Home School Family Spotlight: Building a Foundation for Lifelong Learning
Home school offers families the opportunity to tailor their student’s education to their interests and personality. The Napala family came to Visions this year to personalize their son Malakai’s (Kai) kindergarten education and to have the flexibility to focus on their family business.
“We love having the ability to cater to Kai’s specific learning style and emphasize our family’s values at the same time. Visions made it so simple for us as first time homeschoolers with the curriculum partners, support from teachers, and by providing funds,” said mom and parent educator, Keila.
Personalized and Organized
Kai’s favorite subject is science and the family uses nature walks and journaling to track what they find in the wild. They also visit the library multiple times a week to work through their endless reading list. Keila keeps the family organized and on task by tracking their daily activities on her phone and on the family wall calendar.
“Each day I write on our whiteboard what we have scheduled that day and any to-do’s we need to check off so we can stay on track.”
Teacher Supported
Kai and Keila also have a great relationship with their credentialed teacher, Dominique Asuncion, to support their journey. As a first-time home school family this partnership is incredibly helpful and Kai loves to spend his teacher meetings catching up with Ms. Dominique
“Ms. Dominique is our favorite! She’s so encouraging and shares her knowledge as a former classroom kindergarten teacher with me,” said Keila. “We’re in constant communication whether it’s through text or email.”
Enrichment Opportunities
Another benefit they love is the access to enrichment vendors. These are organizations, non-profits and companies families can engage to fill needs in their children’s education and are paid for with their yearly budget provided by Visions. Keila is especially happy to partner with the Vacaville Kumon. They visit this location twice a week as Kai has developed strong relationships with their supportive staff.
“Mr. Chen is the director there and is personally invested in each student. He excitedly gives me progress updates on Kai each time we get to talk,” said Keila. “Kai has built strong bonds with the assistants he works with there and I think it’s important for him to have other mentors outside of home. He is advancing in both reading and math, and I know a great deal of it is because of the skills they’ve taught him at Kumon.”
Learning and Family
Homeschooling has allowed Keila to spend quality time with her son and help him learn the way that suits him best. By instilling this passion for education at a young age the Napala family is building the foundation for lifelong learning.
“I have found that the best way to teach is by letting the student discover the answers on their own. I simply help guide him to the answers of his own questions, sometimes by referring him to a book or video, sometimes by asking him a follow-up question to get his wheels turning. It’s much more exciting when he discovers it himself versus being told.”
We love seeing our home school families thrive and we look forward to following Kai’s progress.
To learn more about the Napala family and their homeschool journey, follow their Instagram @napalaohana.
