Amanda Coffman of Pine Bluff didn’t entirely realize what she was looking for in a school for her two boys until she found it.

“I had never heard of a microschool,” she explained. When she encountered the term, “of course I assumed it was a small school, which I was open to.”

Because she knew she needed something.

“Both of my children went to public school, and there were things that were not in the public school that I was looking for, things that I felt they needed academically.” 

For example, her oldest was excelling, learning faster than the pace of his class. But that meant getting ahead on work and then getting bored. 

“Which means he was tapping his pencil, talking to his neighbor, things like that. Instead of giving him more work, it became an issue. They were pulling him out and moving him to other classes, with older students, but they did not communicate that to me or to him,” she said. “So he didn’t understand. He was in first grade and thought he was doing something wrong.”

Through word of mouth, she heard about a tutoring center called The Learning Lounge that was branching out and opening up a new microschool, the first one in her area at that time. The smaller learning environment with more one-on-one time between students and teachers was immediately appealing. And a closer-knit group of students would mean opportunities for one of her children struggling socially.

Microschooling was not without surprises, though.

“When I found out that it was actually considered homeschooling, I was like, ‘huh, that’s really different.’ You know, it was something that I had to rewire my brain, because when I was growing up, I always thought homeschool was a thing where you’re at home, and your parents are teaching you.”

The Learning Lounge has since transitioned to an accredited private school, but it retains its microschool roots.

“It feels like we’re co-teaching, I guess you could say, because I do so much with them at home,” Coffman said. “And I feel like the fact that we can work together, and the school can communicate with me –  hey, you may need to work on this, you may need to work on that – I feel like it is like a homeschool, but we’re coming together and helping each child learn.”

And, importantly, there’s a real focus on how each child learns.

“The kids get to learn at their own pace. So if they’re learning faster on one thing, they’re not being held back,” Coffman said. “And if they may be struggling in one thing, they still get that one-on-one that they need. That’s a plus academically. As far as socially, they have thrived, meeting kids and building healthy, strong relationships with other kids and other adults. 

“They’re definitely learning things that are going to make them successful in their future, and as they grow as kids. They’re learning in a kid-friendly, happy environment. They’re doing things that make them comfortable,” she said. “My kids, they don’t dread waking up and going to school every day. They’re excited to go to school.”

And it used to be a daily struggle, with one especially, just to get into the school building.

But now they’re learning not only the core academics, but extracurriculars from tap dance to taekwondo.

“I absolutely love that they enjoy it and that they’re having fun, but also it’s very structured. So they’re learning while they’re having fun, and that is an amazing thing that they’ve brought to the school, and I’ve been very pleased with that.”

Additionally, in a small school, it’s easy to get to know everyone, including other students, school staff and other parents – something The Learning Lounge encourages through events like its open house, which is a dinner and formal program for all school families.

“We’re all pretty family-oriented, so even the parents, we contact each other. We talk to each other about our students and our achievement goals with our students and how our kids are growing. It’s not something I had when the kids were in public school, because we just didn’t meet each other. We didn’t see each other unless it was the first day of school when we were just passing through.”

Combined, it’s proved to be the right place and the right time for her boys, who also get to learn together despite being at different grade levels. Coffman, always open-minded, said she recognizes that as the kids grow, their needs may change. But microschooling has meant a lot for them so far.

“For us, microschooling has meant smaller learning environments. They get to learn in their own individual style. I have a student who thrives hands-on. I also have another student who needs quiet and frequent breaks. You know, not everything is just reading out of a book. It has been very good for them to have their individual attention and one-on-one time with the teacher.

“We have absolutely no regrets,” she said.

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