Melissa Brander
Hi! I’m Melissa, your Pocket Homeschool consultant!
I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. My husband and I met while we were both in college. After dating long distance for two years, we ended up getting married. At the time we got married, I couldn’t have imagined what the future would hold for us. Two wonderful boys. And full time homeschooling.
Growing up, I was always a bit of a nerdy kid. I didn’t learn to ride my bike without training wheels until I was ten because I was too busy reading books on my handle bars. That love of literature informed my childhood and has informed my adult life too. After high school, I went to college and graduated early with a degree in Political Science and Writing. This background has given me strong research skills, which I put to work for you.
These experiences also have shaped my homeschooling life. I seek out high quality literature to read to my kids. I teach them history – sometimes a lot of history. We round out our homeschooling life with art and other hands-on projects and plenty of field trips. But first and foremost, Pocket Homeschool is not about cloning my homeschool experience. The best part of homeschooling is that every family can do what’s best for them. I’m here to help you make the best decisions for your homeschool. I use the acronym SMART to guide my resources.
When I’m not homeschooling, I enjoy reading, cooking, learning, and spending time with friends. And I’ve come to learn to love the outdoors too! I am a Lutheran and my faith is very important to me. I believe in Mother Culture – ask me about it! I’m learning how to relax, though I am naturally very Type A. When you hire me, you can rest assured that I will make sure to check every detail for you.
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Continuing Education
I believe in lifelong learning and that is a core tenet of my values, both as a person and as a homeschooler. That is why I continue to read books and find ways to continue learning so that I can bring you the best and most up to date information.
Recently, I completed my Speech Adjudicator Certification of Wisconsin High School Forensics Association. If you aren’t familiar with forensics, this is a public speech competition where students compete in different categories. WHSFA is highly focused on helping the students grow and learn and this certification will better help me to do so. But it also helps make me a better homeschool coach because it has helped me to learn how to give constructive and appropriate feedback.