When I started homeschooling my perceptions on education and schooling changed for the better. I was able to work with the curriculum that was being given to me and complete the work independently at home. I have never ever been able to do my work independently without my mum sitting by my side. At school I couldn’t access the work because I wasn’t ready to do it, the teacher would rush through the powerpoint and expect me to go home and finish the work. That was just a disaster waiting to happen, that did happen.
The first time I met Julianne I instantly new she was not BORING. When she was explaining to me how homeschool works it all felt so surreal. Julianne will find different teaching ways to work with your brain. She is trained to work with SEN children so she can tell if you’ve switch on or off. Julianne will teach me the Treaty of Versailles while I’m lying on her kitchen floor. If for whatever reason that day I can’t pay attention or some information just isn’t going in we will park it and do something else. If my brain says not today, it means not today.
When I’m reading with Julianne and I don’t understand a part of the book we act out the scene. We try and picture what it would be like being those characters. I find it hard to process chunks of information so what we do is chunking. We read a sentence stop, process it and explain what that sentence means. Chunking is very helpful.
Before homeschool I would be very self-conscious for how long it would take for me to understand the topic or to do the work. I was angry that other people could complete the work without a fuss and I would be there feeling really crappy about myself. When Julianne became my teacher she told me, word for word, ‘ Not every brain works the same way ; they’re not meant to.’ This gave me a boost. I realised that it doesn’t matter how long it takes me to do something as long as I get their in the end.
My future has changed for the better being a student in my teachers kitchen. Not only has she boosted my confidence but has inspired me to become a happier person. Originally I wanted to publish my book, Julianne was the one who came up with the idea for me to create a website. In the future I hope to be able to publish my book, but that is a different goal waiting to be achieved.