EdTech Startup Showcase

Eric Makelky: All right.

Welcome to our episode with Crescanova Global.

I'm excited to be joined again by Sarah Murcht and Katie Kelly.

Welcome, ladies.

How are you today?

Katie Kelly: Doing great.

Thank you so much for having us, Eric

Sarah Merkt: Doing well.

Looking forward to jumping in

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

So our theme today, we're-- our big question we're gonna answer is h-how does Crescanova Glo-Global fit into the educational puzzle for your child?

We talked a little bit last week about the specifics of the program and what the format looks like.

But one of the, one of the unique aspects of the Global program is the work that you do with parents.

And Katie, I know that's primarily your role, and you're also a Crescanova Global parent yourself so a dual role there.

But maybe a good starting point for our conversation today, can you talk about some of the conversations you've had with parents when they're first reaching out about Global as an option for their child?

Katie Kelly: Absolutely.

So one of the things that we, when we started CrescoNova, which then became CrescoNova Global was that we really, aside from just wanting to provide classes that were really engaging
and interesting for students, we also wanted to provide this part of parent education and support because that was a big piece of, as teachers, that naturally is part of what you do.

But I also worked as an educational consultant for several years after leaving a traditional, a more traditional classroom role.

And I think that one of the things that's so challenging as parents, and now that I'm a parent myself, is when you're going through you know, elementary school or any type of, I
think even the earliest decisions that you have to make for your child about, you know, where you put them into preschool or what, you know, do you put them into public school?

Do you put them into private school?

You have all of these types of decisions to make, and it's so challenging because everyone's feedback about their experiences are just based on their individual experiences.

So it's really hard to compare notes with other parents unless you have a very similar child background, all of those types of things.

So I think that parenting and making these types of parenting decisions can be very overwhelming for parents, and especially you add in any type of learning, learning challenge, learning difference, or even
just kids who are showing up to be more curious or, you know, have a different ty- different set of intellectual skills than their peers, that any of those types of decisions can get even more challenging.

So one of the things that we do at CrescoNova Global is we provide free educational counseling, consulting for any parents who are either
a- already a part of the program or really just wanting to learn more about CrescoNova and how it could fit into their learning journey.

So, we have a lot of different parents who come to us at different places in their learning journey.

It could be parents who are in a traditional school and they know that it need, they need, their child needs something additional, and so they're trying to f- you know, look at all the different ways that they can supplement their current school.

We have parents who are homeschooling their child.

They're, they could be part of a homeschooling community or just doing it on their own and putting together those resources.

Or we have parents who are kind of in between those two things, where they're either considering pulling out of a traditional school environment or just did and are trying to put the pieces together.

So I'll meet with parents, and really it's driven by the parent what our session will look like.

And I've met with some parents multiple times over the many years that they've been working with us to figure out it could be anything from how do you advocate
for your child within the traditional school what are resources other than Cresco Nova that could really help bolster their academic and intellectual needs.

And then for homeschool families, some parents who have just started homeschooling really want somebody to be looking at the big picture of the school.

And if they're piecemealing all of these different programs together into this learning puzzles, it can be helpful to have somebody with a background in education to look at it and say, is this kind of what we should be looking at?

Are the main goals being hit in this program?" Because I think once you step away from a more traditional school program, you realize that there is a lot of freedom in terms of the choices that you can make, and that can feel very overwhelming.

So that's one of the things that we really try and do is just to figure out how we can partner with parents in a way that can really benefit the child and their learning,
whether it's through our program and a sm- you know, our program could be a small piece of it, but we also want to look at the bigger picture of their learning journey.

Eric Makelky: Yeah, and it's kind of a double-edged sword.

Like, what a great time to, to be alive where there's so many different options for your child's education.

But, you know, just one generation ago it was like you're either going to school or you're homeschooled, and now we have all of these different programs and pieces, and parents I th- at
least in my experience some friends that I have that have made a switch either to homeschooling or other programs, I think they're realizing, like, that comes with a lot of responsibility.

You may have gotten your math and your reading, you know, curriculum, but that's not all that needs to go into your child's education as far as meeting their needs.

So I know that there's a lot of parents that are either making that decision or considering making a change on the educational setting for their child and need a lot of help.

So, c- so you-- One thing that I think is unique about the Global Program, you do some work with parents on the front end when they first sign up for courses.

But can you talk a little bit about the ongoing support?

Because I think that's a really unique aspect of your program.

Katie Kelly: Absolutely, and I'll let Sarah speak to that because she's the one who is really on the ground and communicating with parents every day

Sarah Merkt: Yeah I think sometimes for programs, of course, there's a lot of logistics to communicate.

But I think the biggest thing that we try to do for students and likewise for parents is this element of personalization.

So from the meeting, generally Katie is going to be the one that you meet.

We're going to identify goals.

We're going to identify areas of strength and growth and resources that you might need.

So you get this really fantastic takeaway that's personalized to your child, therefore personalized to you and what you might need help with, whether that's a book, whether that's some suggested math work in between.

We always have parents looking for more enrichment in math for a lot of our learners.

And then you come to me, and of course you get your class details.

But then throughout the process I'm usually checking in if you're a newer parent about how it's going.

It's open communication lines.

I'm checking in with the teachers about how the child is doing in class and depending on the length of the class, we have from 6 to 12 weeks there might be one or two check-ins.

But then at the end of class we offer these narrative reports where we have our teachers write a celebration and a growing edge for each child.

And I think that's a really fantastic way for teachers to take a look at what that child brought to the class, what they're really fantastic at, and then what is something that they can work on.

And this isn't because we don't do classes that are, you know, "Oh, your child needs to work on this one math skill," right?

It's more of a habit of mind.

It's more about a mindset towards their learning or a moment of collaboration that they wanna highlight and something really significant.

And throughout this feedback we've had just such fantastic responses from parents that not only does it give them a way to communicate with their child
about the learning that they've done as we, we try to address them to the children and have it be a time for parents and children to reflect together.

It's really about reflection.

But they've said, "Wow, like this is just something that would not have been drawn out whether my child was homeschooled in a
different program or whether they were at a more traditional school." And it just gives them a different way of looking at their child.

It's once again like another piece, another lens of how to view their child and a really usually rich response from our teachers.

And through me reading those, through me talking with the teachers as well I get kind of a great picture about where these children are.

And I think the parents feel that's really significant that we really understand where their children are and through the three years that we've been in operation
we really have been able to track certain habits of mind that the students have had and their growth in that and reflect that back with our returning families.

Eric Makelky: Yeah, that sounds like a much better way to give feedback than a score, a grade, a report card.

I know that's one question that, that teachers get a lot is like, "What can my kid work on or improve on?" And it's frustrating how rare teachers will
even give that feedback to parents because that's really the conversation, at least my wife would tell you, that I wanna have at the dinner table.

It's like, "Yeah, you did good at this, but let's talk about what, how you can improve." And I really think, like we all know the research on growth mindset but I think the younger the better for having those conversations with your kids.

So I like how your teachers frame that feedback to parents at the end of the course.

Katie Kelly: And actually, I just wanted to note that the feedback isn't actually geared towards the parents.

It's actually student-facing.

So we actually write it as letters to the students 'cause we both believe and Crescenova Global believes that the student should be at the center of their learning.

They're the one who's doing the work, and that the feedback should be about them.

And so we also look to if there's ever any type of conversation that needs to happen that the student should be there, then we do ask that the student joins the meeting with us.

Like, let's talk about goals altogether, because it doesn't always make sense for a parent to have a goal-setting conversation for their child without their child there and then relay the information to them.

So, I really like that, that we do it student-facing and try and bring the students as you're in-- this is something that you're in charge of, and I think that's another thing that they really they take it seriously because it is they are in charge of it

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

Is that unusual to a lot of parents that are new to the program, having to kind of step back and let their child take the reins?

Katie Kelly: I think so.

I think it's hard as a parent no matter what.

Even for me as a parent knowing and I, that I strongly believe these values, it can still be hard to step back sometimes.

But I think it's generally very appreciated by parents.

Eric Makelky: Especially at that young of an age, I think that's probably rare.

My kid's parent-teacher conference night is coming up shortly, and like they, they offer, you know, entertainment, like drop your kid off at the gym and then only mom and dad come to the room.

And maybe I'll try and sneak my kid in with me and just see what the teachers say.

But they probably won't let him stay.

So on-- Katie, when we talk to parents that are curious and exploring their options or maybe they're frustrated with their setting can you talk us
through like what are some of the most common concerns or hesitations parents have when they're looking to dip their toe in the Crescanova Global program?

Katie Kelly: Absolutely.

I think that one of the natural things that comes up is we all are still still remember clearly COVID learning and teaching, and that can feel like why are we still doing this if we don't need to?

But I think that what we've learned through online education is that first of all, COVID teaching and learning wasn't the best of online learning and teaching.

That was something that all teachers and administrators were trying to throw together in the moment and doing the best they could.

But what I think that we've learned through online teaching and learning is that first of all, it allows us to really bring on the best teachers who have just incredible experience
in, in holding these types of online discussion classes, really providing this low entry point, but high ceiling for everyone in the group so that they can really be stimulated.

So I think in terms of a teacher, a solution, I guess it does provide in a lot of ways that.

It also takes out some of the need for having to, you know, add another extracurricular to your weekly circuit.

It can be done from home.

But I also think that there's a benefit for students in that they are in a safe place.

They are in their home.

We talk about how it equalizes the playing field, if you were, of the class where everybody, you know, it's what you have is your voice, and it's
not about what you're wearing or what you can do, but it's about what how you think, and how you can share the information with other people.

So, as much as, yes, it is a form of screen time, this isn't a type of screen time where it's a gaming, gamified type of online app.

Really it's similar to a Zoom meeting that adults would be on, where everybody is engaging with with each other on the screen.

And one of the things that we didn't expect when we started this were h- how deep the connections would be with students who met in these classes online.

So that we, you know, we have students who are located in Greece or in Singapore or in London, and they have these kind of deep connections with students that they've made on, in California or on the East Coast.

And so that's really powerful just to know that they still want to connect with these friends that they've made even outside of our class times.

And so that we have seen it as a really great way to bring people together.

So I think that the s- the screen time piece is one thing that parents can be wary of, and I understand.

Another side of the screens is my six or seven-year-old going to be able to function in an online class.

They haven't spent a lot of time on technology.

How will this go?

And I, even as when I had my son start his first Cresco Nova Global classes, I wasn't sure how it would go.

But he figured out probably faster than I did how to work Zoom and in a short period of time, and very quickly wanted to go from my desk in the public area to, you know, his own space in a room so that he could have his own his own little study area.

And so I think that kids can figure out technology really quickly, and we don't have a lot of high tech demands in any of our classes.

We have some short videos for kids that they can watch before their first class about muting themselves and unmuting themselves, which is pretty much the main thing that we ask of them during their classes.

And as they get older, there are more tech things that do come up, but it seems like the, it goes pretty easily for the students.

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

And they're much faster learners than the adults are with technology.

So yeah, I can attest to that with my own experience with my children who've never even been in a Zoom, but just watching both me-- my wife and I work remotely from home.

Like they, they know how to turn the camera on and off.

They'll come up, sneak up behind me and turn off the camera or t- or mute the microphone.

So yeah.

And those are things that as a parent, I mean, your kid may not know how to do them yet, but the only way to find out if they're
capable is sign them up, jump in, and teach them, and they'll probably surprise you and take it past where you thought that they could.

Katie Kelly: Absolutely.

And we do have parents I'd say a question that comes up a lot is whether we do any types of trial classes because it can and I understand this as a parent, you-- it's hard to sign your child up for something, and they have strong opinions.

My son definitely does, and if he doesn't like something, then he's not going to want to continue to engage with it.

And so that's one of the things we do have parents ask a lot.

Because of our small class sizes and as a nonprofit, we really, you know, fill our classes so that we can pay our teachers well as part of our model.

So we do hope that as people sign up that they're planning to commit to the class.

But with that said, with our small personalized program, if a class is not a fit for a child, we'll, we will work with you and figure out if there's another option, if there's another teacher or another content area that might be a better fit.

And if not, then we'll d- we'll definitely be able to move forward from there, because the last thing we're ever going to do is force a child to be in a class that's not a great fit, that's not productive for anyone.

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

One nuance I wanted to ask you about.

How-- Let's say a parent comes in and says I wanna sign my kid up.

I think this fits the missing puzzle piece of their educational experience." And then they look at your course offering for like the spring of 2026.

How do you guide parents into choosing the best starting point as far as a course goes?

Katie Kelly: Sarah, do you

Sarah Merkt: Yeah, I can take that.

Sure.

So some of it is, of course, logistics of time zone, where they're located, but we really try to go from that first learning consultation
meeting of like what are they interested in where are their strengths, where-- what's going to be a successful teacher pairing for the child?

'Cause like Katie was just saying, that's the biggest thing, this child feeling successful.

Y- they might be coming to Crestcanova Global because something isn't working out in their current school, so we want this to be a successful place however they're entering into class.

So usually we start with some of those logistical pieces, but I just had a parent recently, as of this morning, say, "Wow, Things That Go Boom for a summer class, that looks incredible."

It's a chemistry-based class with one of our science specialists, and she said, "My child really wants to take that, but it doesn't work out at this time." I reached out to the teacher.

She's going to offer it at a secondary time for not only this child, but it's good to know where parents are kind of arranging their schedules and what might work for kind of a larger cohort for students that are potentially in the US or potentially in the UK.

So we really work with the parents.

That's also part of the personalization for parents is there a topic I know we discussed that government was a topic that parents were coming to us from our last podcast.

But we really work with the parents if there's a topic or if there's a time or if there's a subject material.

We try to line that up, but we usually start from that like strength-based approach.

And then we have worked with a lot of our teachers in person before at the school that a lot of us had met at, and so we, we have worked with these people for years and
years, which I think also allows us to really know who these teachers are through and also look at that dynamic and make a really good match, I think for our new students.

And traditionally, yes they find a teacher and they wanna just continue with that one teacher, but then they try a second teacher and they're
like, "Oh, this teacher's great too." So, we definitely have students where once they have that first class they're in and they're returning

Eric Makelky: Awesome.

One thing that I think is worth sharing, can you talk about your returning student rate?

Like, once parents decide to sign up for Crestcanova Global courses what percent are coming back for more?

Katie Kelly: Well, our-- I just actually looked it up before our podcast to make sure I had the right, right amount, but it's 78% of our
customers are returning, which we're very proud of that number because we do have students who get older and kind of can even age out.

We are looking to hopefully open some middle school classes coming soon, but I think our focus has always been wanting to be on elementary because we do see a need there.

We see that there are not as many of these types of programs for elementary students.

So, we only have a very small number, I think a c- two or three students who haven't returned for classes.

But I think that we're very proud of, you know, we're not going to be right for every single child, but I think that with our personalized approach,
we have found that we've been able to be the-- have a right choice or a right fit in some of our classes for almost everyone we've worked with.

Eric Makelky: Yeah, almost 80%.

That's amazing.

I think that speaks to the experience kids are gonna have and the results parents are seeing in their child's learning to say, "Hey, not
only did we have a good experience, but we're gonna sign up for more." Do you limit how many, like, concurrent courses kids can take?

Katie Kelly: With some of our homeschool kids that we've worked with who really are taking Cresco Nova as a bigger piece of their curriculum, we've had students take between six and seven classes per term.

So they're pretty much taking, you know, a class almost every day of the week

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

And that

Sarah Merkt: And I think that's, like, an amazing measure of, you know, that number that we have.

And I think for me, too, kind of what you were just mentioning, Eric, like, where I kind of see also this return rate coming up and why I think people are
coming back to us as well, is that parents are also seeing that this is extending outside of our Crestonova Global classrooms, and they're seeing this learning.

They're seeing it, "The second my child gets done with my Introduction to Logic class, they're coming into the car and we're talking about it. It's the, my favorite part of the
week." Or I had a student email, he was also in this Introduction to Logic class, and he wrote an opinion piece about why his history book was biased based on what he had learned.

Or, you know, we had a parent that was in a game theory class in the summer, and the child designed three indoor games over the
summer and was like, "Can I take this class again?" They actually wanna take the same class again even if the content doesn't change.

And so I think for me, if I'm thinking about parents as well, like, that's so rich because we know when kids get home from school, "What did you learn?

What did you talk about?" And here we have parents and children that are just… they just wanna share what they've learned about and what they've talked about with their parents.

And I think as children get older, what could be more special to, to have that time to connect not only about something that you learn, but it could-- it probably, you know, the conversation unfolds from there and the child feels really supported.

So I think for me I love seeing the data and I then, of course, I'm thinking about how we get there, and I think as part of our sparked learning, that's our
biggest hope, that students are leaving the classroom, they're continuing that learning, they're bringing it to their families, they're deepening conversations.

They're bringing it back to their schools if they're in a traditional school.

That's elevating that class discussion and just creating a really rich learning environment not only on our screens.

Katie Kelly: And I just wanted to add w- one of the things that came up earlier Sarah, you mentioned that a lot of parents come to us with math needs, and I do think that's another… When we're talking about the types of
parents that come to us one, one kind of subset of parents that I didn't mention before is you know, with the h- intellectually curious population or even just the general population, kids are asynchronous in their learning.

So they may be really high in a lot of areas and not in others, or maybe they're all on grade level for every other subject, but for math they're four grade levels above.

And I think we, I talk to a lot of parents where math is a sticking point because what I'm seeing at a lot of schools is, and I've experienced this as a teacher, math differentiation can be very challenging, especially depending on how many students you have.

And a lot of students are, who are ahead in math are pulled from their math classes and they sit and do workbook pages during the allotted math time, and that really is what consists of their math instruction at school.

And while I think it is a better choice than maybe having them do math that they already know how to do, it's also missing something when you're just having a child complete workbook pages.

So that is something that we do work with a lot of families on, is how can we also provide this ongoing really high-level math enrichment that is supplemental to the skills
that they may be learning on their own or they may already know, but is exciting for them and isn't just, you know, math is something that the kids who love math, they love it.

It's so sad for me to think that the love of math is looking like a kid sitting by themselves and doing math worksheets.

So just figuring out how do we, you know, take something that is, is an inherent problem in schools, differentiating for math is very hard for a teacher with multiple
students at multiple different levels, and instead of changing that, how do you add something onto it that then changes the entire way that a child thinks about math?

So I just wanted to add that as one of the other, 'cause it, it is a conversation that I have a lot with parents where they're age
appropriate, you know, age appropriate and doing great in the rest of school, but this is just one subject where they need something extra.

Eric Makelky: Yeah, and

Sarah Merkt: And I would invite you to go to our blog, and there's a lovely blog post called "A Balanced Math Curriculum," which talks
about how we are a piece of, once again, another piece of the puzzle of how you can engage in math with us, but that math isn't one thing.

There's play, there's skill building, there's games, there's so many different pieces of building a solid math curriculum and how you can differentiate that.

And that is a resource that I would invite you to see written by Dr. Peter Kohler one of our math experts

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

And I'm glad that you brought up the math-specific conversation, Katie.

You know, I don't wanna beat up teachers.

I was a teacher, and I get it.

Just because math is so sequential, it i- it is harder to, you know, enrich math when you've got a classroom full of kids that are on grade level and below grade level working on totally different skills.

But that's the most common answer I've seen when students need a challenge in math is, "Oh, well, here's harder problems." And that couldn't be more opposite than the Cresceno- Crescenova Global approach of inspired learning.

I would say doing worksheets is, like, uninspired learning, and that not only is not really challenging your kid, but it al- also can suck the joy out of math.

And I think the mindset of students can really be harmed by that, where you take a skill that they may have and they may excel at, and who's gonna enjoy math if your instruction is worksheets?

I mean, that, that's not fun at all.

Interesting.

How about do you hear that from homeschool parents, too?

'Cause I wonder if that's a similar challenge parents have if their child's primary setting is homeschool

Katie Kelly: I think that the issue that people have with homeschool is usually if their children are very advanced in math that they've hit a point where they don't feel like they can support their child anymore.

So that's one of the things that comes up.

And then also one of the big things that I hear from parents is they've had their child advance very quickly through math, but they don't feel like they really conceptually have some of the foundations of it, of thinking about math.

You know, like they can do the work up to 11th grade math, but they may not really conceptually understand how fractions work or how to mul- you know, how to multiply frac- and
it's hard because if you have these holes in some of your basic understanding it does get a lot harder when you're trying to build onto these more advanced mathematical theories.

So I think that's the challenge is usually finding there's a lot of programs out there that are really skill-based math programs, but there's not a lot of conceptual
programs that attack conceptual math, or how do we talk about patterns, or how do we even defend mathematical arguments and mathematical discourse, I think is so important.

Not just doing problems by ourself, but how do we collaboratively attack math or defend, you know, because if you are going to go anywhere in terms of a career with math, you have to be able to defend anything that you're solving and be able to explain it.

So, I think that there's other skills that are really important in math that we kind of build into these higher level, really interesting problem-solving type of classes.

And also I think understanding that it's okay to make mistakes, that some of the best problems have more than one approach to them, and that, you
know, it can be, it could be all a cla- a class talking about the multiple ways to solve things and then figuring out which is the most efficient.

But that none of them are necessarily wrong.

There's just understanding the multiple pathways that are there.

So I think it's just a different way of looking at math as instead of just you're learning how to do something and solving those exact problems, that you're really expanding what possibilities are there for learning within math.

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

And looking at the topics of some of your courses, I think there's a lot richer application too, where like our generation math class was, here's a set of numbers, solve, find the answer.

And really that's doing math a disservice because the cool thing about math is, you know, why does it matter?

How do we use it?

How does it affect the world around us?

And with your more, you know, cross-curricular approach, I think there's a lot more excitement than the, you know, two plus two equals four approach with math.

Katie Kelly: Absolutely

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

Can we talk a little bit about how you see Cresca Nova Global fitting maybe some of the more common backgrounds that parents are coming to you with?

We've talked a little bit about homeschool, and we've talked a little bit about traditional and a little bit about maybe s- parents that are ready to transition their child from one to the other.

But what are some of the most common things that you hear if we start with, like, traditional setting?

My kids brick-and-mortar, that's where their primary education, maybe all of their education is coming from currently.

How do you help parents see the fit of Cresca Nova Global with that background?

Katie Kelly: Well, I think it, it really does vary from student to student, you know, exactly what the reason is that school might not be the right fit.

It can be everything from they don't wanna go to school anymore every day.

There can be, there could be social things that are in play for the school day.

Sometimes there are, you know, it could, there could be a learning difference in terms of one of the things that's really nice about our classes is if a student needs a chance for a brain break, you can be
on mute and you could be kind of like I've had kids in classes kind of doing laps in their room while they're engaging with the class and they just need, they need to be able to move around a little bit more.

But I'd say within a traditional school, generally I'd say that people who are looking for something extra, they, they're not the first people who
will sign up for a learning consultation because it's kinda, it's a little bit more straightforward to them, I think, in terms of what the need is.

They're usually referred to us and they say, "Oh, my child is really interested in this form of science, so this is a perfect add-on type of class." And then
we'll get more feedback afterwards as the student starts taking the class and then they're like, "Wow, well maybe we should add some additional classes."

So I think that's usually the way that it will happen with, I guess, not the out- the outlier type of cases that it's just, it's an extracurricular program.

They've noticed that their child has this interest and this is a way that a parent's looking to supplement that interest.

I'd say that's less common for them to reach out to me than a parent who really needs support with, I, you know, I'm trying to differentiate this with the school or trying to advocate, but I'm not sure if I'm doing this the right way.

Am I asking too much?

Am I too much of a squeaky wheel?

Those types of things where I think just having a, an extra ear.

But I think that generally the parents who- we're solving a problem for parents who, whose kids just maybe aren't enjoying learning in the way that they were really hoping.

That they see… And a lot of times it's parents who see this great learning side of their child when they're at home.

They see how engaged they are with like, like my son, for instance, is obsessed with sharks.

I mean, he could look at every single manual about sharks.

He could tell you all about the different types of sharks.

And sometimes when I pick him up from school, you know, as most parents it's like, "How was your day?" "Good." You know, "Can you tell me about what you did in what- whatever class it was today?"
"Not really." So it's just, it, I think it's more of a feeling that you have as a parent where, okay why is my kid not energized the same way that I've seen them at home when they're at school?

Eric Makelky: So the spark is missing is what there's…

Sarah Merkt: Mm-hmm.

Amby, I think

Katie Kelly: for me, yeah

Sarah Merkt: I think too, it's, you know, I'm thinking about, you know, kindergarten programs very much focused on play and learning through play, and then we see this inflection point happening in, like, first grade where then, okay, not as much play.

Now we're going into more worksheets if you're in a more traditional school system, and there's more routine and regimen, which is important in its own right in some capacity.

But, like, there is a lot of parents like that.

Like, whoa, last year they were such a different child.

They had this joy, and now that's being lost.

They had joy for math.

They were excited, and now they're being told they have to answer this problem in this way, or they must finish this one book, and it's, I- it's a problem at home now.

And we see that kind of being something that I feel like changes from when children, when school is focused on that play and exploration and wonder and inquiry, and then it's feels like it's a really sudden shift.

And then parents come to us because they wanna cultivate that again and say, like, "That was a magical time."

Like, we as adults wanna be living in that way if we can.

And yeah, why are we stopping that in traditional school?

So we are there to usher that back in and be that safe place, I think for those students.

And I think also some of the students as well socially might be not having the best time.

I think we've probably all had grades and years of our life where we were feeling really connected and a sense of belonging to our community, and other times where we haven't.

And I think for families that come to us, as Katie had mentioned, everyone's coming on their Zoom screen.

You don't know the person's story, and you're able to show up as who you are and who you believe and not who your class has put you boxed into.

And so I think it, as much as you're in a Zoom box, it actually allows you to come out of your box and and I think be a little bit different.

I know during COVID, some of my students that were having the most kind of socially anxious times were s- were t- transformed once we moved online because they had some of those distractions or s- or anxieties removed.

So I think it's really powerful for a lot of those students too, where for whatever reason school isn't working for them.

But if they're not feeling connected to their community, like, this is a community that will embrace them, and teachers embrace them as well.

So I think that, that's another piece that really connects people to us.

Katie Kelly: And I think that there's a piece of it too where when… I read some statistic several years ago, and so I don't know, hopefully it's
an accurate statistic, but something that s- that by third or fourth grade that students have solidified in their mind what learning or school is.

And that really stuck with me because while not every family has the capability to just change to whatever school they want, not every parent has the ability to just homeschool their kids if things aren't working.

So we-- not every parent is able to just change what school is, but what we can do is we can change what learning is.

And that while school can exist as its own place, you know, where there are s- skills learned and social things that are learned, I know that some of those things were, are really important for my kids, that I also don't want them to lose this joy in learning.

So I look at Cresco Nova Global as this great addition that I can use to a more traditional school where I still can really focus on that love of learning without having to change the entire definition of what a school is.

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

Just help broadening that horizon before kids feel like, you know, my brick-and-mortar school is education

Katie Kelly: Mm-hmm.

Eric Makelky: to back.

Yeah.

Katie Kelly: Exactly

Eric Makelky: How about can we talk a little bit about the parent-- common parent conversations you're having coming from a homeschool setting?

This is one that I've heard from a lot of parents.

Like, they make the decision to homeschool and then, you know, a month to six months in, they're realizing that they're missing something and they
may not even know what that is because it's their first experience really being responsible for the whole educational process for their child.

But what are some of the common concerns or questions that come up with homeschool families?

Katie Kelly: I when I left the classroom, I actually worked as a homeschool coordinator for a family for one year, for a fourth and a seventh grader.

And, you know, I came into this with a master's degree in education and it's like, this won't be, this won't be that challenging after my years and years of teaching, and it is really hard.

It's hard, first of all, as you were saying earlier, Eric, there are so many resources now available and so much information out there that it can be really hard to sort through it and figuring out what is right, what is wrong, what, where do I land with this?

Who should I be listening to?

So I think that's one of the-- that it can feel really daunting just how much information there is.

And then a big thing as a teacher, which was shocking for me, is how much you can actually get done in one homeschool day.

Because when you take out the dynamics of the classroom and the transitions and all of those pieces, you don't have to have a homeschool
child engaged in learning for the, you know, the entire school day in the same way that you, it would look at a traditional school.

However, I think one of the things that I'll talk to parents a lot about is what does their schedule look like?

What, no matter what your day is going to look like, having a schedule is so helpful for the child and for the parent.

And then figuring out they're saying, "Am I doing enough math?

Is this the right math?

Am I doing enough reading?

Is this the right reading?" So I think looking at the different types of programs that are coming together to support a student, and just like with, you know, I think education isn't one size fits all.

So if you are moving towards a more homeschool type curriculum, you do want it to be personalized.

You just don't wanna take the homeschool curriculum of any child.

So I think that's one of the things that I really work with parents to look at is how can we personalize this, like really personalize it so that it's exciting for your child, meets their needs, but also where are they getting breaks?

Where are they getting playtime?

Where are they getting the socialization and those pieces of it?

So I think a well-rounded homeschool program is probably one of the number one things that I have parents come to me with is And usually what
I find is that parents are probably doing more than they should be doing in terms of academics is one of the things that I-- they have so…

You know, they're wanting to fill a traditional day schedule, and it can be a lot of things, but when a child's doing one-on-one work, it's much more focused and I think more cognitively demanding than it is to be in kind of a bigger class.

So just looking at those individual pieces and then looking at the specific programs.

My child has done this, you know, this math program and this math program.

They don't like this one anymore.

What are some other ones that are similar to this?

It can largely be a programmatic question that they have is, are these the right things?

Is this too much?

Is this too little?

Sarah Merkt: I'll add in too.

I feel like we also get a lot of questions like when you're starting as a homeschool parent, that is a big undertaking.

You're trying to figure out what standards do I need to abide by?

Where is my child?

How do I assess?

How do I give feedback?

How do I preserve my relationship with my child?

There's so many pieces, even if you're not their direct teacher.

But I feel like a question we sometimes get from people that are kind of newer to our pedagogy or philosophy is, okay, this mysteries and math class sounds amazing, or number theory sounds amazing.

How do these skills line up with the skills that my child needs to have in second grade?

And they just very much have a boxed approach about like what needs to be checked off.

And I think for those homeschool families, there are programs that provide you a whole year curriculum just kind of like our kids that are in traditional schools.

Like they, they do have that full year curriculum that is going to ensure that they have all of those skills.

And in our last podcast, we talked about the skills that we infuse, but we're not a homeschool program where we're coming in and we're like, we s- you know, take care of California state standards for social studies.

So I think that's often sometimes too if families are newer to our approach, they're, they kind of look for that more boxed set curriculum, which does exist.

But that's not something that we're offering.

But I feel like that's another common one, Katie, that often comes to us.

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

Parent, parents are used to like, you know, the scope and the sequence.

Show me the skill and when is it taught?

How are you gonna assess it?

And those things are important.

Like, you have to have those foundational skills.

But it seems like that's not really the goal with Crescanova Global as far as, you know, pacing out the skills day by day and having assessments delivered

Sarah Merkt: and I've definitely given presentations where I've taken, you know, a year-long curriculum and or even a class and shown the standards and where the skills reflect.

So it's definitely possible, but it's not something that some of these other programs allow and I think give families some freedom within that where they feel like, "Okay, whew, I can focus on other elements of my child's homeschooling.

Like I'm really interested in working with them in science.

That's great.

I can find an ELA curriculum that takes care of that for me." 'Cause I think it's a big undertaking and we're definitely here to support and definitely provide a lot of those skills.

But not as in such a boxed manner.

Eric Makelky: Bef-before we wrap up, ladies can you give a plug if you're one of the parents listening and you're on the fence, like maybe this is for my kid, maybe it's not, maybe some of these fears and concerns are really resonating.

What's the best way for parents to take the first step?

Like what would you encourage them to do

Katie Kelly: Our, we every month, usually the last weekend of the month, the last Sunday of the month, we have a Student Sparks or Sunday Sparks that happens that is, we have a speaker come in.

It's a free webinar event where we'll have any- everything from an Olympic athlete to someone who designs roller coasters to a NASA astrophysicist talking about black holes.

This is a great way for you to see if your, how your child interacts online.

It's a low stakes.

There's a lot more kids than a regular class.

They do have the opportunity to add qu- ask questions, but this can be a great way just for them to see what learning looks like on a computer and on a screen and how that might work.

But I also really encourage parents to reach out and set up an introductory meeting with me or with Sarah and because I think that a lot of times just
having that initial meeting and learning about your child, that can better give us an opportunity to say, "Oh, well maybe this could be a great class."

Or if there's not a class at the time that's offered, maybe we could say, "Oh, I think we could get a cohort together of kids and provide something at this time."
Really, I think reaching out to us, we also, we sometime-- we have a lot of parents who come to us from word of mouth, from just hearing from other parents.

I know we have parents in our community who would be happy to connect with new parents too, if kind of hearing from another current parent was something that would be helpful.

But usually I feel like once, once parents have the opportunity to meet with us it's a pretty great way for them just to get to really find out what the program is about and to make it seem kind of less daunting to take that first step.

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

And tho- those Sunday Sparks look awesome.

So those are one, one day only courses, and they're free, right?

There's n- really-

Katie Kelly: Completely free, yeah

Sarah Merkt: Completely.

Yep.

It's for one hour and we take a little break in the summer, but then we're back come August through end of April.

So, please join us.

We have people that just come to the Student Sparks and we love those people.

They bring questions, and our Student Spark speakers are always like, "Your students ask the most interesting questions."

So, it's definitely a kind of a family event, too.

We welcome parents to listen in on that to once again kind of center that learning and that discussion and that spark at home

Eric Makelky: Great.

Cool

Katie Kelly: I would also say that the summer is also another really great way to kind of s- step your foot into Cresco Nova Global without having to dive all the way
in, because we do have-- We offer one-day workshops that run for a couple hours with a break in the middle or we offer week-long sessions, so it's just for one week.

So if there was a week where you were traveling and maybe didn't have a camp set up or we'll offer these one-day workshops on days where we know
there'll be holidays and things that maybe there won't be camp in session that could be a great way to just dive in for one and just to see how it goes.

I know the summer can be a little bit less less daunting sometimes to try out new things.

Eric Makelky: Yeah, and especially if parents are worried about, you know, one more thing for my kid and burning them out by adding more educational exposure and experiences, that's a great idea, thinking about the summertime.

Sarah Merkt: Or one more thing for you as a parent . You- that's, it's something that's great if you just need an hour in your house and to, and your, you know your child's gonna be thoroughly engaged.

I also think that there there's something in for parents as

Eric Makelky: Yeah.

June, July, and August, we're all homeschool parents, right?

Katie Kelly: Exactly.

Sarah Merkt: Exactly.

Eric Makelky: Great.

Well, thanks ladies.

I really enjoyed our conversation today.

Thanks for helping listeners understand how Crescanova Global can really fit as a puzzle piece in their kids' education

Sarah Merkt: Thanks, Eric

Katie Kelly: Eric