When Melissa Lair made the decision to homeschool, she didn’t yet know what she didn’t know.
So, after getting a few years’ experience under her belt, Lair created a resource to help other Wichita families on their homeschooling journeys.
Lair taught kindergarten for six years before quitting to stay home with her two kids during Covid. Because she had a teaching background, she felt comfortable with the academic side of homeschooling – but that did not mean she went in feeling like an expert.
“Every family is different,” Lair said. “For me, I am very structured. I took what I learned in teaching and put it to use. Online, you are going to find people who shout at you that you’re doing it wrong, no matter how you do it. But that’s also the point of education, to meet your kid where they are and help them grow and learn in whatever way works best for them.”
Lair began working with her son at age 3 because he showed interest and was already academically advanced in some areas. “I found when I started using a curriculum, I was having to add more to keep up with him. Now, 4 years later, we slow down when we need to and try whole new ways of learning with my daughter.”
Lair realized her family thrives on structure, so she implemented a schedule.
Then she searched to find the right community, and eventually this led her to Wichita Independent Secular Educators, a homeschool group that provides clubs, field trips and social opportunities.
Even after making all of these positive homeschool decisions, Lair thought she still would like to know more about resources in her hometown of Wichita, Kansas, that work especially well for homeschooling families or groups.
In July 2025, Lair attended EdCamp, Learning Lab Wichita’s one-day unconference for education professionals. There, a session about making Wichita your classroom sparked an idea for Lair.
“It got me to realize businesses might want to be involved, and staff might open their doors and answer questions for kids,” she said. “So I started thinking, ‘I bet there is a lot more locally that could benefit my kids and give them lifelong social skills of interacting with people in various settings.’”
at the Wichita Homeschool Resource Fair
at Learning Lab in July 2026.
Later, when Lair was a participant in EdCollab, Learning Lab’s yearlong leadership cohort for K-12 education professionals, she knew exactly what she would create for her final project. She was going to create a website for homeschool families in the Wichita area to learn about local resources to help them on their homeschool journey.
“Because I knew what it felt like, being so isolated when I started homeschooling, I wanted to have these resources in a central location,” she said.
Lair began making lists of resources, and after she exhausted places she knew about, she asked others. The ideas poured in.
“First it was just resources, and then I started thinking about it more like answering the question, ‘How do you start homeschooling if you lived in Wichita?’” she said.
After learning a lot about coding, and with some help from her tech-savvy husband, Aaron, her website was ready to share to help other families. Lair said she is pleased with her final product, which she continues to update when she finds a new resource.
“It was all the things I wished I had three years ago.”
Visit Melissa’s website, Homeschool in ICT, at homeschoolinict.com.