Who is Kimberly?

Kimberly Gawne is a dedicated professional in the field of alternative education, known for her insightful critiques of the traditional public school system. With a focus on Canada and the United States, Kimberley frequently addresses a common concern shared by parents, educators, and observers: the outdated nature of public school curricula, many of which have remained unchanged since the 1990s. Her work highlights the urgent need for educational reform and innovation, as she humorously notes that some educational materials are older than she is. Through her advocacy, Kimberly aims to inspire a modernized, dynamic approach to education that better serves current and future generations.

Key Takeaways

00:00 Public School Curriculum Criticisms

05:11 Parental Involvement in Education Crucial

06:59 Thoughtful Outsourcing Responsibilities

10:44 Discover Kimberly's Journey & Resources

14:17 "Unasked Killer Question"

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Transcript

Note, this was transcribed using a transcription software and may not reflect the exact words used in the podcast)

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Alternative education, public schooling system, homeschooling, outdated curriculum, classroom sizes, private school, parent involvement, educational complaints, teacher frustration, educational outsourcing, parental responsibility, school PTA, student learning styles, burnout in homeschooling, educational support, star students, tutoring services, socialization in homeschooling, educational accountability, flexible learning, educational resources, school system reform, individualized education, factory-style education, John D. Rockefeller education, educational history, digital education, parent educator communication, modern curriculum, real-world preparation

SPEAKERS

Kimberly Gawne, Stuart Webb

Stuart Webb [00:00:32]:

Hi there, and welcome back to five questions over coffee. I have my coffee here in front of me. I need it at the moment because a man has just stopped it started chopping down a tree outside. So if there's a noise, that's what it is. I'm delighted, however, to be here with Kimberly Gorn. Kimberly, is gonna be talking to us about providing alternative education solutions for parents who are dissatisfied with the public schooling system. So, Kimberly, I love I love the attitude you brought with you as well. You've promised me you won't have skate stage fright.

Stuart Webb [00:01:06]:

You're just gonna do it. So I love the attitude. Let's do it together. How are you doing?

Kimberly Gawne [00:01:12]:

I'm doing well. It's really nice to be able to chat with you. Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it.

Stuart Webb [00:01:17]:

No problem at all. So, look, Kimberly, let's start with the the obvious first question. For anybody who is, who is at the moment sort of maybe themselves, struggling with the public schooling system, what are the sort of sort of thoughts that they have? Who who are they? Who is it you're trying to reach, and what is it you're trying to tell them?

Kimberly Gawne [00:01:38]:

I would say that the I mean, that's a good question. I get that I get asked that a lot is what are the complaints. Right? Because, I work in the alternative education space, and so a lot of people say that, well, you know, what what complaints are there with the public school system? They asked me to specify. And I kind of make a joke of it, and I say, well, a shorter list is what's not wrong with the public school system. The most common ones that I hear from people in terms of complaints, whether they're parents, whether they're educators, or whether they're just kind of on the sidelines of looking at how public education works is the curriculum. The fact that the curriculum itself is so outdated, so outdated, especially in I I can't speak for European education as much, but in Canada and The US, public school education, some of those curriculums have not been updated since nineteen nineties. Like, they're older than me. Not to you know, like, people aging is a different thing.

Kimberly Gawne [00:02:36]:

Curriculums aging is quite another. I think it's really important to make sure that we have accurate and updated information that we're teaching to children, let alone, you know, with the framework that we're teaching as well, or that from which we're teaching. Mhmm. So curriculum is definitely the biggest one. That's the biggest complaint that I hear. The other complaint is, the classroom sizes. And there's no getting around that no matter how you look at it. Public school or private school, you are typically in a class of anywhere from 15 to 30 plus children.

Kimberly Gawne [00:03:10]:

And and that's not that you're not able to really talk to the kids. You're not able to really teach them, in the way that they learn best. Right? That's one of the biggest frustrations I see from parents. I also see that from educators, but on the different side of the perspective because they're expected to teach all 30 children to the best of those kids' understanding, and they just can't. It's not possible.

Stuart Webb [00:03:33]:

Great. So, you know, I think we we can all we can all identify with with people who have you know, if you're you're a business owner, you don't wanna be trying to sort of reach out to 30 customers at a time. So, you know, parents are in the same situation. So tell me, what are these people I often say this about sort of, you know, when somebody sort of sees a a business person that's tried to solve a problem, parents are trying to solve this problem as well. What what are the sort of things you've seen that they've tried to do and maybe made mistakes trying to solve as part of their, desire to get their children better educated as part of their frustrations with with watching this situation at their school?

Kimberly Gawne [00:04:20]:

I see I see some commonalities when it comes to parents, trying their best. And this is not to say that, you know, parents don't have good, good intentions. Of course, they do. We all have good intentions when it comes to our children, especially when it comes to their education. One of the common mistakes that I see parents making when it comes to their child's education is outsourcing it without any sense of responsibility, without any sense of responsibility. One of my favorite things to say is that the public school system is glorified babysitting. I get a lot of hate for that, but it's true if you think about it. What else are are parents doing other than sending their children to a public school that's going to just babysit their kids all day while the parents are at work.

Kimberly Gawne [00:05:11]:

If the parent themselves does not have any responsibility, any communication, any sort of, initiative to go and talk to the teachers, to go and get involved with the school activities, to go you know, if there's a PTA, go get involved with the PTA. If there's no responsibility on the part of the parent in terms of getting involved with their kids' education, the children are the ones that suffer because those are the kids that will fall through the cracks. Because the teachers, quite simply, don't have the brain space and or the time, to be quite honest with you, to give all 30 children the the best of what they are able to give them because they have Of course. They have, what, forty five minutes or fifty minutes or, you know, maybe seventy five if you're talking about high school. If you have a child whose parents are not involved and whose parents are not, as active in their school life, that child is going to suffer because nobody's looking out for that kid's best interest in terms of educationally speaking. Right? In in my in that specific context for me, no no one's looking out for their educational interests. So that's a really common mistake that I see parents making is outsourcing without any sense of responsibility. There's nothing wrong with outsourcing, but you still have to be involved because you're you as the parent are your child's first, you're you're the child's first barrier to or the first first guardian to, getting that good education, to be able to to speak for your child if they're, you know, in elementary school, they're in grades one through eight.

Kimberly Gawne [00:06:43]:

They're not really able to speak for themselves in terms of what's best for their best educational interest. You as the parent, that's your job. And if you're not saying anything because you're not involved, there that no one else is going to do that for you.

Stuart Webb [00:06:59]:

And I think that's a really good message that you've given with the fact that too much outsourcing is done without thought of the responsibilities you own as the sort of parent or, the the the, you know, if we we think of, you know, too many times people outsource things without really thinking about their responsibilities within the process, which is exactly what you've described. A parent just sort of, you know, says, well, I I don't know what else to do. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna leave it and hope for the best. And that's where things go wrong, isn't it? When you hope for the best, we often we often fail to realize that actually there, you know, there are things we can do. There are things we can the actions we can take in order to improve, if not if not, drastically change the situation.

Kimberly Gawne [00:07:50]:

Absolutely. Absolutely. And like I said, it's not there's nothing wrong with outsourcing because you can't do it all yourself. That's another mistake I see parents making is that they they can they're like, okay. Well, I'm gonna homeschool my children. I'm gonna do all of it myself. You will burn out so fast. Absolutely.

Kimberly Gawne [00:08:07]:

Yeah.

Stuart Webb [00:08:07]:

Yeah. You know, if you if you're if you're busy working or if you don't have the the necessary income in order to be able to afford to sort of have one parent take the time off, then then it becomes very difficult, doesn't it?

Kimberly Gawne [00:08:19]:

Mhmm. Yeah. Absolutely. Even if you have a parent, we have I have quite a few clients actually who that's a sort of, that's the sort of category that they fall into where there's one parent who is actively working and away from home, and then there's the other parent, usually the mom, because that's just how the dynamic works, who's homeschooling kids, who's chosen to make the time to homeschool the children. But when you have multiple children, I and I'm speaking from experience here, when you have multiple children that you're trying to homeschool in the same household at once, it is a lot. It is a lot. So there's nothing wrong with outsourcing, but you still have to be involved. Right? You can't just outsource with that and say, okay.

Kimberly Gawne [00:08:57]:

Now it's this person's job. I'm they you know, I'm I'm paying them the money. They'll just they'll just take care of everything. You as the parent still have to be an active participant in your child's journey, whatever that looks

Stuart Webb [00:09:09]:

like. So is there a a piece of advice, an offer you can you can provide people who are currently watching this and going, this is me. This is me. I'm I'm kind of intrigued to know more. What what what is the valuable piece of advice that you would you would offer them?

Kimberly Gawne [00:09:24]:

I would say that the most valuable piece of advice I could offer parents at whatever stage they might be at in their child's journey, This is perhaps more of a reassurance than advice. It is never too late to start over. It's never too late to say, hey. Something needs to change because this isn't working anymore. Right? Yeah. And in order to say that, it requires a sense of accountability as to, like, hey. This isn't working for me. This isn't working for my child, more importantly.

Kimberly Gawne [00:09:57]:

What can we do to change it? Instead of sitting there and saying, oh, well, you know, it's already ruined. They're already in public school. You know, they're already in private school. It's it's not working, but whatever. What else do you do? I would encourage people to look outside the box. There's so many different solutions for alternative education these days, and public school is just not it's just not where it's at anymore in terms of preparing children for the real world, in terms of fitting a family's flexible lifestyle. It it is just not there. So my piece of advice, look around you, take stock of what the world is like, ask yourself, is this public school system preparing my child for what this world is going to be like in ten years or even in five years.

Stuart Webb [00:10:44]:

And I'd encourage everybody to go to the link that I'm just showing at the bottom of the screen at the moment, which is www.systemize.me/free-stuff. We'll have links to Kimberly's website, her LinkedIn profile, and and everything there so that you can you can find out more about what Kimberly's talking about here and and and understand the sort of actions that you can take in order to solve these problems if, you are, who, if you're one of the people that, that that you you feel it's Kimberly is talking to you at the moment. Kimberly, can I just sort of find out a little bit more about how you got to be well who you are today? What was it? Was there a book? Was there a was there a a course, a program, a life situation that eventually brought you to the realization that you need to take this sort of responsibility for stepping into the outsourcing breach, if I can put it like that.

Kimberly Gawne [00:11:47]:

Mhmm. I I just laugh. I'm just chuckling as you're saying that because it was definitely not a book. It's simply not a book or a course, or program. It was, as we mentioned, a life situation, that brought me to starting like, to to starting star students and to being able to, provide that for families. I graduated teachers college in March or rather in April, of twenty twenty. So if

Stuart Webb [00:12:15]:

people were to graduate.

Kimberly Gawne [00:12:17]:

I'm telling you. We went home, and it I I remember it to the day. It was Friday, 03/13/2020, because that was the Friday before March break. To make a long story short, we we decided we were taking two weeks, and I never saw my kids again that I was teaching. That was a that that was the five let me call that the the cherry on the icing on the cake of a long line of complaints that I had, with my with the public school system in my six years of post secondary education. So I really had to take a hard look once I graduated. I did that year. I had to take a hard look at, is this something I really want to do? And the answer was no, quite frankly, because it was not something that I was willing to sign myself up for.

Kimberly Gawne [00:13:05]:

It was not something that I wanted to have be my fulfillment. I could not I I could not see myself doing the a public school teaching job and coming home every day, Monday to Friday, for the next forty years, looking in the mirror and genuinely saying to myself, I did a good job today with those kids.

Stuart Webb [00:13:26]:

Yeah. Yeah.

Kimberly Gawne [00:13:27]:

That was what it came down to. That was what it came down to. I realized I could not do that. I could not look myself in the mirror and say I did a good job with those kids. I said if I can't do it after, you know, two years of being in school, in a school, how am I gonna do that for forty? For the next forty, right, or thirty or whatever my code would be in the public school system. So that I mean, that was where it started because I I was kind of I I said, okay. Well, that's not I I can't I can't do that. What am I going to do instead? And star students was born to make a long story short, star students was born from that.

Kimberly Gawne [00:14:04]:

It was born from the desire to do something different and the desire to see something different for the kids of this generation and for future generations because they don't deserve what they're getting in the public school system. They don't.

Stuart Webb [00:14:17]:

And and I think that's a that's a a brave action to take at a very tough time for the world anyway. But, I mean, that is a that was a that was a driving force clearly, and and I guess that's what led you to this, which is kind of what I'm expecting you to be thinking at the moment. Do you know he still hasn't asked me that killer question, which I just don't understand why he hasn't got this? So, you know, I'm obviously unable to think what that killer question is because otherwise, I wouldn't now be asking you to say, what's the question that you think I should be asking you so that you can really sort of get me to understand exactly the next actions I should take. So what's that question that you think you would like to answer? And then, obviously, once you've asked it, you need to answer it, Kimberly, because that's the way this works.

Kimberly Gawne [00:15:05]:

Right. The I would say the killer question that I always that is always the number one thing that people ask me when it comes to homeschooling. They find out that, you know, we provide homeschooling services and and tutoring services. Tutoring services is something that people can, understand because it's in our cultural schema. Right? When people find out that Star Students is very much about homeschooling and we provide a variety of homeschooling supports, the first question that people always ask without fail, when they when they talk about homeschooling is, oh my goodness. How are you gonna homeschool children? They need to be socialized. What do you mean you're taking it from public school or some sort of variety of that? Right? That is the killer question I get asked. I get asked that on podcast.

Kimberly Gawne [00:15:51]:

I get asked that by parents. I get asked that by, teachers, public school educators. Right? What do you mean? Are you gonna homeschool your children? You can't you can't do that. They won't be socialized. That's my killer question, I would say. Because the answer, I think, really shakes a lot of people. It really makes a lot of people think about how our world is set up. I very simply respond to that question, and I say, is public school actually educating your children, or is it indoctrinating them into the nine to five factory style workforce? Not one person.

Kimberly Gawne [00:16:34]:

Every single person has that look on their face. They just oh, you're right. If you look into the public school education, history, if you look into the history of how public school education got started, it was John d Rockefeller that started our public school education. Not to get on a history tip. I am a history fan. I'm a history major, actually. Not to get on a history tip, but John d Rockefeller started the public school education system with the intent with the publicized intent of making sure that he had factory workers and not thinkers. So if that doesn't say to you about the intentions of what the public school system intends to do to your children, if that doesn't say something to you, I I don't know what will.

Kimberly Gawne [00:17:25]:

That that's my killer that's my question. Gives people a lot to think about.

Stuart Webb [00:17:32]:

And I was about to say and I think that is an interesting point at which to say, this is where people let's go back once again. Have a look at what Kimberly's, Kimberly says in in her profile and and and the, the the website get and where where you talk about getting getting started with with homeschooling. So, Kimberly, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna leave people with that thought, and ask them to check you out further. And at this point, I'm just gonna say, look. If you would like to get onto the main list so that you get access to that free stuff or if you would like to, to to hear about the people that are coming up on the podcast coming up, go to this form, which is www.systemize, that's with an s, not a a zed or z,systemize.mesubscribed, s y s t e m I s e, Me forward / subscribe. And, you'll just get a it's just simple form, email, first name, and then you get an email once a week, which basically tells you about who's coming up on the podcast. Now outside my window, the tree is being heavily chopped down, so I don't know if you can hear that. So I'm just gonna thank I'm gonna thank Kimberly.

Stuart Webb [00:18:48]:

Okay.

Kimberly Gawne [00:18:49]:

So you're good.

Stuart Webb [00:18:51]:

Thank Kimberly for her time now. Kimberly, thank you so much for coming on to talk about this. I really hope that people do get on and, listen to some of this stuff that you're saying because I think it's important. Kimberly, thank you so much for being with us. I trust, that the kids continue to behave. I I know, I know in the background, you've got quite a lot of activity, so enjoy the time with them. They grow up very fast, and, eventually, they become less educated and less trouble, but an awful lot, a lot of my distant to you. So enjoy the time you got with them now, and thanks for coming on and talking to us.

Kimberly Gawne [00:19:29]:

Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure.

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