Inside Boone County’s World of Wonder microschool

Lauri Muse started homeschooling her oldest son, who is now 33, in 1998. Twenty-seven years later, her youngest of seven children, who is 9, was the inspiration behind starting her own microschool.

World of Wonder opened in Boone County in 2024. It is a three-day microschool for students ages 5-12, focusing on hands-on, project-based learning. The idea, she said, is to allow parents and students to choose a program that meets their specific needs.

According to Dictionary.com, microschools predate the COVID-19 pandemic, but they gained prominence in 2020 as traditional schools closed, leading to a shift in learning. Microschools often vary significantly in their approaches, with a wide range of teaching methods, according to the National Microschooling Center.

“A lot of parents became aware of what was happening in classrooms because they were now bringing that classroom home through the online classes, and so they would see what was going on,” Muse said. “That’s when there was a big boom of homeschooling, and many continued to homeschool, and then they started micro schools.”

Approximately 2.8% of K-12 students in the United States were homeschooled during the 2018-2019 school year, according to the Pew Research Center. That percentage jumped to 3.4% in 2022-2023, after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Muse said her youngest son did not fit in homeschooling, and so she and her husband put him in their local public school, but found that also did not serve his needs.

“The local public school is a conveyor belt style of education, a one-size-fits-all approach, and they also have very limited time outdoors,” Muse said. “He’s an active boy, so he needed to have more time outside.”

Other nearby microschools to the NKY area are Meridian Micro School, located in Mount Washington in Cincinnati, and Sphinx Academy in Lexington. The National Microschooling Center works with over 1,000 microschools across 49 states.

Muse said World of Wonder started their first year with 12 students and ended with 18.

One of those students was Ashley Taylor’s daughter. Taylor lives in Boone County and an alumnus of Ludlow Independent Schools. Taylor said that, as someone who attended a small community school and graduated with 65 people, she felt that Boone County Public Schools were too large, lacking a sense of community.

“We believe in family values,” Taylor said. “We believe that each child learns at their own pace, and that’s a beautiful thing to let them learn to love learning, versus it being just shoved out.”

Taylor said she also likes that microschools afford families a flexible schedule. She can take her daughter out of school for a family vacation or, if her daughter is sick, without asking for permission.

The school has two teachers and operates in a rented space at Union Presbyterian Church. Lessons are tailored to meet the individual needs of each student. Teachers conduct informal evaluations, working with the child for a time, and then help plan the following lessons and goals for them.

Muse said World of Wonder is a multi-sensory and hands-on experience. Teachers teach through activities and projects. The kids also spend 90 minutes outside every day.

One example of the thematic units the school did last year was based on “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Muse said the kids read the book and created science experiments around candy. They also created their own candy and had to market it.

“The teachers are allowed to be as creative as they want to be, and then it inspires the students to bring their creativity,” she said. “Our main goal is to keep love of learning alive, so we watch carefully that each child is engaged.”

Muse said the lessons planned give kids a choice and a voice continually in their education. The school asks students what they want to learn about, what project they would like to undertake, what passions they have, and what interests them.

“If you constantly tell children six hours a day, every single day, ‘We care about this, so you must,’ and ‘You need to care about this,’ and ‘You need to do what we say,’ day in and day out, their desire for learning diminishes,” Muse said. “That’s why we encourage them to be an active participant in their own learning journey.”

Aside from the three-day-a-week classes, World of Wonder offers an enrichment program that serves the Northern Kentucky homeschool population. Those are weekly classes on Wednesdays and Fridays. Last year, Muse said that 120 students participated in classes ranging from sewing and art to science, choir, STEM, and cooking.

Muse said she sees parents turning to microschools because they are an in-between option between homeschooling and public school. She said many parents want to homeschool their children, but due to financial constraints or lack of experience, they are unable to do so.

Taylor’s daughter’s first year in the World of Wonder was at the age of 5. Now, at age 6, she will be entering first grade at school. Taylor said her daughter attended preschool at a local church, but when it came time to pick a school for Kindergarten, she couldn’t see her attending a big public school.

Taylor said that World of Wonder allows parents to homeschool in the way they want, and the school is there to provide assistance.

“I like the fact that the classes are À la carte, so you can pick what you want,” she said. “My daughter’s really into animals, and she’s going to take an animal class this fall and learn about the different animals from different countries.”

Taylor is a full-time working mother, and so is her daughter’s father. She said that when parents ask her how they can homeschool and work full-time, she tells them about microschooling.

“I’m just really thankful for Lauri and for the World of Wonder community as a whole, because doing this alone, it just wouldn’t have worked,” Taylor said.

As far as the social aspect of homeschooling is concerned, Taylor said microschooling has allowed her daughter to make many friends. Aside from school, Taylor said she organizes activities with groups of kids her daughter’s age to help give her a “normal” school experience, such as throwing a kindergarten graduation with caps and gowns and Halloween parties.

Taylor said World of Wonder also offers opportunities like drama, where kids can be in a play and parents can come watch with their children; there is also programming, creating a full experience similar to that of a public school.

She said her family also doesn’t fit the “normal mold” for a homeschooling family. Taylor said a lot of homeschooling families are deeply religious, and she felt like she didn’t fit in anywhere as someone who is not.

“Most of the parents were like super Christians, which is wonderful and great for them, but it just doesn’t fit our family,” Taylor said. “I wanted to focus on education, and that’s what World of Wonder does.”

Microschools in Kentucky are tuition-based. The three-day-per-week tuition for the 2025/2026 World of Wonder is $5,700. Muse said they still have spaces open for the upcoming school year.

With the school now one year in, what does the future hold for World of Wonder?

Muse said that right now, they’re trying to maintain steady and strong enrollment to ensure financial stability and hire teachers. She said they probably will grow into middle school and high school programming as the students get older. Muse hopes to have 20-25 students and two to three teachers for the 2025-2026 school year.

Those interested in learning more about enrollment at World of Wonder can contact Muse by email at lauri@worldofwondernky.com.