Tuesday, my son told me, "I like learning, I just don't like school". That is an eye-opener. I wonder how many kids (especially in the school system) would agree. He also said, "Let's make this year fun." I am working on that one. I am not one to just let go and have fun at the drop of a hat. But, I have some ideas that I think we can use to make school more active and less dreary. He will still have to do some book work. I really don't think there is a way to escape that without unschooling and I can't go there, although it intrigues me. I just want to let him show what he knows in untraditional ways sometimes. I think history might be the best class to do this in. I hope to be able to let him build a diorama for WWII or something. I think he could also make a cartoon out of some events in history. I also want to let him read about people he is interested in without drilling him on every page of the book.
I know that while I was growing up I was the same way...loved to learn...hated school. My mom during the summers would pay us to read and study about any topic we wanted. At the end of the summer I never actually got paid, whether she remembered she said she would or not was irrelevant to me....I just loved to learn. In fact I hardly remember anything I "learned" in school, yet everything I learn about over my summer breaks, I can still remember. I want my kids to be more free in learning what they want, yet I know I have regulations and have to teach them certain things that they don't care about.
I really thought I would have a problem with my kids listening to me since I was their mom, but I actually found out that they love to listen to me and learn what I am telling them, they just didn't like sitting in a hot classroom all day learning the same thing over and over. My son is very smart, so he learns things quickly and I soon discovered that he hated to sit at his desk and listen to things being repeated day after day for those kids that couldn't understand. I am so happy that my children are finally learning at a pace they want!
I was the same way, although not in the way most people think. I thought the classes were too short. Just about the time I got interested in a topic, the bell would ring, I'd lose my concentration, fight hallway traffic, do the paperwork trail dance for the next class, review what we already learned, and then get a teeny bit of learning just before the bell cut us short for the next class. Grrr! That darn bell! I always wanted to finish what we'd started, but I never did. (Especially classes like history, where we never finished a book and NEVER learned any 20th century material... or math, where there was so much review that I was never offered anything higher than Algebra II.)
School should = learning Learning should = fun So school should = fun That's my goal anyway! We are still on summer break (since mid-July) and will probably start in 2-3 weeks. The other day my son came up to me and said he missed school. He quickly clarified that the doesn't want school all the time - it is nice to have breaks, but yeah - he missed school. I know if they were in the public school system one child would function, but not blossom. He would likely still enjoy learning things on his own outside of school. My other son would likely hate school and have difficulty because his method of learning and his personality don't jive with the typical classroom situation. Learning is a lifestyle that should happen whether or not you go to school. If school is a place of learning then you have the ideal set up.
I think 99.9% percent of the children think that way. Its the same way in the work force. or be at home.
totally agree! Learing IS fun...don't know why they make it any other way. Kids need purpose just like everyone else. Stacks of workbooks aren't purpose. For most of us anyway, I know some kiddos really love their workbooks.
Winston Churchill is thought to have said, " I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught. " It sometimes seem the less I force my children the more they work on their own. Perhaps this is not true of all children but I have my doubts that it is not true for most. I think us moms are so worried we can't allow them to do their own thing long enough for them to develop a love as it takes time. We give them a week and when they are doing things we don't like it all flies the unschooling flies out the window. It is hard to let go though. It takes a lot of faith.
I think school should be fun. There is a little background I should share. My son is 15 and he went to private/public schools through 6th grade. Then I very suddenly made a decision to homeschool him. I didn't want him being exposed to the amount of peer pressure at those grades (I know it is impossible to avoid any peer pressure). So, in my dream world of homeschooling, I just picked up material that seemed just like what they do in schools. I loved the books. I was so excited to "teach" my son (I had thought about being a teacher before). I gave him lectures, made him take notes, study for the tests, and reviewed for the tests with him (teaching to the test). He was frustrated, bored, and felt unintelligent. That lasted a little over 2 years. Now, we are still using some curriculum, but I am not worried (or at least hardly) about being on grade level. I am even venturing out and letting him study history by reading different books about different people and not following a curriculum. I probably won't test hardly at all this year. If I do, it will be for math and maybe English grammar, spelling, and maybe vocab. But, I don't know if I will even routinely test in these subjest or just maybe twice a year or so. So, my thinking has changed and our relationship is much better.
