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Well, Hannah, welcome to the Ex Homeschoolers Club. I'm so excited to be chatting with you today.
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>> We've known each other for a long time. Um, I just had your sister Stephanie on
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the podcast not that long ago. I don't know when this is coming out, but it it's somewhere in that mix.
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>> So, audience, if you haven't heard Stephanie's interview, go back and
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listen to it and uh you get a little bit more of a picture of the Gibbons household with with Stephanie's takes as
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well. But Hannah, I'm stoked >> to chat with you today. We've known each
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other a long time. I think we met We were just talking. I think we met at Aana, I think, was kind of the the
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beginning. >> Way back way back. >> I Yeah, we would have been grade school
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probably. >> Yeah. >> Junior high. >> When did you start Aana? Like what? Um
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>> level were you like a cub? A cubby? >> I don't think I was a cubby. I think I
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was a Sparky. Oh, yeah. >> Is that what they were called? Like >> Yeah. Yeah. Sparky. It's like a little
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um What was he a Not a dragonfly. >> What was Sparky? Uh >> was he a Firefly?
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>> Firefly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Firefly. >> Yeah. I just remember like the colors.
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Like I remember like blue was like the youngest group and then it was red and then green and then
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>> and then blue. But then it changed. >> It It did change. Yeah, it did change
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because then later I I worked at an Aana and I was like I wore a gray shirt and I
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was like I don't know what this means. Like >> oh >> I was like this isn't fun. Need a fun
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color. But um yeah, if you if Yeah. If people don't know what a wana is, go look it up. It was like it's like Boy
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Scouts and Girl Scouts mixed with like >> vacation Bible school and memorization
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of scripture >> and games, I guess. >> Pretty much. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I
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loved the games. >> The games still rock to this day. >> I always Yeah, I those were so fun.
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>> Yeah, >> I I really enjoyed Wana. >> Oh, yeah. Me, too. I look back on it
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very fondly. I met most of my homeschool friends from the Ohigh Valley at Aana. >> I took it real serious. I'm like,
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>> "Same." >> Like the like Aana store was like >> what I looked forward to like every
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year, dude. >> Yeah. No, same >> same. But um but yeah, but I mean we
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lived like couple streets away from each other and like I feel like throughout our homeschool experience like different
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members of your family were constantly at my house, constant I was constantly at your house. Like we our our lives
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just overlapped quite a bit. Like we ended up we didn't go to prom together,
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but we went in the same group of people. >> Yeah. And >> yeah, we did so many things together.
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>> Exactly. So there's just there's a lot of history there, I guess, is what I'm
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getting at. >> No, totally. I know we um I was talking about uh uh what's it uh Masters in Disguise that
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movie and like I it like drew me back to immediately like being at your house like watching movies and just like I
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don't know it was just fun. So yeah. No, we totally do. >> No, there's like Yeah, exact like I said
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there's just so much I think history there of just like Yeah, even just like
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stuff like that. Just hanging out at each other's houses and like not even homechool related stuff. And we were in
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so many different homeschool like activities like outside like >> Yes, >> we were in we did dances, we did plays,
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we did >> we were both we did there it is. That's what it is. Yep. >> We were that
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>> Yeah. When I had Stephanie on um >> experience, >> she made a joke about how she was like
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she was like I missed that. I missed the mime. She was like pre mime era. she like just squeezed like she dismissed it
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like well so did my other sister too but well to be like I it wasn't something
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that I was like really wanting to be like I never heard of the mind team or anything and then
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one day my mom took me to the first mind meeting and she just basically was like
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oh yeah here go like I remember she gave me this hu it was like one of those humongous Bibles
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like like a like just this fatty Bible she probably just picked off like the shelf like oh you're supposed to bring a
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Bible so here and I'm just walking into this place. I had no idea. I was just
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like >> here I am. But I remember afterwards when I went in the car I was like that
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was pretty cool. >> The mimes was a good time. I mean it was like very much like
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>> I mean we were we were mimes for Jesus so obviously like there a lot of lot of
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Christian songs. There was the Bible study aspect of it and things like that, but again, it was just
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>> it was Yeah. >> friends and like all of us were kind of like theater geeks and like
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>> we just like being goofy and silly and like it was just that I don't know. I I
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think that gave us a lot of >> it fulfilled that need I think for a lot of us. Um
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>> totally. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was a community for us and uh >> Yeah. where we met. Um it was good.
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Yeah. >> How long did you do that? Because I only did it for three years. I feel like I
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did it for a lifetime, but I only ended up three years in there. >> I did it for like I think like eight
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years. Like a solid chunk of my life was um being a mime. I I Yeah, probably around
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eight or nine mime years. >> Nice. So So when I think of myself as a pro that I'm like, "Okay, no, Hannah
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Hannah's actually like a pro at mime." Yeah, she can. Yeah. So if you if you
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run into Hannah, ask her to put you in a box. Ask her >> ask me all the things that's they love
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to ask like, >> oh no. >> Yeah. Or not. Or maybe that's too much
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religious trauma that we need to expel from our >> Yeah, >> we can we
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>> No, it was No, it was good. There was a lot of good and a lot of not so good. But it was
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>> yeah, >> it was a mind team. like what do you I mean >> it's a time it's a period of time in our
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lives that I think it's it's funny because all the people who I've had on
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or have just had conversations behind the scenes about our MIME experience for the most part most of us agree on the
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fact that we're like there's a lot of negative with the mime team but the just
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the like the hanging out the like the actual like >> creativity the creative part of it and
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just like doing something that was interesting with dance and I mean learning how to be silent and tell a
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story like >> Yeah. >> very interesting things >> that most people don't get to ever
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experience like I you know I >> it's a very unique >> Exactly. And it's one of those things
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you get to keep in your back pocket for like when you're at having a conversation with somebody and you're
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like you need a unique fact about yourself. If you're like, "Oh, yeah. I
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also was a mime." Just like >> I normally you like Yeah. for like a two truths and a lie.
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>> I'll use that one sometimes cuz it's like what the heck? Like mine.
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>> Who expects that, right? >> Yeah. Yeah. You don't see me and think
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mine. >> Yeah. >> So, yeah. >> Or maybe you do. I don't know.
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>> Don't know what that says. >> I do. But that's I mean that's cuz what
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that's I know you >> that that's that's just it's in our DNA
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at this point. Yeah. >> I've just accepted it, you know. >> Yeah.
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>> Well, let's talk a little bit about like your homeschool experience. Were you
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homeschooled all the way through beginning to end? >> Yep. Yeah, I was um all through high
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school, same with um the rest of my siblings. Um so, yeah, pretty the whole the whole
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thing. >> Okay. >> And then I went to community college after, but >> Okay. So, let's talk about like maybe
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your idea of what like a day in the life at the home at the at the Gibbons homeschool house like
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>> Oh my god. >> Was there I mean Stephanie was like it was kind of chaotic. There was never
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just a set anything but like I I don't know. She's also one of the older ones.
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You you're on the younger side of of the six of you guys. Like >> was there ever
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>> structure or was it always chaos? Uh, I'd say like toward like the be
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beginning, like the early years, I feel like there was a little bit more. Um, but overall it was a pretty chaotic
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like experience. Um, my parents, I think, had this vision of what they like wanted their family and
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their life to be. And it was like homeschooled kids, raised Christian. Um, like if my mom had her
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like ultimate dream, I I swear we would been Amish. And like she tried like to implement that like when she could.
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>> That's funny because I remember my sister coming going to your house for
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like promiseke keepers I think is what it was called. >> Oh my gosh. Yeah. Oh, I haven't thought
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about that in a long time. >> Yeah. And like I don't remember if you guys wore costume. I mean in the home
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school world there was obviously like we did wear costumes and bonnets and Yeah.
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All that kind of stuff. I think we did like quilt like um we would like make patches of quilts and
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like put them together or something. I don't that's like I have such little
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memory but that did bring something back though. Yeah. >> Kind of that like
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very traditional like you were saying like Amish kind of view like there was definitely a lot of that in the
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homeschool world of like most of the girls knew how to sew, >> most of them knew how to cook.
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>> Mhm. The dresses and skirts thing is a whole another can of worms. Like I know
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you weren't required to wear dresses and skirts, but like a lot of our school
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dances and school events like good girls had a very strict dress code and the guys we kind of
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>> got to wear whatever. So >> yeah. Yeah. But yeah, so I think they
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just um had this dream. I feel like it was maybe a little more of my mom's and my dad
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like kind of just went along with it, but it didn't really seem like something
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that he was really passionate about. But um but yeah, we never had like real structure when it came to like
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our schooling. It was um I kind of just felt like whenever she felt like it. Um and then like later on um
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like her and my dad just had like a very difficult marriage. So, I think that that just um kind of became
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like her priority and then it just I don't know it just felt like you know we
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kind of just dwindled off like the teaching like it kind of just >> basically stopped like she was um
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you know and at the time you know as a kid you're you don't really think about
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the like consequences of like the future you know you're just kind like you do
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you don't want to do school, you know? So, like when I had my mom basically like at one point she was kind of like
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if you want to learn like go ahead and learn like here are some books like you could look up stuff like if you want to
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basically like it's it's in your hands. Um if you want to like pass any of this
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like I'm kind of like burnt done. Um, and yeah, as a kid I'm kind of like,
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okay, then yeah, no, I'm not going to do that. Um, I would rather go like hang
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with my friends or do whatever. Um, and then it was in like throughout high school, I would
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have just these panicked times of just like I don't know anything. And I like would
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try my best to like teach myself, but it wasn't practical. I didn't it just
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didn't work. And um I really struggled a lot like in school and high school and
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um throughout my life even until today. like it's um something that I can look back and um it makes me upset
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because I'm I feel like it like failed me in a way that like I wasn't really set up for
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success and um I know a lot of it you know is you know everyone's responsible
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for themselves and all that like I don't like completely blame everything. But um
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sometime, you know, it's kind of hard because it's like I'm having to put in so much extra work now
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because of like the lack of education that I had growing up. Um and so that's yeah, that's kind of uh
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what I mean when I kind of say like I feel like homeschooling kind of did me dirty. The hope, right, of homeschooling
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is like your parent or your parents are committed to like, hey, like we're going
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to educate you. Like that that's kind of that that when you when you dive into the reasons that people
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homeschool, a lot of it is like they don't, you know, they don't trust the
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public school system or they think they can do better and they want to educate their kids on the things that they want
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to educate them on. >> But like what you're talking about is like your mom Yeah. maybe having some of
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that at a at a period of like, okay, hey, like we're going to study these things and this is what I want to teach
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you. But you're saying by the end it's like she's just like, well, if you want
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to learn something, you just like go do it. >> Well, it's their job to teach you how to
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learn, like how to go research those things. Like, you know, >> my parents encouraged like if I was into
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something, they're like, "Okay, yeah, go study that, go whatever." But there was
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also still a lot of like, "Well, you're also going to do XYZ. There's math,
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there's science, there's all these different things. If they were not pushing me to do those,
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I was not I'm with you. I Why the heck would I want to go study that stuff? That's boring to me. That's like when am
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I ever going to use that? I would much rather learn about like >> pirates and history and like
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>> whatever else like how to build something in my backyard because that was like
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>> good for me. And so >> so I don't blame you. I don't blame you
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for being mad about that because like you're you're that's very valid feeling
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for sure. Is there a point when you kind of like realized or maybe were more verbal of
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just the fact that you're like, "Okay, like this failed me, like this was not
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good." Or did you kind of know even back then? >> I I feel like I've felt that way for a
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long time just because I've spent my like cold childhood up until like now just feeling I I just feel like
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incredibly dumb. like I just I like just always felt behind and um just not caught up with everyone else and um and
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like I always knew that and I would I just try to like hide it from everyone, you know, like I can appear that I kind
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of know what I'm doing. Um, but so yeah, it wasn't maybe an exact moment, but I
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always felt that growing up and never really had like huge hopes for like the future cuz I
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just like well I'm just I'm just not smart um in that way. Well, I'm
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wondering like you brought up like you went to college so like was college like tough because you were like okay like I
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don't know what the hell I'm doing like and now I have to play catchup. >> Yeah. So I went to uh city college for a
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couple years. cuz I never graduated. But um the like my first year going was I had so much anxiety and fear like I
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was like this was a school and like there's you know it I was really scared like my first um
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semester going and I um really struggled there too. And what was really hard for me is that like I
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desperately like wanted to learn like I really like wanted to do good but I just
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didn't. I mean in in in some things like I um did well in like um certain subjects but like
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I really struggled. >> Yeah. Well, school's like building blocks, right? Like if you like I think
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about math all the time because like one one of your sisters and I did math together for a long time and like
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>> and and she's a little older than and than than I am but like you know we were
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at the same point in our math like kind of a thing and we had to learn those building blocks together of like I don't
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think we necessarily needed like addition subtraction but like we were like multiplica we did multiplication
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tables together we did division we did fractions we did all of that stuff and it was all these
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building blocks that got us to like, okay, hey, like I can do math. Like I can buy paint for a room and like
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understand the math that goes into that. I can bake >> a sheet of brownies and understand like,
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oh, I need to double the recipe. Like how do you do that when it's fractions
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kind of a deal like very practical use cases for that kind of stuff. >> But like it's all building blocks of
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like to get to that point. You don't just like drop in and it's just like oh
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here you go. But I can imagine that like in college because there was classes even for me in college that I was like
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science in particular I was like I have no concept of like what is going on right now. Like I was like I feel so
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behind. >> Yeah. Where do you turn to then like learn that? Or is it just a like okay
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like I'm going to give up and like do something else that like I'm good in
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these areas so like let me just pursue those areas or has there been a desire in you to be like okay hey like I
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actually kind of want to figure this out like I know I'm bad at it and like let
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me go back to elementary school and like some ways and be like let me just like actually
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>> get the basic building blocks I need to like learn this now. It's funny because
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so because I uh currently work at an elementary school and it's just um funny
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because sometimes I'll be in classes and I'm like, "Oh, okay. Oh, yeah. I like
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>> you're taking notes in the back learning." Yeah. No, for real. I'm
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supposed to be there helping them and I'm like, >> "Oh, yeah. This is good stuff." Um I
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feel like more recently I have have had like a new desire to like learn and expand like my knowledge in these
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subject or just like new things too. Um but for like yeah when I was out of school like I had no desire
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to like learn anything. I just my only thought was like like what can I do? Like what do I know how to do? And at
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the time I was working at a coffee shop and then there was an opportunity to buy
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it. So I was um it was something I really liked and I'm happy I did. But a big part of
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taking that job was just like what else am I going to like I don't know how to
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do anything else. Like it was kind of a little bit out of fear of well if this is it like feel like this is it like
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this has to be what I do. But then now like switching careers into this, it's
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like I can also do this and I'm really good at it and I actually like I love it and like I um it really helped
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me to kind of get a little confidence in like maybe I can do other things and like learn other things. I wanted to ask
00:20:40
you too because like when we chatted before like you had brought up like kind of learning like you know we're we're
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both like 30 now like but kind of finding out like you're neurody divergent. You've got some like
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>> your brain is wired differently which is like very stereotypical homeschool kid.
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Like we all got kind of like weird things that kick around in there, right? But like now like learning that when
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you're 30 like that's a big that's a big life shift of like holy crap like
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>> maybe answers questions but also like raises other questions. So like can you
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talk a little bit about like that and like what >> why did you do that and then like
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>> what what have you kind of learned from that? Yeah, I um never really thought I was and I um would have maybe
00:21:31
little like inklings of like of it or um like my mom is diagnosed. So like I but I never really pursued to like get
00:21:44
assessed or anything. Um, but I started therapy this year and pretty soon like within a few sessions
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like she's like, "Yeah, I think you're a little near spicy here." Like she she
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like could pretty much tell. And um it took me a while and I'm still kind of in
00:22:08
this like accepting that I do have um ADHD and it's totally like just thrown like the curtain or lifted
00:22:21
the veil or like it really made me look at my life like a whole new way. And it's been really weird and like
00:22:32
but also really um cool in a way of like just learning about myself. Like I feel like I'm just
00:22:41
kind of meeting myself in a in a way. And um it's weird though because yeah, now
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looking back at like my homeschool journey, it's like I struggled so much because of right the
00:23:01
lack of teaching and everything, but I also struggled because I'm different and
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I often would wish like that I was put in school. So then cuz there's people there who would see
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that and um get me help or like help me learn in like a different way, you know,
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try different things and um so it's it's kind of like a mix because I can
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now look back and be like maybe I like wasn't so much the problem and just like
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this dumb person, but cuz I just struggled with many basic things like daily struggles
00:23:50
and really just felt down. Um, and now I can see that like I it's really just because
00:24:00
like you said like I'm just wired different and need help in different ways that were never met. And
00:24:08
but there's also kind of the like so it's yeah revealing and helpful in that way
00:24:16
but also it like >> kind of makes me feel like I'm starting at like ground zero. Like I you know I
00:24:24
have to kind of learn how to >> live with this from from here on. And you know, it's encouraging me because
00:24:31
now I have tools and like ways to cope and learn. Um, but yeah, it's been like a
00:24:44
a weird experience, but it's been overall good and I'm I am happy that I
00:24:50
know and it really kind of you just are like, "Whoa, this makes sense." And
00:24:54
that's the thing that really was weird. She'd just say things and I'd be like,
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"How how do you know that?" She's like, "Girl, this is textbook.
00:25:00
>> This is like and I'm like, "Oh my god." Like, and it was also just really cool.
00:25:06
Like, therapy has just completely changed my life. Like, I recommend therapy if you're able to um to anyone.
00:25:15
It's like um yeah, shout out to my therapist, please. So, um, >> I was gonna ask, are there any like I I
00:25:24
I don't know if coping mechanism is the right term, but like I call like the
00:25:27
things that I do and like have learned about myself like I have my little like coping mechanisms where I'm like, okay,
00:25:33
I operate this way and like now I'm learning this way of like like you were talking about like looking back at like
00:25:42
>> you can be kind of upset because like okay, childhood me was for for me I have
00:25:47
like some emotional stunted Like I struggle to cry. I struggle to be emotional. I just like become a brick
00:25:53
wall. And like so like I can look back and like at kid me and be like I needed a hug and I needed like whatever. And
00:26:01
like and that that like no shade to my parents cuz like they did love me. Like it's it's
00:26:06
>> some other stuff that happened. But >> but like now as adult like I'm like okay
00:26:10
like I can hug myself. I can like do these things that like it's okay to cry.
00:26:15
It's okay to feel this way. like and like just unpack it a little bit more. And so I guess what I mean by that is
00:26:23
like I have my coping mechanisms now where like I know when I get overwhelmed and I'm like, "Okay, I'm feeling
00:26:27
emotional and I'm putting that brick wall up. I know, okay, I need to journal. I need to like I record my
00:26:33
thoughts. I like do whatever the little things are. I give myself a hug. I like,
00:26:37
you know, have a weighted blanket or like whatever the thing is. It's like that's like the thing that I'm like,
00:26:42
"Okay, go to that. That's going to help me now." Have you found anything like
00:26:47
that where you're just like you're like, "Oh my gosh, like I wish I would have
00:26:50
known this as a kid where you're like this would have just like helped or like
00:26:54
or maybe it's even things that you have already just been doing for most of your
00:26:57
lifetime that you're like, "Okay, I didn't know that that was a coping
00:27:00
mechanism, but now it makes sense." I think something that I struggle with is um I get
00:27:11
insanely like frustrated and mad at myself like for not doing something right or like
00:27:19
something I should have done like yesterday and didn't like I will get just like so upset at myself and will
00:27:26
just like when I was younger like I would I would just have so many breakdowns basically is what I would like. I would
00:27:38
just get so overwhelmed with like anger and like emotion and just like really just feeling um like over
00:27:47
stimulated really and I would just be like frustrated at everything and it would turn into a huge meltdown like
00:27:57
I've um but I've been able to kind of like kind of like what you said like you feel
00:28:05
it coming or like you can the signs. Um I like through therapy would try to work
00:28:13
on it and she'd be like, "Okay, you know, you're a little kid and you're having
00:28:19
like you're not doing something right and you something's going to lead to a
00:28:25
meltdown or whatever." She's like, "What would you tell your she know she always
00:28:29
does the like you know you go back in time or you know you can tell younger you like what would you actually want
00:28:38
someone to like save you or what or help you?" And for a long time I'd be like I
00:28:42
can't say anything like I you know um but the thing that I do now is like I basically just convince myself I'm
00:28:57
okay. That sounds like kind of basic, but um you know, you're just like, you know, you can tell yourself like I'm
00:29:07
safe, like I'm okay, and like you're not making a mistake, >> right?
00:29:14
>> Um I'm still really like working on like different um coping, but something that's also helped me are like
00:29:23
fidgets. like just having like I have just like extra energy and it does help me a lot. Like I have one
00:29:33
that's um the one that helps me the best are like the it's called like little
00:29:38
ouchies or something. It's like this thing with like the little >> Yeah.
00:29:42
>> spikes. And like cuz if I'm feeling just like like I get so overwhelmed and like
00:29:52
just extremely overstimulated that I'm like I will just squeeze that thing so
00:29:56
hardcore and it has a spinny thing on the top. It's so good and I'll just and
00:30:00
it it that that helps me too. So, um yeah, these aren't like groundbreaking things, but like I'm still um learning
00:30:09
how to deal with it. And just I think honestly just the awareness of it is like the huge like the biggest step is
00:30:15
just being aware of like okay what's happening like I'm feeling this way why
00:30:21
or you know like can kind of zoom out a little bit and be like >> okay no we can do this like
00:30:28
>> and just yeah I don't know >> well especially when it's like getting
00:30:31
upset over like something dumb right like >> oh my god >> for me like it could be like oh I was
00:30:36
supposed to do laundry yesterday or like I you know it's the end of the day and
00:30:39
I'm like, shoot, I didn't like do this thing. It's like, okay, do it tomorrow.
00:30:44
It's like not the end of the world, right? Like, so sometimes it's it's it's
00:30:47
one thing if it's like, okay, I was supposed to pay my taxes today and like I really was supposed to pay my taxes
00:30:51
today, right? Then it's like you can kind of beat yourself up over that, but
00:30:54
like um >> but yeah, like something dumb like the laundry, you know, it's like that
00:30:58
doesn't warrant >> just a complete meltdown. >> And so learning that kind of like that
00:31:04
regulation of like, okay, it's okay. like you said, like being able to tell yourself like it's okay. Like I I missed
00:31:10
it. Like it's not a big deal. It'll be there tomorrow, >> you know? And like I think about like
00:31:16
when I was a kid, like my cuz I also like we get frustrated and I get angry and like you know a lot of my friends
00:31:23
never saw that side of me. But like when I get angry frustrated like I would just
00:31:27
like go mow the lawn. Like my lawn was always mowed. If you came to the house it was always
00:31:33
>> Yeah. Like I I'm sure that Caitlyn can attest to like there were times when I'm
00:31:37
just like I you know she'd come up and I'd be like I'd be like hello and I'm
00:31:43
going to go mow the lawn now and like she you know and it was just that was the thing like you were talking about
00:31:48
like it's that extra energy and it's just like get it out of the body as
00:31:52
quickly as possible. >> Yeah. >> What's nice now as adults is like also
00:31:56
there are other ways to do that that it's like not doesn't always have to be
00:31:59
super physical. like you can just kind of like I said like it for me it can be writing or it can be speaking my stuff
00:32:05
out or whatever and it's just like >> so it's just getting that >> you got to get rid of it because it is
00:32:11
energy and it's just like you got to get rid of it and then >> you do >> take a breath
00:32:17
>> move on right >> other things too that like just to prevent like possible things from happening like
00:32:25
I found out that I'm pretty um Like with clothing, I'm um I get like weird I have like sensory issues
00:32:36
with like my clothing a lot. And if I kind of have something on that's irritating me like throughout the day
00:32:44
like right like if I'm wearing all day like I'm going to be pretty pissed by
00:32:48
the I mean like >> Yeah. It's got that ramp up effect of like the end of the day. Yeah. It's not
00:32:52
going to be pretty. >> Yeah. So just or like stuff like that too. just um but yeah, no, I'm I really only
00:33:05
let's see I I forget when I started therapy, but it's it's been maybe like
00:33:09
five months. >> Okay. >> Now, um so still kind of like figuring it out, but I couldn't actually say
00:33:18
the sentence like I have ADHD for like a long time. Like I felt like I don't know
00:33:25
why I felt like a fraud. I was like, I don't know. I don't like, are you sure?
00:33:29
Like, I don't, you know, I um and it's just so weird to like live your whole
00:33:37
life one way and then you're like, no, I was actually a whole different way trying to live in a different way and it
00:33:45
just Yeah. But it's been um real insightful and I'm like, >> yeah,
00:33:50
>> I'm excited to like learn more about it. But >> so did you do like an actual like test
00:33:56
for that? Cuz I know that there's some like neuro test sometimes the therapist
00:34:00
just kind of is like you're showing all the signs kind of a thing. >> I've only been diagnosed from my
00:34:07
therapist who but she like specializes in neurode divergent. Um, but like I haven't like done like the assessment,
00:34:16
you know, like >> so that and there's also like that too of like well should I wait till I get
00:34:22
like the full thing to really like try to accept that but I already know I do like right
00:34:31
you know so I and it's expensive also like it's you know so at this moment I'm
00:34:38
like I'm okay with just knowing that and then maybe maybe someday it's something I'd probably like
00:34:46
to do but um >> I think about like so like I'm pretty neurotypical um but like
00:34:56
>> you know I think you know and I I I sometimes say the thing of like oh I had
00:35:01
my ADHD moment or whatever you know it's like I I know that I'm not ADHD like I
00:35:06
don't have a lot of the symptoms of it >> but >> growing up around so many home kids who
00:35:11
like whether they were diagnosed, undiagnosed, like we grew up around so many people that that is the way that
00:35:17
they operate. And so I think it's kind of an interesting thing of like those people can still feel so alone in
00:35:28
the like I'm the only one feeling this way. I don't know if you ever felt that
00:35:32
way, but like like you're alone on an island of like this is how I feel and like the reality is
00:35:39
>> you were not alone. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Like and like you said with your
00:35:44
therapist of like her of your therapist basically being like uh yeah so you know
00:35:49
this and this and this and this and you being like how do you know all this stuff about me? It's like well because
00:35:52
that's like >> it's studied. There's a lot of people who have that
00:35:56
>> you know. Does that make it easier to like kind of deal with it being like,
00:36:00
"Okay, I'm not alone in this anymore." >> No, it totally didn't because she also
00:36:04
was telling me she's like the majority of people like are neurody divergent.
00:36:09
Like there's a lot of people who do um that it's but it's just not like known
00:36:15
or talked about or like you you think you know but like or you think you know what it looks like
00:36:23
and is but it's like it's such everything's like such a spectrum and
00:36:27
it's like not everyone's diagnosis is going to look like someone else's like and there could be many
00:36:36
similarities and then different like right >> so it did make me feel um it did make me
00:36:42
feel better because I I didn't feel like just so dumb. I'm like, "Oh, no."
00:36:50
Like this is just how my brain is and there are other people who who are the same as me and do good in
00:36:59
life and or who are like awesome PE, you know, it doesn't m So, so yeah. No, I
00:37:03
think it I think it definitely did help me. I think there's a pressure. There was a pressure in our homeschool
00:37:11
community of like homeschool kids are also like smarter. We like we're better
00:37:17
we're better than public school kids. Maybe maybe not than private school kids, but like public school kids we're
00:37:23
we're smarter. We got it figured out a little bit more. Maybe like for me I was
00:37:27
like my learning style is like my parents cater to that learning style. to my sister like her school experience, my
00:37:34
school experience very different because they were catered to our learning styles.
00:37:38
But like again I but I remember hearing that messaging of like well we're smarter.
00:37:45
We're you know we're going to go do bigger things, better things. And then
00:37:48
like when I got to college and realized like oh my gosh everybody I know went to
00:37:51
public school and they're like so much smarter than me. I was like I'm an
00:37:57
idiot. like and and I was like I I you know I can you know I can name off all the books of the Bible and like I can
00:38:03
you know talk about whatever but like I I just there was there was moments where
00:38:07
I was just like I I'm I'm legitimately the dumbest person in the world and like
00:38:13
and even in the homeschool community there were kids that were really smart and I felt really stupid like I felt
00:38:18
like a poser among them of just like I'm dumb compared to you. >> Yeah. Oh my god. I totally know. I
00:38:25
totally know how you feel because I I felt like that around mostly everyone. I I um
00:38:34
I Yeah, I just felt like everyone homeschooled was like smart. Like all my friends were smarter
00:38:42
than me. And um but no, that is like interesting. Yeah. To go and then kind of opens your eyes of like maybe we're
00:38:50
not the best. Maybe public school isn't like so terrible. >> May Yeah, maybe not.
00:38:58
>> I also know like my parents just didn't want me to go to public school
00:39:03
mainly for like you know um possibly like falling away from God and like I feel like that was
00:39:13
more of like their purpose in like homeschooling us rather than like your education. It's really interesting
00:39:21
because one of the things that I'm learning through doing this show in particular and like meeting all these
00:39:28
people is like now I'm also meeting current homeschool families. And what I find so interesting about my
00:39:35
conversations with them is I immediately go to well why are you doing this? Like
00:39:40
I that is my that is my biggest ask of all of them. And some of them it's, you
00:39:45
know, like I've met a lot of families now who they RV and they travel the world and the country like all the time.
00:39:51
And so they're like, well, we want our kids with us, so we have to homeschool
00:39:56
them because we're just on the road all the time. >> But the way that they view homeschooling
00:40:00
is very different. Like the homeschooling experiences that you and I grew up in, our parents chose all of our
00:40:05
curriculum. They, you know, we were essentially a private school. Um, but everything came through and was filtered
00:40:12
through our parents. There's a lot of people who view homeschooling as just like, oh well, it's public education,
00:40:19
but like we just do it at home and it's all online and they get sent the textbooks and everything like that. And
00:40:24
mom and dad really have not they don't have as much say over the everyday curriculum. They have more of a say of
00:40:30
the extracurriculars and like we're going to go to these museums and we're
00:40:33
going to go experience nature together. And so I say that to say like the people's why is so different than like
00:40:41
>> I think a lot of our >> our parents why >> right like like I think a lot of the the
00:40:46
families in the the achieve oh high group that we grew up in their their why was whether it was religion or I can do
00:40:54
it better than the public school but a lot of it some of it was kind of geared out of this like fear and a little bit
00:41:00
of this control of like hey if my kid goes to public school like they're going
00:41:04
to fall away from God, they're going to they're going to walk away from religion, you know, all these types of
00:41:08
things where, like I was saying, now I'm meeting parents where I'm like, no, they
00:41:12
actually like the the reason they want to homeschool their kid is more of like they actually
00:41:18
have the education that they can teach their kid better than public school or they want to take them on these grand
00:41:24
experiences that well, yeah, of course you would want to you would want to homeschool your kid or give them an
00:41:29
opportunity to do that. >> Um, and so I just think it's different. It's just like very there is still like
00:41:36
so many people who are like very religion based and I'm like okay like >> maybe let's think about some other
00:41:40
things really quick before we go down that path. >> But >> no it doesn't mean that like yeah
00:41:46
homeschooling is like yeah you're doomed to fail. Um it's just I think yeah where
00:41:52
you like the reason for going into it I think are like important and then to follow through with it really
00:42:04
>> is huge. Um >> we grew up in a bubble like like if we really like look at it
00:42:10
>> such a bubble. Yeah. It it's it was such an interesting it's an interesting thing
00:42:16
to break away from because like there's a lot of there's a lot of the positive
00:42:24
moments of like we talked about like just being at each other's houses and like we had friends like we kind we were
00:42:30
socialized homeschoolers which is like a that's a positive. >> I know they're all shocked.
00:42:36
>> Yeah. They're like oh you can actually hold the conversation. Um you're
00:42:39
actually interesting. Um but so like we had that aspect down but it just it's so
00:42:46
interesting because like I I also grew up believing that everybody's parents we
00:42:50
all believed the same thing and we all kind of were beotting being taught the same thing in our homes and there wasn't
00:42:57
disagreement and I felt like at a public school there would have been disagreement and there would have been
00:43:03
this like constant battling of like ideas of like is evolution right? Is is there a god? is they're all, you know,
00:43:10
politics, all this kind of stuff. In the home school world, it just in our home school world, it just felt like,
00:43:16
well, everybody's in agreement, like we're all the same, like we're all
00:43:18
Christians, we're all Republicans, we're all like, you know, all these types of
00:43:22
things. The reality is that's not true, but it just felt that way for some reason.
00:43:27
>> It did. Yeah. >> I also kind of wanted to ask you a little bit of like the big like the big
00:43:34
family stuff. You grew up in a family of six. You're in the bottom >> half. I'm in the Yeah,
00:43:40
>> right in the middle. I feel like most of the homeschool families in Ohigh were
00:43:43
like big like six four to four plus kids was like pretty normal and >> Yeah.
00:43:51
>> And then you have like my family of two. So like >> Yeah. >> Was that ever weird for you to like I
00:43:58
don't know see that and like did it ever feel strange to you? I I I don't totally know what my
00:44:06
question is here, but like because because I view the big bigger families as like some of the olders help
00:44:13
teach the youngers and like just >> Oh, yeah. >> Even in life and like stuff like that.
00:44:18
Like there's there's much more significant roles that get played of like almost those kids becoming parents
00:44:25
at younger ages to their younger siblings where like when there's two of us like my parents were not outnumbered.
00:44:32
So like I never felt like oh I have to be a dad to my sister. >> Um >> right
00:44:37
>> you know guardian maybe like you know kind of but I don't know did that
00:44:43
>> did you ever think about that when we were kids or like now looking back on it
00:44:46
where you're like huh that is kind of a a weird thing. I always thought like I
00:44:51
had a big family and then I'll meet like other homesooled families and they're
00:44:54
like 15 plus and I'm like oh okay like so um but but yeah and I think that also
00:45:01
was what was hard for like my parents is like you know just like with a family like yours like with two kids is going
00:45:10
to look completely different than like trying to homeschool a family of six. like it's just kind of
00:45:16
like two completely different things and um like yeah your strategy and everything
00:45:25
has to be so different because it's like how can you stretch yourself like >> to do like that's a lot like you know so
00:45:31
I feel and it just can become overwhelming like what happened to and then it's just yeah
00:45:36
>> well we like I said we had so many friends who these big families and like
00:45:42
they would end up being these caretakers for their younger siblings Oh, totally.
00:45:50
>> Is Hannah free to come hang out? Well, no. She has to watch Nathan and Rebecca.
00:45:55
>> Mhm. >> Okay, fun. Like, >> cool. you know, and it's like, but
00:46:00
there's other times you were free to come hang out, but it would, you know, but there were some families where it
00:46:05
was just like we never got to see them outside of like a big family whatever because
00:46:10
>> they're just always watching their siblings, you know, and that >> Yeah.
00:46:15
>> And I bet too, like this didn't happen in my house, but like >> like a lot of the older siblings also um
00:46:23
like they're like taking care of them and watching them, but like also schooling them. And so like that kind of
00:46:29
yeah they kind of take over that role as well >> now that you're out of it and like we
00:46:35
talked about your kind of view of like homeschooling failed you. So if someone's coming to you if
00:46:41
friend's coming to you and they're they've got a kid and they're like okay
00:46:45
I'm thinking about doing the homeschool thing. Are you is your gut reaction an
00:46:50
instant like do not do this because it's just or or or are you at a point where
00:46:55
you're like okay >> here's a lot of things to consider, you know, but there can be maybe some good
00:47:02
over here. Like where where do you sit on that spectrum? I I I really think homeschooling like can be a really
00:47:08
awesome thing and like I'm not um I'm not like totally like against it. Like um I just think I had a really bad
00:47:20
experience, but um I and I don't think it's something that I want to do for
00:47:27
like the future. Um, but like if someone is like really passionate about it, um, I
00:47:38
would just say to really kind of like we said like ask the why, like why are you doing this?
00:47:45
>> Yeah. Um but and to have like a clear understanding like with you like whether
00:47:53
you're doing it alone or like with your partner to like both be on the same page with it and um
00:48:05
I want to say to not give up but like but that's not really like if you're if it becomes
00:48:12
overwhelming to like I don't know I think just to to think of your kid's
00:48:17
best interest really. Yeah. >> And just kind of what you know. >> Yeah.
00:48:22
>> I mean, yeah. I don't I would probably Yeah, >> that's what I loved about my
00:48:26
conversation with Stephanie was like she went from homeschooling our kids to not
00:48:30
and like the reason for that is this like >> this partial like I have to do what's in
00:48:34
the best interest for my kid. I also have to do what's in the best interest for me. Like I had our friend Katrin on
00:48:40
not too terribly long ago. Kind of the same deal. She was like, "I need me time. I need to
00:48:46
work on myself." And >> yeah, >> you know, and my mom has said this to me
00:48:51
too of like >> when she started homeschooling my sister and I, >> she was not the the healthiest person
00:48:57
she could have been. >> And that comes through a lot in the early years of our homeschooling. And
00:49:04
so, >> you know, I don't fall in the same camp as you feeling like homeschooling
00:49:09
completely failed me. But I also like I there is a lot of time in there where I'm just like this was not good. It was
00:49:16
very messy. And now we talk about it and she's like, you know, if I had just
00:49:20
taken a couple years and really worked on myself and then said, hey, like now we're going to do the homeschool thing,
00:49:26
I think we would have just eliminated that, you know, and so like you're saying, like be on board with your
00:49:31
partner and understand what you want out of it and like, you know, it's not as s
00:49:35
and it's also okay to be like this isn't working, so it it's just not working.
00:49:40
Like we don't have to do it. >> Yeah. No, I completely agree. Yeah. It's
00:49:44
It's a big um decision for sure. >> Yeah. So, I mean, what's what's next?
00:49:51
What are you what are you learning now? Now that you're like, "Okay, I'm out of
00:49:54
it. I'm removed. I've got new you you're working in the education field now." So,
00:49:59
like, >> you know, and now you're you're learning all this stuff about yourself. You're in
00:50:04
therapy. Like do you we kind of brought it up a little bit of like you kind of having that passion to learn a little
00:50:11
bit more again like what are you do like how are you doing that how are you implementing that in your life? Well,
00:50:19
when it comes to like my job, I'm pursuing um becoming a RBT, a registered behavioral technician. And like through
00:50:31
that, like I have to do like a bunch of like um or sorry, like a online course for it.
00:50:38
>> Um and there's a lot of things in there that like I'll be like,
00:50:47
"Oh shit." like I don't really know like and I have to kind of like with um cuz
00:50:52
it's a lot of uh data recording >> right >> so you're and like like graphs and like
00:51:01
like math basically like percentages and like and I'm I'm just and so I'm kind of like
00:51:11
trying to relearn or learn those things um for that and like Um, and honestly, like
00:51:22
podcasts are like my best friend. Like I just try to like um >> I pretty much Yeah. Like um I'm not
00:51:33
really like doing like class like besides like my training thing which feels kind of like a class,
00:51:38
>> right? >> Um but so I'm not really pursuing like higher education I guess. But um
00:51:46
>> if I want to know it, like I'm going to go get that knowledge. Like I'm just
00:51:50
going to figure it out. And it doesn't always mean going to college. It doesn't
00:51:53
always, you know, it doesn't mean always doing training, but like it >> it just means like I'm gonna I'm gonna
00:51:59
figure it out, >> you know, and it's not too late. Like I can go I can go learn this now. It's not
00:52:04
too late to >> and that's really important too is to be like yeah like I can still learn things
00:52:11
from like elementary school then and and be like yeah it's it's it's not um too
00:52:20
late because that's something that's um I feel like I struggle with too. like
00:52:26
like I can't go back and like relearn everything. Like I'm not gonna but but
00:52:32
you can like and it might not be everything but like Yeah. stuff you're interested in and like Yeah. YouTube
00:52:39
documentaries and and it's it's a little more like fun now, you know, because
00:52:42
it's not like >> it's not shove down our throats. >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I know sometimes
00:52:48
also like I I don't know if you figured this out or not, but I know being married to somebody who has ADHD, like
00:52:56
there's a hyperfixation thing that happens sometimes with with some people. And so it it is very interesting. I had
00:53:02
to watch that too of like, >> oh, cool. Like this person's really into
00:53:07
this thing now, you know, and just going down all of the rabbit holes of like every I want to know every little piece
00:53:13
of the puzzle. Oh, that's when you know you're on to something good when you're
00:53:17
>> Yeah. >> What can I find? >> I love that. >> Well, Hannah, is there is there anything
00:53:22
I missed? Is there anything we haven't touched on? Is there any homeschool memory that's popped up where you're
00:53:27
like, "Okay, we didn't touch on this, but we need to talk about it."
00:53:30
>> Oh gosh. Um, I don't even I'm like feel like there's so much but then also like I can't think
00:53:41
of >> No, it's it's so vast, you know? It's so vast of like there's things all the time
00:53:46
that pop in my brain of just like >> oh, we did this thing like like I think
00:53:52
about like the like the Mitchell plays or like mine. There's periods of my life
00:53:56
where I go where I'm just like don't even think about those things and then
00:53:59
something clicks and it like triggers this whole memory of like I did that. Oh yeah, we did that. You
00:54:06
know what I mean? Like we did theater together. We did we filmed a freaking movie in people's backyards and at your
00:54:12
house. Oh my gosh. We filmed a movie at your house. >> Do you remember that?
00:54:16
>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I know. We did so many fil like different films like the like
00:54:22
with YouTube and then like uh the movie thing I'm like I don't even think I was
00:54:29
really a part of it but I think I was just friends with all you guys so I think I just was there like hey um but
00:54:38
yeah no I have a lot of like a lot of like fond memories of like um a lot of the stuff like we did. And um
00:54:51
yeah, it was kind of maybe it was good my mom forced me to do mine >> cuz then you know I met all all my
00:55:00
friends. >> Yeah. It's like a good bad you know. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Well, cool.
00:55:06
>> That's kind of what she would do. She would just like take me play and be
00:55:09
like, "Okay, you're doing this now." >> Yeah. I mean, hey, that's why I took
00:55:12
dance lessons. My mom was like, "Jacob's got to know how to talk to girls. throw
00:55:16
him in that class. >> Oh dear. And how did that go? >> And we I mean we know how that turned
00:55:22
out. I was like the face of it for how many years at one point. So >> very true.
00:55:27
>> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. I know. Icon. >> Icon. Yep. It's me.
00:55:36
>> Anyway, this has been fun. I appreciate I appreciate you coming on and you're
00:55:41
welcome back anytime you want to talk on stuff. I >> No, thanks for having me. The cool thing
00:55:45
and I want to hopefully leave you with this encouragement because like I said I I now talking to current homeschool
00:55:53
families and asking them about what would you like to know about a homeschool experience is all of them say
00:56:00
the same thing. I just want to know how it was for somebody. They're like I don't need the the nitty-gritty of like
00:56:07
what curriculum you used or what whatever. Like I just want to know looking back how do you feel about it?
00:56:14
what was good, what was bad, what was ugly, all those types of things. And so I appreciate you for coming on and like
00:56:20
telling your story because it's important. It's not fun. Like it's not,
00:56:25
you know, I'm sure it's not always great to relive all those memories. Um, but it
00:56:30
it it's impactful and people like resonate with it. And so be encouraged that there's a new generation of people
00:56:38
who maybe don't have to live through that kind of experience >> because you share. And so
00:56:45
>> yeah. >> Well, yeah. Yeah. Well, that is nice. >> Yeah. Well, cool.
00:56:50
>> Well, good. >> That's that's about it, folks. >> If you're listening,
00:56:55
>> drop us a comment if you made it >> if you made it this far. >> Um, do all the internet things that you
00:57:01
know how to do. Leave a comment, leave a review, leave a like, share it with a friend. Um, you know, tell tell your
00:57:08
other friends. Hannah, share it with all your siblings uh if you feel so uh courageous to do so. Um, but yeah, and
00:57:15
if you want to be a guest on the Ex Homeschoolers Club, I promise I don't bite. I promise I'm very nice. Um, we
00:57:21
can chat even before doing an interview. uh if you're nervous about it. But yeah,
00:57:25
if that's something you're into, shoot me an email at exhsclubgmail.com and uh I'd love to chat and set up some
00:57:32
time to just like dig into your homeschool stories because they're important and you're not alone. Okay,
00:57:37
we're all most of the people who come on the show were a bunch of weirdo homeschool kids and that's okay. You're
00:57:44
not alone. So with that, >> we're going to say goodbye and we'll see
00:57:47
you next time. >> Peace. >> Later. [Music] [Music] [Music]