This Golden Hour

113. Family Togetherness with Amy Reinke

• Timothy Eaton

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 You listen to this Golden Hour podcast. In today's episode, we get to spend time with Amy Reinke from Alberta. Amy is a second generation homeschool mother of two. Amy shares her unique perspective as both a former homeschool student and now a homeschooling parent. Offering listeners a candid look into her family's educational journey. Amy says that her main motivations to choose homeschooling include the desire for family togetherness, flexibility, and the ability to nurture her children's individual interest and character. She shares practical details about her family's daily routine, which balances structured learning, math, and language arts, with plenty of time for reading, outdoor play, and creative exploration. She also addresses the challenges of managing time and balancing homemaking with focused learning, noting that each year brings new adjustments as her children grow. This episode concludes with Amy's reflections on the fleeting nature of childhood and the importance of cherishing times spent together as a family.

This Golden Hour

Amy Reinke:

Most recently, it's the fact that our son can read now and he's loving books and I was just so tickled when he picked out a young reader's version of the count of Monty Cristo. And all of a sudden he's whoa, mom, do you know what happened to this guy? Aw.

Timmy Eaton:

And

Amy Reinke:

then he's wait, is this a true story?

Timmy Eaton:

I was like

Amy Reinke:

No. Or he was reading about Cleopatra and then his mind was blown when he found out she was a real person. So seeing his mind just open up to the world while we're still in our own home. I just love it

Timmy Eaton:

Hi. I am 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. New 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 listen to this Golden Hour podcast. In today's episode, we get to spend time with Amy Rekey from Alberta. Amy is a second generation homeschool mother of two. Amy shares her unique perspective as both a former homeschool student and now a homeschooling parent. Offering listeners a candid look into her family's educational journey. Amy says that her main motivations to choose homeschooling include a. The desire for family togetherness, flexibility, and the ability to nurture her children's individual interest and character. She shares practical details about her family's daily routine, which balances structured learning and math and language arts, with plenty of time for reading outdoor play and creative exploration. She also addresses the challenges of managing time and balancing homemaking with focused learning, noting that each year brings new adjustments as her children grow. This episode concludes with Amy's reflections on the fleeting nature of childhood and the importance of cherishing times spent together as a family. Welcome back to this Golden Hour podcast Today we are very privileged to have with us Amy Reinke from Southern Alberta. Thank you very much for taking time, Amy,

Amy Reinke:

you for having me.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes, indeed. Let me just do a brief bio and you can add to that as you will. So Amy is a homeschool mother of two, and she lives in Southern Alberta, as I said, and she and I met at the ah H conference, the Alberta Home Education Association Conference in May. And so from that I was able to talk to a lot of people and then invite them to have an interview. And so Amy, is there anything else you would add to just let our audience know about you

Amy Reinke:

so my husband is an electrician and he's been doing that for a long time. We've been married for 10 years and I get to stay at home with our kids, which I love. I just get to focus on that and that is and always has been my goal in life, so I'm happy to do that.

Timmy Eaton:

Excellent. Now were either of you or your husband homeschooled before or did you guys both do public school?

Amy Reinke:

Yeah, so we both have similar stories in that we started out being homeschooled and then we ended up graduating from the public school system.

Timmy Eaton:

Oh wow. No way. Yeah. So you're both second generation.

Amy Reinke:

Yeah, we are,

Timmy Eaton:

Only a few. The people that I've interviewed have had that so tell us a little bit about that. When did you start homeschooling and what was your, first exposure to it as a student being homeschooled?

Amy Reinke:

So I started right from the beginning being homeschooled, and they had already started with my two older sisters, and they're quite a bit older than I am. There's a big age gap between the two older ones and me and my younger sister, and so they. Started out sending my two older sisters to school and just didn't love the long bus rides. We lived in rural Saskatchewan and it was at least an hour one way. So then by the time I was born, it was just the plan that we would be homeschooled and we did that until I went into grade eight.

Timmy Eaton:

So would you say that like your parents' motivation was mostly like a convenience thing or was it like a philosophical, we want to educate our children in a different way?

Amy Reinke:

I think it was a little bit, I. Of both in the sense that my older sisters there was some bullying going on. My parents knew they couldn't control them and they didn't want their kids being exposed to that. And just even some teachers that weren't very kind and we're all kind of soft sensitive souls who were really affected by that kind of interaction. My older sisters were really happy when they got pulled from the public school. And then, yeah, we just lived so far away from town that it was just easy to just keep us at home.

Timmy Eaton:

So when did they start homeschooling?

Amy Reinke:

In the early nineties.

Timmy Eaton:

That was pretty early in the resurgence of homeschooling. Good pioneer stock here in Canada. Your parents. And so tell us about it. Like how was it for you? How was the experience for you, would you say?

Amy Reinke:

In my mind it was really ideal because I. I never wanted to go to public school. When I thought about all the hours spent in the classroom, on the school bus, it just seemed, I felt sorry for those kids. Yes. And we lived on a farm, so it was, there wasn't really ever that comparison between other kids either. This was just our life and we, some of our closest friends also homeschooled, and so we had each other, and even though we. We're quite far from other homeschooling communities. We at least had our little homeschool community, and so we were weird, but we didn't really notice.

Timmy Eaton:

Again, that's always in the eye of the beholder and I in one of my last interviews she said. People used to think of it as weird, and she's that's what I'm actually going for. So with my own kids. And so what would be like a typical day? I know you don't maybe remember exactly, but like, how did things work with your family as far as what you did in a day?

Amy Reinke:

My mom? Felt really inadequate to teach us, and she was a really busy farm wife. And honestly, the farming and the caretaking of the home really took precedence, but we all found reading and stuff simple. That part was easy for us, so we were pretty laid back when it came to school. There wasn't a lot of structure. And in the early years I remember being quite motivated to get it done and so there was lots of sleeping in and getting to school when we were ready to get to it. And maybe not starting till October, because that's when harvest was done. And I remember years being done early in the spring, but that was the main motivator of going to public school as I grew older because it was a little bit too lax and the schoolwork got harder. And I knew that I was having trouble keeping up with the workload, and that's when I knew I needed some accountability to go to a public school.

Timmy Eaton:

Huh. And so did you kinda make that decision or did you approach your mom about that or?

Amy Reinke:

Yeah, it was my decision. We had not talked about it at all. I came up with that idea on my own. And I think part of my mom was maybe a bit relieved, especially going into junior high and high school. And there's always that question of a diploma.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah.

Amy Reinke:

And what's gonna be recognized. And in Saskatchewan it's still not quite as easy to homeschool as it is here in Alberta. But as a kid it was honestly perfect.

Timmy Eaton:

And so you got a diploma'cause you went to school? And how did you find school when you transitioned? What was it like for you academically, socially, like, all that kind of stuff?

Amy Reinke:

Socially, it was a culture shock. Because without intending to be, we were pretty sheltered just within our own church community and our friends were, even if they weren't homeschooled, they at least had similar values to

Timmy Eaton:

us.

Amy Reinke:

So that first few years, honestly, we're just trying to navigate that world. Yeah. And never ever feeling like I fit into that, which was fine. I didn't really wanna fit in, but academically I was ahead.

Timmy Eaton:

But you were wondering if you would be right?

Amy Reinke:

Oh yeah. I know. We were all just so nervous about where we would be academically, and then I got there and I was like, oh, this is easy.

Timmy Eaton:

That's cool. And was that a similar experience of your sisters, or, I guess they had been a little bit in school, but

Amy Reinke:

One of my sisters, when she got pulled, I think in grade five, she finished and graduated from home. And I think I'd have to ask her, but I believe she ended up in going to do a GED. Later on. And then my other older sister, she went back to public school in grade 10 so that she could also get a diploma. And then, but my little sister also went to public school then in grade eight as well, a couple years later. And same for her, like it was. It was just not a big deal academically.

Timmy Eaton:

And it's not like universal, but it is common that that homeschoolers will go into school and then find that they're actually at least par or if not ahead academically. And, in a lot of the interviews that I have, academics isn't typically, almost never is it the first priority. Of of homeschool families anyway, so that's interesting. Yeah. And you'll hear birds chirping the back. Speaking of homeschool, my youngest daughter, we got her these parakeets for this school year as part of the beginning, kickoff the school year thing, so they might be chirping throughout this. And then what about your husband? I know it's hard to speak for him, but what was his experience? How long did he homeschool and what did he think of it? Did he like it? How would he describe it?

Amy Reinke:

We've talked about it quite a bit, and for him it was very similar in the way that he knew he needed more accountability. As he grew older his mother became very busy taking care of her aging parents, and so she would've gladly kept the kids at home, but she was not there to oversee what their education was really like or to encourage them to. Pick up a book and do the work.

Timmy Eaton:

How many siblings did he have homeschooling at the same time?

Amy Reinke:

Oh, at the same time? He's one of five, but he's a second to youngest. When he finally went to school, I think it was just him and his younger sister left. Yeah. And the other three finished at home go. But there's an interesting. Alternative school here in Tabor where you are able to take your modules and do them at home, or you can do them in the classroom with the teacher's help. And you can just come and go as it suits you. So he went there and he was also able to work. He wanted to work and he started his apprenticeship already. And he did that probably around grade nine. And then graduated from that. And so for him it was a positive experience, but he could just be there and focus on his school. And when he was done, he left. Whereas in my situation, I had the full classroom experience. It was a lot more frustrating for me when I just wanted to do my work and there was all the other stuff going on. Classroom management?

Timmy Eaton:

Yes. Yeah, just the realities of being in a class setting. So he was doing that in Taber, Alberta?

Amy Reinke:

Yes.

Timmy Eaton:

And so was that in the, like nineties ish too? Like early thou two thousands or nineties or?

Amy Reinke:

No, that would've been the, like the. I wanna say like 2010 ish.

Timmy Eaton:

And so I was going back to your thought because you were in rural Saskatchewan, so then you had to add all that travel to your schooling and all that kind of stuff. Like you had to take the bus all the way in and stuff.

Amy Reinke:

I, yeah, I definitely did. So how

Timmy Eaton:

did you use the bus ride?

Amy Reinke:

Oh boy, a read.

Timmy Eaton:

Oh, good. I like to hear that because that, I think that's common amongst people that kind of do that transition and it's like they actually are used to using their time productively. And so it's not everybody maybe, but when we started homeschooling and I would still say it like our main motivation was to have our family spend time together. Yeah. And especially my wife with the kids. And then as we've homeschooled for the last 17 plus years, tho those motivations have increased and they've evolved. But one of them is just like the beauty of not wasting time, and we really love that, like you said, with classroom management, standing in lines, we'll, we would go to the science center in Edmonton. And our kids were just going everywhere. And you'd look over and there'd be these school groups and there's just kids waiting in line for everything and we just always were grateful not to have had to do that. So how did you guys meet then? How did you guys connect?

Amy Reinke:

I moved down here to live with my older sister who was married down here, and then we met at church.

Timmy Eaton:

And were there lots of people that were homeschooled or was it just a coincidence that you both had been homeschooled or

Amy Reinke:

it really. Is providential. I think that we met because no, there's not very many people of our generation yet who have been homeschooled.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah,

Amy Reinke:

there's a few, but not in a concentrated area.

Timmy Eaton:

As one who has a second generation, do you feel experience beyond what, like I went to public school and then we've homeschooled our kids. Do you feel like that advantage of having been homeschooled and then being able to do that with your own kids, especially when it's you and your husband,

Amy Reinke:

a lot are people assuming that I have a better handle on education because I was homeschooled and I tell them. All the same thing. The only advantage I have is that I know it can be done.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes. That assurance from the beginning.

Amy Reinke:

Exactly. And so I think it's funny that in all the ways my mom felt inadequate, it really prepared me to see that I don't need to be perfect and we don't need to have a perfect education plan laid out to raise successful adults.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes.

Amy Reinke:

And. So while other people jumping on the homeschool bandwagon struggle with the belief that it can be done and whether it's the right thing or not, that's not my problem at all.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah. Cool.

Amy Reinke:

So whether I'm doing a good job or not, that's set for debate, but I don't question whether it's the right thing.

Timmy Eaton:

And you just said in just the natural flow of what you were just saying, you said. You don't need all these specifics to help prepare successful adults. And that's your way of saying that's kinda the purpose of it. I don't think that enough people think about not just homeschool families, but, families in general. I don't think they spend enough time thinking about, okay what is the purpose we have for our families? And so that's something I do commonly with families is to say, what are your purposes so that you know what to measure things against. Because if people are saying your kids are this and that, and they observe, your family or somebody else's. They're imposing maybe their values on and your family, and you're going, oh, we, we weren't after that anyway. Like we were after, building good character and having people love being outside and we accomplished that and so therefore we fulfilled the objectives we were after. So how would you guys say that? Would you, do you feel like you and your husband are on the same page as far as the the results that you're wanting by choosing the homeschool lifestyle?

Amy Reinke:

Yeah. He was never as set on it as I was. An interesting thing that I feel like I should mention is that right out of high school, I went to work at an elementary school as an assistant to the teacher.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah.

Amy Reinke:

And so I not only got a high school. Education, but I also was able to go back and see how elementary school has done and it was a good setting. I wouldn't speak badly about it in any way, but it really cemented my decision to homeschool our kids and it's just the system. It's not any one specific school, right? It's not any one specific teacher. It's just the system is, it's not made for every child. So when I saw that, my husband left it in my hands, but his experience was quite positive in the public school system. And it was doing homeschool as well, but he was never gonna force anything on me. And after seeing both things, I just know we're going to homeschool. And then the way the world has been in the last five years, definitely. Firmly set that in place for us.

Timmy Eaton:

Can you point to a couple of specifics? Like you said, you're not saying it was a particular teacher or one thing or the other, but like what were the specifics of the system that you're like, that kind of cemented your decision load? No we're doing home school for sure.

Amy Reinke:

I just always felt so badly for the kids who were left behind because there just was not enough time in the day for them to get the attention that they needed. And then you have the other end of the spectrum. There's kids who are just bored out of their mind because they know it, and yet they're forced to sit there and listen. And there's no real work for them to do to encourage them to get ahead.

Timmy Eaton:

Which is how you felt, correct?

Amy Reinke:

Yes, absolutely. And then I was with grade one, and so you see all these kids full of energy who have to sit in a desk. Or else by the end of the day they're exhausted because they've been in a group setting all day long and they're just small kids who should be with their moms. And then you have kids who just aren't understood by general society. Yes. And none of their interests are being nurtured.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah, like so much potential for kids slipping through the cracks and as, as hard as teachers and administrators in schools will try, there's so many that don't receive the the attention that you can definitely give in a homeschool setting. And so a lot of people will say well, not everybody can homeschool. And I think that's. Partially true, but I think it's less true than people think. Especially because of people's notions of what homeschooling is. And so that's something I'm trying to do is help people go, no, it's actually different than you probably think because a lot of us make the mistake of trying to, replicate what happens in a school at home. And that's something that homeschoolers quickly learn is not advisable. So and you didn't have any kids at that point when you were being a. An aide, is that right?

Amy Reinke:

No, we didn't. I started that job before I even got married.

Timmy Eaton:

And so tell us a little bit about your homeschool. What would people see happening on a typical day, you have two children about almost four and eight. What, what would be like a typical day in the KY home?

Amy Reinke:

People working from the outside, like literally my neighbors would probably see. Them running loose quite a bit of the time. Their favorite place to play right now is in the ditch.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes.

Amy Reinke:

And it sometimes maybe looks a little wild, but I try hard not to do too much seated bookwork at this stage of the game. I don't like being spread too thin, so we're at home a lot. I have quite introverted kids. They wouldn't know that about themselves. They love to be with people, but not for long periods of time. Yeah, the introverts end up homeschooling.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah.

Amy Reinke:

That's my biggest struggle actually, is finding a balance between. Trying to be a homemaker and a wife and a mom, and also having a good balance of getting school done. But I try to keep it confined to the morning hours if I can, and then have the afternoon free to do whatever they would like.

Timmy Eaton:

We'll say that sometimes we homeschool families, we'll say the schoolwork, but what is that for you guys? Because like you said, you're trying to keep it obviously giving them open time and time to be outside. What would be like the more academic things at this stage of their lives?

Amy Reinke:

Right now, I'm only focusing on doing a specific curriculum for math and language arts and. I'm sort of Charlotte Mason in that I think we can get a lot of other information from just reading good books.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes.

Amy Reinke:

And I'm trying to implement a morning time as well, because that kind of just happens naturally for us, where we just like to wake up and sit on the couch and read. So then I try to make sure there's some good educational books mixed in with that, which my kids love. Yeah. So yeah. Other than that, I like the idea of laying out a feast and letting them pick and choose as interests lead, and the rest of the time letting them be bored and use their creativity to learn through that.

Timmy Eaton:

And so if you had a couple of beginning homeschool moms listening and they heard Amy say, Hey, I just tried to lay out a feast, and they were like, Hey, can you gimme some particulars of that? What does that look like? Charlotte Mason's idea of laying out the feast and then letting them really pick and choose from that feast. So what does that look like for you? If you had a close friend who is also interested in homeschooling, they said, tell me more about laying out the feast. What does that require of you, Amy?

Amy Reinke:

I know that when we pick a book to read aloud. I try to pick some classics. I mix it up. We do some funny, goofy, silly books once in a while, but we've already read quite a few classics and my son has a very good attention span, so I try to introduce him to good literature that way. And then when we're in the library, or I'm buying books, I try to really just direct them to good books and then minimize how many other books' picking on their own, letting them pick things that I would consider fluff. But just not having that be the main course of what they're getting.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes. So if it's not too personal, what is the current read aloud book that you guys are doing? And then if you're willing to share that. And then maybe just a few others that you've really liked.

Amy Reinke:

Right now we're reading The Secret Garden, and I'm reading an abridged version, though. It's all good. And we have read Black Beauty. One we really enjoyed was I don't think this would be considered a classic, but because of Winn-Dixie. And

Timmy Eaton:

Cool.

Amy Reinke:

The tale of Desper was actually really good.

Timmy Eaton:

Yes.

Amy Reinke:

I love to pick ones that are easy for me to actually read because some books are much easier to read in your head. And I honestly, I should be keeping a list because we've already read a lot of books and then we just slowed down over the summer, but. My kids could listen to a lot of books.

Timmy Eaton:

I highly recommend keeping a list, and in fact, one of the things that I talk to families, my and my wife has been the example of this for me is to document everything. Because when it comes to their actual portfolio and when they're starting to look at post-secondary or jobs or whatever, it is impressive to see what they've done. So I have three kids that have graduated none with a diploma. And when my oldest graduated, just, her book list alone was so impressive that like people would inquire about that. And so I would highly recommend you doing that.'cause it's such a powerful thing to put on a portfolio or transcript. And it starts that early. As soon as you're doing this with your kids, I, we always say that we've homeschooled from birth to university and yeah. And that's a reality. So this far in the journey of homeschooling, what would you say has been the kind of the hardest thing or the biggest challenge for your family?

Amy Reinke:

It would be me managing my time well and finding that balance between. Just living our life and making sure we're doing focused learning. Because when I am doing either things, I get really into either thing. When I see all the housework that needs to be done, I just wanna do it. But when we actually are seated and doing school, I really enjoy that time too. I like both things, but just depending on how things are going at the moment, certain things can be. Weighing on me heavier. And then I feel like every year is a learning curve. As they change and schedules change, it's just how to balance it.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah. And I appreciate you sharing that. I've come to learn this, especially in talking to such a wide variety of people now about the way they homeschool and just the way it's unique in, in different situations. It, that might feel like a challenge to you, but I also feel like there learning is happening. Through all that. Also, like when your kids are observing the way mom does things and you're their mom and so that's what they have. You can't be somebody you're not. But but it is cool like what you said, just to be cognizant of the other areas that you wanna work on. What would you say is the main blessing or what is the greatest benefit that you're like, oh, this is like, why we homeschool. I'm what is it that makes you go, man, this is the reason we do this,?

Amy Reinke:

Most recently, it's the fact that our son can read now and he's loving books and I was just so tickled when he picked out a young reader's version of the count of Monty Cristo. And all of a sudden he's whoa, mom, do you know what happened to this guy? Aw.

Timmy Eaton:

And

Amy Reinke:

then he's wait, is this a true story?

Timmy Eaton:

I was like

Amy Reinke:

No. Or he was reading about Cleopatra and then his mind was blown when he found out she was a real person. So seeing his mind just open up to the world while we're still in our own home. I just love it. Then probably the second thing is that him and his sister get to strengthen their bond because while everybody else is at school, they only have each other to play with. And there's a four year age gap. So naturally I don't know if they would play together very much, but because we're just always at home. They are very close and I just love that.

Timmy Eaton:

That is beautiful. How has it been for you as the mom to see your son discover things through reading and then you be the one witnessing that because that could have happened at a school or whatever, and then you miss that. What does that mean to you to have witnessed that as his mom?

Amy Reinke:

Yeah. That's just why we do it. And I mean I, I have this story of how we got into homeschooling, but I think that what it really came down to is once I actually held my children in my arms and had them here, I thought, I can't give them up. I'm not ready to send them away and have them live, eight hours a day, five days a week, until they leave home. They're going to be gone. And I just did not want to do that.

Timmy Eaton:

And

Amy Reinke:

so when these things happen it's just exactly what I wanted it to be. It's the highlights right of the day to day. Those are the highlights that keep you going.

Timmy Eaton:

This podcast is called This Golden Hour, and the more I interview people, the more it confirms to me that was the right title because it is, it's fleeting. We've had recent experiences in our family that really show. That it is fleeting. And so you have this 18 to 20 year period. You have your children forever. But you don't get this time back. And so like you said like especially in your own situation growing up in rural Saskatchewan, if you're taking that much time on buses and school, and then if you have extracurriculars on top of that your family, your parents do not get to experience their children. And I just really appreciate what you just said about like as soon as you held them in your arms, like you knew that this was gonna be. A shortlived thing, right? It's this golden hour. You have this period of time it's such a great opportunity to instill the things that you want and spend quality time.'cause they're gonna have their own families after they leave home and they're gonna be pursuing things. So thank you for sharing that. What's your counsel typically to, to new families? Like when they're like, oh man, I'm not sure if I wanna do this. And they're nervous. They want to, or they're going to, but they're still nervous. What do you tell people who are just starting out?

Amy Reinke:

It depends on what specifically they're worried about, at this point in history, especially, I say, you can't do a worse job than really what's being done. So if you're worried about messing your kids up, you won't. And really, God gave us our kids on purpose. We know how to love them the best, and our kids need our love more than they need a specific type of education because it's that love and that is going to keep them secure in a world that is very unstable. So for us, we're Christians and we really first and foremost want our kids to know Jesus. And so if that is anybody else's priority, I would say the best place to do that is at home through the safety of a family, that you teach them your values. Other people cannot love your kids the way that you can. We're, you're especially equipped to love your kids. And that is your number one priority, so you can't mess that up. Yeah. And you'll never ever regret the time you spent with them, but you could very potentially regret the time you spent away from them.

Timmy Eaton:

Excellent. Yeah I, that was a great answer. And I just agree with you I just don't think you can go wrong as as long as you're, being kind and loving and trying your best, and you're gonna have moments, but I don't think you can go wrong. What about when somebody says oh, but there's so much. Curriculum now, and there's so many things to do. How do you decide and I feel overwhelmed. What do you tell parents that are feeling that whether their kids are in the primary years or the secondary years, the high school years of homeschooling, what do you tell them about curriculum choice and what do you actually do?

Amy Reinke:

It's been tough for me too. I think this is only the second year that we've stuck with the same curriculum for more than one year. Because we were just figuring out how our son learned best and what he liked best, and you just have to jump in. You just have to start with something, something's better than nothing, and then as time goes, you will. Tweak things and you'll look into other things and you'll hopefully have a community who's giving you advice or at least sharing their stories with you so that you see the different options. But you're never gonna find the perfect curriculum, so you just have to start with something.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah. That's an insightful comment. You're not gonna find like the perfect curriculum because your kids are different and you have different values, and so you're going to totally customize it individually to your children and to your family situation. I was talking to my son last night. He just graduated from homeschool. He's actually leaving for a couple of years to Japan. But he edits these podcasts for me and has since the beginning. So that's a cool thing we do together. But when he edits the podcast, he puts in the show notes after I have done the interview and now that I have, a hundred and almost 115 episodes, he's looking at it and he's going, this is like a crazy treasure trove of, curriculum and resources and so I guess what I would say is that is people should look at this golden hour show notes because it literally has an awesome wide variety of different families and some are gonna resonate with others. But I love your council of just jump in and then you will tend to find things that match your family and your style. That was a great comment. So when you and your husband talk about homeschooling, what have you seen as his role and and how does he support it? And maybe even if you're okay saying it, what do you wish he would actually do more of or less of or anything like that?

Amy Reinke:

I'm happy to be the primary educator because he's got his hands full. But he supports me really in just if I feel like there is money I need to spend on something that will. Be useful or helpful. He is always supportive of that. And thankfully we do live in a province that we have educational funding and that doesn't need to be an issue for us. But I think for in our family, it's sometimes he's the one where I'm like, I don't know how to deal with this behavior because really. Attitudes and behaviors make up a bulk of what you're doing and dealing within a day. So just having his support that I don't need to do all of that on my own either. He's very good at being a dad and then I also just can let him. Do a lot of the hands-on stuff when it comes to teaching skills with the hands. Yeah, he's good at that. So he's good at doing that with our son. I don't know. I honestly don't have a specific thing. I wish he did better.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah,

Amy Reinke:

I think in the future I will require more of his help when it comes to math because that is my weak spot and it's his strong. Suit. So I think in the future I will be calling on him more, but right now it's just knowing that he supports me and he's never going to push us to send our kids to school. Like he believes in me and he believes that this is the right thing for us to do, and that's really what I need from him right now. So

Timmy Eaton:

you would say that you guys feel like you're on the same page as far as homeschooling and the decision and what you're going for. I was wondering what do you do to make sure that you get replenishment and that you can fill your bucket after, like a lot of work with the kids, and then what is his role in that?

Amy Reinke:

So being outside, I am the primary dog walker, which has been good for me. I take care of about two kilometers most days, and by the time that's over, I feel like I am. I am less crazy. Than I was when I left. So he, and then that's typically right. He's with the kids. Maybe it's after supper. Before supper and he will just let me go. It is just an unspoken mom needs to get out kind of thing. And he is always been very supportive of. If there's a women's event happening at the church or a girlfriend asks to go for coffee or go for a walk he's really just good about being here'cause he knows I need the. The social interactions with adults.

Timmy Eaton:

Those are good specifics. One of the final things I wanted to ask was just about your kids are three-ish and eight-ish as they get older and their social needs change and not that everybody's the same, but there's social needs and there's development. How do you guys like plan on navigating that as far as when it comes to. A few things like facilitating friendships through other families or through co-ops or whatever, or just in any way that like you said at church. And then also how do you anticipate technology playing into that.

Amy Reinke:

Good question. I have tried not to worry too much about the future. About things that haven't happened yet that I can't control, but we do live in a very small, safe, tight-knit community and we are blessed with friends on our street and right behind us. There's lots of kids around all the time. To the point where sometimes I think we need to move out of town so that we can have a few more boundaries. So far I would say we are doing great with the social interactions and we are a part of a church community as well, and we are so blessed that we have tons of homeschooling families in our life. Cool. And so there is always options for getting together. We've got a great homeschool. Like WhatsApp group where people plan field trips or outings together, that's always just come as you want. So far I do not see any problems with socializing. And I'm social, so we just get out quite a bit. And then as far as technology goes. Honestly, that's gonna be a year by year kind of thing.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah it'll change that way anyway.

Amy Reinke:

Absolutely. So I definitely want my kids to be on screens as little as possible, but there may come a point where we do some of our school online. I don't know if there's some really great resources out there. But we have to prepare them for a world. Where they're probably gonna have to use technology.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah. So

Amy Reinke:

we're just gonna have to see what that looks like.

Timmy Eaton:

I think that's an awesome approach. I love how you're saying like, field it as it comes each year at a time. I think that's a really good approach. And I think that's cool that you have that many homeschool families. Do you feel like you and your husband are intentionally seeking out like-minded families that your kids. Can make friends with families with si similar values or like how have you approached that? Has it just been more kind of organic?

Amy Reinke:

It's really just happened, especially because you have such a different schedule when you're homeschooled. Everybody else is in school during the school hours and you quickly find out which kids. At home as well. But I'm thankful. I have a friend in town who, we've been friends since before I even had children and she's been homeschooling too, since COVID. So that's just a natural fit. And I think that as homeschoolers, we always like to be home with our families too in the evenings if we can. At least most of the ones that I know. So we're just doing stuff in the afternoon when everybody else is in school.

Timmy Eaton:

So what about extracurricular? Is your plan to have them in more extracurricular things as they get older? Or is that gonna just take it as it comes as far as sports or music or theater, that, that kind of stuff?

Amy Reinke:

Yeah. Just depend on their threshold for what they can tolerate. We've got music lessons at the moment for our son, and we are not a big sports family, but I think there might be some just fun recreational sports in our future. I think it'll just depend on what they're interested in and. Just what season we're in at the time too.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah. That stuff emerges for sure. And then you address it when it comes up. That's really good. This has been an excellent conversation. I love learning about different families and how they do it, and I also see so many similarities and so I really appreciate you taking time and sharing things about how you guys are doing it. I'll give you the final word and then we'll wrap it up. Anything you wanna say as far as just homeschooling or encouragement to families that are listening to this or whatever you want?

Amy Reinke:

I think that one thing that I see as being so crucial to having a successful homeschool, whatever that means for you and your family or even just seeing it through, is to have a vision of what you want. And we talked about that too. What you want for your children as they become adults. And I know having that vision, we'll see you through the tough times because you can see those hard moments as just moments that aren't going to color your whole homeschool journey.

Timmy Eaton:

Yeah.

Amy Reinke:

And that will also help you weed out necessary and unnecessary things in your life, to keep first things first so having a vision is just so important for everybody. I think that's my number one advice.

Timmy Eaton:

I often say that too. You said it a similar way. Like when you have that clear purpose, then you know what to say yes to and what to say no to and it's less pressure when those things emerge, thank you very much, Amy for spending time. I appreciate you being here and talking about homeschooling with us. Thank you very much.

Amy Reinke:

Thank you. I always love to talk about homeschool.

Timmy Eaton:

Indeed. Me too. And have a great rest of your day.

Amy Reinke:

Yeah, you too. Thanks.

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 on Apple Podcast 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.