Tales from Cat's House of Homeschooled Kits!

I was going to wait until Monday to write this but I found myself getting obsessed with it. This is something that I think about often but never say out loud. Curriculum is often purchaed by parents who love it, without thinking about how their kids need to learn. I am totally guilty of this myself, way guilty.

I see posts off all the time from parents who are enchanted with this or that curriculum. It’s so enticing too. It comes in a great box with everything you need. Calvert is an excellent program but the more I read about the more I thought “There is no way my kids will use this.” My next thrall was Oak Meadow. I still have a mental hard on for this. It’s such gentle in it’s approach. I almost wish I could go back and do K through 6 myself just to use it. Again, it just wasn’t something that matched who my kids are.

I must confess to being a major proponent of student directed learning. Having schooled my own at home and taught in a public school classroom it works. I can tell you from expereince, when students do what they are interested in they learn the skills needed to succeed faster and with better retention. They can apply it to more situations because they have better mastery of it.

This get’s back to all the trust I’m always on about. Students, young people, have to be trusted to learn otherwise they will always be looking outside themselves for direction and approval. Those who love learning do so because the are allowed to explore the topice, idea, or concept to thier hearts content, wihtout fear of limits placed on them external schedules, standards, and age restrictions.

My son was interested in ancient Greece and Rome when he was 10 years old. This was not on the content standards for the grade he was in. He’d have to wait until the following year to learn that if we used a boxed standards based curriculum. He would have missed out on so much reading, book after book. By striking while the iron is hot, so much more get’s done.

It makes sense that we all love to do what we are interested in. If I had gone with something fixed we might not have arrived where we are today. We certainly would have had more arguments about getting things done. We all the others things involved in learning and growing, unnecessary conflict is something I can do without. If you are having trouble with your schooling, ask “Am I doing this for me or for them?” This is a question I ask everyday. It saves time, feelings, and sanity.

I was thinking about it the other day, thinking about when I tell people I let my kids lead the way. I wrote a post about following your learners interests, needs, and passions. People often say to me, “My kid needs more structure”  or “My kid needs a schedule.”

That’s valuable need to know information! Take note!

These ideas are not contrary to following your child’s lead. If your kids need structure, or unstructrure, schedule, no schedule, honoring these things IS following your child’s lead. You are observing your child and making adjustments to help them learn more deeply, with more passion, and continued interest. If they need a schedule or all unplanned time, and you incorporate that into your homeschooling style, you ARE engaged in student directed learning.

Simply put, student directed learning means providing the setting, resources, subejcts, and opportunities your child needs to succeed. That is why this approach is so amazingly successful. You are always giving your student exactly what they require to learn. Trust the process, trust your kids, trust yourself!

I am a public school teacher. I teach adults that have not finished high school. I can also help students prep for the GED. In the public school system, I am used to meeting standards, and state testing requirements. For my own boys, I integrate as much as possible.

People ask me why my boys are so smart or know so much. I know they are pretty clever guys but I also know that they learn something when they are interested. By following their lead, they cover more ground and go to deeper depths than any public school classroom would allow. I think if every student could be trusted enough, they would reach thier full potential without question.

Trust is the biggest part of this equation. It is difficult to work in a profession where we are told to be the authority and the givers of information to let students lead. For me it makes perfect sense but at work, it is a big NO NO. Students are to be controlled, managed, and spoonfed state adopted text based information.

I teach a very diverse population. Many are second generation Mexican American, and now Russian. There is nothing less relevant to a new immigrant than a story about a white middle aged man who is contemplating suicide. Yet, there is little latitutde in changing curriculum. Trust the books, that is what the state says and many teachers follow.

When we ask the question “Why students aren’t leading in education?”,  we must be ready for the answer. We don’t give them exeperience and trust enough to lead. How can they know thier worth if they don’t know how to develop passions and interests?

My boys know that they are trusted to get work finished, to spend money wisely, to make good decisions. They succeed because they can and they do. When they don’t they learn from that to. My husband and I follow and bridge the gaps. The blessing of homeschooling is the trust.  Trust your children, trust yourself.