We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Courtney Dunlap. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Courtney below.

Hi Courtney, thanks for joining us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

When my family began our own homeschooling journey, I can remember it often being overshadowed by overwhelming feelings of inadequacy. I lost count of the blogs, articles and websites that gave a picture perfect facade of what it meant to “homeschool well”. These sites were filled with beautifully manicured homeschool rooms, pristine alphabet blocks neatly organized in color coordinated bins, and peaceful children quietly doing their studies. Their learning spaces didn’t have anything out of place or any signs of the mess and stress that I was experiencing in my own day-to-day dealings as a new homeschooler. In short, the homeschoolers on these sites set a sort of unattainable standard for how homeschooling “should” be done. As a result, I couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that said our homeschool life would always leave my children wanting.

I soon decided that I would not be bound by these fictitious standards of perfection. I began to document my own homeschooling journey. I did this by creating a simple blog on a free website that had little frills, bells or whistles. But, it had the heart and passion of why I chose to educate my children. I named the blog Able to Teach because I wanted anyone who desired to educate their children to know they were able to do just that! I believed then and still do now, that as long as you are armed with the necessary information and resources, you CAN teach your children. My blog’s mission has been to give people a glimpse into my children’s lives as homeschoolers and my life as their mother. In fact, this is literally the actual tag line I chose for it!

Overtime, this blog has morphed into so much more!

We are now officially called the Able to Teach Homeschool Collective. My desire for this organization is to see more down-to-earth spaces in which families can explore the in’s and out’s of homeschooling free from competition yet rich with encouragement.

And now, I am on a lifelong mission to equip homeschoolers to feel confident to teach their children.

Courtney, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am Courtney Dunlap, and I am a wife, mommy of four, writer, homeschooler, blogger, and published author! This fall, my family entered the 10th year of our homeschooling journey. It blows my mind to be able to say that, especially after how hesitant I was at the onset. You see, my background is in the clinical services field. I hold a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Christian Counseling. Prior to the birth of our son (who is our third child and is now 9 1/2!), I worked in my field as a Mobile Therapist. I counseled clients who were on the Autism Spectrum, worked with kids who struggled with behavioral and interpersonal difficulties, did crisis-management, provided individual, group and family counseling and so much more!

At the time, I was eight months pregnant and my husband and I were trying to figure out where our oldest would go to school. She was entering preschool and we were not confident about our neighborhood’s school system. We made the decision to homeschool her and all the our other kids who would follow.

The early days of our homeschool journey were not without their tears, both from our kiddies and me as their teacher-mommy! I doubted my abilities as a teacher since I had no formal training in education. I was able to navigate these challenges by finding local homeschool groups where we could meet up for playdates, share ideas about curriculum and resources and build some semblance of community. Despite all these pluses, I still often felt like an outsider. Many of these groups were predominantly white and were not always so welcoming to my Black family. I felt that these groups were lacking in their understanding of what it truly meant to make everyone feel welcome.

I began to journal, dream and work towards building the community that I desired to see. The homeschool blog I maintained provided online outlets and resources, but I wanted more. I wanted to take the value that my blog virtually offered and transform it into a real-life experience. Little by little, I grew Able to Teach into what it is today.

Now, 10 years later, I can proudly say, that I am the owner of a thriving homeschool business that offers coaching for families who are interested in homeschooling, original content and curricula that includes lesson and unit plans, in-person and virtual classes, field trips and a welcoming community network of homeschoolers that reaches nationwide!

In 2020, I also added the title of “author” to my name. When our oldest daughter was in kindergarten, I began writing children’s books. This accomplishment was born yet again out of necessity. I wanted my kids and the kids who look like them to see themselves as the heroes of their own stories. I felt this was lacking in the books we were reading to our daughter. My first published book called, The Rumble Hunters, invites children into a world in which they can see themselves go on an adventure, expand their imaginations and celebrate what makes them unique. My hope and goals are to continue adding to this literary legacy to ensure every Black child can open the pages of a book and see themselves inside!

In short, I am most proud of the fact that the needs I felt as a new homeschooler just starting out are now being served through these amazing endeavors! I am beyond grateful to God for His wisdom and guidance in all of this, because it has not always been easy. But every time I look back over the years and what it has become, I always decide, it has been worth it.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A lesson I’ve had to learn is the simple truth that who I am and what I offer is enough. There is room for me.

In the last two years, I’ve struggled greatly to grasp this from time to time.

Over the years, my dreams for Able to Teach have been mostly in my head and on my blog. I had never really seen them come to fruition outside of the unit studies I would post and share. At various points, I would see a message or a person who tagged me on social media to let me know they used my lesson plans with their kids. This would always give me so much joy. But outside of that, I often wondered if what I was doing really mattered.

Then, last fall, as the pandemic was slightly lifting, I saw various homeschool groups beginning to spring up that were excelling at what I hoped my group could become. I felt discouraged since I found it difficult for others to buy into “taking up arms” with me to help move things to the next phase. I experienced several start-stop moments in which things looked promising only to experience a huge STOP sign along the way. It was so trying to not to second guess what I was doing. I would think, “No one really cares about what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter one way or the other. If you were to stop today, who would even notice?”

I would try to shake these feelings and ban these negative thoughts but whenever I would think about how much work it would take to get things off the ground, I’d find myself right back at square one.

The funny thing is throughout these difficult times, I was also in the midst of providing online classes to my fellow homeschoolers. I would frequently receive encouraging emails, texts, and the like from thrilled parents. I would hear, “Your group is an answer to prayer!” Or, “If it wasn’t for your group, I would put my child back into the public school system.” To say I was honored to hear these sorts of things is an understatement. But nevertheless, we are our own worst critic many times. Since things weren’t moving at the pace I wanted, or in the way I had hoped, I struggled with the worth and value of what I brought to the table.

Towards the end of this past summer, the stark contrast and yo-yo of these emotions were at their height. I can clearly recall saying to myself that I was going to pull the plug on it all.

But, God wouldn’t let me!

I had such a strong sense that I needed to endure and wait and see.

There was a registration deadline that was quickly approaching for my brand new in-person co-op that would be starting in September. I knew I needed to wait things out.

I’m so glad I did!

The day before the deadline, I can’t begin to tell you of my excitement as notifications began to roll in that people were registering for my group. By the time it was all over, we had 19 children and 11 families signed up! I was in awe of this very real and tangible way that God showed up and reaffirmed to me that what I was doing mattered. I was comforted in knowing that I didn’t need 50 families (even though that would be awesome, haha!) or tons of programming. But I knew that these families trusted me to lead and provide a full and valuable learning experience for their families.

Even though I have struggled to embrace this reality, I have also learned that comparison is the thief of joy. I can be my own worst nightmare in squashing my dreams if I allow myself to take my eyes off of what I have been called to do. Now, I can forever look back over this experience whenever self doubt rears its ugly head. I can remember that my dreams aren’t too big and my work is not in vain!

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Beyond a shadow of a doubt, hands down, what has strengthened my reputation and that of Able to Teach Homeschool Collective is the heart behind what I do.

As a consumer, far too many times, I have been left disappointed by companies who over promise and underdeliver. I have experienced poor customer service, fractured communication, and have been left with a bad taste in my mouth from a business that simply did not care about the user experience.

The way in which I run my business is in line with the Biblical principle of doing unto others as you’d have them do unto you. Or plainly stated, I run my business how I’d want to shop. This means that from the very beginning, when I started hosting online classes, I made it a point to provide clear and direct communication to all my families. I lay out expectations on my end and allow space to hear what my families expect from me. I give credence to the fact that I do not know everything. I am open to feedback and try my best to provide an excellent user experience. I am also well aware that my group may not be for everyone, however, I give room for the fact that we’d love to invite anyone willing to learn together to come and experience our community.

As I have practiced this, I have received countless feedback from our families. They love our classes! Our parents even come away feeling like they’ve learned something. I also see the helpful ways in which our families interact online in our Facebook group. I can attest to this being an outgrowth of the uplifting tone I myself have tried to set. I also see how this group has become more active in and around the surrounding local community. This has greatly increased our numbers and allowed our group to grow.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.abletoteachhomeschool.com, www.storiesforuspress.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/abletoteachhomeschool, instagram.com/storiesforuspress
• Facebook: Able to Teach, Stories for Us
• Other: My author email is storiesforuspress@gmail.com, its website is www.storiesforuspress.com, my author IG account is instagram.com/storiesforuspress and my author Facebook account is Stories for Us.

Image Credits
Pascale Mobley – photographer of my professional headshots and the image of my family inside our home.