Raising Independent Learners

We desire, as do most other homeschoolers, to raise children that want to continue learning throughout their life. I have seen various methods proposed for achieving this, and I want to share what seems to be working in our home. I do only have children twleve and under, but given that free time here is happily spent in creating tricky math problems for each other, reading, or discussing history or science, I think we are doing okay so far.

I see three needs for an independent, lifelong learner: (1.) the basic skills necessary to learn on one's own, (2.) practice in the actual act of learning independently, and (3.) a desire to do so. So many people advise plenty of practice as the best means, with no consideration for skills or desire. We have chosen to continually work toward all three.

First, as I have posted before, I believe a child needs solid basic skills to learn anything. Those who sacrifice #1 in a hurry to get #2 seem to find that it catches up with them in later years. I don't believe young children are capable of teaching themselves to read, write, and do math; and these are the foundational skills to later learning.

The second area is tackled in our house by "side interests." The rule: Mom and dad have a course of study planned out, and anything else that fascinates you becomes your own domain. We do not center education around a child's temporary interest, but instead focus on providing a foundation, all the while also providing tools necessary to pursue individual interests.

Finally, we are trying to create a desire to learn. Most of this comes through modeling. I feel fortunate that my husband has spent most of my children's lives in college classes of some sort. I have also chosen to homeschool classically which involves a lot of education for mom! Because of this, our children have seen us spend our free time in study and discussion, and they naturally do what we do. Every parent can find a topic they are interested in, I think, and model for their children learning as a hobby.

Raising Writers

Writing and reading are closely related and, some would say, inseparable. Better writers tend to be better readers, and better readers produce better writing. (from the National Writing Project)

I have often rejected the premise, repeated often in homeschooling circles, that all a child needs to do to learn how to write well is to read many books. It is simply not true. However, in addition to excellent writing instruction, reading is an important factor in how well a student writes. As I have helped parents with writing instruction or taught writing to students, I have found time and again that those who learn to write most easily are those who love to read quality literature.

The biggest area of difference I find between readers and non-readers (and I will include twaddle-only readers in this category) is in sentence structure. It is difficult to explain the value of complex, compound, or compound-complex sentences to a child who has no experience with them. Show me a child who has read White, Stevenson, and Swift with relish, and I will show you a child who understands what makes a clever sentence.

Another trait I see in readers is a more precise choice of words. A child who was repeatedly delighted by the vocabulary of interesting literature values words. As well, they will have a larger vocabulary, learned easily over the years by context, readily available for their writing.

Finally, I find that a love of reading is tied, with few exceptions, to a love of writing. When cultivating a desire to read, it is helpful to remember that it will probably carry over to a desire to write. The effort, already worth so much, is worth that much more in saving you long hours trying to teach a child with no desire for it to write well.

I cannot stress how valuable hearing and reading great literature are to the education of a child. Writing is just one area where this will be discovered.

Thoughts on Writing...

Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. ~~Sir Francis Bacon

The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug. ~~Mark Twain

If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing. ~~Benjamin Franklin

Learn as much by writing as by reading. ~~Lord Acton

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. ~~Samuel Johnson

The pen is the tongue of the mind. ~~Miguel de Cervantes

I have made this letter longer than usual, because I lack the time to make it short. ~~Blaise Pascal

Read-Alouds

An effective family read-aloud should increase family ties. It should give the opportunity for a deep discussion, or it should launch silly "in jokes" that provide many giggles together. Here are books that can fill this need, in order of my own personal preference:

The Pilgrim's Progress
The Swiss Family Robinson
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Little House in the Big Woods
The Hobbit
Winnie-the-Pooh
Anne of Green Gables
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Wind in the Willows
A Bear Called Paddington
Swallows and Amazons
The Great Brain
Pippi Longstocking

Learning with Family Games

Some of our favorite family games:

• Scrabble - Scrabble is long division practice: first you multiply, then you add. Striving to work the numbers over in our heads to figure out what we need to roll to win is the big contest here.
• Boggle - This is the favorite at our house. It's the game that never really gets put away, because someone is almost always playing it. My almost-6 yr-old learns to create words on his own, and my 10 and 12 yr-olds learn obscure new three letter words.
• Monopoly - This is a tradition in my husband's family, complete with tales and legends from childhood! We recently discovered Monopoly Mega, which is way more interesting to me than the original. Strategy, math, and patience all can be learned from Monopoly.
• Apples to Apples - We usually play the Bible edition, as the kiddos know more of the cards. We also really like to play it as Crab Apples (look at your directions for alternate ways to play the game.) This game seems like the perfect way to begin teaching analogies.
• Cranium Whoonu - This teaches us to think about what other people prefer. As an added bonus, you will learn things about your kiddos that you did not know.
• Cranium Family Game - This game teaches concentration and how to work together to achieve a goal (even if it is balancing cubes on your nose!)
• Cranium Super Showdown (there's a trend here, huh?) - This game twists your brain into knots! It teaches debate skills and brainstorming.
• Cranium Doodle Tales - This game is especially enjoyable if you have funny family members. It's part art and part writing and a little bit of pre-journalism.
• Scrabble - This is the original language arts educational game. It is great for finding spelling problems, too.
• Blokus, Goblet, Chess, Chinese Checkers, Mastermind, etc. - These all fall into the strategy category. Some games of the same sort for one player would include Rush Hour and River Crossing.
  

New Book Lists from Veritas Press

Veritas Press has recently added summer book lists to their site. They contain the books already featured in their catalog, but in list format.

K-2 List

3-6 List

7-12 List