Resilience
This special recorded interview is from the March 2022 How To Be An Awesome Homeschooler Summit. The summit theme was the 3 R’s of learning which for us is not the traditional reading, wRiting, aRithmetic. The 3 R’s are; Reclaim, Resist, Resilience.
Leah McDermott, founder of Your Natural Learner was our keynote speakers to the theme of Resilience. Resilience for homeschool parents as well as our children. Leah joined me to close out the day with this special interview.
Leah McDermott~ Mom, Grown Homeschooler, Educator, Unschooler
First and foremost, Leah is a mom. She has three rambunctious little boys who love spending every single second that they can out in nature.
Leah’s story begins as a homeschooled child. Her father was in the military, so her parents began homeschooling her in third grade out of necessity at first, but eventually because of a disappointment in the complete lack of engaging material found in the classrooms (keep in mind this was over 20 years ago!)
Sadly, not much has changed for the better. Her homeschool days were filled with family activities, independent learning, field trips, and worldwide adventures. She made it into her first choice for college with multiple scholarships. Leah received her Bachelors in Elementary Education, followed by a Masters of Education as a certified Reading Specialist, followed by a second Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. After three years of teaching in both rural and urban elementary schools, she decided to leave the profession after having her oldest son.
When her son turned two, and began to show interest in learning, Leah found that she naturally was providing exciting learning opportunities for him, and had many mothers begin asking her to share my experiences with them. And now..here she is…
From Homeschool To School To No School
Leah and I got into all of the ideas we hold onto around learning, children and development:
- The difference between the traditional system and what the data shows from neuroscience around development and learning. (How we learn best does not match what we do in the traditional education system)
- The Deschooling process and how it can be an even bigger for parents that come to homeschooling as trained educators.
- Learning to write
- Screens and time with screens
- Trusting the natural learning process
How To Be An Awesome Homeschooler Summit
If you enjoyed this episode, the full day recordings are available on the website, How To Be An Awesome Homeschooler. The Recordings include:
Reclaim~ Ainsley Arment of Wild+Free
Reclaim The Teen Years~Kelly Edwards creator of the 90 Minute School Day and Robyn Robertson of Honey! I’m Homeschooling The Kids
Resist~Karen Ricks of Our Kitchen Classroom
Play With Your Food Workshop with Karen Ricks
Resist~ Karema Akilah founder of The Genius School
Resilience~Leah McDermott of Your Natural Learner
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Clubhouse~Honey! I’m Homeschooling Club