Why I Started a Nature-Based Microschool in Georgetown, Texas

I spent over a decade owning and operating a commercial preschool, and in many ways, it did exactly what it was designed to do. It served families well. Children were cared for, loved, and prepared for the transition into public school. The classrooms were structured, the routines were consistent, and the program reflected what most parents were looking for at the time.

But even then, there was always this quiet thought sitting in the back of my mind: what if childhood could feel different than this?

Not better in some self-righteous or anti-school kind of way. Just… different. More connected. More organic. Less structured around desks, schedules, and preparing children to fit neatly into the next system. More time outside. More movement. More creativity. More digging in the dirt, building things, asking questions, exploring, and learning through real life itself.

At the time, I don’t think I fully realized how deeply personal that question actually was for me.

By the age of ten, I had attended sixteen different elementary schools before eventually entering foster care. And with every move came another school trying to figure out where I fit academically. More testing. More evaluations. More attempts to measure what the last ten schools had or hadn’t taught me before I arrived there.

I managed fine academically, but I never truly felt like I fit the mold school was designed for. School rarely felt inspiring or deeply meaningful to me. It felt like something to get through. A checklist. A system built around performance and standardization more than curiosity, creativity, or real-world engagement.

Looking back now, I think that experience shaped the way I view children and education more than I realized at the time.

Then I became a mother.

And suddenly all of those questions came rushing back into focus in a completely different way.

My son is deeply curious, wildly exploratory, constantly moving, constantly building, testing, climbing, creating, and engaging with the world around him. Watching him grow has reinforced something I think many parents instinctively know: children are incredibly capable when they are placed in environments that actually support the way they naturally learn.

Not every meaningful learning experience happens sitting at a desk.

Some of the most important parts of childhood happen through movement, nature, conversation, imagination, problem solving, responsibility, creativity, and being given the space to fully engage with the world around them.

That realization is a huge part of what led to Born to Be Raised.

Born to Be Raised is a nature-based microschool in Georgetown, Texas built around the belief that childhood and meaningful education should not have to compete with one another. We believe children can develop strong academics while still spending meaningful time outdoors, engaging in real-life experiences, building confidence, thinking critically, and remaining connected to the wonder that naturally exists within them.

This isn’t about rejecting traditional education or pretending one model fits every child. But I do believe the rise of microschools reflects something important happening in education right now. Families are asking deeper questions. They are looking for smaller learning environments, more intentional communities, outdoor learning opportunities, flexible education models, and alternatives that feel more human and connected to real life.

I genuinely believe microschools are part of the future of education because they create room for what many larger systems struggle to provide: individualized learning, strong relationships, flexibility, creativity, and environments where children are able to learn in ways that feel more natural, engaging, and alive.

An Education That Feels Alive

At Born to Be Raised, we want children to experience an education that feels alive. We want them climbing trees, planting gardens, asking hard questions, building confidence, solving problems, reading great books, learning practical skills, creating meaningful friendships, and developing academically in ways that feel connected to the real world around them.

Most of all, we want children to love learning instead of simply learning how to perform.

Maybe Born to Be Raised is, in some ways, the kind of place I wish existed when I was a child.

• A place where curiosity mattered more than fitting the mold.
• A place where learning felt connected to real life.
• A place where children had more room to move, explore, create, question, and grow into who they naturally are.

Now, as a mother, educator, and someone who has experienced many different sides of childhood and education firsthand, I feel incredibly grateful to help create that kind of environment for other families.

Not because we have all the answers, but because I think many of us are asking better questions about what childhood and education could look like moving forward.

And maybe that’s where meaningful change begins.