For Parents
Smarter Parents. Smarter Children.
Smarter parents, smarter children- these resources help parents and mentors engage in the hearts, minds, and hands of 21st-century learners in story-orchestrated discovery learning.
Learning beyond the classroom
SMARTER EDUCATION for the Whole Person offers a rewarding approach that goes beyond traditional classrooms, tests, and grades. This guide helps parents create a self-directed learning environment that fosters curiosity, creativity, and problem-solving, while drawing on timeless values like honesty, integrity, and compassion to support meaningful growth and personal happiness.
Identify your educational philosophy
Answering the following twenty questions and printing a summary will enable
you to easily and confidently explain your beliefs, values, and philosophy of
education to others – and by the same token, learn what other parents,
administrators, teachers, legislators, or others believe about learning.
Create your own family website
With Family Portal you can share important moments through photos and stories. Document and preserve family histories and traditions. Build and maintain family trees that connect generations. Family Portal is built by a team of family enthusiasts who are passionate about creating technology that strengthens human connections.
Discovery Learning Cycle
Discovery Learning uses a simple five-step procedure that we like to use with an Innovation Station for peer-to-peer learning:
Question → Investigate → Discover → Report → Reflect
This might look like asking young learners why plants grow better in sunlight; Researching together; Testing ideas; Sharing findings at family dinner; Reflecting on what was learned. This builds agency, responsibility, and confidence.
The Innovation StationTM
An Innovation StationTM at home, church, or community learning resource center is a launchpad for addressing community needs, conducting service projects, developing new products and businesses, and engaging in creative storytelling and course development.
The future of learning is not confined to classrooms — it begins wherever curiosity is invited and guided with purpose. Please click the link below to schedule a time for your family to visit an Innovation StationTM in your area.
Use Citizen Portal in Discovery Learning
This is how power users stay informed, spot signals early, and make smarter civic and business decisions in their discovery learning process. Find out what your local government is working on right now. (You don’t have to dig through 3-hour meeting videos to find out.)
Meet Citizen Portal’s AI Chat — your built-in civic research assistant. For the next 7 days, we’re unlocking Pro access so you can try it free.
With AI Chat, you can:
- Ask plain-language questions like –
- “Did the school board discuss curriculum changes?”
- “What’s happening with zoning in my area?”
- “Is redistricting being debated in Florida?”
- Get clear, source-backed answers grounded in real government meetings.
- Instantly explore topics without knowing bureaucratic jargon.
- Move from confusion to clarity in seconds.