The Forgotten Three: Essential Life Skills Our Kids Need

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. Katie Kimball, the national voice of Healthy Kids Cooking is a former teacher, two time TEDx speaker, writer, and mom of 4 kids who founded the Kids Cook Real Food ecourse, which was recommended by The Wall Street Journal as the best online cooking class for kids. Her blog, Kitchen Stewardship, helps families stay healthy without going crazy, and she is on a mission to connect families around healthy food and teach every child to cook. I think that’s an awesome mission, Katie. Welcome. Welcome to the podcast.

Katie Kimball [00:01:02]:

Thank you so much, Pam. It’s a joy to be back.

Pam Barnhill [00:01:05]:

It is so good to have you. Okay. So just let’s remind everybody a little bit about you and your family.

Katie Kimball [00:01:11]:

Sure. So I have been working online since 2009. I was sort of an accidental entrepreneur. I started as an elementary teacher with a couple years teaching 3rd grade, but I knew I couldn’t do that job well and do the job of parenting well. So home I went. My oldest is now 18. So, you know, it was a very long time ago that I was in the classroom. So he’s a high school graduate.

Katie Kimball [00:01:32]:

I have a 15 year old in high school and a 12 year old middle schooler and and a 9 year old elementary schooler. So we’ve got, like, all the it feels like all the ages, all the reasons, except the little ones. You know? And they helped me in the business, which is super interesting because they get to see what I do, and they get to be in our videos and, you know, kind of get a paycheck, so to speak. And, my daughter, the 15 year old, not too long ago said, you know, mom and dad, it’s not fair because my husband is an entrepreneur as well. She was like, it’s not fair. You guys don’t go to work. Like, we don’t have any example of anybody leaving the the house and going to a normal job. So none of us know what to do other than working at home, and and that, you know, we don’t know what we don’t know what to do.

Katie Kimball [00:02:16]:

So it’s just kinda funny. Like, it’s not fair. You guys aren’t normal.

Pam Barnhill [00:02:21]:

But it’s such a good life. So there you go.

Katie Kimball [00:02:25]:

It is. It is. I just think she does. She can’t, like, look into her own future and think how would you know, what would she do as a business? But she’s like, this is what I want. Yeah. I just don’t know how to create my own job like this, but she’s only 15. So

Pam Barnhill [00:02:37]:

Yeah. Well and I like to tell people all the time, like, the job that I do now was not even invented when I graduated from high school. You know? Same. And same for you. So yeah. So, like, there’s, like just take your time and look at your options for sure. So, well, you made a name for yourself in teaching kids how to cook healthy food and teaching them also how to be confident in the kitchen. I know, like, one of the favorite things around my community is your knife skills class.

Pam Barnhill [00:03:06]:

So what made you interested in teaching different other life skills to young people as well?

Katie Kimball [00:03:13]:It was really listening to our audience to tell you the truth. Back in 2020, my whole team said, oh my goodness. Parents are losing their minds because summer camps are closing. Like, we have to do something. Like, we’re in a great space to do something, and we just decided to give away our whole cooking class for free and call it a summer camp. It was kinda, it was just kinda like, risky, but it was weird times. Right? And it was lovely. It went amazing.

Katie Kimball [00:03:37]:

10,000 families joined. And at the end, they started saying, this was great. I can’t wait to come back next year. And I thought, oh, I’m doing summer camps now. Okay. But just like it happened, but but I couldn’t give away my class every year. So I I have to, like you know, I wanted to create some other ideas. So one of the questions we ask our cooking class members is why did you want to teach your kids to cook? Right? Like, why did you do this? And the top chosen answer year after year is I want my kids to have life skills.

Katie Kimball [00:04:07]:

So I kind of spun off that and thought, well, I can’t teach all the life skills, but what if I could bring in other experts and create this life skills summer camp where it’s kind of everything? Because I’ve I have always said that I wanna teach kids to be confident in the kitchen and that that confidence spills out into other areas of life. Right? We know that, which is so beautiful. And so it’s really it’s just a very small extension of teaching kids to cook because it continues to build that confidence. And like you said, gosh, we don’t know what jobs will even be accessible to our kids. So it’s not about, you know, career training. Parenting and academics and schooling is not about career training. It’s about life training. And so I’m just so excited to be part of

Pam Barnhill [00:04:50]:

that. Yeah. That’s awesome. And, you know, as as important as it is for everyone to learn basic cooking skills, sometimes you have kids who are like, okay. Great. I can now make the pasta, but I’m not sure that this is where my interest lie. And so doing some other things where they might actually, you know, catch on to something and, like, grab a spark for it and really, like, some kind of woodworking or carpentry or sewing or whatever it might be, you know, then you you get different life skills where maybe, yeah, a little spark comes there.

Katie Kimball [00:05:22]:

Right. And, Pam, I’m thinking of a particular child in our Life Skills Now camp season 1, so that’s 2 years ago already. I think he was about 9, and his mom wrote in and said, we are shocked. We did not see this coming, but our our 9 year old took a class on how to be a great podcaster. And it was a really interesting class. It was really on how to interview well Mhmm. Which was cool because that extrapolates to it’s basically how to be a good conversationalist. And she said, and he practiced, you know, interviewing everyone in the family.

Katie Kimball [00:05:50]:

He got incredibly into it, and he’s really, really good. She said, I never ever would have guessed, you know, that my kid he may or may not be an interviewer or a podcaster as a job, but it’s this whole field that they never imagined. And he found, like you said, that spark just by trying, you know, this 10 minute video workshop on how to ask good questions. It’s so fun to hear these stories.

Pam Barnhill [00:06:14]:

Yeah. And if even if you never make a living at it, podcasting’s such a fun hobby. I mean, you could just do it for the pure joy of doing it. It’s not an expensive hobby as hobbies go, and that’s fabulous.

Katie Kimball [00:06:26]:

Yeah. Yeah. And you get to meet a lot of people, you know, as a podcaster. So so that’s the kind of thing where I just think, oh, what a gift that this life skills camp can be in just you know, I I can’t introduce my kids to a 100 different skills based on my experience because I don’t have them. But if other experts, you know, can introduce them to things like bicycle maintenance or auto maintenance, or like you mentioned, sewing was last year in season 2, we had some sewing. And, you know, gardening, I am a super brown thumb. So I need other people to introduce my kids to gardening if that happens to be one of their passions. Just about opening a bunch of doors and saying, alright, kids.

Katie Kimball [00:07:03]:

You know, which ones do you wanna knock on? Which ones do you wanna walk through?

Pam Barnhill [00:07:06]:

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So let’s talk about this for just a minute because I wanna talk about the term life skills because I was, like, sewing and, you know, we’ve talked about cooking and gardening. And then you said podcasting. So what exactly constitutes a life skill when it comes to the camp? What do we mean by that term?

Katie Kimball [00:07:25]:

That’s a great question. And this year in season 3, we do have a 100 workshops. So, obviously, it’s very wide and varied breadth of what we cover. I look at the what I call the hard skills and the soft skills. So the hard skills are those things you’re doing with your hands, like we’ve been talking about. And then the soft skills would include more, like, stress management, communication, to how to use technology to your advantage instead of its advantage, for example. And so we just think about what is something that’s not an academic subject, right, that we don’t teach in our homeschool curriculum, but that will definitely help kids as they move on into life. And so part of that too is entrepreneurship and thinking about your career and future and goal setting and stuff like that.

Katie Kimball [00:08:10]:

So there’s there’s a lot in that soft skill category, and there’s a lot in the hard skill category. So there’s really something for everyone.

Pam Barnhill [00:08:17]:

Yeah. And last year, you guys did, like, pasta making. That was one of the fun ones that, you know, was so appealing in, like, the floristry, like, arranging flowers, and that’s just like, nobody ever taught me that. And what a what a wonderful skill to have. So when your husband comes home with the bouquet of flowers, or you go to the grocery store and pick them up, and you come home, and you’re like, now what do I do with these?

Katie Kimball [00:08:41]:

Right? Because they always look like they’re sort of an inverted pyramid when you first bring them home, and they put them in the basement. You go They just,

Pam Barnhill [00:08:47]:

like, plop them down in there, and they just kinda do this. And you’re like, well, they are pretty, but I’m sure they could be better if I had some skills. But, you know, it’s not necessarily something that people think of as life skills, but it really is a a good one to have. And then I love the focus on soft skills, those kind of, you know, interacting with other people and interviewing. So what I asked you to do when you came today was to bring me your top three life skills that you feel like kids are missing out on and that you guys address in the camp. And you cheated, didn’t you?

Katie Kimball [00:09:24]:

I always cheat. When I go get ice cream, I ask for 2 or 3 flavors on one cone or in one dish. So, yes, I I couldn’t just choose 3 specific topics. But I think what I what I really thought about, Pam, is like, okay. So we’re gonna teach dusting. You know, we’re gonna teach sweeping, so on and so forth. Do those hard skills. And I thought, well, a lot of parents can teach those to their kids.

Katie Kimball [00:09:48]:

Like, we they that that’s not groundbreaking, that they’re the top life skills kids need. But I was just thinking about the shift that has happened in the digital age. You know, we we are parenting without a handbook in the digital age, and we did not get to even see our parents attempt to model a lot of the decisions and philosophical choices that we’re having to make as parents. So it’s very, very difficult. And our kids’ childhood has changed a lot. You know, childhood in general has changed. So I thought, what are those skills? Like, what are those skills that are becoming lost arts in the digital age? So the 3 I hope to talk about are face to face communication, like, actually using words that come out of the mouth instead of out of the thumbs become the real value of money because it’s so interesting. Kids don’t always see, like, dog bills, you know, or whatever currency that your country uses.

Katie Kimball [00:10:37]:

And then the idea of in our digital age, we we do tend to have really packed busy schedules. And so I think in the farming community, people didn’t really need stress management, baby. So it’s sort of those calming skills and how to keep yourself focused in a really busy, noisy world.

Pam Barnhill [00:10:56]:

I love all three of those so, so much, and I think they’re so vital to the challenges that not only we face these days, but our kids face as well. You know? So let’s break each one of those down and talk about each category and some of the classes that are available. So let’s start with that first one about face to face communication. What is Life Skills Now season 3 offering for that?

Katie Kimball [00:11:20]:

Sounds good. And, you know, I think of a story that I heard from a counselor once who was trying to work with a very young child, and this child could not make eye contact with her. He just kept looking down and she thought, I I can’t figure out, like, what this kid’s block is until she had the mother in. And while she was trying to communicate face to face with the mother, the mother is on her phone looking down. Oh. So the child was literally modeling that, and that just crushes my heart. And I know I mean, I have teens in public school, and they say all the time, in spite of the rules that you’re not supposed to have your phone out in the classroom, many teachers don’t care about those rules. Kids are on their phones all the time, and they’re at lunch, and they’re on their phones instead of interacting.

Katie Kimball [00:12:01]:

And it just breaks my heart. So we’ve we’ve got to give our kids the skills to be human to human. And so Jennifer Scott is an etiquette expert, so she talks about building polite communication skills, including eye contact. This, you know, amazing thing that our kids need to know.

Pam Barnhill [00:12:18]:

It’s novel and who knew it would be.

Katie Kimball [00:12:21]:

Right. Right. Who knew we would have to teach that? Like, that’s just something that used to happen, but now we actually have to intentionally teach that. Joey Macchio is a former high school counselor, and he’s gonna teach how to easily start conversations for teens. Like, literally, what do you say? Because they don’t know. They don’t know anymore.

Pam Barnhill [00:12:37]:

I need that class. Thank you.

Katie Kimball [00:12:39]:

I know. I know. I know because we get a little nervous. Right? We feel judged. We don’t want people to think, like, we said the wrong thing, especially females. I think we get we get a little, you know, more when I look at the difference between my daughter thinking about social situations and my 3 sons, not thinking or caring as much, but social situations. Yeah. So especially especially for our little girls.

Katie Kimball [00:13:02]:

And then Joanne Crohn is teaching how to talk with someone to get what you want. So this is the art of negotiation in a really polite way. And so this might be, you know, your parents. This might be a teacher that you you need something from. This could be an employer or even a sibling. And she and she teaches how to really politely ask for what you want. Yeah. And plead your case.

Katie Kimball [00:13:25]:

Yeah. And she has fun with it. Like, I haven’t seen the whole thing, but I’ve seen little bits where she’s, like, wearing a baseball cap backwards and stuff. So she demonstrates all the wrong ways to just, you know, state what you need. And so that’s fun. And then my kids and I filmed how to order in a restaurant to, you know, how to be how to be polite, how to be prepared, and think ahead about what kind of questions a server will need to ask. And I think, I mean, that’s a very specific skill, but that can also extrapolate onto other conversations, just the executive functioning skill of thinking ahead. Like, what might I be asked in this conversation or in this situation so that you’re more prepared? Because I think especially for little kids when they’re unprepared and they’re not sure what to say, they have trouble, at least a couple of my boys, have trouble thinking on their feet.

Katie Kimball [00:14:09]:

So I think I feel really special to teach your kids to plan ahead.

Pam Barnhill [00:14:13]:

It’s so interesting. I have one kid. I won’t throw the kid under the bus, but whenever we go to a restaurant, this kid says, will you order for me? And not a young child. Teenagers. I have all teenagers now. And so I’m like, well, sure, but it’s not that hard. You know? Apparently, it’s something that would probably be good to practice a little bit.

Katie Kimball [00:14:36]:

Yeah. I look at my husband is a computer programmer, so he’s an introvert. That’s interchangeable language there. Yes. And he kind of looks back at his upbringing and says, you know, my mom packed my lunch for me all the way through senior year, and she would order in a restaurant for me. And he says, I I wish she hadn’t. Like, I would have hated it at the time, but he wishes she hadn’t because even now when he has to make a phone call, he’s it feels like he’s a lot more kind of clenched up and nervous than he would be had he been nudged to do that. And in fact, actually, last year in season 2 or is it season 1, we we did teach how to make a phone call.

Katie Kimball [00:15:10]:

And it was so cute because so many parents, especially of, like, the 567 age group said, oh my goodness. I didn’t even realize my child had never talked on a phone.

Pam Barnhill [00:15:19]:

Yeah.

Katie Kimball [00:15:19]:

They’d only looked at the the screen.

Pam Barnhill [00:15:21]:

Yeah. You

Katie Kimball [00:15:21]:

know? And they were so grateful. They said he called grandma and had a conversation with her or, you know, my aunt was having a birthday, so he called his great aunt super sweet.

Pam Barnhill [00:15:32]:

I love it. I love it so much. Yeah. And as a fellow introvert, I hate making the phone call. I can put off making a phone call for weeks at a time, so I I totally get it. Yes. Maybe I need to watch the class. Okay.

Pam Barnhill [00:15:45]:

Well, let’s move to that second category, which I think is so important. We’ve been fortunate because my kids have worked in food service and have gotten tips, and so they know the value of especially ones, but it’s where most of your tips got they’re always saying, can I give you these 20 ones for a $20 bill? And I’m like, I don’t have a $20 bill because all my money is digital. So let’s talk about that, and how are we gonna help them see the value of physical money?

Katie Kimball [00:16:13]:

Yeah. It’s so interesting to kind of try to see through the perspective of a younger child or even a teen in this day and age because they don’t see the transaction of the dollars and cents actually leaving my pocket and going to the store. Right. Right? So especially the younger the child is, the more it’s magic. They just tap this card, and then we walk out and we have what we need. Like, they just they don’t see it anymore. And so that’s why I love our finances track. Every year, you know, it’s really, really different.

Katie Kimball [00:16:44]:

So last year, my daughter and I filmed a 3 part series at the Credit Union of how to open a checking account, how to use your debit card, you know, and how banks and credit unions are different and and what it means. And so it’s great. She actually asked to make a deposit today because she babysits, so she does get the cash too. So we’re, you know, we’re going to the bank, and she always has her debit card. She’s saved a couple of her friends, in fact, recently who went out to eat or went out to do something that needed money and they didn’t have enough with them. You know? And she’s like, I got my debit card. You can pay me back. You know? So it’s it’s kind of nice that she’s got that foundation.

Katie Kimball [00:17:19]:

So this year, we are teaching how banks work to little kids, like what it means when you put your money in the bank and what the bank does with that money that earns you interest and so on. Caitlin Wood’s talking about savers and spenders. That’s for little kids too, just to in inspect. Like, are you a saver or are you a spender? And how can you shift to the middle a little bit. Right? And then the Teixeiras who were some favorite camp leaders from last year. Last year, they taught how to be generous with your money, which is I just it’s like near near and dear to my heart, just, you know, giving and tithing and stuff. This year, their workshop is called cash cards, clicks, and taps, how we pay for things. So they’re absolutely pulling apart what it means when you make a transaction at the store.

Katie Kimball [00:18:01]:

And my son, Paul, he’s my 18 year old. He’s our video editor for all of these, and that’s that’s the business he started. We had 2 entrepreneurs raised another entrepreneur. I go figure. The other day, he goes, mom, this workshop is such a bummer. And I’m like, oh, no. Like, what what did the camp leader do wrong? He’s like, no. It’s good, but it’s just a bummer because it’s about your paycheck and what’s taken out of it and what you get to cheat.

Katie Kimball [00:18:25]:

Yeah. He’s like, it’s so depressing. And it can be

Pam Barnhill [00:18:29]:

even worse when you’re an entrepreneur because they don’t take out enough.

Katie Kimball [00:18:33]:

Right. Right. So he was like I he’s like, I know. I know. Like, it’s good. It’s stuff kids need to know or teens need to know, but it’s just depressing me. It is depressing. At least it wasn’t a mistake because I it’s just real life and growing up.

Katie Kimball [00:18:46]:

And then Brad Jared, he’s a real interesting camp leader. He actually runs a business that helps men work on both their finances and their health at the same time. How interest yeah. So he’s tackling compound interest as a financial thing. Right? Telling teens, like, the earlier you invest, the more you can make compound interest work for you. But he takes a super interesting twist on it because of the health, like, lane of his business to say, you know, every decision you make earlier, if you start getting half an hour more of sleep today at the end of a year, right, you’re so much healthier if you eat more vegetables starting today. Like, basically, applying compound interest to other areas of life. So that one, I think, sounds really fascinating.

Pam Barnhill [00:19:29]:

I love that. Yeah. And such a great audience for that with teens to hit the money portion, but also some of these other health things as well. So, yeah, love that so much.

Katie Kimball [00:19:41]:

And we try to keep that really varied too, by the way. I’m hoping that your listeners are noticing, like, we have a little, you know, younger child workshops Yeah. For our elementary age and the teens, and then parent workshops too. But we’re not talking about the parent workshops today, but they’re there.

Pam Barnhill [00:19:55]:

They’re there. Yeah. Something for everyone in the family, for sure. Okay. So let’s talk about that 3rd category, which I thought was fascinating, this kind of self regulation category in this really busy, tech heavy, almost like cortisol heavy world that we live in.

Katie Kimball [00:20:12]:

Right. The statistics on anxiety and depression are, well, they’re depressing. They’re really depressing. Right? I believe it’s 1 third of our teens are clinically depressed or anxious. And far more than that, going up every single year, say they feel anxious on a regular basis or they worry about their future on a regular basis. And again, like you said, we’re just bombarded In in this screen culture, we’re bombarded with things that turn on our fight or flight and keep it on. And we don’t have that pastoral life where we get to ride in a covered wagon for an hour. You know what I mean? Like, there’s just, there aren’t, for most of us, at least, there aren’t times built in where we’re just resting our bodies and breathing slowly.

Katie Kimball [00:20:55]:

So we gotta teach it. So doctor Jeehan is an integrative pediatrician. She’s teaching tools to be calm for kids to use, and a lot of that has to do with our breath. And so what a beautiful gift for a little kid. You know? My 3rd reader is going into standardized testing weeks here, and the teachers say you can feel it in the hallways. You can actually feel that the 3rd 4th grader’s stress is up. But I know all your homeschoolers are going, yeah, girl. That’s why you should homeschool.

Katie Kimball [00:21:22]:

I know. I know. I know. So I get that. But these kids really need to be able to use the tools that are in their bodies, like their breath, to find their calm, whether it’s a test, whether it’s a big argument with their sibling, or their mom said, honey, you need to do your after meal chore and wash the counter. Yeah. Because sometimes that’s a meltdown.

Pam Barnhill [00:21:44]:

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Completely. Yes. So much. And what I love about teaching them to use their breath to do this is they’ve always got it with them. Right? It’s 100% accessible all the time.

Katie Kimball [00:21:56]:

Yep. Exactly. Exactly. Doctor Pedram Shohai, he’s known as the urban monk. He used to be an actual monk before he got married and had kids. So he has a really interesting perspective, but he’s teaching 5 morning routines that are he calls them Jedi routines. So there’s different ways to sort of connect your brain and your body to get everything in alignment, and that helps you be focused for your whole day, especially in, like, really busy days when you’re doing a lot and you’re task switching or you’re doing some maybe heavy academics or some heavy work in whatever soccer or drama, you know, whatever your kids love. It’s just kinda getting their brain and body in the best state to work together and and be fully balanced.

Katie Kimball [00:22:38]:

And then the last one I wanna highlight is for teens, and it’s called mastering resilience, unleash your inner warrior and Conquer Challenges with Confidence. So that one, I don’t I’m I don’t know a lot about the guts of that one yet, but it’s just it sounds clear. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so clear that teens need it.

Pam Barnhill [00:22:57]:

I love this focus on self regulation. You know, as homeschoolers, we’re often talking about how can we help our kids be more independent because we’re usually teaching 3 or 4 kids different age groups and things like that. We’ve got a lot a lot of plates spinning, little kids around, babies, toddlers. How can I help this kid be more independent? And we always think about that in the terms of the academics, but also what a valuable thing for them to be independent in that regulation. So with self regulation, and they’re able to handle a lot of that stuff themselves without dependence on mom who’s over here doing so many other things at the same time. So what a gift to give your kids to really focus in on some of those workshops, you know, as a family and talk about them and, you know, use them throughout the summer, practice them, and get ready to go with them. So

Katie Kimball [00:23:46]:

And I think the adults will learn a lot too, not only from the the workshops for parents, but even a lot of these skills that kids are being taught, we never learned

Pam Barnhill [00:23:56]:

Yeah. Right.

Katie Kimball [00:23:56]:

These kids. You know? So it’s so the grown ups have a lot of fun and and a lot of learning.

Pam Barnhill [00:24:01]:

Yeah. And you just be incognito. You’re just watching it with your kid. They don’t have to know you don’t know.

Katie Kimball [00:24:07]:

Exactly. Because we’re the expert and the authority in everything, and, yes, I’ll listen into your workshop.

Pam Barnhill [00:24:13]:

Okay. So let’s tell everybody how this works because we actually have a little bonus if they go and register now and then tell us how the whole program works because it’s free. Right?

Katie Kimball [00:24:27]:

Yes. Yes. Life Skills Now Summer Camp is completely free the last week of June. And so just you know, whenever you’re listening to this, we’ve got another one coming in June. But Right. But this one, season 3 is in 2024. But as soon as you sign up, you’ll get 13 workshops that you can start using right away during your homeschool day or, you know, on a rainy day when your kids can’t go outside just to have a little something extra. And that’s actually 5 from season 1, 5 from season 2, some of our most popular, and then 3 brand new ones never seen before from season 3.

Pam Barnhill [00:24:59]:

I love it. I love it. So that’s whenever you register, that’s your bonus right there. You can register for the camp. It’s completely free, and that comes up in June. So the videos are released every 24 hours, and you go and you you choose you can choose ahead of time which ones you want to watch and and pick them and go in and start working out your plan. And then if you feel like you need a little more time, you can purchase a pass. Correct?

Katie Kimball [00:25:26]:

Correct. Yes. To keep forever. So June 24th to 28th, each 24 hour cycle will have a different set of around 20 workshops, and you can print out that itinerary. I love seeing pictures of kids with their highlighters, you know, choosing their topics and the speakers that they wanna hear from. And then during the week so not only can you participate in the workshops, but we also have, so far, over $75,100 in prizes.

Pam Barnhill [00:25:51]:

Oh, fun.

Katie Kimball [00:25:51]:

And we’re still building. Yeah. So all of the workshop teachers, the camp leaders, they give kids a mission at the end. Because my goal is really productive screen time here. Right? Like, let’s use technology for good. Let’s get on that screen for, like, 10, 20 minutes, and then go away. Get off into the real world. Do something with what you’ve learned.

Katie Kimball [00:26:10]:

So as soon as a child or teen or adult completes the mission that the camp leader gives them, they can enter for a prize, and they can choose those prizes on any day. So even that is is a practice in executive functioning and organizing, you know, in choosing what you’re interested in and maybe saving up submissions from other days and and, shooting for your favorite that’s on Thursday or whatever. So, yeah, the prizes make it really extra motivating for kids. We want them to be intrinsically motivated. I said that ideally. Right? But Yeah. It’s still it’s still kinda fun to have those prizes there.

Pam Barnhill [00:26:41]:

And what a fun experience. Like, it just makes the whole week just a fun experience for everyone, you know, where you can participate. And so, yeah, I love, love, love this so much. So do go. We’re gonna put the link in the podcast description in the show notes, and so you can click on that link and go register, get your bonus classes, and start with those. That gives you something to do until the end of June rolls around. And then, like, make your plan and and be ready to go with camp, the week that camp starts. So love it so much.

Pam Barnhill [00:27:13]:

Well, Katie, thank you so much for serving families by putting this together. This is awesome that they have the chance to just really experience all these things that parents probably don’t have the time and don’t necessarily have the skills to teach themselves. And so as a parent, thank you so much for providing this for everyone.

Katie Kimball [00:27:32]:

Well, you’re very welcome. And I learn a lot too. Just don’t tell my kids.

Pam Barnhill [00:27:39]:

Awesome. Thanks so much, Katie. 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.