I decided to homeschool when I was pregnant with my first child. I was inspired by my nephews, who were homeschooling at the time and thriving. While researching ways to communicate with a baby in the womb, I stumbled upon the work of Glenn Doman, a pioneering physical therapist and researcher who discovered that the human brain, particularly in the earliest years of life, has a far greater capacity to learn than we ever imagined. His books, “How to Teach Your Baby to Read,” “How to Teach Your Baby Math,” and “What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child” became my companions on the hour-long bus rides to downtown Chicago, where I was working as a fellow in a research lab. Doman’s work was validated at the highest levels. Joseph Kennedy Sr., after a devastating 1961 stroke that left him able to say only one word, walked independently across a room within two weeks of working with Glenn Doman. The top rehabilitation center in Manhattan hadn’t accomplished that in months. 

 

By the time my son was born, I had read enough research to know that the traditional classroom model wasn’t designed around how children’s brains actually learn. I had flashcards ready for words and numbers. I had a plan. I was ready.

 

What I didn’t know was that those same tools and that same research would become a lifeline years later.

 

I’m a scientist by training and work as a medical writer in oncology. I’ve spent my career translating complex research into clear, actionable information. When I became a homeschool mom, I applied that same discipline to my children’s education, studying neuroplasticity, brain-based learning, gut health, sleep science, and early childhood development.

 

The results slowly but steadily began to speak for themselves. My older children were reading above grade level by age 5. My 13-year-old taught himself to code, plays three instruments, and regularly borrows books from the adult computer science section of the library. My 10-year-old is fascinated by medical anatomy and does the same. When librarians see them checking out books, they ask if the books are for mom or dad.

 

One of my children received a diagnosis that most specialists said would require years of intensive therapy with limited outcomes. Most children with this diagnosis face a lifetime of therapy with slow, incremental progress. I went back to the research, as well as Doman’s book on brain-injured children, and read it again, this time not as a curious expecting mother, but as a mom on a mission. The human brain has an extraordinary capacity to heal and rewire itself through intensive, targeted stimulation, a principle that modern neuroscience calls neuroplasticity. Two years later, the therapist noted no clinical signs of the condition. We are continuing on the Doman program today, following the same intensive, targeted stimulation protocol that modern neuroscience confirms works. Every milestone is being hit, steadily and surely. That is exactly the point of homeschooling.

 

My husband and I are lifetime members of HSLDA and passionate advocates for the homeschooling community.

 

Every resource at The Learning Haven is built on one belief.

 

Welcome.

 

– Dr. Sheri Abraham