How A Surgeon Inspires His Children To Learn Beyond Grade Level
By Alyssa Hernandez | WeINSPIRE Journalist
PEMBROKE, N.C. — Dr. Theo Nyame is a board-certified plastic surgeon and father of two, who educates his children at home. He is passionate about education and believes a parent’s involvement in their child’s education is important. This is why he not only educates his own kids but has started an education initiative to help low-income families.
Dr. Theo Nyame board-certified plastic surgeon. Courtesy of the Charlotte Plastic Surgery website.
Nyame started educating his own kids because he saw they had an aptitude for learning. He wanted to take advantage of and explore this.
Dr. Theo Nyame and his family. Courtesy of Dr. Theo Nyame’s Instagram.
“We started not even thinking about homeschooling but we started primarily introducing them to different materials just to see what they are receptive to,” Nyame said.
The first thing his kids were receptive to was word recall which then led to them being able to sight read.
His 5-year-old daughter is now capable of reading around a second to third-grade level. Her math skills are around third to fifth-grade level and she can do some algebra. She still goes to school to socialize. Nyame feels that putting her in regular school will allow her to accept people where they are learning-wise.
“I really like the idea of kinda controlling elements of their education to give them exposure. While allowing them to go to school to be able to be able to interact. To me, what this does is it takes the pressure off of them to feel like they need to perform at school,” Nyame said.
Nyame keeps the same schedule with his kids so learning does not become their whole life, but they still have structure. He mentioned during the pandemic they planned activities with them to supplement the extra time.
One question Nyame often gets asked is how he keeps his kids engaged in math. His answer is to start simple and build slowly. He also does progress checks and circles back to previous material.
“What I tend to see people do sometimes after never really teaching anything or schooling is, ‘ Hey, I’m gonna teach this really really advanced concept that their child may not be ready for.’ Then they lose the child and the child starts to feel disinterested in math because they start to fear it,” Nyame said.
Nyame does not believe you ever master anything. He believes there’s always room for improvement. He expects his kids to fail. Nyame says this experience has taught him to be patient and understanding.
He balances everything by compartmentalizing. This means when he is a surgeon he is 100% that then when he is a dad he is 100% that. This goes for him being a husband and teacher as well. He teaches this same skill to his kids.
He does this by keeping the same schedule with his kids so learning does not become their whole life, but they still have structure. He mentioned during the pandemic they planned activities with them to supplement the extra time.
Nyame started sharing videos of him teaching his children on social media to help low-income families. He encourages parents to reach out and ask questions because he understands not all families will benefit from the same materials.
To see more of Nyame’s teachings visit his YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.
Watch Full Interview Here
