Homegrown Learners is nearly 10 years old.
So much has changed in the world of homeschooling and in the life of our family since those early days of blogging. What started out as a suggestion from my husband, “Hey, why don’t you write a blog so you can keep track of what the kids are doing at home?” has turned into so much more!
We abandoned the ideal of traditional education and discovered just what homeschool required.
Now, as we prepare to graduate our first and embark upon high school with our second, we continue to feel led to equip and encourage parents.
(When I say “our” I’m referring to my entire family. Homegrown Learners has been a labor of love for all of us. My children subject themselves to endless pictures and stories being written about them, and my husband handles all things technical with the blog.)
Even though I was homeschooling my children full time, I continued to run a small piano studio in those first years. I also used my background as a public school music teacher to volunteer direct our church Cherub choir and lead music classes for our local homeschool co-op.
Then, I began sharing music lessons on the blog using a method I had used in my classroom years ago: Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time - or SQUILT.
Fast forward five years, and upon the urging of the Holy Spirit, attending a transformative blogging conference, and a 10 hour mastermind car ride with a dear homeschooling friend (who you might know for her fabulous art lessons), the SQUILT site was born and I began writing and selling music appreciation curriculum.
I developed PDF self-taught volumes, games, and flash card sets. Along the way, my children helped me test products. (I’m fairly certain their music education is solid! ) They have been exposed to countless hours of listening, composer biographies, test lessons, and more.
I get excited when I see children learning about and appreciating music.
The look of wonder if their eyes when they hear a Bach organ piece for the first time, or when they just have to get up and dance to Jazz, makes me smile. Watching contemporary conductors such as Gustavo Dudamel shows children just how FUN music can be. Having guest performers like the Air Force Band of the West in our live lessons makes music REAL for the children.
Fast forward nearly four years and we started delivering live music appreciation lessons in occasional Morning Time events. These were greeted with such success that we decided to begin SQUILT LIVE!, a monthly music appreciation membership where I was teaching live lessons - and continue to do so today.
We have families all over the world that are served through our SQUILT LIVE! program, and countless others who have used our stand alone products.
To put it quite simply, SQUILT has taken on a life of its own.
I never could have imagined what joy it would bring me, or just how NEEDED this was in the homeschool community.
Children deserve a quality music education, and our goal is to deliver it in a simple, engaging, and fun manner.
We are happy to introduce you to our new SQUILT website. Homegrown Learners and SQUILT Music Appreciation are sister sites - sisters because the heart and voice behind them are the same.
Our commitment to all things true, good, and beautiful stands first.
It’s an honor to serve the homeschool community! Take a look around SQUILT music and see what might work for you.
I hope you like our new look!