You don’t have to choose between work and customized learning. Build around the system, not against it.

Sunny Simkin, a single working mom reveals how she transformed her children’s education without leaving public school. After struggling with math herself, she refused to let her daughter face the same challenges. Instead of fighting the system, she built around it – combining public school with targeted programs like Mathnasium, Ninja Warrior classes, and specialized music education.

Learn how she:

– Identified her children’s unique learning styles

– Found creative alternatives to traditional sports

– Improved her daughter’s math performance

– Balanced work and educational enrichment

– Discovered hidden local resources

Plus: Get specific recommendations for after-school programs that actually work, including Let’s Play Music, Soccer Shots, and more. Perfect for working parents who want to personalize their kids’ education without homeschooling.

Follow for more practical education tips for working parents!

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome

00:22 Transition from Charter to Homeschool

01:24 Pandemic’s Impact on Education Choices

03:12 Homeschooling and Neurodivergence

04:20 Parental Involvement and Curriculum Concerns

08:45 Homeschooling Journey and Adjustments

12:19 Customizing Education for ADHD

16:24 Hands-On Learning and Life Skills

18:34 Balancing Curriculum and Life Lessons

22:39 Intentional Living and Learning

27:11 Fostering Lifelong Learning at Home

28:28 Challenges and Rewards of Homeschooling

31:41 Essential Resources for Homeschooling

35:47 Homeschooling in Oregon: Insights and Trends

46:09 Practical Tips for New Homeschooling Parents

47:15 Balancing Challenges and Growth

51:20 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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Transcript

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Introduction and Background

Ela Richmond: Welcome back to the Open Ed Podcast. I’m your sometimes host Ela Richmond and today I’m joined by Charlyn Chambers. How are you doing today?

Charlynn: Hi, I’m doing great. I’m excited to be here.

Ela Richmond: Great! You’re a mom of four, and this is your fifth year homeschooling. Before that, you sent your kids to charter school, correct?

Charlynn: Yes, that’s right.

Ela Richmond: What initially got you interested in charter schools? Can you walk me through the process of going from charter to homeschool? Was homeschooling something you were interested in or aware of before?

The Journey from Charter School to Homeschooling

Charlynn: Education is very important to me. I wanted my kids to be in a school where they were being taught how to think critically, not just what to think about politically divisive topics. I liked the charter school we chose because it had smaller classes and seemed to avoid controversial subjects.

We had a great experience with my son’s first year of kindergarten, but then the pandemic hit and his kindergarten year ended early. He finished that year with online school through the charter. That summer, I went back and forth on what to do next.

My sister-in-law had started homeschooling right away when the pandemic hit. At first, I wasn’t interested in homeschooling myself. But as I saw things unfold and thought about my kids’ needs, I reconsidered. One of my big priorities was preserving their love of learning, especially for my kindergartener who loved to explore and learn.

The pandemic restrictions that were coming for in-person schooling made me worry about the emotional and mental impacts on the kids. That really pushed me to reconsider what was right for our family. There were a few different reasons I decided to homeschool, but the pandemic was definitely the catalyst.

Customizing Education for Neurodivergent Learners

Charlynn: Our philosophy has been to reassess every year and decide what’s right for our family. Homeschooling has been a great choice for us so far. Interestingly, when we started I didn’t know about the neurodivergence in my kids. Now that we’re homeschooling, I can see some of their challenges and I’m so glad we made this choice. I can give them the individualized attention they need and teach them in ways that work best for them.

Even in a small class of 17 kids, you can’t cater to one student who’s struggling as much as I can at home. I love that I get to really customize their education.

Becoming an Informed and Involved Parent

Ela Richmond: You seem very well-informed about educational policies and requirements. What prompted you to be so involved in understanding what your kids were learning?

Charlynn: I had a great public school experience myself, so homeschooling wasn’t something I’d considered much before. But over the last decade, I’ve seen priorities shift in public schools. Because kids are separated from parents for so much of the day, they’re not able to learn some valuable life skills from their parents. At the same time, schools have started teaching things that I believe should be left to parents.

My sister-in-law, before they started homeschooling, spent many hours reviewing the curriculum in her district. I was shocked by some of the lessons the kids were going to be taught – things I didn’t want my kids learning, or at least not without me being able to discuss different perspectives with them.

For me, education isn’t just about test scores. It’s about developing as a whole person. It seemed that wasn’t going to happen as much as I wanted in public school.

The Pandemic’s Impact on the Decision to Homeschool

Ela Richmond: When you started homeschooling during the pandemic, was it an immediate decision or a gradual shift?

Charlynn: We did online school through the charter for the rest of my son’s kindergarten year when the pandemic first hit. I was okay with that, but I noticed it was harder for kids to focus and there were things lacking. As I looked into the requirements and policies that were going to be in place when schools reopened – things like social distancing – I got concerned that while they might keep kids physically healthy, they wouldn’t be as helpful for emotional and mental health.

That summer, I attended a meeting with some homeschool parents and others who were interested in learning more about homeschooling. That was maybe one of the first moments it felt like “Okay, maybe we could actually do this.” Over the next few months, I kept researching, thinking about it, praying about it, trying to figure out the right choice for our family.

I’m so glad we made the switch. In Oregon, schools were constantly on the brink of shutting down or going back online. I remember watching all my friends in mom groups on Facebook being so stressed trying to figure out childcare and schedules week to week. I felt such relief not having to deal with that uncertainty and being in charge of my kids’ education.

Customizing Education for ADHD Learners

Ela Richmond: What were the initial challenges when you started homeschooling?

Charlynn: Around that time, I learned my husband had ADHD. As I learned more about ADHD, I realized I had it too. Then I saw signs in my son. Interestingly, ADHD manifests differently for each of us. For my son, it was really hard for him to sit and focus on lessons. We had many meltdowns over simple tasks like writing a few words.

I realized he needed things approached from a different angle. That was huge in shifting my perspective to see that I could customize their education to fit their needs. It didn’t have to look like public school at home.

Evolution of Homeschooling Approach

Ela Richmond: That’s a really interesting realization – that you don’t have to replicate traditional school at home. What was that shift like for you? And what does a typical day look like for your family now?

Charlynn: It unfolded gradually over the first couple years. At first, I stuck pretty closely to curriculum and tried to replicate a school-like schedule. The next year was more flexible. Then we bought a house that needed remodeling, which forced us to adjust how we were educating.

I saw so much value in the kids learning hands-on life skills as they helped with the remodel. They were learning the value of hard work, gaining confidence, and developing skills that would truly serve them in life – in many ways, more than another curriculum lesson would have at that age.

Now, in our third and fourth year, I feel like we’ve found more of a middle ground. We do a morning basket and menu with certain things we want to cover daily. But we also do a lot of following their interests and learning as we go. I wouldn’t consider myself an unschooler, but I’m more eclectic in taking ideas from different approaches.

There’s so much to be said for intentional living and learning. Because we’re constantly together, we have more opportunities to fit in worthwhile lessons. It’s one thing to just play all day, but it’s another to have time to play and then capitalize on learning moments as they come up.

A Day in the Life: Practical Examples

Charlynn: For example, today we made pancakes. I told the kids we didn’t really have time, so if we were going to do it, it had to be part of school. My son practiced leadership skills by being in charge and giving directions to his sisters. I reminded them to be thoughtful and respectful in how they interacted. He practiced delegation and problem-solving.

With my six-year-old who sometimes struggles with dexterity and patience, we took time to work on spacing the pancakes and following directions step-by-step. There are so many lessons wrapped up in everyday activities when you approach them intentionally.

Another great moment recently was during a math lesson on fractions. My son said it was boring and he already knew how to do it. When I gave him harder problems, he was able to solve them easily because we’ve been able to wait until his brain was more developed for those concepts. I’ve found that if we wait until they’re ready, they often pick up concepts much faster and retain them better.

Our typical week includes two days of co-ops, three days of schooling at home, and activities like taekwondo. We also do things like volunteering at a food bank, which leads to great conversations about helping others and gives hands-on learning experiences.

Benefits of Flexible, Intentional Learning

Ela Richmond: I love how you teach and how you intentionally look for learning opportunities. You really take the time to understand your kids’ needs and recognize what can be an opportunity for growth or conscious learning in everyday life.

Charlynn: Absolutely. And what I find often happens in school is that you don’t get to see the full cycle of things. With activities like harvesting food for the food bank, the kids get to see multiple steps in the process. They see how things connect – someone grew the food, we harvest it, it goes to people in need, and we even get to bring some home. It helps them understand how life works in cycles and how things are interconnected.

Fostering Lifelong Learning

Charlynn: One of the things I love most about this idea of open education is that I want my kids to be lifelong learners. I don’t want them to feel like learning stops when school is over. At our house, there’s a constant attitude that we’re always learning, regardless of whether it’s a weekday or weekend, day or night.

We largely school year-round because it works best for our family and fosters that attitude of continuous learning. If we live intentionally, there’s so much more to be learned while doing the same everyday activities. You can have meaningful conversations during car rides or while doing chores. It’s about doing things more purposefully to get more out of them.

Personal Growth Through Homeschooling

Ela Richmond: You mentioned before we started recording how important patience has been in your journey. Can you share more about that?

Charlynn: Often when I tell people we’re homeschooling, they say something like “Good for you, I could never do that.” But I don’t necessarily feel like I’m some great parent. I’ve had to develop the skills I needed to serve my kids in the way they needed.

Homeschooling is a very refining process because you’re together all the time. It’s easy to get on each other’s nerves or lose patience. It’s forced me to recognize areas where I needed to make shifts – to handle things better, to teach better, to understand more about how the brain works so I could meet my kids where they’re at.

My own learning process has not only helped me be a better parent and teacher, but it also shows my kids that we don’t stop learning just because we graduate. They see me developing my own hobbies, listening to audiobooks while I do chores. It shows them that I value learning, which encourages them to value it too.

I’m still figuring things out as I go, and that’s awesome because it helps our relationships. It’s so worthwhile for my kids to see me apologize when I handle something poorly, to see my own learning processes. It helps us strengthen our relationships and be more forgiving.

Resources and Tools for Homeschooling

Ela Richmond: What resources have been valuable to you on this journey, especially with the challenges of ADHD?

Charlynn: For me, it’s about having a variety of tools available. With ADHD, it really helps to mix things up. We do two different co-ops that provide very different experiences and focuses. At home, we use curriculum sometimes for specific lessons, and other times I use it more as a checkpoint to ensure we’re covering important topics.

We use resources like Math Base Camp, Education.com, and Reading Eggs. Having educational games and activities readily available is helpful for days when our usual plans get derailed. I have containers for each subject filled with educational games and activities the kids can choose from if we need a backup plan.

It’s been really helpful to be aware of my own weaknesses and have tools to fall back on so that my family’s needs can still be met even when things don’t go as planned.

The State of Homeschooling in Oregon

Ela Richmond: As a parent ambassador in Oregon, what have you noticed about the state of homeschooling and what families are going through right now?

Charlynn: In Oregon, there’s a lot of interest from people looking at alternatives to traditional schooling. Many aren’t satisfied with what’s happening in schools. While public schools work for some people and provide value, there are many families feeling frustrated with the traditional education style.

Oregon is great in that it has many charter opportunities, including online charters. However, the challenge with online charters is that there are many requirements, which can be overwhelming for parents. It can feel like meeting these requirements takes away from actually educating their kids.

That’s what I love about OpenEd – it’s been a huge resource for me to maximize my kids’ educational opportunities. It provides funding for things like museum memberships, zoo passes, and various classes. The pandemic also pushed many classes online, opening up even more opportunities.

However, there’s a struggle with public schools because people are feeling frustrated with the environment and curriculum requirements. As more kids leave the public school system, it creates funding issues for schools. Some districts are trying to make it harder for kids to leave, which is tricky.

The Value of OpenEd

Ela Richmond: How would you explain OpenEd to a friend?

Charlynn: OpenEd partners with school districts so you can access funding to make the most of your kids’ education. It gives me access to those educational tax dollars so I can be reimbursed for many educational expenses. Instead of trying to do everything on a tight budget, I can really maximize educational opportunities through classes, field trips, curriculum, and supplies.

Effective Learning Strategies

Ela Richmond: What examples do you have of things that really work to help your kids learn?

Charlynn: Life skills and real-life applications are key. When I find ways to show my kids that these skills have value, it makes a huge difference. For example, when I had to write a check for their farmer’s market booth fee, it became a lesson in spelling out numbers.

The farmer’s market itself has been a great learning experience. My kids have been developing valuable skills like counting money back to customers. Adults often comment on how well they can do this compared to some adults they know.

Another example is incorporating their interests into lessons. When my son was learning division, I used Star Wars characters in the math problems. Suddenly, it became an enjoyable conversation because he was thinking about stormtroopers and Jedis while solving division problems.

Advice for New Homeschooling Parents

Ela Richmond: What’s your best advice for new open education parents?

Charlynn: Be patient with yourself and realize that things will change. Whether it’s your kid’s attitude, your curriculum choices, your schedule, or your patience – it’s all going to change. You have to be willing to work with it and find areas where you can improve, but also give yourself and your kids grace.

Don’t get too frustrated if things aren’t working out the way you want right now. Whether it’s a new day, a new schedule, new curriculum, or changing learning styles and attitudes – it will be different tomorrow. You just have to learn to work with it.

Looking Ahead: Future Challenges

Ela Richmond: What do you see being a challenge next year that’s different from this year?

Charlynn: As my son gets a little older, we’ll need to focus more on ensuring he’s learning all the important academic skills he needs. We’ve been working on a lot of foundational skills and character development, which will set him up well for the future. But now we’re moving into deeper academic territory.

Finding the right classes, opportunities, and resources to support this next phase will probably be our challenge for next year.

Ela Richmond: How do you know when to challenge them versus when to back off?

Charlynn: In the moment, if they’re really dysregulated, we might need to step away and come back later. I’m okay with frustration and struggle if they’re making progress. But if we’re getting to a meltdown point, something needs to change. Even if they’re developmentally able to grasp a concept, they won’t retain it if they’re just frustrated and upset.

For my ADHD kids, a big sign is when they feel like their wheels are just spinning and they’re not getting anywhere. Then I know we need to take a break. If we come back to it a couple times and it’s still not working, I might put it aside and revisit it later.

Hard is okay – I’m fine with things being challenging. But if it’s just frustration that’s not going anywhere, then it’s a good time to wait and come back to it later.

Conclusion

Ela Richmond: Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom and experiences. There were so many valuable insights, from your game containers to how you integrate learning into everyday life. I appreciate how you reevaluate your approach each year to determine what’s best for your family and each individual child.

Charlynn: Thanks so much for having me, it’s been great chatting with you.