Ace Maestas has been homeschooling for two years. The flexibility that is offered through iLEAD Exploration to focus on strengths, work on weaknesses, and cultivate social intelligence has been the ideal classroom for him. A past injury resulted in some uphill battles for Ace, especially in the areas of social and speech development. With the support of our amazing speech team, Ace has been given the opportunity to develop his skills at a pace that is feasible for him. Ace attends the OC Learning Studio where he practices his newly developed speech skills with his peers. Through the interactions, he has learned many key components to developing his social intelligence including recognizing his feelings, understanding body language, self-regulation, and coping skills. During this time of quarantine, Ace has been expanding his social intelligence with activities at home. Ace has been busy keeping a kindness chart, writing cards to neighbors, volunteering to clean within the community, and dropping off supplies to those in need — all examples of how to interact with others in our new normal.

If given the choice, Ace would solve math problems and logic puzzles all day! Not surprisingly, his love of math has also driven him to be curious about things in science, such as the human body, volcanoes and rocks. Ace has an extensive collection of LEGOs at home, which allows him to dive into his creative side. His latest creation was a re-creation of the Eiffel Tower that stood as tall as he was! In his free time, Ace enjoys taking advantage of iLEAD Exploration’s field trips. The opportunities are a great complement to his educational experience at home as well as at the learning studio.

Ace’s family balances school and social development using words from Aristotle as their inspiration, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” iLEAD has provided Ace an opportunity to discover a love of learning as well as support him in his social needs. If you ever have the chance to interact with Ace, you will find that he is eager to share what he has learned!