Individualized Education Program

While the debate about education in United States rages on, while education experts question whether American students are sufficiently well prepared for college or more importantly for careers in today’s ever-changing, ever-more-specialized environment, while policy makers deliberate on how to improve our education standards, rubrics, testing practices, and other such very important issues, the only education question with which every parent should be primarily concerned is: how do I utilize resources at my disposal to nurture, develop, and advance my child’s unique skills, abilities, and talents.

The ‘macroeconomics’ of education policy are to be sure extremely important; the direct causes and variables in your child’s future are significantly more so.

Individualized Education Program or IEP is in some sense a dirty word; it refers to the special education program, the individualized curriculum for students with special needs, students that cannot keep up with the standard curriculum or that require alternative ways of instruction. Shouldn’t everyone have an individualized education program? Are not most things standardized inferior to custom made? As Nietzsche remarked: “In large states public education will always be mediocre, for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.”

For obvious reasons, the department of education or even the administrators of a large school are unable to design and implement a custom made program for each individual child. It is left up to the parents to develop a plan for their child’s education, for many if not most parents, a task beyond their area of expertise.

A child’s parents, however, may have insights into their child’s personality, his or her interests, unique talents and abilities that educators may not have. And while school standards focus on creating a strong “middle class” of students, a parent is uniquely positioned to nurture a child’s talents to achieve results that are outstanding.

A person is likely to accomplish great things only in a subject or field dear to his or her heart. Therefore, only a parent or a personal mentor can prod his child or his protege towards concrete and personal goals.

Fortunately for interested parents there are almost limitless resources to help them navigate the oceans of educational possibilities for their child. More importantly, however, is the actual process of navigation. The more a person is immersed in the topic, the more a clarity of direction begins to form itself.

So what should a parent do? Here are some general dos and don’ts:

Do immerse yourself in the field of education. Read about children whose accomplishments have already been noticed by the media. (Here are some: Science, Writing, Music, Tech, and there are many many more.) Watch the TED Teen videos. Make a list of resources. Stay in the know. This is mainly to keep your horizons open (very important) and help you understand the wide world of possibility that exists out there.

Do identify your child’s strengths. Make a short list of skills and abilities that appeal to your child. Do write these down. Do your research on how to develop these interests into extraordinary skills.

Do not try to project your own interests onto your children; see them for who they are.

Do remember you’re in it for the long run. It is true, the long run is an aggregate of all the short term accomplishments. Along the way, however, there are sure to be many ups and downs. In short: identify short term goals, but keep your sights on the future.

Do find and introduce your child to real role models. This one is really important. A child needs to meet great people. Only first hand experience with role models can really deliver a full sense of what it means to achieve one’s goals. Please understand that even really great people love to pass on some of their know-how to others. Don’t be shy. Make the connection.

Do keep track of progress. From a practical point of view, keeping a log of your child’s activities and achievements will help him or her with college admissions, portfolio building, etc. It may seem like there’s not much to keep in mind. I assure you, having it all in one place will be extremely helpful.

Do start right now. Whether your child is in preschool or in high school, it is never too early or too late to start.