Unit Study by Adam Jenkins

When I first started training with Bob back in the early to mid 1990s, I was fortunate to be able to sit through hundreds of evaluations with him.  Hundreds of times I heard him ask the question, "So Johnny, what do you do for fun?"  One evening over a working dinner meeting he went to great lengths to tell me how important that simple little question is in getting to understand what makes a kid "tick."  It allows us to see various obsessions or DSAs (Debilitating Sensory Additions) a child may have.  It allows us to see gaps in global maturity that need to be addressed.  It identifies who is at a loss of how to put their thoughts into words.  It also provides a wealth of information when it comes to assisting the parent in how to guide the child's day.  In this particular article I want to address how to take a passion and use it to motivate a child in the advancement of his education. 

Plants!

In today's mess that has been created by politicians pushing for grading a school based on how well they teach the kids to take a specific test at the end of the year, it has become even more important for parents to focus on motivating a child at home in order to enrich his ability to become an adult who is resourceful and knows how to obtain information.  If you are homeschooling you have an opportunity to do education so much better.  I am always shocked when I have parents, especially of young children, agonizing over which "curriculum" to purchase.  When they ask I quickly respond, "It doesn't really matter.  It is all the same: the same degree of bad."  Why take what is working poorly in the schools and reproduce it in the home?  With the exception of the high school years, which have to be looked at in more detail and individually based on the course their secondary education will take, there is much more to gain by using a child's passion to create a rich learning environment.  While I am in agreement that there are areas that a child should learn "just because," even those will be more successful if you first turn them on to a quest for knowledge in an area of interest.  I can remember one of my sons taking an interest in chemistry at a very early age.  When asked why, it was evident to me.  His "Poppy," my father, was a chemistry teacher and Kenny loved his granddaddy.  My dad was not a man of many words until you got him talking about either gardening or chemistry.  Interestingly enough, one of my older sons gravitated towards an interest in gardening, the other in chemistry.  At the age of about 12, Kenny was accelerated in both his auditory digit span and his reading comprehension, which by the way, go hand in hand.  He was able to self teach from his grandfather's teaching supplies in his "free time."  By the time he was in public school, and later in the work place, this head start really paid off for him to a much greater extent than had we progressed through Science Curriculum one year at a time.

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"Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love." These are the words of Gary Vaynerchuk in his book Why Now is the Time to CRUSH IT! Cash in on Your Passion. When we think of our families, we may be hard pressed to find a parent that can't identify at least one passion in their children. As a matter of fact, most adults have a hobby or passion that they would rather spend their time doing rather than the 40-hour week they currently endure.

It is often said of 4-H that individuals will pursue in life what they enjoyed in their 4-H program. When I look back to our years in 4-H, I consider what Adam and Amanda's interests were and how they hold true today. In the day, Adam earned a trip to the Ohio State Fair for his dog obedience project and for his photography project. Amanda was awarded a first prize trophy for her demonstration "Drawing with Disney". Little did we know at the time that we would be "crushing it" when it comes to Adam's interests and that Amanda would be a junior at Huntington University, Indiana - studying Animation.

Amanda graduated from high school with 17 hours of college credit under her belt, and at that point she was ready to move on to the college life, adapting well. Adam spent a semester at a local community and technical school, but that environment was not going to be where he would find his niche. So our focus gravitated toward the work force. He spent a summer working in a factory. He was punctual, never missed a day, and did his job. However, this too, was not how he would best spend his hours. Suddenly the book about making money through our hobbies was coming a little closer to home.