My Own Flowers (Ages 9-13)

Hello! Welcome to Kindred Minds LLC! We love helping people learn new things, and we have gathered teachers who genuinely strive to encourage and support students as they learn. We all want to see your learner develop into the best version of themselves, and we will do everything that we can to help them learn. Each of us really looks forward to meeting the needs of a variety of students and their families! Our teachers can't wait to meet you and explore new things together! Here's a bit of information about each teacher on our team:

Tina Kaye Houston (Organization Manager & Teacher)

Most recently, Mrs. Tina has been teaching grammar and study skills through another organization on Outschool and homeschooling her children, but she has been teaching and tutoring for a total of about 40 years. Over those years, she's had a huge variety of students and subject matter. She's taught art and other classes to homeschool co-ops, tutored many students in Algebra, coordinated and administered standardized testing, and taught English to Chinese students online for nearly three years. Her family is in its 24th year as a homeschool family, so two of her children have graduated, but she still has a few years left with her youngest child. She's a scout leader and sings in a band. She spent most of her childhood reading books and learning crafts, so she loves to read and is good at making things. As a grammar nerd, Mrs. Tina loves helping students to use good grammar without feeling overwhelmed by rules. Because she is passionate about helping others learn, she earned a BS in Education through Auburn University, with concentrations in math and art. What she's the most passionate about, though, encouraging others to do their best. 

Gabi Houston (Ms. Gabi)

Ms. Gabi has been teaching grammar and study skills through another organization on Outschool for nearly two years now. As a college student, she knows what students need to master to do well in college, and she has worked hard to overcome dyslexia, visual processing disorder, and other challenges to succeed academically herself. Outside of Outschool, she has quite a wide variety of experience: she's been in ministry for over ten years, which includes being an associate director of music, a youth director, and a praise band leader. She's competed in equestrian events and musical theatre, and she's even been a makeup artist. Drawing from a lifetime of unique experiences, Ms. Gabi hopes to provide her students with a comfortable atmosphere where they feel supported and encouraged as they reach for new skills. 

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Class Policies:

1) If a class is small or has especially talkative students, we may end a little earlier or later, but I will always try to end on time. 

2) If a scheduled class does not meet the minimum enrollment, I will contact the parent approximately 24 hours before class time to offer to transfer their learner to a new day and time. If requested, I may choose to teach the class at the original time. 

3) Classes will begin on time, even if all learners are not yet present in the classroom. To respect the time of the learners in the class, I will contact absent learners after class to see if they had technical issues or other challenges. 

4) If no learners are present in the classroom, I will wait 10 minutes into the scheduled time before exiting the classroom. 

5) If I am late because of having technical challenges myself, I will offer to stay late or transfer learners to a new session.

6) I expect that learners will treat each other kindly in class and show respect for everyone present. I treat others the way I want to be treated, and I expect the same in return.