Spotlight on…Jay Byrd!
This week the spotlight is on one of co-founders, Jay Byrd. Find out more about her varied experiences of supporting young people in Peru and Bristol and how she attributes her lifelong love of learning to being home-educated herself.
Jay specialises in: one-to-one project-based learning sessions with children; group events for children; one-to-one consultations with parents/carers; home-education advice; unschooling; respectful parenting; needs-based communication; and, solo parenting. Oh, and her favourite bean? The black-eyed bean!
Above: Jay in the children’s area that she runs at a creative camp.
Jay is an OFSTED registered childminder with 8 years experience of working with schooled and home-educated children up to the age of 11. She was educated at home by her parents until the age of 14, when she decided to try a mainstream setting and went on to attend secondary school, college and gain a degree in Psychology.
Before starting Bean Learning, Jay founded a volunteer organisation and an educational setting for children living in poverty in Peru. She has also set up a UK registered charity, which helped to build and sustain an orphanage.
Above: The site of the educational setting that Jay founded in Peru.
After this period of travelling, living and working abroad, Jay returned to Bristol and now home-educates her son, following an unschooling/respectful parenting ethos and uses project-based learning to extend and explore the topics that interest him. She is an advocate of home education and has supported the community by working and volunteering at a children’s democratic community and offering consultancy for local educational settings.
Above: Jay and her son who she now home-educates.
Jay has a deep love of learning, and regularly attends continued professional development courses that relate to her businesses as well as attending various workshops and courses just for fun! During her holidays, Jay runs a creativity and children’s area at a camp. She loves to learn new knowledge and skills and share them with others. One of her favourite projects has been converting her van into a campervan!
Jay offers scheduled and bespoke group events and project-based learning courses for children, workshops and discussion groups for adults, and individual parent/carer consultations.
