 Hi you guys, my name is Brittany and welcome back to my YouTube channel you guys if any of you are new here to my channel again My name is Brittany. I have a nine three and a one-year-old and I am Actually in my second year of homeschooling you guys in today's video I'm really going to give you an honest homeschool update and just really talk about all the things that has happened within My first three weeks of homeschooling So you guys are pretty much watching this video and pretty live in pretty much lifetime Because I typically film and you're seeing my videos like a week to two weeks after I already filmed them However, this video you're actually watching a day after I already filmed it So this is pretty live at least for me in my filming process But I really felt like this was a really important update that update that I really wanted to Post on my channel just because I've really been struggling my first three weeks of this second year of my homeschooling And I just really want to share it with you guys I really wanted to be transparent and I really wanted to be honest because when I first started my YouTube channel a while back I actually started by sharing my pregnancy journey with my last daughter and In me starting my YouTube channel sharing my pregnancy I always told myself that I will always try to remain Transparent and honest with my viewers and just let them know just the journeys and the things that I'm going through and everything like that and I Guess in today's video I want to be transparent and honest with you guys about my homeschooling journey in my second year thus far I wasn't going to make this update until the end of this month However, this time is really fitting for me to go ahead and update you guys So I guess I would just go ahead and start off with My struggles because honestly this update is not really a happy one at least in my opinion I feel like I have really struggled these first three weeks The first struggle that I have had so far was really my scheduling If you guys are new and don't know I do have two toddlers. I have a one and a three-year-old I think I did mention that before and it's been really hard for me to try to find The schedule that's going to work out best for me and for my family I have been feeling overwhelmed because my toddlers they do need a lot for me And I do need to still carve out and make time to be able to teach and help my daughter and I really felt like at least in our within our first two weeks of school We wasn't getting done with school you guys until almost three o'clock and we were starting school at eight because it was so many Interruptions and it was so much stuff going on we were stopping and pausing and stopping and pausing and I just Really didn't feel like that flow that I was really looking for within our homeschool schedule And I was just always saying to myself like this should not take us this long Why are we still doing school like I just constantly felt like I wasn't given my daughter enough time to be able to explore and do things and to Do things of her own interests you guys I bought my daughter Brielle a piano and She has not yet once within these first three weeks of school Be able to practice on her piano because I have been bogging her down with so much school And I really feel bad on my part because I made a video specific to all my channel about My homeschooling vision and my homeschooling goals However, you guys I started off this year not following any of the things that I said and honestly I really need to take time out to rewatch that video and rehear my own words Just so they can resonate with me because I'm doing something wrong I'm doing a lot of stuff wrong really to be honest and That was really my first challenge and As you guys know this is my second challenge that I've been dealing with and I've been dealing with this one for a while And I have expressed it on my channel is that I really have been having curriculum challenges I think as a first-time homeschooler and I'm still calling myself first time because I know I did complete my first year But I heard that you really don't really get into your flow of homeschooling until you reach like year three to five And I'm definitely not there yet. I'm really not in that groove I consider myself to be a first-time homeschooling mom just because you guys I don't have it all together And I feel like this year I definitely did a curriculum dance It was just I feel like it was so many curriculum choices. I wanted to try it all I wanted to do it all but I had to be realistic with myself and knowing that I can't do it all and you know that's perfectly fine and You guys like I made a video on my channel and I think it was called did I buy too much curriculum? And I so thought that I was scaling myself back from all the curriculum that I bought When yet and still you guys I have scaled it back even further and you know, I Don't know how to just tell you this that I feel lighter I feel lighter by just letting all of the excess go and it's just so crazy that I did all that research and I did all this Search for new curriculum finding new things and I'm just gonna go ahead and be honest with you guys I am actually using right now. Just regular workbooks. Like I'm not even using All the new stuff that I purchased. I'm actually using just regular old workbooks I'm actually using the same workbooks that I used within our first year of homeschooling Just the next grade up and it's working and you know, I know they have that saying If the if the shoes not broke or is it what if it's not broke don't fix it Yeah, that's what it is and I feel like I was trying to fix something that wasn't necessarily all the way broken and I just really was Just consumed within curriculum and honestly Yeah, I mean that's the story within itself and My ultimate decision to let go most of the curriculum that I was using Wasn't just because it was heavy and I felt like it was just too much work it was really because I Couldn't no longer stand behind a company that I was using Because their views and their viewpoint in certain aspects wasn't in alignment with me And I know some of you guys might be confused about that statement and what I'm saying and some of you guys might know Exactly what I'm talking about but a lot of the curriculum that I was using was purchased from a specific curriculum company However, I have made the personal choice not to no longer use their curriculum and it will not be presented in my household I feel like I have been striving Especially since I had the opportunity to homeschool my daughter. I have been striving to give my daughter this inclusive and this rich Homeschooling experience, however The curriculum that I was using was actually I Should say counterintuitive because I was given her things diverse and inclusive in other subjects but in other things that I was using from this company, I wasn't and I Just feel like I have gotten caught up Especially in a lot of curriculum just it just being you know pretty and it just being trendy and not really paying attention to the words That was on the pages When my daughter was actually doing a lesson and this is what actually made me stop Using this particular curriculum was when my daughter was doing a lesson It asked her how did she relate to the story? She was reading and I think when she read the question She thought that it was talking about the Reader that went along with the curriculum. However, it was actually talking about an independent reader and my daughter She kind of got that question confused But she did answer it and say mommy this reader in this book and a story that I'm reading I can't relate to it at all and when she said that it really made me feel some type of way because You know, why am I giving my daughter something that she can't relate to now? I know not all stories and not all things she will be able to relate to but And that's perfectly fine But when I skimmed through the rest of the reader it was no stories that She could honestly relate to just in the fictional sense and it just really made me feel like wow like Britt like what are you doing and um Yeah, after that day, we didn't pick up that curriculum after that day and um Yeah, you guys like I'm not making this video to bash a company. I'm not making this video to influence you guys to Stop using a curriculum or to start using the curriculum I am just making this video just to tell and speak my honest truth about how I feel and what I'm doing in My home school and the changes that I'm personally making Um, I will not ever judge any of you guys Especially my homeschooling friends that are on here that I have connected with if you continue to decide to use a particular curriculum company Like I don't care use what's best for you and your family, you know If we're friends we chatting it up like we will be friends like I will never judge or Condone anyone these are just my personal choices and my personal convictions that I have and you know, this is I'm just pretty much telling you this is why I will no longer stand behind That particular company. Okay, you guys in the beginning of the video I did say that this wasn't a positive update and I didn't have anything positive to say But I do have something positive to say just because I just want to let you guys know once I let go of The burden of holding on to so much curriculum I took it down to the bare bones. Like I said earlier I just started giving my book my daughter just book workbooks We were working in over the summer that was still on her great level I really simplified a lot of it. Um, if you guys want to know what I am using right now I think I'm gonna go ahead and make a day in a life coming up really soon I might film that next week so you guys can kind of see like our homeschooling routine and Hopefully by the time you see it, I will have gotten all of my scheduling issues and everything like that Pretty much fixed because right now what we're doing. I feel like it has fixed our schedule It has light in our low and I feel like I said before I do feel lighter But I do want to share this one thing with you guys so once I went back to the old workbooks that we were using It freed up a lot of time and my daughter asked me. She said mommy She said can I use your laptop because I want to type a story and I said, okay, Brielle I really didn't know where that was gonna lead. She has been doing a typing right now She's actually started over the summer. She's been doing typing comm So she likes to be able to practice typing. She already loves to write stories So I said, okay, Brie. I gave her my laptop. I pulled up a clean document or open document And I just let her go you guys My daughter wrote a Little story and these are like front and back pages. So she actually has five chapters of this little story that she wrote is actually called super green and She did this all on her own Now I know it's probably like run-on sentences I know she might have some grammatical errors in here However, that's not the point of this video or the point of me showing you guys this the point of this is me Just showing you that by me freeing up my daughter And giving her less curriculum. She actually had time to do something she enjoyed and something that she was passionate in and To me I feel like this is what homeschooling is about to be able to allow my daughter to have that freedom and that Space to be able to do something she loves and she enjoys like you guys like I don't know like I could have another author on my hands like she could She could potentially write, you know a whole bunch of novels or books or children's stories like I don't know But how would I know if I continuously bog her down with curriculum and not give her that open space and opportunity to have that interest-led learning time and You guys like I think this was like the best part of this week was when I dropped the curriculum That I was using and I just went back to the basics This was the best part of this week you guys was just seeing my daughter find something She loved and just flourished at it every day You guys after we finish our schoolwork or every day this week after we finish our schoolwork My daughter has been asking me. Hey mommy, can I get back on the laptop? Can I write some more on my story and she's just been getting so excited and We actually have been doing like some simple grammar lessons and when she went back and read her story yesterday She said oh mommy I changed a few things on it because I didn't add a period here or mommy I had to split up the sentence or mommy I had to add a comma and she went back and started to edit her own work because of the simple Short grammar lessons that we were doing and she was able to go back and read and see the errors that she made and I'm like, oh my gosh like this is so crazy and You guys like I think like I said that that was just the best part of this week And it really has shown me that you know, even though I do feel like I'm doing it all wrong right now I think I've gotten at least one thing, right? So, um, you guys that's my update That is everything that has happened pretty much just first three weeks of my um home school and You know, I'm really going to do some homework. Like I said, I'm gonna rewatch and reread all of my goals and my visions and I'm going to try to stay true to myself and to my daughter and Stay true to our journey. I know it's not going to look like anybody else's and that's perfectly fine I just have to be confident in myself and knowing that, you know, I am doing the best and I'm giving my daughter everything she needs God, he has entrusted me with these kids and he entrusted me with these kids for a reason I just have to trust myself that I will and I can do a good job. I know I will make mistakes, but um I am doing my best and I think that's all that matters. That's all that matters at the end of the day So you guys that's my update. I hope you enjoyed today's video Um, as always you guys, please don't forget to comment like and subscribe Let me know down below how your home school is going so far if you've started yet If not, if you're facing any challenges and you guys, let's just chat it up in the comment section So as always you guys, I will see everybody in my next one Bye