Homeschool, Sensory Play, Starting a Small Business: Kensie's Story

BoldLittleMinds MomCast
Written By Mom Identity Project

In this episode of the BoldLittleMinds MomCast, I had the pleasure of chatting with Kensie, a stay-at-home mom of two little adventurers and the heart behind a thriving sensory play business. Together, we explored her journey from her background in childhood development to building a business, all while navigating the beautiful chaos of motherhood.

Finding Her Passion Through Play

Kensie’s passion for working with kids started long before she became a mom. With a background in psychology and a focus on child development, she spent years as an autism clinician and a special education teacher, dedicating her career to helping children. After having her first baby, Kensie shifted from public schools to full-time motherhood. Her story is a powerful reminder that our passions can evolve with us.

Embracing Motherhood

Kensie always saw herself becoming a mom, and her journey began during the pandemic when she and her husband decided to start their family sooner than planned. Kensie opens up about how life changed with kids, the challenging yet rewarding transition from one to two, and how her experiences have shaped her parenting.

From Reselling Clothes to Sensory Play

Fin and Co., Kensie’s business, started from something personal—reselling her kids’ outgrown clothes. Initially, she started her venture as a way to declutter her sons' outgrown clothes and integrate with a reselling community. It was a creative outlet that helped her during postpartum depression. But her real passion for sensory play, rooted in her time working as an autism clinician, quickly became the focus of her business. It’s amazing to see how something she loved turned into a thriving small business!

The Joys and Challenges of Homeschooling

Kensie’s love for play-based learning inspired her to homeschool her kids, following the Charlotte Mason approach. Through this method, her children learn through stories and play, something that aligns perfectly with Kensie’s own educational philosophy. Deciding to homeschool wasn’t easy—it took many conversations with her husband and insight from friends—but it’s been such a rewarding experience for her family.

Building an Online Community

Community is a big part of Kensie’s life, even though, as a self-described introvert, it didn’t come naturally at first. Over time, she found a strong, supportive network through social media and her business. Her Instagram and Etsy pages have become a space where she shares her sensory play projects—like her adorable Gilmore Girls-inspired collection—and connects with fellow parents who love creative and nostalgic play.

Finding Balance and Fulfillment

From simple sensory bins to playdough activities, Kensie loves creating fun, meaningful experiences for her kids. Her business isn’t just about making a profit; it’s about tapping into a passion that fills her with purpose while bringing something valuable to her family and the families of others.

Kensie’s journey is a reminder that you can follow your passions, embrace creativity, and find balance in the joys and challenges of motherhood.

Connect with Kensie

You can find Kensie on Instagram and her Etsy shop. Be sure to follow her for more sensory play inspiration!

Kensie's Instagram

Kensie's Etsy Shop

Connect with me

My Website

BoldLittleMinds Instagram

BoldLittleMinds Etsy: Code PODCAST for 10% off

Thanks so much for being here and exploring Kensie’s story with us! To hear more from Bold Little Minds, follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to share and leave a review—we’re so grateful for your support!

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For Your Binging Enjoyment…

Transcript

Krissy: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Bold Little Minds MomCast. My name is Krissy and I'm so glad you're here with us today. Today we have Kensie. Kensie is a stay at home mom of two, almost four, and almost two. She is a small business owner with a background in childhood development and she is passionate about learning through play.

Thank you so much for joining us, Kensie.

Kensie: Thanks for having me I'm excited to be here.

I'm excited to have you too. Your page is so cute. You make the cutest little setups and, and you're really into like book play and things like that. So it's just, it's so cute to be able to share this and have your cuteness go out into the world even more.

Oh, thank you. That means a lot Yeah, I put a lot of like time and energy creativity. It's creative outlet for me as a mom Especially staying home with my kiddos. So I love it and I'm glad others enjoy it, too

Krissy: I agree. I'm a very creative person, but I had a really hard time trying to figure out where that fit anymore. So like creativity through play, like kind of. fits everybody's needs.

Kensie: Definitely. Absolutely. Yeah.

Krissy: Right? So I would love to [00:01:00] hear your story. So please tell me what was your life before you became a mom?

Kensie: Oh, I I after high school. I did the whole college thing I Switched colleges a couple of times, trying to find my right niche changed majors a couple of times, trying to find my right niche there I went from social work to elementary education, and then finally landed in psychology with an emphasis on child development. And that's just kind of where my passion. And then after college, I got a job as an autism clinician working with childhood, early intervention autism, which I absolutely loved. I loved everything about it. But as I started working there more and more, the company just wasn't what I was wanting.

I wasn't getting the treatment that I was wanting as much as I loved my clients and my coworkers. And so then I switched to working in the schools with special education and then COVID hit, I became pregnant with my first and chose to stay home with him after that. [00:02:00] So kind

Krissy: Isn't it funny? I have like a similar story with how I became a stay home mom. COVID had a lot to do with it too.

Kensie: yeah. I feel like a lot of kids are born in that era. Lot of people probably chose to stay home.

Krissy: Right? Yeah. It just kind of how you re evaluate everything and end up with that. Did you always know you wanted to work with kids, , or was that kind of just how it landed?

Kensie: I've had a passion for working with kids since I've been a little kid. I was the kid that would go to the park and play with the kids. I was a mommy helper in elementary, like late elementary, early middle school. I go over and play with kids while their moms did stuff. And then I landed my first babysitting job at the age of 11 and I never looked back on working with kids.

So, I nannied all through high school. I nannied some in college and then I got a job working at the YMCA in their child care center and then from there on just kind of kept working with kids. So,

Krissy: Yeah, just kept moving through. So you started out with social work, [00:03:00] moved into the elementary, and then ended up in psychology, childhood development. And wow, it all kinds of ties together though, right?

Kensie: It definitely does. Yeah. Every like little aspect. 

Krissy: Yeah, for sure. 

​

Krissy: So tell me a little bit about being an autism clinician. That sounds really interesting to me, especially on the early diagnosis phase, because that diagnosis doesn't come in until a little later, right? Or,

Kensie: they usually will give them a diagnosis around the age of

Krissy: oh, okay,

Kensie: as early as they will give them. We did have a couple of kids that would get like an earlier diagnosis. You still kind of have to tread those waters lightly because you're not sure, you know, if it could be a different diagnosis or if it truly is an autism diagnosis. But yeah, so I worked for this company and they did a lot of like early intervention autism. They did ABA autism, which is what a lot of [00:04:00] people know for like autism work. They do a lot of like repetitive work. And then they did outpatient skills therapies all of that kind of stuff. So what I worked in, it was, like a group setting, and they only came for 3 hours, 5 days a week. And we worked on just like, turn taking different skills, asking for help. We did a lot of fine motor, gross motor, sensory play music, and just kind of really worked on them with different skills that they were meeting. So they all had, like, a list of skills that they had to master in order to, like, move on to new sets of skills. And really like our thing was to get them ready for school.

Krissy: sure.

Kensie: so they aged out so they could start our program at two and they aged out by the age of seven, which you legally have to be in school in Minnesota by the age of seven. So, a lot of our kids would age out earlier around that five to six year mark, but we would have kids until seven and two,

Krissy: Wow. And how long did you do that for?

Kensie: Two and a half years.

Krissy: So you got to see some kids progress through their, their work that [00:05:00] must,

Kensie: I saw kids enter and leave. yeah, which was really cool. Very bittersweet to have that, but. Cause you grew really close connections with these kittles. But

Krissy: I feel like for me, that would be a really good spot to be in working in the group setting. I feel like that would fit well with, with me. What about for you?

Kensie: yes, for sure. I feel like we would pass by the ABA cause our, the ABA classroom was near our classrooms. We had the group setting kind of had four classrooms and ABA had one. And just like watching what they did all day. I was like mad respect for them. Like, I'm glad there's people out there that will do that with those kids because those kids need that kind of treatment. But it wasn't something that I think I could have done because I worked very one on one with their client where we we'd have like five to six kids in our classrooms and we would usually be matched one to one. So there'd be about five adults in there, but you also got to like work together cause we did a lot of group activities.

So [00:06:00] you had coworkers to talk to and work things out. If one of your kids was having a really hard time and you needed to tap out for a second, you had an extra pair of hands to like tap out with and. so, yeah, definitely, couldn't do the one on one like without anyone else.

Krissy: Right. What a, what a gift to have so many co workers in that space with you too, because it is emotionally. Challenging work for sure. So I understand why you would want to leave, because I know that some of these companies and, and in education, anything it's, it's tough, you know, there's so many constraints.

So being an employee of them is really difficult. So what brought you from that setting to going into a public school setting?

Kensie: Beyond just working with kids as a passion from a young age, I wanted to be a teacher. obviously that didn't pan out in college. I switched my major from elementary education. but my mom was a special education teacher. And so, would go, she worked in the middle schools, but I would go with her on like my winter breaks and stuff to school with her. [00:07:00] And I'd help tutor the kids and just be an extra like hands on in the classroom. And I also fell in love doing that. So when I had the opportunity to switch over to an elementary school setting and work with kids in special education, I took, I took the chance.

Krissy: Wow, that's great. Then how special to have that role model and follow in those footsteps. That's a really special connection to have. Did you work with general special education or did you specialize like you did?

Kensie: I mean, it was all generalized. We were paired with kids, but of the kids that I did work with, he had an autism diagnosis. So I got to use some of the skills that I learned at my old job and kind of transfer them there.

Krissy: He's a lucky kid to have somebody that had all those special skills. And

Kensie: that way.

Krissy: he might not have, but you know, you, he was, he was, whether he felt it or not for sure. 

​

Krissy: [00:08:00] So you, all of this knowledge and all of this experience, how has that impacted your parenting?

Kensie: It definitely has made me harder on myself as a parent.

Krissy: interesting.

Kensie: Because I have so much knowledge and like, I know the science behind things or the reasons behind things. I think when I can't follow through on that and I have personally hard days, I'm harder on myself for like, not doing what I know to be the best practice,

Krissy: Oh, I see. Yes, I get it. Yes. Having a background or an understanding of childhood development, it helps me to be like, okay, these are normal. They're going through all of these. phases and it's not, it's not me, but it's, I can see what you're saying though.

Kensie: Yeah. So yeah, that definitely is helpful. Like knowing that, okay, this is developmentally normal. They're supposed to be doing this. If they weren't doing it, then we might actually have some red flags. Like the fact that they're doing this [00:09:00] throwing this tantrum, like, Their brains developing normally, but yeah, then I sometimes like am harboring myself cause I'm like, I should like, They were having a hard time. I freaked out a little bit. I shouldn't have done that. That doesn't help the situation. 

​

Krissy: So you always wanted to work with kids. Did you always want to be a mom?

Kensie: Hands down. Yep. I used to be called the mom of the friend group. With like my middle school, high school friends. Like, I was the one that had band aids in my purse and someone scraped their knee while we were out and about and I was like, I got a band aid, guys! so, yes. Yep. I always knew I wanted to be a mom, for sure.

Krissy: that's so sweet. 

​

Krissy: So when did your motherhood journey begin?

Kensie: Almost four years ago.

Krissy: Well, I guess so. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Kensie: Yeah. So, yeah, we got We got [00:10:00] married and we were going to wait on starting a family, but then was happening with COVID. And so we were like, well, we can't really like travel or anything that we wanted to do before having kids. We don't know when traveling is going to open up.

So then we yeah, I chose like, Hey, I think this is the right time to start a family. So, and

Krissy: Wow.

Kensie: yeah, our first was born and there we were.

Krissy: There you were. I know. Right. Because for so many people, it either went that way, like we've got nothing else to do. We might as well do this. Or or it made people wait. So

Kensie: that is true. Yeah. Yes.

Krissy: with the unknown piece of it, but wow, that's great. And what was it like going from being your own independent people to you're, you're now like a totally different person.

How was that adjustment for you?

Kensie: Not horrible. And honestly, like, I know I keep talking about COVID, but I think COVID was a big reason for that because I was just home with him. I wasn't, we weren't doing a lot. Like I sound like I was giving up [00:11:00] a ton by being home with this baby. It's not like I was like out traveling or out going out to dinner all the time.

Like we just were home and

Krissy: Yeah.

Kensie: there he was then. I mean, there definitely was like adjustments, especially with sleep. I woke my sleep and

Krissy: I know.

Kensie: So the lack of sleep was definitely really hard. yeah, beyond that, I feel like he just like flowed really nicely into our family. So

Krissy: Oh, that's wonderful. Now, what was the timing? Like what month in, in that was he born? Were you already out of school when, when he was born and you were pregnant? Or is this something that you were working straight through your pregnancy and then stayed home?

Kensie: I worked straight through my pregnancy. So March shutdown happened. We found out we were pregnant like right after that. The school went online right away. So I worked from home and then I was off during the summer then coming back to school. I asked to do, so our school went hybrid. So some people did online, some people did [00:12:00] in school.

And I asked if there was any need for someone online and if I could stay home and work from home. And they made that happen for me, which I was very

Krissy: Yeah, that's great.

Kensie: and so I was able to do that until I went on maternity leave. And then while I'm maternity leave, I was planning on going back to school. I wasn't planning on staying home.

But then as we were getting farther into my maternity leave, I was like, I can't, I can't do it. Like I can't go back. I, I can't send him to daycare. I can't go back into the school. Like I can't do

Krissy: Yeah, it was a scary time. Yeah.

Kensie: and it was, it was very, very scary. Yeah,

Krissy: Yeah. So I feel you because I, I was in a similar situation for sure. And I was just, I was on, I took a year leave of absence and I was like, you know, this is what I'm supposed to do. Is that kind of how you felt?

Kensie: definitely. Yeah. My dreams were always. As a little kid, when anyone asked me my dream job, it was either be a teacher or be a stay at home mom. And so, it was bittersweet because I was leaving one passion for another.

Krissy: Right. Yeah. And it was a tough [00:13:00] time like for like social and, and having like friends anyway. So I get what you're saying where it's like, Well, I'm not going out and doing anything anyway, so it's not like my life kind of like it got shattered and rocked, but it was that way anyway.

Kensie: Exactly. Yeah. For sure.

​

Krissy: Now, let's talk about your transition from One to two kids. So you had this one baby, you kind of figured out what your life was going to be like with this whole world situation of the pandemic because like by then it was still kind of iffy. How did you know it was the right time to start again?

Kensie: Well, we always wanted our kids kind of close in age. We kind of wanted to do it all in like one lump sum and kind of then move on with them as they get older. So we were fine with our kids being anywhere from like 20 ish months apart to like two and a half years was kind of the ideal age gap in our mind. So we just kind of started trying and, it [00:14:00] took about a few months to get pregnant. And so they ended up being about 23 months apart 

Krissy: what was it like for you transitioning to the two having two kids? It's like, it can be crazy. It can be a lot.

Kensie: it still is a

Krissy: Yeah.

Kensie: It still is a lot. Yeah. One to two was by far, it rocked our world. Like everyone, at least when I was like watching people, like explain like one to two, or, you know, pulling the audience for like, what's harder. One to two is zero to one. And everyone was like, Oh, zero to one, hands down one to choose nothing.

And so I think part of it, I was like going into it being like, okay, we already have the one it's going to be nothing. Everyone says it's nothing. Yeah. And then he got here and we were like, okay, I don't, I don't know what to, like, I feel like we're still like trying to find a routine, still trying to get our footing, I would say one to two was by far. Much harder than zero to one, right? 

Krissy: Because now you have this little toddler that also needs you all the time. And like, and it's funny, I don't know if you're experiencing the same thing [00:15:00] now. My little one is now older than my older one was when he was born. The second one was born and I'm like, how on earth did I have a baby while you were that?

Kensie: Yes. Yes. I was literally just thinking about that. Yes. Is. At the end of this month will be 23 months and that's how old our oldest was when he when our youngest was born and I'm like, I couldn't even think of being pregnant right now, much less like having a baby in a month. That just, I don't know.

It doesn't work for me. 

Krissy: Yeah. It puts it in a totally different perspective when you've got that older one that's a little more sufficient, more self sufficient and independent, like, what did I do? But I mean, we did it. We survived. And it, you know, how did your yeah, how did your older one take the transition?

Yeah. 

Kensie: He was okay at first. He was absolutely in love with his baby brother. He like wanted everything to do with him, wanted to help with everything. And then [00:16:00] as our youngest got older, I think he struggled more as like this little baby's crawling and taking his things and, you know, all of those things.

Now they're starting to do a little bit better in sharing or interacting or as becoming more and more positive. Which is nice to see and like gives me hope for the future. Cause for a while there, I was like, they're going to hate each other. They're going to be like enemies. They're not going to be friends.

Like this is going to be the worst thing in the world. But now I'm like starting to see that like light at the end of the tunnel, like some hope. So yeah, now he's, he's a lot better with him. He's a lot more caring with his younger brother and a lot more. Every once in a while you still get that push for no reason, but that's siblings for you, I guess.

Krissy: And you have two boys? 

Kensie: Yes, we have two boys. Yeah. 

Krissy: So yeah, you get that extra testosterone in there too. Absolutely. 

Kensie: Yes. 

Krissy: Are your kids climbers too? 

Kensie: Yes and no. Our older one, not so much. Our younger one, a little bit more. 

Krissy: He's a little bit 

Kensie: more of our daredevil. Our younger one [00:17:00] is, at first we thought he was going to be a bit of a daredevil.

So he'd like climb the stairs at the park and go down the big slides and we're like, oh, he's gonna, he's gonna love things. No, not so much anymore. He's a lot more cautious. 

Krissy: That's a gift. Yes. But I do see my older one mellowing out a little bit as he gets older. He says he's more afraid of things. Yeah, yeah.

And I think they start to realize, like, ooh, that could be bad. 

Kensie: Yeah, I think that, yeah, their brains start switching. Like, okay, not everything's fun. There's some danger in the world. 

Krissy: Yep. 

​

Krissy: So where in here did you start your business? 

Kensie: So the sensory specific business that is now fin and co that I technically started last January.

So not quite a year ago. But before that I started this page as like a thrifting reselling page. Oh so that's where this page began. That's where it was born. And that I [00:18:00] started back in March of 2023. 

Krissy: Okay. 

Kensie: So I started with reselling kids, clothing and books, and then I did just books. And then I started adding, adding sensory into it with pairing books with sensory play.

And then yeah, at the end of last year, I was like something just like, wasn't sitting right. I wanted something more, I wanted something different. And I was like, I think I just want to move ahead with sensory play and I want to, I was selling everything on Instagram. And. I was getting burnt out.

I didn't love it. And so I moved everything off of Instagram and onto Etsy and I found like a new love, a new passion. 

Krissy: Wow. That's so great. Now, did you start your reselling by just selling your own things? How did you get into that? 

Kensie: Yeah. So mainly just like the boys clothes that they had out growing.

One of my best friends, her sister had a resale page. That's how I found out about this whole community. And I was a customer for about a year and a half. On, I found like other resale pages through my best friend's [00:19:00] sister. And yeah, so I was buying from a bunch of different shops and then I made my own and yeah, so I started just selling their stuff and then I started thrifting and 

Krissy: Wow. Yeah. I love all these stories that I keep hearing from people who they started with just something small that made sense in their day to day life. And then it just kind of morphed and evolved into something else that they're feeling passionate about. 

Kensie: Yeah. Yeah. It is so fun. 

Krissy: It really is. Yes.

It's so cool. You started reselling reselling your things like your baby stuff and getting rid of the clothes and all of that.

Now, was it really starting to just fulfill that? I need to get rid of my things. It would be nice to make a little extra money. Or were you going in it to start a business since you had that connection to the community already? 

Kensie: I think I started it as an outlet for myself to find a community To get into a community and to find [00:20:00] some kind of creative outlet. So when I actually started my shop, I was in the midst of postpartum depression with my youngest. And I, I needed something, I needed to grasp onto something outside of the house something for myself.

And so that's, I think where like it really started and really, really was born. I got to make some money on the side and I got to get, I was able to get rid of our clothes, but I think I really started it for that community aspect. 

Krissy: I can relate so much because you want to be getting out doing all these things, but now you've got two kids and it's so much harder.

cloudRecording_FullConference_Take_1: I couldn't go 

Krissy: to the library anymore because I couldn't chase my toddler while also carting around the newborn and all these things. So I was so confined. 

Kensie: Right. 

Krissy: So an online community is a really great place to start with that. And you had that connection. Did you find that community right away or did it take some time?

Kensie: It definitely took some time. I'm by nature, just a very shy [00:21:00] person. And so I struggle like reaching out and making connections and I wait for people to come to me. But I think over time, like, this community has definitely helped me branch out from that and like reaching out to people now.

So it definitely took time because of my shy personality. I just like waited for people to come into my DMs, as weird as that sounds and to spark up that conversation for me to open up. 

​

Krissy: Now, how did you, so you were, you're selling the books, right? You moved from, from clothes to books and then you started bridging to the sensory.

Tell me about that. How did the sensory place start developing? 

Kensie: So it was something that I always did with my kids. We would pair sensory play with books a lot. And I just really enjoyed it and I would post things about it and it seemed like other people were enjoying it. So I started bringing small collections to Instagram with some book drops and yeah, and that's kind of [00:22:00] how it started.

And. And I was really enjoying making sensory kits, and so I expanded on that more.

Krissy: Even still, I still find sensory play to be overwhelming. Setting up things and like, I look at people's setups sometimes and I'm like, I don't even know where to begin with all of this, that, that my setups are usually really simple and, and you know, the kids love them, you don't have to do much, but where did you begin with your sensory play with the kids?

Were you starting with simple bins or are you more of the person that's super creative and you were starting from the get go developing all these intricate? 

Kensie: Definitely simple. Actually to bring it back to my past is I found out about sensory play or what really sensory play was. Obviously I remember doing it as a kid, but it wasn't called sensory play.

cloudRecording_FullConference_Take_1: Right. 

Kensie: Was when I worked with my kiddos at the autism clinic when I was an autism clinician, we did sensory play with them every single day. And so that's where I really found all the different. Things you could use for sensory [00:23:00] play from rice and beans to noodles to kinetic sand to shaving cream.

And so when my youngest was little, we started, he started sensory play probably like seven, eight months old with ground up Cheerios and spoons. So just super, super simple. And then we moved to dyed pasta and then from there kind of got more and more. Creative, but half the day is I pour something into our sensory bin and it's some scoops and some, one of my fillers and that's that I will sometimes do elaborate setups cause they're fun for me.

But I would say my kids probably gravitate towards a really simple set. 

Krissy: Interesting. I love that. I love hearing that as somebody who like. It's not like, I don't, it doesn't fill my cup right to make these more elaborate plays. It's not fulfilling for me. It's more overwhelming for me. So like, here's your oatmeal in a scoop, like have fun kids.

Yeah, that's great to hear that even your kids are still gravitating. [00:24:00] Yeah. 

Kensie: Yes. Both of my kids still love just like dumping and pouring and dumping and pouring scooping. Like that is their favorite thing and they play with it in different ways. Like my. almost two year old, he will just dump and scoop and that's that.

And my oldest will make it into coffee or some kind of food and then he'll serve it to me. And so like, he's starting to get into the more of that imaginative play while playing with sensory. And so it's really fun. They get the same exact bin, but just watching them, how they play out with just a super simple bin.

Krissy: That's really cool. So tell me what your secrets are to helping contain the mess or it's probably not just containing. Maybe it's, maybe I'm asking, how do I cope with the mess? That might be more. I'm 

Kensie: going to say there's, I don't think there's any secret. At least I haven't found one yet. The mess is going to happen.

And there are days that I definitely really struggle with the mess. And sometimes I like, [00:25:00] we'll have to, I feel guilty doing it, but I have to remove my two year old from the situation because he's usually the one causing most of the mess. But sometimes I have just like pep talk myself into it before I bring it out that this is, it's going to be messy.

But we. Where they play with it, there's hardwood floors. So usually I'm really good at just like cleaning up the hardwood floors. Often we have a dog and so we get hair on our floors. So I try to vacuum the space where their sensory table is often. So then when the mess does come, all the big pieces I can pick up and they can go back into the sensory bin and they're clean ish, clean enough.

And then, and other than that, I cut my losses and I sweep up and I throw away. Which is, which is hard to do. But sometimes it's just like you can't do it, like you can't save it all. 

Krissy: I know. When you see like the two big handfuls come out and just 

Kensie: like, 

Krissy: Oh, why, 

Kensie: yes, [00:26:00] yes. 

Krissy: I feel the same way about my younger one where I noticed like his meter is short.

He doesn't have where he, he's able to do it and then he just enters destructo mode. So it's like quickly redirect like, okay, let's do something else. That's fun too. Because otherwise. Not only is it going to drive me crazy, it's going to drive my older one crazy. He's going to like, not be able to do his thing anymore.

And then it's also going to influence him to be a wackadoo. 

Kensie: Yes. Yes. Because they feed off each other. Right. Yeah. 

Krissy: And are you finding your older one, like, gets like really, you said earlier, was like getting better at sharing. I know mine, like, he shares well, but like, He's very clear when, like, this is my thing.

I'm, I'm doing this right now. 

Kensie: Mm hmm. Yeah. Yeah. They'll be at the sign three table sometimes and he's like, No, move. I'm playing with this. And I'm like, there are two sides. There's enough space for you guys. He has just as much right to be here as you do. And so really like, yeah, talking, yeah, he's, he'll still struggle with [00:27:00] that for sure.

Krissy: Right. And to be fair, like, I get it. Like, 

Kensie: because the younger 

Krissy: one is gonna, is going to destroy what you're playing. 

Kensie: Right. Right. And like, yeah, it's, it's frustrating. So yeah, sometimes if we see that, like we will redirect the younger one to like let our older one know that he has his right to his stuff and to what he's creating.

And so just like, Really trying to validate our older ones feelings, but then also like making sure younger one also has the ability to play with stuff. If that makes sense. 

Krissy: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Like, he's going to be here too, but also I'm going to, like, really, it's like showing them that you are listening and you are seeing the situation and you're willing to intervene when it is actually a big deal.

Kensie: Right. Right. 

Krissy: And helping them build that big deal barometer because that's toughy. 

Kensie: I know. What, what, what can we actually figure out about? 

Krissy: Right, because it's not everything, [00:28:00] that's for sure. 

​

Krissy: So you're homeschooling your kids now. Is that something that you've decided to do long term?

Is it for preschool and see where you go? How are you approaching this decision? 

Kensie: So ideally I like to think of it as a long term goal. I'd love to homeschool them through high school and Until they're ready to figure out what they're going to do next. But we always say like, if they were to ever ask us to go to public schools, we would definitely consider their reasoning as to why I always joke with my husband, I was like, if they want to go to public schools, that's fine.

But they have to write me a 10 page essay as to why, 

cloudRecording_FullConference_Take_1: but 

Kensie: no, and you know, ideally, like, yeah, I would love to, I'd love to have them home with me for as long as possible. But. If that's something they ever wanted to do, go to public school, even like, you know, if they wanted to go into a STEM school or a private school, like that's [00:29:00] something we would definitely look into for them and kind of chat with as a family and what like makes the most sense for our family unit.

Krissy: Right. You can definitely take it as it comes. That's one of the best parts about parenting is. That so much of it, like, feels permanent but isn't. Like, you're not, you're not tied to any of the decisions you make. You are the boss. You are the parent. Right. So you can change your mind. You can change how you're doing things.

Kensie: A hundred percent. Yeah. It's hard to wrap your head around sometimes, you're like, this is the way I do it, so this is the way I always have to do it. Right.

Krissy: I know. It all feels so big because it is such a huge responsibility, but it's so tangible and kids are so adaptable that it's, it's easier to move around.

So how did you approach this decision to start homeschooling? 

Kensie: It's something that came onto my mind when my oldest was like a couple months old. Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah, it's something that I like found some people to follow on Instagram and their homeschooling. I was like, wow, this is really cool [00:30:00] like and just to see what homeschooling has become because when we were back in school, like Homeschooling was very different.

And so your idea of what homeschooling was Is not, you know, what it is today. And so to see how much it's like evolved and how, what it's become today. I was like, that's really cool. Like I really am interested in that. And so I was talking to one of my best friends. She was homeschooled as a kid and at the time was homeschooling her kids.

And so I had very long conversations with her about it. And then I approached my husband with the idea and he was like, I don't think that's for us. Like, I, I'm not sure about that. I was like, okay, well, just, you know, think about it, mull it over. Like, this is something that I'm really passionate about.

Let's have some conversations about it. And we can move forward. And so we did over time, we had some conversations and I'd say before our second was born, my husband was on board for homeschooling. 

Krissy: I feel like COVID changed the homeschooling scene where, I mean, maybe not, I don't know because I haven't been around it very [00:31:00] much, it seems like more people since COVID have realized there's other ways to do this.

There's other ways to do things and come together as groups and Like it doesn't have to just be through the public school or even a private school system. We can come together as a group in other ways and we can do our own thing. And, and it's really interesting to see that community evolve. 

Kensie: Yeah.

And I think working in the schools definitely opened my eyes into like what was necessary for schooling and what was not. So, I mean, I have mad respect for the public school systems. 

I have no like qualms with the public school system or how they do things. I was public schooled as a kid. My mom was a teacher. I have friends that are teachers. I have the utmost respect for teachers. 

​

Kensie: But I being in the classroom, you saw how much busy work was given to kids. Well, the teacher had a, you know, work with a small group over here or [00:32:00] like the school that in the used devices and electronics and They would be like on the device for a half hour doing things, or they would have free time and get to play games.

And I just was like, okay, I don't feel like you need seven hours at school when really lessons shouldn't take that long. Right. And so I think that like really opened my eyes to like, how much more could my kid actually be doing than just doing busy work? 

​

 

Krissy: And that's the beauty of it, is like you're not gonna make a wrong decision.

The millions of students that go to public school are all fine. And they're all going to do well and live these productive, happy lives. And all of these millions of kids that homeschool are going to be fine. And it's, it's great. Right, exactly. We have all these choices. 

Kensie: Yeah, 

Krissy: for sure. And the education out there is, I mean the education for parents about if this is something you want to do how to do it I think that's scary too is thinking like the responsibility of my child's [00:33:00] education in my hands What do I do and but there's so much out there 

Kensie: There are so many resources, which is so nice

Krissy: how are you approaching it with your With your kids right now. 

Kensie: So We are using a preschool curriculum it's by actually a local mom to me. She lives a little bit North than I do here in Minnesota, which is really fun that I am able to use like a local homeschool moms curriculum. And she was actually one of the driving forces to us homeschool.

And she was one of the pages that I followed when my son was really young and I followed her stuff. And it was one of the reasons that like, I, you know, Kind of fell in love with homeschooling. So it's really fun to be able to use her preschool curriculum and it is Charlotte Mason based. So that's one of the homeschool methodologies that you can use or that's out there. And it's just one that really fit really well with our family. After like looking into all the different methodologies that are out there and so her homeschool curriculum is Charlotte Mason based [00:34:00] and.

Charlotte Mason prior to like age seven, a lot of it's learning through play and so a lot of her lessons are very playful learning things that we could do in daily life, like one of her lessons one day for numbers. So it's like letters, numbers, read alouds. And then we have throughout the week, there's like a connection activity.

There was a handicraft activity. There was a field trip different things like that. It's like for one of the numbers activities one day, it was like walk around and find things that are different shapes. 

cloudRecording_FullConference_Take_1: Well, 

Kensie: you can do that on a walk to the park with your kid. Well, perfect. Our numbers lesson is done for the day.

So it's school, but it's very playful and it doesn't feel like you're actually doing school. 

Krissy: Right. Charlotte Mason is such a great fit for you. It seems because it's still literature based too. 

Kensie: It is. Yep. And so I love her. Everything is through living books. So it's, it's not, you know, very factual, boring textbook, dry stuff.

It's. Fun books, but then you learn lessons [00:35:00] in them, which is something I love. 

Little House Learning Co. Okay. Yep. Is, is her page. She has her preschool curriculum and then she has her kindergarten. She's cre created a kindergarten curriculum. And then she has some supplemental curriculum things as well. 

Krissy: And right now she has this series. of her reasons why she homeschools.

cloudRecording_FullConference_Take_1: Mm hmm. And I find that 

Krissy: very powerful. Because it's, it's so, all of her reasons are empowering. They're very much child focused and driven and it's really interesting. Yes. 

Kensie: Yeah. For sure, they are. Yeah, she, yeah, talks a lot about yeah, anything behind homeschooling is for her kids. 

Krissy: Yes. 

​

Krissy: So tell me, we've talked about some activities that you do and some things that you're doing with your kids, but I want to hear your favorite go to, like no matter what, you have this at the back of your mind activity that you can pull out when you need a few minutes to get [00:36:00] something done.

What is your thing? 

Kensie: So definitely sensory play. And a lot of that simple sensory play that we were talking about earlier, just kind of like a dump and go. I dump out some filler, add a couple little trinkets, couple little cups and spoons. That's it. I walk away, let them do their thing. Another one, especially for my oldest is anything like arts and crafty.

He loves coloring. He loves scissors. So just pulling down some markers, some paper and some scissors and he is good to entertain himself. My younger one's a little harder to entertain. Usually he's a really good independent player. So like putting him with some toys is usually pretty good for him.

He will usually play by himself to let me get some things done. But yeah, that's kind of our like main go to's. 

Krissy: I love it. Yes. My kid's very similar with my older one with like the arts and crafts. He just wants to be gluing and coloring right now. He's so into it. The glue. The glue. They just take it and like, 

Kensie: like 

Krissy: paint [00:37:00] with it.

It's fine. Yeah. 

Kensie: Or we have like a glue stick and he literally thinks it's like a crayon and we have to remind him you have to put something over it. 

Krissy: Right. Or else then they get all sticky and they get all whiny about it. 

Kensie: Yeah. Or they're just wasting it. And I'm like, okay, let's. I'm fine with you using glue, but let's like create something.

Krissy: Right. No kidding. Right. And also right now, I know you mentioned this to me earlier was play dough. 

Kensie: Oh yes. play dough. That's another one. 

Krissy: Oh my gosh. play dough is like the number one in my house right now. 

Kensie: Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I put play dough down, put some tools out. We're good to create. I can trust, like I can put it at the table with my oldest and trust him and walk away my younger one again, a little harder, but he's a lot younger.

So. But yeah, I know there are some times that people are like, Oh, play dough's a big no go in my house. And I'm like, Oh, like, what do you, what do you do? How is it a no go? 

Krissy: So for me, it was a big no with my younger one. And it's still [00:38:00] kind of is because he eats everything still. Yeah. And even with the homemade stuff, he just like, is like, Oh, it's salty, I'll eat more.

Like, like, no, dude, you're not supposed to like the taste. 

Kensie: It's not supposed to be good. 

Krissy: It's not supposed, you're not supposed to like that much salt, but, but he's still like, so once he starts eating it, I'm like, you're done. Let's move on. Yes. And my older one was like that for a long time too. So that's for me why it was a no.

Cool. 

Kensie: Yeah, no, and that's fair. Yeah, I totally can understand that when it comes from parents. I have older kids and I'm like, I like, I feel like they would be okay, but. I don't know. Some people don't like the mess where they're afraid it's going to get like in the carpet. I don't know. We have all hardwood floors.

So maybe that's also where I'm like, yeah, it's not that big of a deal. But I guess it does get into the carpet. 

Krissy: Yep. It's tough. I found that vinegar kind of helps. 

cloudRecording_FullConference_Take_1: So 

Krissy: soaking it in vinegar for a little while kind of helps. And I hate, I do hate when like you [00:39:00] can't get to the cleanup because let's be real with these little ones.

Yes. You don't have two hands all the time. So cleaning up takes time. hours sometimes and yes like the ball of play doh will be fine after a couple hours but all that play doh that is on your table now like we try to use a mat but still like scrubbing it off can be a pain 

In between the cracks in your hardwood floor the play doh Hold on.

Kensie: Yeah. Yes. Yes. I get 

Krissy: it. But the hours of entertainment. I cannot complain. Yes. We recently just discovered the, the spring loaded cookie stampers and that's been really fun. 

Kensie: Oh, I have not used those yet. 

Krissy: Oh yeah. We just got some at Michael's and right now my cart is filled on Amazon. They're like, so they're cookie cutters and then you stamp the design on top at the same time with like this spring and it's like a, I'm gonna have to, I'm gonna have to 

Kensie: look into those.

Yeah. I feel like those would be a hit in our house too. 

Krissy: Yes. Do you have any favorite accessories? 

Kensie: Just [00:40:00] rollers and cookie cutters. Any kind of cutter are usually my oldest favorite. He likes rolling them out and he likes cutting them out. 

Krissy: Simple. 

​

Krissy: So tell me what's next for you.

What's coming up? 

Kensie: So, this month, our Gilmore girls collection went live just a few days ago. So every, it started last year. So this is our second year doing it. One of my thrifty friends back from my thrifty days, her and I team up and do a Gilmore girls collection.

Gilmore Girls was both one of our favorite shows together and that's kind of how we bonded. So we have been having a lot of fun doing these Gilmore Girls inspired collections. So she will be bringing clothing and books and things like that, that either are like books that are talked about in the show or books that like remind her of the show.

And then a lot of clothing that reminds her. So a lot of like coffee things, like, Or a lot of flannels. If you watch the [00:41:00] show, Luke wears flannels all the time. So she brings a lot of flannels to the, to her collections. And so it's really fun. And then this is my first year doing solely fillers for it.

So that's been a lot of fun for me. Creating fillers that are either big themes in the show or even like little things that I can pull out from episodes. 

Krissy: Cute. You've got to have a coffee filler, huh? 

Kensie: I do, I do have a coffee filler. And it was a lot of fun to, a lot of fun to create.

Krissy: Yeah, that's so cool. I love that because like for the moms, it's a great nostalgia and pulls from that for the kids. It's going to be fun no matter what the theme, they don't care about it.

Kensie: Right. Exactly. For the 

Krissy: moms. It's so cool. Like just put on the theme song or an episode in the background or plug it in a podcast about it and just let them play. Yeah. 

Kensie: Yeah. Yeah. So I hope, I hope it goes well. I hope everyone loves it as much as. As much as we do.

Krissy: I love it. 

​

Krissy: [00:42:00] So tell us where everyone can find you.

Kensie: So I am on instagram mainly at fin and co Dot mn is my instagram handle and then I have an etsy shop. And I believe that's just fin and co mn No Dots or anything but everything is linked in my bio on my instagram page. So everything's easy and accessible there 

Krissy: Great, and I'll link everything here in the show notes as well so they can perfect really quick This has been such a fun conversation.

I really have enjoyed talking to you about homeschool, and sensory play, and just life with these kids, because it is I 

Kensie: know. 

Krissy: A lot. 

Kensie: It's a lot. It's a lot. It's fun, but it's a lot. 

Krissy: Yeah, yeah, it's been great talking to you too. Yeah, definitely. I appreciate you being here. If you'd like to share your story, please reach out to me You can email me at boldlittleminds at gmail.

com or you can send me a dm on instagram. [00:43:00] I'm available. I'm at Bold Little Minds on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok. Or you can go to my website, boldlittleminds. com. You can find this episode wherever you're finding it now, but you can also find a bonus episode on my sub stack, which is totally free to access.

You don't have to subscribe, but if you do, the subscription is also free and it gets delivered straight to your mailbox. Please take a moment to leave a rating and review and subscribe wherever you are. If you're on Spotify or Apple, you can click those five stars and please share with your friends. If you enjoyed this episode, thank you so much for joining us and we will see you next time.

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