My journey as a homeschool educator began with a very important question. A question that completely changed the way I view education and learning.

In the vibrant city of Chico, California, I was a young mother with a lively 6 year old daughter who was transitioning from a Montessori preschool into public school kindergarten. During the time when I was touring a variety of schools, I met a few homeschool families at a park. They introduced me to what I would later come to know as Chico’s large and enthusiastic homeschooling community.

When I called into South Sutter Charter School to make an inquiry, I was answered by a “parent ambassador” who spoke with me for over an hour, explaining the system and experience of homeschooling through independent learning charter schools. I was fascinated and wanted to join.

This is when she asked me the most important foundational question of my homeschooling experience: “Do you know your child’s learning style?” I did not. I did not even know what concept to which she was referring. I live by the motto: “The only enemy is ignorance”, so I immediately recognized within this question an important path of inquiry.

With a bit of research, I very quickly recognized that my child was a kinesthetic and social learner. She seemed near dead when sitting at a desk, but was brilliant when up and about; she struggled to grasp abstract concepts but could navigate extremely complex hands-on activities. Another important aspect to understanding learning styles was recognizing that I learn differently than my daughter. Homeschooling, therefore, would require that I integrate educational material one way, then translate it into what she could grasp. This would be a nonlinear process with great creative adaptation. I was thrilled.

What had been missing from my education experience, and what homeschooling was offering for my child, was an opportunity for personalized learning. Homeschooling gave me the opportunity to meet her where she was at: translating curriculum into activities such as hopscotch math, language arts through storytelling, and the living sciences of nature. Rather than forcing her to fit into a prefabricated mold, I was able to let her discover herself through art, through friendships, through exploration.

My second daughter was unmistakable as an auditory learner, even as a baby she had lively responses to music, to voices, and even to traffic sounds. Homeschooling has allowed her to develop into a brilliant musician as well as a keen multi-lingual student who understands her studies as one might understand the unfolding of a musical score.

For those who are beginning, or considering beginning, a homeschool journey, the first step in the direction of a fulfilling experience is understanding learning styles. The next steps follow naturally: empowerment through lived learning, the cultivation of values, and striving for wellbeing in a rapidly changing world. An important point to clarify is that personalizing a student’s learning journey is not the same as coddling or entitlement. In attempting to shield learners from distress, some parents, teachers, and institutions unintentionally block out healthy challenges as well. Rather than creating patterns of avoidance, personalized learning supports the developmental muscles needed for resilience, agency, and authentic growth.

While not every parent has the capacity to homeschool their child/ren, any parent can and should discover their child’s learning style. While this may not seem a monumental change to the education paradigm, consider the impact of kindness on suffering, the power of awareness on ignorance, and the ability of presence to remedy a long absence. Showing a student that the quality of their growth as a human being is more important than quantitative metrics is shifting the system from the inside out. As more and more parents take the opportunity to provide their children with personalized learning, of any form, the more it will become, as it should be, a foundational element of education.