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00:00:01
Guest: Kelsey Sorenson {Episode 225}
429 Plays2 years ago
In this episode Bonnie & Audrey interview Kelsey Sorenson. They discuss homeschooling and running a business and family at the same time.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast and Guests
00:00:06
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Outnumbered the Podcast. I'm Audrey. And I'm Bonnie. We are experienced moms to a combined total of 19 children. In our weekly episodes, we explore relatable topics using our perspectives of humor and chaos. Tune in for advice and encouragement to gain more joy in your parenting journey.
00:00:31
Speaker
Hello everyone, welcome back to our number. Today we have a really exciting episode because we have a guest say hi to Kelsey. Hi Kelsey. Hi, I'm so excited to be here. Yeah, we're so excited to have you. So Kelsey and I, our life coach buddies, we have met in person as well and we're bringing her on to tell you guys or give you guys all of her expertise about homeschooling and teaching and she has some really fun stuff in store. So yeah, welcome, welcome.
00:00:56
Speaker
I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for having me. I'm really excited to share with your audience and chat with both of you. So it'll be a good time. Okay. Um, Kelsey, first of all, we want you to start by giving us an intro to yourself and then you and your business, your family tell us, tell us about yourself.
Kelsey's Homeschooling Journey and Business Evolution
00:01:15
Speaker
Yeah, so my name is Kelsey Sorensen. I am a wife of 11 years. I have three children. I have an almost nine-year-old. He'll be nine this month. And a six-year-old girl and a three-year-old boy. To me, that means we're outnumbered because we've got three kids to two parents. But compared to you two and maybe some of your listeners, you might be like, oh, that's cute. Three was the hardest for me. Three is hard, yeah.
00:01:44
Speaker
But yeah, I love it. I mean, I love my kiddos. We are homeschooling. We've done it since the beginning with my oldest, who's now a third grader. And then I also own my company, which is called Wife Teacher Mommy. And I started that when he was about seven months old, end of 2014.
00:02:00
Speaker
And we've done resources for teachers. I was a teacher by trade and then I was subbing when he was a baby. And then I just kind of dabbled into that. And now it's kind of like my full-time thing. So, and we've added like coaching and events, which we'll talk about, but yeah, I'm just really happy to be here. Yes. I love, I have loved learning about your business. It is so fascinating to me how businesses start and then how they evolve. So you started out with just resources, right? Online resources for teachers.
00:02:28
Speaker
Yeah, and I actually started because, like I mentioned, I was substitute teaching because I had my teaching degree, but I wanted more flexibility than if I were working full time in a classroom once I had my baby. So I was subbing, and then I would just do it when I had a babysitter, which was usually my sister-in-law, who was very nice to do that. Funny thing, now she works for me doing this, so it's like full circle. That's great.
00:02:55
Speaker
I created some plans so that when teachers would need to call in sick, they would have those because I actually needed to have something to bring with me because oftentimes like teachers wouldn't have enough that would even last me a whole day. So I'm like, okay, I'm gonna make stuff, I can bring it. Then maybe I can help the teachers have some like, you know, plans that are more thorough that'll last the whole day or likely even longer. So it started with that and selling those on a site called Teachers Pay Teachers. I don't know if you two have heard of that.
00:03:23
Speaker
Yeah. So a lot of homeschool moms use it too. And, um, it's kind of like Etsy for teachers, like digital downloads. Um, so yeah, that's how it started back in 2014. And now we do a lot more. We support homeschool parents too. It started with just teachers, but especially with COVID, we really kind of pivoted into homeschooling. I was even kind of like, I'm homeschooling now. How do we pivot to homeschooling? And then COVID happened. There's my pivot.
00:03:48
Speaker
So I was actually going to ask you about this.
Homeschooling Boom and Societal Shifts
00:03:50
Speaker
And when it comes to COVID, so as those of us who homeschooled before COVID, I saw a lot of stuff going on online where people were like, oh my gosh, now I know why I never went to homeschool. This is terrible. But it also seems like more people have continued homeschooling afterwards. Do you think that's the case? Have you seen the same thing with your finger on the pulse of the teaching in homeschooling communities?
00:04:12
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. And there are a lot of parents who are like, oh, they couldn't wait to send their kids back. But I think for some parents, it can be a difficult decision to choose to homeschool. I know it was for me too. Should I do it? What are people going to think? Am I going to do a good enough job? I feel like a lot of people second guess it. And so then maybe those who were debating it and decided to send them to school, but then they did get that taste of actually trying it out.
00:04:36
Speaker
It kind of helped their confidence, like, oh, this actually is something we could do. I actually like my kids being home. So I think those who were already on the fence about it, it helps them. And then I think some others might have seen the benefits of it. For us, we love the, like, we can sleep in if we want to, or we can go travel somewhere and still bring school. And I bring work or whatever with us, but then we can do things. So I think some people realize they like that flexibility. So there are definitely more homeschoolers than there were before.
00:05:05
Speaker
Um, but for, and I think there's also just been more of an understanding, like I've noticed, I feel like before COVID, when I said it was homeschooling, people were like, Oh really? That's interesting. And now there's like more of an understanding in the general public of, Oh, that's really cool. Or whatever, you know, so I feel like it's more, um, more normal. So it might be even easier for people to make that decision. Yeah. That's really cool. I remember Bonnie, you and I had a conversation at the beginning of, um,
00:05:34
Speaker
the quarantine when we were hearing from all these parents, like how much that they were struggling with homeschooling.
00:05:40
Speaker
And I think that's when we started our school series on the podcast is we have a whole series about homeschooling and how to help kids in different areas and then just kind of homeschooling in general and different things we do. But Bonnie, I remember you and I had a conversation about like our deepest hope for the whole, what would come out of the whole everybody homeschooling thing that happened during quarantine was that people, families,
00:06:06
Speaker
would bond and get closer and enjoy spending time together. That was, I remember us having that conversation. And so then we started this, like we wanted to support that people being together and homeschooling their families. And so it looks like Kelsey, that you really are supportive of the homeschool community too. So how does having the backgrounds like substitute teaching and, you know, making supplies for teachers, how does that support you and help you as a homeschool mom?
Adapting Teaching Methods and Mindset Shifts
00:06:34
Speaker
I feel like for me, I one already had the confidence to teach my children. Like I didn't have that like, oh, there's no way I can do it. I'm like, I could definitely do it. I was able to teach- It's only three kids, it's not 20. Yeah. And so it did help with that. And I feel like I also had a lot of creative ideas from the classroom that I was able to incorporate into homeschool, which was a lot of fun. I do feel like, and I've noticed this from other teachers who go to homeschool, there is a little bit of a like,
00:07:02
Speaker
Oh, but wait, like I feel like this should be longer than it's taking or whatever. So there is a little bit of mindset work to do around it. Like it doesn't need to look like public school. So for me, it's kind of like trying to remember that it doesn't have to look like that, especially now that I think I've even talked to Bonnie about this a few times. So my husband helps a lot with homeschooling and sometimes he does things differently than I would. And it's just like, you know, being like, it's okay. It's like our family, we're figuring this out together and it doesn't have to look just like it would in public school.
00:07:30
Speaker
So that's been kind of like the benefit is like, oh, I can totally teach you have all these creative ideas. And I know what they're supposed to be learning, you know, like I have kind of in quotes, but I do feel like that's helpful. But then there's also the like, oh, I need to also remember homeschool is a different thing, too. Okay, Kelsey. So let's go back to when you first started homeschooling. Tell me you said that you did have the confidence there. But did you struggle when you first started homeschooling?
00:07:55
Speaker
So my biggest problem with the decision was actually I was really worried what people were going to think of the decision to homeschool, which is funny because like I am a trained teacher. So it's like, but even like telling, like I was worried about telling my dad and my mom that, oh, we're going to homeschool them. I think I also thought people that maybe my kids would be left out from like the other kids in the neighborhood who were going to the same school and like,
00:08:16
Speaker
Would they still bond with those kids? Would they still make friends? Those are the things I was more worried about with making that decision, which now I've obviously overcome those and realized, oh, they still play with the neighborhood kids just fine. And they're making friends in lots of other ways. So it was totally fine. But that was a big thing for me. And then with actually teaching, I don't feel like that part, the actually teaching part was a problem at all. That was what I was really excited about. It was definitely balancing that, teaching, parenting, and doing my business. That was the learning curve, for sure.
00:08:46
Speaker
Oh yeah, we can both really identify with that as well as well. I love that. So is there any main thing that you wish you could go back and tell a younger you about this homeschooling phase that that may have may have given you more peace?
00:09:01
Speaker
Well, one, that it doesn't matter what other people think. And also, if I could tell that stuff like, hey, don't worry, in just a few months, everybody's going to be doing this, and you're going to be glad that you've already started it. Because it was the school year 2019 to 2020 school year that we started. So it was pre-pandemic, but very pre-pandemic, right? So, oh, just wait. Just wait for what's coming. I mean, I think that would be really interesting to tell me.
00:09:30
Speaker
But overall just like you don't need to worry about what other people think just worry about what's best for your family. I hadn't learned the coaching tools yet so it was very much in that people pleasing that what are people going to think of me mode at that point it was in 2020 that I found coaching and was able to be like oh yeah no it really doesn't matter what they think like
00:09:50
Speaker
So that was a big thing for me. And then also just that you're going to find your groove.
Advice and Overcoming Concerns in Homeschooling
00:09:55
Speaker
The other big thing I already said is it doesn't have to look like public school. You've got to figure out what it looks like for you and your family. And it doesn't even have to look like other people who homeschool. We all find our own way.
00:10:07
Speaker
Yes, that is so true. And the amount of time that my kids can and do spend outside in nature and exploring and doing their own thing, learning their own way is every time I see them come in and their faces are all refreshed and glowing and excited and they're all telling me about the latest, who knows what game that they created. I'm like, oh yeah, this is why we're doing what we're doing. Because if they were in public school right now, they would be sitting
00:10:33
Speaker
in a chair at a desk and they wouldn't be home for another four hours. And then they'd have a bunch of homework probably at their ages and that kind of thing. So I definitely would have some things to say to a younger me too. Yeah, I think we all would. Yeah. Yeah. Just basically don't worry about it. Yeah, I think I would have just given myself a hug and just patted her on the back for a long time. It's going to be so much better than you anticipate and also so much harder. So just go along for the ride, you know? Oh, for sure.
Resources and Support for Educators and Parents
00:11:02
Speaker
Okay, so Kelsey, we want you to tell us about your, you mentioned life coaching and we want you to tell us in our audience about the membership program that you have.
00:11:11
Speaker
Yeah. So we have a membership. It's called Wife Teacher Mommy Club. And I started that in September of 2021. It was kind of part of our like, with the pandemic, there was a pivot where we started helping parents to and like digital resources that could be done on the computer or whatever. And then we're like, let's just do a membership. So people don't have to buy just everything one off. They can just have a membership and they can like access the resources so they can like,
00:11:34
Speaker
especially for homeschoolers, the great thing. And this is the thing for both teachers and homeschoolers, because for teachers, like the kids with COVID, there were these bigger educational gaps than before, because some kids were supported at home, others were less supported at home. So these big gaps. And then for homeschool moms, it's like you're teaching, like, for example, I have a preschooler, a first grader, and a third grader. And like, you know, you, you've got, you two have even more, you know, so it's like, um,
00:12:01
Speaker
All the moms, if you have more than one child, you're teaching more than one grade level. So then it's like, you can grab like, I want these fixing sentences worksheets. I want them for fifth grade. I want them for second grade. And you can grab them for any of your kids. So that's what we did as far as the resources. That was the membership. But then with the membership, we're also like, we're going to do this big event. And it was really daunting. I'm like, well, what are we going to do? So send out a survey to our members. I'm like, what is your biggest struggle? What do you need right now? And then what we've realized is that these parents and these teachers, they were so burned out.
00:12:29
Speaker
And I was now seeing the world through this new lens of coaching and understanding these tools, understanding that it doesn't matter as much what people think about me or that I can have more confidence in myself, just all these different tools and how thoughts, great feelings and our actions and results, all of that.
00:12:48
Speaker
but they had no clue. So I'm like, okay, there's like a disconnect. I want to like incorporate that into the event, but also I feel like they need this support ongoing. So I hired a life coach to come into the membership and do some coaching in there. And then, um, I was just like, Oh yeah, we're going to, I'm going to just hire a coach. I don't have time to become a coach. Like it's going to be like where I just hire coaches to come in and do it. That was the plan at the time. But then, you know, as we kept doing it, it was like, Oh, I think one day I want to do it. I want to do it one day.
00:13:17
Speaker
And then Bonnie and I both attended this event called Life Coach Live. Um, I attended virtually, but it was with Brooke Castillo who owns the Life Coach School. And I was basically convinced like it felt like inspiration or like, you know, revelation or whatever that I am supposed to do it right now. So I signed up and I certified through the Life Coach School on February 6th of this year. So that's kind of our journey. So now we're doing the event and everything. Again, Bonnie's actually speaking at the event, which is so fun.
00:13:46
Speaker
Yes. Yes. I love that you offer coaching now. Side note, Kelsey was like the fastest life coach certifier I knew. And so she inspired me to get it done really quickly too because it's all online, all self-paced now. So she's smart and really fast. But here's the thing that I'm seeing is there's a lot of these professional organizations now that are offering a life coach aspect. And I think it's so powerful for people to be able to learn how to manage their mind and then go out and get the
00:14:15
Speaker
Nuts and bolts tips of whatever their their their job is being a teacher a homeschool parent or whatever So how are you seeing coaching benefit these teachers in these high school high school homeschool parents?
00:14:27
Speaker
Well, so for the teachers and the homeschool parents, and I'll speak a little bit more to the homeschool parents since I think that's probably more of your audience is that right? Yeah. Um, so I feel like it's really helping. I just did a workshop recently specifically for the homeschool moms about self care because I feel like a lot of these homeschool moms, and I think all three of us are going to relate to this too. Like we put so much.
00:14:52
Speaker
effort and time and our energy into everybody else around us like our children or our spouse or those in our community or whatever. And we don't take as much time for ourselves so like that workshop, where we talked about self care and how we can really take care of ourselves and that even taking time for coaching and whatnot is self care.
00:15:09
Speaker
I think it really just makes a difference for them because like, then they learn how they can do that. So that was one workshop we did recently, but in general, like the coaching, it helps them to bring awareness of what's going on in their lives. And yeah, I mean, I feel like I could.
00:15:24
Speaker
talk a lot about coaching. But I always, I was talking to Bonnie about this, like explaining coaching to somebody who doesn't know what coaching is. It's like, it's just this like experience that I feel like you can hardly even describe. It's like you get to really peek in and see what's going on in your life. Yeah. Like the way your thoughts are driving your actions, feelings and results in just a way that is really my
00:15:46
Speaker
Yeah. And I would share here too that motherhood and homeschooling is particularly challenging sometimes because you try to see your results through the behavior of other people, right? You think, well, I'm a good mom if my kids do this. I'm a good homeschool parent if my kids are doing this. And that's not how life works. Like kids just do what they're going to do. And so if we're constantly getting our value out of how our kids are behaving or how they're performing in their schoolwork,
00:16:13
Speaker
We're going to be setting ourselves up to be pretty miserable. And so I think that's one place that coaching has come in super helpful for me as well. So I love that. That's awesome. Okay. So you mentioned a conference and we want to know more about this. As homeschoolers, things like getting together with other homeschool families is kind of a big thing. So tell us more about Educate and Rejuvenate. Tell us about your conference.
00:16:35
Speaker
Yeah. So this will be our second summer doing the big main event, which is going to be a lot of fun. So what we do is we get a couple of keynotes. We're like really big names you probably heard of. We're really excited. We have Christina Kuzmaj. Have you heard of her before?
00:16:51
Speaker
She is incredible. She's the author of Hold On But Don't Hold Still. She has almost 3 million Facebook followers. She's so funny. She does a tour called Hope and Humor. I saw her in person, and she's just so good. I've met her twice at her shows. I had her sign my book, so take a picture. She's just so humble and sweet and down to earth. But then we also have
00:17:14
Speaker
Tons of amazing speakers. And we have a teacher track and a parent track. And Bonnie is one of our teachers on the parent track. We're so excited about that. So you can just stick to the parent one if you want, or you can venture over to some of the teacher one. Or if you're bold, you're not limited to one. You can pick and choose from either one.
00:17:35
Speaker
Even looking over the teacher titles, I'm like, oh, a lot of these homeschoolers could benefit from too, especially if you're homeschooling and not just like parent, like, you know, parent who sends their kids to school, but if you homeschool, like you're really going to find this conference very beneficial because there's a lot of teaching skills, but then there's also like burnout. There's, I'm going to be doing some coaching there. We have workouts that we start the morning with. So it really is just like kind of a full on all encompassing event for there's two days of the main event, but then you have 10 days to watch.
00:18:05
Speaker
the pre-recorded sessions. Okay, so two days of all these awesome events, and it's all virtual, right? So you get access to it and you can watch it for 10 days. That's so amazing. So tell me this, if I'm a homeschool parent coming to Educate and Rejuvenate, what should I come prepared to learn about or to take away?
00:18:22
Speaker
So I feel like you can kind of come, you can kind of set your goal for what you want to come in for. For sure it's like tackling burnout mindset strategies, setting your intention for the new school year, a lot of that. But then also you can come in and be like, I want to learn, like I wouldn't try to do too much because then you might overwhelm yourself. But like, I want to learn some skills for teaching writing or for math or whatever. And you could come in and you could find a session that has to do with that. Or even like social emotional learning for kids. We have several of those. If it's like, there's something new I want to bring into my homeschool,
00:18:51
Speaker
Like you could kind of pick which sessions are going to help you accomplish that. And on the sales page, if you click on each person's picture, you can see what their session is. So where do people go to be able to look at the teachers and what they're teaching? So that will be on the sales page for the event, which you too have a special link for that. So I'll let you put that in the show notes. We will include our link in the show notes so you guys can go check it out. Remind us how much it is, Kelsey.
00:19:19
Speaker
So it's $19, which is a lot less than most any other teacher or homeschooling conference. Literally any other conference. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Or even just to see one of these keynotes. Like to see Christina, you'd pay up to $75. And then you get all of these other speakers and the workouts. And there's life coaching, which is very valuable. A great way to see what coaching is because we'll be doing that at the event as well.
00:19:43
Speaker
That is a great value for homeschoolers. That's an amazing value. You know how homeschoolers, we like to save money where we can. Oh, for sure.
Advice for New and Veteran Homeschoolers
00:19:52
Speaker
I love that you're including humor because like you say, it's just a hard job. Parenting is a hard job period. If you're going to be teaching your children at the same time, it is going to be extra difficult. It's going to be extra rewarding as well, but it's going to be extra difficult as well.
00:20:07
Speaker
All right, so let's go back to homeschooling just a little bit and I wanna ask you what tips and encouragement you would give to someone who is either brand new to homeschooling or maybe considering it and just feeling like really overwhelmed.
00:20:21
Speaker
Yeah, I feel like there's so much that goes into homeschooling that a lot of us try when we start homeschooling like, okay, I need to do all the things now I want to do this and I want to do that and I want to do this and that and I need to be doing all of it perfectly. And I think the thing is really just focusing on what's most important, which is like, you know, that bonding experience with your kids, teaching them like math, language arts or whatever it is.
00:20:46
Speaker
And that you can always like change or improve things. Like don't get too hung up on which curriculum you're using because you can always change that. Or like, Oh, I could have like taught this better. Like again, you, if you're going to be homeschooling and you have years of doing it, you have time to figure out the ways you like to do things and you'll get in a rhythm and you'll, you'll get there. But for now, just focus on, you know, that time with your kids, teaching them,
00:21:09
Speaker
And then each day you can just kind of be like, okay, what went well today? What do I want to improve? And just a little bit, a little bit at a time you can improve and get better. Don't like go on Pinterest and be like, I need to do absolutely everything here right now. Or that is when you're going to get overwhelmed. So just kind of believe in yourself, have that self-confidence that even if like you don't have like something external, some external result to connect to it yet, because you're just starting, that's okay. You can believe in yourself and your abilities to do it and know that you're going to figure it out.
00:21:40
Speaker
Oh, I love that. So, so helpful. Okay. So, Kelsey, last question. The homeschool parents that have been going for a while, do you see different issues for them? We talked about those that are getting started or considering it. What about those of us that are veterans and maybe losing steam?
00:21:55
Speaker
Yeah, because I think a lot of times we tend to beat ourselves up when things aren't going because we're like, Oh, I figured this out. Like, you know, I should know this by now. I think we like should on ourselves a lot more. We're like, or my kids like should be to this level or we should be doing this. And like, we can tend to be like judgmental of ourselves because we're like, well, I'm a veteran homeschooler.
00:22:15
Speaker
And now things this yeah, and I think also like Adapting is things change because like you might get set into a routine and like oh this is working really well But then things change with your family like your kids grow or whatever and sometimes you need to adapt like sometimes you need to be a bit more flexible than others and sometimes your schedule is going to change and Sometimes you might have less time for school in a season than you did during other seasons and I think it's just recognizing the season that you're in with homeschooling and
00:22:45
Speaker
just accepting it and knowing that it is a season, it will change again. Whether it's like, oh, it's smooth sailing right now or it's not, it's always a season and it's going to change. So I think it's just continuing to roll with those punches as they come and knowing that as long as you are still developing that relationship with your kids and teaching them what they need to know to be able to go to college or do what it is they need to do in their future.
00:23:14
Speaker
that they're going to be just fine. They're going to find their way. So that's what I would have to say to veteran homeschoolers.
Conference Promotion and Resource Highlights
00:23:21
Speaker
Yeah, there is so much power in just that confidence, right? That it's all going to be okay. And one of the reasons that we chose to homeschool is because we have more freedom to do what feels right for us and for our kids. And then it might not be, it won't be the same today as what they need in six months or in a year or in two years. We just get to
00:23:36
Speaker
kind of go with the flow, which is really, really powerful. So I am so glad that you came on. We're both so glad that you're here. Give us one last chance to sign up for your conference. Where do we go? Yes. Well, that link, you'll put that in the show notes, right? Yep. So they get your special link. So make sure to use their link if you heard about it on this podcast.
00:23:55
Speaker
Um, but yeah, it's going to be a great time. We'd love to see you there. And then I also have a podcast called wife, teacher, mommy, the podcast. So can find me over there too. Yeah. And then remind us where you are. Is it wife, teacher, mommy.com? People want to come see your resources. Awesome. Because she has so much great, great, great stuff there. If you're a homeschool parent or a teacher, or you know, someone who is, please send them over there. So thanks so much for coming on the show. Kelsey, we'll talk to you soon. Okay. Thank you for having me.
00:24:23
Speaker
Thanks for listening friends. Click the link in the show notes to subscribe to our email and never miss another episode. Show us some love by leaving a review on iTunes or sharing the podcast with a friend. Thanks for all your support. We'll talk to you next week.