Why we never returned to in person school...
Jun 01, 2024 | by Sarah Galbreth
When we moved our kids from in person learning to at home learning the intention was only to do it for a few years. As I told my husband “Let’s just get them some stability and all caught up-then we can just go back to living like normal and send them back. It’ll be perfect!
Three years in and we have no intention of going back to in person learning.
But why? What was the shift that happened in our minds to keep us forever at home?
- We loved the flexibility of doing what we wanted when we wanted.
I love living the life where it was on my terms. Want to travel? You can learn anytime, anywhere. You don’t have to let the school know your child will be absent, or turn in any assignments due to missing school, or even worry that you took too many days off. You can live as a nomad, or live in the same place, or even spend a few months at Grandma's house living on your terms. - We got time back!
No more packing lunches, no more hour long bus rides, no huge classrooms full of busy work, and definitely NOT two hours of homework after coming home from school. All the sudden we had LOADS of time, school was done faster and the kids felt free. I love being able to show them how simpler it is when you are at home with a simple teacher:student ratio and how to work smarter not harder. - The kiddos finally got to utilize their own unique learning styles.
Charlotte Mason? Waldorf? Unschooling? Learning on a boat? Dancing on your zoom call? Figuring out learning styles and ways to use them was a favorite part of mine. Watching my 7 year old with ADHD be able to move around while learning literally brought tears to my eyes. The days of sitting in a chair for 7 hours were gone. She was free to learn the way she was best at. Have multiple kids? My 3 year old is learning from them as they learn and my 10 year old loves learning with games! Talk about a fun house! - We found Colearn Academy!
In the midst of figuring out all the fun and learning styles that we could do with in person learning-we stumbled upon Colearn Academy. A complete education, custom-built for you AT HOME? Is this real life? I actually did not even believe it was real until I experienced the goodness myself. In fact, I asked myself- do I really need this? I am doing pretty dang good on my own, right? But then I found my 11 year old daughter needed extra help in math that I couldn’t provide her. My 7 year old with ADHD was in need of extra help as well- and I kept looking at all of their offerings and dreaming of all the extras my kiddos could have with a support system outside of Mom.
1:1 tutoring? Check.
Live enrichment? Check.
Parent workshops? Check.
Full curriculum? Check
The ability to still choose both their curriculum and my curriculum? Check.
Access to teachers? Check.
I was blown away! Three years into our home learning journey and I finally feel like we found the exact rhythm our family needed. The best part is the older my kids grow, the more we benefit from home learning with Colearn.
The possibilities are endless!
Sarah is just one of the many parents who found the support and tools necessary so that her children can thrive and continue in their learning journey with Colearn.