If a student has a particular strength in math for instance, and his/her parents are homeschooling, then should they focus on math? Should they spend extra time on math, and fully develop that strength? Should they instead try to focus on the weakest areas? What if the strength is in something for which career opportunities are less certain, like painting, or dance, or music? Should every subject be given equal time, regardless of the student's strengths, allowing their abilities to dictate their progress? Should the core subjects be covered, and after that the student decides how to spend extra time, thus making learning more enjoyable?
I'm not sure how to balance specialization, well-roundedness, and learning enjoyment.
I would say it would depend on input from the child and also, who's to say about the career opportunities anymore?
We are homeschoolers and do focus on the strengths and interests. Somehow it just works out more peacefully that way.
Focusing on interests led to a happier, more motivated child in our home. But every year that we homeschool, I make little adjustments, esp if it's health-related. I do regret not focusing more on physical stamina when he was younger. It has become a disadvantage for him now during playdates and field trips. This year, we changed things a bit. While we still focus on strengths, we've also introduced more physical activities.
If I drew a pie chart, I'd say it'll be 40% main interest/ strength (math), 30% other core subjects (mostly covered through interesting book or video selections), 20% life skills and physical activities (increased from about 5% previously) and 10% miscellaneous eg. current events. As he grows older, I suspect I'll be reducing the focus on other cores (because I feel the basics will be covered sufficiently) and increase the focus on physical health.
I also find that age matters for us. Younger ages: it seemed more important to me to provide more balance (except for physical activities which just weren't his interest no matter what we tried). Now in our 5th year homeschooling, we're specializing more.
