My wife and I homeschool our kids. I think it’s an awesome way for kids to reach their potential, and I wish I had been able to do it when I was young. There’s a lot of people leaning towards homeschooling now (thank you, Common Core…) but all of these new “home teachers” have questions on whether they’re doing it “right” or not.
My wife and I have gradually over the last few years gravitated towards something called “Delight Directed” learning. This is essentially what it sounds like: we use things the kids are already excited about to teach things they need to know. As it turns out, you can work math, science, history and language into just about anything if you look at it long enough. So far, it’s working very well.
But the question we get asked the most is “How can you let your kids learn whatever they want, and still have them be effectively learning what they need to know? What if they get out into the world and just fail miserably?”
Understandably, this is based on fear of failure, for you and your children. Nobody wants their kids to fail, and nobody wants to be a failure. However, the fear of delight-directed learning is both unfounded, and counterproductive. To bust the myth that kids need tons of structure to learn, we will need to dissect it piece-by-piece.
Myth: “Kids learn best when you give them a textbook or worksheets.”
Truth: Kids hate paperwork, just as much as you do. And reading a textbook is pointless unless they’re already interested in the subject. Kids, especially younger ones, want to do learning, not read and write about it.
Do we use textbooks and worksheets? Only if: 1. the child is interested in the subject (in which case they will usually find the book and read it themselves) or 2. they need practice on a specific mechanical skill, like handwriting or long division.
Myth: “Homeschooled kids without strict structure will sit around and do nothing all day.”
Truth: If they have nothing to do but watch TV and play video games, then yes, that’s what they’ll do. We stock our home with piles of books, crafts, educational videos, tools, supplies, and whatever else might be interesting. Trust me, there’s only so many reruns of My Little Pony they can watch.
For example, we have a “science cabinet” that has chemistry, biology, physics, and electronics toys and supplies in it. They are constantly raiding the cabinet for things to do. A year or so ago we acquired a kit to build a motorized Mars Rover out of cardboard and plastic. Yesterday, out of the blue, my middle daughter (11) pulls it out of the cabinet and assembles it on her own. It was missing a few parts, so she made new ones with paper and tape! Today I can show her video of the rover in action, and teach her a bit about Mars… now that she’s interested in it, she will retain it.
But even if they do watch TV, have you seen the quality of educational programs on Netflix? My kids learned more biology from watching Kratt’s Creatures than I did in 8 years of elementary and middle school. The material is there! You just have to make it accessible. Their curious little minds are like sponges… they will learn through osmosis.
Myth: “Shouldn’t kids learn to be on a strict schedule? What about learning to sit and focus at a desk?”
Fact: Kids are dynamic little creatures. As an adult with ADD, I can’t stand to work on schedules because my brain doesn’t work that way. Is your goal to teach kids, or make them into little robots? If you want to teach them (and I hope you would) then you must allow them to learn in the most efficient way possible, which is different for every child. Anybody who says “All kids learn like _____” doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
You can’t be afraid to let go of the concept we were raised with: that school works best when it’s highly structured and sterile. It doesn’t. If you structure every single minute of your kids’ days, they will never learn to function without someone telling them what to do. Do you want independent thinkers, or worker drones?
If you want some more insight on what Delight Directed learning is like, you can check out the Delight Directed blog my wife writes. Lots of stories and insight on how it works, with real-world examples!
If you’re having doubts or questions about homeschooling in general, rest assured, if you have even the most basic grasp of how to learn something, you can teach your kids. It doesn’t require a degree; just a brain and a desire to lovingly teach your children about all the amazing things there are to learn.
Here are some more Myths about Homeschooling:
Myth: “Homeschooled kids won’t be as successful in life as regularly schooled kids”
Truth: The fact is, homeschooled kids are perfectly suited for life in the real world, because the real world doesn’t work like a traditional school any more! When you go to work, do you work with everyone in your department being the same age? Of course not. Homeschoolers adapt, which makes them very successful.
Myth: “Homeschoolers aren’t prepared for college.”
Fact: Homeschooler do better in college, overall, than students from public schools across the board. They score above the national average in just about every category you can think of. Testing, graduation rates, GPA, income after graduation, etc.
Myth: “Homeschooled kids can’t socialize.”
Fact: Hahahahaa!!! The people that say this obviously haven’t interacted with many homeschooled families. They are very social, sometimes almost to a fault! My kids do group activities at church, Boy Scouts, dance classes, and not to mention the Homeschool co-op groups!
So, to sum up, I believe that a lot of people who decide to homeschool are short-changing their children’s education by insisting on doing “school” like they remember it, instead of as it should be. If you want super-structured schooling, just send your kids to public or private schools! But if you want to be able to interact with your kids, and teach them in one-on-one sessions in ways they could never do in a classroom, then Delight Directed Homeschooling makes perfect sense.