Monday Message

Learner Spotlight: Adalynn Stokes

Nine-year-old Adalynn has been enjoying her homeschool journey through iLEAD Exploration. Although this year looks a little different than anticipated, she is adjusting well and even helping her little brother, Jackson (5), adjust to the homeschool life as well. She is always eager to learn new things and wants to try everything once.

Addie loves to spend her time getting lost in a good book, playing Roblox with her friends, swimming, doing all sorts of arts and crafts, and playing outside. Addie loves adventure and exploring nature when she gets the chance. She is full of questions and will always turn everything into a learning experience. She is unique in her own way and is always happy. Her excitement for life is sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face. Adalynn is incredibly helpful and kind to all; her great sense of humor is just an added bonus. Her little sister, Charlotte (3), is following in her footsteps, and that makes Addie a proud big sister.

This year has been quite the adjustment for everyone, including Addie. However, she is thriving and enjoying her learning through Fourth Grade Adventures Online. She likes the online platform and having the ability to be logged on live with other learners, all while still being able to go at her own pace. Aside from online learning, Addie spends a lot of time being creative and asking questions. She prefers to read an article and absorb information but is not afraid to get her hands dirty while conducting an experiment of some sort. You can almost always find her with a book next to her or a drawing she’s working on.

When she is not doing schoolwork, she fills her schedule with community service. She plans community service events and participates in fundraisers to help the community, with the goal of making others happy and giving back. In March of this year, Addie was crowned Little Miss Quartz Hill 2020-2021. She and her sister queens spend their time volunteering with organizations and participating in fundraisers. Recently, they organized a 5K walk to benefit one of the moms from the community who was newly diagnosed with breast cancer. They have walked and raised awareness for domestic violence, raised money and donated supplies for students in one of the local school districts, served a warm lunch to people experiencing homelessness, partnered with Grace Resource Center, and made donations to a new food pantry in their area, just to name a few examples. The Quartz Hill Queens partnered with the local chamber of commerce to host a toy drive for families in need in the community during the Christmas season. This is one of Addie’s favorite ways to give back because she loves to see other children smile. Addie also enjoys participating in fun events and is building meaningful friendships while learning crucial social and public speaking skills. Addie says that being Little Miss Quartz Hill is what makes her the proudest. She hopes to be an amazing role model for all her Little Miss and Tiny Miss sisters and will continue to look up to all her older queen sisters as well.

Homeschooling has been a great opportunity for Addie, as it allows her to focus on her commitments to her community as much as she can and to enjoy endless adventures.

Learner Spotlight: Clive and Lucia Gompert

For the Gompert family, homeschooling has always been the plan. Many things about it appeal to them: the flexibility it gives them, the ability to change methods and curriculum to suit the children’s needs, the option to travel as a family without having to worry about a school schedule, and most importantly, the ability to focus more directly on the children, giving them the space and tools to follow their own interests and pace.

Clive, age 8, and Lucia, age 6, begin with the end in mind by talking about and making a plan before they begin their projects or playtime. They enjoy exploring their interests so that they can become more proficient and learn new skills.

Clive and Lucia work hard and exhibit grit in approaching their lessons and extracurriculars. It takes patience and determination to learn new things, especially when everything in life is so different right now. But they have adapted well to so much virtual learning, and still work hard to connect with classmates and teachers virtually, maintaining a positive attitude through technical difficulties and the lack of in-person connections.

Clive loves playing video games, programming games, comic books (especially Dog Man), action figures, and a good joke. He likes to build Legos, draw comics, and play board games, especially chess. He thinks he might like to be a magician or a Disney Imagineer when he grows up. Clive has been in karate for the past three years and works hard to progress and improve in his training. He enjoys taking Outschool classes about interesting animals, Minecraft, learning new magic tricks, or anything building or STEM-related.

Lucia loves to sing, either Disney songs or her own originals. She also likes to dance, make friends, and enjoys anything related to art or drawing. She wants to be a veterinarian and a pop star when she grows up. She loves animals, both real and mythical (unicorns are her favorite)! Lucia takes dance and drawing classes. Since she wants to become a vet, she likes to take classes related to animals or animal science. She also started karate in the spring and is enjoying practicing martial arts.

During non-COVID times, the family enjoys going to Disneyland and science museums like Discovery Cube. Clive and Lucia both enjoy playing elaborate imaginary games, indoors and out. Their active imaginations and sense of humor will serve them well in life.