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Cindy
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Joined: Feb 01 2005
Location: Texas
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| Posted: Dec 27 2005 at 1:23pm | IP Logged
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Here is a question I would love to run by you all!
How important is it for the child to have a set academic pursuit (course, lesson, etc), either set out by him/herself or by an outside force to work at and complete?
Can a child be well-educated by simply pursuing interests in the fashion they want? Will they learn as much, assuming they are not asking for that structure?
Will they be able to function in an academic environment later on if they have not had the structure to date?
I think about this as I type up my quarterly summary from my journal of things we have discussed, reserached, talked about over past months. Would more value be attached if they had been planned and subsequently worked through?
I am in a wondering mode lately... thanks for letting me ask here... :)
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Cindy in Texas
It Is About The Journey
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juliecinci
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Joined: Feb 20 2005
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| Posted: Dec 27 2005 at 3:25pm | IP Logged
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I have the same questions.
In our home, it seems to be that there are two kids so far who gravitate toward that structured approach and one who does not. I wonder if this is more about individuals than a specific approach.
I do know that for me, being in college again has reminded me of how wonderful it can be to be in a program where the expert is the teacher- an expert who is passionate and knowledgeable.
I want to facilitate those learning opportunities and not assume that I must be the catalyst for all learning at home. If school has that to offer, then it would be okay with me. My 16 year old daughter is really enjoying her economics class, for instance, but chemistry has been ruined for her. So it's a roll of the dice in high school, I think.
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Julie
Homeschooling five for fourteen years
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Willa
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| Posted: Dec 28 2005 at 2:49am | IP Logged
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You've probably already done this, Cindy, but what would your boys say if you discussed those questions with them? ie asked them if they could see benefits in structure, continuing to the end, planning a course and following through, that kind of thing?
This article compares learning to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. My experience as a child and an adult is that I've picked up a question here, an answer to another question here, a connection that ties them together over THERE, and so on. I've seen my kids do the same thing. To my brain, learning is not necessarily a matter of little opens and shuts, but rather, usually, several ongoing higher-priority learning projects and a few other lower-priority things simmering in the background. This is what my kids do too.
There seems to be a slightly different issue you are asking about, the issue of learning to follow through, as a character trait or a skill for successful living. Maybe that's what they call perseverance. I always had trouble with follow-through. When something got hard I'd drop it, usually, unless I really loved it. So in that way perhaps it's good to encourage a kid to stick with SOMETHING, no matter what, or a few things now and then, so he can develop a habit of staying the course. I learned it when I cared enough -- when I grew up and had a husband and children. But I still struggle a bit with it and wish I'd learned it better as a child. Going to a structured school didn't do the trick for me!! <G>
I think some family or neighborhood jobs or responsibilities are good for that -- when the kid can see the harm done to others in letting things slip. Or classes, like Julie said, or team sports, or clubs like Boy Scouts where there is incentive to keep on through the tough times. Or acting in a play -- things like that? I know, my boys are usually not much into those things, either, Cindy, but even small things can build skills of perseverance. Even things like cleaning one's room once a week, or volunteering to sweep a neighbor's driveway or something!
When my kids get in a structured environment, I'm usually surprised by how committed they are and how they take ownership of what's expected in that situation. We have gotten comments from other people about that in our kids. So maybe there's a weird corollary, that when you don't have TOO much structure ALL the time, you're more able to take personal responsibility when there ARE some structured expectations? I feel that school must set boys, especially, up to feel they HAVE to resist a bit in order to keep their independence, because when we are involved in after-school activities with these schoolkids, they are not bad kids in the least but they seem more restless and distracted and less involved in the learning experience than my kids. I'm using us as an example because that's who I know best but I've heard about this phenomenon from other homeschoolers too.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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Leonie
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| Posted: Jan 01 2006 at 6:10pm | IP Logged
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Cindy wrote:
| Will they be able to function in an academic environment later on if they have not had the structure to date? |
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But I think the kids *will* have had some structure - it is so hard not to.
Perhaps it will be the structure of part time or volunteer work.
Or the structure of outside lessons and commitment.
Perhaps the kids will have experienced the structure of planning to go to university and then preparing for the entrance requitrements.
I think it would be hard to find a young adult, unschooled or homeschooled, who had not experienced structure. And I think this structure , of any form, can be a help to applying oneself to academic pursuits in or out of an academic environment.
In fact, I sometimes think that too much structure is an impediment to pursuing academic excellence in an academic environment. I don't know the US experience but here in Australia, many students, who have been to traditional schools, drop out of university in the first year or so. The self motiovation and initiative required is difficult for them because they have been used to being told what to to and when.
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Leonie in Sydney
Living Without School
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Importance of Planned Learning?
