Feature Family

Meet the Finley Family

Raunn and Katie Finley, with their 6 children, live in Princeton, MN. They have home educated for the past 6 years with this being the third year with Venture Upward. Education is always on their minds and a major topic of conversation as both Katie and Raunn are licensed teachers, and Raunn is a licensed Principal, currently working at one of the middle schools in district 742. Katie is one of the teachers for one of Venture Upward’s partner schools. 

Life at the Finley household is chaotic, but teeming with life! All of the kids love to read, play outside, play board games, and create things. While all of this sounds like they would love the subscription boxes (and they would), the Finley family really loves Venture School! The hands-on learning, creative projects, and social aspects of getting to know other Venture Upward families are so important to their weekly routine! Their household educational philosophy has always been one of starting from curiosity and building from there. They are thankful for the ability to home educate and love the opportunities created by Venture Upward!  

John, age 11, loves reading, writing comic books and creating fictional worlds. He and his siblings play card games like MTG and Pokemon daily and use those themes as a creative platform for pictures, games, stories, and writing. Other favorite themes are the math game Prodigy, superheroes and dragons! James, age 10, loves to go fast! Rollerblading, biking, and robotics are his favorite activities, and he honestly tries to do all three of those simultaneously. Isaac has an intense love for dragons and spends most of his time creating – drawings, sculptures out of recycled items, paintings, and crafts are his favorite pastimes. Sophia, age 7, and Bernadette, age 5, love to play make-believe, draw, dance, sing, and sculpt. Sophia loves to sneak in some independent reading time to take a break, and Bernadette loves to blow some energy on her scooter! Catherine, age 2, spends most of her time making everyone laugh and moving around different objects in the house to incorrect locations making them all search for keys, measuring cups, toothbrushes, and shoes. She loves being outside, sings non-stop, and has a special connection with their family’s husky named June. Both Raunn and Katie have a love of nature and being outdoors and often plan hiking, camping, and kayaking for the weekends. They will be welcoming their 7th child this fall. One of their favorite aspects of being a part of Venture Upward is the inclusion of the whole family at play dates, field trips, and events where school and learning are not limited to individual experiences, but group-oriented, all-level enrichment.