Since we are on vacation I am scheduling some oldie but goodie posts...enjoy!
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I spoke last year at the Heart of the Matter Online conference about Education as an Atmosphere. I want my home to be a continuous atmosphere of learning. Not a 9am -3pm time of enforced drilling of facts.
A typical day in a homeschool looks like LIFE. It can range from anything from:
- a day of research on a topic of the child's choice
- an afternoon spent listening to Mozart while painting
- a day in the yard observing an ant hill, a robin's next, or a bee hive
- a morning gardening, while learning all about compost, seeds, and zone planting
- writing creative stories, plays, or poetry
- a construction project in the home. complete with preiminary plans, blueprints, and the execution of the plan with the proper tools
- cooking up an authentic cultural feast after weeks spent reading about that country
- analyzing the nutritional content of your pantry
- grocery store math, while grocery shopping
- a day out to see a play or visit a local museum
- a visit to the local nursing home
- writing a letter to your sponsor child in Africa
- designing buildings on the computer
- helping with the finances by watching dad pay bills and budget (or do taxes!)
- chores, chores and more chores...all life skills!
- figuring out the how to build rockets, legos in 3D, and more
- raising chickens
- spending the day at work with dad as a mini-intern
- learning all about how day to day life works by being immersed in it and not a classroom!
The list is truly endless.
Life is a classroom. Life is what we are preparing our children for. What better way to learn that with the hands on lesson of life?
I have found lately when I loosen the structure {not throw it away}, the kids are more free to pursue their interests and that is when they truly learn.
When I don't see a separation between learning and life...they thrive...
This is a video I love of my boys learning in nature....
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1 comment:
Wonderful article! I love teaching our children to love to learn throughout life, not just in the context of "school". I think this way of looking at learning has been hardest for me (a product of public school)! The kids seem to "catch on" to learning as they go much faster than I do!
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