Homeschooling Heroes: Adora Svitak

by Christina Yeager

It’s not often you hear about individuals who have become successful that came from a homeschooling background. There are a number of successful people whom you may have never known didn’t attend a public, or a fancy private school. Instead, these individuals were homeschooled.

If you aren’t familiar with Adora Svitak, she is a great example of a homeschooling hero. Adora is a writer and public speaker, and guess what?!?! She’s only 21 years old. Amazing.
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Joyce Svitak [ CC BY 2.0 ]via Flicker

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A bit of freedom and flexibility
Born in Springfield, OR she began speaking publicly at the young age of 13. Being homeschooled not only gave her the ability and freedom to attend these speaking engagements, but she was able to spend time learning as well as practicing her craft of speaking and writing.

Adora was homeschooled up until she was in the 8th grade, which she attributed to her ability to learn things she was passionate about and enjoy the learning process. While she wasn’t homeschooled for her entire educational process before college, she still spent a large chunk of her younger years learning at home.
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"I was homeschooled for 8 years, and that was what allowed me to work at my own pace and have really personalized learning. So I had one of the best educations in the world during that time period, I think ,and I’m so lucky for it."
​-- Adora Svitak

Writing and speaking
“Flying Fingers” was the first book she published; get this, at only 8 years old! At the age of between 12 and 13 she also appeared on TED Talks and gave an empowering speech about what adults could learn from children. This one speech has been viewed millions of times. 

She is a big advocate on students and their educational environments. She has become a voice to ensure students are comfortable and able to learn what they are passionate about, instead of being on a “treadmill for 12 years just trying to get in to college” as she once stated. 

This young lady is someone who is relatable. She is someone some children, and even adults, might aspire to be like. She is a role model, as parents, we would be grateful to have for our children. And the great thing is, she has experience in both the public school system as well as with homeschooling. Having that experience in both worlds, she was still able to create a lucrative brand for herself. 

An inspiration
Not all children will be prodigies. Not everyone will become a published author or public speaker by the time they are 15. We understand that. However, if you are currently homeschooling, or looking into homeschooling, be mindful of the ways you can begin to cultivate your child’s passions and desires in to their learning criterion. Creating an atmosphere conducive for them to learn the necessary material, as well as begin to find their own creativity could be the thing that propels them into great success at an earlier age. 

Check out Adora’s story. Share her story with your kids and let them see for themselves what they are capable of becoming. Show them that it doesn’t take becoming an adult to be successful. Let them know that they can create their own success. But you have to know you are the one who can assist in cultivating that spark! ​

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