The idea behind Bloom was born when I withdrew my own children from public school to begin homeschooling.

While I had decades of experience, I was completely overwhelmed. I knew what they needed to learn in their grades. I am an expert in reading through curriculum documents to highlight skills and map these into annual, monthly and weekly learning activities for planning purposes. I also intuitively know through years of trial and error, what kids will like for learning tasks and activities (and what they hate!). I knew there were a variety homeschooling resources on the internet, but truthfully, I had no time or desire to read through and find the perfect match for my children.

I just needed to find someone who was an expert that I trusted. I was looking for resources with the biggest bang for your buck - no extra fluff or make-work activities or lengthy worksheets. If there is anything we have learned over the past few years is Work Smarter, Not Harder. When we switched to online learning over the lockdowns in past years, families (including myself) began to realize how much fluff was included in each school day. There had to be some kind of simple, daily teaching activity for both math and language that I could use for my kids that they would not find boring and quickly start to hate homeschooling due to disinterest.

I also wanted a combination of school and unschooling - I loved how my daughters would find science topics they were interested in learning more about, and was comfortable outsourcing help for art and music lessons, sports, and French, but at the end of the day, I wanted to make sure my kids would be on track with reading, writing and math skills. I came up empty-handed. I knew of great resources for certain units or themes, but there was no simple daily lessons I could do from September to June that I felt secure would meet the Provincial Curriculum standards if they ever re-entered school or eventually wanted the option to apply for university or college. We also wanted to homeschool four days a week to save one day for joining local co-ops, classes, groups or field trips to enhance our learning. I knew it could be done. So I began creating what I wanted to see, empowering myself and Bloom was born.

If online learning has taught us one thing, it is that learning at home can be done in less than half the time, with fewer interruptions, transitions and breaks. Ideally, if your child is able to focus their attention and time for a few hours a day, homeschooling can be much more flexible and enjoyable than the traditional full-day Monday to Friday schooling.