Reason #274: The World Becomes Your Curricula

I wrote this post years ago and discovered it today. I'm not sure why I never posted it, but I hope it speaks to you, NOW. Enjoy!
~Steffanie

Recently, my big kick has been expanding the vision of what homeschooling can be. While we can do school at home, there are many reasons why our family has not taken that approach. Really, the impetus from moving away from that model was a child for whom that model meant constant battles of will and the risk of turning her off from learning.

But as we gradually stepped away from worrying about what we learn compared to everyone else and when, what I came to realize is what I actually already knew: children are EXCELLENT learners. From the moment they are born - from before they are born! - they are learning and shaping their own understanding of the world.

We adults do it too, but not as fluidly. Perhaps some of our sluggishness when it comes to taking in new information AND allowing that information to mold what we know or think we know comes from our school experience. In school, we learn what the teacher is prepared to teach, regardless of our personal interest in the subject. We learn the same things in the same ways as everyone else. Our learning is measured with letters and numbers which are supposed to represent how much or how little we can recall of the information.

Instead of learning about the subjects, very often what we learn is that learning happens when someone else has something they think is important and they speak it at us. If the words coming out of the mouth aren't especially interesting, we also learn that the subject is "boring." There may not be any authority figures in our lives who have words to say about anything we might otherwise be interested in, so additionally we learn that those things have no value. So we begin to group subjects and even life experiences as important and unimportant. What is important comes out of an authority figures' mouth and when we can repeat the concepts, we are given a number or letter. The number or letter are, in fact, MORE important than even the concepts.

Even when we have left this school context, we keep segregating knowledge and experience this way: this is important because it pertains to the numbers of my employment, while that is unimportant because no one is measuring or talking about it.

Perhaps one-year-olds are so much better at learning because they haven't learned yet about our segregation of information. Naturally, much of what they must esteem as important is based on the actions and even words of others. Do you remember taking your little one to hang out for a while with a child just older than him and noticing afterwards your own child trying new things and seeming a bit older himself? But your child did learn from another CHILD. And there were no tests. You didn't even need to suggest to him that he watch the other little boy and see if he could do or say some of what he saw and heard.

Learning happens. Or it will, if we haven't killed the skill. Why are we fixed on an arrogant system which assumes that the words coming from 12 years of text books and professionals are what really what matter in life? Or is it our own arrogance which assumes a child cannot perceive what learning is necessary and crucial to a happy, productive, and full life? Do our letters and numbers we assign to a child's learning teach them the essential nature of what they are learning? Or do they mostly teach that the letters and numbers are really what count?

The world and life itself are so full of knowledge and experiences to be had. If we must give a curriculum, why can't it be just that? "Kids, today I am going to learn something new and have an adventure. Would you like to join me?" In fact, when you homeschool, that CAN be your curriculum. Embrace and enjoy it!