I wanted to give you all a follow up to the Learning freedom! post I had made a few months ago.  That post was about our realizing that just because my husband has been playing guitar forever doesn’t meant he knew how to break down lessons for our fourteen year old.  While our son is very self motivated, he also really enjoys one on one interaction when learning certain things.  To read more about our decision to find him a guitar teacher and sign him up for lessons you can read my Learning freedom! post.

Our judgment and decision in getting the help we needed was right on!  While I did have to remind him to practice at first, he seemed to be having no trouble at all picking it up.  We had been secretly hoping that he'd get more excited and the reminders to practice would turn into just hearing him play.

And then it happened!!  It started by him telling me that he had been learning a favorite song from one of his video games.  Out of curiosity, I asked him if it was an assignment from his teacher or was it something he wanted to do on is own.  It was so much of what he wanted to do on his own that he forgot all about what his teacher had asked him to practice!  He came in the night before his lesson asking my husband for help with the song he was supposed to be working on.

We really knew that spark was lit when he came in with a fire in his eyes asking for his own acoustic guitar the next day!  Since then he has gone to a month's more of lessons and we have decided that he is over that hump enough for my husband to take over instruction.  In fact, he has been coming to ask him about things so often that he already spends more time having instruction from dad than he does with his teacher!  That said we have decided that now is the time to pull him from lessons and let my husband totally take over.  

Our son now has his own amp and effects.  He has customized his guitar.  He even grabbed my husband's 12-string and has been playing that.  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't hear him practicing or learning something new. 

We are so grateful to his teacher for filling in the gap that we needed filled for the time that we needed it.  I am so glad that we tuned out certain vocal unschooling voices in the community that preach that we should just let him do it on his own.  We knew better than to let this type of learning happen through osmosis!  It just doesn't fit his learning style to do so.  We saw that he had a natural ability and wanted to do everything we could to foster it.  By recognizing that we could easily get him the help and resources he needed, we saved him from a lot of frustration. 

The lesson in this is to recognize when you need help and know when to ask for the specific help you need.  You don't have to sign up for a full program, curriculum or anything you don't see as a benefit but you never know what kind of help there is if you don't look for it.

I must also give huge props to our son's teacher, Byron Marks!  If you are in the southern NH area, he teaches at  Manchester Music Mill.  Tell him I sent you!  Also if you are looking for a new or used instrument, the Music Mill also has it's own store.

Hi! My name is Meghan Langlois, I am going to be 17 years old next week!  I live in Rye, NH with my parents, I also have two little brothers and a little sister.  My family enjoys eating a healthy, mostly vegan diet, a few of us still eat wild caught fish.  I have been a homeschooler for three years.  I like the freedom and experiences that I have being a homeschooler!  I love to draw, especially Manga.  I've been drawing since I was three years old, it has always been a huge passion of mine.  I have started a business, selling my art and am so grateful for the response!  I create anime characters and I make custom anime portraits for my customers upon request.  Other than that, I love to swim, write, surf and read.  My favorite movies currently are The Hunger Games, Breaking Dawn Part 1 and Titanic.  My favorite books currently are The Darkest Powers Trilogy and The Hunger Games.  When I'm older, I would like to continue to do something with my art skills, I'm not sure what it is just yet, but I am having fun figuring it out!

I'm excited to announce a new feature I have added to my site! 

It is called “I’m a teen and I homeschool!” 

Based on feedback I have received people really are curious about our homeschooling teens!  If you would like to see your teen added it’s simple!  Send me a photo, a short (or long) description that your teen has written about who they are and what they like to do, any website, etsy shop, youtube channel, story they have written and anything else they want included.  I will not only post it on my site but one teen per week will have their story sent to all of my blog subscribers!

Here are some ideas of what your teen can include in their description of themselves:

Name
Photo or any other picture they would like to use to represent themselves – as long as you own the copyright to it, please!
City and/or State
Age
What they love to do most
Favorite movies
Favorites books
Any aspirations
Classes they take anywhere that they love
Sports they enjoy
Music they have written
A short video of themselves
A website or page where they show off what they like to do
A website or page where they sell things they create

…. The possibilities are endless!

Please send all submissions to robinwhitcore@theintuitiveparent.com

People love plans, formulas, labels and superficial studies.  We love the pretty little packages we can buy and don't have to analyze because they are convenient.  It's something we can buy and consume.  If it doesn't work out we can blame who sold it to us.  We don't have to take responsibility for not doing our due diligence if we don't want to.  This is no different when it comes to education.  We love to believe what we are told about what works and what doesn't.  Have you stopped to notice that the favorable "evidence" in support of the status quo only points to economics and never includes any point of reference to feelings of long term personal fulfillment or happiness? 

I have been trying to keep all of this in mind lately especially during my recent temporary moments of panic.  My oldest homeschooling child is now fourteen!  This declaration is something I am not taking lightly.  It's hitting me in the same way I think it hits a lot of other homeschoolers.  My son is officially a highschooler!!!  I am starting to understand why some homeschoolers get scared and send their kids to high school.  

I have had my days of panic and uncertainty before.  Are the kids learning enough?  Am I doing everything I can to help them reach their full potential?  It's certainly harder to face these questions when all of the responsibility is on me.  I can't point fingers at a school system or certain teachers.  How many are brave enough to really, honestly take that responsibility whether their kids are in a school system or not?

My only educational point of reference is my own.  I attended a private high school and had more intense classes with double the homework than I had in college.  I also had to work part time; mostly for free in order to compensate for my high school tuition.  I also look at the family histories that my husband and I have.  Both sides are full of professional artists, engineers, entrepreneurs, lawyers and white-collar employees.  How do I go from that history to this moment of uncharted territory for us?  The beliefs that were instilled in me tell me that if the kids aren't well "trained" they will struggle and become victims of the system.  It's hard to deprogram these messages when you are still surrounded by them.

I have heard very mixed results from those that have homeschooled through high school.  The funny thing is I have heard just as mixed, if not worse, results from kids that went through the traditional route too.  No matter which path you want to go, neither is a formula for guaranteed success.

I have written about this before in “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  High school kids graduating with honors, speaking three languages and having full resumes of achievements are a dime a dozen.  What aren’t very common are young adults who stand out because they have something that drives them and lights their direction.  This is when I look at how many in our families haven’t felt fulfilled no matter what their paychecks were like.

One of the advantages of having a decent amount of adult life behind me is that I can also look at the life experiences of my friends and colleagues.  I have over twenty years of real life examples right in front of me.  Having the maturity to see the big picture of these people’s lives is a great advantage!  Who is truly happy, who isn’t and most importantly why?  Which ones had a mid-life crisis?  How many of these people are still trying to “find” themselves?  What can I do differently with my kids so they are set up for success and happiness in life? 

What I do know is that I want my kids to be independent, fulfilled and always confident that they can take care of themselves no matter what twists and turns life has in store for them.  I don’t want them living their life according to someone else’s formula, agenda, dogma or society’s expectations of them.  What I want most for them is to keep in touch with who they are and what makes them happy.

So with renewed confidence I am approaching our new high school homeschooling journey.  My son will be able to continue to follow the interests he is most passionate about, continue to build the strong friendships he has and always know that no matter what he chooses as his path in life, it is HIS path.  Hopefully, with a continued awareness of motivations behind his academic and life decisions, I can continue to guide him to live a productive, creative, fun and satisfying life.

Photo credit - Dean Terry