About Us: How we got started
Hi all! My name is Riana. I am a Jehovah's Witness and I am the owner/creator of Backyard Schoolhouse and a homeschool mom of 2!
I believe my journey to being a home educator started long before I knew it. As a child I excelled academically and by third grade teachers were trying to find ways to keep me busy. So it was then that I started tutoring for first and second grade reading and math. I would be excused from regular class time and be sent to the library to help younger students who needed intervention with reading and math. The hours spent learning how to adjust my own teaching style to benefit a single student formed my love of tutoring. At that age I was already learning that I loved helping others excel in their education. I continued to tutor others as well as act as a teachers assistant for the remainder of my secular education including throughout my college years. Over the years I went on to teach a multitude of subjects including the core 4, accounting, medical terminology, business law, child development, psychology, and even soil science! That one was a personal favorite :) I also volunteered as a tutor and mentor with Give Evert Child A Chance and the Boys and Girls Club, where I was blessed to participate in programs that helped remedial students turn their attitudes and lives around. Those years of experience taught me so much but most importantly they shaped my love of learning & teaching and showed me the importance of individualized education.
Years later, as a mother, I found myself longing to homeschool my own children. Truth be told, even though I did have a successful background in helping other students and a college degree that shows the world I'm a capable human, initially, I feared failure and was concerned that I somehow lacked the credentials to take on such a role, so I did not begin my kids education with homeschooling. However, fast forward to when my oldest was in 3rd grade and the COVID pandemic gave me the push I needed to take the leap and start our full-time homeschool journey! That is where our life took a pivotal turn and I never looked back!
Embracing my newfound role, I set up what became our first ever classroom space in our homes hallway entryway. Literally at the front door! lol I became very hands on with my kids education. I will admit, when we first got started, I was surprised to identify some gaps in what my kid was learning. Things I thought he should've already been introduced to or been long doing in school, come to find out, he was not. I quickly identified a need for more focused learning and thus started creating my own worksheets and resources to use for teaching and study aids.
At that time, my youngest wasn't in school but he had an interest in learning and wanted to be involved in what his big brother was doing. He wanted the same amount of attention my oldest was getting with his homeschooling, but with such an age gap, it required a very different level of teaching. I had to figure out how to make it work! So even thought they were in different grades, I found ways to teach them both at the same time, while still customizing their education to their individual cognitive developmental levels.
A year or so later, I faced a second set of challenges! I now had two kids, both officially in school, both requiring a formal education of sorts. Because of my boys age differences and the fact that they are two very different kids, I began my own journey in researching about different learning & teaching styles and how to cater to them in order to create the most advantageous educational outcome for my kids.
Fast forward to today, we have since moved into a new home and built a small office in our backyard that is our new classroom. Thus the name Backyard Schoolhouse! :)
Learning to recognize my kids learning styles and leaning into their individual strengths, led me to rethink some of my approach to education and inspired a whole new realm of materials that are now part of the Backyard Schoolhouse homeschool resources, otherwise know as Backyard Schoolhouse Academy (B.S.A). After creating and using these materials in our own home, I wanted to share these resources with others who might benefit or become encouraged by them.
Becoming the teacher and main educator for my children has been both liberating and challenging. Homeschool is not without its own unique struggles. But there is no greater reward for taking on the role, than seeing your kids grow spiritually and letting them experience first hand what life can be like when Jehovah is at the forefront.
Today I aim to make sure my kids education is centered around putting Jehovah first. The Backyard Schoolhouse study aids and B.S.A. workbooks have helped me do just that. It is my hope, that sharing these resources with you will help you in your homeschooling journey too!
