We are here to help support you in navigating all of the information on homeschooling in California.
A Private School Satellite Program (PSP) is an organization (private school) that a homeschool family chooses to join and pays a fee for the additional support they offer. These organizations are available to answer questions and maintain your student records for you.
Some also offer a variety of community activities like field trips, park days, newsletters, classes, etc. If your child is enrolled in a PSP, they are enrolled in a Private School and you do not need to enroll in a charter school or file your own PSA.
Please join us for this session in our series of homeschool expert panels to find out: Are PSPs Right For You?
If you're interested in viewing a list of all of the PSPs in California, please view our list of California Private School Satellite Programs (PSPs).
RECORDED PRESENTATION
Session three topics:
Meet some California PSP leaders
Learn more about their PSP offerings
Find out what a PSP is
Explore how PSPs work
Pros and Cons of enrolling in a PSP
Join in our open discussion (Q and A) with our PSP leader panelists
Panelist:
Cristine Rainer - Host
Martin & Carolyn Forte
Loren Mavromati
Shauna Reisewitz
Peggy Webb
Windi Eklund - Host
I am a long-time homeschool mom with a passion for child-centered education and family support. We have been homeschooling for over 11 years through the public charter school system. My two youngest are currently enrolled in an independent study public charter school. This school year we moved my oldest out of the charter school and we now homeschool him independently through a PSA.
Since starting our homeschool journey as a family I have dedicated myself to being an integral part of our unique and diverse community. I have worked to broaden educational choices and knowledge of the programs available to our families through:
Volunteering at Celebration Education, where I was able to help families from all over the world find alternative education options for their children
Organize and lead field trips for homeschool families
Set up new education programs and learning centers for homeschoolers
Organize National School Choice Events and Charter School Choice Open Houses
Speak on the homeschool options available to families at homeschool and alternative education conventions
Run numerous homeschool and charter school social media groups, covering all of California with 1000s of members in each
Organize our community to oppose anti-charter school legislation
Founded a non-profit to serve the diverse needs of homeschool families
Helped pave the way for family choice at charters by founding multiple family-focused programs serving our community
I am here to help support families in finding their homeschool path. I am representing myself as a homeschooling mom, offering information from my experience.
Always happy to help, please feel free to email, call, or text anytime.
Windi Eklund
714-310-2213
Cristine Rainer - Moderator
Cristine Rainer is a single, homeschool mom of 7 years with an 11 year old daughter on an IEP through a charter school. Her teaching style is creative, eclectic and dynamic utilizing real world and field trip opportunities as often as possible. She works as a Child & Family Therapist at Discover Counseling Center in Orange County CA. She is a vendor offering Learning Success Coaching thru Imagine Achievement, where she blends her experience in Educational Therapy, Behavioral Therapy and Marriage & Family Therapy to support learners and their families with specific obstacles; for example, ADHD, Giftedness, Sensory Integration disorder, Reading Problems, Speech Disorders, Anxiety, ASD, behavioral challenges, setting up a successful homeschool program, and assessment & IEP support.
Cristine also offers fieldtrips, parent workshops, and classes thru the vendor Homeschool Concierge. She runs multiple FaceBook groups and is active in the community sharing resources, information and supporting legislative advocacy. Cristine was nominated as the Committee Chair for the California Homeschool Parents Association (CHPA) in 2019 and strives to help the community to collaborate and advocate for their local needs.
She was raised in a child-led home daycare, has attended 25 schools in her life for a broad understanding of culture & education, and has worked in 7 public and 2 private schools in various capacities with all age ranges. She has also received many years of training in Speech & Occupational therapy working in a clinic for children 5 and under with developmental delays, Autism Spectrum Disorder and problem behaviors.
Certifications & Contact:
Cristine Rainer
B.A. in Human Development, M.A. in Counseling Psychology,
CA Registered AMFT & Integrative Life Coach
949-357-8912 Please text for questions regarding classes or services!
*Subscribe to YouTube channel “Momming at Midnight” for Parenting, Homeschooling, and Therapy tips!
Martin & Carolyn Forte
Martin & Carolyn Forte have been Certified LearningSuccess™ Coaches and Licensed Workshop Facilitators for over 20 years. They are owners and administrators of Excellence in Education Academy, a Private Satellite Program (PSP) for homeschoolers founded in 1992. They also operate Excellence in Education Homeschool Resource Center in Monrovia, California which includes a bookstore, classes for homeschooled students and a support group with park days and field trips. Carolyn holds a California Life Teaching Credential and is the creator of The Game Curriculum, a model for using games coordinated with Learning Styles for more effective learning. Both Martin & Carolyn have extensive experience teaching and working with typical as well as special needs students and their families. Additionally, they have taken training in Dr. Karyn Purvis’ Trust Based Relational Intervention for children from traumatic backgrounds. Working as a team, Martin and Carolyn provide families with expertise from both their backgrounds.
Martin & Carolyn began homeschooling their two daughters in 1981 and helped form the first homeschool support group in the San Gabriel Valley. They have been heavily involved in both local and statewide homeschool organizations for almost 40 years. Martin is a co-founder and past president of California Homeschool Network and both speak frequently at homeschool conventions and other gatherings in Southern California. Martin is also known as popular homeschool persona/speaker, “Dr. Homeschool.” As strong believers in an individualized approach to education, they began incorporating the LearningSuccess™ model into their curriculum counseling at Excellence in Education from the time of their first seminar with the Learning Success Institute.
Martin & Carolyn are available for:
Private Consultations
Customized Learning Programs
Workshops
Contact Information:
626-821-0025
Loren Mavromati
I have lived and unschooled in the Los Angeles area since the early 1990s, raising three children here. All were unschooled through to college and each easily transitioned to a traditional state college. I began unschooling in the 80s after reading John Holt and attending conferences and talks on the East Coast, and proceeded to homeschooled across three different states. In California, I founded the South Bay Homeschool Network which is still meeting on LA's Westside. I also began volunteering for California Homeschool Network in the 90s and served as a trustee, their Expo coordinator, and their board president. I still volunteer there as a legislative liaison.
When my own children graduated, I opened our school, Aegean Academy, to help others educate their children in the way they see fit. My main goal when working with families at Aegean Academy is to build their confidence and help them solve any outstanding issues so that they can independently homeschool by filing a PSA. For families who choose to work within a PSP, I maintain records and file mandatory paperwork. I provide support and assistance with curriculum and implementation. I provide personalized curricula, but I also support and encourage unschooling.
Loren Mavromati
Aegean Academy
PO Box 921
Manhattan Beach, CA 90267
310-363-0220
Shauna Reisewitz
Shauna homeschooled (largely unschooled) her young children. Her teens have now rejected homeschooling and are on academic paths of their own.
Shauna has worked in several homeschool programs since 2002: district Independent Studies programs, Charter Schools, and is the director of Pacific Sands Academy, a private independent studies program for out of the box thinkers.
This program offers mentoring, transcripts and diplomas for teenagers, and family support for younger homeschooled students (new coming this year). She deeply believes in childhood, family, community, and the importance of nourishing free spirits.
Peggy Webb
Peggy Webb is an unschooling mom, now also a grand-mom, who decided early on to go down the homeschooling road. Her three daughters all chose differing paths for their education. While unschooling, Karen didn’t attended any school until college, Stacey took some classes at the local high school and Rachel had a variety of school experiences throughout her youth. Unschooling can look like many things, including going to school. The defining factor is that the students make their own choices. West River Academy was born in 1993 out of Peggy's desire to offer other families a way to learn freely outside of school and still end up with a high school diploma and transcript.
Families are offered freedom to educate as they see fit. We help students to graduate and have transcripts that showcase their interests and passions, while also being acceptable to college admissions. West River Academy has 3 locations: 2 in San Diego and 1 in Dana Point, Orange County. Website: https://www.westriveracademy.com Blog: https://www.westriveracademy.com/blog/
