By Clonlara School
A relative newcomer to Clonlara School, Mimi started in the Off-Campus Program in the fall of 2019. The school had been recommended by family friends in Wisconsin, whose kids had all graduated from Clonlara some years ago.
Mimi enjoys the more relaxed, work-at-your-own-pace feel of homeschooling with Clonlara, compared to her prior school. “I don’t suffer from the stresses of unnecessary homework, projects, tests, quizzes, and dealing with late work,” she comments.
This has been especially true with math. Mimi says that prior to Clonlara, “I had a math allergy my entire life.” Because the subject was so painful, she always wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. Her teacher taught at a pace that was too fast for her, which made it hard to understand. Mimi would wake up early, very stressed; she would cry before school on days of math exams.
Now, Mimi is able to “slow down, work on a few goals a day, and take a lot of time.” She is able to relax and enjoy the subject, work at her own speed, and understand the concepts better. Mimi is so much more confident, she now visualizes herself as a “Math Wizard.”
Importantly, enrolling with Clonlara has enabled Mimi to build her passion—music—into her educational program. Mimi’s violin pursuits involve lots of practice, lessons, competitions, and public performances; her musical talents also include singing and composition. This all requires time and focus, and the flexibility of Clonlara provides a perfect fit. To top it off, in an interesting twist of fate, Mimi’s violin instructor, Benjamin Sutin, is a Clonlara alumnus!
As for other subjects, Mimi likes studying American history. For fun, along with music, she enjoys collecting doll house miniatures and writing stories.
After graduating from high school, Mimi plans to attend a university to study music—jazz composition, jazz vocal, and jazz violin. In hopes of earning a college scholarship, she is currently working hard studying for admissions tests and preparing for auditions.
So be on the lookout—you may see and hear more about Mimi in the future!
