Why did your family choose to learn from home instead of a traditional school?

I think that for most homeschooling families, the “why” in which we choose to educate our children is a constantly evolving question and answer. My husband and I both come from different educational backgrounds; I went to a public school and he was homeschooled. I wish I could tell you that the reason behind our decision to homeschool was because of some wonderful experience that myself or my husband had during our own childhood education. But the truth is, when we started having children, we couldn’t bear the thought of somebody else having the privilege of spending the entire day educating the people that we loved the most. That this someone else was going to potentially see so many moments of wonder in our children’s eyes that we would then miss.

For me, there was also a fear of, “what if my child struggles in school the way that I did and the teacher is unable to teach in a way that makes sense to them specifically, and they get left behind.” We really wanted our children to have a tailored education, fit to meet their specific needs, wants, and interests, to ensure that struggling was never an option and that a love of learning to learn would blossom.

As our children learned from home, there were so many more reasons “why” this was the right option for us. Simple things like having a rhythm rather than a schedule and more complex things like my kindergartner can be successful doing third-grade mathematics, first-grade reading, but with a kindergartener's attention span. It became apparent that our children both excelled in some subjects and needed a little extra explanation in others; school at home allowed us to be there and accommodate all of it. One size fits all didn’t apply to how our children learned. We have one very tactile learner and one very auditory learner. Because we are only focusing on one and two students rather than 25 or 30 scholars, we can meet each of their specific needs and educate them to understand the material completely before we ever move on, which ensures that they NEVER get left behind.

Does learning from home help your scholar achieve their goals? If yes, please explain how.

Absolutely! Teaching my children at home gives us the flexibility to choose to teach them lessons about things that they show interest in specifically. One month my kindergartner was very intrigued by space. We took the entire month to learn astronomy, but not just astronomy. His math lessons, science, language arts, and history were all about outer space, planets, and historical events that happened in the vast unknown. And we have the opportunity to do that every week if we please to keep them engaged, meet their goals, and absorb all of the material that the lessons come with. What better way to keep your child interested in school than making school evolve around their interests? When they’re learning about things they care about and are passionate about, they push to soak up and retain as much information as they possibly can! It’s beautiful.

Why did you decide to school from home with Compass Charter Schools? Describe your experience with Compass.

Like I said before, I was not homeschooled. So this entire adventure was going to be entirely new for me. I went to friends and family for advice on how to start, and as much as they tried to make it less overwhelming, the idea of homeschool became very intimidating to me. Filing affidavits and submitting samples to the state seemed scary. All I wanted was to teach my kids. Then my cousin told me about Compass. I felt confident knowing that with Compass, all of the paperwork, work samples, and everything state-related would be taken care of. And an even bigger added plus was knowing that we would have someone with us along the entire way for help. We were placed with the most amazing supervising teacher, Jan Marquez, who has made our homeschooling experience not only as simple as possible but genuinely nothing short of amazing. She is ALWAYS a phone call or email away to answer any questions or give advice when needed! I know now that the decision to go through Compass was the very best decision we could have made for our family’s homeschool journey.

Share a piece of advice you’d give to a parent thinking about taking their child out of school to school at home?

A piece of advice I would like to share is to do it! Do it and never replicate a classroom or another family's homeschool. I made a mistake early on, thinking that I needed to replicate a classroom setting for my children. I remember getting really frustrated that my children wouldn’t come to sit down at the table with their pencils up and their heads down and working for several hours.

It was how I remembered it and thought that was how it was done. I hated it. My kids hated it. It wasn’t working for us. Once I let the idea of replication go, we began doing school all over. Some days school was done while laying in the grass listening to birds chirp under the beautiful California sunshine, other days school was done cozied up on our couch while eating hot homemade scones that we used to teach measuring and fractions, and sipping tea, other days we sit at the dining table and work on a full understanding of the lessons. But that’s the beautiful thing about homeschool; you get to choose what it looks like. So don’t replicate because the only time you’re NOT doing it right is when it feels like it isn’t working for your family specifically.

What do you, your scholar, and the family enjoy doing together during your free time?

We have five children under seven, so there isn’t much room for free time in our family, but we love spending time outdoors if we can make free time. Whether it’s at our house spending time with our chickens in the garden, riding bikes and scooters, making forts, or out discovering new fun places to have an adventure in an RV, anything outside is where we prefer to spend our free time.

What is your job title and job responsibilities at Compass? How long have you worked for this organization?

I am a Supervising Teacher, and I have been working for Compass for almost 2 years. I work with a diverse number of families in the Options program.

Tell us your “why” for doing what you do here at Compass.

First, because this is what God called me to in being HIS teacher/educator, only God has placed me here in this organization for HIS reasons and HIS reasons alone. Additionally, I love helping learners in a diverse setting. Working with families to explore the best options for their K-12 educational career motivates me and ignites my God-given talents and gifts. I look forward to collaborating with families and my colleagues in general, and I like diverse settings so that I learn from others as much as possible.

As an educator, is there a piece of advice you’d like to share with learning

coaches or scholars?

I believe that all learners have their own unique way of learning. I thrive on building programs to personalize learning for each learners' context while maintaining the best resources for all learners to access daily. I like to remain positive, be kind, and remember that "The contents of our character" (Dr. Martin Luther King, jr.) are what people will always remember!

MY MOTTO/ADVICE: for more than 15 years is: Together we TOUCH MINDS to SHAPE THE FUTURE!

Share one thing about you that very few people know.

I love living abroad. I learned how to read, write and speak Spanish while living abroad in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico, during my Undergraduate Studies. Instead of vacations, I sometimes explore living abroad in different countries. I love Central America! During my stays abroad, I assist in teaching and learning to educational institutions globally.

What do you and your family like to do during your free time?

BE FREE to be who GOD created us to be open without judgment. We love going to church together and PRAISING GOD! That is something we love to do together as well as independently. We are not here on earth as humans having a SPIRITUAL experience, but we are SPIRITS on earth having a HUMAN experience. We also laugh A LOT as my family is full of hilarious scenarios, and they are just fun to be around, especially my Father and Grandma. My Grandma is the Matriarch of our family and God-willing; she will be 99 this April 2021.

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