Studies Weekly Homeschooling

Susan Cro: Studies Weekly Spotlight

April 13, 2019 • Studies Weekly
Studies Weekly teacher Susan Cro and her husband
Susan Cro and her husband

Susan Cro uses Studies Weekly publications in a unique but important setting.

As Cro explains, she is “a homeschooling Nana.” She teaches three of her grandchildren, ages 8, 10 and 11.

Studies Weekly homeschooling

Susan Cro’s grandchildren studying

“All three have VERY distinct learning styles, and are all moving at very different speeds with their learning. It has been an ongoing struggle to work with all three, at three separate grade levels, and keep them all motivated and challenged,” she said in an interview with Studies Weekly.

Cro has spent her life teaching. She and her husband were group home parents working with and teaching at risk teens for two years. She was a regular substitute teacher for an alternative school, and a longtime substitute teacher in the K-12 schools in her community.

Even with all her experience, she admits that homeschooling is probably harder than anything she’s done before. But she loves the individual attention and learning flexibility it gives her grandchildren.

“All three children love being home schooled with a relaxed atmosphere and the ability to study in depth any subject they show an interest in. It doesn’t matter if you’re studying trains or bones, you should be able to pull all subjects into that unit,” she said. “The knowledge that each child is receiving the individual attention they deserve, being able to let them relax when they’re not feeling well, and the ability to school any and everywhere makes this something that I will continue as long as the children and their parents want me to.”

She explained she is grateful for Studies Weekly because its curriculum flexibility allows her to tackle the same subject matter, but individualize instruction for all three grade levels each week.

“Finding a program that can be used to teach across multiple ages, grade levels and abilities is truly a blessing. Studies Weekly provides this for homeschooling. We will utilize Studies Weekly until all three children age out of the program,” she said.

Cro discovered Studies Weekly after a suggestion from another homeschooling parent. In her seven years of homeschooling, she hadn’t concentrated on social studies, but Studies Weekly is helping her play “catch-up” with that subject area.

“We school year-round so we plan to just keep working through each subsequent Studies Weekly grade until going through them all,” she said.

Studies Weekly helps her grandchildren get excited about what they are learning. They love that the lessons are “short, sweet and to the point.” Because of this, they want to explore further.

“I love seeing the ‘Aha!’ moment or hearing the excitement in a young voice as they grab hold of an idea or concept and run with it,” she said.

Susan Cro homeschooling her grandchildren using Studies Weekly
Susan Cro and her grandchildren at Oklahoma's Museum of Osteology.

Studies Weekly loves highlighting educators and sharing their teaching stories. If you are interested in being featured on our blog, please contact us here.