Episode 3

₿HS003: Elly & Asher Pembroke and the NextGen

SHOW TOPIC:

Homeschoolers align on principle of freedom but vary on approaches to schooling.  In this conversation we hear from experienced homeschoolers and bitcoiners, Elly and Asher, and their lessons learned hosting a homeschooling panel at TABConf.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN:

  • Elly and Asher’s path to Bitcoin and homeschooling
  • Taking initiative by organizing NextGen Village at TABConf
  • Why a homeschooling panel at a technical conference
  • Homeschoolers align on principle of freedom but vary on approaches to schooling
  • Homeschoolers agree on keeping children out of public system and that doing so gives them advantages and opportunities
  • What homeschooling actually looks like varies greatly from family to family  
  • The 3D mempool puzzle as a teaching tool for the non-technical
  • There are so many resources.  Be creative.
  • Bring your families to conferences like TABConf

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:

HAPPY TO HELP:

  • Tali's Twitter @OrangeHatterPod
  • Scott's Twitter @ScottLindberg93
  • Scott's nostr npub19jkuyl0wgrj8kccqzh2vnseeql9v98ptrx407ca9qjsrr4x5j9tsnxx0q6
  • Free Market Kids' Twitter @FreeMarketKids
  • Orange Pill App @FreeMarketKids
  • Free Market Kids' games including HODL UP https://www.freemarketkids.com/collections/games

WAYS TO SUPPORT:

We are essentially our own sponsors and are so grateful for all of you who support this show.  Thank you!

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Transcript
Scott:

Hi, everybody.

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Welcome to today's show.

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Tali and I sit down with a couple

of very active Bitcoiners and

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homeschoolers, Elly and Asher Pembroke.

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They're wonderful people who

embrace self custody of education.

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I think you're going to

really enjoy this chat.

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Note, for those that are new to the

show, we don't actually have sponsors.

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Tali and I have a

company, free market kids.

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If you want to support us, please check

out our materials there, especially

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the Bitcoin mining game, huddle up and

with that, sit back and enjoy this very

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thoughtful discussion with Elly and Asher.

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All right, this is exciting we, we have

a couple of guests today and we're going

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to talk about Bitcoin homeschoolers and

they have a really unique background.

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We have Elly and Asher.

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They're the ones that helped us

realize what TabConf was all about.

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We'll get into that in a second, but,

let's just go ahead and jump right in.

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So.

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Welcome guys.

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I, I would I think a lot of people

who we're going to reach out to

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haven't met you yet because you

guys, obviously, if you're in the

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more technical side of the Bitcoin.

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There are people in that community

that know you, but we're coming at this

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purely from a homeschooling standpoint.

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So maybe before we get into some

of the details with TabConf and the

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homeschooling, the things that connected

us, if you guys wouldn't mind doing a

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real quick introduction on yourselves

and maybe how you got into Bitcoin.

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Elly: Yeah.

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Thank you, Scott, for

having us on the show.

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, Asher: I'm Asher and this is Elly.

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, we met in, , grad school and that's when

I started getting interested in Bitcoin.

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I'd read the white paper and I was really

intrigued by the, the connection to

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energy because we were both in physics.

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, so we were getting our, our, our

doctorates and, and I was doing space

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weather, she was doing nano-physics.

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Elly: I actually from Germany,

I was born in Russia, grew up in

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Germany and came to Texas for grad

school, which is where I met Asher.

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And it's a tale as old as time.

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We have two children now, we homeschooled

them, and it was in grad school where we

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were both working on our science degrees

when we first heard about Bitcoin,

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thought it was intriguing and interesting.

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We thought the technical specifications,

the code was sound, was well designed,

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and we, while we didn't understand all

the implications and all the details of

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it, we thought it was important enough.

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That it's worth looking into and around

that time that we first heard about

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Bitcoin, Gavin Andreessen had a website

up where all you needed to have is a

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Bitcoin client with a Bitcoin address

and he would send you a free Bitcoin.

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He called it the Bitcoin faucet.

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So with nothing to lose.

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I thought that might be, yeah.

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A good way to get our first Bitcoin.

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Scott: Cool.

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Yeah.

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Just , for the audience, , Tali and I

had this really cool opportunity to,

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to hang out , with Elly and Asher for a

few days in Atlanta and their technical

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background is to me, really interesting.

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Tali and

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I

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Scott: came from a very different aspect

of this and the level of detail that they

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can get into on Bitcoin is just awesome.

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It's just really, it's really cool.

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That's not the purpose of , this, , we're

going to focus on the homeschooling side.

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So can, let's, let's transition

to how we got to Atlanta.

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What's going on first, let's maybe

tell everybody who doesn't know yet.

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What is like at a high

level, what is TabConf?

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And then specifically, what was the panel

that led two non technical people like,

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like Tali and myself to this conference?

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. Asher: Yeah, so the Atlanta Bitcoin Conference is a technical conference

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that's started by Michael Tidwell,

and it's, it's a, it's a very unusual

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conference in that it allows the it's

sort of self organizing, so it's split up

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into villages, and the village leaders are

allowed to basically control the schedule

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of events for their for, for their domain.

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So it has a pleb dev village.

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It has a lightning village.

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And Elly and I had were interested

in creating a space where people who

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were used to coming to more technical

conferences could be comfortable

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also, , bringing their kids and having

activities and things for, for them to do.

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Elly: So when you say villages,

I don't think it make it is

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clear what you mean by that.

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So it's just different rooms.

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There's four different spaces that each

have a stage and that is organized or, you

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know, the schedule is filled by the people

who are responsible for those stages.

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And Asher and I were responsible for

one of the rooms and one of the stages.

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While the other three, including the

main stage, focus on top down, front

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you know, talks that are given with

an audience that just listens, which

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is a good way of learning, but it's

not everybody's way of learning.

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And we decided that it would

be great to have a space where

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learning happens a bit differently.

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It happens by experience, by implementing

the things that you've learned.

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Buying something with Lightning,

playing games, having conversations,

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talking about things other than how

Bitcoin works technically, which is

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what most of the other stages are about.

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And Just a way to build community

and have fun and learn about

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Bitcoin, but at the same time, make

it accessible for the people that

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we're building this hyper bitcoinized

world for, who are our children.

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And if our children can get an idea for

how Bitcoin makes the world a better

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place and that it's fun and that you can

experience it and not just learn about

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it from some speaker on the stage, then.

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Maybe we can build a world that

where Bitcoin is just normal part of.

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Scott: Well, hats off to you guys because

I, Tali and I feel very passionate.

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I probably should just let her speak

for herself, but we, when we talk

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with people at other meetups when we

travel, we always ask them, make this a

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family event, bring your pre coiner or

non coiner, whatever you want to call

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your significant other or your kid.

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Bring your friend, bring someone

who's not yet already in the space.

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So hats off to you guys for

trying to create that and

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it's, you guys have done that.

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Did two years in a row, three

years in a row now that you're the

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organizers for the Next Gen Village?

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Elly: So Tapcons has been going on for

six years and it's our second year in a

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row to have a room dedicated to the next

generation and experiential learning.

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And I want to say that we

couldn't do it without awesome

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contributors such as yourselves.

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I'm so glad that demoed your game.

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Huddle up and we're just so grateful

that there's people like you, people

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like Andy Schroeder, people that

contribute what they have built to the

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space that really makes it what it is.

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Well, we

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Scott: appreciate the opportunity.

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We had a blast.

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We want to come back.

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So this again, this is, this is a

podcast focused on the homeschooling

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You.

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Invited us to come out to speak on

a homeschooling panel, which is just

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like, I, it didn't make any sense to me.

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I'm like, this is a technical conference

and there's a homeschooling panel, but

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there was a lot of interest, like as

you just looked at throughout the day,

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I didn't, I mean, I didn't spend a lot

of time in the others just because of

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what we were doing to, to make sure

things in the room are going smoothly.

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But my impression was that this

was, this was a pretty well received

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breakout session, if you will.

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So, I mean, that's the purpose

of the, the, this podcast is

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we want to reach other people.

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There are a lot of people out there that

have questions, their, their families,

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they're planning to have a family and

they're thinking about homeschooling,

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or maybe they already have children

and they are considering homeschooling

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, there was a lot of interest in

like, wow, how do I do this?

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I'm interested in this, you

know, why should I do this?

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So to me there, that was my

impression, but so I'd like to like,

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first of all, what, what inspired

you to, to have a homeschooling

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panel at a technical conference?

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And then secondly, tell us, like, did

it, did it meet your expectations?

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What did you learn from it?

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Get into what your thought process here.

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Yeah.

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Elly: So it begins with us

being homeschoolers and.

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We homeschool our two children, and we,

the freedom that it offers us helps us

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bring our children to PAPCOM, so they're

always involved, they're involved in

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creating the space and leading some of

the workshops giving a talk, and They

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are as much part of Capcom as we are.

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So

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Asher: it felt very natural to, to do.

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Having, taking them to many other

conferences and, and interacting

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with other other people who have,

who, who are in Bitcoin have kids,

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but usually don't bring them along.

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It became pretty clear that just the,

the other things that are associated with

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Bitcoin in terms of self sovereignty And

you know, autonomy, those things resonate

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very well with, with with homeschooling.

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So I've never met a single Bitcoiner who,

who wanted to put their kids in school.

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It's always sort of like, like,

Oh, I would homeschool if I

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could, but I can't, you know?

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And yeah, so it was, I think it was just

a very natural consequence of, of that.

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Elly: The, there are a lot of

values that are overlapping between

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Bitcoiners and homeschoolers.

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And you're right in that.

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The response was surprisingly positive,

or I wasn't surprised that it was

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positive, but I, I did not expect

there to be people, the, the audience

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filled and standing room filled and,

you know, people trying to get into

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the room just to hear three families

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They, Bitcoin, what brought the, how

they homeschool, what brought them to

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homeschooling their kids, how they,

they have started and how it's going.

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And it's, it was, I'm so glad that we

did this panel because it did, I feel

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like it was a good representation and

showed people that even if you have

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very similar values, you can still

homeschool in very different ways.

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And those are all.

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Good ways to homeschool there, there's no

single right or wrong way to homeschool.

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So,

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Scott: so what would be, one or

two for those that didn't have

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the benefit of being in that?

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Well, well, let me say this.

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I have, they released yet the video,

they recorded that session, right?

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Is that out yet?

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Elly: The video is not out

yet, but it is being edited.

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So in the court, usually all the

videos of all the talks and panels

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are out before next year's TAPCON.

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So it can be released throughout the year.

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And we can never tell.

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Asher: So what we should

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Scott: do is as a follow up to this, when

it is released, let us know, because we

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can go back into the show notes later.

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And we can add that there.

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So since that's not available, can you

highlight one or two takeaways from

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the panel to give the audience a taste?

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For example, what did, what were the

one or two things that you would say

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you took away from that discussion?

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Was there anything that really

stood out to you one way or another?

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Elly: What stood out to me is, what I've

mentioned already, is that you can have.

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All the families that were on

stage had very similar values, were

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all very freedom loving families,

were both, both had reasons for

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running towards something, but also

running away from something, so.

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We, we all agreed that it's

worth keeping our children out

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of the public school system.

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And we all agreed that homeschooling

them would give them advantages and

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opportunities that they wouldn't

have had in a public school system.

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But what homeschooling actually

looked like for the three families

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whether it was very structured

or not very structured, whether.

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That we lived on the homestead or in

the city, whether we focused on skills

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that are more for survival or more

for technical patient, I don't know

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how to say, ability there, what, what

do you end up focusing on is what's

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important to the parents and the

children themselves and Can lead to great

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education for the children, no matter how

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Scott: it was done.

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That's true.

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I mean, it's permissionless.

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Right, Tali?

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Did you have any thoughts on that?

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I mean, I think that's pretty accurate.

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The three families up there

absolutely had the same values.

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I agree with that.

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And in terms of different styles, I

don't know if you did that on purpose.

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Or not when you were picking out your

panelists, but the variety of how people

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do it, it's really up to, it's really

up to you to decide what to, what you

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want the curriculum environment to

be, what you want the and everything.

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I mean, I, I actually appreciated

the fact that not everybody on

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stage agreed with each other.

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Everybody agreed with

the principle of freedom.

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Everybody agreed with self custody

and the education, but how you

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apply that to your family, what

you thought best for your kids.

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That was up to you as a parent to

decide and, and I think the fact that

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we didn't all agree with each other

was actually a benefit of that panel.

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I, I, what do you think, Tali?

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Any thoughts?

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Well, my

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Tali: thoughts are...

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A little bit sort of going past

what we discussed in the panel,

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I was just thinking as you guys

were talking about it, that in a,

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a homeschooling journey, it's very

possible that we'll start out with one

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style, , whether it's very structured

or unstructured and throughout time.

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Based on what we observed, new

things we're learning, what we're

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seeing, what works and doesn't work

with our children, we can adapt.

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So in the homeschooling journey,

which I'll just roughly say is about

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12 years or so, you, you can kind of

go in and out of the structure versus

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unstructured, homestead versus city kind

of thing, and overall still just provide

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an exceptional education that cannot

be replicated in a public or private

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Elly: school setting.

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Yes.

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And opportunity costs to anything, right?

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There's we're trying to give,

every parent is trying to give

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their kids the best opportunities.

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And the best nurturing that they

can, but there, there's, you can't

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possibly provide them with everything.

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So there is a picking and

choosing that's going on and it

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does change over time as well.

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Like you said, Tali, but in the end

the children will grow into adults.

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And if they have learned that they can.

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Go out and find their own sources and

their own learning material and they

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can learn anything and pick up any skill

that they want, then we've done our

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Scott: job.

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So as you look forward to next

year, based on the success of this

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year, what, what are your thoughts

on what you want to do next?

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Because you hit a nerve with this,

you hit like a pretty strong theme

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with this I think that's pretty

neat and it takes, it takes a lot of

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effort to put, to organize events.

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It takes, time to do that.

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What are your thoughts?

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You guys put a lot of work, a lot of

effort into making that successful.

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We got a lot out of it and I think

the others in the audience do.

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What do you, what are your thoughts

now as you think about next year?

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What do you want to, what do you

want to do to build on your momentum?

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Asher: Well, for me One goal is, is

to get more kids involved in families.

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The kids can bring their

parents to but People are

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Elly: still hesitant to bring

their families, unfortunately.

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So we, we want to

encourage people to bring

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Asher: their families.

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Yeah.

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And we kind of plan around the space.

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We allocate the amount of space

relative to how many people,

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how much interest we receive.

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So if, if your listeners.

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start, , pinging us on X or wherever it

would be great to, to get a better sense

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because there are larger there's a lot of

activities we could do especially around

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you know, hands on experiences, like

explaining how different mechanisms within

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Bitcoin and, and layer two or three stuff.

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I there's, there's a lot of other

things we could do if we knew

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beforehand who was going to be there.

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I should

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Elly: say that we plan to run the

NextGen Village again next year.

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Absolutely.

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I think it's always well

received, so this will be our

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third year in a row running it.

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And like I said, it can't be what

it is without great contributors.

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We do try to provide activities and.

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Workshops and things to

do for people of all ages.

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If someone has a great idea, great

activity A workshop that they would like

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to run, a skill they would like to teach.

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Asher: For example so the last couple of

years, our, our son, he's, he has been

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giving talks on, specifically on Digital

logic and he's, he's nine years old.

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He's, he's he's very Let's just say

gifted at, at doing things with his,

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his, his mind that we're not, or I

don't believe I'm personally capable

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of keeping up with him anymore.

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So ironically, like, I, I guess

this is kind of a point on how our

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different styles of homeschooling.

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So due to this, this sort of

this opportunity that, that

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that we have to be flexible.

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We're, we're I wasn't able

to actually be on the panel.

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I sort of came in at the very beginning,

but I sort of anticipated that my son

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might need more attention from me.

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So I kind of sort of counted on the

fact that something might happen

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and he might need my, my attention.

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So.

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Sure enough, within like five

minutes of the panel starting,

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I had to run out of the room

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Yeah.

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Yeah, yeah.

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So so yeah, I had to step

out with to, to tend to him.

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Mm hmm.

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Elly: And I'm glad you did that way.

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I was able to stay on the panel

and continue the conversation.

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Asher: So so we, so every year we make

sure that we, he has time to prepare for,

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for the talk that he's going to give.

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And and he's always

very excited about that.

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And it was funny, like that morning

I asked him, like you know, as for,

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I woke him up and I was like, we, you

know, it's your time for the talk.

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And, and are you nervous?

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And he's like, No, I'm not nervous.

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I've done it before.

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You know, this is his third, or it was his

third or fourth talk at a conference and

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it was just, it's become natural to him.

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My daughter also, our daughter

also gave a talk last year on on

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Elly: designing 3D printing projects in

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Asher: Tinkercad.

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And,

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Elly: She chose not to

give a talk this year.

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Yeah.

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Asher: And then another activity we

do is this mining pool activity where

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we, we, we've developed and designed

this, this puzzle, this 3d cube that so

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between my son and I, he sort of was,

he was studying cubic equations and we

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wanted to, I wanted a way to visualize

what he was doing in his, in his mind.

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And so we built this thing.

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And we started playing with it and

realized like, this is a really good

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analog for, for, to teach people

about mining and sort of the, the the

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considerations that miners take into

account when they construct a block.

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In terms of in terms of maximizing

profit fees and so forth.

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So that's become a really, you know, a

mainstay of the, of the village is that we

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have this huge, you know, literal mining

pool of little colorful transactions.

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And it's great to see how people

assemble their blocks and, and and

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then we pay out in sats for their.

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For their solutions if they generate a

valid, if they generate a valid block

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within the block size limit, then we, we

actually pay them an equivalent number.

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Scott: Can you go a little deeper on this?

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I'm glad you're hitting on this.

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I want to get to it later because I,

I feel that there are some people.

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Who just don't learn the same way

as, as others in terms of like,

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for me, I learned a lot about

Bitcoin through podcasts and books.

354

:

And one of the reasons that Tali has said

multiple times that she's even in the

355

:

Bitcoin space now is because I was trying

to explain to her things with physical,

356

:

I was using Mahjong tiles at the time,

but we've graduated now to the full

357

:

game that you guys were talking about.

358

:

I think there's two aspects of it.

359

:

First of all, it, it attests to.

360

:

How creative you can be as a

homeschooling parent, because you,

361

:

if you look at this as a lesson for

your son, think of all the things he

362

:

learned way beyond whatever it is, I

mean, he's learned how to manufacture

363

:

design source like he's, and now he

has to present that to other people.

364

:

There's a whole host of skills that as a

parent, you have helped him to develop.

365

:

The second thing is when you look at that.

366

:

I think this, this is one of

the things going back to the way

367

:

that the villages were organized.

368

:

It was, it's a, it's a, just for

those that don't know, you had this

369

:

like a corridor with several rooms,

like conference rooms off to the

370

:

side and they're all labeled village.

371

:

So it's entirely possible people were

at that conference and had no idea what

372

:

they could have experienced in the rooms.

373

:

And I think this, this cube Which I'm

going to ask you to describe a little

374

:

bit more detail, just this is a way can

reach a lot of other people who are less

375

:

technical to physically show, let them

play with the, let them try to get things

376

:

in there and then make an analogy and

say, this is, this is what's going on

377

:

when they're trying to, when a miner is

trying to fit quote unquote transactions

378

:

into a block and making a decision about

what to do and the constraints and all

379

:

the things that are involved with it.

380

:

It's a really cool teaching

tool, but not just for kids.

381

:

You could reach other

people with that, but yeah.

382

:

So we're not doing a

383

:

Asher: video.

384

:

Elly: I agree with you, Scott.

385

:

And this is a teaching tool that

I've used since in other contexts.

386

:

I've taught a course on Bitcoin

101 that is supposed to introduce

387

:

non technical people to Bitcoin.

388

:

And the best feedback that I've received

is I understand Bitcoin a little bit

389

:

better now, now that I've played with

a cube and that's why we're doing this.

390

:

It's not why we came up

with it in the first place.

391

:

The Atcher already explained

how the idea was born.

392

:

And when, once we had rearranged

the different blocks within the

393

:

block template, we noticed that

it's actually just fun to play with.

394

:

It, even without the Bitcoin

explanation behind it, it's fun

395

:

for children to stack the blocks.

396

:

It's fun for adults to assemble a three

dimensional puzzle until it forms a cube.

397

:

Definitely something that's so much

fun that we thought that our family

398

:

should not be the only ones that

benefit from being able to play with it.

399

:

And that's how we had the acrylic

blocks professionally made.

400

:

And we ordered a hundred sets

and started selling them in

401

:

addition to just playing it.

402

:

So you can buy a set yourself from

our Instagram page, you can just

403

:

message me and I'll mail you a set

and find out for yourself how miners

404

:

put transactions into the block

template to create a valid Bitcoin

405

:

Asher: block.

406

:

Scott: Yeah.

407

:

Oh, go ahead.

408

:

Sorry.

409

:

Yeah.

410

:

Asher: And to the point about it being

a an educational resource for our

411

:

children, it's, you know, we don't, we

don't, we basically sell them at cost.

412

:

But Silas, our son, he gets a little

commission every time we sell one.

413

:

And he's there, he's he's very

proud of his work and, and he helps

414

:

assemble and, and his sister they

assemble every block together and

415

:

they package them and and so we've.

416

:

We put them to work, I hope, whenever

417

:

Elly: you say that.

418

:

Yeah, it's part of why we decided to have

them be available for purchase is because

419

:

we wanted to introduce our children

to what it's like to run a company, to

420

:

have a product that sells, to have to

package it and mail it and all the, and

421

:

pay taxes on it and get a commission.

422

:

These are all skills that

they are learning early on.

423

:

And even if our little company is not.

424

:

Exactly pitting the belts around our

house, it's still worth it for that

425

:

educational element of running a

company that early on in their lives.

426

:

Scott: Yeah, there's so many

things to learn with that.

427

:

It's just, so folks, what this thing looks

like, if I could describe, I can't do

428

:

it justice, it, these acrylic blocks are

different sizes and they're translucent.

429

:

So we.

430

:

They have a light board set up so you

set this out and it's like a whole

431

:

series of matrix looking different

colors staring back at you in the, and

432

:

your, your job is to assemble those

into a cube and if they don't fit, that

433

:

means your transaction is too large

and it, the, you can't mind that block.

434

:

So it's very visually attractive,

like it grabs people's attention and I

435

:

think it's pretty I think people want

to play with it just because of that.

436

:

They don't even know what they're

learning, they just like to...

437

:

Go play in stack with the cubes, but

438

:

Elly: so so children tend to be very

intuitive about it, and they, they just

439

:

want to start they don't even want to hear

an explanation of how you should go about

440

:

completing this 3d puzzle versus adults.

441

:

tend to want to know, why am I doing this?

442

:

What, what's the background?

443

:

How is it, how does it relate to Bitcoin?

444

:

And we've had, yeah, a lot of engineers

actually really enjoy the puzzle.

445

:

So a lot of the blocks have sold

as kind of a Christmas gift for

446

:

the engineer and the family.

447

:

That's awesome.

448

:

We've just been putting

together 3D puzzles.

449

:

They're

450

:

Scott: awesome.

451

:

We need to, we'll get the,

make sure we'll put a link.

452

:

You guys can give it to us and

before we get to the end of the show,

453

:

we'll ask you guys for, to give out

your Instagram or whatever other

454

:

information we can do to have people

reach out to you and support you.

455

:

But one of the last things that I

wanted to ask about was just what

456

:

else would you, it can be resources,

it could be just your advice on

457

:

anything, like just general advice.

458

:

What would, if you were

talking to a family that.

459

:

There was a, the, the couple is they're,

they're Bitcoiners and they're, they're

460

:

either have young kids or they're

thinking about starting a family.

461

:

For each of you, what would be your one

or two pieces of advice or recommendations

462

:

or resources that you would recommend to

them as they're considering this journey?

463

:

Asher: In terms of I think the, the,

the guiding light in how we approach

464

:

things is that Our attention is the

most valuable thing that they can have.

465

:

Regardless of how we're,

we're deploying that.

466

:

So just being, you know, sometimes

we may feel like a sounding board

467

:

when Silas is going off on the, you

know, some theorem that he's proving.

468

:

And we don't understand it, but

we're just there, you know, present.

469

:

And that's enough for, for him.

470

:

Or then for us, let's so, It's easy to say

like, Oh, you've read this list of, you

471

:

know, here's this list of specific things,

but like for, so because of their, they

472

:

sort of tend towards science and, and art.

473

:

We, we follow a lot of YouTubers

who are in in, in that vein.

474

:

So so there's probably a hundred channels

that we could, we could list there.

475

:

Elly: Yeah, that's just to say that there

are so many free resources out there to

476

:

teach your child about almost any topic.

477

:

And what I hear for, from most parents

who tend to agree that an individualized

478

:

education is probably the best that

they could provide for their child,

479

:

they just feel like they couldn't do it.

480

:

Because it feels like too much work

for them or too difficult, or they just

481

:

need to know all of these things that

they then impart on their children.

482

:

And that's simply not true.

483

:

There's so much out there

through the internet.

484

:

We really have access to the best

educational materials and there's no

485

:

need to be an expert in all fields

in order to provide your child with.

486

:

The best education that they can have

my advice would be that you can do it.

487

:

You don't need to have a degree.

488

:

You don't need to be a teacher.

489

:

We're both not teachers and maybe

a teacher would be able to give

490

:

our children a better education,

but it's, it's really good enough.

491

:

The, and

492

:

Asher: I would say that doing it now

is way easier than it's ever been.

493

:

There are new things, for example

You've probably talked about chatgbt

494

:

before on the show, but this is

like one of those things it's

495

:

a machine learning AI resource.

496

:

That is, is there's a free version of

it but it's something that the kids are

497

:

always using now you know, before bed,

they want to play with it, they want

498

:

to ask it questions about, you know,

Minecraft and things like that so they get

499

:

a sense of what it, what it can, what it

can do because they have domain knowledge

500

:

but that's a thing that they wouldn't

be, have access to if they were in a

501

:

school, they, they, I think it depends on

the school, but, but yeah, it basically

502

:

breaks most curriculums that are, Bye.

503

:

Geared towards testing because they

can answer, you know even tests to

504

:

get into law school like it's, it's

better at, at that sort of thing.

505

:

So it's sort of I think we

are moving into this era where

506

:

education is basically already free.

507

:

It's just people haven't realized that

they can, that it's up to them to decide

508

:

what, what resources to, to, to leverage.

509

:

But, but that requires the freedom

to make those choices and that's

510

:

the biggest, that's the hardest

511

:

Scott: step.

512

:

Yeah.

513

:

I mean, you're better to look, teach

them how to use the technology that's

514

:

coming then to try to like tell

them that, no, you can't use that.

515

:

And then they're, now they're

behind all the others that are out

516

:

there who do know how to use it.

517

:

Yeah.

518

:

I can attest, I, I mean, Tali did, I say

we homeschooled, she's the one that had

519

:

the hardest, the hardest job in, in this.

520

:

So, you know, I'm very.

521

:

We're very grateful that you're, you

guys have chosen to homeschool, it's hard

522

:

work, but I think it's, definitely worth

it and definitely grateful that you're

523

:

willing to even go further than that

to continue to try to organize things

524

:

like the homeschooling panel at TabConf.

525

:

So thank you guys for,

for continuing to do that.

526

:

So how is there anything else that you,

that I, that we missed that we want to get

527

:

to before I ask you how people can reach

out to you and how they can support you?

528

:

Elly: Come see us at TabConf next year.

529

:

Scott: And bring their kids,

and bring their kids, right?

530

:

Or their

531

:

Elly: spouse.

532

:

And bring your kids and spouse.

533

:

Asher: Yes.

534

:

Scott: All right.

535

:

So how do people reach you then?

536

:

What is it, so how do I find this cube?

537

:

If I wanted to ask you questions, is

it, is it, do you guys prefer Twitter or

538

:

Telegram, just kind of tell folks how,

how you prefer to be reached out to?

539

:

Elly: Twitter is a good way to reach us.

540

:

The cube.

541

:

It's found on Instagram, you can

put in a link, it's the Pembroke

542

:

Creative LLC on Instagram.

543

:

I'm Elly Pembroke on Twitter.

544

:

Asher: I'm Asher P.

545

:

on Twitter.

546

:

Elly: And we're usually pretty

responsive to direct messages.

547

:

Scott: Well thanks for being

available guys, Tali did you have

548

:

any final thoughts as we wrap up?

549

:

You ready to go back to Atlanta?

550

:

Tali: Well I'm just sitting

here thinking about ways of

551

:

reaching children of Bitcoiners.

552

:

In that room, you know, I don't know if

we need to conclude this, but I was like,

553

:

it would be really cool if we could have

children who have been through a few

554

:

years of homeschooling answer questions

maybe from the audience, , from the

555

:

parents were thinking about homeschooling.

556

:

Elly: Holly, you and I really think

like I next year I want to do a

557

:

homeschoolers panel where it's not the

parents that are on the panel, but it's

558

:

the children that are on the panel.

559

:

Tali: Yeah, I think that's

a really great idea.

560

:

And then and then another thought that I

had was if we, and it depends on the age

561

:

of the kids, right, because if they're

super young and they're coming in, then

562

:

that's, that's a one, that's one approach.

563

:

But when you're having middle school

kids come in or older, that's a

564

:

completely different approach.

565

:

But if we were to do something

like, like you already had some

566

:

version of it, which is if you

solve the puzzle, we send you SADS.

567

:

Yeah.

568

:

But if we did lessons, lesson games,

I guess, or games with lessons and

569

:

they earn SATs, then could we also set

up a table of trinkets and say, okay,

570

:

this trinket, you know, like a pretty

eraser or a sticker or a lollipop or

571

:

something cost, I don't know, 50 SATs,

and then they have to buy a trophy.

572

:

The trinket with the stats that

they just received so they can not

573

:

only receive, but also send like

that exercise might be kind of fun.

574

:

Yeah, just something like, you know,

M& M's or lollipop or something.

575

:

Scott: You guys are going to create a

circular economy in the next gen village.

576

:

Right, exactly.

577

:

Asher: There's a great Andy Schroeder

had, had this amazing demo of he

578

:

has this little bicycle that you

ride and, and you ride it for five

579

:

minutes and you earn about 10 stats.

580

:

Which is, is priced at basically what

an American home spend on electricity.

581

:

And it was a great way to like show how

cheap power has gotten, but you know,

582

:

you could take those SATs and then go

buy like a sticker at the next table.

583

:

So

584

:

Elly: cool.

585

:

Yeah.

586

:

We had things available for sale, but

that was more in the hundred K SATs range

587

:

so maybe something for less than that.

588

:

Would be, that's a great idea,

Tali, and a lot of Bitcoiners

589

:

did, are just starting families.

590

:

They're just having babies.

591

:

They really maybe need something

that even their babies would enjoy.

592

:

And we had teethers available for

sale, but we really need to think

593

:

more about how can we Support families

that are just starting out and

594

:

Scott: yeah.

595

:

All right, guys.

596

:

It's been a, it's been a pleasure.

597

:

For everybody listening,

reach out to these guys.

598

:

You have to check out this cube.

599

:

It's, it's very cool.

600

:

If nothing else, just to, to show off

to your friends, if you, even if you

601

:

don't feel like doing a, a 3d puzzle,

thank you guys so much for spending

602

:

some time with us and we can't wait

to see you guys again at whatever

603

:

the next meetup or conference is.

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About the Podcast

Show artwork for Bitcoin Homeschoolers
Bitcoin Homeschoolers
Self-Custody Education

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About your hosts

Profile picture for Tali Lindberg

Tali Lindberg

Hey there, wonderful listeners! I'm Tali, and I'm so excited to welcome you to our podcast today. For two decades, I was knee-deep in the incredible journey of homeschooling my four amazing kids. It was a world of boundless creativity, filled with lesson plans, school projects, sports, and beautiful chaos. But when my children all graduated, a brand-new, unforeseen adventure awaited me - the captivating world of Bitcoin.

It took three years for Scott to bring me into Bitcoin. I hesitated at first, Bitcoin's intricacies seemed daunting, and my plate was already quite full. But he persisted, going so far as to create a fantastic bitcoin-mining board game called HODL UP to demystify it all. Before I knew it, I was down the Bitcoin rabbit hole. Just like my homeschooling journey, I took it one step at a time, learning and evolving as I ventured further.

Now, here we are today, and I couldn't be more thrilled to be part of the vibrant Bitcoin community. In an unexpected twist, my husband Scott and I realized that our homeschooling experiences can be a treasure trove of insights for Bitcoiners who, like us, want to take charge of their children's education. So, in addition to sharing our Bitcoin knowledge with Precoiners with HODL UP and the Orange Hatter podcast, we're here to offer tips and guidance for Bitcoin-homeschoolers. It's going to be an incredible journey, and I can't wait to share it with all of you. Enjoy the ride!
Profile picture for Scott Lindberg

Scott Lindberg

Scott Lindberg is a freedom-loving entrepreneur, author, and game designer. He is a proponent of finding freedom by taking self-custody of education, money and speech.

He and his wife, Tali, co-founded Free Market Kids. Their passion is to give the next generation the knowledge and tools to maximize their chances for freedom, success and happiness. Free Market Kids makes it easy and fun to introduce money concepts to kids through tabletop games, courses, lesson plans and trusted resources. They are best known for HODL UP™, a Bitcoin mining game.

Scott graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1993 with a Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering. In 2001, he graduated Yale’s School of Management with a Master of Business Administration.