For many years, Psalm 127 has been an important scripture for me, and it is from this portion of God's Word that Winsome Arrows Educational Services and this site were named:
Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth
Our children are indeed like arrows which we meticulously prepare for flight. We carry them through the early years upon our own backs, protecting them in the quiver of home and family. We hold them with a gentle firmness, turning them, inspecting them, fluffing their feathers so their course will be true. And, when the time has come for them to make their mark upon the world, we string them with as much confidence as we can muster, steadily aim them, and with a deep breath release them to be carried onward by the purposeful winds of our good and gracious God.
My hope is to provide a place here in which we can encourage one another to aim and release the next generation while drawing strength from the one that came before. So, grab a mug of coffee or pour yourself a cup of tea and scroll down through this page to find out a little bit more about me and my goals for this little corner of the Internet.
The educational services portion of this site was originally designed to support special needs learners and those who teach them in the home, private school, and church. Since then, I have seen my goal expand. What is it you ask? My goal is to equip those on the front line with individualized strategies and support for teaching all children and to do so in the context of sound, tried and true educational principles.
Please allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Joan Hartley. I am a special education professional with a strong desire to see all children discover the love of learning. This passion was born when, as a young woman of seventeen, I volunteered to work with struggling students in a first grade classroom. At the time, universities were ramping up to train specialists in order to meet the demand that resulted from the enactment of Public Law 94-142. So, when I entered college a short time later, pursuing a career in special education was the obvious choice for me.
In the years since, the career trajectory that my youthful enthusiasm fueled has remained constant. Today, I am degreed and hold Ohio licensure in the areas of specific learning disabilities, cognitive delays, and emotional disturbances (don't like that name at all, but it's the one currently used in Ohio) and have more than 25 years experience in the field. My work with students from pre-K to university has included those with specific learning disabilities, cognitive delays, ADD/ADHD, behavioral needs, and multiple handicaps as well as those on the autism spectrum.
Perhaps of more value than that, however, are the years sandwiched between those spent in the traditional school setting in which I educated my own four children at home. And now, as a grandmother of a child with Williams syndrome, my interest in securing quality educational options for all has become very personal. Since embarking on this adventure, I have had the pleasure of working with families and private schools to that end and was very honored to present at the 30th annual convention of Christian Home Educators of Ohio (CHEO) in 2014 and the Teach Them Diligently Homeschool Convention in Sandusky, OH in 2015 and 2016.
Please accept this warm invitation to browse the pages of this site.
Joan Hartley, Founder
Winsome Arrows Educational Services