New program looks to create a community of homeschooling families in Greater Gardner

Emilia Cardona, The Gardner News
·4 min read

Single mother of three, Tara Teixeira has created a network of resources that expands the possibility of homeschooling to a wider group of parents in Greater Gardner.

With her newly launched network program Elevated Learning Experience (E.L.E.), Teixeira is opening the doors for families who normally don't have the time and income to homeschool their children by connecting them with families who already homeschool.

Teixeira said parents with homeschool experience can apply to create an E.L.E. program pod, which is a homeschool curriculum individualized by the parents that follows both the local school district and state requirements and the E.L.E. back-to-basics curriculum.

After a pod is created, families interested in homeschooling their children can connect with other families who created those pods to find the one that best matches their child's educational goals. Teixeira said this is a place where families can go and get their homeschooling needs met.

Parents are more involved in their child's schooling

"After the pandemic, a lot of parents are now getting more involved with their kids' education and realizing that the people who are in charge of educating their kids are not listening to their needs," she said. "Homeschooling isn't for everyone, but it works for so many people, but some parents just don't have the time or resources to do it."

Besides expanding the demographics of families in the homeschool community, Teixeira said her E.L.E. program's main focus is teaching children emotional intelligence, which many public schools do not focus on.

Tara Teixeira said her three kids are enrolled in public school because she has no other way to educate them, but she hopes her kids will join the E.L.E. program along with other children by this coming fall. She said her kids have the right to choose but they will still do the Back-to-Basic curriculum at home to work on their emotional intelligence.

Based on her work as a paraprofessional, Teixeira said many students in public schools have emotional issues and cannot regulate their emotions.

"Now information is just so easily accessible, anyone can learn anything through Google, but adults and children are not taught to be emotionally intelligent," she said. "Our emotional intelligence is just so low and because the public school system is not teaching kids about it."

A monthly membership fee of $29.99 includes access to all E.L.E. program curricula and one-on-one time with Teixeira. During the one-on-one time, Teixeira will teach members how to write an academic plan and guide them through the homeschool application process. Members also have access to the community forum to connect with other members.

More: The BB Chapel hosts a homeschool open house to provide families support

Any parent or educator wanting to create their pod can now submit an application through the E.L.E. website. At the moment, Teixeira said she isn't taking any applications from families interested in homeschooling their kids with E.L.E. because she is still working on interviewing pod members and establishing those curricula.

"I'm not trying to replace public schools. I think there are many great teachers out there, but the problem is the people in charge that aren't listening to both parents and teachers," she said. "A parent, grandparent or guardian can create an E.L.E. pod with me and not only teach their kids and other people's kids math or science, but whatever knowledge they carry."

How did she get the idea?

Three years ago, Teixeira switched paths after a long career working with the elderly to working as an elementary paraprofessional. She said her new career choice had pushed her to continue her education at Mount Wachusett Community College to earn an elementary school teaching degree.

Teixeira said she is still continuing classes at MWCC because she understands learning more about public education can help her develop a better program.

After doing a semester on elementary education, Teixeira said she realized teaching in the public school system isn't something she wants to do anymore. After working with special needs students as a paraprofessional and as a parent with three children in public school, she realized the public school curriculum is outdated and isn't teaching children emotional intelligence.

What is emotional intelligence?

Emotional Intelligence is the awareness and the ability to understand and manage one's emotions and other people's.

Teixeria said the E.L.E. program's Back-to-Basic curriculum covers a wide range of topics every month that introduce emotional intelligence to the children and guide them in strengthening it. For example, in one month, children in the homeschool program will learn about shadow work, which is a psychological practice that allows the individual to reflect on repressed memories, negative emotions, trauma and resentment in their lives, which eventually leads to acceptance and the exploration of their personality.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Homeschool program in Gardner area teaches emotional intelligence