DaNelle shares a new way of thinking about homeschooling children in the article “What Is Unschooling?” She shares that when families start homeschooling they often fall back into the pattern of the public school schedule, teaching by subject, use of a set curriculum, and the teacher is the one giving all the knowledge of each subject. She asks the question what if learning was led by student interest.
With students' strengths and interest being the focus, learning is not constrained by a set amount of hours in a day or the school year is for a certain amount of months. Instruction could occur during dinner conversations, exploring outside, or in any environment. Teaching moments could come from parents, siblings, field trips, searching the internet, online courses, life experiences, outdoor adventures, and/or books.
Some ask: don't children need deadlines and set rules? She argues that if we are preparing students for the real world, adults are not given a set guide on how to learn something for a job. The entrepreneurs of the world are not given a guide on how to make something better or given a deadline. They research, gain understanding, experiment, and create. DaNelle also explains that children aim to please. Once they are given the opportunity to study about their interest they will be eager to share and complete given assignments.
The next question that may come to mind is how do you make sure each subject is covered. With each interest you’ll find that you can cover multiple subjects. For example students may love to build items with legos. What if you teach your students to build a plant box for a garden? In that project alone you have to draw it out, measure, count the cost, and engineer it. In all this students are able to read, research, work on fractions, practice money, and measure. Just in one project you get math, reading, and science all in one.
I believe that there should be days of structured learning, but I also think that there should be days when children can be allowed to learn naturally. When it is all connected to the students strengths and interests then they are always motivated and excited to learn. They will then always walk away with memorable experiences that they will be able to carry into the next educational experiment.
With students' strengths and interest being the focus, learning is not constrained by a set amount of hours in a day or the school year is for a certain amount of months. Instruction could occur during dinner conversations, exploring outside, or in any environment. Teaching moments could come from parents, siblings, field trips, searching the internet, online courses, life experiences, outdoor adventures, and/or books.
Some ask: don't children need deadlines and set rules? She argues that if we are preparing students for the real world, adults are not given a set guide on how to learn something for a job. The entrepreneurs of the world are not given a guide on how to make something better or given a deadline. They research, gain understanding, experiment, and create. DaNelle also explains that children aim to please. Once they are given the opportunity to study about their interest they will be eager to share and complete given assignments.
The next question that may come to mind is how do you make sure each subject is covered. With each interest you’ll find that you can cover multiple subjects. For example students may love to build items with legos. What if you teach your students to build a plant box for a garden? In that project alone you have to draw it out, measure, count the cost, and engineer it. In all this students are able to read, research, work on fractions, practice money, and measure. Just in one project you get math, reading, and science all in one.
I believe that there should be days of structured learning, but I also think that there should be days when children can be allowed to learn naturally. When it is all connected to the students strengths and interests then they are always motivated and excited to learn. They will then always walk away with memorable experiences that they will be able to carry into the next educational experiment.
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