J.D. was a very creative and intelligent child. He knew the alphabet when he was 18 months old. He couldn’t talk, but he could point to the right letter. He was reading by age 4. Regular schooling didn’t work too well for him, so I homeschooled him at age 7. We were in IL where it was illegal to homeschool, so we stayed inside until school was over, and then went out. We had enrolled him in a “school” for homeschooled kids just in case anyone questioned us.

We did not do school at home. We did unschooling so that he could learn as much as he wanted when he wanted. He went to public school for junior high and most of high school. However, in high school, he loved to learn and did extremely well in class discussions and on tests, but he never wanted to turn in any homework – too boring. He loved reading, especially science fiction and fantasy. He hated exercise of any kind. In PE, they wanted him to at least walk around the track if not run. He wanted to sit and read. He didn’t exactly pass PE. We got him into an apprenticeship program in TV and Video which he loved. He did it all day for a whole semester getting credit for it. After that semester was over, he didn’t want to go back. I enrolled him in The Learning Community Network again for homeschool where they gave him PE credit for walking 1 1/2 miles back and forth to school each way when he had gone to school. Instant PE credit. He graduated from high school a semester early just from getting credit for all of the interesting things he was into and learning about on his own, including the Video internship which he was able to do a 2nd semester through homeschooling. He learned computer stuff during the early stages of computers all on his own, including early computer languages.

He traveled a different path than the average kid, but it worked for him. He accomplished a lot in his short life.

Love you J.D.

Your mom, Lohrainne Janell