How a Simple Mindset Shift Changed Everything for This Homeschool Mom

Pam Barnhill [00:00:01]:
Are you ready for homeschooling to feel joyful again? Do you long for support as you learn alongside your kids? Welcome to Homeschool Better Together, a podcast about building a homeschool experience that works for your family. I’m Pam Barnhill, and it’s time to step out of the overwhelm and into the wonder. Let’s do this. Hey there. Today, I am joined by Krystal Joslin. She is a member of our Homeschool Better Together community, and she is also a Homeschool Consistency Boot Camp grad. Krystal, welcome to the podcast. Hi.

Krystal Joslin [00:00:45]:
How are you?

Pam Barnhill [00:00:46]:
I am doing great today. How are you doing?

Krystal Joslin [00:00:49]:
Good.

Pam Barnhill [00:00:50]:
Good. Good.

Krystal Joslin [00:00:51]:
We’re working in our house.

Pam Barnhill [00:00:53]:
Oh, well, good. I’m glad. Tell me a little bit about kinda your homeschooling background. How many kids you homeschooling and how long have you been doing it?

Krystal Joslin [00:01:01]:
Well, very interesting story. I have 2 boys, 8 12, and homeschooling was never in my my thoughts. My 12 year old informed me that we were gonna homeschool. So we have carried on, and we have homeschooled the entire way.

Pam Barnhill [00:01:19]:
So he just came home one day at, like

Krystal Joslin [00:01:22]:
Not quite. We’re military. And Okay. We started in Germany, and we kind of brought it together. And the next duty station excuse me. We told him that he was gonna start attending school, and he looked at me in the kitchen, and he said, I homeschool. And I said, okay. So that’s what we did.

Krystal Joslin [00:01:43]:
That’s what we have done since then. So now he’s 12, And so we have homeschooled since then.

Pam Barnhill [00:01:48]:
That is awesome. That is it like, he knew exactly what he wanted and exactly how he wanted to be educated and mom just had to go along with it.

Krystal Joslin [00:01:56]:
We absolutely had to. So, yes.

Pam Barnhill [00:01:59]:
Oh, that is awesome. And I do think it is great for military families because it does give you some continuity that you might struggle to get otherwise without the homeschooling.

Krystal Joslin [00:02:09]:
For sure. Like, especially right now, we have my husband is going through another exercise. So, yes, like, we’re we’re meeting him kind of, like, in in between, and so it does it does work very well with that. And we get to do vacations and leave, and we just get to up and go whenever we want to. So

Pam Barnhill [00:02:29]:
Yeah. That flexibility of schedule for sure. For sure.

Krystal Joslin [00:02:32]:
Yes.

Pam Barnhill [00:02:33]:
So you came a little more reluctantly to homeschooling than maybe some other moms out there.

Krystal Joslin [00:02:40]:
Yes.

Pam Barnhill [00:02:41]:
So let’s talk about what was your homeschool routine like before the consistency boot camp? Were there any areas that you were struggling with when it came to consistency or planning?

Krystal Joslin [00:02:53]:
Now that I think about it, there were a lot of areas that I needed some help with, but I in in my mind, I did not have, like, any kind of, like, guidance or mentor. So I was like, well, we’re meeting some kind of guidelines, and I would look up what, you know, at his age, like my oldest, if he was meeting the requirements. And so my husband and I were like, well, he’s meeting those milestones, so we’re like, we’re good. But it was never concrete, and it was just like we were going with the flow kind of situation. So we just went with it. And then the second one came along, and I was like, oh, so we kind of have to have some kind of structure. And then, you know, military comes along, and we have to move every 5 seconds, I feel like. And that’s where I was like, we need to have something.

Krystal Joslin [00:03:52]:
I felt like I was, like, not even above water at all. So I think that’s where I kinda like, you know, set my feet up and I was like, okay. I need I need some help for sure.

Pam Barnhill [00:04:04]:
Right. Okay. So what I hear you saying is that, like, the go with the flow worked really great with that first kid. Mhmm. But maybe didn’t work quite as well for the second kid. The milestones weren’t being met and things like that. That particular child just needed a little more structure. And then you throw that on top of the fact that the military is gonna keep you on your toes all the time.

Pam Barnhill [00:04:26]:
Yeah. And so you needed some kind of household structure that superseded all the crazy that was going on from the military stuff.

Krystal Joslin [00:04:36]:
Yes. For sure. And I thought I had all my ducks in a row, but there there were some concerns with our youngest that wasn’t meeting quite the milestones that I thought. And, you know, we’re not supposed to compare the other kid. Right. But I I was. I was. And so I needed something, and we were moving every year.

Krystal Joslin [00:04:59]:
Like, since 2019, we have moved every single year. Like, what this is the longest duty station that we have stayed. So we were moving every single year, and he was growing up. And he was, you know, and our opinion was not meeting those milestones. So we needed something. I I knew I needed something. It was not setting right with me. I needed something.

Krystal Joslin [00:05:24]:
So

Pam Barnhill [00:05:25]:
yeah. Yeah. And it was just a gut feeling you had. Right?

Krystal Joslin [00:05:28]:
For sure. It was.

Pam Barnhill [00:05:31]:
Yeah. It’s so interesting because when I heard you start telling your story, I’m like, oh, there are gonna be people out there who are like, well, what’s the problem with the whole go with the flow thing? He was meeting the milestones. But then you get that kid who’s like your second kid who, even if you’re a go with the flow mom, sometimes you get that kid who just needs that consistency. And for me, actually, it was my second kid. You know, like, the first one was so much more go with the flow. The last one was more go with

Krystal Joslin [00:06:02]:
the flow, but that second one needed

Pam Barnhill [00:06:03]:
that consistency to be able to see progress. And I would be cheating him if I hadn’t done that consistency with him.

Krystal Joslin [00:06:09]:
You know? Sure.

Pam Barnhill [00:06:10]:
Yes. Yes. Even though I am not a go with the flow kind of person.

Krystal Joslin [00:06:15]:
I would like to tell myself that I am, but, you down, maybe not.

Pam Barnhill [00:06:19]:
Isn’t that crazy? It’s like people with straight hair want curly hair. People who are like really structured want to be go with the flow and people who are go with the flow sometimes want a little bit of structure. It’s like, we always want what we’re not. And yeah, I’d love to be that person, but that’s just not me.

Krystal Joslin [00:06:35]:
Maybe one day, but not today.

Pam Barnhill [00:06:39]:
So you heard about the boot camp. How did you find out about it and what made you think, maybe this could solve my problems?

Krystal Joslin [00:06:48]:
Well, actually, my oldest was like, am I that in between of not having a lot of peers? And I honestly think I stumbled upon your name with Sarah McKenzie and another influencer. And I started listening to you with your podcast. And I start I I think I purchased a couple of things, and I was like, I like this. And then this was available. I was like, well, I mean, let’s try this Because we were moving so much. I was like, well, I can’t screw it up anymore. So let’s let’s try this.

Pam Barnhill [00:07:24]:
Let’s see if there’s something here that can help. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So you hadn’t been in the community for very long or anything, and you’re like, oh, that’s this boot camp thing. This sounds interesting. Okay. I

Krystal Joslin [00:07:36]:
was like, I it piqued my interest. I was like, well, I need a little bit of, like, guidance, I felt like. Because at this point, now I had 2 that were actually needing a little bit more attention. So, you know, I just I was looking for guidance and resources, and I wanted to try that, and it worked out so well.

Pam Barnhill [00:07:56]:
Okay. Well, let’s talk about that then. So what were some of the most helpful strategies or tools that you learned about in the boot camp that helped you?

Krystal Joslin [00:08:04]:
Well, a lot of it was self reflection. Like, looking upon myself and realizing there were something that I needed to work on for myself. Like, the biggest thing, I think, was going to bed on time. Mhmm. And that was hard. That was hard. I was like, okay. Well, I can get so much done if I stay up a little bit later.

Pam Barnhill [00:08:26]:
It’s so quiet.

Krystal Joslin [00:08:28]:
It is. It is. And you can like, you know, you have your attention, and, like, you can get a lot of things in. That was 1. And then reflecting on the day before, that was another gut wrenchy thing. I was like, okay. So what do we do? Like, what do we need to improve upon, like, the next day? And maybe we don’t. Like, maybe we need to just, like, chill.

Krystal Joslin [00:08:51]:
Those were a lot of things. Like, just, like, self reflection for myself. That was one of the biggest things for the next day and going to bed on time. That was hard. The other thing that I really appreciated was realizing that I needed a little bit of waking up a little bit before they did just for me. Like, that peace time that I listened to your to one of your classes, like, the peace time, and that has really helped. Just a little bit, like, just, like, 15 minutes just like, I would love an hour, but 15 minutes, that is awesome. Just that moment just to gather myself before they wake up.

Pam Barnhill [00:09:33]:
Oh, that’s so interesting because, like, right now, I’m in Alabama. It’s 9, And then Crystal’s in Alaska at 6. And I’m like, who says they wanna record a podcast at 6 AM?

Krystal Joslin [00:09:47]:
Well

Pam Barnhill [00:09:47]:
And this is something that came out of boot camp.

Krystal Joslin [00:09:50]:
Yes. So I actually and I enjoy it. I wake up at 4.

Pam Barnhill [00:09:55]:
Oh my goodness.

Krystal Joslin [00:09:57]:
But I it’s actually, it does feel good for me. It does it does something I I can feel the difference within myself. If I wake up at 4, because I have this whole thing, I wake up at 4, and then I do my thing. I get ready, and then I do my peace time, and then they wake up. I know that’s that’s not everyone’s gonna do, like, 3 hours before they do, but just that little bit, a little and and and that’s not every day. Like, not even. Like, I’m not gonna pretend that’s every single day. But just a little bit of time for myself before they wake up, we’re golden.

Pam Barnhill [00:10:31]:
Has made all the difference. Yeah. It does. And okay. So, yeah, I just wanna clarify. Boot camp does not tell you you have to wake up sooner in the morning.

Krystal Joslin [00:10:38]:
Absolutely not. No. No.

Pam Barnhill [00:10:40]:
No. Pam has never woken up at

Krystal Joslin [00:10:42]:
4. No. But just a little bit of time beforehand makes all the difference. It does.

Pam Barnhill [00:10:48]:
So it’s so interesting that you’re like I’m like, okay. So what was the best thing for you? And you’re like, oh, it’s like reflection and working on me. And we get so many questions about boot camp. We’re like, one of the biggest things that people when they hear about boot camp and for the first thing they say, they come to us and they say, well, how old do my kids have to be for us to do this? And then the next question is like, how are you gonna make it work where you’re getting my kids to be consistent with homeschooling? And we’re like, no. No. No. It doesn’t have anything to do with your children.

Krystal Joslin [00:11:19]:
Oh, no. They’re not. I told them about this. They’re like, when did you do a boot camp? And I was like, I did it like you know, I’d I’ve done it twice. And I’m like, oh, so we were there. They have no idea at all. But they know, like, now very much so. I could think the 2 takeaways is they know, like, the 2 subjects that they have to do every single day because it’s without a doubt.

Krystal Joslin [00:11:44]:
Now they know, like, what they have to do. And I asked them last night, you know, just to talk about this, and they said, yeah. We gotta do this. We gotta do this. I’m like, yep. Got it. Like, you know exactly what has to happen every single day.

Pam Barnhill [00:11:57]:
Yeah. They had no idea that there was this strategy going on behind the scene that was getting them to be consistent with their homeschooling. And that that is the thing. We do work on moms in the boot camp, not kids. But it really does work to do that, you know.

Krystal Joslin [00:12:14]:
It does for sure because they know, like, they have to do these two things and then, you know, it it’s we we did we did school for that day, and they know. Like, we don’t have to negotiate. Well, I’m not gonna lie. We have to go I have a tween. So we have to kinda negotiate, but we know, like, those are the 2 things. Like, we have to hit hit those goals every single day.

Pam Barnhill [00:12:36]:
The the the negotiation becomes a lot easier. It becomes more of a negotiation and less of a, I’m gonna dig in my heels and push back and, you know, pitch a fit and have a little tantrum and try to get mom to, like, not do school. It just becomes more of a negotiation.

Krystal Joslin [00:12:52]:
It’s not even that far. It’s like, you know what we have to do today. And I’m like, yes, mom. You’re right. We have to yeah. It’s like I I will get some eye rolls. I’m not gonna lie. And then they know.

Krystal Joslin [00:13:03]:
Like, the the that’s what we have to do. Like, those are, like, the 2 things is your MBD. Those are the 2 things we have to hit every single day, math and some form of English language arts kind of situation. So they end up like, it’s not it’s not negotiable anymore. And so they may roll their eyes. They may say something under their breath, and I’m like, okay. Thank you. Go.

Pam Barnhill [00:13:29]:
And they do it. Yeah. They do it. Okay. So you’re talking about our MVD strategy, which we actually just a couple of weeks ago released a podcast about that strategy. So if you haven’t listened to that podcast, go back into your podcast feed and find that last one because Dawn and I spent a good 50 minutes talking about that and what it can do for your homeschool. But you don’t just do your MVD. You actually do more.

Pam Barnhill [00:13:51]:
Right?

Krystal Joslin [00:13:53]:
No. I do not do my MVD, every day, but it it felt good to know that I was hitting those things that I felt were because it’s individualized.

Pam Barnhill [00:14:03]:
And so

Krystal Joslin [00:14:03]:
what I felt was important for our family, but, no, we do not do that. And I think for like I said, it’s individualized. So it’s what I feel like we have to hit for our family, and then we do read aloud. Like, a lot of read alouds. So that’s our MDs. And I didn’t know that, how that was so important for our family, But I feel better about myself every single day when we do those things. Even if I’m, like if really, like, struggling to do that read aloud, but we we will do that read aloud, and they do their NBDs, and we’re like, I I feel good that day.

Pam Barnhill [00:14:41]:
You feel yeah. You feel good. And then it gives you a jumping off point where you could do so much more from that. But if you can’t, then you’re like, we’ve done school. We’ve got the most important stuff done. And now they’re not gonna push back at me. They know that this is what they’re doing and and our days are just probably running easier because of it.

Krystal Joslin [00:15:00]:
It is. Because I’m my oldest is 12. And today, for instance, I call them out of our quiet time. We have quiet time every day. That’s a golden hour. And I came downstairs and I said, we have to read. And they knew exactly what I said, and they came down, and they listened to me read picture books, like, the entire time for 45 minutes. But that was, like that, in my mind, was part of English language arts because those were the important things that I had to get done today.

Krystal Joslin [00:15:32]:
They did math earlier in the day, and then we hit English language arts because they listened to me. And it was, like, listening to me read. So there was, like, vocabulary. Like, it was all of the things just in me reading for about 45 minutes.

Pam Barnhill [00:15:46]:
Yeah. Yeah. And you felt good. You felt good about it.

Krystal Joslin [00:15:49]:
I did. I did.

Pam Barnhill [00:15:49]:
Yeah. So what other improvements did you see in your homeschool? Anything even homeschool adjacent, like, in your planning or family involvement or anything like that?

Krystal Joslin [00:16:00]:
1 of my sons, somehow, he was very great at reading, and then another one is a little bit slower at it. And I have seen such improvement with him reading just because he knows the expectation that we’re going to do some type of English language arts every single day in some capacity. And his reading, I get it from outside resources all of the time. Just his, like, his ability now at this because my MVD is, like, I have placed it in very I have it in my bathroom. I have it in the I I made on Canva. I made my expectations in our homeschool room, in my bathroom, and in the kitchen. Like, the things that I know where I will see it frequently. And so I can always see, like, that’s my expectation every single day that that’s what I need to hit.

Krystal Joslin [00:17:04]:
And his reading, that is one of the things that I can, like, very conscientiously see his As an improvement. Program.

Pam Barnhill [00:17:13]:
Yeah. And I love the fact you’re like, okay. I’m gonna post this expectation around the house, but you’ve posted it in your bathroom, in the kitchen where you are, and in the school room. You’re not doing this for the kids. It’s like for you. Right? You’re still

Krystal Joslin [00:17:28]:
It’s me.

Pam Barnhill [00:17:29]:
Yeah. You’re still working on you. It’s yeah. Moms never want to hear that that, like, you know, it it’s so easy to say, oh, if my kid weren’t such a problem, my homeschooling would be easier. But a lot of times, it’s not the kids and nobody wants to hear that. I understand. But, no. I mean, it’s my attitude.

Pam Barnhill [00:17:47]:
It’s me.

Krystal Joslin [00:17:48]:
There is some expectations from the child, but I mean, at least if I see it and then I I put it in this in the places I went with your guidance. Like, I hid it in the places where I would be there the most the most times. So it’s a kitchen and then a homeschool room and my bathroom because I’m always there. So I hit those that hit those goals, and I put them there. And that, has helped me tremendously. And they kinda see it in passing, so they know as well. So it helps as well.

Pam Barnhill [00:18:20]:
And they know it’s something that, you know, like, they probably don’t think about it a whole lot, but they know it’s something mom’s working on. Like, this is mom’s expectation for her and it’s also her expectation for us. And, yeah, that’s it’s always good to be that model and to set that example for the kids, for sure. So how does your homeschool day look different now? So obviously, you’re getting up and you’re doing that quiet

Krystal Joslin [00:18:44]:
time. Yes. For

Pam Barnhill [00:18:45]:
sure. Every single day. Mhmm. Any other ways that you’ve noticed?

Krystal Joslin [00:18:51]:
I think the biggest thing is that the expectation is there. They know that’s two things that they have to hit every single day because that was my MBB. My my thing was, you know, our subjects was math and some capacity of English language arts. So they know they have to do it and they ask me, so what do I have to do? And there’s I mean, I’m not gonna say it’s, you know, perfect, but they know that that is something that we have to hit in some capacity every single day. And it’s a little bit less of, you know, nah, I don’t wanna do it, whining kind of a situation because it’s there.

Pam Barnhill [00:19:36]:
Yeah. Because it’s there. And it also like, on those days that you’re stressed and you’re overwhelmed and you’re just like, oh, there’s a 50 things going on tomorrow. How am I even going to do it? It also gives you permission to say, you know what? Like, these are the 2 things that I absolutely have to have ready to go. And if I don’t get the rest of it ready, no worries. We’re just gonna fall back on these. We’re gonna read some good books. And were you guys a literature based? It sounds like you guys are very literature based.

Pam Barnhill [00:20:05]:
Were you guys literature based before the boot camp?

Krystal Joslin [00:20:08]:
No. We listen to Sarah McKenzie a lot.

Pam Barnhill [00:20:12]:
You’re where

Krystal Joslin [00:20:12]:
do you have that? So we do a lot of that. And with our PCS, like, constantly occurring, like, it’s it’s almost like every year or every 2 years. So we have read alouds. Like, I think we have, like, 5 read alouds right now. Like, we always have those going along. So that’s the other way I feel kind of justified that we have some English language arts going on because we always have read alouds going on in some in some fashion. Like, either me or, like, audio or my husband. Like, we just always have them constantly going on.

Krystal Joslin [00:20:49]:
So I feel like we hit them in some way, math, that they can just do a little bit of math and then we are listening or I’m reading or my husband is reading them like some some way. We have those things.

Pam Barnhill [00:21:02]:
Right. And you’ve referred to it a couple of times as English language arts, but these read alouds, I mean, they’re covering a wide variety of topics. They’re covering the science, they’re covering the history, they’re covering geography, they’re covering all the, you know, probably a lot of biographical stuff. You’re getting a lot of

Krystal Joslin [00:21:16]:
things in there for sure. Because we’re following along with one of your one of my sons is doing middle ages, and then the other one is doing early ancient, I think. I can’t remember if I said it correctly. So we have, like, a lot of relouds going on, but they’re, like, they’re both listening. I’ll have one going on and the other one is listening to another one, but they cross reference all of the time. And it’s it’s so fun to hear them. Oh, I remember this because they just they they hear so so much with all and then our family read aloud is The Long Winter.

Pam Barnhill [00:21:52]:
So it’s

Krystal Joslin [00:21:52]:
always you know, that’s that’s fun to hear that as well, that we hear that at dinner time. And there’s just always, like, read alouds. Like, I just did not understand what read alouds were. They are amazing. Just the literature, and we are doing one of your magicians the magician’s nephew. Like, read alouds are amazing. Like, I cannot praise read alouds always. Like, I didn’t understand, like, what how important they were.

Krystal Joslin [00:22:20]:
So that’s awesome.

Pam Barnhill [00:22:21]:
It’s such a delightful way to homeschool. You learn so much and Mhmm. So many different topics. It sounds like you’ve got going on and and you just learn so much and it’s it’s a great it’s a great way to do it. So yeah.

Krystal Joslin [00:22:33]:
So it feels good if, like, we don’t, like, hit everything that I think that we’re gonna hit. Just we do some read alouds and then the two things that I deem as important, And we we have done our homeschool for the day.

Pam Barnhill [00:22:46]:
I love it. So how did boot camp help you grow in confidence as a homeschool mom? Just you personally, because you said I do a lot of reflection. I do a lot of looking at me and and, you know, how did I do today? Did I do a good job? What what am I gonna shift tomorrow? And it might not be that I’m doing more tomorrow, but, you know, do I need to do something slightly different tomorrow? So how has that helped you personally in the way you feel about homeschooling? Because it could be isolating, especially as a military homeschooler who’s moving a lot.

Krystal Joslin [00:23:16]:
Exactly what you said. I think that was the thing was we were moving so much. And I think one of the things that you said was grace versus excuses. And I feel like I was using excuses, like, we’re moving. So, like, we’re not gonna get all of these things. And and you don’t have to have everything set up. You can read and you can, like, math. You can incorporate math in so many facets.

Krystal Joslin [00:23:47]:
Like, there’s countless ways you can do that. So, like, English language arts, I feel like that’s important for my family, and we were able to do that just by listening because we traveled so much. And so we were able to listen. We were able to talk about it as we’re traveling. And then the math well, you know, I’m not an expert of doing that verbally, so we we can take that with us. So those things I think the biggest thing was not using at moving as an excuse. I can use I I can tag it along and we can do it. And knowing what my MBD, what what was important to our family, hitting those things every single day in some way, shape, or form that helped me my mindset understand that we were doing homeschool and we were doing it every single day in some way.

Pam Barnhill [00:24:47]:
Even yeah. Even in the midst of that move. I love that so much because it would be so easy to say, oh my goodness. Like, well and even as we’re sitting here recording this, you know, we’ve had snow the past couple days and it it’s, you know, it’s like, well, my husband’s home and my daughter’s out of school. Like, they closed her school down and, like, our day is just all it’s so easy to just say, well, there’s snow outside on the ground. Like, of course, we’re not gonna do school today. But every little thing, there’s always something. And so you have to be able to figure out how can I work around the something that’s always going to come up?

Krystal Joslin [00:25:24]:
I think my biggest thing was the MBD from all of this was knowing what was important to our family, and it was English language arts and math and hitting that every single day in some way. But I had to identify what was important for me and our family.

Pam Barnhill [00:25:44]:
Yeah. Boot camp really is a personal journey. I mean, there there are things that we all work on together in boot camp, but I do believe, like, no 2 boot camps are going to be absolutely aligned for

Krystal Joslin [00:25:56]:
for Molly. Honestly, I did it. I signed up three times, and I’ve only done it twice because the first one, I did not succeed at all. But the other ones, I finally like, I identified what was important to our family and what I wanted to see growth in, And I can actually see it now because Yeah. I actually stayed on the course of it.

Pam Barnhill [00:26:21]:
Okay. So why didn’t you succeed the first time, do you think?

Krystal Joslin [00:26:25]:
Because I did not take it seriously. And I, honestly, one of your I I think one of the last modules was grace versus excuses. I was using okay. We’re moving all of the time because we’re military. Like, that’s the that’s that’s a given. We’re gonna move all of the time. Like, that’s not gonna be that can’t be an excuse because that’s gonna happen. And so I’ve I had to, like, reflect and say, okay.

Krystal Joslin [00:26:57]:
That’s an excuse. How can I change that? And so it was taking like, it was doing read alouds, and it was listening to audio and having conversations. It was like what you said, like, using what we had and reversing it and saying, this is what we have. What can we do with it?

Pam Barnhill [00:27:19]:
Right.

Krystal Joslin [00:27:20]:
And, well, it’s a math sheet. We can talk about math in a lot of way. Like, you’re driving. Like, you know, there’s an exit sign. There’s mile markers. Like, you can you there were excuses. Yeah. That’s that bottom line.

Krystal Joslin [00:27:33]:
It was excuses. And so there was a lot of things that we could talk about while we were moving. So many things. I can’t even count. Like, we had to pack ourselves and, you know, fill a U Haul. Like, you know, there was, like, so much math in that. So it was excuses. And so, you know, it was a reflection upon myself.

Pam Barnhill [00:27:56]:
So it just took you getting to that module and then you could say, okay, now I’m gonna do this again and it’s gonna be more effective the second time through. And then you’ve come back for the 3rd time. Yes. For the

Krystal Joslin [00:28:08]:
3rd, yes.

Pam Barnhill [00:28:09]:
I you would like to think when you create a course like this, and you hear from people that it’s working, because we do hear from people that it’s working all the time, you would like to think that magically it works for everybody the first time through. But, yeah, I could totally see where it like, it wasn’t like I came up with the steps and did it myself and like all of a sudden it was perfect, you know? I don’t know. Like Or it would have taken me a while.

Krystal Joslin [00:28:31]:
Few more times.

Pam Barnhill [00:28:32]:
It took me a while too. So of course it’s gonna take somebody else a while as well. So that’s, that’s funny. Well, if a friend asks you like, is this bootcamp worth my time? Cause this is the other thing we get from moms. A lot of times they’re like, I’m struggling getting stuff done. And now you’re going to tell me I have to do this bootcamp on top of everything else that I’m doing? How is this supposed to help me? Like, what would you tell somebody who’s like, is this even worth my time?

Krystal Joslin [00:28:58]:
It is. I I will do it again. Like, I think you have another one coming up. I will do it a 100% again because I have identified things different things every time that I’ve done it. It is self reflection. That’s that’s the thing. Like, you don’t wanna hear it that it’s not the outside things, like your kids or, you know, your other commitments that you have. Like, it’s you’re making those commitments.

Krystal Joslin [00:29:28]:
Like, it’s self reflection. And that’s that is hard to actually, like, sit back and, like, look at it. Like, that was that was the other thing was the second time around that I did it, I was like, oh, I am doing all of these appointments very sporadically, and I should not do that. I should, like and it wasn’t until, like, I actually it was, you know, someone I I think you said it, like, just you need to have, like, one day or I try to put all of your appointments in some kind of, like, order. And it’s just a lot of self reflection that you have to do within yourself to make homeschooling work.

Pam Barnhill [00:30:13]:
It’s easier to do that self reflection with a group of people who are also self reflecting because it’s it’s hard to do. It’s hard to ask yourself hard questions and come up with all these issues with yourself. I know it’s a hard the hard boy to say it, but, like, it’s hard to do that by yourself. It’s always better to do that with another group of people who’s doing the same thing in that community. So you feel like I’m not just over here coming up with all my problems on my own. Like, everybody else is coming up with their problems too, and we’re bouncing solutions off of each other and talking about different ideas and and figuring it out together. So I do think that community part is important.

Krystal Joslin [00:30:52]:
And I think you feel kinda justified when you come up with these things or excuses. You feel justified. But when you actually, like, look and, like, step back, it’s like you’re kinda doing this to yourself, like, a lot of good things, like appointments. That was the biggest thing that I did that I had to actually look at. I was making all these, like, appointments, and they were, like, here and there. And it’s like, why didn’t I just consolidate them? And that was one of my biggest things that I will I had to see when I had to fill out. Because I filled out the the month plan, like, the 4 weeks, and it looked it looked really pretty. And then once all of the like, I got the reminders of the appointments, and I was plugging them in, I was like, why am I hap like, it was not pretty anymore.

Krystal Joslin [00:31:42]:
That calendar was not pretty anymore. I had it pretty before, and it was not pretty once I got those reminders.

Pam Barnhill [00:31:49]:
And it’s just it’s like a big Like, oh my goodness. This is why my homeschooling is so hard.

Krystal Joslin [00:31:55]:
It’s not pretty. It’s not pretty. So it was like a lot of, like, you’re doing this to yourself, and I had to I had to, like, look at that. So now the next time well, we’re gonna move again, but the next time, I’m gonna be very conscientious of how I do our appointments.

Pam Barnhill [00:32:12]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, Crystal, thank you so much. This was such a delightful conversation and I’m so glad that bootcamp has helped you. And I’ll look forward to seeing you in the next one. And I just really appreciate you coming on and sharing your story with us.

Krystal Joslin [00:32:25]:
Thank you so much. I really appreciate the opportunity. Alright.

Pam Barnhill [00:32:28]:
And I hope you get to move somewhere warm and wonderful.

Krystal Joslin [00:32:31]:
Or not. It’ll be a little bit warmer than here.

Pam Barnhill [00:32:34]:
There you go.

Krystal Joslin [00:32:35]:
Alright. Thank you so much.

Pam Barnhill [00:32:37]:
Okay. This is just so much fun. Crystal’s husband has decided. He wants to chime in a little bit. So, mister Joslin, what’s your name?

Krystal Joslin [00:32:46]:
My name is Curtis Joslin, and Krystal’s spouse.

Pam Barnhill [00:32:50]:
Oh, very nice. Okay. Well, thank you so much. So, you wanted to blend your perspective to what Crystal and I have been chatting about this morning. So what what changes did you see after the boot camp?

Krystal Joslin [00:33:01]:
So I obviously, I’ve lived through a lot of the growth of Crystal and the homeschooling opportunity we’ve we’ve been able to give our kids. And what started as us sitting in Germany on the floor cutting out cards and hoping that we were looking at some regiment for how we wanted to run the school has grown into a structured, organized environment. And now maybe looking from the outside in, if you’re a building school person, it does still look chaotic, but now I can feel a sense of calm in the house. Mhmm. I can feel their structure. The boys know where to go, when to go, and what to do to get there, and it’s just super helpful that Crystal only has to say, hey. We’re doing reading. Or they already know reading is happening, and they already know where everything is, and they already know what’s coming up on the schedule, and they know what to do.

Krystal Joslin [00:33:52]:
And it just makes it so much easier when Crystal could focus on the higher level teaching, instead of the actual doing of the individual gathering materials. It’s it’s just been super helpful and super calming overall.

Pam Barnhill [00:34:04]:
I love that so much. You’re talking about, like, their structure and all of this stuff, but it also your homeschool doesn’t sound like this overly structured homeschool. It sounds like this delightful literature based. Like, we’re doing reading, we’re doing math, and we’re learning a lot together as a family. Like, it doesn’t it’s not school at home just because it’s structured. Right?

Krystal Joslin [00:34:26]:
That’s exactly right. And we have we take the opportunity to teach everything we do and where we go. And what the boot camp has done is allowed Crystal to organize her thoughts and her processes to to capture when we go to a museum or when we go and we’re taking a national park trip. There are other things we can take advantage of and capture for the school and check off the block and understand that we’re still doing school. Mhmm.

Krystal Joslin [00:34:52]:
It’s not

Krystal Joslin [00:34:53]:
structured necessarily regimented, and you have to be here at 8:0:5 and here at 14:0:5, and you have to do this. It’s still gathering and teaching and enjoying those moments as a family. And the the nature of my profession, you know, limits my time. But because we prioritize family time and we structure the boot camp outputs around school, we’re able to take advantage of the little time we do have together. It’s worked out really well as a family.

Pam Barnhill [00:35:20]:
I love it. Yeah. I love it so much. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for your perspective. I appreciate it. Happy wife, happy life. Right?

Krystal Joslin [00:35:28]:
Hey. That’s all that matters in life. It’s it’s been 26 years now, so that’ll take advantage of it.

Pam Barnhill [00:35:34]:
Awesome. That’s our show for today. Be sure to follow, subscribe, and leave a review so you never miss out on the wonder of homeschooling better together. To stay connected and learn even more about the homeschooling better together resources and to join our free community, visit hsbtpodcast.com. Until next week, keep stepping out of the overwhelm and into the wonder.