Today we are talking with Cindy LaJoy. You might remember Cindy from a previous episode where we talked about the Soft Skills of Work Ethic. Cindy spent the pandemic busy as ever, learning many new videography skills, working on a graduate degree and co-authoring a book. Along with Natalie Vecchio, Blazing New Homeschool Trails: Educating and launching Teens with Developmental Disabilities

Cindy and her husband have adopted 5 kids, now young adults from Eastern Europe and has a fantastic story of hope for other Moms homeschooling non-traditional learners. Her five kids, some of whom were adopted as older children who did not speak English and were illiterate have over 25 diagnosis between them and yet, as young adults, they have gone on to college, entrepreneurship, owning an award winning business and hiring other developmentally challenged adults. Cindy is also the amazing homeschooling Momma behind Blue Collar Homeschooling and the Facebook page and group, Blue Collar Homeschooling.

Cindy has spent the last decade and a half searching out appropriate curriculum, therapies and realistic opportunities for her non-traditional students, as well as helping them develop realistic life skills that have allowed them to not only manage and cope but thrive and become leaders in their own right.

Cindy and her family make their home in Colorado. If you are in the Montrose, Colorado area, stop by their “Best in the Valley” shop, Buckaroos Slices and Scoops, for great pizza, ice-cream and customer service!

In this episode, and the next, we’ll take a look at the what’s available for those who are homeschooling non-traditional learners.

FAFSD Hope Podcast Natalie Vecchio

Cindy LaJoy offers these services and classes through True North Homeschool Academy:

Special Needs and Transcripts

Meet Cindy LaJoy!

Join Cindy and I for Part II of Tools for Struggling Learners – Part 1 next time on Life Skills 101!

We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to offer encouragement and support! Let us know how we can support YOU!

The post Tools for Struggling Learners – Part 1 appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Getting Started with Classical Education

While it might not seem like Classical Education has anything to do with Life Skills, I beg to differ. Great educational pedagogy has everything to do with learning and classical education brings great tools to the table to teach your kids anything and everything! Take a listen!

THE SEVEN LIBERAL ARTS -the arts of thinking

Trivium The human ability to use verbal symbols (language)

Quadrivium – the basis of philosophy or theology The human ability to use symbolic language such as numbers, shapes and their relations (math)

Focus on TOOLS of LEARNING (skills) just as much as WHAT YOU ARE LEARNING (content)

Memoriae mater studiorum  -Memory is the Mother of Learning

True North Homeschool Academy provides classes, ebooks and support for Classical Educators! We love coming alongside YOU to create the homeschooling experience of your dreams with live online classes, clubs, Advising, Testing and more!

We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to offer encouragement and support! Let us know how we can support YOU!

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Working Homeschool Mommas

Hey hard working Homeschooling Momma! It can be hard to juggle everything, amiright?! You’re working, managing a home, homeschooling. In this episode, we’ll go over some practical tips and helps that will allow you to manage the many roles and responsibilities that you have so that you can thrive and enjoy this busy season! You know practical life skills are what’s keeping you going in this crazy busy season!  Let’s dive in!

First of all, I want to encourage you that you ARE a Proverbs 31 Women- hard working, critically thinking, resourceful and wise with time, money and provisions. Way to go!

First Things First: Take a searching fearless inventory of all that you are managing: Work, Homeschool, Housework, Budgeting, Self Care, Spouse Care and More!

2. Evaluate how you are doing with managing and maintaining your greatest resource: YOU!

3. Understand the difference between Roles and Responsibilities

4. Utilize Habit

5. Discover the power of Outsourcing

6. Batching for maximizing your time and energy- remember set up and clean up take a huge amount of time!

7. Consider Child- Care vs Homeschooling

8. Keep 168 Hours in Play

9. Rethink Time

10. Rethink Money

11. Ditch Distractions

12. The 1% Rule

13. The 15 Minute Rule

14. Swim in Your Own Lane

15.  GIVE UP! destructive thoughts and time wasters

16. Get  like-minded support and fellowship! Our True North Homeschool Academy Mom’s Membership site offers three LIVE online meeting options a week- Book Club, Parent Equipping and more!

True North Homeschool Academy offers Testing, Advising- General, SPED and NCAA, K-12th Grade live online, dynamic, interactive classes, clubs and Parent Equipping! Ready to head True North with a dynamic, international community? We’re here for it!

We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to offer encouragement and support! Let us know how we can support YOU!

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Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. Titus 3:14

Career Stages

What Economies will Play a Role in the Future?

Future Workers will need Technical Skills as well as Soft Skills, particularly Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication Skills. The good news is that a solid high school course of study will lay a solid foundation for these type of skills. Additional, future workers will need the ability to upskill and re-skill, as well as have a zeal for life long learning.

What is the best way to navigate the future? As always, I recommend start with the end in mind and working backwards. What kind of lifestyle does your student want to have, where do they want to live, what work do they believe in and want to invest in doing?

Assess your student, your current resources and your location, as all of these offer various challenges and opportunities. And don’t forget that you are one of your student’s best resources. What are your areas of interests and trained vocation? Your kids have a jump start on whatever it is you share with them, because of what you already know.

Craft a clear plan that includes

True North Homeschool Academy classes that will set your student up for future success

Fall Class True North Homeschool Academy

We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to ensure your academic and future success at True North Homeschool Academy! We offer Academic Advising, amazing k-12th grade Classes, Clubs and Mom’s Membership, regular Podcasts and Blog posts and more! Let us know how we can come alongside of you!

We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to offer encouragement and support as they head True North! Let us know how we can support YOU!

The post The Future of Work appeared first on Ultimate Homeschool Podcast Network.

Welcome to this episode of Life Skills 101! This week the topic of this podcast is Rethinking College.

With the rising cost of college, it’s important for parents to take time to evaluate with their students, the academic, financial and world view Return on their Investment (ROI) of college costs and debt. The average college graduate (does not include students who do not graduate but still have debt), takes 6 years, not 4 to graduate, with an average of over $35,000 in debt

A college degree is no longer necessary for a rewarding career or to ensure an upwardly mobile life-style. In fact, crippling college debt can make the American Dream an impossibility!

As parents, how do we guide and direct our young adults as they plan for the future?

In this episode, we explore ways that students can get a head start on college, by starting by taking CLEP or  Dual Enrollment courses, specifically targeting Gen Ed Courses.

General Education Requirements:

It makes good sense for young adults to learn how to navigate the digital world. Starting an online business in high school can set them up for future success, setting up an online educational business is even better as the online education market is estimated to be between an over $350 billion dollar market by 2025.

Students should consider what kind of life-style do they want to have as adults and work backwards from there. What kind of training, income and skills will they need to attain that? The future will demand that our young adults have Critical Thinking Skills, Adaptability and Flexibility and the ability to Collaborate.

Below are resources offered by True North to help families navigate the rapidly changing world of college.

We love coming alongside fellow homeschoolers to offer encouragement and support! Let us know how we can support YOU!

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Authentic Values; We Hold these Truths to be Self-Evident

The Articles of Confederation declare who WE are. “WE” as former loyal subject to the Crown of England, now separated from fidelity and loyalty to the Crown and committed to the understanding and values of natural law, which the Crown no longer recognized in regards to the colonists. .

The Declaration of Independence gave legal form to the United States. It establishes the “We” in “We the People…of these United States…” There is no authentic “We” in America apart from the Declaration of Independence!

The Constitution provides the rules of the game.

Liberty- to enact values and understandings of who they are under natural law

Bible– clarification and codification of God’s design

Americans– located in time and space

America- based on ideas and values, principles of Declaration-natural law and authentic values. The Declaration is the answer key. How Americans behave is the performance

Because there been poor performances on the test, people keep coming up with different answer keys. Once you do that you no longer have a class-or a country- you have a mess.

If you are going to be fully alive and press into what God has for you in life, it’s probably going to be an adventure.

Is fealty to a country important?  A country is a system that allows manifestation and application of authentic transcendent principles that make for a dignified society that American has been to planet earth.

“If you are not proud to be an American, you don’t understand what America is.” Dr. David Nehring

Listen to the entire series!

True North Homeschool Academy classes that continue the conversation:

Politics, Philosophy and Economics 

Civics 

Economics

World History: Strategy War & Peace

FREEBIES from True North Homeschool Academy!

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Recent History –

Habits of the Heart by Sullivan, Bellah, Madsen

Chronicles the the shift in the 1970’s to postmodernism and political correctness, which has lead to the socially predatory rhetoric of critical race theory and the language of intersectionality.

The 80’s and 90’s synthetic values took over the Media and the educational academies.

Defintions

“There are two sides to every argument but one side to facts.”

Relationships are more complicated when cultures are breaking down. Culture provides a common frame of reference that makes meaning and communication easier and more straightforward.

Resources:

How to Equip your kids?

Listen to the entire series!

True North Homeschool Academy classes that continue the conversation:

FREEBIES from True North Homeschool Academy!

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Authentic Values: The Cause of Polarization

What is causing Polarization?

Definitions

Scripture References

Book Recommendation

Examples of Synthetic Values – certain values are inverted above others.

You can be an authentic person with synthetic values.

Being True to yourself is not the same as being True, trustworthy or honest. Telling my own “truth” is about perception and opinion. It is not necessarily fact based.

“The Social chaos is not created by the polarization. The polarization is a result of a mass misunderstanding of natural value.” Dr. David Nehring

Listen to the entire series!

True North Homeschool Academy classes that continue the conversation:

FREEBIES from True North Homeschool Academy!

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Authentic Values- Part 2 How Did This Come About?

Definitions:

Suicide Numbers

Habits of the Heart-Social study and social commentary.

Authentic Values are integral to being American. “The genius of the American system is that it actually drew from a particular tribe and was able to get to what was dep and authentic and real; the principles of Natural Law and apply it to everybody. It interpreted that through the culture of the time and various cultures as they were added to the American Experience, creating an American-ness where all people could pursue life, liberty and happiness.”  Dr. David Nehring

True North Homeschool Academy Mailing List . Get weekly encouragement, support as you homeschool!

Live online classes that are dynamic, interactive and taught by world class teachers!

Listen to the entire series!

FREEBIES from True North Homeschool Academy!

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Today we are talking about Natural Laws vs Synthetic Values – talking about the life skills necessary to maintain a free republic.

This is more important than ever before as our country is at a cross roads. Do we believe in and adhere to Natural Law, which the founders of this country subscribed to, or do we adhere to the ever changing and capricious rules and morays of culture and society? This 5 part series will take a look at Natural Law and the present state of the country: How we got here ,the causes for polarization, and who we are as a country and as people of faith, regardless of our country.

Natural law, (Encyclopedia Britannica) in philosophy, a system of right or justice held to be common to all humans and derived from nature rather than from the rules of society, or positive law.

Synthetic Values are discussed and exemplified in the following resources:

CS Lewis the Tao 

Tevye On The Other Hand video clip.

Do you want your students learn to think critically and logically and understand the importance of Natural Law in their own lives and wider society. These live online classes, taught by world class teachers will develop your students executive functioning and critical thinking skills!

Check out Part II:Natural Law, Part III: The Cause for Polarization, Part IV: Recent History, Part V: Who We Are of this series on Authentic Values.

Sign up for the True North Homeschool Academy Mailing List for weekly encouragement and support in your homeschooling journey!

We are so glad you’ve joined us for this series! We’d love to hear your thoughts. Do you agree, disagree or have a different idea altogether?

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