About Us
Our family & space
We're setting up our homeschool co-op on our property, where we have about 2 acres of fields & forest. There's also extensive forest beyond our property with trails to creeks & the lake. It's my husband & I, our 4-year-old twins, our beloved trail dog, and amazing Argentine bro-pair.
Everyone is enjoying creating this magical space!
We're also looking for a part-time forest school teacher,
as well as volunteers to help with setting up the space & assistant teaching.
Forest school training
In 2025, I completed the Forest School Teacher Training & Forest School Director Training through the Forest School Teacher Institute (FSTI).
Both intensive training trips were incredible.
We visited forest schools in many settings & learned hands-on
about connecting children with nature, play-based learning,
and inspiring the development of the child as a whole person.
My (educational) story
I grew up in an overcrowded public school where I was ridiculed for my love of reading. I read every free moment, even while walking in the halls. It was my passion, but also my escape. I was anxious and overwhelmed in the school setting, and I was bored at a desk all day. Once at home, I transformed from this painfully shy, sullen kid to a regular kid, happily lost in the trance of play. I played outside, climbing trees & building dams with the neighborhood kids. In my alone time, I read and did imaginary play.
I loved to learn. But I didn't love to learn at school... and I didn't really learn much at school. Ironically, In high school I asked my friend in AP Lit (advanced placement literature) for her reading list, then promptly begged my mom to buy me this hefty pile of 1,000-page books so I could read them at home. I read the whole year's assignments in a month, and on went my years-long journey into Russian literature, folklore, and philosophy.
My parents were pleased with my report cards, but I was miserable. I dreaded waking up in the morning. By 10th grade, I was done. I quit school, dramatically (though ever-so quietly!) exiting the double doors and treking the 10 miles home. I told my mom I was never going back. My mother, a teacher who had done everything she could to foster a love of education in her children, was devastated... and shocked. How did this child who loved to learn end up hating school so much? It was my mother's love of books that sparked my interest before I ever started school.
Was that spark gone forever?
Ultimately, she agreed to let me homeschool myself. I flourished. I assigned myself elaborate projects in my favorite subjects and spent hours a day everyday working on them. I diligently pushed through subjects, meandered on subjects, created new subjects... joyfully losing myself in this immense about of work. (Granted, I did very little in the subjects I didn't love!) I learned so much more those two years than I had all through middle school and high school--and most of the university that followed--but, more importantly, I came back to life as a person.
This two-time high school drop-out ended up studying at Oxford
and an Ivy League school... and now forming a little school. As someone who hated school from ages 3 -16, I would have never thought this possible, much less desired. I share this to say that homeschooling can inspire a love of learning (even if it's been squandered) and that it can help
your child get into a "good college," should that be the path chosen.
I love learning and I love knowledge.
I want my children to have that same love, and to never have it be hindered by being force-fed disjointed information in a dull-desk manner. The day should be spent inspired, not falling asleep on your palm while pretending to learn. At the preschool/kindergarten age, children learn best through play, and fostering a love of learning is critical.
It's so important to take their natural spark and build a fire.