Diverse Books and Schooling

Hi, I’m Sami, the person behind Diverse Books and Schooling. I am a former public school educator, disabled and AuDHD adult, who values the importance of diversity and inclusion in books. I am a secular homeschooler, and value progressive education where all voices are included. I spend a lot of time learning about advocacy and allyship to support myself and others in the world, especially the identities I don’t identify with.

I have extensive lived experience in educating in unique ways, following special interests, adjusting plans for chronic illness flairs, and finishing curriculum in a rapid fire interest spiral to follow my learners. I also have had personal and professional experience/trainings around trauma informed practices, therapy ideologies, and neurodiversity + trauma intersectionality. That’s a loaded sentence however, I’ve lived some heavy things and learned from it.

While I am not a trained therapist, I did graduate with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Early Education, and volunteered, attended, and taught in impoverished public school systems. I often sought out extra professional development, and continue to further my education on my own 10+ years past my graduation. I feel comfortable talking about the topics throughout my resources, sharing experience on a level relatable to learners. I do use professional resources to help reinforce all the content, so my information is backed by people trained in the field, too!

I do value religious homeschoolers sitting at the table and learning new perspectives, you’re not kicked out for wanting to educate your learners. Coming from a strictly religious family when I was younger, I have learned the lessons of “You can’t change your views or learn if you aren’t given the ability to do so.” This doesn’t mean I am here to remove you of your faiths, but it is a disclaimer that many different voices, including people of different faiths, LGBTQIA+ backgrounds, and marginalized identities of other types appear in book choices I have made, and are included in all of my curriculums.

I’ve shared over one thousand books on social media so far, that have all been read personally by me, so I vouch for the content that they include. Should you find something that isn’t the best representation of a culture or problematic in the viewpoint of being secular, please feel free to reach out to me!