Working with Matthew one-on-one has made me realize there are some gaps I can go back and fix. When I first realized we were going to head in this direction, I conducted some one-on-one assessments in each area only to learn that he was missing a few skills and knowledge that he should have picked up by now. Please understand that I’m not pointing fingers. When you’ve got a full classroom, these things can happen. So, part of our learning is going back to fix those gaps. I’m pretty happy about that. I think he is too.

Matthew has a deep passion for agriculture and soaks up every learning opportunity. He takes great pride in his herd and flock. Much of his motivation is filtered through that, hunting, fishing, or wrestling. In the past couple of years, I’ve seen my son disengage from learning. This year, much to my surprise, we decided to home school Matthew. The decision wasn’t planned at all, but without a doubt was right. With two days notice, Matthew came home for his education. I’m not going to lie — this thew me for a whirlwind. The timing was not great, but the alternative wasn’t good either. I found myself thrust into planning…

Matthew is an 11-year-old boy who has lots of interests. He loves everything fishing, hunting, agriculture, baseball, and wrestling. Being outside is his jam, without a doubt. This year I’m doing my best to provide him an education through an Ag-lens. For example, he’s reading Ag-related material for reading. I’ve also started pondering what learning, in general, could look like. What if it weren’t always grounded in “subjects.” For example, I gave him the charge to design his own Ag-related improvement project. He chose to design a windbreak for his goats. I came to realize that project offered elements of math, science, ela, et cetera all blended. Maybe learning isn’t…