Just a really quick post today. I’m not going to flesh it out or even over-think it but I wonder…
Do we (students and parents) more fully appreciate the value of natural learning once we have experienced the force feeding of academics? In fact, is it a prerequisite to fully appreciating the beauty of natural learning?
When we first started the home based learning journey, we started with a school-at-home approach. That is what I knew so I tried to reproduce it. As is often par for the course, I started studying educational philosophies and learned about unschooling and natural learning. As I learned concepts and heard ideas I shared them with the girls. They embraced the notion of Natural Learning very well and to this day are still self directed, natural learners.
We decided not to use the same approach with the boys, allowing them the freedom to learn naturally, preferring to focus more heavily on training their character and life skills. We knew there would come a time when academics would need to become of greater importance- we weren’t dissing it, rather trying to balance it in a wholistic way. I’ll admit, it wasn’t (or isn’t) an easy task to teach the boys self direction or self discipline. Even at their ages, it is constant. Periodically I raise the bar with regard to their academic requirements. Just recently I have been motivated to raise the bar much higher, to the extent that the workload is quite confronting for them.
They boys grew up with natural learning and unschooling being a part of their lives. This rigorous season of academics is something new to them. You might think they are bucking against it, but they aren’t. Not at all. In fact, Master J and I had a great discussion recently on the human brain and its capabilities. We spoke about how we learn and how revision is so important. Bearing in mind that most young people change their minds about career choices (as they should- it’s all part of learning about new interests and discovering new experiences) he exclaimed that he might want to be a doctor! Previously he has shied away from things requiring so much academic disciplne because he didn’t think he was able to achieve. But I’ve changed a few things in the home and this change in attitude and thought has been one of the results. (I hope it continues!)
Getting back to my point… Master J has had a lightbulb moment! He says that he can see the value in delight-directed education and the value of academics and trying hard. Prior to this season, he hasn’t really appreciated his [natural learning/unschooling] childhood to this extent… I wonder if it is because he has also experienced the rigors of academic study.
What do you think? What is your experience?
Hmmm, don’t know what I think yet, but I certainly appreciate you writing about your experience. Thank you. The bad bit about only educating one child is that I’ll always be a learner!!
Very interesting that you should post this today Susan – I was working on an article myself this morning about growing our expectations and practices with our children, that is, the things that worked well for them as young children may have to change as they get older.
Though I haven’t been fully a natural learner I have seen my children pursue more academic learning as they grow older. I am taking the approach of spoon feeding – or introducing them to the world and as they get older they have liked what they have tasted and pursued it further.
As you know, we have always been very influenced by natural learning, unschooling, delight directed learning, John Holt. And i have found that each of my sons have grown more into self discipline and into academics and continue this interest and inner motivation at university and work.
So unschooling has lead to more rigorous academics, to learning how to follow a path, to perseverance, at least in our experience.
Of course, our family home culture has a role – strewing, chores, family life, valuing self discipline and academics, our values and Christianity. But these are hard to separate from unschooling, iykwim.
Thanks for sharing your journey Susan! it was very interesting to read.
I’m still at the very beginning stages and trying to implement mostly Charlotte Mason’s methods but keeping our main focus more on God, our relationship with Him, character etc. Some days that’s all we do:)
I think there’s good value in learning and taking the best from the various methods of home schooling!