In Australia, it’s the start of a new year for school, so today I am participating in a ‘Not Back To School’ Blog hop extravaganza. Today’s theme is students, so let me introduce our wonderful scholars.
Our little homeschool has two students, my 7 year old boy, C (aka Canary) and my 3 year old girl, J (aka Jubilee).
Everyone’s homeschool looks different, that’s the beauty of it, but ours probably looks a bit more different to most. Some days it feels like my children are poster-kids for asynchronous development.
For my son, C, saying he’s working at multiple grades is kind of an understatement (as much as I track ‘grades’ which I generally don’t). He’s done online courses on science that are designed for university students, does maths (formally) at a beginning highschool level with his tutor, and informally debates mathematical ideas with me and his dad (with two maths degrees between us, he’s thrown us a few curve balls that we weren’t able to easily answer!).
But he struggles with handwriting and writes at a first grade level – he works on that with his occupational therapist (who is awesome). He loves reading non-fiction and has awesome comprehension with facts and figures, and is a real pattern-thinker with a strong visual-spatial focus.
He loves walking and after years of therapy, is now finally able to walk without falling over, climb, jump and this month he learned how to ride a bike with his physiotherapist. We are so proud of him.
Though a spread of abilities is typical with most homeschoolers, C’s difference is what lead us to homeschooling. Deeply asynchronous is a bit of an understatement. You see, C is twice exceptional – that means he is gifted (in his case profoundly gifted) and special needs. He has a string of diagnoses attached to his medical profile that is a mile long and is a sweet, lovely boy who is always enthusiastic.
Little Jubilee loves exploring and outdoors. She’s also started to puzzle out letters, gets excited when read stories, and adores crafting of all kinds. But her main passion is numbers – she loves counting and has designated each family member with a special number: C is 1, J is 2, Mummy is 3 and Daddy is 4. Occasionally, her baby doll is number 5. She also loves playing in the dirt, where she draws shapes and numbers. Though she appears fearless, she has severe anxiety issues that mean she operates on a ‘high’ for most of the day, which we regulate with a sensory diet from her occupational therapist.
Both children have sensory processing problems that make large crowds and noisy locations difficult for us to visit. But they love chatting to people they meet everyday – talking to the local grocer is a highlight for them (the grocer has a standing offer of a job for C when he’s old enough). J has a happy ‘hello’ for everyone she meets and loves playing with ‘babies’ she meets at the park. As a very tall 3 year old, often the babies are twice her age.
Welcome to Asynchronous Homeschool Central.
This post is part of the ‘All Aussie Not Back To School Blog Hop‘
Please also feel free to check out my other posts on the All Aussie Not Back To School Blog Hop:
Isn't that the beauty of homeschooling, so our kids can truly work at their level in each of their chosen interests/subjects!1
Thanks for joining in with the hop 🙂
Thanks for commenting, Kylie! Being able to meet my kids at their level of learning rather than following age-based outlines is what I love about homeschooling. That and sleeping in occasionally…:)
Such vast abilities you are learning with! Though reading your own bio I can't help but being struck with how perfect your own journey has been to travel along with your children.
Thanks for commenting, Erin. I'm not sure about perfect, but it has certainly been a journey! Though I think every family that starts homeschooling is also going on a similar journey of self-discovery. After all, it is the path less traveled 🙂
Lovely to 'meet' your children and wishing you a great homeschooling year 🙂 I have a son with a very high IQ but with multiple special needs also so I loved reading about your son.
That's what I love about homeschooling – being able to meet the child where they are and go from there. So nice to meet you!
Wow your son sounds nearly exactly like mine. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Love this! I wish we were closer because I'm sure our little guys would get along 🙂
It's nice to meet you!
Thankyou very much 🙂
To express myself better, I meant looking at your bio and the variety of 'life before' that it was all wonderfully mixed to then travel along with your children.
That's a lovely way to put it actually. Yes, you may be right on that one. I hadn't quite thought about it like that.