Greetings Eddies!
A quick note from the Community team - here's what's coming up in February 2026 for OpenEd families:
Once Upon a Time Week (January 26-30): Celebrate stories with hands-on events, spelling bees, and a visit from NYT bestselling author Apryl Stott. Share your favorite books here!
February Student Clubs: Free virtual clubs meet weekly all month! Choose from Animal Studies, Chess, Coding, Crafts, Disney, Engineering, LEGO, Minecraft, Science, and more. Sign-ups open today in the OpenEd Marketplace.
Epic Book Battle (Feb-Mar): An 8-week reading competition for grades 3-8. Wednesdays at 1pm MT.
Creative Studio Events & Learn Together Webinars: From Zentangles to Chemistry experiments to Lincoln's life—there's something for everyone..
Download our printable February calendar to see all clubs and events at a glance and Watch this video to learn how to sign up.
And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming...
ICYMI: BOOKS FIRST
Before the holidays, Ela sat down with Janssen Bradshaw on the OpenEd podcast. Janssen runs Everyday Reading and shares book recommendations with over half a million families on Instagram. She also co-founded Savvy Learning - which we're proud to have as an official vendor in our marketplace.
I wanted to highlight one clip from the conversation:
"Screens will always win the dopamine battle," Janssen notes.
To be clear: Janssen isn't anti-screen. She makes her living on her phone. But from day one with her first child, she built a "books first" foundation:
"From the time my first child was born, I wanted books and reading first — have that strong foundation before they had to compete with screens."
Her house rule is simple: TV is for something specific, and usually as a family. There’s not much solo watching. Makes sense! Screens have their place, but reading is an every day kind of activity.
THE QUIET EXIT
Remember when everyone predicted homeschooling was a pandemic blip — and families would head back once schools reopened?
Johns Hopkins just released new 2024–2025 data, and it turns out homeschooling is growing at nearly 3x the pre-pandemic rate. Eight states recently hit all-time highs.
Angela Watson, a Johns Hopkins researcher who has tracked this for a decade, put it plainly:
"This isn't a pandemic hangover; it's a fundamental shift in how American families are thinking about education."
The real question: what did families discover during the COVID years that made them decide not to go back?
TOOL: SAVVY LEARNING
If you're worried your kid might be behind in reading, check out Savvy Learning in the OpenEd Marketplace.
It's live 1-on-1 tutoring for reading and math: 20–25 minute sessions, four times a week, meeting kids where they are.
Janssen shared a story that will sound familiar to a lot of families: her second daughter was barely at grade level in first grade and slipping with every assessment. Working together at home turned into tears and shutdown.
Then, during COVID, an intern from the school offered to tutor online — just 20 minutes a day. Something clicked. There were no fights. And within weeks, they saw improvement. By fifth grade, she was reading at an 11th-grade level.
Sometimes kids need a voice from someone who's not their parent.
That's all for today!