Homeschooling Through the Alphabet: P is for Personalized
One of things I love most about homeschooling is that I can give each of my boys a personalized education.
Personalized is defined as designed or produced to meet someone's individual requirements.
I love that I can completely individualize my boys education to fit them and our family.
Sure they all have to learn reading, writing, math, science, spelling, history, etc., but HOW we learn those subjects varies greatly for each of my boys.
My middle son LOVES to read. He will devour just about any book I put in front of him and through reading he has learned to be a great writer and speller. We have found wonderful books for him to read about history and science.
My oldest son does not enjoy reading at all and only reads for the required 15 minutes or so a day that I make him choose something to read. He prefers hands on learning; building remote control cars, playing math games like Yahtzee, using tools to design wooden swords, forts and toy garages.
My youngest son always did better with lessons that allowed him to move. In the past year he has settled down to seat work at the table but before that we'd tape sight words around the house and have him shoot the words with a Nerf Gun or hide them scavenger hunt style.
As well as choosing how to learn my boys get to choose WHAT to learn about too:
My boys get to decide WHEN they want to learn about certain subjects too.
Last year Alec was reading everything he could about the periodic table of elements. He found games to play on his Kindle and spent lots of time pouring over the elements, learning what they were used for, why they are arranged on the table like they are, and so much more. He was in 5th grade and while I could have told him to wait for high school I didn't think it was wise not to support his newest interest.
I love that my kids can learn about topics as they come up and they are excited about them. They don't have to wait for a set age or a set year in school to dive into their interests.
My boys are even lucky enough to decide WHERE they'll get to learn.
They can work at the kitchen table, in their rooms, on the couch, outside on the lawn, in the car... most books and schoolwork is portable so that portion of their schooling can be done anywhere.
But I am also talking about field trips and learning outside the home.
We have taken many wonderful lessons (some together and some individually) learning such skills as how an ocean research vessel works.
How to fuse glass into art.
How to run a lathe, drill press, and even drive heavy equipment (my oldest son often gets lesson in these on the weekend when he's working with his father or grandfather).
Each of the boys have taken different classes at our local zoo when their was a class that caught their eye.
A personalized education means that my boys are almost always learning about something that interests them and is directly relevant to them and their lives and I just LOVE that.
I love that I can completely individualize my boys education to fit them and our family.
Sure they all have to learn reading, writing, math, science, spelling, history, etc., but HOW we learn those subjects varies greatly for each of my boys.
My middle son LOVES to read. He will devour just about any book I put in front of him and through reading he has learned to be a great writer and speller. We have found wonderful books for him to read about history and science.
My oldest son does not enjoy reading at all and only reads for the required 15 minutes or so a day that I make him choose something to read. He prefers hands on learning; building remote control cars, playing math games like Yahtzee, using tools to design wooden swords, forts and toy garages.
My youngest son always did better with lessons that allowed him to move. In the past year he has settled down to seat work at the table but before that we'd tape sight words around the house and have him shoot the words with a Nerf Gun or hide them scavenger hunt style.
As well as choosing how to learn my boys get to choose WHAT to learn about too:
- They choose what books they want to read and have free reign of the library and our inter-library loan system.
- They pick whatever writing topics, materials, or curriculum they feel comfortable with.
- The history/time periods we study (often together) are picked by the boys.
- We buy science materials that interest them and often repeat favorite experiments over and over and over again.
- We plan field trips around their current interests and pass on those that don't get my boys excited.
- They help pick out their math books and decide which pages to work on and in what order makes the most sense for them.
Last year Alec was reading everything he could about the periodic table of elements. He found games to play on his Kindle and spent lots of time pouring over the elements, learning what they were used for, why they are arranged on the table like they are, and so much more. He was in 5th grade and while I could have told him to wait for high school I didn't think it was wise not to support his newest interest.
I love that my kids can learn about topics as they come up and they are excited about them. They don't have to wait for a set age or a set year in school to dive into their interests.
My boys are even lucky enough to decide WHERE they'll get to learn.
They can work at the kitchen table, in their rooms, on the couch, outside on the lawn, in the car... most books and schoolwork is portable so that portion of their schooling can be done anywhere.
But I am also talking about field trips and learning outside the home.
We have taken many wonderful lessons (some together and some individually) learning such skills as how an ocean research vessel works.
How to fuse glass into art.
How to run a lathe, drill press, and even drive heavy equipment (my oldest son often gets lesson in these on the weekend when he's working with his father or grandfather).
Each of the boys have taken different classes at our local zoo when their was a class that caught their eye.
A personalized education means that my boys are almost always learning about something that interests them and is directly relevant to them and their lives and I just LOVE that.
Homeschooling Through the Alphabet:
A is for Awe
B is for Boisterous
C is for Creativity
D is for Determination
E is for Expectations
F is for Fun
G is for Games
H is for Heart
I is for Independence
J is for Journey
K is for Kitchen
L is for Longevity
M is for Moments
N is for Nature
O is for Options
I absolutely love that you can personalize what fits best for their learning styles and what they enjoy the most. It makes learning so much more attainable.
ReplyDeleteIt sure does. I have to say it's quite exciting seeing how they grow and change and watching them dive into something new.
DeleteI love the picture of your young man at the lathe. My father is a woodworker and there is just something special about wood work. If your son wants to look at some of his work, you can check out SpeakingWood on Facebook. - Lori
ReplyDeleteAll three of my boys dabble in woodworking; however, this particular lathe used to shape metal.
DeleteI so agree about personalization and homeschooling! For me that is the hardest part of making our move into homeschooling high school - allowing the kids to personalize the direction of their learning across a wide range of subjects. It means I have to let go and allow them to... well - personalize. Kind of scary but really great at the same time!
ReplyDeleteIt is a bit scary to see them personalize their own direction; my oldest son and I were just talking a bit about this yesterday since we only have one more year until high school... and while I know what he wants to learn about it's not always easy to find a way to include that on a transcript.
Deletemy lad isn't quite there yet but he's getting closer. Next year.. electronics.. A CHOICE!!! Good to see though, nice to see him forming opinions about some of the things he wants to try out.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I find my youngest still just shrugs and says I don't know but the older two are finally starting to make choices and help me pick curriculum..
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