Tykailiah's piano love

Eight-year-old Tykailiah Ellie Worrell loves playing the piano and is considering doing it as a full-time career.

“I love music because I get to go in my imaginary world, where I could sing dance and play the piano. I see myself continuing to play music, both as a hobby and for work, but I don’t know where yet,” she told Newsday Kids.

She has been playing for two years.

“I really like the piano. I like the sound it makes, and I like learning something new every Wednesday. My favourite piece to play is My Bells are Ringing."

But she hopes to expand her musical abilities to other instruments.

“I might go to another instrument in the future, I like steelpan and drums. I haven’t had the opportunity to play any of them yet, I’m still on piano.

Tykailiah is homeschooled, and learns the piano online with instructor Mark Anthony Peters of the Mannette Academy of Music.

“I don’t attend public school. I study math, science, language arts, and creative writing at home.

"I do a lot of subjects, to tell you the truth. I like science and maths a lot. My mom teaches me and if there’s something really tricky, my dad teaches me.”

Tykailiah is a member of the Home Schooling Association of TT (HATT) and has performed on the piano at its annual sports and family day. When she’s not studying at home in Chaguanas, Tykailiah enjoys playing with her cousins, swimming, playing outside, swimming at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya, going to the beach, learning Spanish and doing craft.

She also enjoys exploring different parts of TT with her parents. One place she has visited was the mounted and canine branches of the police service, where she got to interact with the horses and the dogs.

Tykailiah’s mother Tracy, who is a stay-at-home mom, said they thought it was important that they keep Tykailiah out of the public school system so she could receive individual attention.

“Individualised learning makes a big difference. We tend to think that you’re wasting five years in school. There’s one teacher trying to deal with 30 something children and everybody is learning at a different level. Some teachers just don’t care. When she’s ready to go to secondary school or university we’ll consider public school.”

Worrell said HATT gives guidance and support for homeschooling families. They assist with helping homeschooling families come together to socialise and educate each other through their homeschooling journey.

Tykailiah said she would like to one day go to school and meet other children. She said she would encourage children to learn musical instruments.