This Golden Hour
In this podcast, we specifically serve new homeschool families through engaging conversations with homeschool parents and families at all levels of experience and expertise. Listeners will increase their confidence and assurance about their children's education and future while diminishing their fears. This podcast helps you know how to begin homeschooling, navigate challenges, and answer questions for all stages of the journey.
The name “This Golden Hour” has meaning. First, this name refers to the years parents have to raise and teach their children from birth to when they leave home to be on their own. As parents, we have a golden opportunity to teach and learn alongside our children during these formative and essential years of growth and development. Second, “This Golden Hour” points to this same period of childhood as the children’s chance to read, explore nature, and enjoy an inspiring atmosphere of family, love, and learning.
This Golden Hour
92. Nicki Truesdell and Anyone Can Homeschool
In today’s episode, we get to spend time with Nicki Truesdell from Texas. Nicki is a second-generation homeschooling mother of five, author of Anyone Can Homeschool and other works, and she is a homeschool advocate and consultant. Nicki’s parents decided to homeschool in the early 1980s and were arrested for not putting their kids in school. They pressed on faithfully, and when Nicki became a mother, she homeschooled her own children from the beginning to the end, and amid various life challenges, including single parenthood and financial struggles. She still has two children learning with her at home. In our warm conversation, we discuss the practicalities, benefits, and misconceptions of homeschooling. Throughout the interview, Nicki offers insightful advice and encouragement for both new and seasoned homeschoolers. We spent time on topics like the historical background of homeschooling, evolving laws impacting homeschooling, social perceptions, technology, preparing our kids for adulthood, and the flexible and rewarding nature of the home education path. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and practical tips for anyone considering or currently navigating the homeschooling journey.
Connect with Nicki
Nicki's Book
Books
Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
This Golden Hour
Free eBook Course
thisgoldenhour.org
homeschooling can happen. Any day of the week, any time, night or day, it does not take eight hours a day, it doesn't take 12 years out of a child's life. There's so many things that we think because the school systems do it a certain way, but That doesn't make it efficient or right or better.
Timmy Eaton:Hi, I'm Timmy Eaton, homeschool father of six and doctor of education. We've been homeschooling for more than 15 years and have watched our children go from birth to university successfully and completely without the school system. Homeschooling has grown tremendously in recent years and tons of parents are becoming interested in trying it out. But people have questions and concerns and misconceptions and lack the confidence to get started. New and seasoned homeschoolers are looking for more knowledge and peace and assurance to continue homeschooling. The guests and discussions on this podcast will empower anyone thinking of homeschooling to bring their kids home and start homeschooling. And homeschoolers at all stages of the journey will get what they need and want from these conversations. Thank you for joining us today and enjoy this episode of this Golden Hour Podcast as you exercise, drive, clean, or just chill. You're listening to this Golden Hour podcast. In today's episode, we get to spend time with Nikki Truesdell from Texas. Nikki is a second generation homeschooling mother of five, author of Anyone Can Homeschool and Other Works, and she is a homeschool advocate and consultant. Nikki's parents decided to homeschool in the early 1980s and were arrested for not putting their kids in school. They pressed on faithfully and when Nikki became a mother, her own children from the beginning to the end and amidst various life challenges including single parenthood and financial struggles. She still has two children learning with her at home. In our warm conversation, we discussed the practicalities, benefits, and misconceptions of homeschooling. Throughout the interview, Nikki offers insightful advice and encouragement for both new and seasoned homeschoolers. We spent time on topics like the historical background of homeschooling, evolving laws impacting homeschooling. Social perceptions, technology, preparing our kids for adulthood and the flexible and rewarding nature of the home education path. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration and practical tips for anyone considering or currently navigating the homeschooling journey. Welcome back to this golden hour podcast. Today we have with us Nikki Truesdale from Texas. Thank you for being with us, Nikki.
Nikki Truesdell:Thank you for having me
Timmy Eaton:really excited about this interview. We were just talking beforehand about how vast the stuff we could have talked about. And so we're going to see how this conversation flows, but let me just give a little introduction to Nikki and then she can say whatever she likes but she's a homeschooling mother of five children from Texas, and she is an author, blogger, speaker, book lover. She's a second generation homeschooler, right?
Nikki Truesdell:Yes, that's correct.
Timmy Eaton:That is awesome. So I definitely want to talk about that for sure. One thing I just want to let people know right off the bat, and then at the end, we'll talk about this, but keep Nikki in mind for private homeschool consultations, because she has so much experience that she can help you with whatever stage you are in homeschooling. And you can find her on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. She's the author of Anyone Can Homeschool, and so I'll stop there. We could go on, but why don't you say anything else you'd like to say, and then we'll just jump into questions.
Nikki Truesdell:Sure. Yeah. I spend most of my time online talking about homeschooling and encouraging people, that it's affordable, it's possible, and it doesn't matter what your life looks like because a lot of people just think I can only do that if I have, this. Perfectly set up life with a great budget and lots of free time. And I learned through a lot of different circumstances in my life that it doesn't have to look that way at all. And so that's what I'm always here to say, you can do this. Here's how, here's why don't wait, just jump in. So that's probably what you'll get most from me.
Timmy Eaton:And one thing I noticed as I was reading a lot of stuff on your website, which is Nikki Truesdale. com everybody. But I had the sense of some people saying that this is just another choice homeschooling. And I don't know, not that I'm a necessarily an evangelist for it, but that I don't feel like that anymore. I feel like people should look into it like that. I feel more bold about saying No, like this is actually a better option. And that's how I feel more and more, but I don't want to be pushy. And so what about you? I get the sense that you're on a similar. feeling of no, this is actually something you should at least consider.
Nikki Truesdell:Oh, yeah. I don't apologize for it. I do think it's the best. All you have to do is look at the public school outcomes and the reports that come out all the time are more and more dismal as far as academics go. And so even if it's. Purely for academics, homeschooling gives you much better outcomes because the parent and a child one on one or, one parent with three or five kids, the attention that they get, it's like having a personal tutor for their whole life. And we know that is actually a superior method of education. And then as, if you want to talk about private school, it doesn't cost anything close to what private school costs. And so could tell you 100 different reasons why it's better. And I that's exactly what I do. It's not just another place to put your kids. It is a superior method. And I don't apologize for that.
Timmy Eaton:Yeah even amongst other homeschool parents, I feel like the sentiment is we'll give it a try this year and that year. And I get that. I understand that it's not one size fits all, but that the principles of it are so good that I, it would be a really. Unique circumstance for me not to choose this route, but talk a little bit about your recent post about not being able to fix home schools and like the reality of Horace Mann and all those things. Educate us a little bit about that.
Nikki Truesdell:So I'm writing another book about the history of education and how we got. From the beginning and it's just American education history, but how we got from the colonial period where there was no standardized education, there was no law and there was nothing no one in the colonies had a set way to educate. There were some popular ways, but nothing was set in stone. And so many people were educated for two years, four years, six years. And anyway I'm just been working through the timeline of American history and on Horace Mann, number one, it's not a fun read to read all his writings and the things he said, because he was a communist before communist was a word, but he was writing his stuff around the same time that Marx was writing his writings. And It's just such a weird thing when people say, we've got to fix education. And, but if, the father of American public education, that's exactly what he's called. He was a communist. He was against private school. Obviously, I guess if you're the father of public education, you might be, but he was adamant that everyone should be forced to pay for it, of course, and forced to send their kids to his common school instead of private schools. And he wanted to take The Christian religion out and he advocated for still using the Bible in his common schools, but he was over and over saying, really, we can just mix all the different religious beliefs into something, that everybody can stomach, and that was his way. But what's most disturbing is that he traveled to Europe to look at all the different methods of education there. And he thought the Prussian schools were the best model to copy, but the Prussians were. Very clear about the fact that they were creating a school that would create subservient people like that was the goal because they had failed in their war against Napoleon. And so the common consensus was, okay we don't have people who. We'll follow orders well enough, our society is still too individualistic. And so we've got to change that and what better way to start than with the children. And so that's exactly what their goal was to create people who were not free thinkers. And so that's the model the Horace Mann brought back to the United States and convinced Massachusetts to adopt it. And then New York, and then before the 20th century came around. All American schools were using it. And so when people say we got to fix education, I just say, what do you mean by fix? Because this is what public education has always been. And before Horace Mann, there were schools that were very random and not standard and not state sponsored or controlled. And so there, there's not a fix to something that's been this way out long. We just saw much more gradual decline in the United States. States because of the kind of unique government and society that we have. But I think now we can see that Horace Mann's ideas have just come to complete fruition in the United States and going back to the beginning of them isn't really going to change anything.
Timmy Eaton:Thank you so much. That's so clarifying. And I love that you gave that. That history, I think maybe the greatest evidence of that it's not working out very well is the amount of people that are choosing other routes and specifically homeschooling, specifically in the United States, but also here in Canada and throughout the world and places if there was more. Ability and freedom, they would be choosing homeschool and as people discover the principles. So thank you. That was excellent. And then what are you seeing today? What's, what are you seeing in Texas and around the world, like around the United States, how is the exit from public education? And what are you observing?
Nikki Truesdell:Oh, it's massive. It's still a very small percentage of the population, but. It grows so much, especially since COVID when people really had their eyes open to what kind of education was going on. But I've been in the homeschooling movement since 1983 when I was a child and we were pulled out of school. And I can tell you that it's just an amazing explosion of people. Gradually understanding what really goes on in public school and saying that's not for me. In Texas has a lot of homeschoolers and we don't have any sort of registration. So there's not a database where you can count how many there are, but. It's a lot. There's no possible way to know. It's a big state and it's very popular. The law is very friendly here. So we're just considered a private school with no oversight. But across the country, it's legal in all 50 states and more and more people are looking into it or jumping into it. And so I'm really glad I just, think the reasons are very, it can be the education, it can be bullying. It can be for religion. There's so many different reasons, but overall people are seeing that the public school system, which is a government agency is failing.
Timmy Eaton:Yeah. Yeah. And I think, and I've noticed that for a lot of families, it's not necessarily a reaction. For a lot of families, it is a reaction to the public system or so I've heard people say government schools and then there's a. A huge portion of people that choose homeschooling I'm saying they, they're not, it's not a reaction. It's just Oh, this lifestyle is what I want and this freedom and this flexibility. And it's just so common to, to so many. So can you tell us a little bit about, first of all, I want to hear about like your experience having been homeschooled and then like your journey, in homeschooling your own family and then also just your husband's thoughts on all that.
Nikki Truesdell:I need to get him on a podcast with me sometime, but
Timmy Eaton:he's more of
Nikki Truesdell:a behind the scenes kind of person. So I don't know if I can convince him, but so in 1983, I was 11 years old and my mom and dad had met some homeschoolers in our area in North Texas. Actually. Yeah, we lived in North Texas. We live right on the Oklahoma border. So we've lived on both sides of the river throughout my life, but. So they were introduced to the idea. My mom and dad both grew up public schooled, but they grew up in a pretty wild lifestyle before they became Christians. And so this, this whole idea was so intriguing to them, not just. We're going to raise our kids in a Christian home and go to church, but why don't we go further and remove them from the public school system? And so you can imagine how weird it was then.
Timmy Eaton:And that was right at the outset when the mid seventies, late seventies, this was just getting rocking.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. So we stayed indoors, we didn't go outside and, or we had a recess break or whatever, but So when we first started, we had moved to Oklahoma and it was in September of 1983. And just a few days after our first official school day in this very tiny town, the authorities realized there were kids not at the school that, that week. And so my parents were arrested. My aunt was also arrested. She was a single mom with two kids and homeschooling. I'm telling you, this is the smallest town, but it was just across town. And they knew these families had kids at home and they weren't sent to school. And so they were arrested on truancy charges. And in the state of Oklahoma, homeschooling has been free since their statehood. It was. Written into the state constitution, but nobody was really doing it. So nobody knew about it. Yeah. And they were taken to the sheriff's office and kept all day. And when that word got to the homeschool. There was no homeschool legal defense association like there is now, but those people were already grouping together and realizing, okay, these people are getting arrested all over the country just for homeschooling their children. So those lawyers got wind of what had happened. They got on the phone and by the end of the day, my parents were released and sent back home to await a trial. But. But within just a few months, all charges were dropped because they had not broken any laws.
Timmy Eaton:Which is crazy to think that it would, that you could be breaking a law.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. Compulsory schooling has just really gotten out of hand at least at that point, it really did. So obviously we were very aware of the fight for homeschool freedom, even though we had it in Oklahoma. And then we did go on just about our lives, but we were careful, much more careful about. Our hours and days and anyway we moved back to Texas in 1985 where it was not yet legal and we participated in some protests in Austin and the state Capitol. They had there were the hearing. In fact, I just posted this on. I don't think it was on Twitter, but on some other social media, I actually found the journal entry just this week where I, as a kid, wrote down about, Hey, we just found out they're trying to outlaw any kind of private school and homeschooling in Texas. And we're going to go down there in March at the Capitol. And so that was fun to show my kids, but we did and they, they didn't outlaw it, but it wasn't until 94 that homeschooling was actually. Legalized in Texas. And so all the states have had different timelines like that, but because of those kinds of fights, it is legal in all 50 states with varying laws, across the country.
Timmy Eaton:That's same here. It's in all provinces and territories, but it's it varies from province.
Nikki Truesdell:And thankfully Texas did create a very friendly law for homeschoolers. And so when I was a senior. Attended a private school because small town again most of my friends from church went to this little school. And so my, I asked my parents if I could go and they said, yeah. So I attended a little Christian school for my senior year and had a graduation there. And that was in 1990. So I went on to college, got a business degree, got married had two daughters and started homeschooling. I really. As soon as my daughter could sit up, my oldest one. I was reading books and telling her words, like all parents do. And so a lot of parents say we've been homeschooling since birth and that's how I
Timmy Eaton:say from the womb.
Nikki Truesdell:Yes, because those children are being
Timmy Eaton:exposed right then,
Nikki Truesdell:yeah. And so I was a very intentional mom. I had one child for four years and we just did all kinds of fun things together. And anyway, but my first marriage was a very abusive one. And was in it for eight years. It was a struggle. And then finally one day I realized it was dangerous. And so before. My ex husband came home from work one day, we had taken, my daughters and I had taken everything and moved out and left and didn't leave him any indication where we were. It was because I feared for our safety. And so the girls were six and two when we did that and that started me on a journey of becoming the person who would write the book. Anyone can home school. It wasn't the plan. I had no idea that was going to happen. But what happened was a series of years of Living through one crisis after another and still saying, all right, what kind of schedule am I going to have now? How am I going to raise my kids? Cause it wasn't just about homeschooling. I just wanted to be the one raising them no matter what was going on in our lives. I didn't want daycare and I didn't want public school. And so it was just a series of choices that I never knew I was going to have to face about how it's going to have income and even a house to live in. And. And still not send my children away to be cared for by someone else. And I was single for single mom for about two and a half years. And then I remarried and to a wonderful man who I'm still married to today. And excellent. They're the single homeschooling years. I did various part time jobs all kinds of different ways to earn income, but we had no income. We had to sit up to eat and, we stayed with my parents for a while and any single mom knows what I'm talking about. Like you just, it's just so much harder. And I don't care if people say it's empowering. It's not empowering at all. That's about it. It's tough, but we did it, we lived through it. And one of the things I did was committed to homeschooling them no matter what. And after my husband and I got married, we had three more kids. So that's how we have five children now. It's been a series of unfortunate events along the way, but that's really what everyone's life is. There's always some kind of struggle. And my life was not different or special or worse. It's just that each time something came up, we were faced with a choice and we chose, we're going to be the ones to raise the kids. Nobody else is going to do this for us. No state agency, no daycare, probably some help from family members who we trust. And that's about it. And so over the years, we just kept doing it when the budget was non existent for a curriculum or illness. I've had a lot of bed rest with pregnancies. I've had lifelong migraine headaches. And, there's all kinds of things that can interrupt a normal homeschool day. And what I learned through all those things that I just told you is that homeschooling can happen. Any day of the week, any time, night or day, it does not take eight hours a day, it doesn't take 12 years out of a child's life. There's so many things that we think because the school systems do it a certain way, but That doesn't make it efficient or right or better. And so I figured it out because I had to, I figured out, oh, we can't have school Monday and Tuesday. So I guess we'll have it on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, all kinds of things, or I'll just buy used curriculum. I taught my sons to read with a book that was 3 at a used book sale. And they both learned to read with it. The teacher child to read in a hundred easy lessons. And that's just one tiny example of ways to save money and to readjust your schedule. So that's what I learned, all along the way. And so now I have three graduates from a lifetime of homeschooling and two teenagers that I'm still homeschooling right now and. All of those things that I learned have helped me to encourage others, basically. And so I just look back and I think, yeah, that was hard. I remember how hard it was, but I don't regret a single minute. I don't regret that my credit was ruined for a long time, or, we drove used cars and shifted from house to house for a little while. There was so much that was difficult. And I think people are afraid of difficult, but it's not like we lived a bad life. We just. Took it one day at a time and attacked it and said, okay, what are we going to do now? And now it's in the past, it's behind us and everybody's thriving and it was worth it all.
Timmy Eaton:Thank you for being vulnerable and sharing what you shared with everybody, because that's, that is hard. It's, that's such a hard journey. The it's interesting to me, like this concept of de schooling that like the public school way and the system way is so ingrained in even us as People that have been homeschooled or homeschooling we even use that term like we're okay We're gonna do school from this time to this time and we say that like my kids We say we're gonna do and it's no we're actually not doing anything to do with school and you know You can learn what
Nikki Truesdell:we say. Yeah,
Timmy Eaton:it's funny that we still have that stuff ingrained in our vocabulary And it just it's just so Pervasive. But I love what you said. This is, you're just living life with your family and learning and it's so hopeful to hear you say in the title of your book, anyone can do this truly because you, and you know that from experience. And I think that's why, like you said, not the word empowering, but I think that's how you personally are empowering people because you come from experience doing that.
Nikki Truesdell:I was just going to say and I tell my story in my book, but I also interviewed a lot of other parents with similar circumstances. And so I'm not the only one that's done this, I just decided to make it a big deal, but parents everywhere are homeschooling through many different unusual circumstances. No matter what.
Timmy Eaton:Excellent. Yes. I did want to just ask and then go into your, a little bit more about your homeschooling, but like, why did your parents decide that? I know that they were you said like new to Christianity and just probably, looking for how they wanted to live their life, but why did they decide to homeschool?
Nikki Truesdell:My mom had had a very wild life as a teenager. She ran away, hitchhiked across the country. This was. As a young teenager, when she tells me these stories, I just think of my teenagers right now. And I think, oh my goodness, I cannot imagine hitchhiking to Houston or California when you're 12, that's the kind of life she lived. And my dad was, my stepdad was similar. But she got pregnant with me when she was 14 and dropped out of high school. And and a lot of that other wild stuff was before that. And so she, when she became a Christian, she said, I don't want my girls to grow up that way. I don't want them. Living that way. And she was one of those people a long time ago that said the public school is not a good place for kids, had nothing to do with even the academics. It was the socialization that everybody, her
Timmy Eaton:own experience taught her that. Yeah.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. And they just met this really wonderful couple that said that taught them about discipleship, that education is discipleship. It's not just school books at a different place, it's the whole package. And that's what they were taught from the beginning. This is not just about the school books. This is about raising your children separate from the world. And so people are so offended by that and, and think it's so weird. But that is, that was the goal. And yes, I'm so thankful. And they went all out. We did not have a tv. We were very sheltered. And I don't regret a minute of being sheltered because I eventually grew up and became an adult and was able to make my own choices. But what they sheltered me from was. Just being immersed in the culture that was an ungodly culture and being immersed in public school situations with kids who are immature and come from non Christian homes who, there's just such a wide range of ungodliness that is okay in so many homes. And when you think about separating your children from that, that's a good thing. It's not a weird thing and it's not something to mock. It's what we're called to. And, when I grew up, I was able to listen to whatever music I wanted to and turn on the TV and, all those things. But what they did was the greenhouse. Method, just protecting young minds and hearts while they're young. And I feel like that was such a smart thing, but it was also what the Bible calls us to. And it didn't harm me. It prepared me and I, and it made me who I am today. I am so thankful for it, honestly.
Timmy Eaton:And then like, what was your stepdad was he into it or was he?
Nikki Truesdell:Oh, obviously. Yeah. A hundred percent. And so he'd grown up in a Christian home, but had gone through a very rebellious phase. And so when they met they were a mess. They were just a mess of drugs and alcohol and wild living, but they became Christians in 1981. And I always say they were radically saved. Like they were those people that went from. darkness to light. And so that when someone introduced them to homeschooling, it was just a normal step, to go, Oh, okay. Yeah. Let's do that too. And my parents were very deliberate about Bible study and the Deuteronomy six call to, to disciple your children day and night, wherever you go, whatever you do, disciple your children. And so they took that seriously and they lived it out. Yeah. How many
Timmy Eaton:siblings did you have?
Nikki Truesdell:I have one. One sister. Oh, cool.
Timmy Eaton:Awesome. Yeah. My dad
Nikki Truesdell:became a youth pastor and he went around to school, public schools talking about drug and alcohol abuse and and then they became house parents at a children's home. And so they were all into, ministry and trying to help people not grow up the way that they had, you know, and to change their lives. And
Timmy Eaton:then so for you, was it just you didn't even consider a different route? It was like, of course I'm going to homeschool my kids.
Nikki Truesdell:Never considered anything else. And growing up in the eighties homeschooled was obviously different than it is now. And so I still went to college. I still had this idea that I was going to be a business woman. That was my dream as a kid. Like I'm going to, I didn't even have a real goal. It was just. Business woman. So I got a business degree and then I worked, after college in different jobs, but when I had my first child, all of a sudden I realized. These things don't fit together, and so instantly, instantly quit working and stayed home with my first daughter. But then I realized I had gone about it in a way that didn't make sense. And if I could go back now, I would not have even worried about the business degree and people say, Oh, you needed something to fall back on. When I had to have something to fall back on, I didn't use my business degree. Just used hard work and ingenuity and my business degree didn't do anything for me. And
Timmy Eaton:you had been homeschooled. That's the other thing that I feel like is a giant factor that maybe homeschool students don't even realize how they've been equipped to learn and to know how to learn that, I just had a discussion last night with friends and it's always coming up on my podcast is this idea that I'm, it's so weird how I'm not even sure. I like more and more. I'm like, it's not like a hundred percent. I want my kids to go to university. Like I want them to, make a plan to provide for their families. And I'm just not that concerned unless it's necessary. I don't really know. We are. Yeah. So
Nikki Truesdell:because my husband didn't go to college. He graduated from high school, but he's the one that supports our family, without a degree. I'm the one with the degree and I'm the one staying home with the kids. And, there's so many methods and I've been in homeschooling long enough to know. Other people that grew up completely homeschooled. Many of them do go to college, but a lot of them don't. And I can name in my small town, because I've been in the same place homes going for so long business owners, entrepreneurs who grew up homeschooled. Didn't go to college and went straight into some kind of field that they were interested in and now own and run businesses in this area.
Timmy Eaton:And especially today like with I mean with online classes and just so many ways through technology to receive education and learning and to pursue, it's like the apprenticeship model is coming back more than Yeah, what we're doing. And yeah, like I see that as well. So what your first husband was, he, did you have to convince him to homeschool or was he just he just trusted you or what was the idea there?
Nikki Truesdell:He was fine with it because I had already grown up homeschooled and he liked me. That his family was a little iffy about it, but most people were even, cause that was in the early nineties. And Even now, it takes some people a long time to convince their family members that this is not weird. It's okay. So I had to do that too, but he was fine with it. But by the time we separated, my oldest was just about to turn six. So we hadn't really had to get into now I think she should go to public school,
Timmy Eaton:Probably gracefully. That was a good time to, to exit having to do that. Yeah. And then what about your current husband? Was he, what did he think of that? And like, how did he, and then maybe talk about what he has seen as his role and how that has evolved.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah he was into it already. We actually knew each other long before I even married my first husband. We were just in the same group of friends. And so he was already acquainted with the idea of homeschooling. And then he had a sister in law who had raised her kids homeschooled. And so when I joined the family, someone had already paved the way for the weirdness. And so they were fine with it. He was fine with it. And he had not been married or had any kids before, but he was on board, he was like, yeah, that's fine. But over the years, we've been married for over 20 years now. I tell people I started with maybe one or two reasons to homeschool and now I can name hundreds.
Timmy Eaton:I say the same thing. And that's how he is too,
Nikki Truesdell:every once in a while, he'll say, I'm so glad our kids have never been to school, because of that, because of this. And so he's never considered otherwise, and he is extremely supportive. And he tells the kids, you guys are so fortunate. You don't even know because you've never been to a public school. So you don't have anything to compare this to, but. You're very fortunate. And so his role, he works full time, five, six days a week. And so his role is pretty hands off except for being supportive. But I will say recently we have changed up our history lessons so that he's a part of them. And so I just asked him, we I've had, I have teenagers right now. And I will say even in homeschool families, I'll also have some behavior issues. So
Timmy Eaton:indeed.
Nikki Truesdell:We experienced a phase where it was just rough, the kids didn't want to participate. There were attitudes and it was hard on me. And I would text him and say, this is awful. And he actually said, Why don't we do history when I get home because we do a sort of a family style thing where it's just two kids now. It's been going this way for a long time, but where they're on the same history curriculum, because things I could tell you later. But anyway, his suggestion was, let's do it when I get home. And that was such a nice change. And, because when dad's there, somehow kids act a little bit different. I'm the mom who's got all the rules and he's a very laid back person. He's. a comedian and not a professional, but anyway, he's just a fun person. And so they, they just responded well to that. And so he sits with us and he takes his own notes, like he's one of the students and a couple of times he's taken over teaching the lesson. And so I think dads can do a whole lot of different things to support their wives, but I just say. If you see a need, jump in and meet the need, and so that's what he's made it, he's made that easier, but he's made it possible for me to be a homemaker and to be the homeschool mom and he supports everything. And if I go do conventions, he's there with me loading the books and, selling them and things like that. So yeah, he's definitely very supportive.
Timmy Eaton:How often are you guys talking about homeschool challenges and issues and, ideas and
Nikki Truesdell:At least weekly. Yeah, he trusts me with the curriculum and all that because I've been doing it for so long. He doesn't have any, concerns about The way we do it. But he talks about the fundamentals. Like we talk about the deep stuff, like worldview, the
Timmy Eaton:purpose worldview.
Nikki Truesdell:Exactly. That's the kind of things we talk about. And then obviously behavior, we talk about that a lot right now.
Timmy Eaton:And does he come in as the disciplinarian or is it more just like the combined effort or just,
Nikki Truesdell:it's more like just Balancing out the atmosphere somehow, because we are very different, personalities. And and he has a way of saying things that where the kids don't feel like they're in trouble. I don't know. That's all I can say is he just brings a balance and. It doesn't feel like, Oh, great mom. The school master is back in session. It's more of a family activity. And so it's helped a lot.
Timmy Eaton:That's great. One thing I like one thing I saw on your reading through some of your stuff on your website is you had something specifically about homeschooling in middle school and you've done this. What is the age range of your kids right now? The
Nikki Truesdell:last two, all five of them are 14, 16, 19. 24 and 28.
Timmy Eaton:So 14 to 28 and you have like kids of different stage. You've done all stages. You've experienced all stages being homeschooled. So can you just talk a little bit? I know this is like a really hard open question, but distinguish between primary to middle to high school and then even life after homeschool, because one thing that I'm learning is we have like our kids range from 11 to 21. And our third is pretty much done with homeschool. He's doing college classes, but he's a senior in high school. But we just know that it works like through the whole thing. That's all we've ever done is homeschool. And both of us were public schooled in different contexts. And so yeah, just talk about like the different stages. Cause that's what people really like when people start or are in the midst of it, they're like, how did you do this? And what about this? And then what does it look like afterwards? And you can speak to all of those.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. And I'll say for your listeners that my methods changed over. It's been 25 years. So obviously they changed some, but I did settle into more of a relaxed method. I guess you could say it's not really any one homeschooling method, there's all the different code words, but I just call myself eclectic because I use a wide variety of resources, but in the beginning I did. What most people probably think you should do. And I had a whole boxed curriculum for my kindergartner and I had, cute posters on the wall and a bulletin board with a little border around it and everything is like a classroom basically. And I was trying to teach my little kindergarten daughter, five or six subjects a day. And I quickly learned that wasn't necessary. And it was. It was causing a lot of pain and anguish for both of us. And so over the years, I learned about what's really necessary at different ages. And it's funny, I've written blog posts about all the different stages over the years, but the middle school one was the one I had the most trouble even coming up with. And one day it finally all just clicked, like last week, even though it's been all these years. And I finally just thought, okay, now I know what to say about middle school. And so for me. Preschool is something that really is not even necessary for education. And so I do refer to a little, three and four and five year olds as preschoolers, because that's what our society does. But I don't feel like it's necessary to teach preschool as much as it is to play and talk and just. Do do things with your children that, where they learn naturally,
Timmy Eaton:just live,
Nikki Truesdell:yes, little preschoolers don't need a curriculum now saying that I also will tell you that my two boys started reading at four, but they wanted to because they had older siblings and they're, they, They jumped in and they were excited about it and they picked it up. And so it wasn't like I made them start reading it for and made them do a preschool curriculum for half a day or anything. It just, it was just organic, but my girls. We're not fluent readers until eight or nine years old. There's a lot of things I learned over the years. And in it, mostly it comes down to just being a family and not trying to be a school. And with preschool just let those little kids play and eat and nap and follow you around the house. And you tell them stuff all day long, that's what preschoolers ought to be doing is playing. And then early elementary or just elementary years, I think are the time when you give them those three R's solid three R's reading, writing and arithmetic, and I personally start my kids with reading. I start with a phonics program and don't do a lot of other schoolwork until they've got a lot of the basics and like a good year of phonics, at least, and I don't mean that's the only thing they learn because we read stories and they, they can do a lot of things. Yeah.
Timmy Eaton:But as far as focusing in.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. There's a lot of things that people call school, like gluing things and, coloring, that's not really school, but I did let them do those things. The main focus was phonics and reading, and then we started basic math, addition and subtraction and things like that. But I felt like learning to read. Phonics and learning to do math was a lot to Throw it at a little kid at the same time. And so it was a staggering thing for me. It just staggered the important things, but elementary school was just about the three R's and we didn't do grammar workbooks or social studies, but what we did do is copy work instead of grammar. So obviously they learned the mechanics of writing with a pencil, but they did not have to do English lessons, or language arts lesson. And for any of your listeners that might be unfamiliar, copywork is literally just copying other things. And so
Timmy Eaton:we're big on copywork. We like that.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. And so it's such a natural way to get. Sentence structure and grammar and all those things without having to be taught worksheets. And that kind of evolved for me over the first couple of kids. But I learned that elementary school was, it should just be basic three R's. With a lot of fun stuff, a lot of reading books together and stories. And, there's so much more on my website about that. And the middle school is the transition where they're ready to really start applying those three R's to some solid stuff, like how to write paragraphs and how to, spell the words properly and use good sentence structure. But because they haven't been forced to do it since they were five, it's picked up a lot easier. It's, it makes sense. It's not just, another level of drill and kill. You're taking those basic things that they learn and you're saying, now here's how you use them. Typically
Timmy Eaton:they've been read to so much and they've been reading so much that it's just basically making sense of what they've been exposed to so frequently. Yeah,
Nikki Truesdell:you're saying, now you do it. Instead of, here's what instead of showing them now they're going to do it. And so that's when I introduce a formal writing program. And that's when I introduce a formal science curriculum and all along we read books. And so usually our history comes from all the different books we've read, but then I'm pretty Deliberate about a formal history timeline, let's start at the beginning and see how the world has changed over the centuries. But I, I think middle school at home and I think high school at home are very important. Obviously I'm for all the years at home, but middle school is such a difficult time in a kid's life. Socially, and so I feel like it's such an important time to be home, not only academically, but socially and emotionally and hormonally, there's so much changing in their lives that how many people have you heard say middle school was the worst part of my life? You don't have to, you don't have to live that way. Let's free our kids from that misery that so many people have and just let them still learn and develop who they're gonna be without all of the trouble that goes on in a middle school. And then high school, I think is the time for preparing for adulthood. And a lot of people look at it like, this is the time to prepare for college. But I say, college or not, they're about to go live in the adult world
Timmy Eaton:on their own.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah, that's what you should be preparing them for. Not just making a really awesome transcript, but Preparing adults for whatever and, that's one of the things that our education did over 200 years ago. It just gave people a foundation for living in the real world instead of saying here's how you get into college. This is all it's about. It's all about college. It was just the preparation for whatever happened. And like I said, I got a business degree. But my life didn't follow a plan to need a business degree as much as I just needed to be prepared to. Function in society and to deal with hardship or be flexible in my life because things did change. And so I think that we're doing a lot of kids a disservice in high school by just focusing on college. And which is basically an
Timmy Eaton:extension, typically an extension of home of public school. And I think that the principles of homeschooling of like the two major ones of if you love learning and know how to learn, then the world is open.
Nikki Truesdell:That's the thing too, even though I went to college, when I was homeschooled at home, had a lot of free time because homeschooling doesn't take all day long. And so I, and my sister too, we developed our own interests. We learned things. And that just continued on after high school, during college and after college. I've never stopped learning. I've never stopped researching or finding out the things that I wanted to know where a college education and even a high school. You got to do what they say, you got to learn what they say. And a lot of it doesn't even make sense, but you have to do it because someone came up with this plan. But how many posts do you see on social media where people say, I, I didn't learn how to do my taxes, but at least I learned how to play, how to do square dancing or whatever, how often are people complaining that they were not prepared for the real world
Timmy Eaton:or how money functions and how to, we don't know anything about money. Yeah. Typically.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. Or how to raise children. That's one of the things like my teenagers need access to information and also modeling about marriage and family and cooking and a budget and, all of those things that are not part of a curriculum at any school, but they're not getting it because they're away from their families and the curriculum doesn't really include much of the real world stuff anymore. I think high school is a time for developing that and also their worldview, teaching them how to look at the world and how to think about it instead of teaching them what to think. Which is definitely what public schools do. It's helping them to see and ask questions and say what do you think this means? Or what is this person really saying? Or how does
Timmy Eaton:this end up? Like, where do these decisions end?
Nikki Truesdell:Oh my goodness. Yeah. I'm So just flabbergasted. Anyone that reads the internet knows there's definitely a lack of a lot of different important things like logic and government, economics. But that's one of the things I have my kids take is a course in logic and that's not required at any public school, maybe a really high dollar classical private school it is, but the common public doesn't. Take even a course in logic, and I'm not even sure what's happening with economics and government anymore, but There's a lot missing out there So that's what we should be doing with high school and as far as high school goes, you know I have a blog post where I say it doesn't take 12 years to educate a child and that's what I'm writing my next book on to, but high school doesn't have to be four years that start when you're 14. And then when you're 18, it can be this is what I do with my kids. This is the list of things that you need to achieve in order to finish school. This is how I will give you your diploma when you do this list. And so if they start at 12 and finish early. By all means. That's great. If they need longer than, 18 years old, that's okay too, because it's not about, an age or a timeline. It's what information do I think you need to be called a well educated person? And don't worry about what's on the transcript, although I do create one for my kids. I'm always thinking what you Does this person need to know
Timmy Eaton:and
Nikki Truesdell:when they leave our house, have I prepared them for that? That's what high school is about for me
Timmy Eaton:and I can hear some people who are overwhelmed or they haven't been through it. They're going yeah But what do you do day to day like, because those are like the big view high, you're looking down on a, on the basic principles, but then how does that translate into the day to day activities and how are they using their time and how is that structured? And
Nikki Truesdell:that's a good question. Who's going to dissect the frog, right?
Timmy Eaton:Yeah. Or do you use a curriculum or do you just read books and how much of it is interest driven by the kids and all that kind of stuff.
Nikki Truesdell:I've got, like I said, after this many years, I've settled into sort of a routine that we do, but I also say every family should be different. Every kid should be a unique individual. And so I will give what we do, but I'd say, don't just copy me. Don't copy your homeschool friends in town, but take some ideas and then create what works at your house because your children should not be standard. They should be individuals. But. For us right now, I've got a 14 year old and a 16 year old. They both have part time jobs out of the home. And so we work around those, their job schedules. Yeah. Which is awesome because you have the
Timmy Eaton:flexibility and you're in the jobs that are available to your kids because they're not in school. Like that's a huge advantage that we've learned is that. For example, and I don't mean to butt in, but my son, he'll, he's in grade 12 or senior year, and he's 18 years old now, but because he's taking these other classes through just, like dual enrollment, he can start working in May or, anytime really, but like the job that he wants, he can start much earlier than the other kids can because he's not connected to the system. Thank you. You're welcome.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah, exactly. And my daughter's boss is just a little mom and pop shop in our town, but she hires a lot of homeschoolers because their schedule is flexible so they can come work in the daytime when she needs people. And my son also, he works. Days, nights, weekends, whatever they need, he's available and I'm totally fine with that. And so what we have right now is a system they both know what their requirements are. And I have a, just as an assignment sheet that I fill out for them every day. It's just something I created myself on the computer. And so it'll just say for your math, do this lesson, for your science, these, this is what you need to do today. Because it helps them to be accountable to me. And so they check it off and I can say, okay, I see that you did that. And then I check their work. But for them, they probably have school lessons three or four days a week. And neither one of them gets up early. Which is hard. Cause I like to get up early and I want everybody up early and doing stuff. But I have really had to adapt to these last two kids. Cause they're not that way at all. But it's okay. So it's okay for me to allow them to sleep in because it doesn't matter really when they do their schoolwork as long as it's getting done. And they might do it at noon. They might do it in the evening and they definitely do a lot of schoolwork on Saturdays. So to ask what it looks like, that's what it looks like. Every single day is different depending on the work schedule and things like that. We also go to a co op once a week. It's mainly an enrichment co op for fun. So they do all their stuff there. And. Just checked their work and I do look at their lessons to see if they did the work correctly, because I don't believe in just giving a grade and moving on. I want to know, did you learn the concept? Did you understand this? And can you tell me what you learned or, does your book, maybe your worksheet or quiz show that? And so by the time the kids graduate, I give them a 4. 0 because they've had to go back and correct what was wrong and show that they could do it right. And it's not cheating the system. I'm just saying they're not going to move forward until they do know what they're doing. And so that's. How I grade their work, I don't really give grades. I just check it and see if it's right or wrong. And if it's wrong, I say, wait, let's go back and see if you understood what you did wrong and let's correct that problem.
Timmy Eaton:And what would happen if one of your kids just like totally blew off their daily stuff? What's the, what is the, is there a consequence? Is it like, or does that just not happen? Or yeah,
Nikki Truesdell:usually like I'll shut down the wifi access to their phones or so. At this point, it's hard to give a consequence because like they have to go to work. I can't say now you got to do double because no, they have to leave now. So me, it's usually the electronics that stuff that they have to suffer with
Timmy Eaton:or natural consequences. Like you, you choose not to do this. You're just shooting yourself in the foot.
Nikki Truesdell:And my 16 year old is my son and he, his brother graduated early and he's trying to, and so if he doesn't do it. Basically, he's not getting done earlier. He added more time to this graduating early plan. And so that's what I, that's like you said, the natural consequences are the biggest ones. I just say, if you want to finish sooner, you've got to do the work sooner.
Timmy Eaton:When you mentioned technology, when you and I were in high school, we didn't carry something in our pocket and
Nikki Truesdell:yeah,
Timmy Eaton:or whatever it was in the, during that stage of our youth. How have you and your husband and your children navigated? Like phones and when to do it. And what, what access and we just hate the policing of any of that stuff. It's just so annoying. But they can be quite dangerous. And so like how you guys navigated that world.
Nikki Truesdell:Annoying is the right word. I, my husband and I say this all the time and we have friends that are, in the same boat and we just say, this is the worst thing ever. So my oldest child was born in 96. And so you can imagine how much it's changed since 1996. And I feel like we are the, some parents were smarter than we were early on. We did not see all this trouble coming. And husband grew up playing on the Nintendo and the Atari. And so what, when our boys were little, he got them a Nintendo, the old school and where you It's still got the wires connected to the box. It was fun. They played super Mario and but I can look back now and go, that's when the problem started, because even those simple little video games have an addictive nature. And the internet and then smartphones and all that and then social media, it just kept evolving at a pace that was hard for us to keep up with as parents and, we had kids way back then and then our younger kids had a different experience. And I will say, all of our kids have had phones since. Almost iPhones came out, but my daughters, my older daughters were given an iPhone by their dad. So I didn't have a lot of say except for what they did at our house with it. And then they, the kids just naturally progressed into, oh, can I play a game on the iPad? Oh, sure. You can play a game on the iPad. But the rules in our house have gotten more strict over the years instead of less because the world keeps changing. The internet keeps getting worse. Yeah, they do. Oh, yeah. When people say kids need computers to learn how to use computers. I just say, no, so for us, like the rules that my older kids had. We're nothing compared to the rules that my younger kids have. And so we have, guards on our wifi routers. Some of my kids have bark phones so that we see everything. But at a certain age, then they're old enough just to buy their own phone.
Timmy Eaton:Yep.
Nikki Truesdell:And there's so much that goes into just talking and training and talking and training and talking and training. And then of course we don't allow social media. I used to, and then we used to wait and then now I'm thinking if we could do never, that's what we would do. No, because I've seen how even if the content, that's just what my husband and I were talking about the other day, even if the content on something isn't bad, it's addictive and. It just like those reels and shorts, they just keep coming at you every few seconds and it changes the way your brain works and it shortens the attention span and it makes people dumber. That's what I just think there's no depth anymore to anything you see online. And then of course there is so much. Terrible content, so much dangerous content and danger to children's lives. And so we fight it constantly. My daughter doesn't understand. She thinks we're mean. But thankfully her friends have similar parents. So we're all mean we don't allow them to have like my daughter who's 14, she doesn't get to have a phone number for everyone she knows, unless I know the parents are also very strict with what's happening at their house on the phone, it's just too dangerous nowadays. And so we have let. Them do certain things and we've just tightened the reins more and more as the years have gone by and I don't know if I told you this but I have two grandchildren now. So my oh Daughter has little ones and they, she and her husband, both homeschooled, by the way, their whole lives, they have already decided that their kids will not have access to electronics for a very long time. They're not even allowed to physically touch their mom and dad's phones with their hands, so I
Timmy Eaton:think there's wisdom to a lot of that. Have you ever read glow kids?
Nikki Truesdell:I haven't read that one.
Timmy Eaton:That's an amazing book and there's so many and the resources from that book, but Very well researched. Okay just the feeling it creates like you said to not to touch them and to be like just like making a kid feel when they're young like i'm cool because I have a phone or I don't know but then the hard thing is like it is the way the It's the same story of a homeschool parent that we, now things have gotten so much easier, but you saw it as a homeschool student and then as a homeschool parent. It's like you're always swimming upstream and then with electronics, it's totally like that. So how do you respond, Nikki, when people say, yeah, but what if your kids with, because of those tight reins, they, they get so fed up of it that they just, even if they understand that you're doing it for their good. And they just go they just rebel. They just go when I'm on my own, I'm going to do whatever I want.
Nikki Truesdell:That is a very common question. And I see that kind of thing playing out in, in the world. And so it is sad, but we raise our kids the best we can. And there's many variations on sheltering and some people do just clamp down really hard. We try to balance that with. Being normal and I know that's an offensive word too, just like we're still trying to have fun with our kids and they do get to get online. It's not like they've never seen the Internet before. They all have a phone. They have access to our TV. They get to get on my computer if they need to. It's not like they're banned from the Internet. We, there is a balance, but we're always. We're trying not to be legalistic, but try to share with them how important it is to guard your mind and to guard your time and yes, to guard what goes into your thoughts and what comes outta your mouth. And so there's so much more to it than just saying, no phones. We do allow the phones, but we try to be very careful and talk all the time about the content and why and we'll occasionally sit down with our kids and say, there's this story that just came out and we just wanna go over it with you and help you understand.
Timmy Eaton:Absolutely.
Nikki Truesdell:What's going on. And so as long as they understand the why I'm not going to promise anything, but there's less chance that they'll rebel against that when they get older. And like I said, my daughter and her husband, both I've said, Oh, we're going to be more strict than our parents were, and their friends are the same way. Like I said, I've known some of these kids since they were little and now they're grown and they're having kids, they're choosing to homeschool them, they're choosing to. No phones, no Internet access at all. And I think if you help your kids understand the reasons, there's going to be a point where they're going to say, Oh, I get it now. I, and my kids have done that. I'm not saying that everybody's Kids are going to do it and my kids are not perfect, but they have seen it. In fact my son, who's 19, he loves electronics, loves the internet. He's the one that was addicted to Mario at three, but he says. I do not want to live in an AI world, mom. And I was like, I'm so glad to hear you say that, because he gets all the cool, important things about the internet, but he said, that's going to be very dangerous. And I think if your kids. I have some critical thinking skills. I think it's going to be okay. And then you pray, you just pray for their hearts and that God will, convict them and help them to have wisdom and discernment. And because you can't parent them forever, you do your best and then you wait and see.
Timmy Eaton:Yeah. No, I think very wise counsel. One, just two, a couple more quick questions. Like your kids play school sports.
Nikki Truesdell:Oh, one did she there was a, there is still a sports organization for homeschoolers in our area and she did volleyball. None of my others have been interested, but they've done other things like ballet at the local studio. And then at our co op, there's always some kind of. Sports for fun, not organized team sports, that compete, but just, Hey, we're going to do basketball every Friday or, So they did
Timmy Eaton:they did, but none of them like went to the local school and we're like on the basketball team for years. No. Okay.
Nikki Truesdell:No, I think that option is only very recent here in Texas to join the local public school. And we just didn't want any part of that.
Timmy Eaton:What about diplomas? Did any of your kids get like a school one or is it just like none of our kids have had a diploma from the province or something? It's just been their transcript and portfolio and then, which is so nice for people who are really planning on university and college, right? That there's so many routes to that. And a lot of people don't realize that. What did you guys do? And what are your kids that have graduated doing?
Nikki Truesdell:In Texas, we don't the state doesn't issue a diploma for private schools or homeschools. So the parents issue it for their kids. And it really is just a pretty document and it doesn't mean a lot. I do order one and give it to my kids when they graduate in our area. There are homeschool graduations. They're private, and so our homeschool group will, the parents of that year, seniors will get together and plan a graduation, it's a ceremony and a party, that's what it is. And so we do hand out diplomas, but each parent is responsible for that. And so to me, the transcript is the most important thing, especially if they plan to go on to college or military, because that shows we did the educating
Timmy Eaton:book lists and stuff like that. Yeah.
Nikki Truesdell:Yeah. And the different states have slightly different requirements for stuff like that, but the transcript is the most important thing, although some people do want to see a diploma too. So that's just issued by the parents.
Timmy Eaton:That's such a cool advantage, actually, when people realize that and they go, how many families, the majority of families throughout the United States, Canada, the world, they're stressing so much about grades and tests and all this stuff. And it's Yeah, if they just knew that was one thing, because it's not rigging the system. It's you've done a ton of learning over these years and it's legitimate and or you didn't stress so much about the giant tests and the finals and anyway, so
Nikki Truesdell:I think that's what scares people from homeschooling, too, is that they think that they're just going to have to recreate everything the public school system does, which is a lot of stuff and a lot of administration, but we don't do half of that and at home. And that's why it is so much easier. It's why it's possible for so many people, because you're not a high school algebra teacher and a biology teacher and, you know, all those things. You're facilitating with some good curriculum, and the work is not nearly as intense as it feels, in a public school.
Timmy Eaton:And people hear that and they go, oh, so homeschool's not as rigorous? And you go no. It's just a different way, it's a different approach to learning. And actually, research shows, like you said, academically. That they're quite ahead and then, and also for college university learning or life after homeschool, they've been learning that way, the way that you learn individually and self directed after school, they've been learning like that since they were in grade eight or whatever. And so
Nikki Truesdell:exactly. I think there's so many people who are well educated that never went to college because they spend a lot of time reading, researching, studying, whatever it is they're interested in, but because nobody is tracking it, they don't have this, fancy college diploma to show to anyone, but that doesn't mean you're not well educated. And I know it's a stigma. Oh, you don't have a college degree. Who cares if someone knows that you read all that stuff? Do you have the knowledge? Do you have the information and can you use it some way?
Timmy Eaton:Yes
Nikki Truesdell:it's very, that's a very swimming upstream kind of mentality right there. And that one is really hard to change.
Timmy Eaton:That's why people want to know. They want to know from Nikki, they go so tell me what your kids, so what would you say? What, what have your, did your kids go to school after you like, did they go to post secondary or, and what are they doing now?
Nikki Truesdell:Mostly no, my oldest. Thought she wanted to do culinary school because she loved cooking and baking, cake decorating. So she did that for two semesters, but it was all schoolwork and she hated it. So she quit. She wanted to be in the kitchen doing stuff and it was more about. School books, and so she said I just want to cook, I don't want to do that stuff. So she's just been working. That's what she does is just work, whatever job she's interested in. And that's what she does. She's still single. My second daughter is the one who's married and her husband, they got married at 19. Both of them were 19. He had just joined the army. And so he's still in the army and they have two little children. And so she said, I have no interest in further schooling ever in my life, but she is an avid reader. So it's not that she hates learning. She just hated school, schoolwork. And so she never planned to go to any other schooling. She is a full time mom and she loves it. And then my third child is a boy, he's 19 and he's tried several different things, including he hasn't done any extra schooling yet, but he's still interested in our architectural school. He's an amazing artist, self taught artist. But it's the idea of, I think, seven more years of school that he just thinks, couldn't I do something without seven more years of school? And so that's how. We've told our kids, you can go to college if you want, it's not a requirement in our family and you should think very long and hard about it and decide what you want to do with all of your time. So he works full time as a cook right now, but he's still trying to decide. What am I going to do? I don't know yet.
Timmy Eaton:Yeah. And I don't hear this like panic of Oh man, I'm so concerned about their futures. So why are you at peace with that?
Nikki Truesdell:I think that partly because I did go to college and I just think Yeah, it was okay. I loved learning. I still do. I enjoyed schoolwork. So college was fun for me and it was not a party college. I went to one of those colleges where you get your degree in under three years because you go year round and I liked it. I loved it because I love school. But, I just think that was a lot of money and a lot of time wasted on something that I really didn't need and I still don't need to this day and my husband didn't go to college and I know so many people that didn't go to college that are thriving as. Mothers and fathers, first of all, but also in whatever field they chose and really our career is not supposed to be what defines us, our education and our career we're supposed to be, for Christians, especially, we're not here to wow the world. We're here to spread the gospel and to glorify God and everything that we do, whatever we do. And so I think. It's just, it's a very different mindset, I know, and it's really hard for a lot of people to understand, but just want my kids to grow up and be whatever God created them to be. And it might change into many different things. I've changed into several things over the years. I've done so many different things. I would not want to be pigeonholed because. I, I got this degree and I should be using it, so I don't worry at all. I just, I want my kids in heaven, I'm concerned about eternity and I want them to be happy in this life and make a difference while they're here.
Timmy Eaton:That's beautiful. I really appreciate that. And this is the last question on that, and then we'll wrap up just when people say because people in their head, they're making such a connection between yeah, but earning money, like they have to earn money. And the connection is you go to post secondary so that you have credentials that increase your your potential for earning. But first of all, is that accurate? And secondly, does that, do you care about that?
Nikki Truesdell:I don't care about that. Number one. You can get a job anywhere and I know that sounds, it doesn't fit what people are wanting to hear,
Timmy Eaton:but
Nikki Truesdell:there are a lot of jobs that pay well, that don't require any kind of certification, but you can learn a lot of things without going to college and paying thousands and thousands first to learn it. And there, there are more opportunities now than ever before, especially with the internet. I'm an entrepreneur and I have nothing to do with my business degree at all. It is because of my passion for history and the internet that I have a business.
Timmy Eaton:And homeschooling.
Nikki Truesdell:Yes. Yes. And so there's so many opportunities today. And like I said, I know so many people that didn't go to college and now they run businesses that employee. Lots of people and they're doing really well because of it. And then others did go to college and they got, a degree that they wanted, but am not concerned about the money because maybe because I've been where money was non existent almost, and we still live through it. I know that things can be hard, but I know that they don't last forever. And so I want my kids to understand that too, that. Life is not about money. It's handy. It's really handy to have and I'm not against it, but it's not the most important thing. And so there are so many ways to get a job. There's so many ways to have an income that don't require you to. Trust the system.
Timmy Eaton:And I don't know what your feeling is and we won't get into it, but it sounds like it seems like the climate in the United States is changing towards that end more and more. And so I think it sounds pretty promising. This has been an amazing conversation. Nikki Truesdale, you guys, I definitely encourage you to go to nikkitruesdale. com and look up her book. Anyone can homeschool. I want to give you the last word and then tell us where we can find you and learn about what you're doing.
Nikki Truesdell:Sure. Yeah. Visit my website because if you're brand new to homeschooling, I have a whole page called homeschool 101. So there's just a categorized list of the things that I've written. I've been blogging there since 2009. So there's a lot of stuff and my goal is to help people figure out how to make it work. That's what I do, and I do offer consultations that are affordable because I want people to be able to get a consultation with me. If you want to just sit and visit for half an hour or an hour and say, help me figure out the schedule or, help me find curriculum or how do I even start this? That's what I do with consultations, but my goal is just to help one family at a time. No. Yeah. You can take your kids out. You can get started today and it's not anything like a public school, so don't panic and don't worry about. Algebra 2 yet, just make the decision and let's get started.
Timmy Eaton:Awesome. Excellent. Yeah. That's a sentiment I feel strongly about. It's it works out, like it really does. And you can disarm a lot of people. Thank you so much for taking time today. I appreciate you being with me.
Nikki Truesdell:Thank you for having me.
Timmy Eaton:That wraps up another edition of this golden hour podcast. If you haven't done so already, I would totally appreciate it if you would take a minute and give us a review in Apple podcasts or Spotify. It helps out a lot. And if you've done that already, thank you much. Please consider sharing this show with friends and family members that you think would get something out of it. And thank you for listening and for your support. I'm your host, Tim Eaton. Until next time, remember to cherish this golden hour with your children and family.