A Journey to Sora: Navigating Education, Challenges, and Hope

Greetings from Ruby Skye, Ella Rose, Bill, Lynn Anne, Frisbee, and Ollie. We live on the Outer Banks, a little sandbar on the far eastern side of North Carolina that bears little resemblance to the Netflix show of the same name.

Ruby Skye is in the 6th grade at Sora this year, and loves dance, horses, art, and writing. Ella Rose is in 8th grade and has a passion for the natural world, reading, musicals, and movies. She loves working with small children and volunteers at her taekwondo dojang teaching 4 and 5-year-olds.

I divide my time between spending time with the girls, working with our local homeschool community, and serving as a scoutmaster for our local girls' troop. Bill works for the Park Service. He is head chef in our kitchen and a master with the dutch oven over a campfire. We all love to spend time exploring the outdoors, and the girls have been camping since they were a few months old.

Homeschool Background

Ella Rose and Ruby Skye have been homeschooled since kindergarten. Because of my background as an outdoor educator and art and wilderness therapist, I have no shortage of ideas about what education should and shouldn't look like. I decided to homeschool the girls because I felt I could provide an education based on evidence-based practices whereas I felt public school was bound to antiquated ones based on the sheer number of students they hope to serve. We are fortunate to live in an area that hosts an amazing and active homeschool community so the girls' social opportunities have always been plentiful.

My role as Ruby Skye’s teacher has been a fairly easy and straightforward one. She has always been eager to learn, happy to spend time independently, self-motivated and driven to get things done. She cruised through elementary math and has been working on a variety of lengthy writing projects for years simply because she enjoys it.

While Ella Rose has many amazing skills, they often fall outside of the traditional scope of education. Those who know her well know that her attention to detail in the wild is unparalleled and that her knowledge of the natural world could fill volumes. She has a mind full of songs and stories. When something really sparks an interest, her focus is unreal and she can spend hours working on a project, researching or reading. She has a huge heart, a tremendous sense of fairness, and genuinely wants to help others.

Education Challenges

Ella Rose also has multiple diagnoses that have made education challenging and at times exhausting for both of us. She often compares herself to her sister and others much to the detriment of her self-esteem. After a very difficult 6th-grade year that threatened to do real damage to our relationship, I gave her the option of public school.

It quickly became apparent to me that the middle school she attended had a culture of toxic social norms and anything but evidence-based practices. I began looking for an alternative about halfway through her 7th-grade year. The ideal program would be one that would allow her to continue her education at home in a way that I could be her mom and not her teacher. I quickly discovered that there were no options available locally.

Discovering Sora

I really don't remember how I found Sora, but when I did, I was intrigued. Here was a school that seemed to make sense. Here was hope.

Nevertheless, I had a couple of concerns. Initially, I thought Sora might just be for gifted students as seems to be the case in many other programs with an exemplary pedagogy. Additionally, I had some misgivings about the idea of online school. I am a parent who has always limited screen time to a minimum. The TV is rarely on at our house, and I didn't know that I wanted such a dramatic change (at the time of my girls’ Discovery Day, I don't know that they'd ever been on Zoom). Also, and a bit selfishly, I didn't want my schedule to be too tightly tied to a school calendar so that we could only travel during school breaks.

After doing some more research and getting excited about the program, I took a look at the price and thought it would never be possible for us.

During this process, I began to think about Ruby Skye. I am extremely grateful for the education I received growing up and have always wanted the best for my girls. Was homeschool still the best option for her? What might Sora offer that I could not?

Eventually, and with the help and reassurance of some of the amazing Sora team, I decided to put in applications for both of the girls along with applications for tuition assistance just to see what was possible. I was content to “leave it to the universe” until a new worry began to fill my thoughts. What if Ruby Skye got in and Ella Rose didn’t? What if Sora couldn’t see on paper what I knew in my heart?

Although the wait was difficult, we soon learned that both of the girls had been accepted and that we were to receive the financial assistance necessary for them to attend.

New Beginnings, Hope, and Gratitude

As I write this, we are on the verge of Cycle 4, and I am filled with gratitude for the journey thus far and excited to see what comes next.

From the beginning, I have been impressed with the positive and supportive culture that Sora inspires and maintains for students and parents alike. Members of the Sora culture are open and receptive to feedback and seem to embody and model growth mindsets as seen in the many upgrades in the short time we've been on our Sora journey.

Likewise, I am impressed by how Sora actively works to create an engaged community of parents. This becomes quickly evident in working with the wonderful Sora team dedicated to parent education and support.

Although Ella Rose has often struggled with math and writing, I have seen her confidence grow in both of these areas. She no longer says “I’m not good at math” or “I hate math” as she's been engaged in projects that bring math to life. In 7th grade, she didn't talk in class and was not comfortable approaching most teachers. At Sora, she has received feedback from multiple experts that her contributions to class discussions are an asset to the expedition. She also takes advantage of the many opportunities to contact her experts without hesitation. Although I’m still fairly engaged in her day-to-day, she is much more independent when completing assignments and is genuinely motivated to be at each expedition meeting, stand-up, and checkpoint. Contrast this to public school where she'd sometimes need a “mental health day.”

Ruby Skye tells me that her favorite thing about Sora is community and happily tells me when Heartbeat is “going off.” Although she was not initially comfortable speaking up during expeditions, she received encouraging feedback from several of her experts and has begun to use her voice to complement the skills she demonstrates in her project work. Initially wary about joining a club, she’s currently co-leading a writing club in Cycles 3 and 4. Although she's always loved writing, this is definitely a push for her to share her writing and put herself out as a leader within the group. Because of the freedom to choose final projects, she has been working to develop skills with iMovie, teaching herself as she goes.

Both of the girls quickly became proficient with the necessary technology, and their expedition mates and experts have been extremely helpful and patient, just as they are now with me when I can't do something as simple as find the mute button. I am thrilled to see how comfortable they have become with the skills they need. We all know Sora’s extremely responsive tech support team is just an email away, happy to help.

Although there is a lot of screen time, there is plenty of time in our schedule as well to intentionally carve out outdoor time during the school day. Because expeditions are only scheduled for 4 days each week, we also have the flexibility to take time off to interact with homeschool friends and participate in activities. We have also taken advantage of the online format to do school on the road.

Because Sora genuinely values the individual and the promise of their unique talents, passions, and abilities, both of my girls are able to be successful in different ways while receiving feedback for growth in a supportive and inclusive environment. Even though they have been in the same expedition several times, they have each come away with unique takeaways, feedback, and final projects. They feel a sense of agency based on their ability to choose their coursework and final projects, and I know they are proud of themselves based on their eagerness to share their experience with others.

Looking back on my experience as a parent so far, I cannot count the number of times I have said to myself, “I hope I am doing the right thing.” With regard to Sora, I have never asked myself that question. I know that I am giving the girls a gift that will help prepare them for whatever future where they can follow their hearts with confidence.