Below is a list of consultants who are part of the AERO network. We have listed their names and locations, and they have described the services they can provide.
You can arrange a consultation with them by ordering it HERE. It is $100 for up to an hour. Write in the consultant you want in the notes or send us a separate e mail. Further arrangements can be made individually. Contact AERO if you need more information or want to talk directly to the consultant first.
NICHOLAS MARTINO. Pawleys Island. SC. United States
My Ed consultancy currently works with global school administrators, teachers, and students to innovate and deliver dynamic and authentic PBL (project, place, problem…). I work in designing school curricula, coaching teachers and admin on school culture, and most currently have been helping teachers transition to digital and hybrid pedagogical transformations. Happy to help education organizations big and small.
Nikki Lardas. Potlach. WA. USA
Confused about special education? Looking for new alternatives for your special needs student? Let me help. I offer special education consulting services based on 20+ years of national and international special ed. experience, as a teacher, a special education parent and my own experience as a special education student (ADHD, gifted.) My strength is in a non-traditional approach. Let’s talk.
Rebecca Yahm. Plainfield. VT. USA
I provide individualized consulting services to homeschoolers and those considering homeschooling, VT state end-of-year assessments, and occasional parent workshops. Consulting can include discussion of whether homeschooling is right for you, how to get started, VT home study regulations and enrollment, approaches to homeschooling, curriculum materials and resources, unschooling and child-led learning, observing and documenting children’s/teens’ self-directed learning, and more.
Lynne Goldfarb Ph.d. Ventura. CA. USA
How to create effective and personalized online instruction. How to create Democratic classrooms and Democratic school organizations. How to create educational paradigms that can be operationalized and adapted as needed to be effective for all students. How to identify and work with diverse learners and those with learning challenges. How to diagnose a school organization to see where the challenges lie and how to change the organization to better serve everyone. How parents can effectively support their children during time of Covid 19 as well as wanting to homeschool.
Michelle Tichy. Sanford. FL. USA
I offer you educational consultation ranging from 1:1 homeschool support to assistance with setting up micro-schools. I am expert in the following areas: holistic learning, social emotional learning, project/inquiry-based learning, democratic education, community partnerships, mindfulness, collaboration, and educational psychology applied to learner centered education.
Jerry Mintz. Roslyn Heights. NY. USA
General consultations for homeschoolers and starters of new alternatives
Kimberly Cullen. Madrid. Spain
Mari Fernandez. Severn. MA. USA
We address the Spanish-speaking public with the intention of informing and educating about the concepts of student-centered educational alternatives, and serving as support to the growing number of communities based on non-traditional educational models.
Daniel Sage. Taos. NM. USA
I can offer unschooling homeschooling and deschooling advice guidance and wisdom to parents and kids. More specifically I can offer advice to potential artists, musicians and earth builders.
Tamra Skye. Claremont. NH. USA
Guidance for parents who are new to homeschooling. Focus Areas: neurodiversity – especially sensory sensitivities; personalized learning; how to explore curriculum and online options; working-from-home while homeschooling; and in general, strategies for maximizing success while reducing stress or common mistakes. LinkedIn:
Griffin Toffler. Klamath Falls. OR. USA
Counseling for kids and families, looking at ways to deal with school policies, activism in your community, queer rights, being a white antiracist, advocacy for rights of children, moral support, help with writing, finding your voice and believing in yourself.
Jennifer Kelly. Massapequa Park. NY. USA
I offer whole child educational consulting services that focus on providing social and academic support for families with children and educators and answering any questions you have. I give educational content advice and help give direction for implementing educational supports and and solutions. My approach follows my business acronym “APTS” Advice, Planning, Training & Solutions with my mission of promoting “There are Many Pathways to Success.” Also, I will assist students with Reading & Reading Comprehension, the English Language & English Language Arts. I will assist with personalized student educational needs with a Language Arts and an “Across the Curriculum Approach” for students with any type of needs that I can assist with through Remediation, Enrichment & Educational Planning. I have experience working with gifted, twice exceptional and special needs education.
Thomas W Hatfield Tucson. AZ. USA
Time for some fun talks — via several topics, which are keen passions for sharing my insights…
The falsehood of “Zero Gravity” while orbiting the earth — “Free Fall” is the reality. (This conversation quickly turns into an exercise of “The Socratic Method” — and a celebration of “thinking for yourself” — leading to learning how to best “spread the truth”, against what most people might believe, strongly yet wrongly!) Conversations about the surprising essence of evolution — via exploring simple questions about Life, in all its powerful shapes, forms, and functions! Using “Scratch” for fun, easy, visual play — while learning all the aspects of computer programming! Long ago, I was a staff-person in a “Sudbury-Model School” — during a break in my career as a computer programmer.
Lila Faria. Seattle WA. USA
I am a flexible consultant with a Bachelor’s Degree in, “Alternative Educational Environments.” My degree focused on using human-centered design to develop alternative learning experiences for the modern world. I have familiarity working with a wide variety of learning environments including museums camps, public school and Montessori schools. I am seeking opportunities in the areas of educational technology, eLearning and instructional development with an emphasis on supporting and improving the online learning experience. I am a connector by nature who focuses on design thinking and systems efficiency in my work.
Erin Fleming. Burlington. Ontario. Canada
Unschooling coach, parenting coach, and I can provide support for alternative learning programs in Ontario.
Stephanie Sewell. Chelsea. Quebec. Canada
Education consulting services for children, teens and parents: Individual, family or by group membership. Unschooling / Self-directed Education, Free Learners.
Mari-Jean Melissa. Sarasota. FL. USA
While busy, I have a somewhat more flexible schedule now and particularly after the election, and I am happy to help with anything I can. I’ve started 5 campuses (1 private and 4 charter). Business plans, hiring/training/retaining a staff, facilities, teacher training, community building, conflict resolution.
SJ Barakony. Delaware. OH. USA
1:1 Mentoring ( students, single career mothers; mompreneurs ); family advisory service ( family of any size/type/geographic area – discuss any & ALL educational decision making ); masterminds ( small group facilitation which I provide: core focus on the future of education, transitions from one type of learning to another; i.e. public to a microschool, pandemic pod, et.
Robin Harwick, PhD. Seattle. WA. USA
I am available to consult with educators who are interested in creating democratic classrooms, self-directed learning environments, or want to understand project-based learning. I have expertise in working with youth and families with disabilities from diverse backgrounds.
Deborah K Cunningham San Diego CA USA
Families of school age children have been consulting with me for 40 years to help them explore their education options, including:
– Understanding school options and finding the right school – public, private, alternative, founding your own
– Exploring the possibility of home schooling, in order to become more knowledgeable and mindful managers of our children’s educations
– Understanding the range of home school options from full-time, using non-family teachers, connecting with co-ops and other social supports, partial (part-time) home schooling, intermittent home schooling to support school participation, travel as home schooling
– Clarifying family values and style
Helping families, of every type, become fiercely intentional about knowing who they are, where they come from, and where they are going; Empowering families to honor and create traditions, rituals, and stories that reinforce family bonding and identity, encourage resilience, and make possible legacies that last across generations!
Ashley Nielsen, PhD Ventura CA USA
I’m an educational designer whose focus is on bringing a holistic and systems perspective to schools, programs, classes, online learning, and homeschooling. I work with K-12, Higher Ed, homeschoolers, and alternative programs.
My focus is strategic planning and program and curriculum design. I’ve designed preschool to graduate programs to gap year programs and lots in between. Specialities include: project based learning, competency based education, universal design learning, and motivational psychology. If you need help strategizing how to make it through this crisis, I would love to help
Dr. Rocco Ricci Toronto ON Canada
I can consult on how to start and homeschool successfully, but more importantly, I teach this through an online course I call MODERN Homeschooling. We teach parents/busy moms/mompreneurs how to confidently and successfully homeschool – without stress, isolation or family chaos!
Gayle Hanlon. St Catharines. Ontario. Canada
Encouragement and support with regard to critical thinking, alternative education and research skills, challenging educational assumptions, and for those who love learning, helping others and want to start an unschool or simply expand their horizons.
Rivka Gross. Dallas. TX. USA
Montessori style consultation for all ages for in-home support in aiding independence and academics. Specialty ages 2.5-6 years old.
Kanika Al Diges. Bangalore. Kamataka. India
I am the founder of Kindilan Academy. We offer Teacher Development & Training Programs for kindergartens, after-school-care and playgroups, inspired by a blend of Play-Based Learning and Waldorf Education. Our programs focus on mentoring new initiatives in India. I will be able to offer our programs, guide, mentor and offer consultations in India, to anyone wanting to setup a kindergarten, after-school-care and playgroup along similar play-based learning approaches. We also seek to support those who wish to start alternative learning programs for under-privileged children in the age groups of 3 to 10.
Lance Alan Box. Moulden. Northern Territory. Australia
Foundation Literacy Age 7+ ; Foundation Numeracy Age 7+ to Middle School; Financial Literacy; Unschooling Guidance.
Maya Sissoko. San Francisco Bay Area (and online globally). CA. USA
I design individualized curriculum guided by the interests and passions of children in all subject areas except for science. I work with children ages 5-10 who want an alternative to what they are learning in school either because they are bored, or gifted, or have a different style of learning that school isn’t meeting. I also train parents A-Z in how to set up real-world learning programs outside of school (homeschool, micro school, traveling school, unschool, etc…) In addition, I do parent coaching and educational consulting. I work 1-1 with children to engage their passions and support their challenges using a strengths-based model. My specialty is working with gifted children. However, I work with families whose kids are not necessarily labeled but who are or were clearly curious learners and now their needs are not getting met. I was a lead teacher at the Nueva School for 15 years and have had my own education business since 2014 called Whole Child Education. I used to work online and in-person. Now all of my sessions for parents and children are online. I am currently advising and architecting for pods.
Rita Bouchard Hawthorne CA USA
I offer families new to homeschooling:
-Free-Inquiry Project Framework Planning for Integrated Understanding (Based on Learner Interest)
-Forms to document learning (some schools require this)
-Free On-Line Resources for any subject
– Books/Articles Recommendations that support How Children Learn
I do not and will not evaluate learning/Assign Grades
Barry Dyck. Landmark. Manitoba. Canada.
Lots of experience in various forms of alternative education. Sudbury, Agile, Humanistic, Montessori, unschooling, and extra experience in early childhood. Bilingual English Spanish. I love to network and help people find each other. I also love supporting people to start new experiences and projects. I currently run a school advocacy group for the state of MN in the interest of opening schools and allowing children to pursue their education face to face, in person, without restrictions. My group has a broad network of families and educators who are pursuing many different forms of education.
Mara Linaberger. Harmony. PA. USA
We are happy to offer a free call to teachers who want to build a viable microschool. We also have services that take teachers through the business building process, and beyond.
Monica Cochran . Saline . MI. USA
I offer a variety of services to learners, caregivers, educators, and families.
- Educational Therapy
- Parent Education & Coaching
- Transition Planning
- DIR Floortime
- Safe and Sound Protocol
Fiona McKenzie. Melbourne. Victoria. Australia
I am passionate about the creation of very small schools (15-80 students) that value a democratic approach to teaching and learning. I can provide general support in the areas of educational philosophy, school structure, leadership and operations, to people in Australia who are interested in starting a primary or secondary school. I have direct experience of the registration process in Victoria but can assist with financial planning and funding estimation for schools across the country.
Michelle Candela-Jordan Ithaca. NY. USA
My certification and experience are in teaching high school level English and college writing, study skills, and metacognitive skills. As a former homeschooling parent, I am available to support learners and families with all aspects of home learning, reporting and assessment processes as well. For those not returning to traditional school or interested in a high school equivalency diploma, I have years of practice and knowledge advising how to prepare, maneuver through the process of applying, and receive an official high school equivalency diploma from the state education department.
Emily Gregoire. Las Vegas. NV. USA
I have a successful “pod” in Las Vegas called The Rainbow 🌈 Room and have been doing this before COVID as a supplementary, hands on learning lab for homeschoolers. I’ve created policies, procedures (including Co-vid), contracts, and a way of selecting families to ensure there is a cohesive community who have similar expectations and homeschooling styles. There’s a lot of drama that can be avoided with an awareness of who you serve, who you don’t, and a general game plan/marketing strategy. I am available for consulting on creating a microschool, pod, self-directed learning center, etc. out of a home, outdoor area, and or general meeting space. I do daily stories that showcase the twice a week learning lab ages 6-12 and preschool ages 3-5.
Judith Hurst. Chattanooga. TN. USA
As former founder and director of Yellow Wood Learning Community in Florida, USA, I am happy to give my advice and support to fledgling learning communities and their stakeholders. I can help with all aspects of the organization’s birthing journey–including navigating the 501(c)(3) process (pros and cons discussed), mission development and “mission drift” as well as getting creative in ‘classroom/school’ needs. The old model is out, creating the new is exciting! Would love to help you and your team shape your vision into a successful reality for ALL our children’s sake.
Dr. Maysaa Bazna. Brooklyn. NY. USA
Maysaa Bazna is an educator and an avid advocate for children having a voice in their education. She founded Pono, NYC’s only democratic and outdoor school, and continues as its director since 2010. She designs, along with the children at Pono, the virtual and in-person curriculum. She is a consultant on democratic education for groups, democratic education at home, outdoor education, and virtual learning programming and design. Maysaa received her doctorate and master’s degrees from Columbia University Teachers College and was a member of the faculty at Teachers College and City University of New York. Her daughter is a member of the Pono community.
Sara Caesar-Williams, M.Ed. Cleveland, OH. USA
I provide educational consulting to families, individuals, educational organizations and communities in the following areas: Education Planting (Pods/Micro-Schools, Homeschool Co-ops), Homeschool Coach/Assessor/Proctor, Specialized Services & Professional Development Training (Curriculum Planning, Grant Writing etc.)
Laurel Tien. Vancouver. BC. Canada
With two of my three children in self-directed experiences, I am passionate about learner-led learning. I am especially interested in supporting the journey/transition from traditional to post-traditional, with families, collectives and larger institutions.
Carl Rust. Elkhart. Indiana. USA
I can consult with learners, families, teachers, administrators, schools on how to make learning more natural, more democratic, and more authentic.
Je’anna Clements. Johannesburg. South Africa.
Support in figuring out whether it’s Progressive or Self-Directed Education you’re keen on. Assistance in figuring out which Self-Directed Education model will work well for you. Advice and mentoring on setting up SDE offerings for other families. Coaching for SDE facilitation skills and Horizontal Communication skills.
Taryn Helper. Johannesburg. South Africa.
I could counsel families who are new to education alternatives. Self- Directed education is my passion!
Teri Sperry. Austin. TX
I am an educational consultant who’s been working with local families since 2011. I founded Alt Ed Austin to help parents explore and choose among the Austin area’s unusual number of unusual schools, from pre-K though high school level. Over the years, I’ve helped hundreds of parents find the right fit for their kids, and nothing gives me greater joy. Now, in the midst of global health, economic, and education crises, I’m finding that even more families are searching for creative solutions.
Heidi Little. Smithville. TX
8 week stacking certifications in Social Emotional Learning. As well as advancements for Social Emotional Learning tools, techniques, and exploration, also supporting and cultivating teachers/educators/parents to share their gifts, and talents with the children and youth, for self, family, community and the world and at home, in community, or globally. Heidi Little is the Co- founder/Director/platform designer for International Children’s Month/World and it’s free, year-long thematic, activity platforms. Heidi is also the founder/Director of The Center for Advancement in Social Emotional Learning. Learn to come home to self, explore your unique gifts and talents, connect deeply, and flourish in all areas of self and life.
Sharyl Allen. Great Falls. MT
Building internships with industry to both schools and businesses; developing student-choice curriculum
Will Gown. Lansing. MI
I can consult on integrating sociocracy and other democratic tools into schools and small-scale learning environments (both with staff/adults and students/young people). I can help to build schooling environments where students and staff alike feel empowered to have both voice and choice in building and co-creating their educational experiences.
Victoria Chiatula, Ph.D. Valparaiso. IN.
Educational consulting in the areas of teaching, training, mentoring, and coaching. Examples include: writing school curricular, developing school start-up through the authorization & alignment process for state application submission; Quality Assurance and standardization processes for accreditation through holistic research, monitoring, and evaluation.
Joe Weber. Oakland. CA
I taught and co-directed Holden High School for 37 years.I am credentialed in Special Education and currently teach accordion independently in person (again soon), by Zoom, and with the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS). My perspective is profoundly alternative and individualized. I can help with school starting, teaching, board building, administration, and remote learning, and just about everything in between.
Liz Campbell. Nova Scotia and Ontario. Canada
Patent. teacher, admin, student, researcher support in anything to do with holistic education, alternative education, self-directed education , creating a paradigm shift in public education, self-study action research, narrative inquiry., alternative knowing, being, and doing ancient wisdom, values based learning and teaching and living curriculum.
Renee Tougas. Montreal. Quebec Canada
Mindset Coach, Learning Facilitator & Resource Researcher for parents of pre-school and school-aged children wanting to facilitate a non-coercive, learner-centered, interest-driven, adult (mentor)-facilitated home learning environment.
– Coach and mentor for project based learning for homeschoolers.
– Coach for connection-based parenting.
Alexis Reien Nordin. Alberta. Canada
I offer services to high school students. I’m not a teacher, but I am a coach that helps with the home learning high school process, walking through outlines, proposals and resources. I go over the courses students are hoping or need to accomplish and then create a schedule and weekly plan. Be the support that checks in, brings guidance and walks through any problems. I want to help build better time management skills and initiate self-motivation, this creates less stress on parents and more ownership on students. The home learning courses can be difficult to understand at first, I want to help students to not be stressed and have a better understanding of how to proceed. That’s why I walk students through the steps, answer questions and create a plan that keeps them on track but also leaves room for creativity and growth. So that at the end of the year there are no surprises and they complete courses on time.
