Finding the “right” path for a child’s education is never easy, because it is – or should be – an ongoing process of evaluation.

Our family lives in a smaller community served by two large and growing public school districts. We decided to homeschool but were evaluating our options. We were struggling to find hybrid options in the area where we live, envisioning something like a microschool.

Thankfully our search led me to The Reform Alliance, an organization that showed me that I have more options than I realized and that I could combine options. They even encouraged and reminded me that I can make changes as we go along. What I came to realize is that I didn’t necessarily want a microschool, I just wanted better resources to teach our children well.

We believe that our children’s education is our responsibility. Even if our family were unable to homeschool, we as parents would ensure that we were extremely involved in their education. We have made some extreme financial sacrifices to guarantee our children receive the individual education and attention that they need.

Once guided to the Arkansas Educational Freedom Account program, we learned about the funding it offers, which supports versatility in choosing curriculum. With that, we have really increased our children’s quality of learning. It’s hard to express how much I’ve enjoyed seeing my kids get excited about school as they master new and challenging things. The older our children get, the more I see how important individualized education is for each child. This allows them to learn based on their individual learning styles and strengths.

I’m grateful for the help I’ve gotten along the way. The Reform Alliance answered all of my questions, encouraged me not to give up, and has fully supported and empowered our rights as parents to educate our children in a way that helps them thrive.

Tara Bradshaw
Goshen