With the End Goal in Mind

I am calling this blog-With the End Goal in Mind.

Lately, I find myself constantly redefining my everyday norms as a working parent raising five impressionable humans, ages 5–12, in a noisy and busy world. I’m not okay with my kids simply giving in to every influence, catchphrase, and trend the world convinces them they need. So about two years ago, my husband and I began making intentional shifts in our lifestyle to put our children’s development and well-being first.

This blog shares our journey of raising our own children to be Heartwise Scholars—and inviting our community to grow alongside us. Using a backwards design approach grounded in my research on social motivational theory, social-emotional learning, and restorative practices, we’ve worked to nurture resilient, kind, and socially motivated young people.

What began with our own family has now grown to include more than 18 families and 28 children through the Heartwise model. Heartwise Scholars is becoming more than an educational option—it’s a way of developing the kind of human any young person can aspire to be.

My husband and I have learned that training up hearts and minds takes intention, patience, and the right people and environments. Join us as we share our story, our approach, and our mission to build a socially motivated network of scholars ages 5–18 who learn to care for themselves, their community, and the world.

Land, Love, and Laughter

Hi! I’m Dr. Crystal Goins, and I live on a 5-acre property in a sprawling ranch home with my husband, my five kids, my dog, and six chickens. When we first bought the land, we didn’t really know what to do with it—but we knew our boys needed it. The more we lived on the property, the more we began to dream bigger about all the possibilities for its use.

When we first opened our microschool, it was hard to find families willing to commit to a brand-new educational model. Our program was starting in our home, I was planning to teach a mixed-age group of Pre-K–5 students, and many people understandably questioned whether I could manage that environment while still teaching strong academic content.

Through conviction—and the encouragement of a startup grant—we decided to begin anyway. Our family needed it, and we were going to homeschool regardless.

With one faith-filled Montessori teacher and three brave families joining us in those early days, Heartwise was born.

Together, we discovered the unexpected gift of outdoor space for learning. We spent nearly an hour outside every morning before coming in to work, and later in the day we went back out again for PE and recess. Outside became our second home, and the land became our canvas: bikes, building projects, soccer, Nerf battles, experiments, and unstructured play.

The land taught us something very important about our model: children need the freedom of time, space, and play—both outdoors and indoors.

In February 2025, we were blessed with a commercial learning center in a central location on a popular shopping strip—a one-room, 1,800-square-foot haven for learning. After much prayer, my husband and I knew that moving our K–5 program to this location was the next step. But there was one challenge: no outdoor space.

At first, I questioned God’s intentions. How could we teach the lessons of freedom and the power of nature without an outdoor space as a second home? Entrepreneurship has a way of sparking creative problem-solving. Our first enrichment partner was Wonderforest Nature School, a forest school just 15 minutes away. Then we discovered a park five minutes from the center, which inspired us to invest in transportation to bring our students to these experiences.

Having our own location also opened opportunities for service providers to come to us. We partnered with Creative Music and Entertainment for general music and ukulele classes, and K–5 art classes with Mrs. Leisa at Art by Leisa. By February, our center had grown to six full-time learners and two part-time learners. By March, we had 13 learners.

With more students came a bigger staff and more opportunities for social connection and communication development. We aligned with Social Butterflies for social skills small groups, and I built a weekly SLAY and PLAY routine to give students strategic social-emotional purpose during the week. Morning meetings became more student-centered, reflecting day-to-day happenings.

Transitioning to an indoor space with no outdoor area challenged us to build community in new ways—with each other, with adults, and with other teachers—within four walls. Fast forward to March 2026: after our first week of goal-setting conferences, we’ve focused our energy on creating systems and a community of support centered on love. The way we train Heartwise Scholars to love themselves, their community, and the world demonstrates the power of choice—choosing love. Being together in a large, open space with our 23 learners has taught us that when love is at the center, we can be better together.

And finally, laughter. Oh, how I’ve missed it. During the hard years of COVID, from 2020–2024, I think I cried more than I laughed—work changes, school changes, burnout, and countless challenges piled up. Pivoting and making changes felt shaky, but laughter returned, even in the hard moments, when we stayed open to the challenges.

We realized that laughter comes back when we become aware of possibility and refuse to feel stuck in the status quo. Every new beginning has growing pains, but the opportunity to try again, grow relationships, and share daily life together—both at home and at the learning center—brings joy. Even at home, as a family, laughter has become more frequent. At Heartwise, scholars and staff share joy and laughter multiple times throughout the day.

For all of it—freedom, love, and laughter—we are thankful. We embrace the importance of freedom, both in outdoor spaces and in the structure of our learning. We structure our operations around love—for ourselves, for our community, and for the world. And we embrace laughter, a natural product of joy in community. Life and learning can be hard, but you don’t have to do it alone—it’s always better together!

If you enjoyed reading this post, I enjoyed writing it—and I want to share even more with you. Microschooling is very personal to my family and to the children, families, and caregivers I serve. Consider supporting our programming by offering a donation or being a community sponsor. Your support, curiosity, and enthusiasm will inspire me to continue creating content that serves YOU! Thank you in advance for your support.