Learning is it's own reward, isn't it? Don't you love to experience learning that way? We roughly follow "Story of the World" for our history, and present our discoveries in Culture Club and Biography Club - giving us a fun way to remember, summarize, and present what we know. AND act it out - the ever-important costumed aspect of homeschooling in our home.
I was talking to my daughter's online school teacher recently about our woeful lack of progress through the free curriculum they provide. You see, however delightful learning is, when it's done for it's own sake, it can and often does get in the way of completing someone else's program or following someone else's time table.
We were lagging in medieval Rome. I just couldn't get the kids jazzed about it. But we went to Epcot and were fascinated by seeing mini Morocco. So in our learning we opted to skip Rome (for now) and we hopped over to catch a bit of Islam, another snatch of Africa, and supplemented with whatever we could get our hands on about Morocco in the library.
Having felt we wrapped our minds around Morocco, we voted to learn more about medieval Africa, and I hope that circles us back to the rest of Islam. And if it doesn't, between now and whenever, I'll be hunting for more reasons to get interested in all of what we may have missed.
We are blessed to be part of a school that is very supportive and understanding. As I explained this to the teacher, and offered no feedback on their incentive programs to facilitate curriculum completion, the teacher remarked, "I think it's wonderful that the kids can be intrinsically motivated."
I agree. And confess I haven't really tried to push any motivation beyond the fun of learning on my kids. I'm sure they would likely be interested in a "progress party" or their own personal pan of "progress pizza." It's hardly like my kids are immune to such bribery.
But I have concluded what you know doesn't mean much without a compelling, personal, "why this is important to me." In other words, I love that by homeschooling, my children's educations are filled with what is relevant, interesting, and important to MY kids. And I don't care much that whatever that is might be different from YOUR kids, or "Utah's kids" (a phrase that makes me cringe) or any other group of kids.
"But Stephanie," you might interject, spelling my name wrong, "don't kids need to learn that life isn't all fun? It's not all about what interests them? That sometimes they might have to just buckle down and do and learn something because that is what is done and known?"
Yes, kids need to learn this. But this is one lesson in a life-time of lessons, many of which WILL teach that very thing. THAT lesson should not underwrite all other learning. But too often it does. We drill that in so diligently in society these days, and never stop to consider first, that the rest of what we are teaching is weakened when we fail to worry about whether or not children care to learn what they are taught. So not only are we teaching that learning is an unpleasant, irrelevant task, but secondly, when we continuously disengage children from their own sparks of interest, we distance them from the self-awareness that brings meaning and joy to life.
I love homeschooling because we DO learn. It may not always be what some expert has deemed the most important learning of all the learning to be done. But the lesson beneath and through all other learning is always aiming to be: learning is a delightful journey you will enjoy in ALL the ups and downs of life. In fact, learning IS life! Today is a great day to follow the sparks!
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