We've been taking a break from homeschooling the past few weeks for the holidays. We have been following a year-round schedule, so we have the luxury of an extended winter break. It seemed we all needed a break from routine and from set curriculum for a little while. We haven't taken a break from learning, though.
I am always amazed at how much my children learn and how easily they learn it when I stop trying so hard. Since the beginning of this school year, I had been working with them on place value, multi-digit addition, and telling time. We had made progress, but I didn't feel like they were really getting it yet. Then, last week, my 7-year-old daughter woke up one morning, pointed at the clock and informed me that it was 7:35. A couple of days later, my 5-year-old son pointed at the clock and told me that it was 2 something, but he wasn't quite sure how to tell the rest of it because he "couldn't see the little number where the big hand was pointing". It wasn't perfect, but he got the concept. Last night, after a day where I allowed them to play way too long on their new video gaming system that they got for Christmas, my daughter sat down to "draw" and, much to my surprise, decided to do math problems instead. She started adding 100+100 and 100+100+100+100 and then she tried 1000 + 100. She needed a little help with that, but quickly understood once I explained to her how to do that.
This isn't earth-shattering in many ways. This is not advanced level work for a 7 year old or really even for a 5 year old. What amazes me is that I've been trying to teach them these concepts off and on for months. They weren't quite catching on and weren't really interested. Place value work sheets were boring. Quizzing them on times written on paper clocks didn't hold their interest. Give them a break, stop trying to teach them, though, and, all of a sudden, this stuff is fun! Last May, after a year of school where she was forced to do endless worksheets for math, my daughter didn't exactly hate math, but she wasn't too fond of it. Last week she started doing math problems out loud in the car, asking me to check her answers. She has even commented a few times lately about how fun math is!
My daughter has also been very interested lately in geography and time zones. I regularly have to pull out the world map and show her where various countries are located. I often have to Google what time it is in various places around the world to satisfy her curiosity. I daresay if I had planned a lesson on this and forced her to sit and learn about this topic, she would have been bored to tears.
So, where am I going with this? I continue to learn more every day as I observe my kids and continue on our journey of homeschooling. One thing I'm learning is that kids learn so much more and so much more easily when we let them lead to a certain extent. Kids, my kids at least, learn best when they are allowed to follow their curiosity with parents or teachers to serve as advisors or tutors when needed. It is much harder as a parent-educator to give them that freedom. I worry and stress a bit when we deviate from the set curriculum I had planned out or when we diverge from what their peers in school are learning. One of the things I'm learning, though, is that they seem to get to it all eventually without my prodding or forcing them to learn certain things. I certainly never thought my daughter would CHOOSE to learn multiple digit addition!
There are a few things I truly hope will result from our homeschool experience. One of those things is that my kids will grow to love learning and that learning will be something they will want to pursue and will know how to pursue on their own. I am starting to realize that the best way to bring that hope to fruition is for me to get out of their way as much as possible. When they express an interest or curiosity, I will help them find a way to find answers and I will show them how to research it and learn more. So, in 2016 I resolve to cooperate in their learning more and attempt to force learning less. I will pay more attention to their interests and curiosity and less attention to what they're "supposed" to be learning. I think we'll all enjoy the journey more that way.
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