Last fall, I had the chance to tour four Las Vegas microschools through the National Microschooling Center. Each one had a very different vibe, but they were all full of kids who were happy to be learning.

The Learning Outpost, started by former public school teacher Felicia Wright, was one of the unique stops on the tour. Felicia loved teaching, but she was often frustrated in the public school system. She began homeschooling her children and started a YouTube channel to teach families how to homeschool from a teacher’s perspective.

This year, Felicia took a giant leap forward and started her own microschool to provide a special learning experience for her children and others in the community. She now has 19 kids ages 5–11 taking part in The Learning Outpost (TLO).

“We separate the children out so we can reach them at their level. Room 3 is our pre‐​reader/​beginning reader room—I always say kindergarten, first, and second. Room 4 is our really good readers and students who are really good with math, which is like third, fourth, and fifth. It’s really ability based, but I use the language of grades because it’s easy to understand right off the bat.” If kids are strong in one area and weaker in another, they can go back and forth between the rooms if they’re mature enough.

In addition to Felicia, TLO has two mentors who lead the groups, giving the microschool a ratio of 10 students per mentor. This small size is what allows them to be flexible with the students. Despite being a licensed teacher herself, Felicia doesn’t require TLO mentors to be licensed. The main thing she looks for in hiring mentors was ensuring they are great with kids, know how to teach a lesson, and can manage a classroom.

“The mentors I have in the building are homeschool moms,” she says. “It’s interesting because as homeschooling moms, they had to figure out homeschooling on their own and research curriculum and all that stuff. I never had to research curriculum—it was given to me. They bring a different perspective to the table which I really enjoy. And I bring a different perspective in that I’ve had the schooling to be a teacher. So it’s worked out really well, which I’m thankful for.”

The Learning Outpost is a project‐​based learning center whose students are registered as homeschoolers. The center is open five days a week, but it also offers flex days. Parents are asked to commit to at least two days a week, but they can also choose three, four, or five days. Many families attend Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday so they can travel on weekends.

Based on her experiences, Felicia has noticed a difference between students depending on their learning environment. “Homeschooling kids and public school kids are very different,” she explains. “Homeschooling kids tend to be very articulate and willing to jump into a project. I’m not saying public school kids aren’t, it’s just a different dynamic and they don’t always get that opportunity.”

That’s one of the reasons she likes the homeschooling model. “As a school teacher, I had to solve all their problems for them. With homeschooling, it’s a different mentality of ‘how can you solve that problem?’ It’s more of a discussion than a ‘I’m going to tell you how to fix this’ situation. It’s just a different way of thinking when it comes to homeschooling,” she continues.

Felicia thinks the problem we see with public schooling is you have to standardize everything—you can’t handle things case by case. But when you’re in a smaller environment and you’re homeschooling, everything is case by case and there’s more discussion and talking through things. She says that changes the whole game for kids in their learning journey.

“When I was at the district, if a kid didn’t want to do something, you kind of had to stay on top of him. If an administrator walked in and saw a student wasn’t doing work, you were going to get in trouble,” Felicia recalls. “But we’ve kind of flipped that on its head here. When a kid doesn’t want to do something, we encourage and push a little. But then we say okay, we’re going to be working and you can go do what you want to do. They’ll go to the library and read a book or play a board game. And that’s okay—then we can focus on the kids who want to stay engaged. Usually, the student will go to the library for 10 minutes and then come back ready to work.”

Felicia has three children, aged two, seven, and nine, and the older ones are students at The Learning Outpost. She says they love being part of it and sometimes don’t want to leave at the end of the day. When parents come in to tour the school, Felicia’s children give the kid tours while Felicia does the adult tour.

Eventually Felicia wants to turn TLO into a full K–12 grade solution for families. She doesn’t want them to be invested in homeschooling and then age out and have to figure out what to do next. She expects to be at capacity in her current facility next year and hopes to get a bigger facility by year three. She plans to slowly add a middle school grade by grade.

Felicia has some advice for other parents who are considering a similar path for their children. “To go on this journey, you have to be brave. We really are off the beaten path here, and it’s hard to go against the grain. Beyond being founder of TLO, I’m a mom first and my own kiddos are here. Even though I’m an educator, I still struggle and second guess myself daily. The key is anchoring into your core beliefs. Part of my core beliefs are that kids can learn in safe and loving environments and family comes first. So it really does require a lot of bravery to go down this path, but I think it’s worth it.”