Personalized Learning is a concept that has
Understand your child’s interests
been around for decades, but has recently
I read a very touching story recently about a
made traction with the US Department of
homeschooling mother who frequented a local
Education. Generally, it is a term
park with her son. The
This mom understood park featured a series
used to describe the act of modifying
a learning environment to better suit
that homeschool was of underground caves.
the learner . The typical pedagogue
not about her, it was It was damp and dirty,
interested in this approach will modify
and gave her a bit of
hooling
about her son
ake
the pace of their curriculum (large slice
or small?) and the approach towards the
topic at hand (corner piece or edge?) Not
necessarily bad; kudos for making an effort. I
like to call this Personalized Teaching, though.
Real Personalized Learning takes it one giant
leap further and says, “What do you want to
learn? What do you want to master?” This
ensures that even the pickiest of learners
remains enthusiastic about learning, because it
is designed just for him.
As a homeschooling family, you have the luxury
of providing true Personalize Learning to your
children. Below are three steps to help serve
up an authentic personal learning experience
for your children. It will take a little effort on
your part, but in the end, everyone in the family
reaps the rewards.
claustrophobia. Yet
she continued to take him. Why? Because he
adored this place, and it was the perfect way
to get him excited about nature, science, math,
history, and more.
This mom understood that homeschool was
not abo ut her, it was about her son. I’m not
suggesting that we spend every day in a
miserable state, jet-setting about town to places
we prefer not visit. I am suggesting that we
consider the learner as we make decisions
about how and what to teach. There may be a
plethora of educational activities on Pinterest
about farm animals, but if your son shows
no interest then is it worth pursuing? Second
grade might be the “right” time to teach George
Washington, but if she is more interested in
Mayan cultures then perhaps that is the history
lesson worth following.
Ask your child what he is interested in learning.
Watch for topics that grab his attention during
his free-time. Get creative about how to
cross subject-areas with a single topic. For
example, Mayan culture can erupt into an
explosion of information in science, math,
history, geography, foreign language, sociology,
religion, and much more. It is not as easy as
opening a boxed curriculum, but an excited
learner is a reward unto itself. g