Falling for Learning Podcast
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Falling for Learning Podcast
Homeschool Creativity: Tiffany Curry's Learning Adventures | Episode 101
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Tiffany Curry, a homeschool mom and preschool teacher, shares her journey and strategies for engaging children in learning. She emphasizes hands-on activities, such as using blocks, Play-Doh, and sensory materials, to keep children engaged. Tiffany highlights the importance of reading daily, incorporating various teaching philosophies, and using resources like Pinterest and books. She advises parents to involve their children in learning, use casual conversations to assess understanding, and maintain open communication about online activities. Tiffany also stresses the value of extracurricular activities and field trips to provide a well-rounded education.
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We have a special episode that where we have a homeschool mom who also has a preschool and homeschool other children, her own children, and other people in the neighborhood. It's just going to tell us a little bit about how she got started. And this will help give you tips if you are helping your kid at home, or if you are thinking about doing homeschooling, all right, hi, thank you so much for joining the Falling for Learning Podcast. I am T.D. Flenaugh. We have this podcast to help parents and caregivers with having the resources, strategies and tools needed to make sure that their children are on track for learning and to stay on track for success. Welcome everyone. So we have Lauren Mosley on our show again that's going to help us interview her good friend, Tiffany curry. Welcome, hi. Okay, so Tiffany, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Tiffany Curry:Okay, well, I am married, mom of three boys. Their ages are 11, nine and two. And I homeschooled my two older children from the time you know, they were two years old until they went they recently went into private school. This is their first year in private school. So my older one is in middle school now, and my middle son is in third grade. So they had been homeschooled up until this point, and I, after having my youngest, started an in home child care where I teach preschoolers, and I also home school a school aged child who's going to be starting Kinder in the fall. So that keeps me very busy. And I also, you know, if I do get free time, I like to do creative things like art related painting and drawing and crafts. But okay, you know, I don't have much time for that
Lauren Moseley:TIFF. Tell everyone how you use creativity to help your kids learn how you keep them engaged. I
Tiffany Curry:think I use a lot of hands on things that they can manipulate and play with when teaching, instead of worksheets and books and paper and pencil, I like to use things that are tangible to get them more engaged, whether it be just blocks and, you know, little figurines. Sometimes I can use Play Doh, you know, other sensory style things to engage them, and, you know, keep their attention and have, you know, have them also use, you know, other arts and crafts, like paints and markers and all those things, those can help them. I think that I use that also to help with just making it more creative. And I get a lot of ideas, you know, from websites on how to make games and, like, just making it fun, you know, I yeah, come up with ideas all the time. It's just like, endless every day.
Lauren Moseley:Yeah?
TD Flenaugh:So that's makeup. So that's really good. Like, that's like the basis of our podcast is like falling in love with learning, making it fun, making it engaging. So what are some things as a kid that made you fall in love with learning
Tiffany Curry:arts and crafts really were always interesting to me. I always caught my attention whenever we were able to draw or paint or make something with materials, you know, gluing things together and creating something always caught my attention. I wasn't necessarily, um, this great student, you know, I was pretty average. I We had that in common. Yeah, I would say I would. An average student. I didn't do poorly in school, but I wasn't like straight A's and exceptional either, but I definitely was drawn to anything creative.
Lauren Moseley:You and I had a conversation not too long ago about how when we were kids, we were watching Sesame Street, because we we both have that in common. Just weren't awesome students, but super interested in how things work. And I think I shared that with you guys on our last show, like so,
Tiffany Curry:yeah, that's what I was gonna get to. I think that it started. I can remember being super young, maybe three or four, and watching Sesame Street, and they went to the Crayola factory, and they showed how the crayons were made. They showed the whole process of the wax being melted and the dye being added and pouring it into the molds and putting the wrappers on. And I was just blown away by that. I was so fascinated. And I think that that really sparked something in me to realize that everything is made. Yeah, wow, oh. Like, the stuff didn't just appear, like it was made, like, either in a factory, or it was made by someone by hand, or, you know, it was an idea of someone and they created it. So I've always been really drawn to the process of creating something, whether it's cooking or, you know, teaching a child coming up with an activity for them to do, to learn, that, you know, help them in that way. So I've always just been drawn to the whole creative process of just the idea of making something.
TD Flenaugh:I remember that, you know as well, from Sesame Street. I do remember that that was right, yeah. So it you already told us, like, how this, you know, that idea about making and creating and arts and crafts, how it goes into what you do right now. Can you tell us, like, a little bit about your background, like, what got you into teaching kids and being successful at it? Basically,
Tiffany Curry:it started with my own children. So I started teaching my oldest son, you know, like I said, he when he was around two years old, I stopped working, and I was a full time mom, and I had my second son. So right around he was two and a half, I had my second son. So at that point, you know, I wanted to be home full time with my children and I just started teaching them right off, you know, you know, their dad started reading to them when they were first born. So that was always a part of our, you know, our family was was already on that path of just teaching the kids from the very beginning, but once I stopped working, you know, I just read more and more. I think, you know, reading books was the beginning of our teaching journey. For me, like teaching my kids, it started with just reading to them every day, multiple books a day, and then gradually it started into, you know, teaching the alphabet and the numbers and the phonics, and it just kind of, you know, snowballed in. And then eventually we decided to homeschool. Okay, so I didn't start out on this journey from being a classroom teacher or going to school for education or anything of that nature. I am married to a teacher. Okay, so he's always been like the coach, the you know, kind of like the one to kind of help me, guide me along, and give input and accountability to make sure that we're, you know, doing things in a way that is helping them grow and get better and stay on, you Know, the right trajectory, so that, no, it's not so that I'm not, like, missing things or, you know, it just kind of got to me. And then I look things up and I use resources and try to find fun ways and creative ways to teach it.
TD Flenaugh:Okay, so can you tell me a little bit more about like that, accountability and the coaching i. Like that, maybe something that you needed more guidance in, or you got some advice. I think
Tiffany Curry:one of the big things that helped me was him making sure that I was giving assessments that I knew that what I was teaching them, they actually took it in, and they were able to, you know, that they really got it, you know. So one of the ways that I tried to make that fun, you know, assessing them was I would like ask the older one or the younger one to teach us. So you get up and you teach whatever the topic is, you know, like, we're learning about multiplication. Let's say we're doing multiplication and it's like, Can you teach us how to do multiplication? Like, I see you have three times three. Like, what does that mean? Because we had manipulatives to show what three times three means, instead of just memorizing, you know what three times three is nine, but show me how that looks. How do you make three times three using these cubes or blocks or whatever you have so giving them the opportunity to show that they really get it by being able to explain it,
Lauren Moseley:wonderful, nice. So
TD Flenaugh:this really makes me think, because I have definitely talked to some parents who do some online schooling or homeschooling, but it's really a lot of it's online, and they kind of realized later, like their kids don't get as much that they thought they did from that online learning. So like, what kind of advice or information like you gave us one thing, like make sure you can assess them. And I notice your assessment doesn't bring in the computer. It really is about them, talking, showing, explaining, yes. So any other advice about that?
Tiffany Curry:Yeah, I think that that's a big one. And maybe, let's say sometimes the dynamic of parent and child can be a little bit tricky, right? Because you know, your child acts different with you than they would like their teacher. And so I hear it all the time, like, I'll change the child's diaper and the parent will be like, she was okay or he was okay with you changing, you know? They didn't scream or run, you know. And I'm like, No, they just it was fine. They're like, Oh, perfect angel, huh? Like, at home, they're like, drama. So there's definitely that dynamic of parents and children having, you know, different. So I would suggest maybe asking them about what they're learning in a more casual way. You know, while you're doing something else, okay, while you're outside, you know, playing basketball, or while you're making dinner and they're hanging out with you, or while you're eating dinner, even just casually bringing it up, so that it doesn't feel like a test or like they're being drilled, you know, just casually, You know, oh, you know, I saw photosynthesis, you know, you were, you were doing something with the plants and the you know, what was that? What was that about? Okay, you know, just kind of getting them talking and going, Oh, okay, so plant sales, what is that, you know, like, just kind of getting, okay, them to do it without being like, so what does photo suited this mean and wrong? It means this, you know, like, you don't want to,
Lauren Moseley:I'm taking notes,
Tiffany Curry:you know, like, you know, just kind of casual. I see about it, I think that's a good way to do it. Or maybe even have someone else, like maybe, if there's one parent that is, because we have to do this too, with with our dynamic. You know, I was at home full time. My husband's away working in the classroom full time. So you know, his time with the kids was a shorter window, so he would have to look through, okay, you know, he would look through what they've been learning and then bring it up casually, you know, randomly say, Oh, do you do? You know what a vowel is, it's a vowel. And then, you know, we would kind of get gay. Gosh, like we've been going over vows. Do they do they get what a vowel is, you know? So it may need to be the other parent that isn't the main teacher. Maybe that could also help as well. This
TD Flenaugh:brings when you bring this up, like you're not saying another parent. But I have seen in some of the homeschool forums that sometimes there's, like, a nosy relative that's very like, Do your kids really know how to read, or do they really know how to do math? And so they might be, you know, quizzing the kid or something, and the parent feels defensive or something. Do you have that experience? Yeah, you're gonna feel defensive. Yes, you will. You will, when you've been, you know, spending hours teaching your kid, right about, it's like,
Tiffany Curry:sure. Then dad comes home and says, so what's the preposition? And they're like, Oh, No,
TD Flenaugh:kidding me, right? We went over
Tiffany Curry:weeks, you know, yeah, so I think that that just comes to learning. I think a lot about just parenting in general is learning not to take things personal. Not take things personal when your kid is giving you an attitude, no, it's something about it's not you, it's them, so don't take it personal. Let's figure out what's going on here. Same thing when your kid isn't able to rattle off whatever answer that's correct. And you know that you spend all this time, you know, drilling it and practicing and yes, you thought they had it okay. Well, maybe they don't, and you got to change your approach. You need to take it on in a different way that clicks for them. You know, that's what it's all about, is making sure that they they have the knowledge that they need, that they are able to, you know, retain it and recite it and they got it so,
TD Flenaugh:you know, I love that, because I do look and I say, I for me as a classroom teacher, like, I'm like, well, that's not bad if the grandma wants to know if the grandchild can read, you know, like, and if they don't, if they're not able to do it, then, like, maybe you do need support, right? Because we all know, like, we have a range of students that come to us, or, you know, maybe they don't get it the first time, and then even I've seen kids the next year, it's like, wow, well, you did. It didn't seem like you were getting it when you were with me, but now you're like, you know, sometimes it, it's over time they get things or, you know, yes, and I think that's something that people just need to change their perspective, because, you know, it, people are concerned, right? Obviously, like you said, that accountability piece, like, Is the child actually learning, right? Because they may not be learning in the school, and then we're like, you know, looking at the teacher, or if they may not be learning in the home school, like, what needs to change? What adjustment needs to be?
Tiffany Curry:Constantly being able to make adjustments is huge. You have to constantly be able to, you know, change the environment, change the the curriculum that you you're using may not work for your child, you know, your method, your you know, for me, I, I was always looking into different teaching philosophies and trying them out, you know, and in, you know, there's all kinds of philosophies on how to teach a child. And, yeah, yeah, we can bring, bring those into your home school. You know, there's a good did you notice thoughts about that? It's called wild and free. Wild and Free, okay, yeah. And it kind of breaks down a variety of teaching philosophies, and you can kind of go through there, and because I've heard different names over the years, you know, and didn't quite know exactly what they all were about, but that book was helpful in kind of showing you what they all are and how they kind of look if you incorporate them,
Unknown:okay, okay,
Lauren Moseley:I wanted to ask, Did you notice anything about how your younger one related to learning? Because he had his older brother? They. There, learning alongside of him. Was there? Was there any thing that you saw that, oh, the middle the middle son, the middle one, right? Not the baby, the middle one. He was, he was learning alongside his brother. So wonder being in that environment. Do you see any, any, any way that he learns that that was helpful because he had his older brother alongside
Unknown:him. Um,
Tiffany Curry:you know, I, you know, I don't know necessarily, because I don't know how to I'm just comparing them to each other, and they were very similar to one another and learning, right? But I do think that, even to this day, what helps the older one is actually to have the younger one, because sometimes we will ask the older one to help the younger one. So I think that that helps him. Because, you know, especially with math, the older one is really good at math, and sometimes my middle son will have questions about his math that he may not get it. So we'll always do like, if I'm busy, you know, you can ask your brother. He, oh, he'll be able to, you know, explain it to you, and then, you know, always follow up like, Hey, do you get it now? Did he, you know, does it make sense? Did he help you? And usually it's yes, so
Lauren Moseley:yeah. So sometimes that yeah, that that peer tutoring is can be really on that kind
Tiffany Curry:of Yeah. And I think the middle one also was able to kind of be exposed to topics in science and social studies that he would ordinarily probably not have been. But at the same time, I don't know if they really slunk in because they were a little bit,
TD Flenaugh:you know, over him, but I kind of kept them on the same topics. When it came to science and history, they were just both kind of, you know, just explaining it in a more simplistic way for the middle son, but it was kind of the same topics. Yeah, I want to highlight that. Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. Highlight that. Because I think, you know, when there's parents who are homeschooling multiple kids, sometimes like managing that might be something that's a challenge, and you're saying one thing that you did is make sure, okay, we're, they're going to be studying magnets, just at the, maybe the third grade level, and then at the first grade level. Or they're going to be writing, you know, the Revolutionary War, maybe first grade level, third grade level. So that's one way to keep it a little bit more manageable. So you're not doing the Revolutionary War, the Civil War for this group and you know, so just keep right,
Tiffany Curry:because that can get overwhelming, sure, yeah, especially if you're someone like me. Because I didn't use, like, a box curriculum, you know, a preset program I kind of, you know, like I said, it was very eclectic, like I pulled from here and there and, you know, got guidance from my husband, and kind of mixed it all together. I made a lot of things, you know, myself. So it could have, you know, it would have been really hard to kind of do a bunch of different topics for each child. So yeah, for sure.
TD Flenaugh:Can you tell us, like, what is your day? Is there like, a set structure for the day, for when you do the homeschooling for your kids? Or how do you manage? How do you do that?
Tiffany Curry:Okay, well, you know, my kids are currently now in, uh, private school, but I do, you know, it's only been a year, so I remember the schedule very well, but, and it's kind of similar to what I do now with with my child's care, you know, where they kind of start the day and they have breakfast, and while they're eating, you know whether some of them eat before they come and some of them eat here, right? So while they're eating, sometimes I will read, we'll have story time simultaneously, okay? Because I find that they're a little bit more still, they're not as wiggly and, you know, distracted. They have their little snack or their food, and they're just sitting there so and that's become something that they, you know, anticipate that that's what we're going to do. So we eat, and then we read story, and then they have free time to play. They love Magna tiles. So they're always building with the Magna tiles for, you know, 30 minutes to an hour. And then we have some sort of activity, you know, depending on, you know, right now, my theme is like deep. Sea. So we have, you know, books about the deep sea, and we have, you know, sensory activities, and you know that involve that. And then we go outside. They run around and play outside for a while, and we come back in and they wash up and have us have a snack. And then I read, you know, again while they're having snack time. And we do, actually, before we go outside, we do circle time. So we go over calendar, the days of the week, the months of the year, and we talk about the weather, and we talk about the seasons, and then we go outside, and then they come back in and wash up and have a snack. And I read, you know, while they're having their snack, and then they hang out and play again. And then it's lunchtime, and then at lunchtime, I also read while they're eating their lunch. And, you know, after lunch, they hang out and play for like, a few minutes, maybe, like 20 minutes, and then it's nap time. And because these are little kids, so they're at ages two to five, five is the oldest, so they nap, and then when they wake up from their nap, they have a snack again, and they just play. And sometimes I have an activity, you know, we do a lot of loose parts play as well where, you know, it encourages creativity for them to play with various objects that they can use and create something that they've imagined, you know, like pieces of wood or blocks and little pasta and anything that can be manipulated or configured in a way that promotes like creativity and imagination that they could, like, make a smiley face, or make a person you know. Just call it loose parts. Place loose parts. So those parts,
TD Flenaugh:it's not something that you buy, is something that you bring together, like you just
Tiffany Curry:gather materials, wood, okay, yeah, you just gather various materials that maybe little animal figurines and little wooden blocks, and, you know, we may have, like, a bunch of wheels or a bunch of little hats or just anything that you may have, you know, as a Teacher, you pom poms and anything that they could play with and engage with, you just kind of put it all together and see what they come up with. Okay, so it's kind of like, you know, just free for all. Everybody just digs in and makes whatever they want to make,
TD Flenaugh:the rewrite method and the rewrite method workbook are your go to resource for helping kids to learn to fall in love with writing. It has the tips, tools, resources, strategies and skill building activities to help kids fall out of writing Hoot and into loving to write. Get your book set today.
Tiffany Curry:So what about earlier, you said something about magnet tiles. Did I say it correctly? Magnet tiles? Uh huh, you tell me more about what that is. So they're colorful squares that are kind of like, kind of like blocks, but they're thin and they have magnets around the edges. So when you put two together, they stay so you could build a structure of some sort with them. I have some parts that you can connect it to that have wheels, so they can build a little cars. Okay, you know? And there's little ramps that they can drum down, but it's, it's their imagination. Again, they're just building their little structure, or their little vehicle. And, you know, they put things inside. After they make their structure, they put little people in, and, you know, different things like that. So, yeah, they those things are. Like, that's, I would say, the number one hot item in the in the playroom, for sure. Okay,
Lauren Moseley:creativity that e right? Yes,
TD Flenaugh:your kids were homeschooling. What kind of schedule did you have for them?
Tiffany Curry:Yeah, well, my kids were homeschooling. So they would get up and the same thing I would make break. I would get up and make breakfast. They would still be sleeping. I would get up first. That's another cheat code there. Like parents, whoever it is that's homeschooling these kids, if you're not getting up first before those children and getting your time to do whatever you need to do, work out, drink your coffee, pray, read your Bible, whatever you need for yourself You gotta do that first. Okay? Otherwise, I don't know how you can make it. I don't know how I've seen parents that are like I sleep and those kids just, you know, been for themselves until I'm up in a couple hours after them. I don't know that life like I would be, I would not be okay if, if I had done that, because
TD Flenaugh:alone time at the beginning,
Tiffany Curry:I did for sure, you know, so I have to do that. Get up early, get myself, you know, together and then figure out, you know, what they were going to do throughout the day, you know? But so, yeah, I would be up first, have my time, make their breakfast, and they would eat, and I would read to them as well. I would have, like, my kids, you know, I would have a big stack of books, as they were used to me reading all the time. So we would read like, five, six books at a time. Or what I also did when they got a little bit when my middle son got a little bit older and he could handle it, is, I would do a thicker book, and we would read it, you know, throughout the week or month. It would take us to get through it, like Alice in Wonderland, or one of those Roald Dahl books, like James and the Giant Peach, or something that is, you know, more substantial, not just a picture book, but it's like a story that goes on. So they really enjoyed that time. That was like a good way to kind of start, start the day off, you know, read, reading to them a story that was engaging. And then we would probably, you know, start with one of the subjects. Probably started with math, because that seems to be the, for me, easiest to teach, considering I'm not very good at math, but I felt I find that math is the most fun and easy to teach. Okay? Because you can make a game like that, like, whatever math concept you're teaching. You can just look around your room and like, oh, look, we're gonna make this math get these little cubes in here, get these little figurines, these little animals, and we're making a math game right now, let's do it. And, you know, that was always fun and easy. So we would just go through our subjects, our math, and then we would do our reading and writing and social studies a couple of, you know, a couple of times a week. We wouldn't do social studies and science every day, but we do it a couple of times a week, and they would have their time outside while I was making lunch. So they're outside, running around. I'm making lunch, they come back in, they're eating, and, you know, I'm going to read again with them while they're eating, and we're going to probably talk about what we're learning and what they grasp from it. And, you know, we always went on an excursion, a field trip, or some, something of the sort, pretty much on a weekly basis, you know, every other day. You know, even if it was just to go to the park and have them run around at the park, and we will take our book and read at the park and and then they would have play time at the park, or we would go to museums or, you know, hang out with other homeschoolers, you know. And they also had, like, piano. Lessons that they had to go to, and they did karate and so, you know, it was always a full day, just depending on what they had going on. But that's pretty much how it was. We would just, you know, kind of go, go like that. Most days.
TD Flenaugh:It sounds like so much. There's so much there, right? You make it sound, yeah? It's just like, so simple. But the major takeaways I hear is, like an excursion, you said, at least every other day, like, even if it's going to the park or if it's going to a museum, like, planning something, getting out, yeah, meeting up with other friends, meeting up with others. And I also hear like those extracurricular activities. So it's not all you doing everything, like you have this, you know, just like in school, they have, like a PE or, then they have a music teacher. You're talking about music lessons. So that's another way to help balance the load of what they're learning because those are, you know, pe physical education, or different things like that, art, you know, from performing arts, all of that is part of a holistic education, like a well rounded education. So I think that's really helpful for listeners who are thinking about doing homeschooling, or maybe you're already doing homeschooling and need some tips on how to, you know, improve or expand what they're doing already build on,
Lauren Moseley:yeah, I think one of my takeaways is I really want to encourage my parents to read while they're eating. You know, those are two really great activities to do together. You know, your kid is sitting down at dinner, having a snack, and just making that a consistent time, especially during the summer, you know, you if you have time at home, you know, making those intentional moments, yeah, where they can sit and read, and having lots of books.
Tiffany Curry:Yeah, lots of books. Yeah, we have a ton of books. Yeah. Always had a ton of books. And my kids to this day, they they love to read, and they always take a book with them. They go. So even the little one is like, I gotta get my book. Yeah, he doesn't. It's natural. We're gonna go bye, bye, I gotta get my book. Oh,
TD Flenaugh:yeah. It's just a natural part of what they do. Yeah. Are constantly learning right, reading during meeting, you know, and going different places. And they're learning where they go, even if it's social interaction or Yeah, yeah. Oh, and
Tiffany Curry:I did forget that, like, after we I always with my kids, and I still do it with my childcare kids, but after they eat and we read our book, we would always, you know, do like, I call it circle time, where we like sing songs and we sing the days of the week, the months of the year, phonics, whatever you know, certain things that they need to memorize. Yeah, we'll go over those things first thing after they're done eating the day.
Lauren Moseley:Yeah, and I like how you said you make learning just kind of, it's everywhere, you know, you just, if you're gonna do a math lesson, you can pull things from right there in your environment. You don't necessarily need to go out and buy things or buy an expensive program, or, you know, you take some beans out of a jar. You can, you can do a lot of materials you have in your environment. So I think that's really a comfort thing, if you know, for parents to know, it doesn't take a lot,
Tiffany Curry:right? Yeah, yeah. And also incorporating things that your children are interested in. You know, for one time, we were learning about money, and at that time, you know, my kids had all of these little stuffed animals and, you know, figurines that they were really into. So we, like, made, like a store with those animals, and they were shopping, and they were buying things. And we, you know, exchange money with, you know, little, I don't know this little teddy bear is buying, I don't know, this popsicle, so we gotta charge him $1 and then he's making. So how much money do you have now? And just, you know, yeah, doing things like that that, you know, spark their interest in knowing, you know, incorporating what they're interested in is really,
Lauren Moseley:yeah, oh, that sounds great. It
TD Flenaugh:really does, yeah. It sounds like it's really a fun time, and learning is just like, naturally a part of life and fun. Yeah? So, yeah. Great. What I didn't hear is a lot about, like, computers. And I feel like, when I'm in the homeschool forums, I hear a lot of parents talk about how the kids are on the you know, and I brought it up earlier. But do you use any like, computer type based learning? Or,
Tiffany Curry:yeah, as my kids got older, you know, they were learning to type, so they had typing games that they would do, and they would do, sometimes math games on the computer, you know. And then they would also start to type their little paragraphs and essays. And the things that they would write, they were starting to type them out. So they would do both. They would write by hand as well. And sometimes, you know, they would also type it out. And now that they're even older, you know, they are really active on the computer, because they're learning a lot about AI. So they do a lot of video making and creating different things with AI, yeah, so of course, that involves a computer. So they did, you know, you they didn't do a lot when they were, like, really little. There wasn't a whole lot of computer or just screen time in general, when they were really young. We, we were just weren't big on that until they got, I would say, you know, five, six is when it it became more of a regular thing. But prior to that, it was just once in a while, or, you know, on the weekends, or here and there, but not, I wouldn't say it was like a daily thing,
TD Flenaugh:okay? And like another thing I see is like, sometimes people aren't managing what the kids are doing, or they're not maybe they got busy and they didn't look to see where they are. So how do you manage that? Like, do you make sure you are looking every five minutes? Or, like, how do you manage like, what they're doing online?
Tiffany Curry:I um, yeah, it is, you know, like now that they're older. So we have all shared devices, so they're not just on their own computer on their own iPad in their room, I see away from everyone, their computer is like my computer. Their iPad is my iPad. So there's no like my, you know, their own. I'll sell it. We just don't feel that that's necessary. It's great.
TD Flenaugh:That would transform some of the things, like, nip some of that in the bud, right? Like, because it is just their computer, I think a lot of times and easy to veer on the wrong track, right? Yeah,
Tiffany Curry:and I understand why, because, like my husband, for example, he uses his computer a lot for work, so it's not always convenient for the kids to hop on his computer and do their stuff. They do still use his computer, you know, at times, but it's not always convenient. And me, I'm not someone that is always using my computer for work, you know, I use it, you know, a few times a week for work, not every single day, right? So that's easier. So if I had a job where I needed to use my computer every single day, several hours a day, then that will be a little bit more challenging. So if you're one of those parents, I would say, make sure that your child is using the device in an open area where everyone is around and they're not just up in their room, just doing whatever they want. I see and then you just have to make sure that you keep communication open and you're going through and looking and knowing what they're engaging with online. I'm sure parental blockers and things that you can do, but I like to just go through the search history, and it's my next one. I sat down to do this interview. I saw something, a picture on my computer, and I was like, Huh, what's that? So I'm gonna ask. I'm gonna be questioning about this, this thing that I see on my computer here, um. It wasn't there yesterday. So I'm kind of like, what's this? We gotta talk about it. So you just have to, you know,
Lauren Moseley:and I'm sure they're more they're going to be more mindful about what they're searching if they know that mom's going to computer, and, you know, we share it, so just that alone keeps them on the up and up, yeah.
Tiffany Curry:And as parents, you know your child, you know if they're like, suspicious, they have the suspicious face. If you see that suspicious face, then engage and go, Oh, what's going on, like, what are we doing? What's Yeah, what's on your computer, what you know, yeah. You know, my middle schooler will have a test coming up, and the teacher provides a study guide, yeah. So he'll take that study guide and upload it into AI and make, like, the coolest podcast for him to listen to. Yes, it operates everything about he he recently showed me where it's like, the podcast is not only about the topic on this, on this study guide, but the voice sounds like, so cool. It's like, Hey, man, you learning about this or whatever. Like, hell cap, we gonna do, like, it's so cool, sounding like just some guy talking to him, regular like, Yeah, whatever this topic is, it's like, the coolest thing. So I'm just saying that to say that
Lauren Moseley:I'm gonna check out that. AI App, that's that sounds amazing, yeah,
Tiffany Curry:it's really cool. Wow, this is, yeah, he's, he's talking to you, like, you know, your homie down the street. It's, no, he's talking about the Revolutionary War, you know, like, yeah,
TD Flenaugh:for sure. Tiffany, where can people find you?
Tiffany Curry:So on my Instagram, I share a lot of activities that I do with my kiddos here@QuestforLearningAcademy. So if you go on to Instagram, it's quest for Learning Academy, and you'll see a lot of things there,
TD Flenaugh:okay, and it's in our show notes as well. Well, you have given us so many great like, you know, valuable tips and information and insight as a homeschool mom, and we really appreciate you coming on the show. Yes, thank you for having me. Yes, yes, yes. Is there any like final things that you would tips you would give to a parent that maybe struggling with their homeschooling journey, or just supporting their kid at home, like even though they might be learning at school, but they need some extra support at home. What are final tips that you might give them?
Tiffany Curry:Well, I think I would definitely want to articulate that parents are their child's teacher. Yes, oh, I love that, that it's it's not you can teach your child, and you are their teacher. They go to school and they have a teacher at school, but they also have a teacher at home. Yeah. So whether you know it or not, you're teaching your child every day by what you say, by what you do, by what you don't say, and by what you don't do so as a parent, you have to utilize the resources if you are feeling like there's something missing that your child isn't learning, that you want them to learn, that Maybe they're not getting at school. So there's so many resources I think you maybe in the future, might be able to talk to my husband, who's extremely forceful when it comes to AI, what I do when I first started, and even still, now, whatever topic it is that I want my child to learn or know. You know, younger children go on Pinterest and type it in, even if it's a book that you're reading, that your child is maybe reading, that you want to maybe be able to ask them questions about and you've never read the book, you will find all kinds of things. You know, there is no reason that you should feel like it's too difficult or too, you know, challenging for you to teach your kid. You know, they're all you have to do is just have the you. Dedication to want to do it and utilize so so many resources. Yeah,
TD Flenaugh:absolutely again, everyone, make sure that you do something today that gives your child the competitive advantage. Thanks again for supporting the falling for learning podcast. New Episodes go live every Saturday at 5pm you can watch us on youtube.com, at falling for learning, or listen on all major podcast platforms such as Apple, Google, Audible, Spotify and much more. For more resources, visit falling in love with learning.com we really appreciate you. Have a wonderful week. You.
