Keeping the excitement alive for learning has been easiest in our household when, as a parent, I pay attention to my daughter’s talents and interests and then incorporate those interests into my daily lesson plans. I have found that when education is designed around and led by my daughter’s pursuits and passions, the entire learning process becomes nearly effortless and remains perpetually enjoyable – for both her and me!

Providing exposure to new interests and enlarging the scope of her current pursuits is a priority to me as a homeschooling parent. In our home, most of our lessons are completed outdoors because my daughter is quite the nature lover. She says she wants to be an animal rescuer when she grows up and she becomes completely engaged whenever we are studying habitats.  So, our days are filled with hours of attention to these items.

Interest driven curriculum can be customized to incorporate every subject: history, science, social studies, even math. A visit to the library will unveil topic-specific books, videos and cassette tapes.  A simple Google search that includes the words “lesson plans” after a particular interest, such as “nature lesson plans,” will reveal a surprising number of online options.

My daughter also happens to be a huge Pokémon fan.  Although this would not normally be my first choice of hobbies for her, I’ve attempted to embrace her interest in Pokémon as a learning opportunity whenever I can.  For example, Pokémon trading cards have become tools for math lessons in our house.  Pokémon even has an educational website, www.pokemonlearningleague.com, which contains a pretty extensive library of online lessons on topics that range from fractions to learning about the lunar cycle.  What’s more, there are plenty of reading, art and music opportunities with this subject as there are with almost any topic.

Ultimately, my goal is to instill in my daughter a long-term, true love of learning.  It seems natural to me that if, as a parent, I listen and respond constructively to her unique talents and interests, she will flourish at perfecting them. 

I have found the following resources useful in my quest to best define my daughter’s talents.  If you have additional resources you would like to share with Scoop! readers, please contact me at Scoop@MBayKids.com and place “Homeschooling” in the subject line.  I’d love to hear from you!

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