26: Becoming Facilitators Of Our Children's Education with The Founders of Ani Ve Ami

In this episode we interview the founders of the Ani Ve Ami curriculum: Amy Bodkin, Yehudis Litvak, and Malkie Swidler. 

 Amy Bodkin is an Autistc Adult, School Psychologist, and Homeschool Mom to her two Autistic kids. She consults primarily with homeschool families as the Special Needs Consultant at Ani VeAmi and A Charlotte Mason Plenary. She works with families who have experienced chronic health conditions, disabilities, trauma, asynchronous development, etc. Her practice is guided by Charlotte Mason’s idea that “Children are born persons” and makes it her goal to see each child as an individual, not a diagnosis. 

 Yehudis Litvak has been homeschooling for over eleven years. Her oldest child graduated high school last year. She is passionate about giving every child an opportunity to thrive socially, emotionally, and academically in a homeschool environment. Yehudis loves to read and write living books, and she is the author of a Young Adult historical fiction trilogy, as well as numerous short stories. Yehudis lives in Los Angeles with her family.

Malkie Swidler is the mother of a tween, teens and an adult who has been homeschooling for close to 20 years. She encourages parents to see their children’s strengths. Malkie shares her passion for establishing relationships with her own children and encourages other parents to do the same.

Gems:

• Create an environment of love and respect.
• Emphasize holidays and liturgy.
• Our children’s perception of G-d is influenced by how we relate to them.
• Parents are the ambassadors of G-d to their children.
• We have a relationship with G-d because it is meaningful to us.
• When we provide children with what they need, they grow.
• Education is everything our children/students do throughout the day and influences who they are as a person.
• Allow children to connect with themselves and then they will connect with others.
• Learn to work past our own biases.
• Work on ourselves.
• Be Flexible.
• We are the facilitators of our children/students.
• Allow our children/students to be who they are.
• Learn to respect our fellow Jews and teach our children/students to do the same.

Learn more about their curriculum: https://ani-ve-ami.com/
Charlotte Mason- https://simplycharlottemason.com/

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