About

Homegrown Thinking explores how everyday conversations help children learn, ask questions, and make sense of the world.

I’m a parent, writer, and teacher who became curious about how language develops in young children.

While raising my daughter, I started noticing something.

A lot of her early language and thinking seemed to grow naturally through our everyday conversations.

She asked thoughtful questions.
She explained ideas in her own way.

We talked while cooking, walking, reading, and moving through the day.

Over time, those small moments shaped how she learned to communicate, ask questions, and understand what was around her.

That made me pay closer attention.

I started noticing how much children pick up through simple interaction—how conversation can support not just language, but confidence and curiosity.

I didn’t come into this with a background in child development.

What I understand about how children learn comes from direct experience—raising my own children, working with young learners, and paying attention to the interactions that shape how they communicate.

I’ve worked closely with children in smaller, more personal settings where I could really notice how they think and respond.

In larger groups, that kind of interaction is harder to maintain.

At one point, I made a series of changes that allowed me to focus more intentionally on parenting and learning.

After paying off significant debt and rethinking the kind of life I wanted for my family, I moved abroad with my daughter.

That experience slowed things down.

It gave me more space to notice the everyday moments where children are already learning.

Those experiences eventually led me to write Your Daughter Is Weird, a book shaped by real conversations and everyday interactions.

Through Homegrown Thinking, I share what I’ve noticed along the way—how conversation, curiosity, and everyday life support the way children learn.