Learn with Lumi: the backstory

Every revolutionary idea begins with a simple truth. For me, that truth was discovering that education isn't one-size-fits-all—it's as unique as each child who embarks on the learning journey.

As a homeschooling mother of two extraordinary children, I've witnessed firsthand how traditional educational approaches often fall short of nurturing each child's unique brilliance. My son, with his beautiful mind on the autism spectrum, shows me daily how intelligence and empathy can manifest in wonderfully unexpected ways. My daughter, with her remarkable intellectual gifts, continually pushes the boundaries of what I believed possible in young minds.

My journey with education began long before I became a mother. As a former opera singer and voice coach, I understood the power of harmony—how different elements come together to create something magnificent. This appreciation for harmony would later influence my approach to education, starting from playing Mozart for my children while they were still in the womb. Yes, I was that mom. And guess what! I think it might have worked!

And so, from the very beginning I was teaching these little minds that it is my blessing to get to raise and educate and love. Each of my children read actual books by the time they were 3 years old. They were both programming starting at age 4. But it was not by force. It was by curiosity. I merely showed them what exists and encouraged them to see what they could do with it. And they did. I also used this approach for teaching the hundreds of private music students I had the pleasure of working with over my 2 decades as a professional musician.

But life has a way of orchestrating unexpected turns. When my husband developed long COVID and became disabled, I decided to fully embrace my technical side, something I had also always done professionally alongside performing and educating. I committed to a true shift and pivoted from the stage and studio to software development and code. This career change would prove pivotal in ways I couldn't have imagined at the time.

For years, I spent each summer meticulously crafting personalized curricula for my children, pouring countless hours into creating lesson plans that would span the entire academic year. It was a labor of love, but also an enormously time-consuming process. I always wanted to make sure I was encouraging them to reach for the stars and at the same time wanted to make sure they stayed balanced. I never wanted learning to be a chore.

Then came the moment that would change everything—my husband, watching me wade through Google Docs yet again trying to force all my ideas and plans into spreadsheets and documents, asked a simple question: "Why not create a Remix application to organize all of this online?"

That single question sparked a vision that would evolve into Learn with Lumi. What began as a personal solution to streamline our homeschooling journey transformed into something much bigger—an AI-powered educational platform that could help other families navigate their own unique learning paths.

Today, Learn with Lumi represents more than just an educational tool. It embodies a philosophy that celebrates individual learning styles, harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to adapt to each student's needs, and creates an environment where learning becomes an adventure rather than a task.

We're now 61 days into our first semester using the alpha version, and the results have been remarkable. Watching my children engage with the platform, seeing their excitement as they explore new concepts, and observing their growing independence in learning has confirmed what I always believed: when we meet children where they are and give them the right tools, their potential is limitless.

As we prepare to launch our beta version and welcome other students to the platform, I'm reminded of why this journey began—a mother's desire to give her children the best possible education, transformed into a mission to revolutionize how we approach learning for all children.

Learn with Lumi is more than an app; it's a testament to the power of understanding, adaptation, and love in education. It's proof that sometimes the most meaningful innovations come not from trying to fix a broken system, but from the simple desire to help our children thrive in their own unique ways.

Join us as we reimagine education—one child, one lesson, one breakthrough at a time. Learn with Lumi is your child's unique path to success.