Teaching vs. Learning

One topic that often comes up when I mention to others that we homeschool is that of curriculum.  People who don't homeschool often ask how I'm sure I'm teaching them "the right things" or how I ensure that they're staying on grade level with their peers who are in public school.  When I first began homeschooling I bought a boxed curriculum for that very reason.  I wanted to ensure that they learned each subject they were supposed to learn and I was afraid I'd leave something out if I did it on my own.

After several months of homeschooling and closely observing my kids, however, I've learned an important truth.  There is a big difference between teaching and learning.  I can teach what is in the curriculum and what they are "supposed to" learn in their grade level.  They don't always learn it, though.  It seems that they only learn when they are ready to learn and interested in the topic.  This is true in schools as well.

It is not always an issue of when they are ready and able to learn.  Often, it is simply a lack of interest and engagement on their part.  I noticed this last year when my daughter was in first grade at a parochial school.  The teachers taught the kids how to tell time.  She completed work sheets on telling time throughout the year.  She played with a learning clock to try to teach her how to tell time.  She never really learned it, though.  Telling time was irrelevant to her last year.  She didn't really find it interesting or necessary.  This year, however, she's finally starting to understand the importance of telling time.  Now that it gets dark so early, she realizes that she needs to be able to tell time to know if I'm tricking her when I tell her it's bedtime at 7PM (not that I'd EVER do that).  She wants to be able to tell time so she knows if it's almost morning when she wakes up in the middle of the night.  Now, all of a sudden, she's starting to learn how to tell time.  I barely have to teach her.  I can tell her something about telling time once and she catches on and she remembers it.

I've also noticed this with other topics.  My daughter loves cheetahs and she can tell you every imaginable fact about cheetahs.  I've not made any real effort to teach her these facts and she may have only heard certain facts once or twice, but she remembers them because they are interesting to her.  Other topics, such as history, are not as interesting to her and I find I have to repeat the same facts to her over and over before she recalls them on her own.

There is a quote that is often attributed to Buddha, "when the student is ready, the teacher will appear."  No learning can really take place until the student is ready.

Often kids "learn" a topic in school because they have to for a test, but then they forget it shortly after the test if it isn't relevant to their lives.  I know I learned things like diagramming sentences, French grammar, and calculus, but I've long since forgotten them because they weren't relevant to my life and I never used these skills.  What is the point of such "learning?"  

All of this leaves me wondering- do I keep attempting to teach my children what is "on grade level" and what they are supposed to learn based on common core standards or a curriculum or do I focus on what engages them and what they are ready to and want to learn?  I'm going with the approach of following their interests and abilities.  Just don't tell anyone that I'm not going to teach my kids how to diagram sentences!