TTU K-12 Gives Elementary Student Freedom to Pursue Other Activities

By Leslie Cranford, Media Relations Coordinator

November 14, 2018

Second-grader Tenlee Nyman takes tennis lessons. And dance. And art. And piano lessons; oh, and guitar. Spanish is one of her extra school subjects as well. Tenlee and her family have found time to do more, with Tenlee enrolled in TTU K-12.

Through Texas Tech Elementary School, Tenlee takes English, math, science and social studies – a normal elementary school curriculum. Tenlee's mom, Kelly Seal-Nyman, says homeschooling her daughter through TTU K-12 was a fairly easy choice for her family.

“I received my bachelor's and master's degrees from Texas Tech University, and then I went on to work at Tech for nine years,” Kelly said. “I worked in undergraduate admissions, so in my time at Texas Tech I learned about the TTU K-12 program. As Tenlee got close to starting school, my husband and I had discussions about public school and private school, and I brought the idea to him about starting her in Texas Tech's elementary program.”

She said her husband Eric wasn't necessarily on board, but they went to meet with some of the administrators and that “pretty much sold him.” Tenlee started kindergarten well before her fifth birthday.

The biggest deciding factor for Kelly, in choosing TTU K-12, is that it is accredited by the Texas Education Agency.

“Having a background in undergraduate admissions, I knew how important it was for curriculum to be accredited. When I would see homeschool transcripts, those made me a little leery. So the accreditation was really the biggest selling point for me with TTU K-12,” Kelly said. “If we did decide to make a change at some point, the credits would transfer seamlessly to a public school in the state of Texas.”

Since Tenlee started second grade the thing that stands out to Kelly is that the curriculum is so robust. And for a second-grader, Tenlee agrees – not in so many words.

“It's fun because things are easy, but the next day they get harder,” Tenlee said. “I was doing science one day, and it got harder the next. Instead of doing just one page, I had to do four pages. It gets easier and harder, that's why I like school.”

And Kelly says they all like the flexibility.

“Tenlee gets to sleep late. We typically don't start school until sometimes 9 or 10. She doesn't have to get up to an alarm clock. And if there are some days that maybe we've done something the night before, we'll sleep in, eat breakfast and then work on school.”

That school day always starts with the Pledge of Allegiance – one thing that was very important to Kelly growing up.

“Then we typically start the morning with English. We break for lunch, then after lunch we do math, then science, and we finish with social studies. Tenlee also takes Spanish private lessons,” Kelly added.

Tenlee says her favorite class is probably English, because “you can read and do lots of books. You can do compositions.” Her favorite book at this time is “Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?”

And the extracurriculars? Kelly says they're the perfect complement to the TTU K-12 curriculum, as Tenlee gets physical education with tennis and dance, and fine arts with art and music.

But for the Nymans, it's not all work and no play.

“Even though I'm homeschooled, I meet lots of friends through all the activities that I do,” Tenlee said. “I meet a lot of people and still get to see them, even though I'm homeschooled. That's the thing about homeschool – you can be in a lot of extra-curricular activities and make friends.”

She says spending the days with her mom is an added bonus.

“Being with my mom in TTU K-12 has been fun and she's always helping,” Tenlee said. “I've been close to her since I was born, so I'm really glad that I'm with her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Kelly says another lesson being learned through TTU K-12 is time management.

“TTU K-12 is preparing Tenlee for her future, even moving beyond high school, in the fact that she will have time management skills. Anyone who has attended college knows that time management is very important – the balance between class and outside of class.”

Looking ahead, Kelly knows facilitating the curriculum might be more than she is equipped for, especially into middle and high school.

“The coursework in the past two years has become more challenging. As Tenlee gets older, I may not be as comfortable teaching a certain course,” she explains. “The TTU K-12 teachers are a wonderful resource. I feel confident they will be able to answer questions that her dad or I may not have the knowledge to answer.”

And, Kelly said, she would absolutely recommend the program to other families.

“TTU K-12 is a viable option for parents considering a homeschool alternative but may be leery of a homeschool moniker. I would recommend TTU K-12 simply because it is accredited. Obviously we're going to continue this – she's going to be a Red Raider through and through.”

Watch more videos about TTU K-12 and our students on our YouTube channel.