just hanging out and listening to you chat about what’s on your mind ❤❤

[jessicaboggs]

2nd gen homeschool mom here. I liked your balanced viewpoint regarding the different types of content providers. You’re right, there are no real experts. My own experience: I am the oldest of 9, all of us homeschooled from the cradle beginning in the 80’s and also homeschooling all 8 of my children from the cradle, currently infant up through high school. That’s roughly 40 years of home education experience. My mom was an OG, part of a generation that had no one else to ask advise from, no YouTube, no tik tok. It was socially ostracizing and “not cool”, a time when you had to have tough skin and really believe in what you were doing, even if you were guessing about how to implement it. Does my boomer mom think she made mistakes during that time? Absolutely. Do I think I’ve made mistakes thus far? Absolutely. No one is perfect. I firmly believe some grace needs to be given for perceived mistakes in that first generation however. I do hear from some that they won’t homeschool their kids for one reason or another. Lack of supervision does seem to be a common reason. I’d like to point out that at the time in the 80’s to 90’s, the reigning experts insisted that children would naturally gravitate to teach themselves and that a more hands off approach should be taken. If Johnny wanted to play outside all day, let him. He’ll want to read eventually was the theory. This was a theory of John Holt and other earlier homeschool pioneers. I see that type of theory come up by younger homeschooling parents and cringe every time. I think that theory might apply to select children but shouldn’t be applied to the whole, as children will slack in general when things are hard (such as high school). For any adults who feel this was their experience, just know that the “experts” at the time pushed this theory. Keep that in mind when you hang on to the opinions of every “expert” you hear today. Give that first gen homeschooling parents some love, they fought the system that tried so hard to put them down. New homeschoolers have no clue how hard it was back in the day. I appreciate the cool moms online that help newbies. I usually don’t learn anything from them and tend to smile at some of the naïveté, but I’m glad they’re influencing others to come on board. I like to watch teachers for advise on gadgets and organization. Each group has something to offer, but take it all with a grain of salt and just do what you think works for you and benefits your kids the most. Remember you will make mistakes, and if you are second gen forgive your parents for mistakes and pray your kids forgive you for yours. We do it out of love, and all we can do is our best ❤

[TheMommaLibrarian]

Love the “windows and doors” metaphor.

[onecaffeinatedmom]

Why was this exact topic on my list of videos to make…months ago 😂 never got around to it. You summed this up BEAUTIFULLY Kaela. I’m glad to have the plethora of information that’s shared online. Is it always helpful and positive? Not exactly, but generally speaking it has been a great resource and form of community for me personally as a first generation homeschool mom.

[Hot_Springs_Homeschool]

This is so thoughtful and well said! Thank you! I have one amazing kiddo, and we started homeschooling in 2014/2015. Thanks for making this video!

[emilieelizabeth]

I'm more of newbie homeschooler, about to finish my second offical year homeschooling (oldest is a first grader). I did work in the public schools, but as a nurse not a teacher. I did it for 2 and half years before becoming a stay at home mom. I would the advice I found less helpful was to avoid preschool curriculum. I found it helpful to have some struture to our day and some age appropriate learning.

[NashiMor]

Great Video! I needed this! Thanks! These is a video worth visiting time to time as a reminder.

[shizenteaism]

This is such an excellent video. I wish I paid more attention to other homeschooling YouTubers' backgrounds when I started homeschooling last year for my son's kindergartener year. I notice that homeschoolers with PhDs (but not always) tend to be more academically rigorous in their homeschool approach, and in many cases, but not always, former educators from a public school system lean more on unschooling than former educators who were in academia. Now, I am from neither background, I consider myself an autodidact, so I tried a few academically rigorous curriculums for my son's kindergarten year, and it was not something my son and I are ready for at this stage. If I was a person who was a former educator or academic, maybe I would have a better experience. 🤷‍♀️ Now I find myself in the position that I think starting to learn Ancient History for first grade is really bad advice, even when it has become commonplace in a lot of "first grade" social studies/history curriculums to start out with Ancient History. 😔

[silentrebuke]

Worst advice: you should NOT teach your 4/5 year old to read they will learn to hate it. Best advice: follow your kids lead, don’t force it but if THEY want to learn don’t hold them back. My now 6 year old is an avid reader of chapter books well above her “grade level” because she wanted to learn to read at 4!!

Really wonderful video!!
I think I have a unique perspective as a second gen homeschool mom. I was in public school and homeschool almost alternating years up until high school when I stayed in homeschool. I loved my homeschool experience, and I’m passionate about homeschooling my kiddos. But I also slacked off badly in high school (left home with a binder of work that I never really did) and regret that. I hope to improve upon that model in my own homeschool, teaching self motivation and independent work. But I also consider myself super new to homeschooling, as my oldest is only in first grade.

[schultesweeties]

Good video! I’m definitely not a gram worthy homeschool influencer, but I enjoy sharing videos on my channel. 😊 Great video and a challenge for all of us “influencers” to be open and honest of our experiences