The Hearth Room

Long after the school closed its physical location, The Hearth Room continued to receive inquiries from parents searching for a school that aligns with their values. If you are on the hunt, this book may provide a helpful framework for discerning whether a school embodies many of those same values that were active in The Hearth Room.

Good Soil for Raising Great People: 8 Questions Every Intentional Parent Should Ask Before Choosing a School Good Soil for Raising Great People: 8 Questions Every Intentional Parent Should Ask Before Choosing a School

Everyone has a different “why” for how they education their children. This is pretty close to mine. As an adult, I’ve found that physical health is AT THE CENTER OF EVERYTHING. My ability to think, create, communicate, learn…and my capacity to connect with others. When my physical health suffers, all of these things crumble. There’s a reason why we’ve been told our body is a temple. And a child’s body, in its growing and developing state, is arguably more important to tend to. Because what their bodies are taught about movement and strength *now* is what will carry over into their adult life. If they’re taught to sit for 7-8 hours a day as children, that’s what their muscles will remember. That’s what their cardiovascular system will settle into. The result is weak bodies, weak hearts, and weak minds. A school cannot claim to make children smarter while simultaneously making their bodies weak. And remember: the purpose of a system is what it DOES — not what it claims to do. So while many will see our lifestyle: letting our children play, read, climb, and build all day — as some sort of educational neglect. I respectfully disagree. I see children who are getting strong, learning self-discipline, discovering their talents and exploring them….I see children who will have the self-knowledge and physical/mental strength to pursue any career they want to. I can’t *unsee* the beauty in this type of education. 🤎🌲🤸‍♂️ #parenting #homeschool #childhood

The rest of the world is catching on to what we knew all along! (Screenshot from one of eSpired newsletters)

*Big announcement*

When we began dreaming of The Hearth Room years ago, the goal was to bring peace to families by providing a school environment where parents could feel confident that teaching love came before academics, and traditional subjects were presented in such delightful ways that the classrooms were filled with joy. We have been blessed to see that come to fruition in The Hearth Room!

Last year, so many parents commented that their children, who had experienced anxiety in other educational settings, quickly felt relief and joy at the school. Many staff members soon became like family, and it was a delight to watch children grow not only in traditional academics, but in practical life skills, such as cooking, fishing, sewing, and more.

In spite of much prayer and thorough planning, the last two and a half years have also been filled with numerous curveballs, which resulted in weeks or months of brainstorming (and stress) as we worked to pivot—whether it be the general staffing shortage the whole world is experiencing, a change in physical space available, or a sudden shift of plans for our wonderful team members. Still, we went into the 23-24 school year being excited about a team of truly dynamic people who were all completely invested in the vision.

August saw such momentum, with our garden boxes being put in place, the gift of a brand new play structure, a local corporate team provided volunteers for a fresh paint transformation of our classrooms, a new deck was ordered to better extend our outdoor workspace, and our safety plans were enhanced as we invited local authorities to provide input. Our vision of a cozy environment for the whole family was finally realized, and when parents dropped off their children, they could make a stop at our coffee station, sit a while on a cozy sofa, or grab a book before heading out. Day 1 was beautiful, and even after extended experience in Montessori classrooms, I was still blown away by the instant transformation I saw in my own small child experiencing her first day of school.

Unfortunately, yet another curve ball presented itself in the first week of school, and after prayer and much discussion, the board could not come up with a workable solution that would ensure the long-term excellence of the school without heavily burdening our team members and supporters. As a result, The Hearth Room will be closing next week. (This was announced to the parents weeks ago, to allow them time to make alternative plans.)

We, along with our families, initially experienced much confusion surrounding this—why would God bring us all together to work so hard to accomplish something so good, and yet allow it to come to an abrupt and inconveniently-timed end? Why are there so many challenges when something beautiful is being built, even though we look around and the status quo seems sustainable all around us?

Yet I was comforted by my friend, as I shared with her my feelings of disappointment and failure. She pointed out that although our vision—of multiple sites with K-12 programs, where kids run small businesses, farm, and seniors build their own tiny homes—hasn’t come to fruition, we can trust that God’s perfect vision did. Perhaps His goals for this season included teaching me to turn to Him more quickly in challenges, and to grow in appreciation for my family. Maybe we provided a safe environment to a child for a season, when they wouldn’t have had one otherwise. Perhaps these things may become more evident to us in the coming years.

During this transition, we appreciate your prayers for each of the families, that they would find new school destinations that will align with their values and guide these precious students on a path of truth and joy. For our staff, that they would feel peace and quickly find new roles.

Finally, pray for the world of education in general: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few!” One of the challenges we have observed over and over in several schools is an extreme shortage of professionals trained in the very unique approach that is Montessori. A friend in the education world reported 2,500 unfilled Montessori positions a year. You can imagine how much more this increases when seeking faith-based individuals!

One beautiful thing that has already presented itself in this season of closing doors is feedback from so many people that they are passionate that a Hearth Room approach to schooling NEEDS to exist. I believe that in the coming years we will see the path becoming clearer for more individuals to become equipped in nontraditional education. If anyone is interested in pursuing ministry by becoming Montessori trained, I am happy to try to point them in the best direction. Ultimately, the most advantageous situation would be for universities to teach Montessori, Classical, and other nontraditional approaches as part of their undergraduate education program.

We hope that the Lord may use us to transform education in the future, even as we head into a different season now. Thank you for being an encouragement along the way!

Blessings to you,


Angie and The Hearth Room team

P.S. We will be keeping this page live to provide resources to the community. We are happy to answer questions about the Montessori method, how to become trained, as well as to connect with anyone who has questions about launching a school.

A big thank you to PPG and NorthPoint Development for helping us transform our classrooms!

We’re not going to say our staff is magical, but after just one day with our Primary teachers, a parent reported a seemingly instant transformation in her 2-year-old, who came home with improved dinner manners. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for these remarkable little people!

It has been a delight to see the peacock making frequent appearances recently!

If you've been considering The Hearth Room, this is a great day to begin the enrollment process. A new tuition schedule goes live next month, but families who submit their enrollment deposits by 9/1 will be grandfathered in at our old rates.

A THR alumnus shares his big catch from his summer adventures at home. We can’t wait for the kids to return and get to fishing on site in September!

Did you know that our Primary program (for younger students) actually extends through Kindergarten, and the materials in the class can go all the way through 4-digit equations in all four operations (for example "4832 x 3" or "8395 + 1928"), cubing numbers, total reading including analyzing sentences and parts of speech, etc., depending on the child's readiness. (For comparison, Missouri state targets aim to have kids adding up to 100 and subtracting up to 20 by the end of 1st grade.) Primary students who don't get all the way through the Primary lessons in Kindergarten are still often ahead of traditional academic expectations.

So why are we advertising enrollment only through age 4? Although Kindergarten is often seen as the starting point in education, the approach in The Hearth Room is built in response to natural human development. The mixed-age classrooms are beautifully designed to make learning joyful and attractive by responding to the way these little people are wired up, and this addresses not only academic learning, but also character qualities, including leadership skills.

Young children are drawn to advanced mathematical lessons, not only because of their colorful physical beauty, but also because they have watched their older classmates do them, so it is a delightful honor when the teacher invites them to participate. While they waited, they have observed, begun to process the concepts, and learned patience, self-control, and appreciation for their older peers who are gracious to them.

In this scientifically-based and time-tested approach, Kindergarten is not the starting point, but the pinnacle of the early childhood experience. Six-year-olds have had time to become comfortable with the classroom routines, becoming capable of preparing their own foods, correct their own mistakes, master the basics of caring for one's self and one's environment. If they have been in the environment for some time, they have likely already mastered reading, and are ready to dive in to story writing and higher level work.

Most importantly for guiding children to grow into adults of strong character, though, the Kindergarten year is the time to practice leadership. Those who came up through the program come to this rather naturally and contribute to a cycle of nurturing respectful leaders year after year.

Furthermore, The Hearth Room's approach provides many opportunities for individual work, during which the young child builds their concentration skills--an asset for any learning during the rest of their lives! Older children, who are beginning to transition into the second stage of human development, will find this harder to develop, as they are becoming more socially motivated.

Can a child enter a program in the Kindergarten year and do fine? Yes, but they will be missing out on some of the most beautiful, character-forming parts of it!

If you are looking to develop more than just academics, you will want to avoid buying into the false belief that age 6 is the optimal time to get serious about education!

If you're serious about partnering with a school to realize your vision for growing your child into a great person, you can schedule a strategy session with the school's director here: https://www.thehearthroom.org/copy-of-visit-the-school