Greetings Eddies!

Today we're launching a new format - OpenEd Day in the Life - and kicking it off with our Oregon parent ambassador and supermom, Brettani Shannon. Brettani is the founder of Options for Education, a non-profit that acts as a network of support and directory of resources for families navigating school choice in her region.

But even supermoms have to figure out Tuesday mornings.

In this inaugural edition, we breaking down Brettani's unit studies curriculum, the AI tool she uses to replace textbooks, and the math game that saved their sanity.

Let's dive in. 

P.S. We'd love to share what a typical day in YOUR family looks like. If you want to be featured fill out this form. Interviews usually take between 20 and 35 minutes, and you'll maintain full editorial control.

THOUGHT: The Late Start
‍TREND: Perplexity Kills the Textbook
‍TOOL: Synthesis

The Late Start

"My daughter is not a morning person."

In a traditional school, that sentence is a diagnosis. It means 12 years of alarms, fights, rushing, and starting every single day with conflict.

Brettani Shannon chose a different path: She waited.

Instead of forcing a circadian rhythm that didn't exist, they sleep in. They stay in pajamas. They make tea. They read books. They don't open a laptop until 10:00 AM.

By the time "school" starts, her daughter's brain is actually awake. The cortisol is low. The connection is high.

Skipping the two-hour morning battle, they get more done in four hours of focused, happy work than they ever could in six hours of resistance.

Read Brettani's full Day in the Life

Perplexity Kills the Textbook

The old way to teach biology: Buy a $50 textbook, read Chapter 4, fill out a worksheet on mammals, forget it in two weeks.

The new way? Ask AI to build a custom curriculum for you that your child will never forget.

Brettani uses Perplexity – an AI-powered deep research tool – to build custom "Unit Studies" based entirely on her daughter's obsessions.

She typed this prompt:

"Create a 4-day-a-week unit study for a 4th grader who loves animals. Focus on Pet Adoption. Give me book lists, movie suggestions, and hands-on activities."

AI didn't deliver the lessons. It just gave them a roadmap. They baked homemade dog treats (math), watched Rescued by Ruby (media literacy), and visited a local shelter to donate the treats (civics).

Synthesis

We can't teach everything. And sometimes, we shouldn't teach the things that cause the most friction.

For Brettani, that was math facts. Video lectures were boring. Worksheets caused tears.

Her solution was to outsource the "grind" to Synthesis.

Synthesis turns the drudgery of mental math into a competitive, high-agency game. Her daughter named her avatar "Pimples," competes in mental math challenges, and is mastering division without a single lecture from Mom.

When the software handles the drills, you can focus on the relationship.

Check out Synthesis

Tweet of the Week

Ana Lorena Fabrega, aka “Miss Fab”, is Chief Evangelist for Synthesis. She wrote a great book called, The Learning Game, which we covered here.