Welcome to REC

Welcome to Rooted Educational Cooperative!

This year we traveled to Yosemite after studying National Parks all year. Want to hear more about our trip or the lessons we learned along the way? Check out our previous blog posts!

If you're new here, welcome.

I'm glad you're here!

Over the last several months, many new faces have found their way to Rooted Educational Cooperative, and I thought it might be time to share a little about who I am and how REC came to be.

For nearly fifteen years, I worked in traditional education.

I have been a teacher, administrator, counselor, curriculum writer, coach, mentor, and probably a dozen other titles that come with life in a school. I have worked in public schools, private schools, colleges, and Christian education. I have taught students from kindergarten through adulthood.

And I loved it.

I loved the students.

I loved the teachers.

I loved the games, the hallway fist bumps, the field trips, the school spirit, and the organized chaos that comes with school life.

I loved watching children learn.

I loved helping families.

I loved seeing students for who they are, even in the midst of struggles.

I loved all of it.

Which is why leaving it hurt so much.

For years, I felt God gently nudging me toward something different.

I ignored it—then I argued with it. Then I explained to God all the reasons it didn't make sense.

After all, I had spent years preparing for this work. I had invested my education, my career, my time, and my heart into schools. Why would I walk away from something I loved so deeply?

But God has a way of continuing to call even when we are reluctant to answer.

And for me, that call became impossible to ignore through my youngest son.

My youngest is one of the kindest people I know.

He is soft-hearted and tender, yet somehow tough as nails at the same time. He still carries around lovies at seven years old, and he also keeps a pocketknife close by whenever he can. He loves taking apart motors, building things with his hands, and figuring out how things work.

He attended the school where I worked.

He had an incredible teacher who loved him dearly.

He attended a wonderful Christ-centered school.

On paper, everything looked exactly as it should.

And yet, something wasn't working.

I would find him sitting at cafeteria tables in tears.

He struggled to connect with peers.

He came home quiet.

The spark that made him who he was seemed to disappear during the school day.

He wasn't thriving.

At the same time, his older brother was flourishing.

My oldest is intelligent in a way that constantly amazes me. He absorbs information like a sponge. He is social, outgoing, and has never met a stranger. School fit him beautifully.

So when God began calling me toward homeschooling, I resisted with everything I had.

Because in my mind, homeschooling would only benefit one of my children.

How could I justify pulling the other away from something that was serving him so well?

There were many late nights. Many tears. Many prayers that sounded more like arguments.

But eventually, I realized that obedience doesn't always come with understanding. Sometimes God asks us to trust before He reveals the outcome.

The call became undeniable.

I was being called out of the classroom.

I was supposed to homeschool my children.

And so, with equal parts faith and fear, I resigned my position.

I withdrew my kids from school.

I ordered curriculum.

I wrote curriculum.

I planned lessons.

I mapped out our year.

And then we began.

What happened next surprised me—the more I learned about home education, the more I saw its possibilities.

The more experiences we had together, the more confident I became.

The more I watched both of my boys thrive—not just one, but both—the more convinced I became that learning could look different than I had always imagined.

I watched confidence return— curiosity grow— and learning become something we lived rather than something we completed.

And somewhere along the way, a new dream began to take shape.

What if other families could experience this too?

What if there was a way to create meaningful, hands-on, Christ-centered learning opportunities that complemented the homeschool journey?

What if we built a community where students could learn together, explore together, and build lasting relationships while remaining rooted in family-centered education?

That question became Rooted Educational Cooperative.

REC is still young. We are still learning and building.

And behind the scenes, it has already been a wild ride. (Federal nonprofit paperwork alone deserves its own support group.)

But every step has reminded me that this wasn't my idea in the first place.

This was a calling— this was HIS idea.

A calling that was difficult.

A calling that required letting go of something I loved.

A calling that stretched my faith.

And a calling that has proven, time and again, that God's plans are often bigger than our own.

So whether you've been here since the beginning or you just recently stumbled across REC, thank you.

Thank you for reading— praying— encouraging. And maybe, thank you for considering joining us on this journey.

We're just getting started. And I can't wait to see where God leads next.

With grace and grit—

Kehla