Tag: aptitudes

Aptitudes, Interests, Skills and Giftings: How are you wired?

Before beginning the process of searching for colleges or skill training in a technical field, it is helpful and informative for your student to spend some time in self-reflection and possibly complete a few different aptitude, interests and gifting tests.

Aptitudes: capability; ability; innate or acquired capacity for something; “natural ability to learn or perform in given areas” regardless of exposure or environment

I use YouScience.com to help students learn more about how they are innately wired, how their interests guide their calling, and how this combined knowledge can inform their career and major research.

YouScience’s Aptitude and Career Discovery application “uses a series of 11 engaging exercises or ‘brain games’ to measure 9 aptitudes that are key to career performance: idea generation, numerical reasoning, spatial visualization, sequential reasoning, inductive reasoning, visual comparison speed, timeframe orientation, vocabulary, and work approach. The results include a review of your strengths, suggested careers that best fit your aptitudes and interests, and detailed information on over 500 careers including a personal fit analysis, job responsibilities, salaries, job forecasts, and educational pathways.”

“What’s YouScience? | Discover careers perfect for you” from YouScience on Vimeo:  https://vimeo.com/647002647

I also use a the free SHAPE Test to help students understand how their spiritual gifts, heart (passions), abilities (skills), personality and experiences do shape their purpose and calling in life as well.

The YouScience and SHAPE Test are best for students 14 years and older. To begin the conversation, though, with middle school students, I use a free Career Interest Survey. This allows the student to begin to see how they are uniquely wired with strengths and interests that eventually may lead to a career path and purpose for their lives.

For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been fearfully and wonderfully made. Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in Your book and planned before a single one of them began.    PSALM 139:13, 14a, 16

Every person has a unique purpose and calling on their lives that are God-given. Our family, our experiences in life (both good and bad), our strengths and weaknesses, our innate abilities and aptitudes that have been wired into us before our birth, have purpose and intention. Finding that purpose and to see our calling applied is a gift and a worthwhile pursuit.

I can help advise students on their academic plans for both high school and post-high school, whether military, career, tech school, 2-yr college, or 4-yr university. This includes career and major research, as well as, college research that best aligns with their unique wiring.

YouScience program and one hour Consultation

To utilize my services in this process, you can purchase (at a discounted rate) the YouScience and Consultation meeting, or it can be completed as part of the College and Career Prep Course for your juniors and seniors.

If you are looking for more in-depth assistance, feel free to contact me: sharianne@ccctoolbox.com to discuss my one-on-one academic advising options that might be the best fit for your family.

Dyslexia, learning challenges, and a few helpful resources

As my children faced different challenges in their learning, I began doing research to find ways where I could assist them to be more successful.

I began by exploring the role of learning styles for the reception, the retention, and the recall of information. The goal was to integrate the different learning styles into my daily routine to facilitate optimal learning for all my children. Along the way, I became more attuned to the individual strengths and challenges of my children as they progressed, and how I could effectively involve them in all lessons, leveraging their strengths in particular. If you want to delve deeper, you can find a comprehensive overview here.

Once I discovered that there were more complicated challenges at play, I began to ask more experienced teachers and home educators for help. One resource that helped me the most was LittleGiantSteps.com/BrainSprints.com. I learned a lot from them and used their tools to help my daughter learn to read. The individualized services are worth every penny, and their advice and tools for learning are priceless.

Another one of my children struggled with dysgraphia, and my search began again. I ran across Dianne Craft and was so very grateful for her videos, advice, tools, and helpful information for right brain learning and dysgraphia. I’ve used her materials to help lots of students in tutoring math and students in overcoming dysgraphia. Again, so priceless!

Following the advice of one of my kids’ co-op teachers, I also looked into eye therapy and prisms for glasses to help with learning challenges. Both made a dramatic and immediate difference with my children – jumping their reading levels by 2-3 years in 3 months. Our therapeutic eye doctor retired, but I believe you can still find others. They work on strengthening the eye muscles to control the moving of letters when they read. Very effective! See https://eyecanlearn.com/ for more info.

Lastly, reach out to resources I can personally recommend like UnitedWerks.org or RevolutionPrep.com for one-on-one assistance, tutoring, and personal training with dyslexia and other learning challenges you might encounter.

I hope this is helpful on your homeschooling journey. Children love to learn and love to please. We can help develop these loves and find ways to help every child learn. Need more information? Feel to reach out to me: sharianne@ccctoolbox.com.

Spiritual Gifts and Calling

Unique. Purposeful. We are all unique in our aptitudes, gifting, talents, skills, experiences, and passions. We all have a purpose and calling on our lives.

As students begin the process of researching next steps post graduation, I recommend taking some time to understand spiritual gifts and how those gifts and individual experiences inform his/her personal calling, vocation, and future service.

One of my favorite resources has been the S.H.A.P.E. test and materials by Eric Reese: SHAPE: Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life.

The freeshapetest.com assesses Spiritual Gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. The results can give students insight into how God has not only ‘knit them together’ but uses all their experiences for the unique plans He has for them.

Though I do not necessarily endorse the other free Bible studies offered on the link above without reviewing each one, I have worked through Mr. Reese’s book as a small group study with a class of high school seniors. It was eye-opening to my seniors to see how God has used every circumstance in their lives, good and bad, to deepen their faith and serve Him and others more intentionally.

At minimum, the results, which can be emailed back to the student and parent or church leader, can initiate conversations as students plan their community service in high school, career goals, majors and their purposes for higher education.

If you are looking for more ideas or would like me to work with your student personally on assessing their gifts and calling, feel free to contact me: sharianne@ccctoolbox.com