FOURTEEN years ago Trudy Lee Panton and her husband Shane Panton made the bold decision to homeschool their children to create a more immersive, self-paced, and self-directed learning environment — and they have not looked back since.

Now a family of eight with six children, all of whom are homeschooled, the Pantons are helping other parents through their company Jamaica Life Learners Limited — a comprehensive homeschooling service that provides consultation and facilitates supplemental learning programmes in literacy, numeracy, sports, and the creative arts, and networking opportunities for homeschooling families.

A former employee in the banking sector, Trudy Lee said when she enrolled her eldest daughter in infant school, she’d hoped the traditional learning environment would be a good fit for her family, but that was not the case. She explained that long working hours kept her away from her family — something she deeply disliked — prompting her to resign from her job. After becoming more involved in her daughter’s daily life, taking her to school and building relationships with her teachers, she quickly realised that her daughter did not enjoy school.

“She didn’t feel comfortable in the space. I think she probably felt controlled, sort of, because she was stuck in the classroom for X number of hours each day, and she was not used to that. Prior to that, she was up and down with mommy and her little sister, and we were exploring the world in different ways. We’d go to the beach, et cetera, so she was more used to that freedom,” she explained to the Jamaica Observer.

“I figured maybe give her some time and she’ll get used to it, but she never did. We went a whole year, and she didn’t get used to it. There were no issues socially, so she wasn’t socially inept or anything; she just preferred to learn in a more explorative environment, and the classroom was a bit restricting, so we decided that we were going to make that final decision to go fully into homeschooling,” the mother said.

Trudy Lee admitted that she was terrified about the decision because she’s from a family of lifelong learners who loved school and felt like she was robbing her children of that experience, but still she pressed on.

While seeking to legitimise her homeschooling operation with the education ministry and register her children, she discovered the Jamaica Association of Homeschoolers — a community that transformed her journey. Through the association, she connected with other families navigating similar challenges and later became deeply involved in advocacy work, eventually serving as the association’s secretary in 2020 while her husband served as president. She and her husband later formed Jamaica Life Learners in 2025.

The family’s homeschool set-up has evolved significantly over the years, moving from classes in their living room to now having a designated space for learning. Panton shared that while her children follow the national curriculum, she and her husband also draw resources from other Caribbean and international homeschooling agencies for a holistic approach. She listed City and Guilds and the General Certificate of Education (GCE) — both internationally recognised exams — as some of the methods of testing for her children.

However, she noted that the core of their teaching practices is to provide learning that is immersive, self-paced, and self-directed. She said this educational philosophy was shaped by her and her husband’s experiences while attending school, as they often felt like they were left behind in classes when they did not understand a topic but were forced to move on because of the design of traditional school systems and its “one-size-fits-all” approach. That experience fuelled the desire for something different for their children, an environment in which questioning, debate, and curiosity were constantly encouraged.

“We believe that the child is in charge of their learning or that the child should be empowered to manage their learning, so they should be provided with the tools and the materials that will allow them to follow a particular process at their own pace, because every child learns differently. If we provide them with the tools, they will take themselves through the process, and we are there as facilitators and not so much [as] a teacher to instruct or give information, but rather to facilitate and encourage a child to seek, explore, and gain the information on their own,” Trudy Lee explained to the Sunday Observer.

She added that they go deeper than the average textbook, finding people who can cater to their children’s career interests and provide hands-on learning opportunities.

“If they’re interested in medicine, we seek out opportunities to have them visit a medical facility to have them see and experience what that could feel like, and we try in whatever ways, through whatever networking resource, sharing opportunities we come across as parents to expose them to the real-world application experiences so that when they are in the process of deciding what their professional future will look like they have a more complete idea of what that means for them,” she said.

They also seek out tutors who specialise in subject areas their children are interested in, including recreational activities. To make learning more exciting, she said the classroom can be anywhere on any given day, with lessons often taking place in parks or by the beach to expose the children to new environments.

The mother of six
said she is also happy that, through homeschooling, she can shield her children from the experiences of violence in schools.

“When children are in school, that’s their temporary home, so living in an environment that is so ripe with aggression and violence is definitely something I am glad that my children have escaped. I can see that their outlook on life and their view of the world are different because they are not around that. They are more hopeful about the world around them, they are more excited to experience different things and meet different people, and I appreciate that,” she said.

“I think it would have negatively affected them if they were living in that kind of environment at school on a regular basis. Whether or not they were involved, there could be two extremes: either they would be involved directly as the aggressor or the victims, or indirectly involved, or their friends would be involved, and so they would have to experience it in some way, and I think it would have negatively affected their personalities and their outlook on life,” she explained.

As she reflected on her family’s homeschooling journey, Panton said she has no regrets and would encourage any parent thinking about homeschooling their children to take the leap if they feel it is best.

“You might be questioning the environment that the children are being brought up in, you might be questioning your relationship with your children because you’re not able to relate how you want to with your children because you don’t spend enough time with them, and you might be considering: ‘How can I restructure my life to include my children more?’ Homeschooling is definitely one option that you can consider, and you don’t have to do it alone…There is help, a lot of support, and the most difficult task might be trying to figure out what to do first, but it definitely is a community, and the community is here to help each other, so if you’re thinking about it, why not?” she said.

TRUDY LEE…when children are in school, that’s their temporary home, so living in an environment that is so ripe with aggression and violence is definitely something I am glad that my children have escaped

Shane Panton (left) engages in a mathematics lesson with his daughters Jordyn (right), Jael (centre), and Jana-Clarisse.

Trudy Lee Panton (centre) explains an English language task to her daughter Jada-Kali (left) and son Jalon.