60-day returns • free shipping on USA orders $129+
Teaching Them To Love Learning?? How?
- This topic has 16 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 5 months ago by
.
- Posts
A friend of mine has been reading about the Thomas Jefferson Education method and sharing ideas she is learning with me. So (of course) I had to check out their website and see what this stuff is all about. I found that one of their “keys” is for teachers to “inspire, not require”.
Here is a quote from the site, “Instead of asking, “what can I do to make these students perform?” the great teacher says, “I haven’t yet become truly inspirational. What do I need to do so that these students will want to do the hard work to get a superb education?”
How exactly is that possible? I want my children to WANT to learn, but if I did not “require” them to “do school” they would be happy watching tv all day. Any comments on this?
Good question Amanda! I don’t have alot of input, but I can say that I know TV is a hindrance in this household. When I rule it out as an option, it’s amazing how much they desire to read, draw and generally do creative/ brain activating things. Other than that, I am anxiously awaiting answers to your question!
Heather
A little requiring will help with the inspiring 🙂 I think follow CM style homeschooling is a great way to encourage the desire to learn as we offer nourishing ideas and thoughts to eager young minds. They may need to some support at first, like a young sapling, but before long they will take on more independently.
Tara
I have heard others use this thinking too and was wondering if anyone has an illustration or example of how to help encourage that love of learning. My 2 whine about reading a book! I can not imagine them doing indepth studies voluntarily at this point!
Amanda,
I’m actually in the middle of reading the 3 books by the DeMilles about TJEd! They use a few things to Inspire, not require that I’ve picked out so far:
– You set the example by having daily reading and study hours. Then you share what you are learning enthusiastically in natural moments of the day.
– You capitilize on interesting opportunities (places to go, activities to do).
– You create interest (or try to!) by exposing your children to real people doing something. The author gave the example of having a couple who plays in the orchestra to dinner and a mini-performance in your home, where the family can get excited and ask them questions, possibly followed up by viiting a performance of the whole orchestra.
I’m pretty sure I don’t agree with everything in the books but it is interesting and has some neat ideas!
Another thing – they suggest phases of learning that generally correspond with ages and the formal studies do not begin early. They are well described in thisarticle: http://www.tjedonline.com/free-article.php?id=248
And this page has a lot more articles you might find helpful: http://www.tjedonline.com/free-article.php
Similarities to CM thatstand out to me are reading classics (or good living books) and looking at classic art, listening to classic music, etc. A Classic is something that can be learned from and enjoyed again and again. They have a heavy emphasis on discussion of what you read.
Anyway, I’m still reading about it all. I won’t be jumping off the CM ship but it’s giving me some ideas to incorporate!
I have some living books for just “dessert”. I don’t require them to narrate from our classic literature read alouds. And guess what?! these are the books that I see my children inspired by. For instance, we are reading through Secret Garden. My dd9 is interested in planning a garden now ( as before she didn’t care even after I talked to her about it), and my ds13 is venturing out to explore the outdoors to befriend the various birds in our back creek. (he would not dare tell me this but I know it’s because of the boy character in the book!:)
So IMO, assign the harder stuff as school. But do take time to enjoy a good book for just a book. No assignment, no questions, just relaxing. You won’t see it overnight, but it’s there. Time and faith is needed. It’s not our job to make it happen, we are just providing a feast of ideas and whatever the child wants to pick from that is his own doing, not ours.
I have two reactions to this idea of inspiring. On one hand, I do think Charlotte Mason wanted kids to have a love of learning. Her main way to do that seems to be through living books and other quality materials, placing a rich and varied intellecutal diet before them and hoping there is something that sparks their interest. But on the other hand, I think the way the TJ quote is phrased makes it sound like there is an awful lot of pressure on the parent or teacher to inspire. There is a limit to what we can do. Ultimately, the child has to form relationships with the material and we can’t force that.
Nebby
How often do we as adults do voluntary indepth study? The thing is that we don’t unless we are motivated to do it for a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is simply an interest, such as history or music. Other times, and probably more frequently, we save our hard research for necessities — what car to buy, where to live, whether or not to make a career change. How often do we read a book with the goal of anylizing it? Or choose to spend hours researching the impact of global warming or volcanos or something else that isn’t directly relevant to our lives.
I think the key to instilling a love of learning is to make it as natural and relavent as possible. That’s why living books work so well. They impart great information in a gentle and unforced way. Every child (and adult) is different, they have different learning styles and strategies. Some kids learn best by reading about things. Other kids need to live it out. They’d rather be knee deep in a swamp catching creatures than reading a book, but let them find something in that swamp that really interests them, encourage them to ask questions about it and find the answers through books or internet research and you’ve got something. There are things we all have to learn — reading, writing and math may not be fun for every child, but by reading books that interest, gearing writing projects accordingly, demonstrating purpose for math, by giving everything meaning and relavence to everyday life we hand our children the keys to an entire world of possibilities.
I have been thinking about this subject quite a bit lately because I have been reading Nebel’s Elementary Education book. One of the main things that has stuck with me from the book is that we, as teachers, are not to give the children all the answers to their questions. As Nebel said, if you have the answer, that’s the end of the lesson. You should always have another question. Now he relates this directly to science, but I think it applies to all subjects. Generally speaking, someone wants to learn because they have a question to answer.
Another thing I have stopped doing is connecting information for them. I am allowing them to make their own connections. I realize that this may take years. For example, we have recently studied the American revolution and the french revolution. We didn’t try to bang it into their heads that the french rev. was really a result of what had happened in America. Now, the kids might not make that connection until their next pass through that time period (4 or 5 years down the road). But I’m okay with that because, you know, most adults don’t know really know that.
The other thing we have been doing for the last year and a half is what Nebel refers to as “seminaring.” He points out, and rightly so, that this is what is missing from the education of most children. I personally think this is especially true in homeschooling, since we are just a family and not a classroom. Seminaring is basically having the students sit around in small groups and discuss and digest their learning together. (We started this long before I read Nebel’s book, but I didn’t have a name for it.) We have been doing this in our home through our morning table time. We might read a chapter of Outdoor Secrets and then let the discussion go wherever it goes. I have found that we are doing great amounts of learning this way.
One more change we have made is that I am really trying to let the kids express what they have learned through notebooking or some similar method. For instance, when we finish a section in Outdoor Secrets, we will observe the subject in real life or on video, independently read a couple of library books, have another child read about that same subject from a nature reader…. then after a week or so of doing this, I have them open their science notebook and make a page about that subject. I have been amazed at how much they have learned and at how much time and care they take with these pages. I think the key to it is that I have put no parameters on the assignment so they don’t really think of it as school work.
I wholeheartedly agree that the more relevent you can make the learning, the more interested they will be in learning it. My son, who hates to do his math, now gets out his Pet Shop math from SCM first thing every morning because he feels like he’s doing something real. I am looking for more resources like that where they can practice skills in a more realistic way. Now, I don’t ever expect him to come to me and be excited about doing math facts drilling, but he definitely sees the usefulness of learning about math now.
I have been really encouraged lately that we are heading in the right direction with our style of learning. The other day we were talking about the fruit of the spirit. I asked my kids if they remembered where to find that in the Bible. My 11 y.o.d. said, “I think it’s in Galatians, but that doesn’t make sense.” I asked why. “Well, Galatians is a letter that Paul wrote and that doesn’t sound like something that would be in a letter.” She said this because we had been seminaring Galatians the week before. This exchange, of course, led to a whole discussion for all of us about Paul’s purpose for writing the letters he wrote, etc.
Yesterday we were driving home surrounded by lots of lightning. Six year old asked what lightning was made of. My kids told her “electricity.” 10 year old asked, “Why can’t we swim when it’s lightning?” I told him that water conducts electricity and explained what that meant. After a few minutes of thinking he asked, “Is that why there’s lightning when it rains… because the water is conducting the electricity down to the ground?” I had never thought of that myself. Now, of course, that’s not why, and we did discuss very briefly about charged particles being all around us all the time and the friction that causes lightning.
Now the point of both of these examples is to show that they are actually THINKING. Even if their thinking is not correct, they are THINKING. I can’t tell you how exciting this is for me.
One more thing and then I will quit babbling. I have the advantage of having a 22 year old who I homeschooled, so I can see that many of the things we are looking for in our kids don’t actually happen when they’re 10 or 12 years old. She didn’t do a lot of independent, interest-driven study until she was closer to adulthood. I think we might be expecting certain results from our kids when we are still in the foundation building stages of education. (I hope that makes sense.) This is just a theory I have and I realize that it is, perhaps, wrong. Maybe we’re expecting something that we’re not supposed to be expecting yet. Maybe we are really just supposed to be putting pegs in place for them to hang their thoughts on later in life. I’m not sure yet.
Okay…yes, I can see great points in all of your comments. AND…the more I think about it, the more examples of “inspired learning” in our lives pop up. However, most of the exciting new ideas that my 2 have come from the books that I have “required” them to read or listen to 🙂 I do have to say that my excitement or indifference to certain things seem to really affect the children’s attitude too.
So to sum this up:
1. I “spread the feast”. (With as much excitement as possible) To me, its like putting that spoon of spinach on the child’s plate even when they say they don’t want it. One day they may decide they LOVE it! 😉
2. They put forth effort to do the required work. (whether they whine or not LOL!) I have to sometimes discipline them (“you will not have any electrionics time this week if you do not do well in your studies”) to get the required work done well.
3. They are then inspired by these new ideas. (a.k.a. diggin in our yard for dino bones, planting flowers, diligently searching our library for books about “x”.) It’s like this at our house…”Hey Mama, can we dig in the yard this afternoon and see if we find any fossils, please?”
4. They see things in a new light which excites them and makes them ask more questions which can lead to a life long love for and interest in this subject.
( At least this is what I have seen happen in our lives. I just wanted to be sure that the “requiring” part is okay! LOL)
I do not know everything about TJEd. My friends who are totally TJEd think that I am too “gentle” or “soft”, but I see the value of taking our studies beyond reading and mentoring over the book…learning is done in many ways, not just reading and discussing, although that is a vital part of an education.
I wanted to mention that I have a friend who loves the idea of a Thomas Jefferson Education, but really struggled with how to “do” it…I mentioned Charlotte Mason methods to her one day in a casual conversation. She asked me about it, started studying it a bit (she, like the rest of us, is busy and still learning about it) decided that “Charlotte Mason gives the practical how-tos that can lead to a TJ type education”. She hasn’t really looked back…and I think that you can see how the CM Methods – narration, spreading the feast, providing opportunities, can be easily applied to the things that a TJEd aspires to.
Amanda, I think that CM definitely required some things…she expected alot of her kids and got it. I think that no one really progresses without serious effort, and a child needs to learn the tools of making a serious effort. I too have seen these things happen in our home and it is EXCITING!! And it doesn’t hurt that I am learning so much with them that I wish I had when I was younger…learning is fun!
Truth is, you are “required” to do things in this world whether you like it or not. Better to learn that early on and not be surprised when the bill is due, lawn needs mowing, tank needs to be filled, launddry needs washing, the list goes on and on (and will as long as you are on this side of eternity!). I have lots of requirements because I know my kids are capable and there is no reason to do the minimum when you can push a bit harder to do the very best you can.
As far as the love of learning goes: Everyone wants to learn to some degree, it just may not be at the same pace or have the same intense passion as a the next guy. My dh loves to learn, but is not what you would consider “academically inclined,” but knows that if he sets his mind to “whatever” he can learn anything. Some things, like chemisty/physics/economics may be more challenging to him but he works along side many men that can do the above but can’t fix a lawn mower to save their lives or fix their own computers. That’s his passion: seeing how things work/taking them apart/getting to know the equipment. He is definitely “self-taught” in many areas of life (w/ no formal ed.) and I only hope that my kids grow up to believe that they can do anything they want to do if they apply themselves (that’s required work, to me). My kids need to know that they have to put the work in to their passions and required work to be balanced.
And, all you can do (this is what I’m doing) is “spread the feast.” I offer lots of different opportunities for my kids to explore, but am not a slave to their whims just to “get them excited”. I will offer substitutes/interest directed act./flexibility in scheduling, etc. But in our home I let my kids know that I will allow passions to be exhausted along side the required work that I find important to a well-rounded education. And isn’t that really how life works?? You work (hopefully at a job you like, but most aren’t that fortunate), do the things you “have to do” then you pursue those things that you want to.
I think I totally went off topic here, so forgive me…my brain started wandering, lol.
Interesting thread, thank you for posting your question, Amanda.
Great conversation here! I wanted to add something else in regards to the “do not make connections for the children”. When I observed the Ambleside school last year, it is amazingly QUIET because the teacher does very little talking. The children read and narrate. The teacher guides the flow (hence masterly inactivity)
This way of teaching is truly an ART. It is beautiful and when the teacher understands this, it becomes a life. Not just school.
Oh, yes, simple home…..I love that part!! I love to NOT lecture. It frees up my time and opens the door to my children doing the hard part. It’s the waiting (which is patience) on them acquire/express (or whatever) what they have learned, are learning that is soooo worth the wait. I love how CM really wanted the children to do the hard work (rightfully so) and we, the parents/teachers, spread the feast (the good feast, which is work on our part, too, making good choices for our dc). In the past, I would’ve done the hard work and left nothing more for my dc to do…that’s actually kind of boring, for them, and too much hard work for me.
I truly believe that CM knew that the child, given enough good stuff (I know that sounds dumb, but I’m in a hurry), could figure things out, reason, memorize, think for themselves (and so on), no matter what economic status they were born into. And, I believe she believed that they (the children) all deserved to be given the best and to not have a preconceived notion about what they could or could not do. I could never go back to a non-narrating form of education. To me, that has been one of the single most miracles in our home. Listening to what they know (excitedly) and not limiting their joy to fill-in-the-blanks has opened up my dc’s minds in ways I would’ve missed out on.
Don’t have a clue if this is helping or hurting, ha ha.
- The topic ‘Teaching Them To Love Learning?? How?’ is closed to new replies.