WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.040 --> 00:00:03.439 Hey everybody, and welcome to Everything's Political. I'm your host, 2 00:00:03.600 --> 00:00:06.759 Taya Shoemake. You can also find us online at Everything's 3 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:11.759 Political dot substep dot com, Shout Out Too, Magicman. Joe 4 00:00:11.759 --> 00:00:19.239 Strecker the president John Tyler of Podcast Producers. He was 5 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:24.719 born on this day in seventeen ninety wow, right before 6 00:00:24.760 --> 00:00:27.960 we mucked up the republic with the seventeen ninety one 7 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:33.359 Judiciary Act. But I digress. So John Tyler was our 8 00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:38.039 tenth president, and if you're unaware, he stepped up after 9 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:42.200 William Henry Harrison perished after one month of being in office. 10 00:00:43.240 --> 00:00:46.399 He was the guy that didn't wear the coat, and 11 00:00:46.439 --> 00:00:50.799 he came down with pneumonia and quite literally caught his death. 12 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:54.719 So John Tyler stepped up. He had been a Democrat 13 00:00:54.799 --> 00:00:57.399 but switched to the Whig Party to run as Harrison's 14 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:02.960 vice president. And you know, John Tyler gets a lot 15 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:06.680 of criticism, Joe, he gets not a lot from me. 16 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:14.879 But when people talk about John Tyler, they talk about 17 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:21.120 him not doing anything noteworthy. And I have to shake 18 00:01:21.159 --> 00:01:24.640 my head because part of the conundrum in which we 19 00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:27.439 find ourselves is in large part due to the fact 20 00:01:28.359 --> 00:01:32.239 that elected employees get into office and think they have 21 00:01:32.359 --> 00:01:33.120 to do something. 22 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:35.239 Well, no, you don't. 23 00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:40.040 And if a piece of legislation crosses your desk that 24 00:01:40.159 --> 00:01:45.079 has no authority or nothing to do with the Constitution, 25 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:49.120 or expressly violates the Constitution, you put that baby in 26 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:54.319 the shutter. I don't want government doing stuff. It either 27 00:01:54.400 --> 00:02:01.359 destroys existing programs or platforms or systems, or creates a 28 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:05.319 new bureaucracy. For Leviathan, that just is a headache that 29 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:10.080 never goes away. And so it's okay that John Tyler 30 00:02:10.120 --> 00:02:13.000 didn't do a lot he was I will say this, Joe, 31 00:02:13.080 --> 00:02:15.520 he was in favor of secession. So that's why they 32 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:20.800 really hate him. In fact, I think he was elected 33 00:02:20.800 --> 00:02:25.319 to the Confederacy the Confederate States, but died in eighteen 34 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:32.879 sixty two before he was seated in that government. So 35 00:02:33.080 --> 00:02:41.120 interesting character, John Tyler. Give him a second look, will you? You 36 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:41.479 know that we've got every president that wants to be 37 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:45.080 the education president, that wants to be the defense president, 38 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:47.120 that wants to be da da da da da. No, 39 00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:54.639 there might be things powers, not powers, but issues that 40 00:02:54.680 --> 00:03:00.319 presidents have assumed. But I like to remind people that 41 00:03:00.520 --> 00:03:03.199 anyone who puts their hand on the Bible and swears 42 00:03:03.240 --> 00:03:07.120 to Almighty God to uphold and defend the Constitution. They 43 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:12.199 have one job, and that is to keep us free 44 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:16.400 from all the things that are going on now, Free 45 00:03:16.439 --> 00:03:22.039 from debt, free from scandal, free from big business, free 46 00:03:22.080 --> 00:03:30.840 from invasion. Government has allowed the very things it was 47 00:03:30.879 --> 00:03:37.479 instituted to keep free, or to keep us free from them. 48 00:03:39.599 --> 00:03:42.800 So again, give John Tyler a second look. I like 49 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:45.159 that he didn't do much. I want my government to 50 00:03:45.199 --> 00:03:47.159 do very little, and that's why I want it to 51 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:48.360 be very little. 52 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:51.840 Okay, we're going to talk more about education today. I 53 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:52.240 can't wait. 54 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:56.039 We've got a great guest and she's gonna knock your 55 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:59.000 socks off, Joe, let's take us out there. 56 00:03:59.039 --> 00:04:16.839 Yeah, same as the whole buss. 57 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.160 Okay, many of you will be familiar with our next guest. 58 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:32.040 She is amazing an actress, conservative pundit, radio show host, writer. 59 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:37.600 My goodness, she is also a passionate advocate for home education. 60 00:04:37.800 --> 00:04:40.319 She's joining us today to talk about her new book, 61 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:42.680 Sam Sorbo, Welcome and thanks for coming today. 62 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:45.480 Thank you so much for having me on. This is 63 00:04:45.519 --> 00:04:47.600 my favorite topic, so I'm happy to be here to 64 00:04:47.600 --> 00:04:48.319 talk about this. 65 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:52.759 Fantastic We're ready to go. Lots of buzz about homeschooling lately, 66 00:04:52.920 --> 00:04:55.720 especially with a lot of the issues that have come 67 00:04:55.759 --> 00:04:59.279 out that I think started at COVID, Right, So a 68 00:04:59.279 --> 00:05:01.920 lot of stuff came out of backpacks or parents were 69 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:05.800 looking at the zoom calls or teams and found out 70 00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:09.759 a lot of stuff they didn't know. Before we get 71 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:12.639 into the book, let me ask how you all started 72 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:13.480 with homeschooling. 73 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.279 Oh gosh, okay, so that goes back to So my 74 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.199 oldest is now twenty three, So this is what fifteen 75 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:24.199 sixteen years ago, and he was in He did first 76 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:27.199 and second grade. We moved for the schools to go 77 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:30.399 to the good public schools, and he had this cute 78 00:05:30.399 --> 00:05:35.680 little red brick public school. And after during third grade, 79 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:39.560 I started to wonder really what they were doing, Like 80 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:43.600 this wasn't education as I thought education should be. He 81 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:47.879 wasn't being challenged, and I just really didn't like a 82 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:50.720 lot of the things that I saw happening, including his 83 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.360 behavior that he was adopting from being in school. He 84 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.439 was a very popular kid, and he started to sort 85 00:05:57.439 --> 00:05:59.959 of lord that over his younger siblings because they were 86 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:03.639 stupid because they were younger, and you know, agism is 87 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:06.839 taught in the classroom, and so I said to my husband, 88 00:06:06.839 --> 00:06:09.240 I think I could fail at homeschooling him and he 89 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:12.439 would still be better off, which is really quite a statement, 90 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:15.920 like he could end up dumb, but at least he'll 91 00:06:15.959 --> 00:06:19.079 be a good person. But I actually believed that, and 92 00:06:19.160 --> 00:06:23.839 so I started homeschooling him and then his younger brother, 93 00:06:24.399 --> 00:06:27.759 So he was third grade, Shane was first grade. And 94 00:06:27.800 --> 00:06:30.720 it went pretty well for about a year, a year 95 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:32.920 and a half and a year and a half in 96 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:36.120 I just felt like I was just a failure. His 97 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:39.079 younger brother was a little math with He finished first 98 00:06:39.120 --> 00:06:41.759 grade math on Halloween, so it took him what two 99 00:06:41.759 --> 00:06:43.680 months to do first grade, and then he was in 100 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:46.360 second grade, and then he moved to third grade. And 101 00:06:46.519 --> 00:06:48.480 by the time he was halfway through second grade, he 102 00:06:48.519 --> 00:06:51.199 was in fourth grade math. But he couldn't read very well. 103 00:06:51.800 --> 00:06:55.240 So I forced him to do the reading book over again, 104 00:06:55.439 --> 00:06:58.519 and you know, we did every lesson and even on vacation, 105 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:01.920 and he still wasn't that good. And so I just 106 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:04.079 felt like a failure. So I put them into a 107 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:09.399 little private Christian school, very small, where they really believed 108 00:07:09.439 --> 00:07:13.000 in rigorous academics, which is what I believed in, and 109 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:15.800 they stay that it was the hardest thing I'd ever done. 110 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:18.240 Oh my gosh. Driving home from school that day when 111 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:20.399 I dropped them off, And the funny thing is when 112 00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:23.480 I when I brought them in, the headmistress said, we're 113 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:26.000 going to test him to make sure that we put 114 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:29.040 him in with the right group of students. And so 115 00:07:29.079 --> 00:07:31.360 she took Shane away and she tested him. She came 116 00:07:31.399 --> 00:07:35.079 back and she said, yeah, you're right, he's he's second grade. 117 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:36.959 I said yeah. She said, well he is testing at 118 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:40.160 a fourth grade math level, so you know, good for you, mom. 119 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:42.480 And I had said to her, I told her he 120 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:44.959 was remedial and reading he just really wasn't it just 121 00:07:45.040 --> 00:07:48.240 wasn't clicking. I don't know. She said, he is reading 122 00:07:48.240 --> 00:07:50.680 at a fifth grade level. And I looked at her 123 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:55.399 and I said, so I'm the one with the problem. 124 00:07:56.360 --> 00:07:57.759 She was like, yeah, kind of. 125 00:07:57.839 --> 00:07:58.079 You know. 126 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:03.199 And I left him there. I still left the kids 127 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:07.480 there because I'm still under this impression that there exists 128 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:14.079 an expert who can educate properly. That is a chimera. 129 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:18.199 That's a mirage. It doesn't exist. There is no such thing. 130 00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:24.879 And so, at least certainly not one size fits all, 131 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:28.360 and so I left them there and after six weeks, 132 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:31.720 and by the way, it was a hybrid, So a 133 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:36.159 cautionary tale about hybrids for parents. This was, you know, 134 00:08:36.279 --> 00:08:38.679 two days of homeschooling, you do the work that the 135 00:08:38.879 --> 00:08:41.519 school sends home with you. You're the teacher those two 136 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:44.799 days and then they're the teachers the other three days 137 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:47.399 of the week or whatever. And I would try to 138 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:50.960 download their homework and it wouldn't download. You know, there 139 00:08:51.000 --> 00:08:54.159 were always technical glitches. So it was the whole online 140 00:08:54.279 --> 00:08:56.879 learning thing was still new, and so it's not like 141 00:08:56.919 --> 00:09:00.480 I blame them that there were tech glitches, but why 142 00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:03.639 would call the teacher in the evening and I'd say, listen, 143 00:09:03.679 --> 00:09:07.200 I tried to download the homework and it just won't download, 144 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:09.840 like I can't make it, you know, work, And her 145 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:13.360 answer was always, well, then don't worry about it. Now 146 00:09:13.399 --> 00:09:18.200 wait a minute, hold on, because you assigned it. It 147 00:09:18.279 --> 00:09:20.639 has to be important. If it's not important, don't give 148 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:23.240 me the assignment, do you know what I'm saying? Like, 149 00:09:23.399 --> 00:09:26.159 it was just so frustrating, and so after six weeks, 150 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:29.039 I was like, do you guys like school? And they 151 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:32.799 were both like, no, Mommy, I was like, okay, we're 152 00:09:32.799 --> 00:09:36.720 gonna quit. And I brought him back home and that Monday, 153 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:40.200 I put math down in front of Shane and he 154 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:44.279 started crying and he said, I can't, Mommy, it's too hard. 155 00:09:44.360 --> 00:09:48.120 I can't do it, which was words that he had 156 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:52.000 never spoken about math ever, and it broke my heart. 157 00:09:53.159 --> 00:09:57.919 I was devastated. I was like, wow, they damaged him. 158 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:00.399 And of course I didn't know how. I just had 159 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:05.240 this boy who was melting down, afraid to do math. 160 00:10:05.480 --> 00:10:08.039 And so I pulled the math book away and I 161 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:10.639 just very quietly, you know, closed it back up, put 162 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:13.200 it to the side. I said, okay, let's do some grammar. 163 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:16.639 Let's do some you know. A week later, I pulled 164 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:18.480 the math book out again. I went back a couple 165 00:10:18.600 --> 00:10:20.840 chapters and I started from there and I said, hey, 166 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:23.879 let's try this. No problem. He went right into it, 167 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:27.000 no problem. And so I realized. It took me a 168 00:10:27.000 --> 00:10:29.159 couple of years to realize in actually somebody coming up 169 00:10:29.159 --> 00:10:31.639 to me at a speaking event and saying to me, 170 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:34.720 isn't it beautiful that God allowed you to make the 171 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:38.240 mistake putting your children in that little school for six 172 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:41.879 weeks to prove to you that you are enough. And 173 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:44.720 that's my message for parents is God gave you your children. 174 00:10:45.320 --> 00:10:48.919 You are enough, and if you're not enough, he will 175 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:51.799 equip you. If you don't have patience, he will equip you. 176 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.960 If you lack the skills, he will equip you. If 177 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:58.840 you lack the knowledge, he will equip you somehow. But 178 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:01.759 we have lost faith. We've lost faith in God. We've 179 00:11:01.799 --> 00:11:05.000 lost faith in ourselves because we went to school and 180 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:08.519 we were trained to not have faith in ourselves. And 181 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:12.159 we've lost faith in children that they are intrinsic learners. 182 00:11:12.679 --> 00:11:15.879 And so we not only have we lost faith in children, 183 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:19.440 my goodness, our culture hates children. We hate children. We 184 00:11:19.480 --> 00:11:23.639 institutionalize them all day, we send homework home to make 185 00:11:23.679 --> 00:11:27.200 them continue working even in the evenings. We deprive them 186 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:30.519 of their childhoods. We abort them and celebrate it. We 187 00:11:30.639 --> 00:11:33.799 put them into gender studies and call it health care. 188 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:36.600 And I'm just here to try to wake people up 189 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:39.360 and say, you know, your children are precious gifts and 190 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:42.159 you should do everything you can to protect them. And 191 00:11:42.519 --> 00:11:45.879 when you do that, the rewards are astonishing. 192 00:11:46.559 --> 00:11:50.120 Amen. Thank you for that. I appreciate it. It's you know, 193 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:53.720 we talk here often about reclaiming the blessings of liberty 194 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:57.480 that we've outsourced. And first and foremost our family, the 195 00:11:57.559 --> 00:12:01.159 care of our children, the education of our children, are healthcare. 196 00:12:01.320 --> 00:12:04.039 You know. I was brought up the same way, trusting 197 00:12:04.080 --> 00:12:07.639 the experts. And I say that one of the great 198 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:11.480 blessings that came out of COVID is that more and 199 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:15.600 more people distrust the experts. They have all these degrees 200 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:19.000 after their name and the Department of Education. People have 201 00:12:19.080 --> 00:12:21.679 all these degrees. And I like to say, after the 202 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.159 last five years, Sam, I'm reminded that thermometers have a 203 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:27.120 lot of degrees. And now I know why nurses stick 204 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:31.320 them where they do for their most accurate readings. It's 205 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.559 amazing to me the and I agree with you, the 206 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:38.279 lack of faith in ourselves in of other things, and 207 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:41.039 if we just put more money or more expensive schools. 208 00:12:41.240 --> 00:12:44.480 I had a friend that told me once we were 209 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:47.039 going too hard in our home school. You know, enjoy. 210 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:51.440 It was great advice, it was timely advice. And she said, Taya, 211 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:56.120 your kids learn just by being with you. Yes, you know, 212 00:12:56.240 --> 00:12:59.000 you're a history buff, you love math, you know, and 213 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:03.080 our situation and is ironically very similar to yours and 214 00:13:03.559 --> 00:13:07.240 she said, things that you do with your children will matter. 215 00:13:07.759 --> 00:13:10.840 I like this phrase because I think it encapsulates a lot, 216 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:16.399 and people can sort of sit with it and revisit it. Often. 217 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.799 You are the curriculum. And so children want to be 218 00:13:20.960 --> 00:13:24.320 like their parents. And you know, we've adopted in our 219 00:13:24.360 --> 00:13:26.919 culture this idea that children are well, they don't want 220 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:29.799 to be like their parents. They kind of disdain their parents. Oh, 221 00:13:29.840 --> 00:13:33.399 the parents are older. And that's a cultural norm that 222 00:13:33.480 --> 00:13:39.320 we have adopted. That is highly suspicious. It's incorrect, and 223 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:45.159 actually it's infectious and dangerous. Children want to be like 224 00:13:45.200 --> 00:13:48.000 their adults. So I wrote a piece the other day 225 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:51.600 that I can't remember where it was published, but it 226 00:13:51.679 --> 00:13:57.480 pointed out that children should have their parents' values and 227 00:13:57.519 --> 00:14:01.159 if they don't grow up with the parents' values, if 228 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:04.360 they don't grow up and retain the values of the parents, 229 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:10.559 that's wrong. Like that is decidedly wrong. And of course 230 00:14:10.759 --> 00:14:13.639 we've seen that over the past several decades where the 231 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.600 parents are like, yeah, my child's a liberal go figure. 232 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:19.480 It's so weird. You know, it's not weird. It's that 233 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:22.120 you didn't raise your child. It's that you sent your 234 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.559 child to other authorities to have them pour out what 235 00:14:26.639 --> 00:14:29.360 they wanted in the child. You gave the child a 236 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:34.720 different adult as the curricula, because the idea is education 237 00:14:34.799 --> 00:14:37.639 of a child is simply bringing a child from childhood 238 00:14:37.639 --> 00:14:42.639 into adulthood so that the child can be a productive, loving, 239 00:14:43.120 --> 00:14:47.200 giving adult, right, And so there are many different paths 240 00:14:47.240 --> 00:14:49.320 to get there, just like there are many different paths 241 00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:52.440 to find a job. So you know, you have to 242 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:56.279 understand that just because school is the norm and people 243 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:58.960 send their kids to school, a lot of people said, 244 00:14:59.080 --> 00:15:01.879 a lot of people are deep, and that doesn't mean 245 00:15:01.879 --> 00:15:03.679 you're going to jump off the cliff if everyone else 246 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.039 jumps off the cliff, I would hope. So, you know, 247 00:15:06.120 --> 00:15:09.679 start thinking for yourself and stop thinking that you're incapable. 248 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.679 That's what my book is about. It's about empowering the parents. 249 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:15.840 It's it's you know, people say, well, what curriculum do 250 00:15:15.879 --> 00:15:19.799 you recommend. I recommend the parent as the curriculum. Yes, 251 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:22.639 there are curricula, by the way, and I have recommendations 252 00:15:22.639 --> 00:15:25.440 in the book also because there are curricula that I 253 00:15:25.480 --> 00:15:28.879 pursued that I just found to be an extreme blessing 254 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:31.720 for the family and the kids, and I just think 255 00:15:31.720 --> 00:15:36.080 they're great they don't pay me. But I've reached a point. 256 00:15:36.120 --> 00:15:38.759 You know, I've got three grown kids now, and I 257 00:15:38.879 --> 00:15:42.080 was highly academic with the first two, and my third 258 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:45.639 one is an artist. And I finally figured out that 259 00:15:45.759 --> 00:15:50.360 it's not about academics. It's about the whole picture, and 260 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:53.080 so academics are one part of the picture. But I 261 00:15:53.480 --> 00:15:58.519 heard Marissa Strait, the CEO of Prager, you say, and 262 00:15:58.559 --> 00:16:02.360 I've been quoting her at nausea. You can't teach academics 263 00:16:02.360 --> 00:16:07.039 without character. You must pour into the character of the child. 264 00:16:07.080 --> 00:16:10.799 And actually you must do it first, because a child 265 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:16.399 doesn't understand what integrity and honor and all of those virtue, 266 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:20.799 all those good things are will not be interested in academics. 267 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:26.120 But if you imbue the child with character, then you 268 00:16:26.159 --> 00:16:29.080 can say these are good things, and the child will go, well, 269 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:32.320 I want to pursue good. Therefore I will pursue these 270 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:35.519 things that you're telling me are good because it's in 271 00:16:35.559 --> 00:16:36.480 my interest. 272 00:16:37.639 --> 00:16:40.919 So I'm glad you mentioned that the about the soul. 273 00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:44.120 You know, there's a quote it says education is simply 274 00:16:44.200 --> 00:16:50.519 the soul of one generation passed to another. And when 275 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:54.240 our youngest matriculated, I think it was a senior year 276 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:59.080 for a particular program into a local school, and they 277 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:01.159 knew we were homeschol but they were going to allow 278 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:04.400 him to do this particular program. And it was a 279 00:17:04.440 --> 00:17:08.799 small private school, and so they were trying to sell 280 00:17:08.839 --> 00:17:12.000 me on academics. Well, he was pretty solid in the academics, 281 00:17:12.000 --> 00:17:17.000 and he was he's our math guy too. And finally 282 00:17:17.000 --> 00:17:19.480 I said, you know that, I'm sure your academics are fine. 283 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:25.559 That is not my number one concern with our son. 284 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:28.079 My number one concern is his soul. 285 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:32.319 You're absolutely right, or concern should be for the soul 286 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:35.880 of our child. If you give your children truth, beauty 287 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:39.599 and goodness, if you give them character, if you give 288 00:17:39.599 --> 00:17:43.200 them virtue, if you if you set the bar for 289 00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:50.119 good living, they will And and you show them how 290 00:17:50.160 --> 00:17:52.599 to learn. You teach them to read, You show them 291 00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:55.279 how to read a textbook so that they can understand 292 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:57.960 and interpret. Okay, this is what it's teaching me. They 293 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:01.319 can learn anything. And then when you give them the 294 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:04.519 free time that they should have, right, they should have 295 00:18:05.240 --> 00:18:07.720 maybe three hours of academics, but the rest of the 296 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.799 day should be basically free time to pursue things that 297 00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:16.000 are good and virtuous. Not video games for eight hours 298 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:18.920 a day or whatever. Then you'll have a child that 299 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:22.759 is deeply motivated to pursue the things that interest them. 300 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.720 And that's what you want for your child. You know, 301 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:27.680 raise up a child in the way he should go. 302 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:32.440 That proverb in Hebrew. The translation is much more like 303 00:18:33.559 --> 00:18:36.119 raise up a child to discover who he's meant to be. 304 00:18:36.279 --> 00:18:40.920 Inside basically, raise a child to be who God meant 305 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:44.119 them to be, and then they will not depart from 306 00:18:44.160 --> 00:18:47.440 it because they will have found their calling in life. 307 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.039 And so, you know, I want people to understand that 308 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:53.359 we've been sold a bill of goods in our own schooling. 309 00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:57.799 We've been told that school is education. It's not. We've 310 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:01.960 been told that education equals money, doesn't. We've been told 311 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:06.559 that money is the greatest value. It's not. And anybody 312 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:08.880 who's lived a life will tell you that the most 313 00:19:08.960 --> 00:19:14.160 important thing to them are their relationships. Relationship is the 314 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.000 number one and if you're not a good person, you 315 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:21.240 will not have those relationships. And unfortunately, we've done a 316 00:19:21.240 --> 00:19:26.079 tremendous disservice in our culture. I love Erica Komisar is 317 00:19:26.160 --> 00:19:28.880 going around. I just interviewed her for my podcast. You 318 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.240 should have her on if you get an opportunity. She's 319 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:36.759 talking about the zero to three of a child's life 320 00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:39.799 are the most important for learning how to bond and 321 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:45.599 forming healthy relationships, and that when parents just subject their 322 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:51.160 children to childcare at six weeks, I think it's child abuse, 323 00:19:51.319 --> 00:19:54.880 is what that is. It's not care. It's abuse that 324 00:19:55.559 --> 00:19:59.920 those children then grow up to have severe attachment deficient 325 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:06.200 like disabilities and disorders. And uh so we have a 326 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:08.480 we have a bunch of walking zombies now because they 327 00:20:08.519 --> 00:20:12.680 never learned how to form solid relationships, which is again, 328 00:20:12.880 --> 00:20:15.480 which is another sort of chink in the armor of 329 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:19.440 marriage and the destruction of marriage, the destruction of the family. 330 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:22.200 And then those women when they have children, they don't 331 00:20:22.240 --> 00:20:24.359 even want to attach to the children. They hire a 332 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.000 nanny or they send them to child care, and the 333 00:20:27.079 --> 00:20:32.559 child's just an accessory. And it's this self perpetuating thing. 334 00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:37.920 So and it's frankly, Sam, it's it's straight out of 335 00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:41.400 the communist playbook. You know. I have a quote from 336 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:46.240 the social the Communist education workers from I believe it 337 00:20:46.279 --> 00:20:50.119 was the thirties or forty teachers' unions, Yes, exactly, thank you. 338 00:20:51.319 --> 00:20:54.960 Modeled after that that says we must remove the child. No, 339 00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.240 I'm sorry, we must remove the infant from the crude 340 00:20:59.279 --> 00:21:03.319 influence of their families. Yeah, and get them away so 341 00:21:03.400 --> 00:21:05.759 that we can raise them to be good communists. 342 00:21:05.799 --> 00:21:08.519 I mean that's well, that's how you enslave a populace. 343 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:12.839 Absolutely, because if you're taught what to think, not how 344 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:16.599 to think, then you are maliable, and you are you know, 345 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.480 under the under the pressure of the of the majority, 346 00:21:20.759 --> 00:21:23.680 or however they want to put it in the herd, 347 00:21:23.759 --> 00:21:26.799 I guess. But I'm hoping we're reaching a point where 348 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:31.119 where at least we're stopping it, like to get it 349 00:21:31.160 --> 00:21:34.920 turned around. And I want to get into the book now, 350 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:41.599 Parents Guide to homeschool making education fun and easy, which 351 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:45.799 is not two things people who haven't homeschooled would Those 352 00:21:45.799 --> 00:21:49.039 are not two attributes they would ascribe to homeschooling. So 353 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:51.680 tell us a little bit. It's a labor of love, 354 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:53.960 you describe it, So tell us a little bit about that. 355 00:21:54.519 --> 00:21:58.000 Yeah, So teaching a child is fun, if it's hard, 356 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:02.119 if it's too hard, if it's if it's uh, anxiety 357 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:07.000 provoking or antagonistic. Stop. I know that there are lots 358 00:22:07.000 --> 00:22:10.599 of moms who yell at their kids. I will say, 359 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:13.960 you shouldn't ever be in a position to yell at 360 00:22:13.960 --> 00:22:16.599 your children unless unless what they're doing is is severely 361 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:20.079 dangerous and they're gonna harm themselves or someone. Right. Look, 362 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:23.160 parents have to understand that they have all the power 363 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:27.480 and so all they have to do is administer consequences. 364 00:22:27.640 --> 00:22:31.319 The problem is we don't want to administer consequences. So 365 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:36.160 that's where the hardship comes is. And the challenge is you. 366 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.079 You have to be able to stick to your guns. 367 00:22:38.119 --> 00:22:39.960 You have to be able to lay down the law 368 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:42.839 and make it stick. But you don't have to shout 369 00:22:42.880 --> 00:22:45.799 about it. It's you know, you can actually laugh about it. 370 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:48.599 Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry that you're not going 371 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:51.440 to be able to go out tonight. You're supposed to 372 00:22:51.480 --> 00:22:54.680 do this thing and now you can't go with your friends, 373 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:57.640 or now you can't go to the movie or whatever. Right, 374 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:00.680 But all you have to do is be be strong 375 00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:03.599 about it. Your no has to mean no. All my 376 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.839 kids at one point wanted to quit piano. The answer 377 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:12.119 was no, is that simple. No, I'm so sorry that's 378 00:23:12.160 --> 00:23:14.359 not going to happen. But mom, I'd rather play guitar. 379 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:18.960 Guitar is a great instrument, yeah, and it's a really 380 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.039 good accompaniment for piano, so you can study both of 381 00:23:22.039 --> 00:23:24.359 them at the same time. No, that's not what I 382 00:23:24.400 --> 00:23:27.079 wanted to do. So, you know, you just have to. 383 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:29.480 You have to, and you have to pick your battles. 384 00:23:29.960 --> 00:23:31.880 You have to pick which hills you need to die 385 00:23:31.880 --> 00:23:34.839 on and which hills are just not worth fighting about. Yes, 386 00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:38.160 And when my daughter was in tenth grade, math had 387 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:42.640 become very contentious between us, and so for her, math 388 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:47.720 is more confusing, and the rules don't really at that 389 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:51.000 point weren't really sticking, and so she was getting things wrong, 390 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:53.880 and I was getting very frustrated because I I mean, 391 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:55.640 at one point I thought she was just you know, 392 00:23:55.759 --> 00:23:59.119 toying with me, you know, I mean, it just got 393 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:02.240 it was too contentious. And so for tenth grade, I 394 00:24:02.279 --> 00:24:05.640 said to her, you know what, We're gonna let trigonometry go. 395 00:24:06.440 --> 00:24:09.960 There's just it's not worth it. There's no reason for 396 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:13.400 me to provoke your anxiety, for you to provoke my aggravation. 397 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:18.240 Life is too short, and frankly, I don't understand how 398 00:24:18.279 --> 00:24:24.319 important trigonometry really is for a budding artist. Now, did 399 00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:27.359 I at some point go, how is she ever going 400 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:30.319 to make a living. Yeah, yeah, it takes a leap 401 00:24:30.359 --> 00:24:34.000