Through my parent-teaching experience with my daughter, alongside her twin sister, she was learning a great deal of information. But what was surprisingly evident was that I was learning even more!  Up until this point my formal schooling had immersed me in scientific training, but it was necessary to take a detour from the mathematics and sciences focus of my work. I needed to dive deeper into the exploration of understanding literacy development and the reading process for children. My guiding questions was “How do children learn how to read”? What emerged for me, was an absolute obsession in how young people learn. Since then, I’ve been in the K-12 arena, teaching various grade levels and even earning another Doctorate. 

Another leg of my journey took me into Educational Publishing where my work focused on the adult learner, better known as the “teacher”. In this capacity, I served as an Educational Consultant and Curriculum Specialist and worked exclusively with teachers. I have had the honor to work alongside some of our nation’s most iconic Educational Thought Leaders in the industry across the various subject areas. For more than 20 years now, I’ve worked with school districts across the United States and internationally, training certified educators in becoming Master Teacher.

Fast-Forward: The Pandemic Impact 

We would all agree that education is in unprecedented times. Many students entered the 2020 school year with a gap, having not completed the year before due to Covid-19. In response to the pandemic, districts have been hard at work transforming education and preparing teaches to deliver in new ways. As result, our parents have had to support these newer approaches through remote teaching and distance learning and in many instances have become Professional Co-Teachers overnight. 

Aware of my educational background, parenting friends and family began to ask for help in schooling their kiddos. While I have been delighted to assist, I began to ask the question, “WHO IS HELPING OUR PARENTS” through this pandemic that is impacting education at home?” Through my research I could not find the kind of guidance parents were looking for to support them through this new hybrid approach or schooling-at-home experience. There has been little to no guidance in navigating parents through this new phenomenon of co-teaching which reaches far beyond helping kids with homework.

What we know for sure is that students entering the 2021-22 school year, will be impacted by the pandemic with a Learning Loss much deeper than we have ever seen in education.  This is where we assist our parents in getting ready!

The Parent Academy, demystifies todays learning and provide parents with the fundamentals along with easy to use strategies. We Engage,  Empower and  Explore with individuals working with kiddos whether they are back in school full time or if you are homeschooling by choice.  Our primary focus is on creating Independent Thinkers rather than dependent learners with today’s student.  

Guiding the adult learner has been my life’s work.  And as a lifelong educator and learner, I am excited to take this next journey with YOU. I hope to see you in one of our PTA Sessions created EXCLUSIVELY to support learning at home while supporting our teachers with in school learning.

In Service to parents,

Dr. Shawyn