Homeschool Progress - An ongoing story of success

Morgan’s Homeschool Progress!

5-11-17

Morgan Akers has been homeschooled approximately three years.  Being pulled out of public school after the first six weeks of fifth grade, Morgan was failing almost every class.  The stress she was facing (learning difficulty, bullying, depression, socializing issues) made it harder on her health condition.

When [Crystal] decided to homeschool, I thought I was making the biggest mistake of my life.  The first year was very hectic.  Morgan was so used to writing down anything just to say she was finished.  She did not want to take her time and learn the material or become interested in any subject to learn.  There were days I would give up and let her rest.  I mainly used this time to learn Morgan’s style of learning and getting to know who she really was.  When Morgan was in public school I thought I knew my daughter.  Until the end of my first year of homeschooling, my whole way of thinking changed.

The second year of homeschooling went a little more smoothly.  I’m not saying it wasn’t hard.  Morgan seemed to be a little more relaxed.  Finding her interests was becoming easier and easier.  Morgan finally understood I wanted her to learn what she wanted and nothing less.  Morgan did not know how to multiply the easiest problems; subtracting was very difficult to understand as well.  Answering a question to a story we had read was impossible.  Morgan was definitely not interested in any science or history.  This year’s focus was learning mainly what my daughter needed to catch up on at home.   Through Morgan’s second year of homeschooling, she learned the basics of multiplication, subtraction, and found out she loved to learn about the human body.  Learning how to comprehend a story and then ask and answer questions was still a work in progress.

Morgan’s handwriting was terrible also.  She did not take pride in her work or even care if I could read it.  She did not know how to write most lower case letters and always used uppercase letters when writing sentences.  I had to reteach these skills.

I also found out something else.  Morgan was really interested in piano!  Toward the end of the second year, she was excited about learning how to play the piano.  This was toward the end of our second year of homeschooling.  I felt this was a start to new beginning.  This year ended and was a very rewarding one.  I signed Morgan up for piano lessons.

Morgan’s third year of homeschooling has been the greatest year so far.  Morgan has progressed in self-care.  She can wash her hair all by herself, do her chores, respond and interact better with family, friends, siblings and both parents.  She has an eagerness to learn as well!  She has mastered multiplication and is learning division now.  Her handwriting has tremendously improved – upper and lower cases.  Punctuation is also used.

She was very excited to learn about the presidency and asked questions about elections.  She has begun to be more interested in the human body as well as being healthy. 

Morgan played her first sport this year!  She chose to play basketball.  She made great progress as the season advanced.  Morgan is making more friends every day.  She is becoming more open to socializing and learning how each person is different. 

Morgan never had a “When I grow up I want to be a ….” answer.  Now she does.  She wants to be a chiropractor.  To hear those words was music to my ears. 

Morgan has 100% improved in every subject.  She has continued with piano for a little over one year and is almost in her third piano book.  When we have hard days homeschooling, we will learn by using examples from music.  She plays the piano with confidence even in front of the camera for her Facebook audience.  She had zero confidence in any area before homeschooling.  Her eye and hand coordination is better than it has ever been. 

Morgan has blown my mind.  She is actually my daughter that I did not know.  Now, she is my daughter that I do know and is very smart in her own way.

-Crystal Akers

I’ve learned that Morgan has a few special needs.  She was previously in special education classes for some subjects but was not learning because the work was done for her a lot of the time.  I noticed this year as I was at her house for something that she appeared differently. She looked me in the eye and did not look away, as she had always in the past.  She has played the piano for me and wanted to play this time as well.  I asked Crystal to write a story about her progress and wanted to share with you. 

How have you seen your child improve since being homeschooled?