My son is currently in the middle of designing a lego candy machine, complete with coin slot. He probably plays on the computer too much right now, but he plays strategy games, so at least his brain is tested! My dd has been teaching herself about snakes this week. About a month ago, she started really being interested in looking at her books by herself (in case you can't remember, she has found books terrifying), and although she isn't reading much of the text, she has a growing appreciation for what they are about. What I love is that.. when left to their own devices, kids continue to LEARN constantly. Maybe it isn't in book-strict step by step form, but it's REAL learning. Dd might be learning about how dolphins give birth (she is really just obsessed with dolphins) or asking me if penguins can fly, but it isn't just that. With both of my kids, they use what they are learning to extrapolate on what they don't know. My dd is doing it far more than my son, and that might be her age as well. But I also think there's an element there of realizing they CAN learn whatever they want to, and it really doesn't matter if it follows a logical order or not. It is a growing thirst for knowledge that I LOVE. And something I only did myself in bits and pieces until I was an adult (before then I just absorbed without ever questioning why or how). I can't help but think homeschooling is part of that. I know my own brain is completely fried by college. I love writing- even if it's not on paper, it's often going on in my head. But I can't write anything beyond forum posts right now.... because my well is DRY. I think being immersed in ps is like that, even for kids this young (7 and 9). All of the 'water' in their learning well is used up by learning what they HAVE to learn, with none left over for what they might be interested in. When they are allowed to learn at their own pace and follow their interests (and without the pressures of stupidly long days and fitting in), they learn MORE FASTER. There's no rush to move on to magnets even if we didn't finish planets. There's no drive to finish subtraction, with only a rudimentary understanding, because we need to do fractions. There's no forcing my dd to memorize lists of spelling words (which terrify her) because that's in my assignment book and I don't care if she likes it or not. No one ever fails. Anyway.. just thought I'd share. Love those kiddos! P.S. perhaps even more telling, my 7yo dd has become obsessed with our dictionaries. She 'reads' them over and over again. DICTIONARIES!!
I so could have written this post!!! My kids first real day of summer break was spent doing science experiments with magnets! give me a quirky unsocialized homeschooler any day of the week!!!!!
Don't ya love it!! My daughter is obsessed with horses right now and has been "researching" them on her own. Today she wrote a short book about what she learned. It was completely her idea.. Dd 7 memorizes spellings of words all the time. She finds a word SHE wants to learn to spell and spends a few weeks spelling it EVERY time she hears someone say it.. A few months back it was Mississippi. The olders thought it was funny that everytime they said her "word of the week" she would spell it. We didn't realize how many times Mississippi came up in our conversations. Today she is working on the word little. She can spell it and she will continue to practice on her own everytime she hears someone say it. Even in the commercials on TV.. She likes to challenge herself.. I may have to tell her how to spell it but only when she asks, she writes it on the white board and then she begins drilling herself..
This sounds like me. I can remember reading through the dictionary, researching topics and writing reports and poetry just for fun as a kid. My kids aren't like that. They're GLAD its summer! In fact, last week I was clearing out the bookcase we use for school and had all the curriculum we'd used on the table, going through the workbooks and such and my son is like "WHAT!? Summer's over! It's school time again???" haha!
One of my favorite things to do is browse the shelves at the library and grab a random assortment of books. Then I set them on the shelf next to the TV and let the boys choose if they want to read them or not. Oldest DS is reading a book on golf basics; middle DS is reading a how-to book; and youngest DS is switching between a cookbook full of food photos and a book on different game rules for common games. (Like "Auction Monopoly" or "Rettah Chess".) Even DH picked up a book because it was about using the GPS outdoors! In a while those books will go back, and I'll choose something else. It's not school, but it's still learning, and it's about something that is sparking their interest! MT3
