Article written by my daughter Hanna for the Christian County Headliner News, MO in Oct 2008
To Each His Own
Differences are what make the world beautiful, and it’s also what makes homeschooling wonderful for individuals. It’s called different learning styles and no two people are the same. I’m the second oldest of six kids and am in 9th grade. From my 11th grade brother to my little sister, who’s not even in school yet, there is such a diverse style of learning. My brother Cody and I have done basically the same books since we were little. But, because of our different learning styles, our learning experiences have had to be different, and at times this has required a change of curriculum or method of teaching. Like when Cody and I were first learning to write in cursive. Mom got us an italics book. Cody loved the sharp letters he printed like arrows on the page, but it left me distracted and bored. Being the artistic person I am the writing wasn’t flowing and fun enough for me. Mom took me out of the program and got me doing something that suited me better. You see, Cody is a factual person who reads things such as “The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior”, and is the only person I know who can pronounce Mesonychoteuthis and knows what it means. I’m an artistic, musical, dreamer who loves the emotion of the moment and writes a song and two page novel about it all. So, around 6 years and 6 grades later, when Algebra arose in our lives it came like a dark cloud on the horizon for Cody and he got caught in the storm. When it came for me it was like a white fluffy cloud peeking over the mountains and has been sweeping by like a breeze. You see every person has their own way and, just like fingerprints and snowflakes, we are all different. Each child has a different style of learning and that is the benefit of homeschooling. We can each be free to be ourselves and get the most out of our learning experiences because we do not have to learn from a system. We have a chance to boost ourselves higher in the areas we excel in in ways we couldn’t have otherwise. Putting children in categories of learning and skill is not always considerate of the child. You should never underestimate what someone can do and lump them in categories before you know them as an individual. Every mind can do great things if given the chance. I feel as a homeschooler that I can do just this. Now, I know many public schoolers who have excelled. My public schooled cousin is a smart and talented kid. My public schooled friend is an amazing writer. Just, personally for myself, I feel like I have more availability to excel as a homeschooler. But that is me and, like I said, everyone is different! Different learning styles should be respected and accepted and, knowing that everyone is different, we can all find our place in life easier.
To Each His Own
Differences are what make the world beautiful, and it’s also what makes homeschooling wonderful for individuals. It’s called different learning styles and no two people are the same. I’m the second oldest of six kids and am in 9th grade. From my 11th grade brother to my little sister, who’s not even in school yet, there is such a diverse style of learning. My brother Cody and I have done basically the same books since we were little. But, because of our different learning styles, our learning experiences have had to be different, and at times this has required a change of curriculum or method of teaching. Like when Cody and I were first learning to write in cursive. Mom got us an italics book. Cody loved the sharp letters he printed like arrows on the page, but it left me distracted and bored. Being the artistic person I am the writing wasn’t flowing and fun enough for me. Mom took me out of the program and got me doing something that suited me better. You see, Cody is a factual person who reads things such as “The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior”, and is the only person I know who can pronounce Mesonychoteuthis and knows what it means. I’m an artistic, musical, dreamer who loves the emotion of the moment and writes a song and two page novel about it all. So, around 6 years and 6 grades later, when Algebra arose in our lives it came like a dark cloud on the horizon for Cody and he got caught in the storm. When it came for me it was like a white fluffy cloud peeking over the mountains and has been sweeping by like a breeze. You see every person has their own way and, just like fingerprints and snowflakes, we are all different. Each child has a different style of learning and that is the benefit of homeschooling. We can each be free to be ourselves and get the most out of our learning experiences because we do not have to learn from a system. We have a chance to boost ourselves higher in the areas we excel in in ways we couldn’t have otherwise. Putting children in categories of learning and skill is not always considerate of the child. You should never underestimate what someone can do and lump them in categories before you know them as an individual. Every mind can do great things if given the chance. I feel as a homeschooler that I can do just this. Now, I know many public schoolers who have excelled. My public schooled cousin is a smart and talented kid. My public schooled friend is an amazing writer. Just, personally for myself, I feel like I have more availability to excel as a homeschooler. But that is me and, like I said, everyone is different! Different learning styles should be respected and accepted and, knowing that everyone is different, we can all find our place in life easier.
Thank you for your post, our daughter is 10 and she enjoys being homeschooled. She is the only child still at home, so there are days where she longs to be in a classroom full of children. Thankfully, we attend a very large church where she is surrounded by friends, including many homeschoolers. I believe this blog will encourage her by hearing from other homeschooling children about learning styles, techniques and overall issues that a homeschooler faces.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to hear from you. My children also face some feeling of isolation. We travel full time around the country and there are times that we are in the middle of nowhere for a while and other times that we are surrounded by people. Our children learn a valuable lesson by being able to function in any social circumstance such as isolation and way too many teens! That is wonderful you go to a large church. I'm sure that helps a lot. I have to purposely get my kids with there friends. It is not as easy as it used to be. God bless you and hope to hear from you again soon. Sheri
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