Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Ballard.
Hi Leah, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstories.
How to describe me? I am a Christian, wife, mom, and patriot. I believe our focus should be on God, our families, and our community, usually in that order. I am saddened to see what is happening in our public schools and to our children while they are there. I was teaching in a public school when I had my daughter (now 9 months old), and after deciding to take some time off to focus on her, I realized there was a better and safer way to use my teaching degree and certification. I am now a homeschool advocate and evaluator serving the entire state of Florida. I mostly do evaluations, but I also tutor both homeschooled and public school students and offer homeschool coaching to parents if they need assistance. I received my teaching degree from the University of Central Florida in Secondary Education with a specialty in biology. I have added to my teaching certification, and currently, I am certified in biology, general science, and mathematics. My husband’s parents were educators and moved to homeschool when their children were young. They both had decades of experience with homeschool advocacy and evaluation. I have been extremely blessed to have them as a resource in getting started doing evaluations and homeschooling my teen.
Would it have been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Starting a service-based business is very different from starting a goods-based business. By the grace of God, it has been smooth. My expenses are lower since I provide my services virtually, and the greatest demand is on my time. I have been blessed with an excellent support system, so I can spend my time loving on and teaching my children while supporting other parents to love and teach their children too.
We have all heard the phrase “it takes a village” when referring to raising children, and I believe that is such a true statement. We are not meant to parent alone. Our families, friends, and church communities are there to assist and advise and support. This applies to educating our children as well, we are all educators, and there is no one more qualified to teach and love our children than we are.
My largest struggle has been simply readjusting how I view my role and letting people know my services are available. We are big fans of Jocko Willink in our house, so adapting and adjusting are often employed. Taking ownership of our lives, actions, and reactions is another concept we have taken from Jocko. Leaving our children’s education and social foundation up to strangers isn’t how we want to go; we choose to educate at home to have complete control over what our children are learning. This allows us to build a firm foundation of faith and compassion for them that they would not normally receive in a public school setting.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about B3 Homeschool Support?
B3 Homeschool Support is dedicated to helping make Florida homeschooling as stress-free and casual as possible. I am honored to be invited into so many families’ homes, and I am allowed to get to know the most amazing children. I specialize in simple homeschool evaluations that feel more like conversations with a new friend than tests or audits. Seeing a student that loves what they are learning light up when talking to me about it is my favorite part of my job.
I am certified for all of Florida, and since I offer my services virtually, I can come to my clients through their computer or phone, and we can meet pretty much anywhere. I can complete an annual home education evaluation, which is one of 5 options parents have to evaluate their children’s learning. I also tutor students in any subject, both home school students and public school students. My third service is homeschooling consultations. Some of my consultation clients are new to home education and need help figuring out where to start, while others have been homeschooling for years and need a fresh perspective. Still, others need help choosing curriculums or keeping their children engaged and on track. In all of these scenarios, I can assist the parents in reducing their stress and locating the tactics, materials, and information necessary to be successful.
My brand is built on faith, family, and community as our life’s foundations. These three areas are where we should focus most of our energies. Homeschooling is a way to combine all three important aspects of life into one effort and provide our children with the tools and skills necessary to navigate their own lives with integrity and passion.
I am building my website, B3HomeschoolSupport.com, to provide parents and students with valuable information and suggestions about homeschooling. Blog posts are added regularly about a myriad of homeschooling topics. I do Florida field trip reviews and even provide pintables and ways of staying organized with educational materials.
What sets me apart is that I am more than a teacher that can perform an annual evaluation. There are a lot of new offerings in the works currently. I am looking into doing standardized tests (another option parents have for evaluating their child’s learning) and creating some of my curricula. Interested readers can go to the website and sign up to be VIPs to stay updated with new services as they are added.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
My parents were big on family vacations. One year, when I was about 12, we took a driving trip all over the United States. We drove a rented van and camped at every stop. We flew over the Grand Canyon in a tiny prop plane, hiked the Narrows in Zion National Park, watched a very large buffalo tear a tree out of the ground in the middle of the night in Yellowstone National Park, woke up to what we assumed was the same buffalo asleep against our tent door the following morning, found snow on a mountain on the fourth of July, stood in four states at once at Four Corners, and saw a wild mustang stampede during a rodeo in Cody, Wyoming. This trip was the most epic adventure a young girl from semi-rural Central Florida could have ever dreamed of, and at the time, it seemed like I had stumbled into a magical alien world. One evening, in a campsite out west, it hailed while my mom cooked dinner on a camp stove sitting in the back of our van. My brother and I were permitted to run all over the place yelling, “Oh Hail, it’s hailing!” We felt so free and silly. My 13-year-old brother and I used my dad’s high-powered flashlight to point out constellations and tell the stories that belonged to them. Another night, while wandering around the Grand Canyon, we encountered a group of college kids doing the same. What a feeling of accomplishment we had to have been able to teach something to people that seemed so much older and more experienced than we were.
My favorite memory of the trip is also the most terrifying. I paired up with my dad, and my brother teamed up with my mom everywhere we went. We were hiking along a trail, I’m not sure exactly where, and I saw a black bear on a fallen tree, just sticking out into the trail we were on. My mom and brother had stopped behind dad and me to fix my brother’s shoes. Dad looked down at the trail, watching his footing and looking for animal tracks. I tried to tell him about the bear, and he thought I was joking and refused to look up. Now, remember, I was 12. I remember it to be way more immediate and intense than it was, but my memory of this moment is that the bear was huge and started reaching out with its massive paw toward my dad. I remember trying to tug on my dad’s arm and stop him, but he was convinced I was trying to trick him, so he yanked his hand out of mine and continued walking. Finally, I grabbed his hand again and yanked back on it so hard my dad fell on his behind in the middle of the trail, looked up, and was face-to-face with a wild bear, as anyone would want to be. He hollered, scrambled backward like a crab, and then got up, grabbed me, and started running back the way we came. It was terrifying and exhilarating, and to this day, I swear that I saved my daddy from a bear attack.
As I write about this trip, I think about my dad. He is in late-stage Alzheimer’s disease now and does not recognize or remember me when I visit him. I wonder how he would like to hear the story of the little girl who saved her dad from a bear. I think he will like it.
Pricing:
- Evaluations are $50
- Tutoring is $25/hour
- Consultation prices vary
Contact Info:
- Website: www.B3HomeschoolSupport.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b3homeschoolsupport/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/B3HomeschoolSupport
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leah-ballard/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@B3HomeschoolSupport
- Other: https://www.pinterest.com/b3homeschoolsupport/
