#97 - Homeschool Burnout? Teach Perseverance the Easy Way with Aesop's Fables

Feeling burned out and overwhelmed by the constant demands of homeschooling and the holiday rush? You’re not alone. In this episode of Homeschool Unlocked, Monica and Jeronimo explore how simple storytelling—like reading The Tortoise and the Hare—can breathe life back into your homeschool. Discover how this classic fable teaches perseverance, focus, and character while helping you reconnect with your kids in meaningful ways. If you’re ready to trade burnout for family bonding and timeless lessons, this episode is for you. Listen now and unlock a fresh perspective on homeschooling that truly fits your life! 

https://1lnk.page/MonicaAviles

Transcript

Welcome to the Homeschool Unlocked podcast, the show that helps parents see homeschooling as a unique opportunity. So forget fear. You can inspire. You can guide your child. Homeschool Unlocked. It's not school, it's life. Hi out there. My name's Jeronimo, and I am the youngest of six. I'm eight years old, and I was raised by five loving siblings and two loving parents. I'm joined by my mom. You have anything to say? Yes, we're so glad that you're joining us today. I hope you have something that you can enjoy, maybe some nice coffee or something to drink, or you're just folding some laundry. We're looking forward to encouraging you and helping you realize that homeschooling is about building relationships and growing and learning together. So whether you have never homeschooled or... Or sneaking a peek. Or yeah, you wanna homeschool maybe for a semester or maybe longer. And yeah, come sneak a peek into our little bit of homeschool life. And I think you'll find great connections. Yes, and today we wanna talk a little bit about the tortoise and the hare because we really enjoy Aesop's Fables. And so maybe right now, because we're coming up on Christmas, you have a little bit more time to read together as a family. Or maybe you're looking to do something from the comfort of your home that is fun. And you don't wanna be running around in the middle of all the shopping that you might have to do. You wanna do something at home that builds connections. And I would promote spending some time with your kids just read and enjoy. Yeah, just read and enjoy. And so we're gonna talk a little bit about the tortoise and the hare. And the nice thing about reading together is you start as a family. You build a little catalog of your favorite stories that you enjoy, right? You get to practice how to listen well. Yes, is listening important in life? Yeah, and stories are so powerful, right? Stories, not only are ways that you get to learn, but also because you're learning, you get to, they shape you. They shape your character. They help you make better decisions when you're reading good stories. And so one of our favorite stories are Aesop's Fables. So what story or what fable are we gonna be talking about today? The tortoise and the hare. Yes.And I think it's a good demonstration actually. Yeah, okay. Now who are the main characters in this story? The tortoise and the hare. Yes, and there are, remember, these are stories that were passed down, not even because they were written down by Aesop, but through orally, through just telling them out loud, saying them out loud. And so is there more than one version of the story? Yes. There is more than one version, but the two main characters remain, the tortoise and the hare. What's the main lesson or a main lesson that this fable teaches? You can't like exactly brag so much, but you can't do what you brag about. Okay, that's one. It's like, if you're a hero, you say you can lift a rock, but you can't lift a rock. Okay, so like don't brag. What about, okay, that's about the hare. And what about the tortoise? What's something that he really teaches us? Like not to like feel left out if like, no, you're not fast enough. That doesn't like prove that you can't do anything. Right, because he pers... Persuaded. No, well, persuade. Okay, but no, he, in this case, he also persevered. Yes, he also perseveres. And so this is a great, this fable really talks to us about the importance of perseverance. And yeah, definitely with the hare, he shows us that overconfidence, bragging, it's just a foolish thing, right? Yeah. Can you give me some things that you, some differences that you see between the tortoise and the hare? I just think the difference from the hare and the tortoise is how the hare is very like quick-minded and the tortoise is slow-minded, but he's also very wise and the hare's not so wise. Okay, so whereas the hare maybe is, he's thinking about so many different things. The tortoise, when you say slow-minded, I think that he's focused. Like he's so, he's just focused. He's just so focused that nothing else is catching his eye. Although the hare, oh, that, that, that. He's focused on everything and he wants to do everything. The tortoise just wants to do one thing at a time. I definitely feel that way. I mean, when I go even answer emails, it's like I'm answering one email and then I'm also thinking about a bunch of different things and so it takes me longer to just write the one email. Instead, I need to focus on just writing the one email. How about you? Where in life have you recently been more like the hare and not the tortoise? The hare is like- How about, no, but I'm talking about you. Can you give me an example of where you've been so fast-minded that you've been distracted? Yes, in my video games and I get so, like when someone's shooting at me, I get so focused that the people, the people, everyone that's shooting at me, I just can concentrate on anything. So yeah, I'm just jumping up, trying to survive.Okay, now do we have tortoises? Have you ever seen a tortoise in real life? Is the tortoise the one that can swim or the one that walks on land? The one that walks on land. Yeah, we have actually two. What are some things that you notice about tortoises from having observed them in real life? Yes, that they're very slow, but they're also very concentrated. Yes, that's right. And so they actually, we've actually had a tortoise run away and escape, even though you think like, oh, well, we're keeping an eye on him. He won't get anywhere. We still have him. His name is Flash. And so- He's so fast.He's really not that fast, but he is steady. Yeah, but he is faster than a turtle. But he is steady, right? And they teach us that when you focus, even if it seems like you're not gonna accomplish it quickly, you might be thinking, oh, that's so slow.It builds up, right? And he would go so fast. We've actually had him escape five times. One, he almost got run over by a car. Yes. He like went past the car on the drive. He literally walked one step away from getting run over.That was, and we just thank God for that. Let's go back to the tortoise and the hare. We saw that in this version, how many times did the hare fall asleep? Like, tell us a little bit about this version.I think he fell asleep two times. And he was so baggy that he like, the baggy made him like sleepy. He was thinking so fast that it took all the energy from him, even all the energy from the bag, that he just fell asleep.And so, and he went ahead and he still went, fell back asleep a second time. And by the time he woke up- After eating cabbages. And after, right, well, and so what happened when he woke up that second time? Where was the tortoise? One step away from the finish line.Yes. And so the hare immediately did what? Jumped, ran, pounced. In the end, you know, it kind of reminds us of Proverbs 13, four, and it says, the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.And being faithful and persevering, not only is a good example to others, it shows trust in God. It builds your own character, right? When you are so focused that even though it takes a long time, you accomplish your goal, that's building a character in you, right? And so give me a couple of other Aesop's Fables that you think our listeners should enjoy. I think another one is the, hmm, let me look.Okay. So we have several Aesop's Fables. Because there's different, each book has different fables, plus each fable is a little bit different, like we talked about.There's variations. I think my other favorite is the donkey and the horse. Okay.And then my other favorite is the fox and the sheep. The fox. Okay, hold on, let's see.Tell me about the fox and the grapes. The fox and the grapes. Is that what you meant? Yeah, the fox and the grapes.Okay, what's the moral there? What's the lesson there? He was so focused on getting the sheep. Yes, like the- The grapes or the sheep? Which one? The grapes. I mean the sheep.I don't know what you're saying, but- The sheep. He was so focused. So when he tried to get the grapes, all of a sudden it went bad.And then they were good, but then he said they were rotten because he just didn't wanna get so hungry. He didn't wanna get hungry. Okay, right.So with the fox and the grapes, he basically changed the story that he was telling himself, right? Yeah. Okay. And then, so that's the fox and the grapes.It's not the fox and the sheep. Yeah. I don't know why you're saying sheep.There are other ones with sheep. That's maybe why. And then you recommended that our listeners enjoy the horse and the donkey.And what's the lesson in that one? The donkey was getting too much weight on him. And then the horse, like, no, I'm too brave and helpful. I can't get any more weight.But then the donkey just stopped. Yeah, the donkey died. And what did the horse have to do? Take his load.Yeah, so what's the lesson there? What did the horse have the opportunity to do? Help. And did he take it? Nope. And so he ended up having to? Take more.He ended up having to carry not only his load, but then also the donkey's load. So, go ahead, close us out then. So right now before our next episode, we're having a little bit of chocolate.This one is very good. Very yummy. And I think you should all have it because it's just very good.And you should wait for tomorrow. It was very good. And I think it's the best chocolate ever.What do you like about chocolate? I just like how it's so, like, juicy and flavor-y. And as much as it's not healthy, if you put salt on it, salt's good for you. And if you put it on chocolate, technically with the chocolate, it'll be good for you.Well, you know what? What if it's not the chocolate that's bad, but if it has a lot of sugar? What if it's really the sugar that's not helpful? Oh. Kids take out the sugar, eat chocolate, healthy. Yeah, we could make our own chocolate, right? We could make them get cocoa powder and then just make it less sweet, make our own chocolate that way.I think you should actually, over the island, like, nuts, you crack them open and what's inside, you can actually mash, put it on video, and then that's how you make chocolate. Okay, all right, we'll see. Close us out.I guess my closeout is have a great rest of the week, have a great rest of the day, and just sneak a peek some more times. Thank you for listening to the Homeschool Unlocked podcast. When people learn that this is not school, it's life.Have a wonderful start of your December. Thank you for spending time with us today. Check out our link below and subscribe to our podcast.We hope that we helped you by unlocking a new way of seeing homeschooling. Who else needs to hear this? Only you know, so take action and share it because remember, Homeschool Unlocked, it's not school, it's life.