Ada Salie heard a lot of complaints. Parents were upset about what was happening in their children’s schools last fall, and were reluctant to send their children back. Many of the parents she heard from had pulled their children out of a district school for homeschooling during the 2020/2021 academic year—something that millions of parents did that year, according to US Census Bureau data. They wanted a place to send their children in fall 2021, but many didn’t want their kids masked all day or contending with various other school policies.
Ada decided to turn those complaints into an opportunity. The Massachusetts mother of three had been running playgroups and offering gatherings and activities for homeschooled children throughout the pandemic response. She decided to make these offerings more formal. So, last August she leased a building in central Massachusetts and launched Life Rediscovered, a homeschool learning center that attracted dozens of children, ages 5 to 13. The children can attend part-time or full-time, and engage in Montessori-inspired learning activities and plenty of play.
