D. JonesHome schooling for the lazy..
May 2nd 2008 02:32
Oh I know this sounds awful. However, home school is different for everyone. I have a very hands off approach. My children all have school books and progress through them more or less in a timely manner. However, I don't sit and instruct them 8 hours a day. How awful you say! They will never learn you say. Actually my children are all up to their peers levels and my second eldest that is now just 8 is above her peers in math. I don't make them sit still for 8 hours and they learn when they want to. I have found that they retain more knowledge this way. There is nothing worse than trying to teach an unwilling student.
I learned a long time ago to vary the subjects with my first. I took traditional schooling methods to heart with her. We sat for over 6 hours a day at the kitchen table learning. She hated it. I eventually had to bribe her with cookies to get her to finish her school work. This turned into a big unhealthy habit that became ever more imposing on any actual learning. It was time and mentally intensive for me. Let me tell you something, when the teacher is working harder than the student to get the student to learn, something is wrong.
When she turned 5 we took a break from traditional schooling and I have never gone back. Now our lessons are short, hidden through out our regular day, and not really considered school work by the children. For example, while my daughter was planting potatoes, I told her all about the humble potato, how it grows, where it comes form, why it is such a wonderful plant, and of course why we needed to plant them. She learned more while working than sitting at a table. I showed her actual purple potatoes which she then had to place in the ground with me. I taught her how to cut the and heal them before the planting.
But what has this got to do with school work you say! Potatoes are unique plants as they do not grow from seeds, so it is science. Actually planting the potatoes gets her chores done and gives her an experience to write about, so there's writing. When she writes about her chores I will correct the grammar, so there's mechanics. As we talked about the potato, I had to tell her where it was from, South America, and she has since looked up South American culture on Google. (She wanted to know how they plant potatoes) There is Social Studies. When we harvest the potatoes, we will sell some at the farmers market, and there in is math, measurements, marketing, weights, etc...
You see, my children learn by living life. My children already know the basics of small business, taxes, money, inventory, keeping a schedule, completing tasks independently by a given time period with out supervisors, and learning how to complete tasks they have never done through research. They have learned all of this and every single one is under 12.
Most children in school aren't given the opportunities to learn these things because everything is spoon fed to them whether they want it or not. All teachers want to see children succeed and therefore practically hold their hands in the process. This doesn't work in the long run because then you end up with a bunch of adults who are really good at following directions and nothing else. Being able to fail, to make mistakes, to self direct, is an important right every human should have. In fact, it is the only way to guarantee a human will succeed. So while it may seem lazy, I am actually ensuring my children are independent and capable individuals.
I learned a long time ago to vary the subjects with my first. I took traditional schooling methods to heart with her. We sat for over 6 hours a day at the kitchen table learning. She hated it. I eventually had to bribe her with cookies to get her to finish her school work. This turned into a big unhealthy habit that became ever more imposing on any actual learning. It was time and mentally intensive for me. Let me tell you something, when the teacher is working harder than the student to get the student to learn, something is wrong.
When she turned 5 we took a break from traditional schooling and I have never gone back. Now our lessons are short, hidden through out our regular day, and not really considered school work by the children. For example, while my daughter was planting potatoes, I told her all about the humble potato, how it grows, where it comes form, why it is such a wonderful plant, and of course why we needed to plant them. She learned more while working than sitting at a table. I showed her actual purple potatoes which she then had to place in the ground with me. I taught her how to cut the and heal them before the planting.
But what has this got to do with school work you say! Potatoes are unique plants as they do not grow from seeds, so it is science. Actually planting the potatoes gets her chores done and gives her an experience to write about, so there's writing. When she writes about her chores I will correct the grammar, so there's mechanics. As we talked about the potato, I had to tell her where it was from, South America, and she has since looked up South American culture on Google. (She wanted to know how they plant potatoes) There is Social Studies. When we harvest the potatoes, we will sell some at the farmers market, and there in is math, measurements, marketing, weights, etc...
You see, my children learn by living life. My children already know the basics of small business, taxes, money, inventory, keeping a schedule, completing tasks independently by a given time period with out supervisors, and learning how to complete tasks they have never done through research. They have learned all of this and every single one is under 12.
Most children in school aren't given the opportunities to learn these things because everything is spoon fed to them whether they want it or not. All teachers want to see children succeed and therefore practically hold their hands in the process. This doesn't work in the long run because then you end up with a bunch of adults who are really good at following directions and nothing else. Being able to fail, to make mistakes, to self direct, is an important right every human should have. In fact, it is the only way to guarantee a human will succeed. So while it may seem lazy, I am actually ensuring my children are independent and capable individuals.
| 65 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
