Kayleigh’s Home Education GED & SAT Success Story records the inspirational achievements of an artist child, who was home educated from birth, using an eclectic approach.
Kayleigh is the third child, in a home educating family with six children – a middle child, who works hard and gets on with life quietly.
Her family uses a variety of different curriculum products to create their eclectic approach to home education. Children that are close in age learn subjects like social studies and science together and then each work at their own pace using age-appropriate resources for the other subjects, such as Maths and Languages.
From age 6, Kayleigh started ballet, modern dancing and at about age 8 she joined gymnastics classes. Her artistic talent showed from very early. By age three it was clear that her skills exceeded those of her two older siblings. She loved to draw and colour in! In her early teens, she enjoyed one year of weekly art classes with an art teacher. Kayleigh says those classes refined and improved her skills and advanced her passion for art. Later she enrolled in online photography, drawing and painting courses so that she could continue to develop her skills alone.
Kayleigh participated in gymnastics at a highly competitive level. As a national champion, in 2016, at age 14, she represented South Africa for double-mini trampoline at the international Region 6 competition in Zimbabwe. In 2018, after winning many medals in many competitions at district, provincial and national level, she ended her gymnastics ‘career’ by winning the gold medal for women’s artistic gymnastics in her age category.
Competitive sport teaches children many valuable lessons which can be transferred to other areas of life. It teaches children to train hard to achieve their goals and to persevere in the face of challenges, disappointments, injuries or other obstacles.
As a teenager, she also ran an online curriculum supply business, South African Homeschool Suppliers, which her older sister had started some years previously, before leaving South Africa to work in Europe. In 2018, Kayleigh sold this entrepreneurial venture to another home educating family and the business is still operating!
In 2019, Kayleigh completed her GED before moving to Auckland. After repeated test cancellations because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, she completed the SAT, late in 2020.
The combination of the GED and SAT plus a portfolio of her art work was accepted for university admission at three institutions. Kayleigh chose to study a degree in Visual Communication at Auckland University of Technology, starting in 2022. In her first year, she achieved five A’s and one B, while also working part-time as a gymnastics coach at one of Auckland’s largest gymnastics clubs and doing graphic design work on a part-time basis.
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