I was told by a fellow homeschooler many years ago when I began homeschooling. The prospect of my kids approaching me saying teach me about A, I would like to learn more about B, or buy me a book about C, really excited me. Over the years, however, I began to give up hope that it would ever happen.
I have tried many times to turn a simple question into a teachable moment. The kids however never fell for it. If the asked me to distinguish types of clouds for them, I would try to get them to look it up on the internet, so we could discover it together. They would get annoyed and want to know why I could not answer a simple question. They trained me to answer the question before they lost interest, and the most they would accept was an answer and perhaps a follow up email with a few links.
Finally today it happened. My son… my dear precious son said “mom, I need to learn about checking accounts, paying bill, and getting credit. I tried not to faint and replied, would you like to learn about the stock market too? He replied yes. I promised to get right on it. I plan to work it into his schedule before he loses interest.
I really don’t have alot of advice on how to get them to become autodidacts. Some people (like me) are just naturally curios, others, wait until they feel like they are missing something important before requesting information. (This tells me some kids are suited for unschooling, and some are not) But when they do ask, be prepared to jump all over it. Kids learn best when they are interested in the subject matter.
Read more about unschoolers, kids whose curriculum centers around learning what they are interested in.
Read vocabulary word of the day: Autodidact
Interview with a Graduating Unschooler: Andi Enns Part 1 – Blog Entry
Interview with a Graduating Unschooler: Andi Enns Part 2 – Blog Entry
Interview with a Graduating Unschooler: Andi Enns Part 3
(creative commons image by by Aria Fotografia/flickr)