Learner Spotlight: Mailee and Keoni Wun

The Wuns are a family who play together and learn together! Meet iLEAD Exploration learners Mailee (8th grade) and Keoni (6th grade)!

The Wuns have been homeschooling for the past three years. They describe choosing to homeschool as the best decision they have made. Mailee and Keoni are so much happier and learning at their level with their preferred learning style. This was not always the case. Even though their mom, a 20 plus-year veteran of private and public school teaching, had always wanted to homeschool, their dad wasn’t so sure. He was hesitant because of the old “homeschool” stereotypes. After talking to an experienced homeschooling friend about all the amazing resources available, he became willing and excited to give it a try.

Even though both Mailee and Keoni excel at learning at home, math lessons had become a bit of a challenge. Both learners were complaining, saying they didn’t like math. Well, this didn’t fly with their math-loving mama! Since both learners were strong in math, she knew she just needed to find out how to make it more enjoyable for them. The family was able to choose teachers, curriculum, and other activities to best fit each learner’s personality and learning style. It turns out, making math the first lesson of the day (putting first things first), made a huge difference in their attitude and success.

Mailee has been working hard at ballet and just moved up a level. She is so proud of herself! She also loves gymnastics, art, and music. She has shown a lot of grit by sticking with ballet classes via Zoom, which is not easy. She was able to participate in an online dance show highlighting what she has learned and worked so hard to achieve.

Keoni loves baseball and is really good at it. He recently tried out for a competitive travel baseball team. He made the team but didn’t have a starting position due to not being in his top shape. He knew he had some hard work ahead of him to earn a starting spot on the team. He strove to put first things first with baseball. He exhibited such grit in achieving this goal: exercising with ladders and cones out back, cardio workouts on YouTube, and daily fielding practice. After a lot of difficult training and determination, Keoni has gotten back in shape for baseball and even earned a starting position in his last game this season. He played hard and did a great job! He saw firsthand how putting first things first and demonstrating perseverance can pay off.

Aside from baseball, Keoni enjoys sailing and robotics, while Mailee is drawn to ballet and acting. Overall, Mailee and Keoni have been more curious in their learning since the family began homeschooling. Since homeschooling is flexible, they are able to travel more and do school on the go at times. This has initiated new curiosities and questions about the places they visit and new things they see. A perfect example is when they recently traveled to Lake Havasu, Arizona, for Keoni’s baseball tournament. They were able to take a hands-on learning approach while visiting lakes, dams, windmills, and the London Bridge in field-trip style.

Mailee and Keoni have attended the OC Learning Studio for the last three years and have made good friends and learned so much. They love their teachers and have grown in their leadership skills, working with other learners on projects and book discussions.