My Golden Rule of Home Educating

As a teacher, I instructed kids all day long.

 

I told them how to sit, where to date their work, which bits should be underlined, in what colour and how they should start their sentences.

 

That kind of teaching didn’t come naturally to me so as a home educator I am incredibly conscious of letting our children lead their own learning.

 

I truly believe that children want to learn AND I believe that the education system we have established, destroy that desire to learn.

 

So, my golden rule for teaching kids is to never ever force it.

 

I’m not saying that you have to agree with me but I am saying that it is OK not to follow the social norm.

 

It is OK not to be seen to be ‘teaching’. It’s OK for your 6 year old to not be reading yet however much others believe that they are ‘missing out’…they are not.

 

I’ve learned that the safest path is not always the best path, and I’ve learned the the voice of fear is not to always be trusted. ~ Steve Goodier

 

Learning is so much more than ABC’s and 123’s. 

 

Our 5 year old can start the day watching a film about early humans and by midday he will have drawn cave paintings outside using charcoal he found in the fire pit and started creating a papier mache cave for his playmobil caveman. based on one he’s seen in a book.

 

The wealth of learning that has happened in those few hours is huge and the excitement and energy to learn more is evident.

 

 

Children are born naturalists. They explore the world with all of their senses, experiment in the environment, and communicate their discoveries to those around them. ~ The Audubon Nature Preschool

 

On other days a lot less happens but those days are important too.

 

I do set up activities or ‘invitations’ to play and I do create projects based on topics that they want to explore (like my free Adventures in Nature ‘Curriculum‘)…but I admit that this is purely for my own sanity and because I actually enjoy it…sad I know 🤣

 

Sometimes, I’ll leave them to it, other times I’ll join in. Somedays it flows magically and others it feels stuck.

 

I remind myself often that home education doesn’t have to be perfect to be the best choice for my family. 

 

Knowledge which is acquired under compulsion has no hold on the mind. Therefore do not use compulsion, but let early education be a sort of amusement; you will then be better able to discover the child’s natural bent. ~ Plato

 

Do you have a golden rule for home educating?