Latest / Self-Schooled / Introduction | Episode 0
Transcript
- heather: Most of us spent our childhood memorizing and then forgetting subjects like reading, math, science, history. But nobody taught us how to understand ourselves, how we learn, how we communicate, what motivates us, and what stresses us out. And what do we do to work through that when we're stressed? We mostly just learned how to be fine, be happy, suck it up, and finish your plate. And then we became parents. And we decided we wanted something different for them and for us. Hi everyone, I'm Heather. I'm an educator, an entrepreneur, and a parent. For over two decades, I've had the privilege of teaching and working with hundreds of children and their families. And then in 2014, I became a parent myself. And I started questioning everything I thought I knew about education and parenting and honestly what it means to be human and how to raise little humans. That questioning led me to founding Elements Academy in twenty nineteen, A micro school focused on helping children as individuals and helping them discover who they are. Over the years, one of the things I've heard repeatedly from colleagues and families and friends is: thank you for helping me understand my child. It's like you speak their language. Because what we see on the surface is never the whole story. A child who looks shy might be perfectly content and they might learn by observing, or maybe they need more support. A child might be struggling in school, but it could be the curriculum or the environment or even just the time of day that's not right for them. And a most common theme that impacts everyone, the dysregulated child, the meltdown, right? Well, what Triggered them in the first place, and how do they get through it? There's no one size fits all. Our kids are always communicating. But are we always able to understand them? If you're anything like me, you've had moments where it's like you and your child aren't even speaking the same language. Well, what if that's true? What if every child and every human actually has their own language? A language of communication, motivation, strengths, nervous system needs, identity, and so much more. There's no one way to be human. So what if our job isn't to change or mold our children, but to become curious about who they actually are and help them uncover who they are as well? That's the heart of self-schooled. An exploration of the one subject school never taught us: being human. Each episode, I'll sit down with someone who will help us understand a different aspect of the human experience so we can see our children and ourselves more clearly. I don't think there's one right way to understand a person, just like there's not one right way to parent. But the more we understand and the more open we are, the more we can replace assumptions with curiosity and feel more connected to the people that mean the most to us. And here's one of the bonuses: when we start learning our children's language, we learn our own too. Because most of us missed out on this when we were kids. So while the podcast starts with understanding our children. I have a feeling we're gonna learn a lot about ourselves along the way. Our children are our greatest teachers. My hope is that every episode leaves you with practical ideas you can use right away. Something that helps you understand your child, your relationships, or even yourself more deeply. While subjects like reading, math, history, and science are all important. I think the most important teaching we could ever share with our children is uncovering who they truly are. So they can live unapologetically themselves. So whether you're a parent, an educator, or simply someone who's curious about what makes us human, welcome to Self Schooled. I'm so glad you're here.