We are long-time homeschooling friends, collaborating to share what has been keeping us inspired and motivated to stay on this path.
​
Open-minded learning is about making a shift in our thinking around education and learning, noticing learning in the everyday moments, and recognizing the value in both academic and non-academic skills. It’s about trusting ourselves and the child in front of us, facing and embracing changes along the way, and learning together. The journey might be different from what we expect, and what a journey it is!
​
Just like homeschooling, this space will continue to evolve…
- heather & jessamyn
Heather
Hi! I’m a self-professed introvert, mom to two, wife to one, a proud cat mama, and a voracious knitter. I’ve worked in the field of education the whole of my career, after studying art history and psychology, and then getting a Masters in Special Education. I’ve spent years teaching in the classroom, in enrichment centers designing my own curricula, and now, working with homeschooling families, as well as homeschooling my own children.
Our homeschooling style is a little bit of everything, but we mostly lean towards self-directed learning, with an established rhythm to our days. I love discovering the learning in everyday life, which allows us to follow interests and dive into them deeply. Even though we’ve always homeschooled, I am always learning more, I still have my waves of panic, as well as my waves of calm and confidence.
​
Jessamyn
Greetings! I am a homeschooling mother of eleven-year-old twins. Our house most often feels like a happy mess filled with books and bits and pieces from endless projects with a good dose of sand, twigs, and stones from all our time spent at the beach and in our local mountains. My husband is a professional bassist and electronic audio engineer. Our home is covered from floor to ceiling with musical instruments and inventions.
After getting my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, I became a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and worked in that field until my children were born. Homeschooling was not even on my radar, but I knew I wanted something different. I was drawn to the Waldorf model and completed a three year Waldorf teaching course, but by this time, the idea of outsourcing my children’s education was an easy one for me to abandon.
A key to my approach has been trying to find balance between my excitement for planning and diving into learning (a side that nourishes my daughter), and my flexible nature that allows me to drop everything when the mood arises and go with the flow (my son’s sweet spot). This balancing act has worked well enough to keep our family still happily ticking along this path.
This nature-filled, open-minded learning style has been a magical combination for our little family, but we do not do it alone. I co-founded a homeschooling cooperative of similarly motivated parents, and this community has helped us all, parents and children alike, feel supported and nourished on this potentially isolating path.