About HBL

In a world in which most curricula follow a rote teach-memorize-test system, Heart Bright Learning (HBL) takes a fresh approach to heart and mind education by aligning human development with instructional design to promote continuous improvement.

All of HBL’s resources integrate observation, reflection, and expression. Our materials teach social-emotional learning, learner-centered problem solving, and idea-forward explorations.

Our literature-based approach, which inspires imagination, exploration, and self-expression through structured practice, has been shown to significantly improve listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills among both challenged and gifted students from a diverse range of cultural and language backgrounds.

Jon Madian, an educational psychologist, and his wife, Karen Jostad Madian, an instructional designer, have developed more than 100 reading, writing, and process-based programs for print and software throughout their careers. Their 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild continue to fuel their commitment to enriching education.

Today, through Heart Bright Learning, they are helping parents and teachers reimagine education for the 21st century by developing resources that inspire and empower children to understand themselves, others, and their world through observation, reflection, and process-based learning.

Social Emotional Learning at the Heart of HBL

"At Heart Bright Learning, Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is not an add-on. It is the foundation. We believe that nurturing emotional intelligence, empathy, and self-awareness is as essential as building academic skills. SEL helps children understand themselves and others, develop respectful relationships, and approach challenges with resilience and creativity.

Our resources weave SEL into every lesson, story, and activity. Students are encouraged to pause and reflect, express their thoughts with confidence, and listen with openness. Through literature-based explorations, guided discussions, and collaborative problem solving, children practice the skills they need to manage emotions, set positive goals, and make responsible decisions.

By integrating SEL with literacy and creative thinking, HBL helps students not only become better readers and writers, but also more thoughtful, compassionate, and capable human beings, ready to thrive in an interconnected world."

Meet Our Team

  • Jon Madian

    Authored a number of children’s books and hundreds of curriculum resources. Scholastic, McGraw-Hill, IBM, Apple and Highlights Magazine have featured his children’s stories and poetry. Jon founded and led the Artist-in-Residence Reading Project in the inner city of Los Angeles. The U.S Department of Education, the California Arts Council and several foundations funded his creative work and research.

  • Karen Jostad-Madian

    Managed instructional design teams that produced award-winning educational software such as the broadly used Oregon Trail Simulation. She has a keen interest in process-based learning in Science and Language Arts and has produced instructional and training materials for several publishers and state and federal agencies.

  • Julie Anne Ikenberry

    Is an educator, writer and illustrator. Julie has a tricultural background-raised in Kenya, educated in theater and Montessori education in England and lived most of her adult life in the United States. She is devoted to Montessori and founded and led several schools.

  • Jyoti Kumta

    Taught and counseled in many schools throughout India. She also worked in the corporate sector as a behavioral assessor but soon realized that her heart lived in schools, especially in Value Education and Social Emotional Learning. She works freelance as a teacher coach looking for every opportunity to integrate Value Education into the school curriculum.

  • Paritosh Chhibber

    Founded Levelworks and brings a background in User and Service Experience Design along with Psychology. Deeply committed to education and job creation, he collaborates with organizations that value and celebrate lifelong learning, contributing his expertise to build meaningful learning experiences.

  • Antonia Madian

    Antonia Madian is a writer, editor, and communications specialist who believes in the power of student-led learning and the importance of fostering emotional intelligence in children from a young age. 

Our Story

KAREN & JON’S EDUCATIONAL TIMELINE

Jon and Karen, the founders of HeartBright Learning, bring decades of leadership, innovation, and hands-on experience in children’s literature, environmental education, and learning design. Their journey spans classroom teaching, curriculum development, educational technology, and nationally recognized creative programs that have shaped how students read, write, and explore the world. This timeline highlights the milestones, contributions, and collaborations that led to the creation of HeartBright Learning and continue to inspire their work today.

  1. 1968

    Little, Brown and Company publishes Jon’s first children’s book, Beautiful Junk: A Story of the Watts Towers, about how creativity can transform anger into art.

  2. 1969

    Jon starts the Poets in the Schools initiative, in which poets visit
    classrooms to help with reading and writing. He discovers that
    children are much more engaged when he personalizes stories to feature students by name.

  3. 1972–78

    Initial Service Offerings

    Karen joins the Minnesota Environmental Science Foundation, Inc. as a Curriculum Specialist and Workshop Instructor. She authors several publications, including:
    • Introducing Environmental Learning on Wildlife Refuges
    • Give Earth a Chance – Six stories including Dirty Air, Trash Is Taking Over, Troublesome Tailpipes, Sounds & Silence, Pesticides Are Perilous

  4. 1974

    Jon adapts the Writing Workshop Model to be the Bay Area Writing Project, which then becomes the National Writing Project.

  5. 1976–78

    Karen serves as adjunct faculty at St. Cloud, St. Thomas, and Carleton College, teaching Environmental Education to classroom teachers.

  6. 1976–83

    Jon develops the Artist-in-Residence Reading Project, a classroom-focused R&D Curriculum Design Lab in Los Angeles, funded by local, state, & federal agencies. It becomes a district-wide model. Jon pioneers using word processing in writing and reading and for curriculum design to achieve collaboration and continuous improvement of resources.

  7. 1978–79

    Karen joins the Southeast Alternatives Project, Minneapolis Public Schools—a federally funded experimental network of innovative school models for national replication.

  8. 1979-84

    Karen joins the Minnesota Educational Computing Consortium (MECC) as Courseware Designer and Instructor and becomes manager of a team producing 36 educational software titles annually. Award-winning products include The Oregon Trail, Number Munchers, and Mind Puzzles (recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children).

  9. 1984

    Karen and Jon become partners and co-found Humanities Software, producing process-based learning resources and training programs. The company is acquired by Renaissance Learning in 1999.

  10. 1999–Present

    Jon continues writing children’s stories and poems, and Karen develops experiential and process-based instructional materials to support these works. This leads to the creation of Heart Bright Learning (HBL).

  11. 2001

    Karen authors The Oregon Trail Companion Guide, provides instruction so students can create projects related to The Oregon Trail simulation using digital tools: word processor, spreadsheet, graphics creation.

  12. 2003–Present

    Jon and Karen form software development alliances with educators and developers in India to make inspiring educational resources available globally and to less-resourced communities. So far, they have produced Tortoise Teaches Rabbit to Read, Poetry for Fluency, and Fables for Social Emotional Learning.