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Tips for Outside the Box Learning Series: Evaluate each child as an Individual

ByShannon L. Mokry

Once upon a time, I started this crazy journey called homeschooling. I can’t believe that I have been on this path for 11 years now. When I started, I had a 6th grader, a 2nd grader and a newborn. The message that I was getting everywhere was to take a month off, for every year my children had been “in school”. This is often called ‘deschooling’

But those people didn’t know my kids. What I discovered is that each family is different and each child within the family is different. My oldest needed the security of a box curriculum and jumping straight into a routine. Even if she didn’t follow the letter of the curriculum, just having one was a security blanket for her. I should have taken time off with my middle child, but we live and learn.

So, my Tip is this: Evaluate each child as an Individual, and Evaluate you’re homeschool regularly. It is okay to pivot midway through a year, you have the flexibility to do that. You can even change things up for one child and not every child.

Get to know YOUR child.

The experts are experts for a reason, they have studied up on their topic of choice. They know everything there is to know about it, and if they don’t know it, they are actively pursuing that knowledge. So, the really important take away here is that YOU are the expert on YOUR child. And if yo aren’t? You are actively pursuing that knowledge. A teacher in a classroom can’t be the expect on a child they spend a few hours with, in the company of 15-30 other kids, all from different households with different backgrounds, but you can be the expert of 1-12 kids that you spend the majority of your time with.

Take notes if you have too, it’s okay. the simple act of recording your observations, helps cement the info into your mind, and it makes the child feel seen.

Match the child to the learning and or teaching style.

I love to read. My oldest two LOVE to read. My youngest, didn’t learn to read until she was nine. She fought tooth and nail. (okay not literally, but still… how could a kid from my DNA and my husbands, who also LOVES to read, not LOVE to read?)

My research way back even years ago all pointed to Charlotte Mason inspired learning. Today, it is much more eclectic.

How to evaluate your child and your homeschool methods?

You can look around for tests. For many years I used the ITBS test because it was what our previous private school had used. (Iowa Test of Basic Skills) I told my kids that the point of the test was to point out what we were doing well at, and what we needed to work on or find a new method for. This might work for you and your child, or there may be a similar test required by your state, you can look up older versions online and use those.

Another option is to look at curriculum that offer placement tests and see if that style resonates with your child.

However, I think the easiest way is to ask a series of questions and take notes.

  • Does your child LOVE to read?
  • What is their reading comprehension compared to age?
  • Does your child learn best after hearing you explain something, or by reading it to themselves, watching it being done, or practicing doing it? Or some combination?
  • Does your child thrive on a schedule, or do they struggle to focus?
  • If they struggle to focus, is that during certain subjects, or time of day?
  • Does your child seem bored, are they always working ahead?
  • Is your child struggling with certain subjects?
  • Does it all seem to come easy, and you know that both you and your child will flourish in a rigorous schedule?

Once you have asked and answered these questions, then look into what the different styles and methods are, try to pick one that most matches your child. Here is a link to a blog article and another one, that explains many of the styles and methods out there.

What if it’s not working?

Then try something else. Don’t be afraid to fail, that is a learning opportunity for you and your child. Failing and changing course shows your child that it is okay to not be perfect, and that the important thing is to learn from the experience, even if it’s not what you would have preferred to learn. That my friend is called Life Schooling, and we all do that every day.

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