Someone should teach this. So we are.
Our mission: to teach young people the practical life skills that keep them safe, make them capable, and help them serve their families and communities, taught by qualified people who have lived those skills.
Compass Life Skills is a nonprofit in Conway, Arkansas. We build practical, self-paced courses for homeschool students ages 12 to 18, covering the skills that tend to get skipped: first aid and emergency response, money, navigation, car care, and running a home.
Homeschool families do a great job with math, reading, and history. What's harder to find is someone qualified to teach a teenager what to do when a person collapses, how a paycheck actually works, or how to change a tire on the side of the road. That's the gap we fill.
Who teaches
Daniel Shaw
Co-founder and lead instructor
Daniel is a retired Marine infantryman, firefighter, and Advanced EMT, and he holds a master's degree in English. He teaches every Life Ready lesson himself. When we add guest experts to future courses, each one has to earn Daniel's approval first.
Preston Palmer
Co-founder
Preston runs operations, technology, and the Arkansas EFA side of Compass. He's a Conway entrepreneur and the president of Bellwether Creative Co.
"What I care the most about my son is him growing up being a good person, being a good man." Daniel Shaw
What we believe
Truth stands on its own. Biblical values run through our courses because they're right, not because they carry a label. When a course is about faith, it says so plainly. Our life skills courses teach responsibility, service, and integrity by example.
How families enroll
Life Ready 1 is a 12-week course with 60 video lessons, weekly quizzes, a certificate, and a suggested 0.5 high school elective credit. It's $249, the same for every family. Compass Life Skills is an approved Arkansas EFA vendor, so Arkansas families can pay through ClassWallet.
See Life Ready 1 Paying with your EFAHow course fees support our mission
Compass Life Skills is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. There are no owners or shareholders, and no one profits from a course sale. Course fees are how we fund our educational program: filming and producing lessons, paying our instructors, running the learning platform, and building the next courses in the Life Ready series.
We keep one price for every family ($249 per student) so that Arkansas families can use their Education Freedom Account funds and every family pays the same fair price. Our annual IRS filings are public, and we're glad to share our IRS determination letter or financial information with anyone who asks.
Contact us
Compass Life Skills
2750 Tyler Street
Conway, AR 72034
hello@compasslifeskills.org
Compass Life Skills is a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. EIN 41-4467405. 2750 Tyler Street, Conway, AR 72034. hello@compasslifeskills.org
2750 Tyler Street, Conway, AR 72034 · hello@compasslifeskills.org
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit. EIN 41-4467405.
