Show Notes

Welcome back to The State of Education podcast, presented by One-Room Education.

Today I have a very special episode for you. Today I present you with a fascinating conversation with Jamie from Humble Heart Press, where we discuss everything from our own educational backgrounds to our decisions to homeschool our kids and our realistic visions for the future of education in America.

*Links to all of Jamie’s social media accounts and services are at the bottom of this post*

In the Beginning: How Jamie Got into Homeschooling

Jamie and her husband purchased their home before having children, and after doing research on the school districts, became concerned about the quality of education their children would receive.

As fate would have it, Jamie found a friend who was homeschooled and would open her eyes to an entirely new world of educational possibilities.

After her oldest son got into the only reputable school in the area through lottery, Jamie mainstreamed her son, but when the pandemic hit, she realized that this was the perfect opportunity to do what she was being called to, homeschool her children.

The Social Benefits of Homeschooling

After choosing to homeschool her children, Jamie was one of the many parents who realized that homeschooling her children was actually opening them up to an entirely new way of communicating with each other and the outside world.

Homeschooled children, and adults for that matter, have a unique style of communication compared to the general population within the United States due to our exposure to multiple age groups and cultures on a regular basis, in addition to their differed communication styles.

This exposure to different cultures and age groups allows homeschooled children to express themselves in a coherent and articulate manner that is simply not required of students in mainstream schools in America. As Jamie put it about a group of homeschoolers that she taught (ages 7-12-years-old),

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…They were sweet and kind and mature; and openly engaged in discussion. Had no fear. Older ones helped younger ones; younger ones looked up to older ones. … And I don’t want any other kind of social situation for my children.

Jamie P., 2022

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Coping with Having Your Kids at Home ALL the Time

When I asked Jamie what she would say to parents who don’t think that they can deal with having their kids at home with them all day everyday, she said,

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You really, at the end of the day, have to decide if you are willing to mature, as a person and a parent to do what is best for your child.

Jamie P., 2022

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Homeschooling forces you to learn to be with yourself and those who are supposed to be closest to you. It makes all members of the household learn conflict resolution and empathy at a much younger age. It forces us to see those around us for who they really are, and who we really are, in an unidealistic way and decide if this is the direction we want our lives and our children’s lives to take.

This is something that was exemplified during the pandemic and the skyrocketing number of divorces. You either learn how to resolve your conflicts with yourself and others to persevere, or it all falls apart. These aren’t really skills you learn in any other form of education today; at least in America.

Cultivating Grit and Perseverance in Your Children

The constant distractions from everything from peers to teachers, social media and news cause us to be able to avoid our spouses and siblings in today’s every busy world. It allows us to get out of truly learning who each other are and learning how to resolve issues on the deepest levels.

Public school is trying to introduce “social-emotional education” to try to combat these issues on a societal scale, but it is simply putting too much pressure on a classroom teacher to cover all of the required curriculum AND teach kids how to regulate interpersonal relationships.

Educational Philosophy

Jamie’s main influence for her educational philosophy is Charlotte Mason, who believes that children are born persons, not just a brain that needs to be filled with facts, but a whole being that needs to be nurtured. For more on the Charlotte Mason Method, follow *this link*.

Jamie chooses to measure her children’s level of curiosity, love of learning and how much they empathy they have for one another in leu of the standard educational markers. Her children still learn their basic academics needed, but they are through a focused lens of creating a well rounded human, as opposed to, essentially, a skin sack with a bunch of facts in it.

Taking Back Control of Your Child’s Education

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Who has more time with your children then you? You should be the expert in your children. … We are all the curators of our children’s education. … No matter what education we choose, we are designing it by those choices.

Jamie P., 2022

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Jamie and I discussed the responsibility of parents to engage with their children and guide their education, not simply pass it off to someone else and hope for the best.

I introduce the topic of Republican Motherhood and why history and civics is so important for the continuation of the American Republic.

Jamie and I then share stories about our families, and personal experiences and the lessons that life itself will teach us.

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…They (my children) will know what they need to know in a variety of skills and not just paper and pencil skills, because that’s not enough.

Jamie P., 2022

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Jamie and I both feel that for our children to have well rounded educations, they need much more than what a typical classroom has to offer. The lessons that life and lived experiences can teach our children are often far more valuable than anything they will learn in a classroom.

We need to start looking at alternative paths for our children’s futures other than college. What is the end goal you want for your student? Do you want them to have a head full of knowledge that they may never use, or do you want them to have marketable skills that can be used in more than one field? Which do you think will ensure their future success?

I feel that homeschooling allows you the freedom to teach your children the academics that they need, as well as the opportunities to obtain skills they wouldn’t otherwise have access to.

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We can do a History lesson or a Math lesson in 20 minutes a day, and it is equivalent, if not more than sitting for 60 minutes at math.

Jamie P., 2022

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Humble Heart Press

Humble Heart Press in an online printing company that came out of a desire to solve a problem that Jamie saw. She saw that online curriculum’s were taking up to a month or more to print in the busy season, and since she had a print shop already setup in her house, she decided to do something about it.

Jamie offers superb quality printing of curriculums and books with fast turn around times and vivid, full color prints. Her prices are fabulous, starting at just over $5.00 for basic color, double sided prints that are bound and ready to use.

Finding Grace in Raising the Next Generation

It’s important for us to teach our children how to complete daily tasks with grace and grounding. By giving our children small tasks to accomplish throughout the day, we give them the skills they need to succeed in life. Our children, by our side, learn how to build their own self-esteem and rely on their own abilities instead of always looking for someone to help them out of a situation.

Finding grounding and grace in every day tasks, as mamas allows us to fill the cups of our children and others we hold close to us.

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I’ve struggled teaching reading…but it is a process of faith, but it is rich. It can be really, really rich.

Jamie P., 2022

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The gift of being able to watch our children grow and learn is something that we will never fully be able to express our gratitude for, or explain to someone who has not experienced it. By seeing our children incorporate the things we teach them into their everyday lives, we are able to see the next generation begin to thrive and foster a new current of morals and character for our nation and society.