REDEFINING CLASSICS

My name is Amber O’Neal Johnston, and I live in Georgia, nestled among pine trees, hammocks, and zip lines with my husband and our four children. My happy place is the back porch on a rainy day, preferably with a giant mug of hot tea and a good book. And although I was raised in the air conditioning, somehow, the woods is where I feel most at home these days.

When we have the chance, my family enjoys extended worldschooling trips to immerse ourselves in other cultures, and even when we’re nestled in at home, we continue to pursue globally-minded living and learning within our local community and beyond.

I never planned to educate my children at home, but God placed so many inspiring homeschool moms in my path that something I once considered strange slowly began feeling like a possibility and then a probability. Now I can’t imagine living and learning any other way. I’m also the product of two public school principals, and I like to include all parents, regardless of school choice, when I write.

Years ago, I started HeritageMom.com to document and discuss the joys and trials of raising my kids to love themselves and others. Since then, I’ve journeyed from a cookie-cutter approach to homeschooling that left my children feeling unacknowledged and invisible to discovering the magic of using my “special sauce” to create an inclusive and culturally rich home learning environment.

I write and speak about including diverse voices in traditional curricula and infusing culture and heritage into the home and beyond. I have a special emphasis on literature, poetry, art, music, history, and food, and when asked about my path, I like to smile and say, “In my house, Charlotte Mason has an afro.”

From her website at http://www.heritagemom.com