Balancing Business and Homeschooling with Christine Furman

00:00 SPEAKER_00 All right, and welcome to another episode of the More Than Mom podcast. I am your host, Samantha Cook, and I have an amazing woman on here with me today. Her name is Christine Furman, and she is a teacher turned homeschool mom, turned educator of parents to teach them how to do that within their homes as well. And so I'll turn it over to Christine, let her give you a little more of the rundown about what she does.

00:25 SPEAKER_01 Hi, Samantha. Thank you so much for having me here. It's such an honor. I am Christine Furman. I am the founder and CEO of Momspiration 412 Worldwide and Edu Play Learning. I have taught in the public school system for about 10 years, and then I decided to change gears a little bit and stay home and homeschool my kiddos and start a business when they were, you know, about two and four. So a busy time as a mom, but also such a wonderful time and being able to spend the time with them and being able to help and connect families and moms. And it really started out as the Momspiration community first because moms were just looking for community, you know, and anywhere, any space, that's really what it's about is that

01:20 SPEAKER_00 community. Absolutely. So, myself included, I'm always looking like where the homeschool community is near me as I have my daughter is going to be a preschooler in terms of that level. And so we're starting our homeschool journey this fall. And so just talk to me a little bit about how your Momspiration community turned into

01:41 SPEAKER_01 the business that you now have. Yes, absolutely. I had a couple of families when I was at a church picnic, actually, and they said, you know, Christine, I just don't know how to navigate this. Like we have our second child now, you know, and how we feel just so alone, right? You know, we are navigating the sharing, we're navigating the sleepless nights, the toddler stage, the infant stage. Like, how do we do this? You know, and how do we find community? How do we find that support that we're looking for? So as an educator, as an ambitious mom, I guess, you know, I was like, I can make a community that will help these families, you know. And so that really led into just meeting up at the parks or I would do some live videos and I would just share my experiences, you know, just sharing that like the situations that we are in, we are not facing them alone. We are not going through, you know, potty training by ourselves. And we're not the only one that has this situation that's happening in our family or in our household, you know, when it can feel so defeating to us sometimes, you know, and just just being there to offer that encouragement for the families to say, you got this, like you can do this and I'm here to help you and I'm going to build this community to rally beside you to say we're here for each other. You know, so it turned into those meetups and that, you know, going to the parks or hey, who wants to go to the zoo together or who wants to, you know, do things together? And that really just built such a wonderful community. I'm from Pittsburgh, PA, so that's where we started. That's why it's momspiration 412 because it started in Pittsburgh and that's the area code there. And then the educator in me. So I am an elementary and special education teacher and I just building that that relationship with the kids, too. Right. So it wasn't about just connecting the moms and the dads and, you know, the families. But then I'm like, but I want I want to interact with the kids. I want to be able to engage with the kids and educate the kids in a fun way. Plus, I had my kids, too. You know, so my my whole goal was for it to be I was able to connect with families, but I was able able to bring my children along with me and I was able to share that encouragement, that education. So then my edu play learning curriculum came out of all of that because I started making up this curriculum that was hands on for the kids. It was interactive, but it was giving the parents an opportunity to not only talk amongst themselves, but then see how I interacted with the kids and then they were able to interact with their children and do those activities with their kids. So that kind of all started. And, you know, I was able to start creating this curriculum around different themes and topics. And it was such an amazing opportunity to see families come together and being able to just make those connections, kids and families alike. So just such an awesome experience for sure.

05:06 SPEAKER_00 That's awesome, because obviously we know as moms, we're always looking for that community because like myself, I'm a Georgia transplant. I haven't been here forever. So it took me through covid when there was zero community trying to get back into that and try to find people that shared, you know, ideals and ultimately like values and all that kind of stuff that I wanted for my family, that we were around other families that had that same ideals. And so with that, you turned this curriculum now into now you're not only just a homeschool mom, but now you're also a business woman. Yes. And so talk about like the balance of your day to day life of like being businesswoman and also managing that homeschool piece, because I know for especially people like me, I don't really know what that looks like yet. But I am anxiously like. You know, these are the times that I actually have to physically be somewhere and doing something. But also, how can I make that homeschool work? Because, I mean, as we've seen, especially a lot of high level entrepreneurs are

06:14 SPEAKER_01 really turning into homeschool families themselves as well to maximize their time with their children, too. Absolutely. And that's absolutely it. Maximizing the time with our kids. And the best part about the bonus of my business is that my kids get to do it with me. So any event that I have, the kids are there doing the events with me or they are seeing what I am able to share with the families. So that was the starting phases of my business, where when I would have an event, my kids get to be right there with me. And that is the income coming in. But also, my kids are a part of it, you know. But it takes a lot of dedication. It definitely does. And a few of the things that have helped me is I definitely get up early before my family. I get up at five and it's giving me that opportunity not only to have that time, because as moms, we don't get a lot of time by ourselves, you know, unless we strategically plan it. And that's what has to start happening is, you know, I strategically had to plan and say, OK, between five and seven, this is mommy's work time, you know. And even if you wake up, that's fine. But there are some books over there or there's a puzzle over there or there's something for them to do quietly, you know. And every time that they would wake up, I would definitely welcome them, right, with welcome arms and say, good morning. And, you know, it's so wonderful to see you and, you know, just really stopping in the moment, you know, if I can and just giving them that great good morning welcome and then saying, OK, now it's time for you to go ahead and, you know, play this and do that. Now, I understand it's difficult for different ages, right. And that continues to grow because at first, you know, you have a two year old and they can play for a few minutes by themselves, but then they may need you for something else, you know. Yeah. So it definitely continues to get easier as they get older. But then there's always some other things that pop up, you know. Absolutely. But giving them specific tasks to do during the time that you're working has also been very helpful. You know, like during this time, I would like you to build a garage or build a house or build something and use your cars. Or I would like you to pretend like you're a doctor and here are your stuffed animals. And I want you to, you know, pretend like they need your help. And so it's really giving them specific tasks to do, because a lot of times when you say go play, go play in the playroom, you know, or go play with all your toys, that's overwhelming, you know. And they're like, well, what do I do? I don't even know what to do anymore, you know. And so it's really giving them that specific guidance and then saying, like, right now, this is my work. But after I'm done, then we're going to do X, Y and Z, you know, whatever that looks like. Maybe that's the morning routine. Maybe that's, you know, but but kind of setting up your day in like different chunks and being present in those moments where we are saying, OK, like in the morning, this is my work time and I'm present in my work. But then when the kids wake up, this is where I'm present with the kids, you know. And if that's that morning routine is the first part of the morning, that's great. And everyone gets ready and the day gets started. You know, that's something, too, that as an entrepreneur and a homeschool mom, it can be very easy to let the days escape us. You know, if we don't build in structure to our day, it's very easy to say, oh, you know what? It's three o'clock. What did I do today? You know, whether that's work wise or school wise, you know. But building structure around that and then also is like intentional time, you know. So for us during the morning, that is our homeschool time. So then I can say, OK, like work tasks are going to wait until the afternoon, whether that's nap time, whether that's quiet time, whatever that looks like, you know, and we're able to say, OK, then that's mommy's work time, you know. But right now, this is our school time and this is time where I'm focused on you. And, you know, and sure, as an entrepreneur and as a mom, you know, we can do a lot of work from our phone and it's easy to get distracted sometimes, you know. But it's also easy to kind of take it on the road with us, you know. So say we're at the playground and yeah, we can we can answer an email or we can, you know, have a conversation with someone via our phone while the kids are entertained doing other things. So it's just a lot of building them into the schedule. That is a part of my curriculum. It's called teaching moments and it's really giving them roles throughout the day, you know, allowing them to help empty the dishwasher, teaching them how to do the laundry. And, you know, even work tasks, you know, if it's a work task that they can help with, certainly, you know, certainly build that in because that is essentially part of our homeschool curriculum. That is the learning component of what is it like to be a human, a grown up, you know, these are skills that they're going to need in life. And I feel like that is such a crucial piece for sure.

11:51 SPEAKER_00 Yeah, I love that. That's like super awesome because, you know, I do a lot over nap time. So obviously, like sometimes they wake up a little bit early. Case in point, my child just walked down the stairs. But, you know, that's when I'm like, hey, mom's got to finish up. That's her time to work. And like, hey, I'll be in there in just a few minutes or I'll bring this in there, something like that, because, I mean, that's really kind of the reality of it. That's what I've got to get done. Right. I am going to pause for just a second on the recording and go get my two year old because he has just been up there talking for like three minutes, but he's chill. So I'll be right back. Hold on. OK, perfect. All right. And so tell me a little bit about your transition from, I mean, obviously being a school teacher to becoming an entrepreneur. That's a pretty big change in atmosphere. I know your what you're doing through your curriculum does have a lot to do with teaching, but that is a big shift from being an employee to being an entrepreneur.

12:58 SPEAKER_01 Yes, absolutely. And that it actually, when I look back on it, it's like all of those moments that I had in classrooms and different positions prepared me for where I'm at today. So I feel like that definitely has helped to kind of, you know, make sure that I'm in alignment, you know, all of these things, they just continue to build on themselves. And when I taught in the special education classroom, I was already making curriculum and I was meeting the needs of my students and making sure that they were completely individualized and making sure that whatever topic we were talking about, it was on their level. So it just continued to build me up for where I'm at. And when my daughter was in preschool, I started realizing, like, I was like, you know, I kind of thinking I may want to homeschool because I never I didn't think I was going to homeschool or, you know, be an entrepreneur. I just knew that I I knew there was more for me. Right. I was like, I don't feel like I'm going to retire a school teacher. But what does that look like? And I actually had a pivotal moment with my mentor in college. And I did her empower you master class. And she said, all right, I see these things that you have kind of going on. She's like, I think there's more for you. So it really helped kind of propel me forward. So I definitely would say, like mentors have helped me tremendously, you know, to kind of help you see those blind spots and help you to kind of keep propelling forward and saying, yes, you're on the right track. Like, this is an idea. This is, you know, this is what you need to do next. You know, these are your next steps. So that definitely helped me along the way. And it kind of gave me that confidence because you're right. Like as a school teacher, you're you're pretty set, you know, like I'm a school teacher and I've got, you know, the things I've got the insurance and I've got the schedule and I've got, you know, the retirement. You feel confident and comfortable there. But if you feel that tug on your heart to kind of like do the next thing, like it's almost like you just got to, you just got to make that uncomfortable move and say, you know what? All right, I can do this, you know, and really just giving families that freedom to say, I can be with my kids, I can teach and still be with my kids. And that meant the world to me, you know, and I didn't know what that was going to look like. I didn't know how all of this was going to evolve. You know, I've basically been making it up as I went along, but every time I have a conversation with someone or every time, you know, things happen and it all is in alignment, I'm like, I'm on the right track. I'm doing the things I'm doing the right things, you know? And so I was building curriculum back in my teaching years. And then when I started building the edu play curriculum, I didn't actually realize that I was creating this curriculum until I had this aha moment. I was like, I've been doing this all along. I've been creating curriculum and I've been making it fun and I've been making it hands on and I've been making it meaningful. And now it's time to get this into the hands of other families. And during the pandemic, I had to make that switch from in-person sessions. Plus we were moving. So we moved from Pittsburgh to Augusta, Georgia. And I remember thinking, how am I going to tell my clients that I am now transitioning from in-person to virtual sessions, you know, cause that really wasn't what they were wanting. They wanted that in-person, you know, meetup. Well, then the pandemic happened and it all happened naturally. So it gave me that opportunity to be able to teach online and be able to teach families all over the nation and be able to connect with them via the subscription boxes that I put together and providing the families with everything that they need in the boxes. So they literally get them delivered to their door. They open the box. They have videos with me. We have zoom calls together. So we basically have our classes and our sessions together. And then they're able to ask me any questions, you know, which has been really helpful, you know, they're like, all right, this is kind of going on in my day or how do I transition from a school schedule to a summer schedule? And I can kind of have that conversation with them and be able to help them navigate what these challenges come up, you know, when these challenges come up or as an entrepreneur family, like, okay, Christine, like, how do I utilize my time appropriately and strategically? So then that way I can get my work in, but I can also be present with my kids and teach them. And that's how the curriculum has been so helpful because it's really a hands-on kind of curriculum. So you're not doing a ton of paper and pencil kind of work. You're watching a quick video, you're doing some activities, and then you're doing those throughout your day in the car or when you go, you know, to the park or I really teach about incorporating these activities and these skills throughout the day, because it doesn't have to look the way that we have been conditioned to believe it needs to look, you know, it doesn't have to be sit at the desk, write everything down a hundred times and ingrain it, you know, our kids, they love to move, they love to get up and do things. And, and that's really the essence of my program. It's called edu play because it's educational play. And I just love being able to do that with families.

18:52 SPEAKER_00 Yeah, I love that. Like that is such a big thing, especially watching like how much our kids just pay attention and do the things that we want to do anyways. And so that just makes it so much easier and so much more doable. And so Christine, like where, you know, where can we find you? Like, where do we get your curriculum? Those types of things.

19:17 SPEAKER_01 Yes, absolutely. Thank you for asking. Um, so you can search Christine Furman on platforms, all platforms. You could also search edu play learning and go to edu play learning.com or mom inspiration for one, two.com. And I can definitely get you guys some links for that, but I have a Facebook group it's called edu play learning, equipping families and educating kids. And I do a lot of free, you know, activities for the kids. I also do a lot of resources for the families and really just offering that support and guidance to kind of help families be able to balance it all and, you know, provide the things that they're looking for and needing the most.

20:03 SPEAKER_00 Yeah, that's, that's awesome. All her links and everything will be in the show notes and all that good stuff. So you guys can find that very easily. And I just want to hope you get out of today is that, um, not only can you be mom, you can be entrepreneur as well as teacher, um, to your own children. Cause I just, the benefits of homeschooling, at least for our family is, you know, the freedom and the flexibility of our lives. We have a couple of weeks off every year. And so it's nice to be able to just get away and not have to worry about taking out of school and doing those kinds of things. Not that homeschooling is for everyone because public schools and things like that are great. Um, but for our family, that's just a route that has really resonated well with us and the goals that we are trying to accomplish with our children. And so, you know, I'm just super excited to get to dive in a little deeper to the things that you have available and the resources, um, because we know that such a big deal for families is like to have the opportunity as well as the encouragement and the things that come along with taking the leap into something new. I was not homeschooled at all. Um, and my sister has done that before. Uh, she's homeschooling her children now. So that was just something new that we were not, not really, um, aware of how one easy it could be and how fun it could be and just how much it just resonates well with your day to day life. So Christine, thank you so much for being on here. Um, as we know, it's hard not only to be a mom, but to be a business owner, too. And you are just making this so much more digestible and just provide tons of encouragement for our moms out there that are, you know, maybe you're looking into homeschooling, maybe you didn't really know much about it and you are just really want to see what's, what it's about. And if that's something with you to give you that, um, I know a lot of entrepreneurs are, are tailored towards that entrepreneurial lifestyle for the time freedom, for the, um, place freedom. And so that's something that tends to resonate well with a lot of entrepreneurs as well with homeschooling your, your kids in that capacity. So, well, Christine, any last words of encouragement for our listeners?

22:16 SPEAKER_01 I just want everyone to remember to see each moment as a chance to learn, create, and have fun in everything that they do.

22:24 SPEAKER_00 Awesome. Well, we'll see you guys next week. Hope you have a great rest of your day and hop on next time for our next episode of the more than mom podcast.

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