Earlier this month, the Homeschool High School Carnival was launched. I missed this launch, but have been inspired by what others have written to pipe in with my wee response also.
The topic was:
The Wide View:How does your family's 'big picture'/goals/educational philosophy affect/guide your planning and translate into what your highschoolers do on a daily/weekly basis? Do you generalise or specialise?
Many years ago, I was given the task of writing out my educational philosophy. It involved words of 'loving to learn', 'creativity' and 'ultimately learning to teach themselves without a teacher'. The idea I've always had is that if I'm still keen to learn, as an adult, wouldn't I want to nurture that same response in my children?
When they are young, they learn perseverance in working hard to master the difficult task that now seem so easy. Learning to read was hard (and still is for some!), as is speaking out to a group of peers, finding your way around a new town/city, talking to people on the telephone to find information, standing up to responsibility .... Can you see where I'm going with this?
Yes, we do, we SET OUR CHILDREN UP!! From the time they were little, they had to learn and we were there, but now that they're getting older, we expect that they should be learning how to find that information for themselves. But, it's little steps along the way. Each new venture requires the right preparation, open communication to share experiences, and the encouragement for the effort put forth.
At the basis of all of that is a good relationship with the children, and lots of modelling of how we handle those situations. Communication is a must; listen TO THEM, as well as you sharing your input. The sooner this trust and love is established, the easier it is to guide later. (Yes, that's another part of my philosophising. I know there are always bumps along the way, but I'm aiming at the bigger picture here ... the latter end of our children's growth to adulthood).
So, the next question is, who sets the goals? I admit, we've had an equal share in this. Maestro's reached the stage where he knows the style of learning he enjoys and he's asked for the structure he needs through his curriculum preferences. He also ventures into other learning (especially with regard to digital music recording and podcasting) of his own accord. On the other hand, we've made it clear that we expect him to learn certain life skills, too. Even if he doesn't master how to repair a car, he should at least have some basic car maintenance skills under his belt before owning his vehicle (.. an example).
In our home, routines have been set up as a guideline, but they are flexible. We now know that there is a standard of responsibility learned, so now Maestro owns how he manages most of his time. At this stage though (he's almost 14yrs old), we still ask that he confirms with us where he's at with his subjects and goals for the week. Family discussions at dinner are a great time to relax and share what's gone on in the day, and it's become a great habit that we all tell a little of our stories then.
All in all, we want a great relationship with our children. We want to know that they can come to us in the good times and the bad. We want to watch them mature into wonderful adults who will know how to love others with the full measure. None of us have all the answers, but we know that if we really want to, there's a way to learn ... and so much to learn! I hope my latter end hasn't come just yet. There's still a long 'to do' list I'm working through!
Thank you for dropping by!
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