Individualized Education at Bios

From the very beginning, Bios Christian Academy has always looked at educating students differently from how most of the world educated its students. Individualizing a student’s education is one of our differences. Each student has clear, daily expectations for each subject, which are set by the teacher.

We do this because no two students have the same skills learned for each subject. No two students have the same training from home. No two students have the same combination of skills learned, training from home, or life experiences. For example, when we instruct fourteen unique students in each and every math class, they all are working on different material and sometimes at a different pace. Forcing students to work on the same material and at the same pace may be an easier method to teach as far as a lecture presentation goes, but it does little to motivate or address each student’s needs.

In his book Why Don’t Students Like School?, cognitive scientist, Daniel T. Willingham expresses this thought: . . .I don’t accept that some students are “just not very bright” and ought to be tracked into less demanding classes. But it’s naïve to pretend that all students come to your class equally prepared to excel; they have different preparations, as well as different levels of support at home, and they will therefore differ in their abilities. If that’s true . . . it is self-defeating to give all of your students the same work. The less capable students will find it too difficult and will struggle. . .

We educate our students differently because each student is different. An individualized teacher-paced education is able to narrow the gap and promote the skills of each student by beginning their instruction where they can be successful and with clear expectations move those students towards their academic goals.