by Bev Parrish, SPED Homeschool partner Learn Your Way

 

Understanding and celebrating diversity are more popular than ever in our culture. We often do not talk about the need for diversifying education both in public school and homeschool. A one-size-fits-all approach can even find its way into our homeschool. Not every student is well-suited to the usual course of study. 

 

That opens the door to the benefits of volunteering, internships, and apprenticeships. They can all accomplish similar goals. So can a job! They just achieve them in slightly different ways.

 

Volunteering can be as simple as actively looking for opportunities to help others – at church, in your neighborhood, or among family and friends – all without pay. It can be more formal with a set time and place where someone relies on your student to get something done.  

 

Internships typically take place in a field of interest where someone may already have a bit of knowledge. This usually relates to college students during the summer, and often there are already arrangements in place between businesses and the university to hire these students upon graduation. It allows both parties to get to know one another before taking the plunge of a formal offer of employment.  

 

Apprenticeships are typically a time of training and working alongside a skilled craftsperson to gain hands-on knowledge and real-world experience with a particular field. We often think of this for plumbers or electricians, but medical students act in an apprenticeship capacity under a qualified physician while completing their formal training. It is simply a case of a mature professional passing along their expertise with intention in an orderly and structured manner. Internships and apprenticeships also usually involve a paycheck!

 

All three options can be great choices instead of or alongside typical educational pursuits. The bottom line is that they provide real-life experiences in a somewhat protected environment while the student fully masters their tasks. This equips our children to succeed with confidence and competence. The benefits of these types of arrangements are many.

  • All the above options bring real-world experiences that use what you have been teaching your kids! It is incredible how some students respond to seeing the practical value of what you have taught them. Their personal motivation to master the subject matter can speed up the learning process in ways a lecture, a textbook, or endless practice with a worksheet could never accomplish. I remember one son who couldn’t master percentages, that was until he faced several angry customers at his job where he had not properly computed their discount for a sale item. When faced with the thought of the consequences of his ignorance, that child learned percentages practically overnight!
  • Exposure to other adults who may bring valuable skills, attitudes, and knowledge that you are otherwise unable to provide is another benefit. It could be the same skills you have been teaching, but sometimes our students need a fresh face and a fresh voice (not to mention their own reputation at stake). 
  • Future job opportunities can be another benefit. News travels quickly about young men and women with an excellent work ethic and good character, much faster than knowledge of their GPA!
  • These experiences provide substantive, unique content for their transcript. Do investigate the laws in your state. Many allow homeschool parents to determine the required course of study for high school. This gives you great freedom to tailor an individualized education for your child and give your student academic credit for time spent volunteering or working in some capacity. Think about the things they are actually learning and how to turn that into academic credits. For example, our son, who volunteered at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum in Houston for over 300 hours during his high school years, received multiple credits on his transcript. We gave him credit for public speaking (conducting tours), aviation history, aviation science (engine repair, electronics, how planes fly), and PE (there were lots of planes to move from one hangar to another). We indicated that he had logged all those volunteer hours. If your state law is not so generous, you can find ways to legitimately fit the things they learned into traditional course names. Document what they learn, even if it didn’t come from a textbook or lecture.
  • These options provide an excellent opportunity for a small step to independence within the safety net of your family. Navigating the adult world of work with ready guidance available from parents is invaluable. Other adults will be either affirming or correcting your teen’s work habits, attitudes, personality quirks, and appearance. If their feelings get hurt, you can evaluate, make any needed corrections, bandage them up and send them out again, better equipped for adulthood!

 

In our homeschool, we required volunteer work from all our kids. Most of them also held jobs during the summers. When our oldest applied to attend the United States Merchant Marine Academy, a federal academy requiring a rigorous application process, including a Congressional nomination, our local Congressman nominated Ben precisely because of his volunteer hours and work history. 

 

Don’t be afraid to get outside the box. Give yourself permission to honestly assess your student, their needs, and the most effective, efficient way to meet them. Consider something different from what everyone else’s student is doing. I will warn you in advance that this road can be lonely for parents. It can also be the very best choice for your child.

 

 

 

 

 


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By Natalie Vecchione, SPED Homeschool Partner FASD Hope

 

(Excerpts from the new book “Blazing New Homeschool Trails: Educating and Launching Teens with Developmental Disabilities” by Natalie Vecchione and Cindy LaJoy and shared with permission from authors.)

 

As a mom of a now young adult with a developmental disability, I understand the journey of how difficult it can be to start planning the future for a teen who is not headed towards post-homeschooling academia. With a diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), our son would have struggled in college or technical school. Homeschooling taught our family that our son learned best in a 1:1 setting. Once we realized  our son’s gifts and skills in woodworking and carpentry, we first considered the more conventional ways for him to learn this as a trade. He tried trade school, working in commercial workshops, and even having placements through Vocational Rehabilitation. On paper, these looked like optimal opportunities for learning. However, none of those options was a good fit for our son. 

 

Vocational programs and trade school environments generally are a hard fit for our teens and young adults with brain-based diagnoses (such as FASD). Overstimulating environments, being easily influenced by smoking, vaping, or any other substances on the site, and being unable to keep up at the class pace were all contributing factors to being a poor fit. We tried several different options before realizing that the best way that our son would learn his trade was through an old-fashioned apprenticeship. I’d like to share why we chose an apprenticeship and how we did it since neither my husband nor I are carpenters or woodworkers.

 

The Path to Apprenticeship

By definition, an apprenticeship is “an arrangement in which someone learns an art, trade or job under another”. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) The history of apprenticeship dates back to ancient times when young people would work with a master craftsman in exchange for room and board and formal training in their craft. The more formal system of apprenticeships developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and soon was under the supervision of craft guilds, trade unions, or town governments. In early America, apprenticeships were common during the colonial era and developed into a necessary part of craft and trade industries.** (Britannica.com

 

As the United States developed into a modernized and industrialized nation, the nature of apprenticeships changed from less of a learning experience to more of a work experience. Today, teens as young as 16 may begin formal apprenticeships as part of their education, and homeschooling made that a great option for our son. However, since many trades require a high school diploma, most teens and young adults start their apprenticeships after graduation and/or through trade schools.

 

The Perfect Partnership

Our son was blessed to have two apprenticeship teachers while homeschooling. How did we find these wonderful apprenticeship teachers? I researched, cold-called, and emailed about 50 local woodworkers and carpenters in our area. I put together an introductory email explaining a little bit about our family, homeschooling, and our son’s journey. Out of those fifty contacted woodworkers and carpenters, four replied, and through God’s orchestration, we were blessed with our son’s current apprenticeship teacher.

 

Our son graduated from homeschool last year, but he continues to apprentice with his current apprenticeship teacher, whom he has been with for over two years. That’s the beauty of apprenticeship and homeschooling – learning doesn’t stop even when the homeschooling journey is complete.  Our son’s apprenticeship teachers understood about teaching with fewer steps, concrete examples, and learning at our son’s own pace. In fact, his apprenticeship teacher taught our son in a way that he thrived and which still surprises us! Through a 1:1 apprenticeship, our son developed a bond with his teacher, which built his confidence and nurtured his strengths. 

 

The Perks of Apprenticeship Training

There are SO many benefits in having your older teen / young adult, who learns differently, in experiencing an apprenticeship during their homeschool years including, but not limited to, the following:

  • Experiential learning in an environment that can accommodate your teen’s needs
  • Learning “old school” tips and strategies in a trade or skill
  • Having the opportunity to ask questions and learn at the student’s pace
  • Having the opportunity to build social skills and connection with the apprenticeship teacher
  • Creating a flexible schedule that works with your family’s homeschool routines
  • Providing the apprenticeship teacher with the opportunity to learn about your child’s needs or diagnosis
  • Working on long-term projects
  • Out-of-the-box opportunities for experiential learning

 

Finally, a good apprenticeship teacher can be a blessing for your teen because they can be not only a mentor but an example of someone who will embrace your student for the amazing person that God created him or her to be!

 

(Excerpts from the book “Blazing New Homeschool Trails” © 2021 by Natalie Vecchione and Cindy LaJoy)

 

 

 

 

 


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By Renee Sullins, SPED Homeschool Partner Renee Sullins Consulting

 

Many years ago, apprenticeships were the norm to learn a trade from a dad, mom, neighbor, family friend, or local business person. For some reason, Little House on the Prairie comes to mind. Today, society leans more towards internships for young people – paid or non-paid – designed to help a young person see firsthand IF this is the path one might want to take professionally. Notice that I stressed the “IF”. Just ask a parent who has invested thousands of dollars in their child’s college education, only to have them change their major, tacking on more years of tuition to complete the new degree path. Or, ask a man or woman who graduated with a degree and then shortly afterward realizes they are miserable in their chosen career path. Internships and volunteering can be helpful tools to aid in thwarting off ‘the regrets.’ 

 

Let’s take Pedro, for example. He was a young man I started mentoring while he was in high school. He majored in Biomedical Sciences (BIMS) at a prestigious university. He knew this degree path would prepare him to fulfill his childhood dream to become a doctor. He worked diligently to make the necessary exemplary grades to later get into graduate school. During this last semester, he had multiple internships with doctors and in various medical practices. However, his last internship was with a Physician’s Assistant. I distinctly remember his phone call to me, “I know this is what I want to do now!” Of course, he was surprised he wasn’t going to medical school as planned – I had even paid for him to take an MCAT prep course and the MCAT exam. But, he was so confident about this decision that I didn’t question it. Had it not been for that internship, he may have spent many years and tens of thousands of dollars on something he was not ‘called’ to do. 

 

Honestly, I think it is never too early to start your child volunteering. Parents have the opportunity to model this for their children as well. I was fortunate to have such parents – a mom who drove carpool, baked cookies for bake sales, mom and dad who gave tours at an historic park, grandparents who were always up at the church helping out, etc. Volunteering is a great expression of selfless service. Teens tend to be self-absorbed – not a criticism. It is just that time of their lives they are concerned with what others think, personal appearance, competing against peers, and having the most friends/followers/likes on social media. Do I hear you sighing? 

 

Encouraging your teen to volunteer gets them outside of themselves, which could set a lifetime habit of doing so as an adult. If they are talking about future college/career paths, then you have a double bonus if you can find a volunteer opportunity in a field that your teen seems to be curious about. The best way to do this is to let others know – lots of people – think outside the box. Better yet, have your teen do an internet search of businesses/organizations and reach out to them personally to ask to volunteer. Too many teens want to hide behind an email or text message. Note…”personal” is a phone call or in-person; harder for people to say no in person, I’ve learned. 

 

If you have a mature, responsible teenager, I would focus on having them ask for an “internship”. In probability, it will be non-paid, but as I mentioned earlier, this could potentially save you and your child a great deal of money, grief, stress, and/or regret in the not-so-distant future. 

 

I have young people ask me what should they say when they reach out to someone for help. In this case, helping is researching career paths and helping to build a well-rounded resume. My answer is to tell them exactly what you want, why you want it, and ask for it, then thank them. Works like a charm – confident expectation that you will get a “yes” from someone. They need to do this, not you. That’s a topic for another blog!

 

But, what if your son/daughter has a learning difference(s)? It is even MORE important to have them volunteer and/or seek an internship. The earlier, the better. I know that my daughter, who has ADHD, would suffer and be miserable if stuck indoors, in a cubicle, able to hear others’ conversations (she has sensory issues as well), and on a computer screen all day. There are certain jobs we know to cross off the list of career options. Perhaps they have social anxiety? Do they take a bit longer to process information? Do they need to work with their hands to learn effectively? You need to know what the obstacles and struggles are and work to match the best options. 

 

By all means, I never discourage young people from pursuing their dreams – but, I do make sure they are keenly aware of their skill sets, areas of giftedness, likes/dislikes, needs, and limitations. Perspective is not judgment. Proper perspective yields clarity. And clarity yields confidence. And confidence yields, well, happier/resourceful people. Every parent I’ve ever spoken with, no matter the concern or source of frustration, tells me that they simply want their child to be happy – and this is what I want for them as well.

 

BIO:

Renee Sullins, founder of Renee Sullins Coaching, is a Life and Health Coach, specializing in working with teens and college students. She can be reached for a complimentary consultation and for more information through her website: www.reneesullinscoaching.com 

 

 

 

 

 


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