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Author: takenyahampton

The Anatomy of a Perfect Blog Post

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The Anatomy of a Perfect Blog Post

December 25, 2022May 19, 2023

The Power of Mindfulness in Business

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The Power of Mindfulness in Business

December 18, 2022

Our Top 5 Favorite Google Fonts

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Our Top 5 Favorite Google Fonts

December 17, 2022May 19, 2023

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Creating a Brand That Lasts

December 16, 2022

Are You Growing With Your Business?

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Are You Growing With Your Business?

December 16, 2022

Discussing the Top Marketing Tools

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Discussing the Top Marketing Tools

December 16, 2022

Best Ways to Market Your Creative Business

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Best Ways to Market Your Creative Business

December 11, 2022

How to Make a Branded Email Signature

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How to Make a Branded Email Signature

November 12, 2022May 19, 2023

Spring Cleaning Your Laptop

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Spring Cleaning Your Laptop

November 11, 2022May 19, 2023

Join the movement.

thealannagallo

📖 Former teacher (M.Ed.)
🌍 Secular homeschool + worldschool
🧠 Raising uninfluenceable global citizens
🚫 Rethinking screens & school
⬇️ Uninfluenceable

We talk about media literacy like it starts in mid

We talk about media literacy like it starts in middle school with lessons about ads and fake news.

But it starts way earlier than that.

It starts with a child who can sit in boredom long enough to think.
Who can focus on one thing without needing constant stimulation.
Who can feel an emotion without immediately escaping it.

Because the internet doesn’t reward critical thinking.
It rewards speed, reaction, and impulse.

If kids grow up only practicing scrolling, consuming, and reacting,
they don’t magically become thoughtful, discerning teens online.

They become easier to persuade.
Easier to sell to.
Easier to influence.

This isn’t about fear.
It’s about preparation.

Reading builds more than vocabulary. It builds imm

Reading builds more than vocabulary.
It builds immunity to nonsense.

We’ve been taught to think literacy is academic.
Grades. Benchmarks. Lexile levels. Test scores.

But real reading... the slow, focused, deep kind... does something much bigger.

It teaches kids to sit with ideas.
To notice when something doesn’t add up.
To ask questions instead of just absorbing whatever they’re handed.

And in a world run by headlines, algorithms, influencers, and outrage cycles… that skill is protective.

Because kids who can think critically are harder to manipulate.
Harder to scare.
Harder to sell lies to.

That’s not just “doing well in school.”
That’s raising a child with an internal compass.

Everyone says they want critical thinkers. Until c

Everyone says they want critical thinkers.
Until critical thinking slows things down.
Until it questions the structure.
Until it makes adults uncomfortable.

When curiosity has conditions, kids learn quickly.
Not how to think… but when it’s safe to.

And that’s not neutrality we’re teaching.
That’s compliance dressed up as “good behavior.”

If we actually want kids who can question, discern, and resist manipulation,
they need time, space, and adults who can tolerate uncertainty.

Otherwise, we’re just teaching them how to perform thinking: not practice it.

Comment AGSUB to gain access to my Substack and read more about raising our children to become critical thinkers.

I’m not perfect but at least my kids will know I

I’m not perfect but at least my kids will know I never ever supported this disgusting administration so there’s that ✌🏻

Algo take me to other moms who can say the same 👋🏻

#secularhomeschoolers #secularhomeschooling #raisinggoodhumans

We are very intentional about how our white childr

We are very intentional about how our white children learn Black history. And it’s not just in February, or just the pain and the oppression. It’s learning about the brilliance, leadership (looking at you @michelleobama), creativity, and joy.
 The inventions, movements, art, science, literature, and culture that shape every part of the world they live in.

Black History Month isn’t about “checking a box” for us.
 It exists because Black history was systematically erased, distorted, and excluded from what we call “American history.”

And DJT’s tantrum just proves it’s still beyond necessary.

This is why when AI-generated images of the Obamas are posted by during Black History Month, our kids don’t see it in a vacuum. They know this is an intentional (and disgusting) choice by someone in power trying to maximize harm.

They see it with context and they understand why timing matters. Why mockery aimed at the first Black president carries weight.

Our children don’t need to feel guilty but they do need to feel responsible.

Responsible for seeing clearly. Responsible for questioning intent. Responsible for not participating in systems that dehumanize others.

That’s why we teach Black history. 
This is why we raise children who don’t just consume content. So they are able to say “this feels wrong” and explain why.

We talk about literacy as if it’s a neutral skil

We talk about literacy as if it’s a neutral skill.

Can your child read the words? Can they finish the book? Can they pass the test?

But literacy has never just been about decoding language.

True literacy is the ability to slow down long enough to understand what’s actually being said and what’s being left out.

It’s the ability to notice contradictions, recognize persuasion, and ask who benefits from a particular narrative being repeated until it feels like truth.

A child who can read fluently but can’t analyze what they’re reading isn’t empowered. They’re vulnerable.

Throughout history, access to deep reading has always been tied to power.

People who can read critically are harder to distract, harder to manipulate, and harder to govern through slogans alone.

Comment LIT SUB and I’ll send you the link to my free Substack essay titled “Literacy Is Not Neutral.”

We tend to treat literacy like a box to check. 

We tend to treat literacy like a box to check. 
But literacy has never just been about reading words on a page.

It’s about whether children can slow down long enough to understand what they’re reading, recognize persuasion, and notice when a story is being told in a very particular way.

A child who can read deeply is less likely to accept simple explanations for complex problems. They’re more likely to ask questions, notice patterns, and think independently.

That’s not accidental. 
And it’s not neutral.

I expanded on this idea in a longer essay for anyone who wants to think more carefully about what we’re actually teaching kids when we teach them to read.

Comment LIT SUB and I’ll send you a link to my free Substack essay titled “Literacy Is Not Neutral.”

Comment TEACH HISTORY to get the link to my latest

Comment TEACH HISTORY to get the link to my latest FREE Substack essay, “This Is Why We Teach History (Even When It Makes People Uncomfortable) 👇🏻

This is why studying history matters. Not to memorize dates and definitely not to pass tests, or romanticize the past. But to recognize patterns.

When kids learn how power works…
who holds it,
who benefits,
and who is told to stay quiet…

they don’t need to be led to conclusions.
They make them on their own.

History gives kids context and frameworks for understanding the world they’re growing up in.

It teaches them that systems are created by people.

And what’s created by people can be questioned, challenged, and changed.

Critical thinking doesn’t start with opinions. It starts with perspective and you simply cannot have perspective without historical knowledge.

Comment TEACH HISTORY to get the link to my latest FREE Substack essay, “This Is Why We Teach History (Even When It Makes People Uncomfortable)

What books “radicalized” you to be a decent hu

What books “radicalized” you to be a decent human? Tell me below in the comments ⬇️

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Copyright © 2026 · Alanna Gallo

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