#26 School is in Session: Get Out of the Classroom

Terri Novacek  
I don't even have to imagine these teens. I've seen them in action. They are not super teens with superpowers. They are everyday teens doing super things. We met with Gavin and Houda. A couple of episodes ago, a junior and senior making the most of a flexible learning plan. Today we're going to talk to some even younger high school students who are forging the same path of self determined learning.

Terri Novacek  
Good afternoon, you guys. And thanks so much for joining. I'm so excited to hear your stories. I've heard great things about you from other folks in our organization. And I was hoping you could just start by introducing yourself what grade you're in and how long you've been with Dimensions. Amelia?

Amelia McKnight  
Hi, I'm Amelia McKnight. I've been with Dimensions for about four or five years, and I'm currently in ninth grade.

Terri Novacek  
All right, and Finn.

Finn MacAller  
My name is Finn MacAller,  I'm in 10th grade. This is my fourth year. 

Terri Novacek  
Okay.

Terri Novacek  
And Izzy? 

Isabella Perez  
Hi, my name is Isabella Perez, or Izzy. I am in 10th grade. And I've been in Dimensions since I was in kindergarten, which is 10 years. 

Terri Novacek  
Oh wow. Okay, so we have some, some veteran folks here. Great. Well, so the reason that your names came up to me is because you guys have done some volunteer work or some internships. And let's start with that. Tell me what kinds of things you've been doing out in the community? Who wants to go first?

Isabella Perez  
I can go. All righty. I've been volunteering at a nonprofit business called Olive Wood Gardens. And I've helped serve the community there by helping giving what the community needs like building benches around the neighborhood that's around all of a garden and cooking and what see what else have I done? Just whatever the community has asked for, I've helped serve them basically.

Terri Novacek  
Great. And now I'll have wood gardens that is kind of a farm to table organization. Is that correct? 

Isabella Perez  
Yes. 

Terri Novacek  
How would you describe it? What are the things that they do there?

Isabella Perez  
I've been told that their farm is at least eight acres. And they produce all of their fruits and vegetables, and they create homemade meals, and then they hand them out to the community. 

Terri Novacek  
And that's wonderful. So now I see why you're saying you're helping the community. So you're not just helping all of wood gardens, you are helping the bigger community. That's great. 

Terri Novacek  
All right, Amelia, but have you been working on?

Amelia McKnight  
Um, earlier in the year I took, it was a type of internship. And it was basically a class where we learned what the computer science type of coding related to the military to try and get young girls excited and into that type of job. Whereas like, right now, we don't have as many women in that industry. So it was really trying to promote leadership spots for women and young girls.

Terri Novacek  
And that's the compu girls. cyber warriors camp. Yes, yeah. And what did you learn there? What did you like about that?

Amelia McKnight  
I learned how to code which previously, I had no idea how to code. And I learned I was pretty good at it. And I think it also really expanded my horizons on what that job is for me. And the ability to apply that to future jobs, if that's really what I want to do. 

Terri Novacek  
Yeah. So you said you didn't know how to code? What drew you to that internship, then did you want to learn or really

Amelia McKnight  
Really just the opportunity? I mean, I'm the type of person who really thinks if an opportunity comes your way you should take it, even if it's something that doesn't really interest you. And in this case, I mean, computers aren't really something that interests me, but I love science. So I said, hey, why not give this a shot? And I ended up really loving it a lot. And the people were very nice to 

Amelia McKnight  
Oh, good. Look at you expanding your horizons. Good for you. Alrighty, and Finn, tell me about your empty MTRP , eco Ambassador internship.

Finn MacAller  
So I just finished that like a couple of days ago.

Terri Novacek  
And what kinds of things did you do?

Finn MacAller  
We got presenters to come to the Eco Ambassadors Mission Trails.

Terri Novacek  
And then what did they present on?

Finn MacAller  
A lot of stuff like soil, fire.

Terri Novacek  
Okay, and then I understand you did a five minute presentation about a native plant. Do you remember the plant that you spoke about? Oh, yeah,

Finn MacAller  
California Sunflower

Terri Novacek  
Oh neat. So all of you have been with dimensions for more than a couple of years. Can you tell me a little bit about what your educational journey has been? Like? Maybe compared to some of your friends? Like, what keeps you here? What are you enjoying about being enrolled in a charter school that supports your homeschooling and in your interests?

Isabella Perez  
Well, I'd say that you have the option to be able to have online classes or go in person. I like having the option because personally, I really like being in the classroom. But sometimes I can't necessarily. So having the option to be able to have online classes is a huge help. And working from home with your parents is definitely great. Do you have any siblings? I have two that are also in Dimensions, and one that's going to be joining in the next year. So

Terri Novacek  
do you ever do any? Any studying with them any projects with them? Um,

Isabella Perez  
I'd say that I'm too far apart from them to be able to do that stuff with them. So I haven't had the chance to like do group projects with that.

Terri Novacek  
So are you older than them or younger?

Isabella Perez  
I'm older than them. Okay, oldest,

Terri Novacek  
do you ever do any mentoring with them? Or any teaching or helping them with their work?

Isabella Perez  
Yeah, so whenever a parent isn't home, I become like the the teacher tutor, and whenever they need help with their math or their English, I guide them to the right path and teach them how, how do you multiply this number? How do you divide eight into half? Because they're starting to do maths and stuff. So I do become one of the little mentors for my siblings. That's great.

Terri Novacek  
That's a great little learning ecosystem. How about you, Amelia?

Amelia McKnight  
So for me, I'd say also backing up. Izzy's perspective on the online and in person. Because I also can't necessarily be in a classroom all the time due to my parents jobs. But I do really like the flexibility and on top of that, I also ride horses. So without homeschool, I would not be able to do my extracurricular activities and sports that I really love to do.

Terri Novacek  
What kind of riding do you do?

Amelia McKnight  
I do English Hunter jumpers. I've done a little bit of eventing, it's really fun. And it really involves a close connection in partnership with your horse.

Terri Novacek  
How many hours a week do you get to do that?

Amelia McKnight  
Oh, my goodness, I would say spend at least three hours at the barn every single day. 

Terri Novacek  
Oh, good for you. 

Amelia McKnight  
Yes. So it's a full time commitment. But I really enjoy it. And I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. And really, when I was in public school, before homeschool, it did not allow me to do that very often. And I always begged my parents, I really wanted to ride horses. I really wanted to own a horse. And through homeschool, I've been able to do that.

Terri Novacek  
And now what about your regular coursework? Then? Do you feel like you are learning what you would be learning if you were at a conventional school?

Amelia McKnight  
Absolutely. I think even more because you're focusing on yourself, you're not focusing on 20 other students in the classroom. And I think also I noticed the difference. Whereas in a regular classroom, the teacher wasn't really paying attention to me. So I'd slip away with certain little things. And I was in third grade. So it was barely starting to become noticeable. But like, for example, my multiplications did not get better until I came to homeschool, because we got on that immediately. And I can say I'm good with my multiplications.

Terri Novacek  
So you were able to really target the areas that you needed to help.

Amelia McKnight  
Yes, absolutely. And that's something that I really appreciated about homeschooling.

Terri Novacek  
Well and it sounds like that was something that you were able to identify which it always feels better right when you're able to say I want to learn multiplication. Instead of yeah,

Amelia McKnight  
yes. Because now you want to do it right, you're not being forced to do it that that will and that need inside of you that you want to learn. And that's very beautiful. Everybody should get the chance to feel that. Yeah.

Terri Novacek  
Finn. How about you? How do you like to spend your time?

Finn MacAller  
Well, I like the flexibility of being able be home.

Terri Novacek  
And do you have any siblings? brothers or sisters? three siblings?

Finn MacAller  
Okay, rather than me two younger. Okay.

Terri Novacek  
And do you spend much time with them? While you're at home?

Finn MacAller  
I spent a lot of time with my two younger sisters, my other sisters at college.

Terri Novacek  
Okay. Do you ever help your younger sisters with their work?

Finn MacAller  
I mean, those days sometimes don't really benefit from it.

Terri Novacek  
They don't want your help. Yeah.

Terri Novacek  
Sisters.

Terri Novacek  
So what's next for you guys? You still have a couple more years, two or three more years? What other things are you hoping to do while you're enrolled at Dimensions and before you graduate?

Isabella Perez  
I say that, I want to continue just learning the things that I've currently doing, like all of my classes, my English, my geometry, my art, because so far, I'm good with this. And I took a college class, this this summer, and it was an art class. And so I want to be able to do more of those during the school year. Because art is my passion. And I feel like doing more art classes, as many as I can, will help me succeed and have a goal for when I go into college.

Terri Novacek  
I need Okay, so you see yourself picking the art into college or career more than its you see it as being more than a hobby. Yes. All right. And Amelia, where do you see yourself you've, you're a ninth grade. So you still have this year and many more? Yes,

Amelia McKnight  
I have a little while that I've started to think about what I want. However, for high school, it's really just getting all those experiences internships, to be able to get to college. I do want to continue on study and become a geneticist because I love genetics, I love science. And really just yeah, the experiences and being able to enjoy being a kid for as long as I can. And homeschool really allows me to do that. I see it with my brother. He comes home from regular high school, like 4pm 5pm and he comes home and he just goes straight to bed. He doesn't even sit around. We don't spend as much time as we did when we were younger. And that's something that I know he chose. But I really, really appreciate homeschool for that that I don't have to spend eight hours at school, you know, doing what, what I would do and will probably three hours at home. 

Amelia McKnight  
Yeah, it sounds like you have the best of all worlds. You've got the rigor and the challenge, but you also get get some fun time. And absolutely,

Amelia McKnight  
yeah. And I think that's what life is about. Right? You know, just being able to spend time with your family. And that's really something that homeschool has allowed me to do. Like I see my grandparents a lot more often. And I think we all know how important it is to see our grandparents. It's especially because they hold a very special place in my heart. And that's what homeschool has allowed me to do.

Terri Novacek  
Neat. And Finn, what is your fancy? How do you like to spend your time?

Finn MacAller  
Well, I grew Amelia with not being not having to go to school for like eight hours and then they have to do homeschool. I should add that kind of structure for now. So I like the homeschool flexibility a lot.

Terri Novacek  
So to reduce the burnout to be able to do all that but without burning out. You're still learning the same things, but at a pace that works best for you.

Finn MacAller  
Yeah.

Terri Novacek  
What made you guys switch now Izzy, I know you've been enrolled since kindergarten. So my guess is that was maybe mostly a parent decision on your part. Would you agree? And then but now, Amelia, you've you've come in later. What made you say you wanted to give this a try? Yes.

Amelia McKnight  
So my mom had been one of the EFs through one of my sports that I don't do anymore, I used to do ballet. And honestly, I think it was very difficult for me in public school, I would get bullied a lot. And I mean, I was only eight years old, my mom felt that that was not necessary that I should be able to do my school without being bothered by people, you know, kids that really just were not nice. And it was a lot of drama. And then to I also wanted to change, I know, I was traumatized by one of my teachers, because he got upset at me for not being able to finish a book at the same pace as other people. And that really stops my love for reading. And I've been able to come back from that through homeschool. They're wanting to read more and really enjoying books more. 

Terri Novacek  
Wow that's great. I'm glad that you got to save that before you kept going on and thinking you were a bad reader or that you didn't like to read?

Amelia McKnight  
Yeah, and you know, that's something that reading is like, literally opens up so many more opportunities, you have to be able to read, you know, and it was, it was very, very important for me to be able to get that back. So I'm very glad that I did. Okay.

Terri Novacek  
Anything else that you guys would like to share?

Finn MacAller  
Well, for me, I think going back to this type of goals and their current anything. I used to go to the Montessori school.

Terri Novacek  
Oh to our sister school community Montessori. Yeah.

Finn MacAller  
Okay. Yeah. And we count is because the Bo COVID started at that time and wanted more flexibility.

Terri Novacek  
Okay, and it sounds like the flexibility is working well for you.

Finn MacAller  
Yeah, it is.

Terri Novacek  
So one big question that always comes up, most always comes up. When people hear about somebody being homeschooled. They say, Well, what about socialization? In what ways do you feel you are still building your social skills?

Isabella Perez  
Well, for our school, we have the option to be able to go to classes and stuff. So that's one point for socialization. But there I know that there are other kids that homeschool that don't go to classes, and homeschools like their parents teach them and stuff. So I'd say going to internships while for I can only think of for high schoolers, going to internships and doing extra curricular,

Terri Novacek  
like community centers YMCA is yeah,

Isabella Perez  
I'd say that's, that's how I feel. homeschoolers would get their socialization, but for us, being able to go to in person classes, and being able to connect with your fellow classmates or friends on teams, that's how we socialize basically,

Terri Novacek  
Amelia or Finn, do you have anything to add?

Amelia McKnight  
Yeah, um, so really, for me sports, and then you also have like, teen teen meetups that we had like earlier through the year. And those were really fun because we went and we learned how to do watercolors and we spend time with other teenagers, you know, only we chatted, we talked about simple stuff, like movies, you know, and that's, that's really cool. Because a lot of people don't get to have those types of experiences. We also went bowling during school hours, so that was fun.

Terri Novacek  
And so you're not having the bullying issues anymore, even though you're still out with groups of teenagers. Right?

Amelia McKnight  
And I think that's what's really cool about homeschool is I think we're a lot more chiller, we're not as not necessarily annoying, but how usual teenagers can be in public schools. And I mean, I've seen that through other things that I do like public events that I go to, and you know, I'm the same person i i make friends and stuff, but you can definitely see somebody's personality shine through and I think homeschoolers were a lot more chill. I think also just appreciating the fact that we have homeschool. And I think a lot of us aren't as burnt out as we would it'd be if we were in public school, which really affects the personality.

Terri Novacek  
That's a really good point. That's a good perspective. And Finn, what do you do to interact with other people?

Finn MacAller  
Well, I go to the Vex, robotics, robotics. Oh, okay, and PE, and also the Microsoft TV. They help a lot with social IQ with other kids my age. And so

Terri Novacek  
it sounds like you guys are all getting multiple forms of interaction, you're, you're learning the 21st century way of how to interact in a, in a virtual meeting. They're getting out in the communities and doing different real world things. That's great. Well, this has been wonderful getting to know you guys in the things that you're doing. Anything else that you'd like to share while we're together? Um,

Isabella Perez  
I kind of also just want to add to one of the first couple of questions. I really agree with Amelia were being able to do your passion and your hobbies and doing things that you like, it really helps my passions, being able to do art. If I were in public school, and doing all of the classes and being in school for 5 million hours of the day, I wouldn't be able to be the artist that I am. homeschool, just like really helps create the character that you are creates your helps create your personality and being being able to find your passions for things.

Terri Novacek  
Well, that is just the perfect place we'll do we'll just end on that note.

Terri Novacek  
As you can hear, these are three completely different students with regard to their interests, talents, and academic abilities. What they all do have in common is the desire and ability to get out of a classroom and engaged in real world learning. These ninth and 10th grade students are having meaningful conversations about their learning, diving into areas of interest and broadening their scope of learning on their own terms. Learning is not just doing it is reflecting on what we do that teaches us the most, as evidenced by Amelia students are able to recognize where they are falling short in academic skills. I know it may sound counterintuitive, but fewer formally taught lessons actually leads to higher caliber learners. Taking the time to target areas of need and incorporate areas of interest on the front end saves a ton of time, headache, and sometimes even tears on the back end. guiding students to develop a strong foundation of academic and executive function skills, as our element schools do, sets them up for taking charge of their high school journey and empowers them to be comfortable with themselves, others and learning. I was thinking recently of how much work I get done during school breaks. Why does it not bother me to give up hours a day to do work on days that are supposed to be time off? The answer? Because it's my choice. There's no pressure to meet someone else's expectations. It's just me having time with my thoughts, having time to go down research rabbit holes, having time to reflect and having time to chill. So here is my challenge for you. Plan time in your schedule to just chill, to have time to do whatever you want. Don't plan what you're going to do ahead of time, just block out chill time. And when that time comes, do what fills your bucket at that time. No strings. Don't worry about how productive it is, or how there are other things you should be doing. And make sure the others in your home recognize that as your time where you get to call all the shots. Many of you have likely heard of Genius Hour. What if you could have genius hours on a daily basis like our guests of today? Where would your path lead? Each hour spent on exploring and reflecting on something meaningful to us? Is one hour closer to finding our element

Transcribed by https://otter.ai