KindlED | The Prenda Podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments through microschooling. Powered by Prenda, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle curiosity, motivation, and well-being in young learners. Do you have a question, topic, or story you'd like to share with us? Get in touch at podcast@prenda.com.
KindlED | The Prenda Podcast
Episode 86: What Does it Take to Start a Microschool? A Conversation with Brittany Miller.
We explore the front lines of the microschool movement with Brittany Munk-Miller, a Prenda microschool specialist, and unpack what it really takes to start small, teach with heart, and track meaningful growth beyond letter grades. We share stories, tools, and steps that make launching doable with zero upfront cost.
• who typically starts microschools and why
• definitions, sizes, and common locations for microschools
• traits of effective guides and the student‑centered role
• curriculum structure, mastery, and flexible customization
• balancing technology, AI tutors, and hands‑on projects
• how costs work, including no startup fees with Prenda
• starting small to test demand and lower risk
• accreditation concerns and the Empowered Learner Report
• shifting from grades to portfolios and empowerment metrics
• founder and student stories that show fires rekindled
About our guest
Brittany is a Microschool Specialist at Prenda. Every day, she talks to people thinking about starting microschools, hears their unique stories and passion for the work, and helps them overcome barriers. She is passionate about helping educators and parents create their dream learning environments. Prior to Prenda, Brittany was a successful sales leader and entrepreneur. She is also the mom of three wonderful kids.
Connect with Brittany
LinkedIn
Start a Prenda Microschool
Got a story to share or question you want us to answer? Send us a message!
About the podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments.
Powered by Prenda Microschools, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle young learners' curiosity, motivation, and well-being.
Got a burning question?
We're all ears! If you have a question or topic you'd love our hosts to tackle, please send it to podcast@prenda.com. Let's dive into the conversation together!
Important links:
• Connect with us on social
• Get our free literacy curriculum
Interested in starting a microschool?
Prenda provides all the tools and support you need to start and run an amazing microschool. Create a free Prenda World account to start designing your future microschool today. More info at ➡️ Prenda.com or if you're ready to get going ➡️ Start My Microschool
Yeah, so hopefully we've we haven't beat this horse to death, but I will just say I hope that if you're if you're thinking, okay, I need two years and a whole team and I need to spend lots and lots of capital to do this, think again, that's really not the case, and focus on what you do have, which is you've got a passion for this, you've got relationships in your community. The thing to start with is is there a need and can I solve it? Welcome back for another exciting episode of the Kindled Podcast sponsored by Prenda. I'm Kelly Smith, I'm your host for today, and I'm excited to be talking to Brittany Monk. Brittany is a microschool specialist at Prenda. So she is the one that people talk to when they're thinking about opening a microschool. Brittany has a warmth, a depth, she understands the ins and outs of who wants to start microschools, why they want to start it, and all of the reasons that are getting in their way of taking that leap forward. So it's fascinating to talk to her to get a real glimpse into the microschool movement from the ground floor, from the front lines. And I know you'll enjoy talking to her about the types of things she's seeing, the reasons people do microschools, the reasons they don't, and what we can do to help them. So I hope you enjoy this episode with Brittany Monk. Okay, Britney Monk, welcome to the Prenda Podcast. I'm excited to have you here.
SPEAKER_02:Thanks, Kelly. I'm so excited to be here.
SPEAKER_00:This is a little different. Britney, you and I know each other really well. We work together. Brittany joined Prenda, what was it, like a year and a half ago? And you've been spending basically nonstop time on the phone with people that want to start microschools.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it has been about a year and a half. I came in as a microschool specialist with Prenda. So every day I get to talk to those guides or potential guides who have reached out saying, what is a microschool? How do I do it? What does it look like? So it's been an incredible year.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. Well, you are indefatigable. You've got great energy. I know that the people that get to work with you on the phone and the people that you're helping get through the obstacles appreciate you. I get feedback all the time. Like we love Brittany, love how her energy is so good. And so I'm excited for you to just share a little bit. I thought our audience would like a glimpse into what it's like. Who are these people? What are they interested in? We're basically going to walk through just some questions that you get, some of the things people are interested in. Uh, and let's just see if we can kind of share that kind of on the ground perspective with a bigger audience here as we do the podcast. So does that sound good? You ready to dive in?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, let's dive in. That's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_00:The questions that people ask, I know we'll get into those, but before we do that, just tell me who these people are. Can you give me like a picture of who we're talking about and what should we have in our minds as we think about the person on the other end of the phone interested in starting a microschool?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, great question. So, you know, anyone can go to our website. When they go to Prenda.com, start my microschool, you know, it can be anyone. So we get all walks of life. We get a lot of educators, people who are teachers, um, whether it's public school, private school, charter school, someone wanting more flexibility and something different. We have homeschooling parents who love the idea of their child getting that homeschooling atmosphere and flexibility, but maybe they need to go into a second job, or maybe they're looking for extra income, or maybe they're just looking for more social interaction with their children. We also get people who are awesome members of their community saying, People tell me all the time that I should do something that I should help with kids, and and I see this need in my community. So I'm going to raise my hand and be that person. Um, it can be from all different states and different scenarios. Every time we get on a call with someone, you know, I never fully know what to expect, but I can tell you like one thing in common, they have a ton of heart and passion for making a difference. So from there, we just are able to take the next steps to bring their vision to life. So a lot of variety.
SPEAKER_00:Wonderful. I love it. And I love that you connected the dots here because as I'm listening, people in the community, parents, educators, I mean, these are folks that are known for heart. They they spend so much of themselves and their time and energy to just give to others and and build people up. These are the type of people that, not to be too cheesy about it, but these are the people that give you hope for the future of humanity, right? They're out there building, connecting, inspiring. Awesome. Well, shout out to everybody who's thought about starting a micro school, thinking about it, currently working on it. There's a world of opportunity here for you, and we hope you'll take a minute and and step up and consider doing your own contribution, whatever that's going to look like. Okay, so we've talked about microschools. Brittany, well, you know, what do people understand about microschools when they come in and you're working with them? I mean, this seems like a question that you get a lot. It's like, what is a microschool?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, well, honestly, sometimes it's truly like I see you guys on social media. My friend is talking about it. Someone at my community center brought it up. What is a microschool? So sometimes it's just the word that they're hearing, almost like a buzzword. They know a little bit. Maybe it's like a hybrid of public school and homeschooling. I hear all different like definitions of a microschool. So some come not knowing very much at all. And some come, especially in states where we've been around for a while, they know about it. They just maybe didn't feel like, can I do this? Like, can I really do this? So I think that is a big question. And Kelly, a lot of times I actually start with sharing your story. You know, where did this idea of a microschool start? Your story's really powerful, and people they hear your story, they hear other stories, and it's kind of inspires them. Like, okay, Kelly was just a parent, not just a parent, but he was a parent who wanted to make a difference for his child. That's kind of where I'm feeling.
SPEAKER_00:Certainly.
SPEAKER_02:Can I be?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, certainly just a parent for sure. And and I know some of you have heard this story before, but the short version is as a dad of four, I was watching my kids really grapple with traditional education. And they were doing okay, they were getting grade, good grades, and they were not, you know, completely shut off to the idea of going to school, but you could see the engagement going down and the enthusiasm was out. And they weren't becoming the you know empowered learners on fire, excited about life and and what they're capable of. The type of person that I wanted to be myself, and I I wish school had brought that out in me. It unfortunately did not. So I had to get that in other ways. But as I saw that, I thought, well, what could it look like? And meanwhile, I had been doing a thing at the public library and after school program that showed me what real powerful engaged learning can look like. So yeah, seven kids around my kitchen table. And when people ask, you know, what's a microschool? Micro means small, right? So we're really we are talking about little groups. There's been recent expansion. I think people will refer to much larger entities as microschools, 50. I've even seen a hundred kids called a micro school before. But typically for us, you know, I started with seven, pictured something like 10, oftentimes meeting in an informal space. So that could be a home, a church, a community center. And this is, you know, the structure of it. Now, could does that have to be completely separate in someone's house? No, of course not. We have microschools that meet on campus, elementary schools in a in a local public elementary school. We have multiple micro schools teaming up and using a larger facility together. So micro school of 10 kids and one adult, you know, that's the small part, but it doesn't have to be always just, you know, a few kids and and you. There's a lot of flexibility in terms of how we put these things together. Is there anything else? I mean, are they asking about how does it, how does it work? Let's talk about, yeah, what what else would you say to these folks?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think when it comes to the question of around a microschool, it first of all is like, who can do a microschool? Like, what do I need to have to be able to do it? And I think that's what's so powerful of your story and other stories coming in of those who have started microschools. Is it started with heart? It started with you seeing an issue and being willing to take that stand. I mean, we can help you with all the tools and the support and all those things, but if you're willing to do it, that's so it's just interesting being able to instill within these people interested, like you can absolutely do this. I I know that because I'm hearing you share how much you care and are into you know helping make an impact to with children and and their education. So I think it's just a lot of that conversation of can I do this? Can anyone do this? Do I need to have a certification? Do I need to have a certain location? Do I need to do that? So, so Kelly, I'm curious. You talk to folks all the time, like traveling and out and about. And what do you say to folks when they're asking you, like, who can do a microschool? What about a location? How do you show how microschools different, it differentiate from like a public school, charter school, things like that?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, well, one of the things that's amazing about a microschool is you can, in this different format, you can do school differently. It opens up new possibilities. And if you look hard at the Prenda model, for example, you're gonna see a student-centered model where kids really are at the center. They're setting goals for themselves, they're out pursuing learning in variety of formats. They're working through assessments, but they're really moving towards mastery in their core academics. Meanwhile, they're teaming up with other kids and they're working on projects that they've chosen, things that they're excited about. So it's all about lighting that fire and engaging them. You might say, okay, well, that sounds like new age, newfangled stuff. You know, what's cool is it's all in the literature. These are things that academic researchers about education, they've they've known these things for decades. They're not really new, but unfortunately, it's really hard to implement. I mean, if you you kind of take an extreme case of this, go back to the 1840s when Horace Mann came back from Prussia and they were starting these free schools all over America. No, there was only one person in town that knew about science or math or, you know, that was able to kind of point kids to good literature. And that person's the teacher. They're the there, the constraint was information, right? It was like no one else knows this stuff. So the thing that we had to do was sit kids down quietly and have that person tell them the information. Well, now, fast forward to today, it's a totally different world. The information is no longer the scarce resource. There's information everywhere. In fact, maybe too much information. And what you need is help navigating. Yeah. How can I become a learner? How can I discern between good and bad information? How can I set goals, practice, know if I'm doing well, track myself against progress? And so prendous tools, of course, help with that. But the adult now playing a much different role, and this gets back to your question. What really leads to success here? It's can I see a human being across from me, literally an individual human? Do I know your name? Do I know what's going on with you? Do I genuinely care about you? Because guess what? Kids intuit this, they can feel it so acutely. They know if we care. And so if you can care about a kid, you can be a guide in a microschool. You can create an overwhelming impact in their life. You don't have to be an expert on all those things because, like you said, we provide all of that to support you in it. So, yeah, it's really about being the mentor, being the coach, being the guide. Now, that is hard work. It's tiring, it's emotional, it's tricky because humans are nonlinear. They're they're uh confusing creatures, right? And so as we think about what does it really take to help a group of eight, 10, 12 young humans to become the best version of themselves possible. That's moving targets, it's different answers for different kids. So hard to do, but if you're up for the task, start a microschool, you're you're perfect for it because that's a a work that calls you. And if it calls you, uh, then I think you know, you we can get through everything else.
SPEAKER_02:You know, I just this morning I was talking to a gal who had called us. She has been looking into doing a microschool for a few years now in Florida, and she said, I tried to change things within. You know, I was in a public school for a few years, I even went to a private school and a charter school, and she said, I finally realized I need to create my own microschool because I'm having 30 to 40 kids, you know, things are changing all the time. I feel like I'm not able to do the whole reason why I got into teaching. It is just not what I want to do. And she said, in a microschool, I can give that one-on-one attention, I can have that smaller school setting. Like these children are not being seen, they're getting lost, and I see that, but there's nothing I can do. I tried to change that within, but things are out of my control. So the thing that drove her the most to look into a microschool was being able to have that small group setting, like you're saying, where they can see her, she can see them, and just be that person for them. And that was just getting lost over the 20 years of, you know, the different things she did. So that really spoke to her and why she came to Pranda was getting finally that opportunity to do what she felt was the best for the child.
SPEAKER_00:It's so inspiring to think about people like that. I've heard that a version of that story as well and met these folks. I bet there are people right now listening to this at home or on the treadmill somewhere and they're pumping their fists in the air. They're so excited because they're saying, That's me. That's me too. And if that's you, honestly, you can do it. Don't let fear get in your way. You're capable of making a contribution that's truly life-altering for young humans. I mean, what is better than that?
SPEAKER_02:So true.
SPEAKER_00:Let's talk a little bit. Yeah, what kind of logistical questions do you hear? I mean, what are the types of things people are interested in?
SPEAKER_02:So a big question comes, you know, what is the curriculum of a Prenda Microschool? What does that look like in your day-to-day? What do you cover? What kind of curriculum? What are my options? It it kind of surrounds that whole question of what exactly will I be doing in this microschool? How much flexibility do I have? How much is given to me? How much do I have to do on my own?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, people ask me this a lot. What is Prenda trying to do? I tell them we see the barrier to starting a microschool as lower than it was in the past, but it's still too high. So we're trying to help people take the barriers down so that nobody's going to run into, you know, I don't have a reading curriculum and therefore I can't start a microschool, or I don't have a way of collecting money from families and therefore I can't start a micro school. We've taken those, those pieces that are elements of basically any microschool, and we've provided an option out of the box. So our goal, of course, is to make this as easy as possible. And what you'll see when you look at Prenda's offering is basically it's a learning, full contained learning model and a full contained business tool. And you put that together, I can run my small business. A micro school is a small business, it's a really small business, and I can run a learning model that, again, is self, you know, student-centered, the kids are working at their own pace. You have inquiry and group activities and projects, but you know, all of that kind of working out of the shoot. Now, what you see, you know, and I love this question. They say, What am I allowed to change? It's your microschool. And so you're basically allowed to change anything you want. Over time, typically people start out pretty close to what we give them, but over time they say, Hey, I would actually like to add a focus on robotics or electronics. And we were going to do these Arduino kits. It's a different thing than Prenda typically provides. Or maybe all the kids in my microschool like running and we're going to start a running club. I've seen so many different directions that people will take and customize. So each microschool looks different. And one of my favorite things is to go visit the microschools. I get to see groups flavor. You know, it's not just the guide, the adult that's running the microschool, but also the individual kids that kind of make up what this culture is going to be about. And it's truly empowering for the kids and the adult that are involved in the microschool.
SPEAKER_02:I hear that so often that, you know, I haven't started one because it's too intimidating to start. I came with Prenda, they created the bones of it and all the things that I need to feel confident in this. And then I was able to add my own, you know, flair and spice to it because you know the kids, you know your community. You know, that's the fun part about it is yes, we'll help you create so that you feel confident in going into it. But oh my gosh, you get the flexibility and you get to create what that looks like every day because they need you. And that's been really fun to see that, like you said, all the different types of folks. This microschool and the little exciting things they've done. I talked with one today who is so passionate about art and so excited to be able to bring this really cool, you know, different art things to her classroom. And so it's just fun. It's fun to hear, you know, what you're passionate about and what you bring to your microschool.
SPEAKER_00:My daughters were in a microschool run by a uh PhD geologist. So she was very excited about earth sciences. Um, and they would do all kinds of earth science, and the field trips were amazing, and she had all this interesting insight, but she was also obsessed with poetry, like Victorian-era poetry. So they they were doing science and they had this poetry tea time thing that they would do, and the kids would write and share their poems with each other. And I'm just thinking, what an eclectic combination. I mean, just this person, she's the only one I know that's so excited about poetry and so deep on science in one person. And it was just it was beautiful how she was able to take that and manifest it into a microschool that's truly unique. It was awesome.
unknown:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, what else? So another question is Prenda, there, I think there's like maybe some misunderstandings or confusion about how it works with technology and prenda. We get a lot of questions of, well, I want kids to do hands-on projects too. I don't want them to be on a computer all day. What if I want them to do some workbook stuff or hands-on projects or field trips? So, how do you answer that question when it comes to Prenda seems to be all on the computer?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I love that question because I'm a big believer in human interaction. I think learning is a thing that we do with and from other humans. That's why micro schools, as opposed to, you know, I think many entities have gone completely online or they've used software only. To me, all of what we've built is designed to lower those barriers and make it more accessible and easier for people to implement. So, you know, give an example of this math, right? The old way to do math was you would have a lesson delivered by a human in front of the room, and then you would have worksheets, and the kids would fill out the worksheets, and then that same human, probably that was delivering the information now has to go through each of the worksheets and say what's right and what's wrong, and then hopefully at least assess enough of a, you know, a gap analysis to be able to kind of tailor the teaching and instruction next time to try to help fill those voids in bulk, right? Because it's a large group. So you can think about all of the work to truly do that, you know, effectively, especially when you have kids working in apprentium microschool, you might only have 10 kids and each of them are working on something completely different because each one's at their learning frontier. This is the next thing, and we want to measure mastery. It's not about just sitting through lessons or finishing the unit. So, in order to pull that off, you can imagine how much work an individual would have to do to do it the old way, right? The paper way without any sort of help from technology. Now, even in 10, even with 10 kids, it's hard. It's a lot of work to do with just worksheets. So we do offer the worksheets as a choice, but also, and this is where we we like technology. Now, I will say technology as the vehicle for, you know, maybe it's a lesson, a video lesson that you can watch. Maybe it's hints that are very tailored to you. We actually put kids directly in touch with AI tutors. So if you're stuck on something, the AI tutor is actually very good at figuring out what you understand and what you don't understand through an almost Socratic dialogue that you're chatting back and forth. So that is technology. It's all delivered through computer, but it's not computer in the way that I think a lot of parents think about it, like just sort of kids enzyme. Zombie mode absorbing uh you know some sort of cartoon. Like, you know, it has a very active stance. In fact, if you see kids in a microschool, the computer's here, there's scratch paper, they're working it out, there's a kid next to them, they're asking questions and trying to figure out finally how to get the fractions on the same common denominator, and then they take their answer back and get instantaneous feedback from the computer, redirecting them to resources if they need it, and measuring mastery and moving them forward without the teacher needing to do any of that manual labor of creating papers and putting stuff into workbooks and plotting the difference. So it's a fine line, right? I think there are places where you really do want to kind of back up. And I will say you walk into a microschool, you'll see collaborate mode, connect mode, some of these things that we do that are very hands-on, in-person, team building, syncretic dialogue, we're debating, we're teaching each other, we're doing hands-on science experiments, all of that, truly an offline experience, but but deliver the the curriculum is given to the the microschool guide via computer. I mean, that's the effective way to get this all out. But yeah, it's not a strictly computer program and it's really about human learning, and that can be really augmented and facilitated by technology when it's used carefully and effectively.
SPEAKER_02:I love that. And it goes back to the whole idea of at the end of the day, you get to customize your school. So if you I love hearing the guides talk about their day, and they're like, today we built this whole maze out of boxes, and then we did like the measurements and we did this, and it's like, then we uploaded it here, and others, you know, they're doing this project and this. It's customizable. You get to choose how you how your day looks and what you do. We're just trying to keep it as simple as possible for you as far as the guide goes. We hear a lot of burnout and a lot of things, so it's like we've got it figured out for you, but you please use your customization to make it how you want and where you want to spend your time and how the children spend their time. So it's just neat to see it's there for you, and you you decide how much or how little you use, whether it's workbooks, the hands-on projects, the software. I really love how it's all created with all learners in mind. Some do want to learn this hands-on, and that's when it clicks. And some want to dive in deeper on an article and a video. I love how the articles in the software dive deep as far as these kids want to go. Like they're not stuck at learning one thing. It's like, no, now you can watch this video. Now you can do an activity on that project. So it really encourages the kids to keep being excited to learn about something and teach them to love to learn again. It's really fun to see it in action. So again, it's like we've built these tools for you. You use them, you know, to help you best how you see that working for you guys. So awesome. So another big question that comes in, Kelly, is especially I would say in the last year, I'm seeing a huge uptick in questions where we go through their vision and their why and like how excited they are to create this microschool in their community and and what they're wanting to do. And then they ask what Prenda has to offer and what we help them and how we we partner with them. And then the question comes, okay, so how much is your startup fee to start with Prenda? The question of how much does Prenda cost? And it's so funny every time you say, Oh, I can't wait to tell you. There's no startup cost. Do you mind just breaking down the cost? That is one of the most common questions. And honestly, they get so excited every time when they hear, like, wait, what? Stop the brakes. Yeah, more.
SPEAKER_00:No, it's a it's a great question. Uh, you know, I think this this microschool area is still relatively new. I mean, that microschool that I started in my house was oh, it feels like forever ago, but that was seven years ago, almost eight years ago, that I started that microschool in my house. So, really, in the last eight years, it was one crazy guy in Arizona doing microschool to now, you know, thousands of them around the country. People know the name. It's a thing. And there are entities that get in there. And so there's consultants that will say, I'll help you, and you just pay me a fee. There are people that will say, Here's a program and this is how much it costs to sign up, an entry fee like you're talking about. Prenda actually, our our whole thing is just we want to make this available to as many people as possible and just provide as much value as we can. So honestly, we just said it doesn't cost anything to start. And the only time we're gonna get paid, we do charge for our platform, but we charge when you're making money as the guide. I mean, that was the thing that that made the most sense to us. So we said, let's let's go ahead and zero fee up front. I know that's the part people kind of are surprised about. Like, really? Nothing. No, we want you to get in and get your feet under you and get started. And there's great resources, there's training, community. We have software that helps you get everything set up, both on the administrative side of running the microschool, even into this is how I'm going to run school. And we have a lot of people, for example, the the learning models, we have four C's in our in our day, so the structure of the day. And we're showing you how to run a micro school that's truly incorporating all these research practices and putting them into a simple format that kids can understand. It's very different than what kids are used to in traditional school, but in a good way, right? You see kids that are engaged, they're excited, they're making tremendous progress on academics, but they also are exercising creativity and they're taking their interests in directions that just previously had been sort of left untapped. So put all that together, uh, nothing up front, and then you pay as as you run a portion of the money that comes into you as the proprietor of your microschool. So when the parents pay, you pay a small piece of that to to prend it.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's actually really amazing because they, you know, there are uh other maybe up and coming, like you said, consultants and things. And so the guides are creating a business and they're excited about this. And then to find out all that you just shared, all that offering, all that support, I'm not paying you right now for. Like that helps a ton for them to be able to feel confident in taking the next step towards creating their microschool, knowing they're not putting like$5,000 out of pocket. I actually just talked to a gentleman this morning who was so excited to create this microschool that he has envisioned. His grandmother really inspired him. She passed away last December. So, in honor of her, he's starting a microschool and calling it after her name. Just like a beautiful, beautiful story. But all these things he's finding, it was like$1,000 to help you find a location,$5,000 to help you set it up. Like he's finding all these things. So when he came to Prenda, he was planning on paying a startup fee for us because of what he had seen. And so it was a really almost emotional conversation of like, no, we're not charging you anything to start. Let's get you going. Let's get you all the tools and resources. We'll get paid when you get paid. So we're in this together. And if you've ever started a business, you feel so alone. You do. And to have someone else saying, Hey, since I don't get paid till you get paid, we're running this race together. We're gonna support you. We're gonna make sure you're successful. And it just put that fire back in him to do this. And it's just that same story every time we talk to someone to say, this is so much more than getting paid. This is about the mission, this is our purpose, and we're proving that every time we link arms with somebody.
SPEAKER_00:So no, the world needs you. I mean, I'm thinking about this gentleman, and just I'm hoping he's listening to this and he's saying, Yeah, I'm gonna do it. The world the world needs your contribution and and so many others. It's interesting you brought up small businesses. I mean, this is something that's come up more and more. People are starting to see, really recognize that micro schools are a form of small business, and this is entrepreneurship and innovation. You could call it the lifeblood of the American society and and economy. There was a time in small businesses where it was really hard to get basically two things were happening is one was it kind of got blown, uh, blown up to be a pretty big thing to start a business. So it's kind of like go find your lawyer and spend$10,000, you know, and then go find a realtor and rent your facility space. And you're you're pretty soon like basically starting in a hole, right? As you start your business. And that was, you know, I think later people realized that that was bad advice for entrepreneurs. What entrepreneurship is all about is it's it is a risk. You're you're looking to see if you have a solution to someone's problem. And so when you're starting a business, you want to get to that question very, very quickly. Do I have something that can solve this person's problem? And in, you know, in things like software, you'd start to see people working out of their bedroom or their garage and putting what they call a minimum viable product, just a very lightweight thing, instead of huge business plans with lawyers and real estate and you know, regulatory everything. It's like, let's see if we have a solution. And I think the same, we're in danger of kind of going the wrong road here with microschools. I think there is advice out there that's like, let's turn this into a big thing. It's often given by people that make their living selling these consulting services or these things. So they're saying, yeah, absolutely, you need$100,000 in capital and you need a facility and you need all of these things. And and those things, if you want to grow big, you absolutely do need to do all of those things. But you could also and you should start small, regardless whether you want to grow big or stay small. Uh, there's so many people that I've met that, you know, they started with a microschool in their house with 10 kids, and today, six years later, they still have a micro school in their house with six kids. They've made such a huge impact in the lives of small numbers of kids. They've created something beautiful. They're known and respected in their community, and they don't care about being on Forbes magazine or anything like that. It's it's really about the impact that they're making. So I think it's very custom to you and who you are. But regardless, yeah, I would just say, let's keep this small, keep this simple at the beginning, especially. And let's not worry so much about, you know, all these things that people will tell you have to be true. Really, the thing that needs to be true is you're offering an education that parents want, right? And so go talk to parents and see if they want it. And you'll find very quickly that there's parents hurting and they're looking for options and they believe in you. And then you build on that.
SPEAKER_02:That is, I'm so glad you brought that up because we do get that hesitation of, oh my gosh, I love this. I can't wait to do this. Okay, I'll call you guys when I find a location. And it's like, oh, remember, you can do this from your home. And they're like, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Like they almost have to unlearn or unthink a few things of what that looks like. And actually, some parents have called in thinking of creating their own microschool where they say, I want my kid to still have that homeschool feel to it, or like that warm, cozy, safe feel to it. That's a huge reason why I'm pulling them from, you know, a private or charter public, is I my child needs that that comfortable feeling. And I think that potential guides think, oh, I have to have it in a location. But that's not, that is not the case. Like you get to start small, lower the risk, see how it goes while you plan your next steps. I mean, and then I love the stories of those who are here six years later, still in their home. So of course, like whatever vision you have, we are going to help you every step of the way. But do not let location stop you. Um my favorite, I went to a microschool this summer, and you know, kids were in the living room, kids were outside, kids were on the steps. Like you really can create these spaces anywhere.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. Yeah. So hopefully we've we haven't beat this horse to death. But I will just say I hope that if you're if you're thinking, okay, I need two years and a whole team and I need to spend lots and lots of capital to do this. Think again. That's really not the case. And focus on what you do have, which is you've got a passion for this, you've got relationships in your community, get parents together tomorrow and have a conversation. Say, would you be interested if I were to start a microschool? And then you can work all these things out, the the details of where you're going to meet and how much it costs and all of those things. But yeah, the thing to start with is is there a need and can I solve it?
SPEAKER_02:That's perfect. Kind of along those lines. But after all these questions and all these concerns, and we kind of establish that and they start believing, okay, I can do this. The next kind of question is, but does this work? Like, is it accredited? What about the report cards? How do we define that they're succeeding? Like, what does that look like? So, you know, we have some really cool different tools and things to track progress and and go this route. But do you mind just chatting a little bit about accreditation, about the data here, report cards that we have? How would you answer those questions if they come in?
SPEAKER_00:No, absolutely. It's a it's an interesting area to think about. And we talk about this a lot on this podcast where we really are challenging the way that maybe status quo and convention has approached some of these things in the past, right? Over time, I think we've adopted a pretty passive stance as a society about education. So when you hear those questions about accreditation, transcripts, plugging into the next part of the system, what people are really doing is they're thinking about it in the way they were taught, which is you set your kid on an escalator when they're five, they ride that escalator until they're, you know, 18, they get off the escalator, get onto another escalator, which is college, right? So you're going from escalator to escalator, and hopefully at the end of college there's a job waiting for them and some sort of happy life. I think most people recognize that that's not really accurate anymore. I mean, so much of what kids are going to be doing as adults hasn't even been invented yet. It's brand new. I mean, you look at just the upheaval of AI over the last just couple of years, and you know, you think, okay, this escalator idea, it's outmoded. I think everybody kind of feels that's true. And yet we're so used to asking the questions, okay, so how is this, you know, this is how's this good or how's this bad? So what I would do is is kind of take a deep breath and then have a real conversation as parents with your kids, even where you're really looking at what do I want? What's my goal? What am I really hoping for for my child? And I think what you'll find is the word learning will come up at some level in that conversation. I mean, if you're listening to this, if you're into this kind of thing, it's likely that you're the type of person that's not just about, you know, jumping through arbitrary hoops and getting all the achievements and accolades and checking all the boxes on a page. I mean, this is really deeper than that. This is about humans becoming the best that they can be. And that's a beautiful and yet scary thing because we're talking about something that could look different from person to person. It's lofty, it's ambitious, it's risky because you know you're striving for things that you may not succeed with. And so you put all that together, you say, okay, that's what we're about. If that's not what you're about, totally fine. There are schools, so many schools, that will happily put you on an escalator and kind of take you through. And we feel fine with that existing because I think there's lots of different perspectives on these questions. But if your answer is, I want my child to be the best version of themselves, I want them to be truly happy and engaged, taking that challenge upon themselves and engaging in the messy work of becoming a learner, then Prend is a great place for you. And then you find the microschool that works. You find a guide that's created an environment you feel safe and happy about. And then you you really set them loose inside of the system to set their own goals, to do their own projects, to build their portfolio. And we've we've even answered some of those questions. So, for example, we threw out traditional report cards, you know, your B in math and an A in English. We threw that all away. We think there's lots of problems with that, and we can get into it. What we did was we know that parents want to know how their kids are doing. We know that other schools or other institutions care, you know, so there's nice to have a record. So we've replaced it with what we call the empowered learner report card. And this is really fun. It's basically a simple snapshot that shows three things. One, how are they doing on core academic skills? So they've set goals for math and English. You can see exactly where they are, what they've mastered, what they're trying to achieve this year, and how they're doing compared to those goals. Two, portfolio. They get to see all the work that they did, whether that's leading a collaborate activity or discussion, doing projects, it could be writing, science, art. There's a whole bunch of things. We have kids starting businesses and doing engineering competitions and the world's the limit on all of this. There's so much that you can do. And then finally, and this is totally different than how what you'll see in in most places, but we think it's really important, what we call the empowerment metrics, asking kids to sort of reflect on themselves as a learner. Do you love learning? Do you feel in control of your learning? Do you feel motivated? Do you feel like your level of challenge is appropriate, too hard or too easy? And we're asking throughout the school year all those questions and then capturing that information and putting it literally on the report card, completely controllable by the students. But what we see is, you know, kids that don't have an incentive to lie, they're really like taking a moment to reflect on this. And they're saying, Yeah, I do. I feel a lot of love for learning and I feel highly motivated. But in my microschool, I haven't felt a large degree of control. And then that's a discussion where the guide can help put them in the driver's seat, help them take more control. That's a long answer, but we've definitely been thinking hard about these things, and you'll see even more of this as Prenda continues to grow over the years.
SPEAKER_02:Well, and you hit on so many things that the even the guides who are calling in interested in starting, a lot of them are educators who said, I got into teaching for a reason and I'm not able to do that. I'm not finding that. But I see these like these children just struggling, and I just want to like help them so bad, but I have to hit this metric or this test or do this thing. But I just I want them to be curious again. I want them to love to learn again. And so they tried to change within, and now they're like, hey, we're gonna, we're gonna give you the opportunity. But then I was at a microschool this summer, you know, where I was able to see a child. He he talked about how he struggled, you know, there were behavior issues and all these things. And he's in a seventh grader now, thriving, creating a podcast and all these things. And you just see this kid who is just thriving because he just needed it to be a little different. And he didn't need the the D's to define him. He wanted someone who believed in him so he could believe in himself. And so to hear the the people who are wanting to start a microschool have that passion and understanding and then bring it to life in a child, it is amazing to watch unfold exactly what you're saying, where a child is not defined by a report card, but instead able to define within himself, am I learning? Am I growing? And then other ways to check that progress. And so it's really amazing what is happening across the country of these micro schools and the the difference they're making to the guides themselves. Like there's so much learning and growing for the guide, but then also the child. It's really, really beautiful.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And just to kind of underscore this, you know, there's these two um paradigms for thinking about education. And one of them is kind of pouring water into cups. You know, I think you see a lot of this with standards, standardized tests, um, you know, grades, transcripts, seat time. There's a lot of the structures of traditional education that's like you fifth graders that are 10, you sit here for a year and I'm gonna do these things to you, right? I'm teaching you these lessons, I'm forcing you to do these assignments and take these tests. And hopefully there's some learning that goes on with it, but it's really about kind of pouring that water and into each of their cups. But if you look at the ancient philosopher Plutarch, and I know I bring him up all the time, we we call this podcast the Kindled Podcast for this very quote. He says the mind is not a vessel to be filled, it's not about pouring water in a cup, it's about starting fires. It's a fire to be kindled. And, you know, you do very different things if you're trying to start a fire. Uh, I just did a video. Visual demonstration of this, you might see on our Instagram if you're following Prenda. I had a microschool kind of engage with me in this activity where the kids broke up into teams and they tried to start fires in the backyard. They were using no matches, so they were magnifying glasses and trying to get enough heat together and that right amount of air and fuel and heat so that the fire would start. They spent an hour at this, Britney. It was like fully inspiring to see just the persistence, dedication. I mean, they were trying so, so hard. It's really hard to start a fire. And they had read all this stuff on the internet. None of them had done it before. And it's just hard. So, you know, they're all in there. And finally, one of the groups, like after all this time, gets this fire going. And it's like so exciting. It's like, here's a fire. And just to make a point, it's just, I feel kind of like a jerk, but I took this picture of water and I was like, okay, let me help. And I poured the water like right on their fire. And they're just like, why would you do that? And I'm like, exactly. Why would you pour water on a fledgling fire? And it needs air and fuel and heat and water, pouring water on it. This is the danger of having the wrong paradigm. So when parents come to me, I know this sounds abstract, but they ask questions about accreditation. And yes, Prend is going to be accredited. We're working through that process. They ask questions about report cards. Yes, we have a report card. It's the Empowered Learner Report card. It's different than you think, but it's really not about those things. It's about those fires. Look at your child, look in their eyes. You can tell if there's a passion and excitement and interest in learning. You'll see things like, hey, I'm behind on my goal. I want to keep working on it this Saturday. You'll see kids that say, it's spring break. I don't want to go home. You'll see kids getting together and saying, can we keep working on this project, even though I have no homework and no deadline, no due date on it. So when you see those types of things, that's fire. That's what you want. And that's what Prend is all about. We've we feel like proud of the work we've done because we can see that fire picking up in kids all over. I mean, we work with thousands, so it's really exciting to see fire kindling in the eyes of young learners.
SPEAKER_02:And what's really amazing about that too is as I talk to these people wanting to start a microschool, I can tell their fire has been dimmed. Like that passion and everything, they are their fire is low or maybe not even there. And as we talk and as they talk about their why and their vision, I literally can feel that fire within them growing. And then we can say, It's there, it's still within you. You just haven't been in the right place or the right circumstance or whatever. You need to keep that fire going. And so as they're able to hear these stories of the children or see the impact and see the difference, they're like, that is why. That's why I got into this. This is why. Or a parent who feels like my child is struggling, I've tried everything. And then they see their fire, it burns that fire back within the parents. And so it's really beautiful in these conversations to literally feel across the phone or across the camera the fire within them as well. It's just, you know, I came to Prenda because of your book, Kelly. As an employee, you know, I always felt really strongly that part of my purpose in my life is to help people have that fire within. And I have it written in a journal that I've had since I was a young girl. And then I read your book and I thought, how does he know? Like, how does he know that's so special to me? He literally has a book about it and podcasts and all these things. I didn't feel like that was just a coincidence because there is something so special when your focus is about helping people light that fire within. And when you start a microschool, not only is it helping you, it's helping so many people do the same thing. You'll see it in their eyes, you'll see it in the way they behave. And it is just an incredible thing. So just kudos to you, Kelly, for starting this and for seeing this vision. All the folks I talk to every day, like this is exactly what they've been looking for. It is exactly why they do what they do. It's just been incredible to have a vehicle to do what they want to do, and that's through creating a microschool.
SPEAKER_00:Well, Brittany, I feel fired up as well. It's so fun to talk to you. And I appreciate you taking this time to just go through some of the things you're hearing as you get to work with hundreds, I don't know, thousands. How many people are you talking to? So many people that are exactly these.
SPEAKER_02:That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00:They're so inspiring and they bring so much heart. And we just appreciate all of you out there thinking about microschools and excited to help however we can in supporting you as you make your impact for kids and families in your community. So thank you so much. Brittany, before we wrap this up, we always ask every guest on the podcast about somebody in your life that's kindled a fire for you. Can you think about somebody like that that you would like to kind of acknowledge and and maybe talk about on the podcast?
SPEAKER_02:Oh, that's like making me emotional because, you know, I've been thinking about my dad a lot, actually, because that story I shared with you, we were actually walking through. I'm a farm girl, my dad's a farmer, and we were walking through a field and he was talking about things. And I just thought, man, when I talk to my dad, he's such like big vision and dreamer. It like light, I feel it. I feel it in my chest. It gets me excited and big vision. And so that's when I learned that idea of like how to light someone's fire. And I was reading my journal that day of that. And it's fresh on my mind because my dad just announced to our family he's selling his farm. And, you know, just all these emotions of that girl being in the field and learning about hard work. And I just had made a decision that day with him that that's what I want to do. I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't think I'm gonna farm, but I I want to be someone who can light that fire within. So I would say my dad, that's beautiful, someone who's humble and kind and hardworking, and who always wanted a better life for his family and his community, and just doing that, you know, one field at a time by inspiring his kids.
SPEAKER_00:So that's wonderful. Thanks for sharing that, Brittany. And thanks for being here on the podcast. And thanks to everybody for listening. You can find out more about Britney and Prenda simply just at prenda.com and click start my microschool. You'll speak to Britney or someone, another microschool specialist on our team that will take really good care of you. So thank you so much and uh appreciate it today. Let's uh Thank you.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks so much. The Kindled Podcast is brought to you by Prenda. Prenda makes it easy to start and run an amazing microschool based on all the ideas we talk about here on the Kindled Podcast. Don't forget to follow us on social media at PrendaLearn. And if you'd like more information about starting a microschool, just go to prenda.com. Thanks for listening, and remember to keep kindling.
