Opinion: How the Utah Fits All Scholarship will fuel our kids’ education

We never planned to homeschool. We did talk about it a few times when dealing with classmates bullying our daughter for her physical disabilities, or after our son’s teacher would express concern about his reading level or his inability to focus in class. We knew we weren’t in a financial situation to leave public school, and the thought of taking sole responsibility for the education of our children was a daunting premise.

When COVID-19 pushed classes to distance learning, we opted to pull our children out of the system, fully expecting it to be a temporary alternative, but our kids actually thrived. They developed a love for learning, framed by their individual interests. In the beginning, we used a Frankenstein patchwork of different curricula, punctuated with weekly field trips and practical learning. Because we were on the front lines of their education, we knew where our kids were struggling and we gave them the support — and the tools we could afford — to overcome those weaknesses.

We applied for the Utah Fits All scholarship because we began to realize that there were resources and tools that we would not be able to provide on our own. When we were notified that our children had been awarded the scholarship, we were emotional, excited and apprehensive, but we knew that it was going to change their lives.

The scholarship isn’t funded until Aug. 7, but our children have already created a plan for how they will use some of the scholarship. In addition to being able to purchase our now time-tested core curriculum for math, language arts and history, our kids are setting learning objectives based on their individual interests:

Our second grader is an advanced reader and is obsessed with animal biology, behavior and zoogeography. He wants to be a zoologist or an exotic animal veterinarian. The scholarship will help to provide him with the microscope we could never afford and more advanced animal science and biology resources, and will help us to surround him with animals and animal experts on a regular basis at the zoo and the aquarium. We’re excited that he will also be taking his first music class and presently plans to learn the violin.

Our fourth grader battles with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. He has struggled to read, but in the last several months, he has formed a love for books. He plans to use some of the scholarship to further advance his reading and writing skills. Additionally, he’s excited to use CAD software and a 3D printer to solve real-world engineering problems and create practical parts for everyday things. He is, at his core, a problem-solver, and he finds his focus when engaged in the search for a solution. The scholarship will also give him access to taekwondo classes. Martial arts provide him a physical outlet for his energy, helping him to better focus, and giving him challenging forms and techniques to match and memorize.

Our sixth grader has decided that she wants to dedicate some of her academic time and scholarship funds to purchase tools needed for online courses exploring her own interests in biology, particularly her interests in the areas of botany and entomology. Additionally, she is nervous but excited to take swimming lessons — she is currently limited in what physical activities she can do due to a physiological challenge, but swimming has been recommended by an occupational therapist. Finally, she is going to master a photo editing software to enhance her love of photography.

We are excited for the coming year and the direction in which our children have chosen to take their education. Through the first year of the Utah Fits All Scholarship, many lower-income families such as ours will be able to supply excellent educational resources that meet their unique learning needs instead of relying on piecemeal curricula and secondhand workbooks. Children will further thrive with specialized resources, tutoring and classes that parents never could have hoped to access. We hope for the success of this program for all the pioneering Utah Fits All recipients and we want to see it grow to eventually empower all parents and provide all Utah children with the option to customize their education.