About Seney School
Personalized education grew out of something very personal.
I believe learning should fit the child.
Meet Elizabeth
I’m Elizabeth Seney, an educator with more than 25 years of experience helping students learn in ways that actually make sense to them.
I hold a master’s degree in Secondary Education with a focus on mathematics, cognition, and motivation, and I’m an AMI-trained Montessori adolescent educator. Over the years, I’ve taught mathematics from middle school through Calculus, writing and language arts, and full interdisciplinary homeschool programs incorporating math, science, history, and English through hands-on, project-based learning.
But the most important thing I’ve learned is that good teaching isn’t about finding the perfect curriculum. It’s about understanding the student in front of you.
I’m a bit of a bloodhound for figuring out where learning has gone off track—whether that means finding a tiny math misconception, recognizing that a student needs a completely different explanation, or realizing they’re ready to move much faster than the curriculum allows.
That’s the approach behind Seney School: meet the student where they are, figure out what they need, and build from there.
When Teaching Became Personal
I had already been teaching for many years when I became Daecklyn’s mom. But being responsible for one child’s education in such a personal way changed how I saw learning.
Daecklyn has always been intensely curious and eager to learn, but she has also reminded me again and again that children don’t develop neatly according to a curriculum map. They can race ahead in one area, need more time in another, become fascinated by something you never planned to teach, or simply need a different way into an idea.
Being her mom gave me a perspective I couldn’t have gained from the classroom alone. I wasn’t just asking, “How do I teach this?” I was asking, “What does this particular child need right now?”
That question has become central to Seney School. The child comes first. The curriculum follows.
A Teacher at Heart
Teaching has never meant simply delivering a lesson and hoping it works. Whether I’m teaching a classroom, a small group, one student, or homeschooling my own child, I’m constantly watching: What does this learner understand? Where are they getting stuck? What are they ready for next?
Homeschooling gave me the opportunity to put that approach into practice across an entire education. We’ve used textbooks and manipulatives, microscopes and experiments, projects and field experiences, plenty of books, and sometimes completely unexpected detours because a question became too interesting not to follow.
That experience reinforced something I had already learned after decades in education: students thrive when we can be flexible about how they get there without lowering expectations for where they can go.
That’s what I bring to every student I teach. I don’t expect them to fit neatly into a program. I pay attention, adjust, explain things differently, challenge them when they’re ready, slow down when they need it, and keep looking until we find what works.
Our Family
