We have read and studied Papa Piccolo, Very Last First Time, Night of the Moonjellies, and are currently working through Cranberry Thanksgiving from Five in a Row. Our live sync instruction team uses Five in a Row and we've had a lot of fun books this quarter. We learned all about Italy after reading Papa Piccolo. First grader, Z. did such an amazing job working on his Italy mini book for part of the social studies and geography lesson.

Moka A., a 10-grade scholar, has been doing some exceptional work in her virtual animation course. She learned not only how to draw a realistic looking a female character, but when someone clicks the play button, her character actually waves to the viewer!

Scholars’ Names are Kaleesi (3-grade) & Cody (TK).

My name is Alison Mescheder and I have two children at Compass. My daughter Kaleesi is in 3-grade, and in her second year at Compass, and my son Cody just started TK. The greatest joy in schooling my children at home is helping them understand concepts and make connections. I love seeing their joy in learning.

Sometimes when your child is struggling with a certain concept, you can feel like a bit of a failure because you are their teacher. My daughter struggled last year with math. The great thing about homeschool is if something is not working, you can toss it out and try something else. We added in math games to memorize those stubborn math facts and this year we changed curriculum. No more tears!

We quickly realized after Covid hit and everyone turned to Zoom that it was not a good fit for my daughter. She was not engaged and was not retaining information. We decided that I would be able to better serve her educational needs by teaching her myself, progressing at her own pace. We wanted a charter for guidance and community, but also to hold myself accountable for educational goals.

This is our second year with Compass, and I could not recommend them more! Compass has blessed us with exceptional supervising teachers, who care deeply for my children and want to see them thrive and succeed. They are always reachable and supportive. The educational funds we receive every year help with curriculum costs and amazing extracurricular classes, which we would not be able to provide without the support of Compass.

The best part about the Compass family is knowing that I have a community of like-minded individuals for support us when needed. Not to mention every single staff member I have reached out to, from admissions to IT, has been professional and helpful.

I only knew a few children growing up that were homeschooled, and I must admit I did not know much about it. If it was not for the pandemic my daughter would still be in private school, with my son not far behind. All I can say is that if you even have the slightest inkling to homeschool your child, whatever your reasons are, to take a chance. The worst thing that could happen is you go back to the school you are already in. Chances are, you will not want to though.

In our free time we are active with youth sports in the community. My daughter plays soccer and volleyball. We love hiking in the South Bay, playing with our cat Snowball, going to Dodger games, and taking long road trips exploring our neighboring states together.

I support, help and direct scholars to succeed in their educational journey here at Compass. I have been doing this fantastic job for four years now. It is a joy to be able to help the learning coaches and scholars fully maximize their potential and help them become lifelong learners.

As a teacher, the greatest reward is to see scholars reach their goals in life. I believe that trying one's best in every endeavor is the key to success. If you keep trying even in failure, it is a step forward to reaching one's goals. All the challenges are steppingstones to achieving the targeted goals. One thing that I'd like to share about me is that I have graduated with honors both in my undergraduate and graduate schools. I am sharing this to inspire the scholars, that they too can achieve this, with diligent work.

I also like to share to people how I love my family and that I love spending time with them during my free time just cherishing the moments we have together, regardless of what activity we are doing.

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