And then the third child.

As our third child completed his home education, we began to look at his options for post-secondary, and rather than really considering who he is and what his inclinations are, we pushed him into what seemed an easy an proven path. He had similar musical ability to his brother, and it just seemed so simple for him to enter the same program at MacEwan that Ben had studied.

It was a mistake. Tim has a comparable talent to his older brother, but he had very different reasons for enjoying music, and very different ways of using his talent. The very structured format of the program was not adaptable to his needs, and after one semester, he left the program.

He did complete all his classes successfully, giving him credits that may be useful down the road. More importantly, the learning that took place in those classes is part of him now. He continued with the second semester of university English, so he will never have to take English again. Those are positive outcomes, even though he did not continue in the program.

Tim began working and studying independently while we took a second look at what college admission might work out better for him. I'll write about the rest of his story tomorrow.